#they did a part about video games and had a twitch livestream playing

[wibblo-wobblo-timey-wimey]

The Swedish World Culture Museum is doing an exhibit on games around the world and-

[sgdlr-asdfghjkl]

Link Click Musical update 180 🌟🌟🌟

(LC-mu postcard project🎉 + summary of BilibiliWorld videos: musical actors meeting VAs trio and Wang Minhui's vlog ✨)

Hello! This will be quite unusual update, since I want to report about our fan project. But also, to make up for my inactivity, I bring lots of tasty treats for you >:3

Links in replies: meeting of LC donghua voice actors trio and LC musical trio at BilibiliWorld event, Wang Minhui's vlog from there, 1h+ livestream from the entire LC musical segment + google drive link where you can download the postcard illustrations and print it for yourself 😘

OKAY 🏃‍♂️✨

LC-mu postcard project summary

A fellow lc musical enjoyer friend, Vale (@/_Setsuna_iro_ on twt & @/setsuna_cos on ig, follow her for great cosplays!) reached out, said she'll be visiting China and considers going to see the play. So OF COURSE I got hyped up about it 😤

I wanted to arrange a postcard for her to give away after the performance (like we did with Elara for 100th performance). To let the actors and Chinese audience know we appreciate the musical ^^ There was no better person to ask for help than a legend, an icon, a master of musical-inspired LC fanarts @wrathyforest 🙇‍♂️💖

🤲BEHOLD🤲

So Forest drew this amazing✨ illustration 🙇‍♂️ (and yes, you can download it and print it too!). I only suggested some details like adding XiaoJuan pig squishie and Zhang Jiahao eating a chicken leg (from 100th special encore).

As for my contribution I did the design on a back (based on the official lyrics book style) and the lil actor doodles. I collected the 42 names of countries from the international LC musical fans. And handled the communication and logistics between all of us ><

Props to Vale for translating the note to Chinese 🙏 the actors and audience got it in Chinese, but you can read it and print in in English ^^ And thanks to @elaraqwqfor all the practical advice about the theatre etiquette and navigation haha 🙏

When time agent Vale rests (and no longer struggles with Chinese firewall ><") I'll try to share more info from her about the musical itself. For now have photos our spy took >:3

That's the Shanghai Great World, an amusement centre building where the Time Theatre is located. We rarely think outside the 'microvawe oven' of lc musical set, so I think it's interesting to see ;>

A photo wall with the cast behind the scenes and guests (can you spot director Haolin? ehee). And a fascinating (to me at least) corner where the audience can leave all the fanmade freebies. Like merch celebrating actor's birthdays or performance milestones. The fans go out of their way and make all sorts of things to share, like badges, facemasks with prints, keychains, acrylic stands, prints, stickers, I even saw cookies with chibi actors printed on them ><

I personally find this part of fan culture around the Chinese musical theatre really heartwarming and inspiring ^^ Maybe bc culture around theatre in my country feels very posh and stuck up, snobbish even. So I have lots of love and respect to Chinese theatre fans for making their passion feel welcoming and simply fun 🌟

Again, huge thanks to all my lovely LC friends, Forest, Vale and Elara for making this project possible 😘💙💛

MOVING ON 🏃‍♂️✨

Link Click Musical panel on BilibiliWorld 2024 convention

For context, this convention is huge (esp when you remember Bilibili is like Chinese ver of youtube, twitch, netflix, crunchyroll and webtoon at once). Li Haolin had his panel there, as well as donghua VAs (that's how they managed to meet, VAs had their panel on same day musical actors came for rehearsal).

So there is an entire 1h+ video from the panel with LC-mu 'representative lineup' Deng Xianling, Cai Qi and Wang Minhui. I'll link it, you can watch it. It's all in Chinese ofc but it's still fun, bc they do lots of games focused on singing songs that you should be able to recognise by now ;>

A summary of the panel:

1st game: they each get the first lines their characters sing in the play and have to fill out the blank lyrics

then they do slightly extended ver of 'You can forget about it' ('sofa song')

2nd game: they get a line from a lc musical song to sing, each actor with different twist; dxl has to do a dialect version, cq does the singing to a different melody, and wmh does the 'translation accent' (not sure what it is, I'm guessing it's changing the accentuation on words?)

3rd game: is blindfold basketball with third person directing the one that's shooting, so a cooperation game ^^'

4th game: they listen to the music and when it stops they have to sing the next lines (this part was GREAT bc we get crumbs from main plot songs AND we get to hear actors sing a capella AND there is a banger part where wmh and cq sing in unison 😔👌)

5th game: doing 'Dive back in time' tutting at varied speed (it's funny & impressive how they switch from 2x speed to 0.5x without an issue)

and I lost a count (this video is long and in chinese, forgive me) but by the end, there is also a part where each actor has to say something in character, they chose from categories: A) Exclusive video for waking up - cq, B) Exclusive video to put you to sleep -wmh, C) 'Mood Tips' Video - dxl :> (Lu Guang got very in character, short line, don't get excited)

OKAY NEXT 🏃‍♂️✨✨

Voice Actors encounter (Li Shimeng, Su Shangqing, Yang Tianxiang) summary

All credit goes to my Chinese friend Yksim (@/treeshu3426 on twt) for translating and summarising the entire video to me 🙏🙇‍♂️💖

Video has 2 main parts: voice actors giving tips about delivering lines and musical actors teaching them to sing songs. Yang Tianxiang first suggest that musical actors teach vocal actors how to sing. He asks how to sing "我只能预测十二个小时" ('I can only predict 12 hours...', a part from M01 'Time Travel', the first song). Wmh and cq sing it but ytx finds it too hard to follow, gives up and says sth like 'aigh maybe we should start from voice acting' ><. So they first give wmh and cq some tips about how to say lines.

Wang Minhui shares that the producer of LC musical (I'm guessing it was Chen Xiaoyi 🙏) sent him a video compilation of canon Lu Guang calling cxs idiot, childish etc. (as learning material). And he asked ytx to say some for him XDD which the other delivers 👌

Li Shimeng gives Qiao Ling performance. She first acted how to scold cxs and then how to comfort him 🥺 Everyone compliments her, she's great orz

After that ytx seems to be answering wmh's question how to say lines. He said: 'We have to relax our throats. It is also like singing. You have to make yourself comfortable. You don't have to pursue to make your voice very like my voice. I think we are two different Lu Guangs. ' (meaning the range, because wmh's voice is very high pitch comparing to ytx's voice)

Yang Tianxiang asks Su Shangqing for his input and ssq says: 'You can make it natural and like in daily life. Actually voice acting allows you to express a variety of precise emotions within a very limited range of ups and downs. It will be harder than no limits. 其实会比你可以完全释放手脚难 (this sentence translates weirdly so have a transcript) After you get hold of the character's main characteristics, you can relax and do what you want to express.'

Then is time for a singing part. Cai Qi sings a bit from 'Words can't convey the love' for ssq. Which ssq says is too hard >< ytx says 'But this song fits you.'

Wang Minhui sings a crumb of main plot song called 'Broken time' (fully translated by Micha here 💙) It's a very hard and high pitch big song full of emotions that happens after a quarrel with cxs. Yang Tianxiang is impressed ><

VA's strongest soldier enters the ring after ytx says: 'I think Li Shimeng is the best singer among three of us.' So Cai Qi teaches lsm some QL's lines from the beginning of 'You can forget about it' (QL starts it in main plot ver). She repeats after him and sounds wonderful ✨💅

And finally, Deng Xianling arrives from the other musical's rehearsal (on weibo she 'cries' she had to buy wmh a drink as an apology for being late ><'). Her voice is beautiful nevertheless. She sings the same part that cq started teaching ;>

Then they take photos together and say goodbyes 🥰

WHICH IS A PERFECT SEGWAY 🏃‍♂️✨✨✨

This one I deciphered myself by google translating subtitles. But please watch it yourself! It's adorable even if you don't speak Chinese

Wang Minhui's vlog from BilibiliWorld

You may think he'd do sth short, similar to Cai Qi's vlog from the event, but no. Not the yapperton3000, Kamen Rider enjoyer, mister I-watch-more-anime-than-Niebo (I just adore this guy, ok? and you will too. Now.)

Nah, he will give us a tour 😎✨

It starts with him saying he's going on a rehearsal, then a short compilation from that day where they practiced and met VAs. As you can see he and ytx exchanged contact info :>

After teasing dxl for being late it's fast forward to next day, the day of their performance. He beelines straight to the artist/merch area 🙇‍♂️ He points at almost every alley and says stuff like:

'Take a look at the Honkai Star Railway theme area! Sorry but I don't play hehe' 'Jian Wang 3 theme area, I used to play. I remember when I got into the trap, brought in at my university, my college friends were playing.' *points at a fancy dress at some sort of haute couture cosplay booth* 'Guo Hongxu would look good in this' (ghx commented the vid with a photo of himself swinging an axe with 'Where are you? I brought you a gift 🙂')

Then he comes home 😌 The Link Click themed alley 💙💛

He looks at Lu Guang merch which is-😭💗 *clenches my heart* and talks how he's excited to wear lg's wig already.

⬆ Interesting thing about these shiguang cutouts, that cn friends Bō🐼 and Yksim pointed out, is that they are a signposts promoting a Chengguang/程光 ship specific event. Recently there was a separate exhibition/fan event focused on uh, you know, top!cxs x bottom!lg, (not necessarily explicit but very much about the romantic coupling) and they had a booth LC alley in BilibiliWorld too.

And no, it's impossible he's clueless about it. You'll see he knows his donghua&anime + they had huge signs with ship name and friends tell me he must've walked past all the doujins. And he goes there twice 🙇‍♂️ Like, do with this knowlegde whatever you want, I'm just describing what happened (personally I'd say: BASEDBASEDBASED-)

*performance time* he gets his makeup and hair done and goes on stage, it's a short compilation from backstage.

HE GOES BACK TO THE CUTOUTS orz... the stylist fixes his hair sprout when he's standing between lg and cxs ;w; while wmh praises his producer for agreeing to work overtime to help him film the vlog 🙏

it cuts to him riding to the different area, he says:

'Now I am going to this one from "Link Click", the booth of the original work. Although today in fact, strictly speaking, I'm not a cosplayer.' 'Because I think we should respect how everyone just generates electricity for love to this level of detail' (I think he means cosplayers, but not sure, it translates wack) 'I think I am still wearing a makeup look for a musical stage actor who (just) came here.' 'This experience is very unforgettable for me, so I hope to use the last bit of time, the moment before hitting the board, to go get one for myself. Including myself, Wang Minhui as a stage actor. I can take two sets of photos. I think it's also a good memory, so I set off!' (it may be confusing, but I think he's talking about using the opportunity of being on a convention in the stage makeup, to take some phots for himself, while humbly acknowledging it's not a cosplay)

(we're halfway in the video, save me, I love him but he talks so much ಥ_ಥ)

He enters the official LC venue (that earlier, was more fanmade stuff/merch alley) and talks about how exciting it is that he can blend in ;w; so he walks around, saying:

'I am so happy!' but then catches himself and says 'Ah, but I shouldn't laugh' (to stay in LG's character 😭) *points at Neo Aurora LG cutout (one with harness)* 'Can you make me a set of clothes like this next time at our theater?' (caption tags the Encore Musicals theatre) *points at a writing board and reads one of fan messages* 'Li Haolin, no more knives!' 💀 and 'No matter the past, don't question the future' motto *proudly high-fives himself* *points at Li twins cutouts* 'Last time I drew a blind box I got Li Tianchen, I have both (?or two idk) of them.' 'So happy. The kind of faint (faint feeling? or faintness? idk) It just came out of here *points at his chest* Happy but I don’t know why I’m so happy! (pls he's so sweet)

Then he points towards the Bilibili Comics venue and namedrops lots of shows he's watching/reading:

'There's a Bilibili comics app, the app that accompanies me on many nights, I recently finished reading Demon Slayer', he also mentions watching Blue Lock and Wind Breaker.

Moving on to individual anime series booths:

*points at Kaitou from Detective Conan* 'I especially liked that character as a kid, so cool/handsome' He sees Solo Leveling booth from a distance and is proud of himself for remembering the name of the show, so much so he takes a picture :'> ''Dungeon Meshi', I've been following for past 2 days (?). At first I thought it was a gourmet show, at that time I liked to order takeout. I feel like it still has quite a story to it.' *sees a mecha animatronic* 'Wow it's moving!' (everybody stfu, he's experiencing a childlike wonder) 'I usually open Bilibili when I have nothing to do', then he mentions watching Freiren, Kaiju no.8 and says that after reading all the Demon Slayer he wants to watch it now.

Post-credits scene: He looks on a stage, says 'Give me a mask and I'll sign up' and then the camera zooms out to show what I think is a group of men doing an otome-themed performance dance (like Tears of Themis/Love and Deepspace type of game idk which exactly ><) 🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️ that's all

To accompany you on this overwhelming wall of text, I give you Cai Qi overwhelmed by the wonders of BilibiliWorld 😇 he was going through it, but had the audacity to later say 'I was a little nervous, Wang Minhui is nearly drowning the mic (from sweating nervously)' under the video with VAs. Brat.

Housekeeping notes: I hope this update makes up for the long inactivity and I hope it lasts you for a while 🙏 I still struggle with my workload and it sucks, so I won't be coming back here any time soon (for 1,5 months at least) sorry ><

But I am still active on twt and discord and I check tumblr inbox regularly if you ever need help with research 💪

There is an increase of LC fans interested in the play (after the zhb and tcp almost-kiss ><') So I am currently gathering questions from newbies to later create the LC Musical FAQs 🌟 If you have ANY questions regarding LC musical, specific actors, the general Chinese musical fandom culture, navigating Chinese social media, anything I could help with, PLEASE reach out to me via inbox, DMs, curiouscat (I linked it on my twt @/niebo_sgdlr), twt DMs or discord. It will help tremendously to create a beginner friendly guide, bc at this point I'm too deep in the rabbit hole and too busy to explain everything to everyone individually🙏💖

Look at this historical event of Wang Minhui getting the postcard and telling Vale she looks better than Cai Qi 😇 Please give love to all the friends I mentioned in the post and have a lovely day, bye bye!

Niebo out 🏃‍♂️✨✨✨✨

[hitomisuzuya]

OMG HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUZU!!! THANK YOU FOR BLESSING US WITH YOUR REQUESTS ONCE AGAIN

and since you're from Japan that means you have a two day long birthday now! hehe <3

I've been thinking the past couple of days about sucking gamer bf!scara's cock while he's mad at his video game hehe :3c thank you for all you do as usual!! ~ wwafterdark

and a birthday scara!

Gamer! Scaramouche x fem!reader. Smut. Scara receiving. Au.

Hello dear! ❤️🥺 Thank you so much and for the birthday Scara. Honestly, I have been wanting to write something like this. So thank YOU for requesting it.

Scaramouche was a very, very temperamental boy. Given his colorful personality, it was 100% guaranteed to come through when he played video games.

Especially if it was a part in a game he couldn't beat. The huffy sighs were becoming consistent for the past two hours. It just wasn't clicking with Scaramouche for some reason. It didn't matter the variety of creative ways to pass the stage, nothing was working.

And what was so much worse was that he was messing up, and failing with you watching. And your sweet words of encouragement were only making it worse. He was grateful for them, but it made failing so many times in a row after hearing them was driving him nuts.

You could see his fingers starting to grip the controller, and you thought you could hear the subtle sound of plastic breaking.

Scaramouche tossed the controller onto his lap with a huffy sigh. You were relieved because it meant he wasn't going to completely crack the controller.

You knew what you had to do. There was one sure fire way to calm him down. You walked to stand next to him. "Take a break, Scara," You said, putting your hand on his thigh. "Spare the poor controller. You'll get it eventually."

Scaramouche scoffed, his cheeks flushing when your hand started to wander up his thigh. "If you say so. Maybe I should just hand you the fucking thing next time."

You pinched your fingers against the head of his cock outside of his pants, making him groan. "Please don't do that," Your cheeks flushed. You wouldn't tell him you'd puzzled out a few methods that would work.

Maybe you should just hand him his ass anyways? He often did livestreams, after all.

Rolling the head of his cock between your fingers, you sank to your knees in front of his chair. Unzipping his jeans, you took his cock out, stroking your hands over it.

His cock twitched in your hand as he rutted into it. You placed kitten licks on the tip, laving your tongue in his precum. Scaramouche moaned huskily, stroking a hand through your hair.

You abruptly took his cock into your mouth, squeezing your hand around the base. You hollowed your cheeks, sucking as you ground your mouth on his cock.

Scaramouche hissed in pleasure. "Suck harder with your slut mouth," He groaned, grabbing onto your hair as he pushed his cock into your throat. He held your head in place while you gagged. Your throat convulsing and spasming on his cock made more precum hit the back of your throat.

You moaned around his cock when you started to breathe through your nose. You flattened, and curled your tongue around his length.

Scaramouche did very little in letting you set a pace. Using your hair as leverage, he bobbed your head up and down on his cock as he took all of his frustration out on your throat.

His thighs trembled in pleasure, letting out a volley of curses, some of them in Japanese as his cock throbbed with impending release. You sucked more eagerly, tears stinging your eyes from his pace.

He was panting by the time cum spurted into your mouth. His hips didn't stop until he was satisfied with fucking his cum down your throat. It was a few moments before he suddenly tapped you on your head.

"I have something to tell you," He said, the way he was smirking down at you actually made you a little nervous.

"Y-yes? What is it?" You asked, sucking some left over cum off of the tip of his cock.

Scaramouche pointed to his webcam. "My web cam has been recording live the whole time."

"What?!"

That was all you could manage to sputter out. Scaramouche threw a jacket over the camera, and tossed you on his bed.

[hater-reads]

The guy I fought with in a game is my neighbor - Chapter 2

A week after sending his complaint, Geto searched GojoSweetCupcake on YouTube. Only a few videos about cupcakes showed up.

No more results.

I did it, I really did it. Geto thought. They closed his channel because of Geto.

“Manager…”

“I know. I saw it.”

“No but…Manager Geto…that guy is really mad.”

“Haibara, are you his fan?”

“I-I watch him on Twitch. Sometimes. A lot…”

“Ah…why didn't you say anything?”

“I'm doing it now, Manager. Could you do something about it?”

“What can I do?”

“Maybe… apologize?”

“No way.”

Haibara lowered his head and walked away, like a scolded puppy. Geto felt like he had snatched a toy from a child's hand.

What was so great about this guy anyway? He was good at playing, but a piece of shit on the inside. No. Geto had to stop thinking this way. He did what was right by reporting his channel, now he had to move on from this. 

But curiosity kicked in. 

“Do you guys see this garbage can? Exactly, that’s our precious guy SShadowMaster123. You won't believe how fucking pissed I am right now. I wish I could beat the crap out of this guy until he asks me for mercy. Show yourself dear Shadow, I’ll be fucking waiting for you!”

Ugh… this guy was obsessed. It was a livestream with more than 20,000 people, and this guy was just spouting nonsense. Geto thought that things would come to an end, but just seeing that masked guy talk shit about him was something that stressed him to a whole new level. And more than that, he realized why Haibara wanted him to apologize. His somehow idol, was bad mouthing his own boss. How humiliating.

Even if he was an internet user that no one knew anything about, two people knew of his existence in real life. His two most trusted subordinates and friends. How could he face them if he didn't resolve this situation quickly?

“You know guys, EpicGames tells you when someone hasn't logged in. And that guy hasn't appeared since our fight. Think he’s scared?”

SShadowMaster123 : Stop this nonsense. Do you want to lose your Twitch account too?

The live comments started to go crazy, all excited and laughing at the presence of Geto, well, the presence of the anonymous user. The masked guy approached the screen and began to read the comments.

“Huh? He’s here? How shameless!”

The guy started to laugh. Almost as if he was going crazy. Geto saw his blue eyes and dilated pupils and thought, yes, he’s crazy. 

SShadowMaster123: I  don't want to be associated with you anymore, so I ask you to stop. If you behave yourself, I may even forgive you.

“FORGIVE ME?! YOU ARE THE ONE WHO TOOK DOWN MY CHANNEL! YOU SHIT!”

Strangely, this guy had a nice voice, if he wasn't screaming all the time, Geto probably would have seen him in his free time. Nevertheless, he still resented him.

“You know, dear Shadow, I don’t want your apology, meet me. We will handle this like gentlemen. Send me your location and I'll come get you. It doesn't matter if you live in another part of the world, I'll come get you.”

Geez, this guy was out of his mind. Geto even felt a little shiver run down his spine. He decided that the right thing to do was to stay away and if possible, change his username on all social media. Of course he could do that, but before he could make the change, all of his accounts were filled with hate messages.

He didn't care, but his cell phone vibrating every second, even in a meeting, was starting to cause him problems. He was going to delete all of it, until he saw a message from a verified account with the name Gojo. That guy. 

GojoSweetCupcake: C’mon dear, meet me. Let’s have a chat.

Is this a fucking joke? Why the hell is he hitting on me now? Geto thought. 

[cruesuffix]

adding onto my streamer au…here’s something!

“Vince’s Gossip Corner: gossiping about the band addition!”

Vince’s room for the most part is dark, bar the pink LED lights he always uses. The man of the hour is off camera, rummaging around for a couple of things. There’s already a flood of comments coming in. It’s clear they’re all excited for another edition of Vince’s well beloved livestreams. It had been a month since Vince got himself a twitch account. The rest of the band had been pestering him to make an account.

Apparently they couldn’t call themselves the “emo hype house” if one of the members didn’t have a twitch or youtube channel. It didn’t really make much sense to him, but just to appease the guys (and get them off his back a bit) he made one. He didn’t know what to do at first, he wasn’t as good at playing video games like Mick was, and he didn’t want to just react to videos like Nikki and Tommy did. Some of the fans simply suggested he do whatever interested him. There were only two things that interested Vince: makeup and gossip.

So here he was now, combining the two in a segment he liked to call “Vince’s Gossip Corner.” He only ever streamed on Thursdays, probably because that was the only time he wasn’t busy doing other cooler things. Vince walked into the camera view, holding a bunch of makeup products in his arms. He smiled at the camera and sat down.

“Welcome losers! We’re back again for another edition of Gossip Corner! We have a lot to talk about, but before we get into that, I’d like to show you the look we’re going to be attempting today.” He greeted the audience, right before shoving his phone into the camera.

After a minute of trying to focus on his phone, a picture appeared clear as day. It was a closeup of a 1920’s film star in glam makeup. The comments erupted with skepticism, everyone was sure Vince wouldn’t be able to pull off the look.

glamkitty88: oh this is…

vincesgurl: you would EAT this look ong

poppy: you still have time to reconsider girliepop

“Ok I know this looks a bit complicated, but i could totally do it! Let’s be a bit more positive in the chat please.”

Throwing on a headband to get his bangs out of the way, Vince started by priming his face. Occasionally, in order to keep his fans engaged, he’d read out comments and answer questions.

“‘What’s Nikki doing today?’ ummm…I’m not sure…I think he said something about washing Mick’s hair on stream later today? I have no idea why though, I’ll probably pop into his stream later and see.” He answered a viewers question. It only fuels silly comments about those two.

“Guys wow, you gotta stop this!” He says in between giggles. “You guys are so weird!” He referred to a nikkimick shippers comments.

“Ok, ok, anyways…today I wanted to just be silly and gossip a bit with you guys, but this time I wanna talk about the band! I never talk about them on my streams, and I think they think they’re safe…well they aren’t!” He announced, bringing the attention back to the topic at hand.

“They’ve been real moronic lately I’m not gonna lie to you guys…who here say Mick’s last stream? He literally fell asleep on camera! It was so funny, I’m so happy I saw it live this time.”

micksgf: dude that was so funny! i literally gifted five subs to see if my message could wake him up and nothing happened!

yoongles: wait is he doing another moldy stream this week? i always miss it! :(

guitarhxro: i’m going to ask him to play guitar when he’s like that and see what happens!

fivealive: omg i was there!! didn’t nikki have to call him just to wake him up? that was gold!

joeyxmokey: you should have seen his face when he realized he was streaming it! i screenrecorded the whole thing if anyone wants to see it!

“Guys no but like I hate when he does those streams…cause I’m never there to see them! I literally always miss them and I keep telling Tommy to record a stream for me and he never does!” Vince whined as he dabbed some foundation on his face. The shade was noticeably too light for his complexion. Nobody said anything.

“These jerks don’t even think about me! Like I wanna watch those streams and I get nothing. He’s so hilarious when he’s like that though, you guys should see what he does off camera!” Vince continued, throwing in a little tease to the fans, who reacted appropriately.

davidmustardstain: ong vince you better release the footage

mimisworld: FILM HIM

kurtnovain: bros always saying stuff like this…just film him bro it ain’t that hard!

“Anyways, anyone else hear the news about Nikki?” Vince shrugged, changing the subject.

nikkisgirl: omg what?

nikkimyboo: i think i heard something about him and vanity…pls don’t let it be true!!

publikenemy: i don’t even know if i wanna know now!

“Well, last night Nikki told me…what’s her name? Umm…the crazy little black chick he’s always hanging around?”

merrygodown: vanity!!

“Oh,” Vince laughed, squinting at the name on the screen. “Thanks merry go down, yeah Vanity…well, and you didn’t hear this from me, but Nikki told me she proposed to him last night!”

nikkisgirl: NO

nikkisgirl: SAY SIKE PLS

yoongles: oh that’s not-

321beep: i’m going to kay em ess if this is true

nikkismyboo: does that mean i have to change my name now?

micksgf: brother euuughh

guitarhxro: oh but she’s not even that cute like that’s cringe ngl

Vince laughed as he read the comments. He was so amused by all the people badmouthing Vanity. He wondered if they knew none of them ever had a chance with Nikki in the first place.

micksgf: well at least mickey poo is single

“EWWW MICKS GIRLFRIEND WHAT ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT?!” Vince erupted in laughter at the comment. He screenshot the comment to show Mick later on.

He took a chance at quickly glancing at the viewfinder. He gasped at what he saw. He was pure white.

“Guys seriously? Why did no one tell me i look like a damn ghost in here?” he exclaimed, trying to blend everything out. obviously he was still pale white. He wondered if this shade would match Mick’s skin tone. He made a mental note to try it out on him tomorrow.

Meanwhile the comments were still reeling from his previous revelation.

publikenemy: yo vince you gonna tell us the truth??

yoongles: stop deflecting ho!!

321beep: no one cares about the foundation!!

kurtnovain: gay boy what’s the deal with nikki just tell us!!

“Ok first of all, don’t call me gay boy! Second of all, i told you already, Vanity tried to propose to Nikki…and he said yes! Yep that’s right jealous bitches Nikki ain’t yours no more so go cry to ya mama and stop annoying me about it!” Vince revealed, clapping his hands.

nikkisgirl: ONG I CANT DO THIS ANYMORE

wildgirl69: what no

nikkismyboo: what if this was my thirteenth reason?

The reactions were eye roll worthy, but Vince simply went back to dabbing concealer under his eyes and over any blemishes.

“Anyways… oh guys did you know one of Tommy’s girls got him a dirt bike? It’s literally outside our house right now and i wanna ride it so bad. I’m waiting for Tommy to leave so I can take it out for a spin. Literally I’m so jealous, my girl never gets me anything.” Vince lamented.

heavensdemons: aye if you don’t want her i’ll take her :)

“nuh uh mods ban that ho! No one makes jokes about stealing my girl in front of me! Evil behaviour…didn’t your parents ever teach ya some manners? Anyways…oh you’ll never believe who was at the store the other day. Axl Rose, just at the store buying Chex Mix right in front of me! I would have never pegged him as a cereal kind of guy, he kinda looks like he just wakes up and doesn’t eat anything…like just puts on clothes and just walks out the door. Like Tommy, that guy doesn’t eat a thing! Wait…ok umm, how am i going to do these eyebrows though? skinny like an anor- wait am i allowed to make that joke?”

bestiewestie: oh vince…

nikkisgirl: not cool dude!

mimisworld: vince gon get cancelled for the fifth time this week!

guitarhxro: bro thought he cooked with that one

“No guys wait, i love all my anorexic fans! y’all are cool hope you get better or something!”

micksgf: dodged a bullet!

nikkismyboo: where’s your ukulele?!

bbgirl: apology video with tears NOW

Vince tried hard to stifle a laugh as he moved on to contour. He wasn’t really sure what he should contour since the girl in the photo didn’t seem to have any on. With a shrug, he simply put it where he always did, his nose and cheekbones. Before he could say anything else, his phone rang. Looking down, he laughed as soon as he saw the contact name.

“Guys wait, it’s Mick! I’m putting him on speaker.”

Holding the phone up to his mic, he answered it.

Vince: “What up?”

Mick: Hey man…uhhh, I think I lost my keys, can you open the door?”

Mick sounded just a bit wasted, which only amused Vince more.

Vince: “Where were you?”

Mick: “Nunya, now open the door dipshit!”

Vince: Hey you’re on speaker, be nice!”

Mick: “I’m what? Are you doing a stream?”

Vince: “Yep!”

Mick: “Oh cool.”

Mick raised his voice so the audience could hear him clearly.

Mick: “Hey, uh, if anyones getting bored by this fruity ass livestream I’m doing a stream myself soon so come over to my channel: 1313mars if you want to see me…do something I guess, I don’t know.”

Vince pulled the phone away from the mic a bit.

Vince: “Dude stop plugging your shit on my channel!”

Mick: “Can you just hurry up and get your ass over here, I’m cold as hell out here.”

Vince: “Don’t you have a jacket?”

Mick: “I didn’t bring it cause i thought it wasn’t gonna be cold.”

Vince: “Were you at Jack’s place again?”

Mick: “Yeah…I- wait I’m not trying to have a conversation with you right now, I need you to open. the. door!”

“I would…but i’m busy! Ask Nikki!” Vince cheerfully replied. He could hear Mick start to curse him out but quickly hung up on him before a word could be made out. The last thing he needed was a channel violation notice.

“I’m telling you guys from now, if he starts a Moldy Stream tonight i’m ditching you guys.” Vince announced.

gulphoe: bffr we’d leave your ass before you could!

micksgf: sorry vinnie i’m leaving as soon as i get the notif

kingtommyland: don’t do the eyebrows it’s going to make you look bad!

“Whatever you losers! Do you think Nikki let him in yet?”

mimisworld: i’ve been watching both yours and nikki’s stream and he just got up and left!

micksgf: WAIT MICKS IN NIKKIS ROOM MY BESTIE JUST SENT ME A SCREENSHOT!!

rightriot: lmaoo vince he’s tearing you up on nikki’s stream rn

kiki: he just called you a carpet muncher…you gon let that slide?

“A what? girl i’m not a lesbian what’s he talking about?”

wildgirl69: he’s beating your ass in the stream lmaoo

“What’s he saying?”

kirikiribonito: he called you gay and said he doesn’t like watching your fruity little livestreams!

Vince scoffed.

“Nobody’s forcing him to watch!”

midnightbarber: he said you look like the ghost of christmas past if it just got run over by a porsche

“GHOSTS CAN’T GET RUN OVER BY CARS!” Vince yelled out. Mick’s voice could be heard even in the background.

“THEN WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE THAT, CASPER?!”

Vince gasped, he looked at the camera as if the audience could help him.

“Motherfucker just called me Casper…I’m going to destroy all his streaming equipment, I’d like to see what he does then.”

bbgirl: you ain’t gonna do shit!!

Before he could answer, a notification popped up on Vince’s phone.

“New Notification: 1313mars started a livestream “vimce niel neds to jmp of a brdge!1!1!”

Vince squinted at the notification and grinned. His viewer count was slowly going down as everyone moved onto the “better” stream of the night. He looked up at the camera.

“Sorry losers I suddenly have something better to do now, I gotta go, but I’ll be back next Thursday…on the dot. Oh, and Mick I know you ain’t watching but I’m going to destroy you…just you wait.”

wildgirl69: he really thought he ate with that one

micksgf: CRINGE

Vince quickly turns off the stream and his camera, heading over to Mick’s stream which was barely a minute in.

[iivocom]

Streamtober 2024

I think it's the forth year I'm doing Streamtober, as previous year's much of the focus is on game streaming. Here's a summary!

Streamtober part 1

Day 1 (Tue, October 1st)

TikTok chat stream: Sometimes it's relaxing talking with new and familiar faces at the end of a somewhat productive day.

Day 2 (Wed, October 2nd)

I did my live-to-tape audio podcast on X Spaces where I talked about recent movies.

On my game stream on twitch I re-visited Disney Dreamlight Valley

Day 3 (Thu, October 3rd)

A food stream on TikTok where I was cooking using recipe and instructions from Snapchat AI based on 4 random ingredients I entered. If you're a subscriber you can go and re-watch many of my none game streams on #tiktok plus some exclusively behind-the-scenes the scenes clips.

In the evening I continued playing Dreamlight on my Twitch game stream. Made progress on some side missions.

Day 7 (Oct 7th)

Playing Dreamlight Valley on twitch

Day 10 (Thu, Oct 10th)

Playing Minecraft on TikTok. Building stuff and trying some advanced features.

Playing Beholder 3 on twitch. a curious game about a man who get relocated by a totalitarian regime.

Day 12

Continuing building and exploring in Minecraft on TikTok

Next Fest Fall Ed 2024

Steam Next Fest is a week-long event where Players can try hundreds of free demos and upcoming games, as well as watch developer livestreams, and chat with them.

I am digging my teeth in to Steam Next Fest Fall edition combing trough obscure demos looking for rouge diamonds in the making.

Next Fest Day 2

Zefyr a thief's melody a nostalgic nod to classic adventure games, packed with exploration, dialogues, fights, puzzles, collectibles, and epic Boss battles—all set in a vibrant, feel-good world

Next Fest Day 3 (Streamtober Day 16)

X/Twitter: Another edition of my weekly live-to-tape podcast on X Spaces. Today I talked about a few great Anime shows as well as some romantic movies.

3 in 1 one stream on Twitch:

The Protagonish in this hilarious 2d cartoon adventure you're not in control of the main character instead you guide the story by controlling the side character and how they respond to the hero.

Beetle Quest 2 I can't say I really got into this game. The childish graphics are endearing but after a way to long intro I got frustrated with the controls.

Pine A Story of Loss trough daily routines of a man living in a secluded pine forest we learn about his loss, grief, and maybe about how life goes on.

Next Fest Day 4

Rise of the Golden Idol: A detective hidden object, clue, and deduction game with a bit of a retro adventure game graphics had me playing for over an hour without realizing the time.

Next Fest Last Day

Loco Motive - On the Reuss Express a passenger has been murdered, and you’re the prime suspects. Uncover a thrilling mystery and solve satisfying point and click puzzles to prove your innocence! A slapstick adventure, packed full of deadly surprises, shocking twists and larger than life characters!

Luma Island - Travel to Luma Island to go on an epic adventure by yourself or with up to 4 friends and family members. Build your dream farm, master professions, collect magical Lumas, find treasures and unravel the mysteries of the island. It is cozy and it is a bit different from other farming games I’ve seen. Is it enough to keep me interested? I don’t know yet. I’m not the biggest on crafting games.

Streamtober part 2

Getting ready to get spooky and also ramping up for my 1 year twitch affiliate celebration

Day 25

Multipanel chats and battles on tiktok.

Day 26-27 - Spooky Weekend

If you want to join follow on Roblox iivocom

Close to The Sun -  t’s 1897. Deep in international waters, the Helios stands still. Dark clouds loom overhead as unforgiving waves crash against the hull. Journalist Rose Archer steps aboard the Helios in search of her sister Ada. She quickly discovers not all is as it seems. Playing this first-person horror adventure video game on twitch.

Roblox The Haunt - kicking off our spooky weekend trough the haunt hub where you'll find all sorts of spooky games and Halloween themed roblox events. 

Day 28 Spooky Days On Twitch & TikTok

Playing more of the roblox games that are part of “The Haunt” experience as well as doing different challenges in The Haunt to unlock achievements and other goodies.

Continuing trough Close To The Sun chapters on twitch

Day 29 Spooky Days On TikTok

Playing more of the roblox games that are part of “The Haunt” experience such as “Piggy” and “Color or Die” as well as doing different challenges in The Haunt to unlock achievements and other goodies. 

Day 30 Spooky Days On TikTok &  Twitch 

Continuing as the previous spooky days. Finishing Close to The Sun.

Day 31 - Twitch Affiliate Anniversary

Playing a retro game for Throwback Thursday called Nine Witches Family Disruption.

It's an adventure game that really pay homage to the haydays of the 90s with lots of absurdity and a bunch of humor.

Also celebrating a year as a twitch affiliate, can't believe it's been a year already.

[memryse]

The magic of 3rd Life, or why such a simple hardcore miniseries works as well as it does

For a series which only lasted for eight sessions, 3rd Life has had a profound impact on the MCYT fandom. While it did go comparatively unnoticed on Twitter (as is consistent with YouTube-based Minecraft content as a whole, admittedly), Tumblr and other platforms have fallen in love with this series, and it’s become a vector for many fans to familiarise themselves with Hermitcraft and Empires SMP as well. But at its core, 3rd Life is a simple vanilla survival series with a gimmick. What about it resonates so much with so many people?

I would argue that its simplicity, its small cast, its vanilla gameplay “with a twist” is certainly part of it. It’s an easy series to consume, with many POVs totalling four hours or less, and it doesn’t require any prior knowledge of any of the members. Its mechanics are easy to understand. As a standalone, it functions perfectly – it’s immersive and can be followed easily by anyone, regardless of any prior knowledge they may or may not have. However, these factors alone don’t quite encompass what makes 3rd Life so special. Its true charm point lies in the format of the series, and how well it utilises improv.

[more below the cut; this is a fairly long post about 3rd/Last Life meta and my love of its improv. I'm mostly talking about 3rd Life here as it's a completed series, but this most definitely does apply to Last Life as well]

3rd Life is an entirely improv-based series. Whilst members may have a brief concept of the direction they’d like to take their series in – how heavily they want to roleplay, for example – the actual content of each session is fully improvised. Each episode is recorded in one three-hour block, and members are not allowed to play on the server outside of the allotted time other than specifically to finish builds. This time constraint prevents any planning from going into each episode, and interactions between players are completely spontaneous. Players simply run around the map looking for others to interact with (which is significantly easier with the limited world border) and chat about various events on the server, form alliances or deals, etc.

By definition, this almost completely negates the possibility of bad writing. Each player’s reaction to any server event is spontaneous, a legitimate reaction; they aren’t trying to play any specific roles or shoehorn in any specific events (with the exception of the Red King/Hand of the King roles, who were still completely improvising). Even the finale – a distinctly heart-wrenching and tragic scene – was improvised without Grian or Scar attempting to tell any specific story. According to Martyn, they weren’t roleplaying, they didn’t have any aims with that scene. It just happened to turn out in the way that it did, and they were legitimately sorry to one another. The server progressed in this natural way, and every person’s perspective tells a completely different story. It’s hard to identify any specific heroes or villains – fans of the Dream SMP can surely relate to this feeling, but I would argue that 3rd Life takes this one step further. 3rd Life is a tragedy from all perspectives, a tragedy which tells one cohesive story in its entirety before stopping as abruptly as it began.

3rd Life hinges entirely on its interactions between its members. Whilst solo content does exist – base building, for example – the majority of each session is spent interacting with others. 3rd Life is carried by its dialogue; nothing else drives the story, and yet many episodes are between 30 minutes and an hour long. It’s that dialogue-heavy. Members of the server have expressed trouble with even editing their videos because there is so much key dialogue that they don’t want to cut. People don’t watch 3rd Life for the actual gameplay, at all – there’s so little of it! They watch it for how each member interacts with the people around them. This is something not found in any other SMP I’ve encountered. SMPs livestreamed on Twitch have plenty of downtime, and people will happily watch streams on that SMP no matter what’s occurring on the server; people often watch them for their interest in specific members. Other currently popular YouTube SMPs, namely Hermitcraft and Empires, are well-balanced between solo content and interactions, and all server content hinges on the members’ various skills like building and redstone. 3rd Life is, to my knowledge, the only SMP which does not rely on building or redstone skills (what’s the point, when they’ll be dead the next week?), it doesn’t rely on the creator doing solo work talking to their chat, it doesn’t rely on planned roleplay. People legitimately just want to hear various members talking to each other. It’s a fascinatingly unique series in this regard. This dialogue-heavy aspect of 3rd Life ties back to my earlier point about 3rd Life feeling like a completely different series from all perspectives; with all of this dialogue being conveyed through proximity chat, so many events are entirely left out of other POVs, or presented in very different lights.

The pure improv format also helps significantly with worldbuilding, whilst also leaving plenty to the imagination. MCYT fandoms always require a significant amount of imagination to become invested in them, let alone make fan content of them, and 3rd Life is no exception to this. As discussed in this post, which was incidentally the inspiration for me to write this one, 3rdLife is full of lines which flesh out the series, which illustrate what happened better than can be shown in Minecraft. These lines are improvised on the spot, and are often complete throwaway lines in the creators’ eyes. In the fans’ eyes, they make 3rd Life feel alive, they provide plenty of material on which to base headcanons. Again, this isn’t necessarily unique to 3rd Life, it’s a common aspect of all Minecraft series, but I think this is where the rather angsty nature of 3rd Life comes into play. A dramatic survival game, entirely unscripted, with all events hinging entirely on your interpretation of them? It’s not hard to see why 3rd Life fans are so creative with character designs and fanfiction – hell, a lot of 3rd Life fics simply narrate canon in their own more dramatic light. Canon-compliant fics are significantly more common for 3rd Life than other fandoms I've encountered, because people hear these simple lines and want to dramatise them, put their own spins on them. I don't feel that this would be possible with any other series, not to the extent that 3rd Life fans do it. Other series' canon is either already dramatic, and so rehashing it can feel repetitive, or so lighthearted that people write AUs/new storylines. 3rd Life strikes a brand-new balance.

The development of its characters is also bolstered by improv. As no events on the server are pre-planned, members have to react completely spontaneously to anything that occurs. They don’t get time to think – only to react as though they genuinely were in that situation. As I said at the start, 3rd Life inherently lacks bad writing, because it’s not written. Ren, for instance, began 3rd Life as a kind and harmless person, with others often walking right over him. His reaction to his death by Grian and Scar’s trap spurs him to become the Red King; he raises an army and goes to war, and ends the series having taken countless lives, becoming hardened by war. He begins Last Life by isolating himself from others, seeming jaded and unwilling to form alliances, ready for another war to break out. Being improvised, it’s impossible to say how much of this was deliberate, or if Ren just started building his base without thinking about continuity from the previous season. This improv is what makes it feel so natural. It isn’t planned beforehand. This is Ren’s natural reaction to starting Last Life. It makes his character feel so much more real than it would if this was all scripted beforehand.

3rd Life is, overall, a testament to the power of improv. It manages to be compelling and dramatic without any acting feeling forced or wooden. Its characters’ arcs feel natural, because they are natural. Placing such a heavy emphasis on dialogue, with the gimmick of the server being a vehicle for interactions to happen rather than the sole appeal of the series, makes it truly feel as though we’re getting a glimpse into the characters’ lives, rather than watching a story which has been written beforehand. We get to watch everything unfold in real time. 3rd Life has a magic to it that, to my knowledge, no other SMP has been able to recreate.

[technowoah]

Can I request a prompt #37 with Karl Jacobs? I love your writing btw :)

Ring(s)

The four times Karl tried to propose and the one time he actually did.

- Karl Jacobs x gen!neutral reader!

- Prompts: 37) "Are you proposing?!"

⚠︎ swearing, fluff, angst if you squint and a rushed ending. I didn't proofread either

an// TYSM FOR LIKING MY WORK 😭ALSO Thanks for requesting and sorry this came out so late! Hope you enjoy :)

To say that Karl loved you was an understatement. He adored you and practically worshipped the ground you stood on. He is so respectful, which is a major upgrade from your other boyfriends, and loves you for who you are. You didn't have to put on a facadè at all during the 3 years you two have dated.

This love wasn't a one way thing. You loved him just as much, or even more, than he did. Everything he did you supported, you were always cheering him on from wherever you were. You were here for the good and the bad, and he was too. You two never shyed away from admiting your love and support. You could write a essay on each thing you love about Karl.

The idea of marriage came up during a late night dinner at Denny's. The idea came so naturally to you, so it surprised Karl that you didn't tense up. Karl was tense when bringing up the topic of marriage, so when you said "Yeah, I wanna get married to you one day." so casually it caught him off gaurd.

You two had already talked about marriage time and time again, but this time Karl wanted to take the initiative. He was ready to get married and since the marriage talk was just a few months ago it was fresh in his mind. Karl could vividly imagine you walking down the aisle towards him looking angelic. He could see everything now and he wanted those daydreams to become a reality. He wanted to physically feel your hands against his as you two say "I do" to one another.

He couldn't stop thinking about settling down in a nice house with you. Karl already bought a ring for you and always has it with him. Now he justs needs to figure out how to tell you.

1st proposal: Fireworks

"THIS IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE FIREWORK IN THE ENTIRE WORLD-"

You blocked out Jimmy's yelling as you sat in a lawn chair in the middle of the woods. Karl had invited you to a MrBeast video shoot because he thought it would be a great early 4th of July. It was late at night and slightly cool outside, so you were wearing a MrBeast hoodie Karl was wearing earlier. You zoned out as the boys talked to the camera over and over again, taking multiple shots.

You found yourself looking at Karl most of the time you sat there and you always caught his gaze towards you. Every time you caught him looking at you, you sent him a small wave or blow him a kiss and every time he sent a shy wave back or sent a more exaggerated kiss back.

During halfway through the shooting you begrudgingly had to move your lawn chair further and further away from your original spot. Karl always checked up on you before and after each firework set were blown up. He has been acting fidgety around you and you didnt know why. When you tried to confront him about it he would always turn away and go back to the boys without a glance back, and his hands in his pockets.

You loved watching the guys play with so many different types of fireworks, this was a great 4th of July for you, but you wished that Karl was sitting next to you feeling the bliss that you were.

You were currently sitting behind bulletproof glass while the guys had a control panel on their lap. Karl kept sending glances towards you and you looked at him and smiled whishing he was next to you and not over by the guys. You knew it was selfish, but he invited you here.

Karl kept bouncing his leg, he kept his hand in his pocket which held the ring. He kept sending glances towards you, knowing he should be on one knee right about now. Jimmy was about to fire off the last rocket of the night and Karl couldn't seem to go over and ask you to marry him. He knew he was hilding himself back which made him hate himself. You deserved a good night and he hoped you enjoyed the fireworks, but he knew on the ride back he would have to apologize.

He stayed with the boys as they went to go see the fireworks they would be setting off soon. Once they came back they were all about to press the button to set off the expensive fireworks they counted down from 5 and he looked towards you. You were standing up with your arms crossed, hopefully shielding yourself from the cold, and looking towards the fireworks that were going to burst. They finally pressed the button the fireworks went off.

Each burst of light in the air sent a glow onto your smiling face. Karl sent a somber glace and marveled in how the explosion of the fireworks sent a beautiful glow around you.

This wasnt the right time. Next time.

2nd proposal: Donuts

"Im sorry for last night." Karl apologized as you both took a seat at a booth by the window at the small coffee and donut shop.

This was supposed to be an apology for the last failed proposal. Instead of spending time with you, he kept his distance which was the opposite of what he really wanted to do. This was a way to spend much needed time with eachother, but this was also another attempt at a proposal.

Karl wanted to hide the ring in the middle of a donut so when you inevitably look at it when he hands it to you, you'll see the ring and then he'll propose right there. To him it seemed flawless.

You never wanted a huge proposal. You didnt want that much attention on you when your future significant other would propose. Something simple would be the ideal proposal and you've hinted that many times to Karl and right now he was listening. There were only two other couples in the small diner because others were picking up donuts and leaving. If he decided to get down on one knee it would cause a scene.

You stayed silent for a moment looking at Karl before deciding to speak.

"It's no problem. Please dont stress out about it." You smiled softly and he smiled back at you. "I mean the fireworks were beautiful, but you all were screaming too much."

You both laughed as you both recalled that night in the desert.

"Yeah I just didn't..I didn't really talk to you all night. I feel bad." Karl said fiddling with his hands.

"Its in the past Karl. And I still know you love me." You reached out to grab both of his hands and hold his cool hands in yours.

"I do love you." He whispered for only you to hear leaving both of you smiling ear to ear.

"What kind of donuts you want?" Karl asked looking into your eyes carefully.

You thought about it for a while before speaking up. "I'll keep it simple. Icing with sprinkles. Surprise me with the icing color!" You exclaimed while letting go of his hands for a second.

Once you two let go of eachothers hands he immediately went to his pocket and played with the velvet box. He nodded his head and without a word he stood up to meet the cashier behind the display box of donuts. He ordered only one donut as you said with orange icing this time.

He paid for the food and stayed at the counter where he paid. Karl looked back to see if you were paying attention to him only to see you looking out the window at the people passing by. Karl smiled at the sight knowing he really wants to marry you one day and then he looked down at the glistening ring inside of the box.

Karl was supposed to put the ring in the middle of the donut that was laying alone on a napkin on the counter. He started to think of the possibilities of what could happen. What if you didn't see the ring and crumble the ring with the napkin and throw it away? What if you accidentally put the ring in your mouth? What if you weren't hungry anymore?

He looked over again to where you were looking at him giving him the same smile you gave during the fireworks. Karl sighed and once again closed the box with the ring. He was a coward and he knew that.

Karl picked up the donut from the counter and made his way over to you.

"Here's your donut with sprinkles and orange icing!" Karl exclaimed putting emphasis on the 'orange' part.

"Thanks babe!" You smiled as he sat down across from you. "Wait, you didn't get anything for yourself?"

Karl sighed again for what seemed like the 100th time today and put on a smile. "I ended up not being as hungry as I thought I was."

"Well I could always share!" You started to eat your donut as Karl ended up looking outside.

Unbeknownst to you he was thinking of another way to propose without himself getting in his own head.

He'll find a time.

3rd proposal: Livestream

"Chat! As you can see I have my significant other here with me!" Karl exclaimed to his Twitch following.

You were sat next to him in another one of his office chairs with a blanket across your lap. You loved to join Karl's streams, the last couple of time you two played minecraft, gang beats, played on the nitendo switch for a while, but this time he didn't tell you what games you two would be playing. Karl just told you to come over tonight and ended up asking to join him for a stream last minute.

Now you are here next to him as Karl glows with excitement as he streams to his growing followers. You loved how he interacted with his fans and had a genuine connection with them, but sometimes that strong connection can, and has led to some nights where you had to stay the night and comfort him from his inner demons and the internet. Those nights made you love him even more, the vulnerability he gave to you made you comfortable with him.

It seems like the more time you spend eith him the more you want to officially get married. You didn't want to rush him because you soon figured out for yourself that there is no rush to express your love, which you two do everyday day. You two can get eloped in Vegas and you'll be happy, as long as you can spend the rest of your life with the man you love.

Karl kept sending glances towards you throughout the stream hoping you were having fun with the chill, q and a stream. Again he wanted to propose to you tonight during the stream. He loved showing your relationship whenever he could and whenever you would allow him to. His community also loved you the moment you became his significant other, so hopefully this will be a beautiful moment.

You talked to his chat as he contemplated, again, about whether to propose tonight. It wasn't infront of people, it was infront of a screen and it would be on Twitter in less than a week. This would be a good moment, but then again he wanted this moment to be between you two and he couldn't find the right time nor the right "moment".

As the stream continues you ended up wrapping yourself fully in the blanket and lying your head on his shoulder. You both cuddled eachother while you two answered questions. Karl kissed the top of your head and finally collected all of his thoughts.

He didn't need to propose to officially claim his love to you. Karl knew you both loved eachother to the ends of the Earth and back. There's no need for ceremony and the one day he will propose, he know it will come naturally. There is no need to force it, and now he wont.

Only time will tell.

4th proposal: spongebob

"Are you ready, kids?

Aye, aye, Captain!

I can't hear you!

Aye, aye, captain!

Oh!"

The TV illuminated the comfortable, dark room you two were in. You were lying on the couch with Karl with the blanket you had while streaming. It was late at night after the stream and you two ended up watching re-runs of spongebob. Karl sang along to the theme song softly while you hummed along. This was the 4th episode you both watched this night and it was a great way to end the week.

"Do you want to stay over tonight?" Karl asked softly with tiredness in his voice.

"Of couse. Im too tired to move, so thanks for offering." You chuckled.

"You're welcome here anytime." Karl yawned and squeezed your sides. "Do you want popcorn?"

"Hell yeah." You got off of Karl as he walked to the kitchen.

He put the bag into the microwave and leaned back onto the kitchen counter as he waited. Karl looked over to the side and saw a empty vase which was next to the velvet box he was carrying with him this whole week. He shook his head and laughed to himself before getting the popcorn out of the microwave, dumping it in a bowl and walking back to see you taking up the whole couch.

"Move over or I'll sit on you." Karl said standing above her.

"Is that a promise?" You teased.

"Okay then!" He turned around and began to slowly and dramatically fake sitting ontop of you.

You began to laugh and try to push him off of you. You successfully got him to sit down and returned to your previous position, but this time with popcorn.

"I love you, you know that?" You hummed into his chest.

"Yeah, and I love you more."

"I love you most."

"I love you mostest." Karl laughed.

"That's not a word." You smiled.

"I love you so much I made up a word for ya." Karl kissed you head and you hugged him tighter.

"You know what?" Karl chuckled. "I love you so much that I tried to propose to you 3 times this week."

Karl finished and you sat up from your spot looking surprised. Karl sat up as well thinking he made a mistake telling you. He was abkut to apologize, but you beat him to speak.

"Oh my gosh!" You exhaled.

"Look, I'm sorr-"

"Are you proposing?!" You exclaimed with a smile on your face.

"Huh-?"

Karl was surprised just like you were before. He remembered that he wanted the Maybe this was the moment he needed this week.

Karl grabbed both of your hands and caressed them both, looking into your eyes. "I was planning to all week. But now I think this is a good moment. So Y/N? Will you marry me?"

"Of course I will!" You enveloped him into a tight hug and peppered his face with kisses. He finally found his moment and he couldn't be happier.

"You said you tried to propose three other times?" You questioned. "When was that?"

"Its a long story."

[frenchly-anxious]

ZEvent: the success story of a french charity event that the media didn't take seriously at first

Those who follow me know that the ZEvent is happening this week-end (because I've been posting non-stop about it). But to help everyone understand what this is and how insane it actually is, here's the story of the biggest charity event of Twitch!

It starts in 2016, with the "Projet Avengers" by the belgian streamer Athene. It's an emergency charity event organized each time a catastrophy happens (one that hasn't enough attention from media etc). In France, the streamer ZeratoR joins the event with 15 other french streamers by doing a 3 days livestream... in ZeratoR's living room. They gathered 170 770€.

Inspired by that, ZeratoR and his associate Dach created their own charity event, the ZEvent. In 2017 they rented a house, put all their equipement in the basement and livestreamed at 30 streamers for 3 days for La Croix-Rouge. They did it through power shortage, internet shortage,... and the media which mostly didn't give much attention to it. I mean, it was the first year so it's normal media were not gonna rush to them without knowing what they were doing. And back then, "the gamers" were even more misunderstood than now: "you're telling me that people watch them play video games and gives them money? It's not a real job" and "Look at those people in their 30s with no job playing video games in a basement" Depiste it all, they collected more than 500k€.

In 2018 they organized it again, this time for Médecins Sans Frontières with 38 streamers and they rented a huge room. They also tried reaching for the media and the majority answered with "Meh, we kinda talked about it last year, so it's not really interesting". Which is a bit absurd, like "Oh yeah, you're collecting money for a charity? Yeah, I don't think you need exposure to make that work. Good luck!" But suddenly, everything was going crazy and people realized that they were gonna break the 1M barrier. The journalists who had refused to cover the event suddenly decided it could be nice to be a part of this. They were kindly told that this is not how this works, as there was quite a lot of planning to do before letting journalists enter the building. They ended with 1 094 731€, many tears and the feeling they proved "gamer" was not a synonym for "lazy-ass".

In 2019 the ZEvent was now very famous in the charity world, so they received more than 400 requests from charities. Finally, they chose l'Institut Pasteur and they reunited 55 streamers. Journalists were all covering the event and along with it, the tone changed. They were actually trying to understand the streaming world, they were encouraging people to go donate too and they were giving amazing coverage of the event. To everybody's surprise, they gathered 3 509 878€, more than the triple of the previous year with the same amount of time.

2020 was the year of every problems. First with the Covid, everybody feared it wouldn't be possible to do it. They finally ended renting a whole hotel, asked everybody to do a covid test and then the streamers couldn't leave the building during the whole event and no one else could enter. But a few days before the event, a bunch of streamers had the covid or had family member who caught it. The organizers decided to do an hybrid version of the event: the streamers who couldn't come participated online, from their home. Then, the charity chosen created a few polemics, as Amnesty International didn't convince everybody. Some were saying they were too political, some that they were helping terrorists, etc. But ZEvent held its ground. In the background, there were rumors 2020 would be the year the event would finally flop. The 54 streamers didn't waver, kept the hard work, even organized a game with the real host of a famous french TV game. And 55 hours later, they had reached 5 724 377€, breaking every possible record, surprising the charity, the journalists, the fans and the whole ZEvent crew themselves.

"If the ZEvent survived a year like 2020 with such brilliant results, I'm pretty sure nothing will ever be able to stop it" —ZeratoR

The legend of the ZEvent is still going strong and the year 2021 is already full of promises. Once again, fear the French for we are determined.

[inkabelledesigns]

10-31-2021 Alice Angel: Development History you Never Knew!

There are many benefits to being someone that's interested in voice acting, and while I'm not the biggest social media person, I do follow a variety of voice actors whose work I like. It should come as no surprise that as a massive Bendy fan, I love every single VA in this series, they all put on a wonderful performance, and I do follow a majority of them. 

Lauren Synger has always been pretty actively involved with us as a fambase, and this year for Halloween, she teamed up with her friend thecanadianbard on Twitch, as he livestreamed himself playing Bendy and the Ink Machine for the first time, blind. I was there for a majority of the stream with like eleven other people in the chat, and it was a great time. I'll link you to the recap (though it may not be there forever), but I wanted to take a moment to share some of the things Lauren revealed, both about BATIM's development process (mostly about Alice and Lonely Angel) and a few small tidbits for BATDR. Warning, these highlights are gonna get long. The stream clocks in at about seven hours and forty-five minutes, and even though I was there for most of it, I did miss two and a half hours due to dinner and passing out candy, so I had to go back and re-watch what I missed to make sure I got everything. X’’D I’m glad I did, Bard and Lauren are hilarious together. Though I will say, take this with a grain of salt.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1192262969 

(Quick note, every time I say Alice, I’m referring to Twisted Alice, our primary angel for Chapter 3. Lauren refers to her as just Alice throughout the entire stream, so for the sake of consistency, we’re gonna do the same. Though I do find it interesting that she did it that way. It’s like only the handbook ever calls her Twisted Alice. X’’’D Literally no one else does but me.)

(Second note: part of this stream was used to promote a compilation video from Lauren’s “Dance with the Angel” challenge, where visual artists (illustrators, animators, cosplayers, make-up artists, etc) were encouraged to created some Alice Angel artwork to the tune of the song Lonely Angel. I’m gonna link it here because this is such a cool fan project, everyone did a great job and I want their great work to get acknowledged too!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MqcJ9AR4A8 

BATIM:

-Lonely Angel as a song was originally developed as early as Chapter 3, but the scene it belonged to was cut. It sounds like it was a pretty exciting ordeal though, her tone sounded really hyped talking about it.

-The original context of Lonely Angel as a song was a song from Susie to the demonic presence that was slowly taking her over. Lauren described the “angel voice” as being Susie and the “devil voice” as the demonic entity that takes her over by the end of Chapter 3. The song was meant to express how Susie was so glad to not be alone anymore now that this thing was with her. 

-Apparently it’s harder to scream in the “angel voice” than it is in the “devil voice,” which doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.

-Lauren lost her voice for three days after recording for Alice. It was her idea that the character should have a double-voice, since she’s half angel half devil, and as such she had to record every line as both voices so they could stitch together what made the most sense. She doesn’t regret it because the character sounds like she’s at her best. 

-One of the most heart-wrenching things Lauren discussed was that not long before Bendy, she was let go from a part that she had been doing for years because a company had decided to change directions and only work with union actors (something she wasn’t at the time). She was heartbroken over it. When her nephew Liam showed her Build Our Machine, and she started researching the game, she drafted an e-mail to the Meatly to see about joining the project, since it inspired her. She almost didn’t go through with it. Her husband convinced her to send it, saying that she had to give it a chance, and give the Meatly a chance to decide for himself if she was a good fit, rather than sabotaging herself before she even started. Lauren shared her story with the Meatly, and he was both sympathetic and inspired, asking if they could use what happened to her to inform the backstory for Susie’s character. The way she tells this story is amazing and full of character, I’m not doing it justice here. 

-Lauren is very big on making sure voice actors get proper credit, and there was a lot of confusion for who voiced Alice and who voiced Susie early on. She wanted Alanna Linayre to get acknowledged for her great work just as much as she wanted to be acknowledged, and that’s pretty admirable to me. Voice actors gotta stick together, ya know? 

-Lauren had a pretty big hand in helping bring Alice to life. It wasn’t just reading lines on a page, she helped develop the character through to the end. She recalled several stories of how the Meatly was so giddy but trying to play it cool whenever she had something new to share, one of those things was writing a song for Alice. 

-We’ve heard this story before, but we got it in more detail here. When Lauren had written Lonely Angel, she sent an audio recording over to the Meatly and didn’t hear back from him for a couple of weeks (apparently this is very common with him, he gets very deep in his work). When they got on a call, she asked if he had heard it, and he hadn’t. So unexpectedly in that moment, he got on some headphones and listened to it right then and there. Lauren had to mute herself because she was freaking out, but they both came out of it with the feeling that the song was amazing and they needed to include it. 

-When Lauren first got interested in Alice, it was because of the poster we all saw in Chapter 2 with her cartoon design. Apparently after she’d booked the role, the Meatly slid over and was like, ‘so, you wanna see what Alice REALLY looks like?’ And BAM, there was her concept art, which happens to be the picture of her in the apron that we see in the Archives chapter. Lauren was shocked to learn this character was one of the villains, but given she has a strong love for playing villain roles, I think it’s safe to say that this worked out. 

-Lauren has actually played through BATIM! Listen I know that’s a weird thing to call out, but I know of several people who don’t ever engage with the media they’re featured in, so I find it cool she’s played it. She had several comments about things she liked and didn’t like in regards to gameplay, including that Alice was a total jerk with the weapons she saddled you with (she laughed a lot while talking about this, it was sweet). She had a very strong reaction the first time she played Chapter 3 and didn’t get the Tommy gun. She also coached Bard through the Brute Boris boss fight, and commented that the lip of the stage was difficult to deal with. 

-It became a thing for the chat to repeat Wally’s “I’m outta here!” every time his tapes were played. Lauren encouraged this and giggled so much every time it happened. It was sweet! 

-The voice for Wally Franks was inspired by real people the Meatly knew, namely people who worked at his high school, a science teacher and a janitor.

-Originally the Meatly voiced all three Butcher Gang members, not just Charley.

-When asked about her favorite characters in the series, she pointed to a lot of the toons as her favorites, with Alice being pretty high up there. When asked who her favorite Butcher Gang member was, she was quick to say Edgar. 

-Lauren was very cheeky in referring to Bertrum Piedmont as “Bertie,” like you can hear the glee in her voice as she says it, and that just made me laugh. 

-Apparently the ballroom from the Brute Boris boss fight is one of Lauren's favorite rooms. Bard made a comment to that it was very obvious what the reference was, she agreed, and then said "Doesn't that chandelier look like its from Phantom of the Opera?" I'm gonna be real with you, I have yet to actually watch Phantom of the Opera, so I dunno, but I'm assuming that's what the room is referencing (unless you Bioshock players have something similar that I don't know about).

- "Was Alice Angel's death always planned? No, it wasn't. We actually had talked about a major event with her, but the problem was that it was so big that it took away from Bendy. And we have to remember that it's Bendy and the Ink Machine, not Alice Angel and the Ink Machine." ""We had this whole dynamic worked out and we were really excited." She paraphrased that the Meatly said "Lauren I'm gonna have to break your heart here, but I'm gonna give you a gift at the same time." "That gift was Allison." "It was a really tough decision for both of us because we really loved Alice." Additionally, the number of people who hated Alice's fetch quests seemed to influence the decision to kill the character off. Lauren made a comment about it feeling a little "forced" as a result, especially since she "had so much potential". She does agree though, the fetch section was really painful when it first came out, and bless the team for working so hard to fix it.

-"That was one of the harder things, establishing a yelling voice for Allison that was different from Alice Angel." Girl I feel that, I feel that so hard. X'''D Like I'm just a hobbyist and I have a hard time differentiating between characters, I can only imagine how much she's had to work through that. "There's a lot of games where I do a lot of battle cries." It’s true, Lauren’s got an EXTENSIVE number of roles from over the years (hard to believe she’s been at this voice acting thing since I was two years old). 

-The clarinet player for Lonely Angel is Joe Carello, and apparently he's super in love with Boris! She got him a Boris plushie and he was so excited for it, how sweet! (This is where I’m gonna apologize, as there is a good chance I’m getting the spelling of these names wrong.)

-Patrick McDougall, Lauren's audio engineer and producer is very experienced in the Hollywood scene, like he's worked with the Blues Brothers and on the Dick Tracy soundtrack, and that's why he was recommended to her. She was terrified to meet him, but he's an absolute gift and a total sweetheart. She referred to him as an "audio wizard," and it's the cutest thing, I love that.

-Lonely Angel was the first time Lauren had written a jazz song and worked with live jazz musicians! Yeah, that’s right, LIVE MUSICIANS.

-Andrew Carroll was the pianist on Lonely Angel. She referred to him as “her rock.” 

-Lauren went on for a while about how collaboration is a really great thing, making the point that there’s a balance to be found between holding true to your vision and being open to others’ ideas, and that just really resonated with me. It’s very true, and I think it’s something we should talk about more often.

-Fun fact, Joey Drew has TWO VOICE ACTORS! For Chapter 3, it’s David Eddings, but for Chapters 4 and 5, it’s another gentleman by the name of Dave Rivas. I never would’ve guessed, the two sound so similar and do such a great job bringing the character to life that I thought they were one and the same. So hats off to you gents! (I’d actually like to talk more about him and Lani Minella another time, scrolling through their roles over the years has shown some really interesting stuff.)

-Lauren made a comment about how Allison is a “deep character.” I really hope we get to hear more about this in the future.

-Okay, this is an indulgent note. I made a comment during the Beast Bendy boss fight, “ X'''D Listen, this is an ice rink and Henry doesn't know how to skate, let him hug the wall.” And Lauren responded with something to the effect of ‘is this Bendy on ice?’ Somehow this led to her saying she could not ice skate or dance, and one of the things she told the Meatly early on is that "You don’t want me to dance, but I can sing!”, which I just think is kind of fun. (I can’t ice skate either, and I lived in an area where hockey was a huge deal for years, so I empathize.) 

-The stream ends with someone known as Kiwi (a friend of theirs) cuing a sound clip of “Hello darkness my old friend” as Beast Bendy dies, and honestly it was amazing. That will forever live rent free in my head, the timing was PERFECT.

BATDR:

-Lauren Synger is the voice director for this game! She was also the voice director on Showdown Bandit and Boris and the Dark Survival. (Side note, she mentioned there was a lot of voice recording done for Showdown Bandit that we never got to hear, and she’d love to go back to that world at some point, though it doesn’t sound like any plans are set in stone currently.)

-Lani Minella is the casting director! Lani has been in a lot of legendary games. I know her best as Rouge the Bat back in Sonic Adventure 2 and Heroes, but here in the world of Bendy, you'll hear her as Lacie Benton, Emma LaMonte, and in Showdown Bandit as the Bandit himself. 

-When asked if Alice would be returning for BATDR, Lauren said she couldn’t say anything in regards to that, but she did say Allison would be returning, and that she was really excited for it. She also noted that the entire team wishes they could reveal more and talk about it because it’s such a fun project, but we’re gonna have to wait. It’s coming soon, and it’s a good time. It was along the lines of ‘it’s killing us just as much as it’s killing you.’ 

-She pronounced the acronym as “Bat Dr.” which isn’t really news, I just find it cute. When is Gwen getting her doctorate. X’’D 

And that’s all that I managed to catch on this stream (though there may be different things you find notable on your own watch-through). I know it’s not much in terms of new news, but like, I didn’t expect it to be. I was there to have a fun time watching someone experience Bendy for the first time, and that’s what I got. I really love hearing about the development history though. I’ve been around since close to the beginning of this series (I came in a month after Chapter 2 released), and there’s stuff that even I didn’t know that came out of this. There were stories I heard before that got more detailed too. Overall, it was a great way to spend Halloween, and I hope you give it a watch. Bard’s a really fun streamer and I think you’ll appreciate his content. A big thank you to both of them for hosting such a fun event!  Final thoughts? My god, this was fun, it was so much fun. Getting to hear more about one of my favorite characters, spending time with such a fun group of people? It was bliss. Here’s wishing you all a wonderful day! 

[felassan]

Highlights and insights from the MELE launch cast & crew reunion panel

[rewatch link] [highlights & insights from the N7 Day 2020 reunion]

In case a text format is better for anyone (in terms of accessibility for example). Cut for length.

Some paraphrasing.

If anyone’s interested in just the line-reading session, it starts at timestamp ~1:04:45.

In addition to the cast and crew from the N7 Day reunion, at this reunion also in attendance were: 

Mac Walters (Project Director for MELE, Lead Writer of the og MET)

Melanie Faulknor (Lead Producer for MELE)

Crystal McCord (Producer for MELE)

Fred Tatasciore (Saren)

Seth Green (Joker)

Kimberly Brooks (Ash)

Ash Sroka (Tali)

This was the biggest reunion / meetup of the cast so far, and some of the cast and crew were meeting for the first time here.

It’s been so long since the og MET that PW & KW are getting to watch their kids experience playing it for the first time

JHale doesn’t play but since MELE she’s been sneaking around Twitch jumping into peoples’ MELE livestreams to lurk, watch and comment a bit

What drew Seth to the character of Joker? The whole concept of the game. He likes games and MET’s mechanics (different trees of adventure, stacking reputation, choices carrying between games) at the time were the most sophisticated that he’d ever heard pitched. He thought this was new and exciting and wanted to be a part of it. For the character they cast him based on his personality traits (i.e. he sounds quite similar to Joker personality-wise)

Would Seth ever want to play Joker again if the opportunity presented itself? Sure, he loves the character, and if the writers ever had more things to explore/expand with Joker he’d be down for it. 

Seth said that it’s a different kind of fan that approach him about this project. The fans have spent many many hours in an intimate exchange with “him” that he hasn’t been a part of, but they experienced it nonetheless. “I’ve hugged a lot of strangers, you know what I’m saying? It’s great, you get an interaction with fans that you never get as a performer in any other experience”

Seth has been a space guy since he was little, it inspires him

With the state of the world the way it is now [covid, masks etc], does Ash think Tali’s story will be more impactful now than it was before? Ash hopes so, and that anything they do here will have a positive impact on a bigger level. Ultimately that’s why most of them do what they do, they want to reach people in deep ways. She hopes Tali is an inspiration in courage, bravery, standing up for what’s right and thinking about the greater good

The [MELE I think] dev team had a last team meeting with Greg Zeschuk, one of the founders of BioWare, who they had invited to it. He was regaling them with stories of the inception of Mass Effect. “You would imagine this sort of well-laid out, drawing boards everywhere... [but] it was basically just a napkin sketch in a Greek taverna with him and Casey going ‘We wanna do a space opera’, and then it took off”

The process of creating lore through development is very organic. A lot of it comes from character and story development. It builds up over the course of the game’s development. They did the codex entries at the end, the idea being that if they saved them for as late as they could, then they could pull from the story, characters and meaningful moments, and build them from there

PW wrote a bunch of the codex entries, elevator banter & lots of little bits of lore. They describe their time on the og MET as being a “baby writer”. They originally came in after Mac had back surgery and a junior writer was needed to fill in. “It was really fun, it was us sitting in a room together going ‘What do you think a hanar or a krogan thinks about this or that’?” For a first project for them this was an amazing experience - the world building itself creatively with all these awesome people

They tried to add multiplayer in every game but only got it to work in ME3

They had a lot of plots laid out in ME1 that they called “global plots”. These were outside the core critical path and would take players from planet to planet, and were sprawling stories. They pulled out a lot of really interesting concepts and ideas from these that did make it into the game, but all of the global plots ended up getting cut due to time. Mac still has old diagrams and spreadsheets which detailed how all of these would have come together

Q. If you all had to take a long-distance road-trip with two squadmates, who would you take and why? PW: “Jack and Mordin. Mordin because the drive would never lack for things to talk about at length quickly, Jack because you know you wouldn’t pay for the room. You wouldn’t know how you’d get the room, but you wouldn’t be paying for it.” Courtenay: “I’d take Mordin because there’d be singing, and FemShep just to have this thing - happen. In the room that I get for free.” JHale at this point fistpumped while saying “Yeess” [then I think what she said was “steaming hot”]

Seeing as asari are long-lived, how open is Ali to one day reprising her role as Liara? “She’s a character very close to my heart, it was such a great opportunity. In some games that we work on the character has already been created or voiced by someone else, but this was really a group effort. When I first went into the booth, the only thing I’d seen of her was a sort of like, rendering, and we slowly kind of came to her voice and presence. I would love to bring Liara back any time... hey, she can live a really long time guys. :D”

Caroline and people who do what she does (Creative Performance Director) are so critical to the quality of games. Caroline: “This group of people are extraordinary. We were lucky to have such an extraordinary cast. Every [recording] session was new and challenging. It was a labor of love. I’m tearing up right now thinking about it. I’m remembering my last session with Jen, she was the last session, just sobbing and sobbing”. When JHale was trying to say the lines of Shepard’s goodbye with Garrus, a line hit her like a tonne of bricks and she was in tears and was like “Shepard does not cry”. “It took me a second, I got it out and took another run at it, it was in there but stuffed down as it should have been, and I finished the line [and there was silence in the booth when usually Caroline would have been talking to give direction or instruction] Did we lose her? Did Skype crash?” and it transpired that what had happened was that Caroline was in floods of tears

ME was the first time Keythe had ever come across branching dialogue. “Normally when we work on a script and it’s from page 1 to 100. In this it was get to page 5, then go back to page 2 and play it a little differently. The skill and the fun and joy of it was to be able to go back and play a scene in a different way, with different writing, with different outcomes. This was not only a challenge but a real treat. So to all the writers who dreamed up how this build-your-own-adventure plays out, you have my undying respect. It was a real pleasure”

VEDA is a proprietary system that BW use to record the dialogue, which is the closest way of having it feel like having people in the booth together (it’s all digital and VAs get to hear the line someone else has done in that scene). Caroline really pushed for this because of the amount of time etc that was wasted due to lack of this sort of thing on ME1. William: “It was a god send for me, thank you, getting to hear a cue from Jen or Mark.” Ali: “Us being able to bounce off each other helps make it more real. This for me was the most real acting experience on a game I had ever had - the writing being so good, Caroline helping us through, being able to hear each other.” JHale was always early coming in to record relative to the others so only got to use VEDA a few times - a bit of Liara content and the scene with Anderson towards the end. “Those two times, oh my god it was amazing”. VEDA being a thing also helps from a scheduling standpoint

Seth and Tricia Helfer (EDI) only got to be in the booth actually together 1 time, to record/shoot a piece of promotional video. “We actually got to record a scene together and we were like ‘oh my god this is the best thing ever’. It was great, even though I had to stand on a stool. She’s the best”

Seth: “As an actor, the kind of opportunity to do this kind of material in games just didn’t exist.” Fred: “Oh, never! I had never had a villain part that was complicated like that. In a game? Never before, it was really interesting”

Raphael always goes back to the fact that ME brought more women into gaming than any other game before it. “The writing and the complexity of the relationships gave us so much ballast”. “This set this apart from running, shooting, gunning, looting”

JHale: “What I noticed in the times before when I got to be around fans, there was a huge hunger among women in the gaming world for something they could really jump into. They were starving for something which fed them what they deserved and needed”

Mac: “[praising Caroline] Caroline would often come to us as writers and challenge us and say, as an example, ‘Do we really need another male character to do this? Why are we writing another male character for this?’ She pushed that very early and to the betterment of everything we created”

PW: “Karin and Cookie and all of the editors across the trilogy, [were critical in] making sure that Shepard sounded consistent - [especially since] we had a large writing team, writers came and went, Mac is the only one with a significant writing contribution on each of the games”

PW: “[on game dev] It’s a process of getting hundreds of people pointed in the same direction, all believing that this is something worth doing”

Ash: “Having all the different possibilities and avenues, going back to play them all out in the different ways [really helped to round the character of Tali out and make her feel like a natural person]”.

VAs only get paid for the original recording sessions, not again (as in they don’t any royalties or anything from something like the remaster)

In MELE, they left all the original credits at the end of each game in

Fred: “It’s creating in five dimensions [because of all the outcomes and relationships etc]”. Seth: “The cool thing is that the audience feels that. They’re immediately struck by how dense, thought-out, prepared and planned the entire universe is”

How was it for the new MELE devs coming onto this? Crystal: “I knew it [the series and fans’ love for it] was big, but I didn’t know it was BIG! Working on MELE there was this infectious excitement. Being part of it was so exciting.” Melanie: “I came on at ME3, I had a 3 or 4 year honeymoon period with BioWare. Coming onto MELE, I’m getting really emotional. One of my first meetings originally was going into a cinematic review for an epic Tali scene in ME3”. Crystal: “On MELE, we had an hour or 2 every day where the team came together to play the game. In those reviews, a lot of the devs who worked on the original would tell all these stories. It was really fun to hear all the inside stories on ME’s creation and be a part of that”

DC: “Should this unit get vaccinated?” Ash: “Of course”

How do they think ME will be viewed in the next 10-20 years, what do they think its legacy will be? A piece of history, ground-breaking. It broke down some barriers and opened doors for people. It’s a powerful, powerful community. It’ll continue to age quite well and be enjoyed by a new generation, it’s original and evergreen and there’s a lot in it that people go back to. There’s a lot of universal things in it (personal experiences, like there will always be love, people fighting to belong, trying to make sense of their pasts etc)

JHale and Alix did the “I love you Shepard, now go save the world again” Shep-Sam exchange and both got teary. It was then Seth’s turn to line-read: “Jesus Christ, now that I’m good and choked up, fucking mess”. Ali was also actually crying from it

Seth: “It can’t be overstated, this community is so large and global, it is one of the most powerful fandoms that I’ve ever been greeted with. Thank you”. Ash: “It’s the most amazing group of fans ever. We’re all so grateful”

Some funny anecdotes/stories:

PW didn’t realize that Alix could do different accents. They remember a time when they were listening in the booth and an Alliance soldier was complaining about the gear had been given. They said “Wow that’s really good, who is that?” and the VO producer said “That’s Alix, Patrick”, “because she wasn’t doing her [normal British accent but was doing a Californian accent instead]. Alix roasted me later for not recognizing her voice and never let me heard the end of it”

Alix: “[on Sam’s toothbrush] Caroline’s like, ‘So then she pulls her toothbrush’ and I’m like ‘What? Sorry? A toothbrush?’ and obviously it’s funny now as everyone knows that Sam’s thing is her toothbrush. Caroline’s like ‘Yeah, you’ve gotta like, flirt, over the toothbrush’ and I’m like ‘Who wrote this - a frickin toothbrush, are you kidding me? Really guys?’ ANYWAY. I was wrong and it worked. :D”

Fred: “I remember a 12 year old kid coming up to me and being like [flat tone] ‘Oh yeah. I killed you’.”

Keythe: “The other assasin I play is Kellogg in Fallout 4. People come up to me like ‘Omg. I love you so much. And then I fucking KILLED you!’”

Courtenay once went out to dinner in NZ with a few prominent people from the Game of Thrones cast. “Everyone around was making a big deal out of it like ‘Omg, it’s so-and-so from GoT’. I was feeling a bit like ‘Hi, I’m here, just nobody’. And I looked around in the restaurant and there's one guy in the corner and he’s got an N7 shirt on and he’s just looking at me like [knowing look, does a peace sign]. And I’m like ‘I got one! I love you guys!’”

PW: “I have a question for the cast members, because I don’t know if JHale has done this to all of you or if she just does it to the devs. Show of hands if Jen has ever made you do push-ups.” JHale: “It’s just you guys”

Karin: “One of my favorite editing files that I ever had was a ME file. It was before Seth was coming in for a session. I opened it up and it was just 20, 25 lines with the word ‘Shit’, over and over again, and I was like, ‘This file is perfect, I don’t need to do anything to it, have fun!’”

Seth: “Didn’t we do a track that’s like 60 seconds of laughing? Escalating laughing? I don’t know about other actors but for me getting into a laughing fit is kind of like trying to get into a crying fit, it takes the same level of commitment, you start to follow a path until like you’re hysterically uncontrollably laughing. I remember looking through the glass, and I’m deep in it at this point, and I make eye contact, and I can see from the other side of the booth and they’re like [making ‘okay you can stop’ now gestures] - ‘Like that’s plenty, we got it’ and I was like ‘okay, okay [dying]’”

JHale: “The craziest thing Mark and I had to deal with was how many times we had to say ‘I should go’”. Mark: “We also, Caroline and I tended to use that as short hand when I needed to go to the bathroom”

The panel host: “The first time I interviewed Ali was a decade ago. She did the ‘I’ll flay you alive with my mind’ line halfway through, it was my first interview and I literally fell out of my seat [from being star-struck]”

Ash line-read Tali’s drunk omni-tattoo scene and in response DC said “I totally get why people wanna romanticize all these characters :D”. Karin: “We’ve had more than one person come up to us and show us actual tattoos that looked like that”

[source]

[thehouseoflamentation]

What do the obey me boys think about cock warming?? The thirst is too real with this group lol

ALSKFLSGLSIWDG IT IS!!! >///<

~NSFW~

Lucifer

He’s amazed at how much he enjoyed it after trying it with you once. Because of his pride, it becomes a little game for him to see which one of you can last the longest before trying to move around to get more stimulation. Hint: it's usually him.

He once had you warm his cock while he was finishing some papers for the next student council meeting. You were both clothed and the parts of you that weren’t were hidden behind his writing desk. As you sat on his lap, he looked over your shoulder and kept filling out each document. He intended to reward you once he was done but that seductive expression of his quickly turned into dread as Diavolo suddenly burst through the door holding out another report file that needed to be filled. Lucifer was mortified and had to spend the next 20 minutes trying to hide the fact that his dick was inside you. After that Lucifer became very adamant about locking doors before starting any fun with you.

Mammon

When you suggested cock warming for the first time Mammon’s jaw practically hit the floor. You had sex before but for some reason this felt naughtier to him. He did agree to try it and while he enjoyed it, he found it hard not to move when he was inside you. You felt so warm and tight around him how could he resist?

As much as he loves being inside you he just can’t sit still. Usually all your cock warming sessions end with him snapping his hips forward and fucking you then and there unable to control himself any longer. Cockwarming also brings out the sub in Mammon. All you have to do is take a seat and watch him turn into a crying, blushing mess as he begs you let him move.

Leviathan

Leviathan would sit in his room for hours watching anime, playing video games, or livestreaming the latest idol event so why not give him something to enjoy at the same time? You first tried cock warming when he was playing a video game and while if definitely felt good his brain must have overloaded from embarrassment because his hands were shaking so hard he couldn’t even hold the controller.

He’s far too shy to ask for it but he does enjoy it nonetheless. He tries to avoid doing anything that requires his attention while your warming up his cock because there is no way he’ll be able to focus on anything but the feeling of you wrapped around him. After a while though it’ll start to feel unbearable and he’ll try to rock his hips to get some movement going.

Satan

He had to admit you were pretty bold to suggest cock warming. When he first agreed to it you sat on his lap and took in every inch of him, staying perfectly still as he read through one of the thousands of books in his room. It took every bit of restraint he had to stop himself from just thrusting into you and going all the way.

Although it took some time to get used to just sitting still, Satan did enjoy the feeling of your warmth and tightness as you twitched around his cock. It certainly made reading books together a lot more interesting.

Asmodeus

Asmodeus loved the idea of cock warming. The thought of being connected and so close to fucking was a huge turn on for him. He would let you climb into his lap and lower yourself onto him while he did his nails or make up. It felt so casual and nonchalant that he was thinking of making it a habit between the two of you.

While you were staying perfectly still he would sometimes “accidentally” shift while reaching for something. He just could resist teasing you while you were stuck like that.

Beelzebub

Beel had no idea what cock warming was but you seemed interested in it so he decided to try it with you. At first he was a bit confused because here he was with his dick buried deep inside you and yet neither of you were moving.

He would try to continue doing whatever he was doing before but with you on his lap he couldn’t focus for long. His breathing would start to get ragged as he gently bucked his hips into yours. Since Beel loves working out, you would sometimes use cock warming as “special endurance training” to see how long he’ll last before losing himself in you.

Belphegor

He ADORES cock warming and isn’t shy to ask for it when he’s in the mood. Getting to fill you with his cock and just lie back as he watches you squirm and twitch turns him on to no end.

Once you take him in, be prepared to stay there for a long time. Since he isn’t using up any energy while you’re doing this he can last for hours with his cock just buried inside you. When he finally gives in, he'll just bounce your hips and let you ride him until your legs go limp.

[mintseesaw]

Attractive

Pairing: namjoon!idol x reader

Genre: FLUFF, soft hour namjoon activated, established relationship

Word count: 2.4k

Summary: When you decided to visit your boyfriend to persuade him to go home, he threw you off guard with his charms— a weakness of yours that you’re unaware of.

*unedited

The attraction you felt when you met Namjoon was instantaneous, not some kind of a love-at-first-sight thing. It was more of an appreciation and a certain mysterious pull that made you want to know him further. No love involvement whatsoever.

Somewhere along the lines of getting to know him, it was him, his being—his warm heart, kind soul, and creative mind that did the spell on you. When you try to ponder things over... It must have been fate quitting your previous job which you never even thought of letting go. If you didn’t let your instinct rule you over at that point...

Your paths might have not crossed. Ever.

About a year ago, a new boy group debuted. And it was two years before that when you got accepted to be one of their managers. The rest...is history.

It’s late.

The production team finished the activity earlier than expected. Everyone else eagerly left after that. You stayed though, because the boys decided to play video games in the lounge room. About an hour have passed, they wrapped it up and went home some minutes ago.

Now there’s a moment of silence inside the office you share with the other managers. You should probably go home. Eat, take a shower, and talk to your boyfriend through the phone for a few minutes. Tomorrow will be a long day, and you may not have the time to hear from him until late in the evening.

Ding. The familiar tone from your phone signals a notification.  By a single peak from your phone, it revealed a notification that the BTS account is on live.

Absentmindedly, you click the ‘open’ bubble. The screen momentarily turns black while it loads. Unexpectedly, a familiar figure invaded the screen of your phone.

The very subject of your thoughts!

By the looks on setting on his back, it tells you Namjoon is in his studio. That’s only a floor up to your office. Yet, you didn’t know he was available. Was. If you knew he was free, you would have gone to him.

Few minutes have passed, your eyes remain glued to your screen. However, you couldn’t completely pay attention to half the words he was saying as your eyes scrutinize every little detail he makes.

When he pauses every now and then to think or breathe... because he talks quite fast like the rapper himself. The way he rubs his nose or scrunches his nose making his eyes disappear. His hands going in every direction to amplify his story. And when he did or say something embarrassing, he would always laugh and sheepishly cover his face.

It was times like this—him on a livestream, that you get the freedom to watch him in a sense of merely observing, and appreciating him without him shying away for catching you staring at him for too long.

His livestreams, as years and months flew by, turned into more and more personal. When he communicates with their fans, he now allows himself to be vocal. Letting himself voiced out his thoughts—fears, and expectations for the world to hear, it was a different kind of strength and confidence you see in him.

He used to caged all of it in. It gives you a sense of relief and peace that he has gradually recovered from the dark days.

This one is no different to his previous ones.

However—the exhaustion on his face and in his eyes are much— more evident. 

Your ears figuratively perked up as you registered some parts of what he was saying.

He woke up at 4 in the morning?

Sighing, your eyes shut for a second before staring back at him through the screen of your phone.

He did really look tired.

If only you can at this rate, you would ask him to go home and take a rest, instead. But knowing him, he would ignore any call while he’s on live. And you wouldn’t want to be imposing, especially when it comes to him talking with their fans.

The longer you watch, the harder it is to ignore your growing concern and the dull ache in your heart at the mere sight of him—

He even admitted he barely slept last night! How dare he be so mindless of his health!

Namjoon heaved a long sigh. His shoulders slumping, back colliding on the cushioned backrest of the sofa. He didn't know how he found the strength to pad across the hall towards the lounge room. If not only for the broken air conditioning unit in his studio...

His eyelids felt heavier than ever. Fluttering, as he lets his arms rest on his sides.

He could probably drowse in this position. He has no energy left in him to go home. It was a long day for him, and he clearly needed a good, peaceful sleep to recharge his energy back. But he felt like he couldn’t walk anymore.

Filming their title track’s music video was not as exhausting as the days when they had to practice all day.

Right now, it was getting into him. Piled from the months spent through sleepless nights, hectic schedule, world tour.

His happy pill is not here.

At the sudden thought of you, his lips unconsciously protruded. Sulking.

He misses you. Even though he just saw you yesterday, had a quick lunch with you and the rest of the boys, it’s clearly not the same. Because when others are present, he misses the opportunity to shower you with kisses. Knowing his girlfriend, you don't like displaying affection in front of the boys, or with the company’s staff around.

He’s not sure if you’re still at work, though it would be easier for him to see you if you are.

Abruptly, he checked his phone, then muttered a curse under his breath when the time appears on the screen.

12:22 AM

Tomorrow, perhaps?

Eager to ask you of your whereabouts, ready to compose a text for you, he suddenly heard the glass door swung open.

Instinctively, he looked at the door’s direction, expecting to see one of the boys. Probably looking as exhausted as he is, or carrying some snacks to eat here inside the lounge.

At the sight of the intruder, Namjoon’s face lit up. Sitting up straight as a smile instantly went on its way to his face.

“Hey... I went to your studio.” you greeted. A sleeve-covered white paper cup on your hand.

Namjoon jumped out of his seat and met you half-way. Suddenly finding the strength to carry himself, close the distance and pull you in a passionate kiss.

Intending to greet him with a kiss, you let him sway you with his lips.

“You’re here...” He manages to mumble in between kisses, in complete awe. Like he couldn’t believe you are here in the same room with him.

Despite working in the same building, it’s not as easy as it seems to see each other, and have you for himself.

You hum against his mouth. The supposed small peck of greeting turned into a full make out session as his tongue uninvitedly went past your lips. You let him take over, finding a sudden solace at the taste of him.

You almost forgot about the hot drink around your fingers as the warm palms of his hands squeezing your cheeks, securing you in his advantage to dominate your mouth.

When his lips left yours for a second, you thought he was finally pulling away. The grasp of your fingers to the cup tightens as his lips proceeded to plant tiny kisses on your parted lips, multiple times.

“Joon—“ you manage to mumble, gasping for air when he finally let go of your lips.

You felt his forehead rested against yours and when your eyelids flutter open, you were met with his longing, brown eyes.

“I’m sorry I got carried away.” He mumbled, breathing heavily to make up from the oxygen he has deprived himself of while dominating your mouth.

A smile spreads across your face, almost forgetting the reason why you went to look for him.

“It’s fine.”

His eyes found the cup in your hand. You gave him a small nod when he made a gesture, pointing to himself, like he was asking if it’s for him.

Namjoon smiled, appreciating your thoughtfulness. “It’s late, but I don’t mind another cup of coffee.”

With his free hand, he dragged you with him as he proceeded on the sofa.

When he placed the paper cup on the coffee table, you revealed, “Actually, it’s a classic chocolate.”

His eyebrows perked up, before the corner of his mouth twitched. “Even better.”

The proximity is to his advantage, allowing him to maneuver your body much closer to him. However, when you refused to sit, he decided to change his initial intention, burying his nose on your clothed skin, just below the mid-area of your breasts.

“Joon,” Softly protesting, you remain standing on your feet, in between his thighs. Despite your verbal objection, your hands went over his shoulders. Resting your elbows there, encouraging him more than stopping him.

“Hmm...” Namjoon hummed, feigning innocence.

Your fingers found his hair, combing the soft, purple locks in a soothing motion. 

“You should take a rest.”

You can feel his warm breath against your clothed skin. And somehow, it takes away the brief sadness in your heart at the sight of your boyfriend. The same way your warmth, your distinct scent evading his sense of smell and the kisses you shared with him mere seconds ago did miracles on his mood right now.

If time would permit, he would ask you to stay with him. But he knew you needed sleep as much as his body craves for it. His soul, on the other hand, longs for something that not even a good amount of rest can fill in.

“This is better than sleep itself.” He murmured against your skin.

It’s true. You being here is something he needed right now. He wishes you two can spend the night together. Nothing else can make him feel better. Just you, in his arms.

“Your body would say otherwise, Joon. Come, we’ll get you home.”

He didn’t respond. Then a low groan vibrated on his chest against your abdomen.

Sighing, your free hand rubs his back ever so tenderly. Your job may not be the same as his, but you perfectly understand how demanding his career can be.

“Alright.” you uttered, almost succumbing to the feel of his warmth.

His arms tighten their hold around your waist. Not too tight to hurt you, but enough for you to understand his gesture.

He must have missed you, like how you are longing to have a moment with him.

It was as if he heard your thoughts. Because a moment later, he spoke after a long moment of silence. “I missed you...”

Your teeth harshly pierce through your bottom lip to restraint the moisture in your eyes that is threatening to come out. “I know. I miss you too, my love.” You whispered, tenderly.

Pushing his shoulder a little to have a glimpse on his beautiful face, his head tilted back to meet your gaze. His emotions seeping through the rawness of his eyes as they search yours. A warm sensation enveloped in the span of your chest.

It was him who always takes charge. Your tender, little heart always seeks his whole being. But right now, it was the other way around. His eyes spoke of vulnerability.

His arms lose their grip around you, but not enough to completely release you out of his hold.

“Are you okay now?” You asked. Fingers brushing the soft, fluffy skin of his cheek.

Nodding, “Hmm. Better.” His voice, raspy and low.

After a moment of peace, nuzzling your clothed skin, you broke the comforting silence.

“I watched your live…” You said, randomly, to which had earned his attention.

He tilted his head to curiously peer at you for a second, “How was it?”

“Entertaining.”

Your answer made him pout.

Laughing from the cute display in front of you, you proceeded to ask, “Why? What’s wrong?” You couldn't help but to cup his cheeks.

“Not what I expected to hear.”

“What were you expecting then?”

“Nevermind.”

“Joonie—”

“Am I not to your liking?”

Taken aback at his question, you blinked a few times. Then fell into fits of giggle. “Joon, what are you talking about? You’re my boyfriend.”

He must be really delirious. In dire need of rest.

But he seemed not one bit pleased at your reaction.

“Sure, but not attractive enough to your taste?”

The scenario may seem serious if it happened in another circumstance, but the way he was reacting… it was nothing but a cute display of a big baby sulking.

Although his question bothers you a little—is he blind or something? Does he not see himself in the mirror? Not attractive enough to your taste? Seriously, Kim Namjoon? Not attractive enough?!

Your standards may have reached the peak of Mt. Everest. But Namjoon, just by being himself... surpassed it all. In academic terms, he passed your standards with flying colors. He made all your fears and doubts vanished and created a hard, indestructible trail to your heart.

“Are you sure you’re not on high or something?”

You couldn't even take it seriously. For a moment, you pondered over the possibility that he might be tipsy or have a bit of alcohol in his system. But when he kissed you… you’re certain there’s no trace of alcohol in his mouth.

“Nah... Just tired... and extremely deprived of your love.” He confessed, all of a sudden.

“Deprived... of my love?” You repeated in disbelief. “We just saw each other yesterday.”

Now, you’re more convinced he needs to go home.

”Still—“

“I should probably call Sejin-sunbaenim. I heard, you guys have an early schedule tomorrow.”

His lower lip only adorably protruded more. Mouth parting in protest, “See, you’re gonna take me away from you. Really, really deprived.”

Shaking your head, you cupped his cheeks, forcing him to look at your pleading eyes. “Joon, baby, you look like you’re about to pass out on me. Please, rest.”

He stilled, looking away... his eyes avoiding contact with yours.

“Tomorrow, okay?” You pressed more, trying to convince him to your will. Crouching down to his eye level, your lips landed on his forehead.

His eyelids voluntarily flutter close at the feeling of your warm, plump lips, trailing down to his cheek, then to the tip of nose, and finally to his waiting lips.

Mumbling against his lips, “I’ll go see you tomorrow, I promise.”

When you retreat back, his eyes glint with profound joy. Smiling widely, letting his dimples show.

“Fine.” He muttered under his breath, momentarily in daze from the ghosts of your kisses.

Posted on 16 Mar 2020

© mintseesaw

[vienna-olive]

Dream SMP: Using Minecraft as a Vessel for a Storyline

With viewers worldwide, members of a popular Minecraft server known as the Dream SMP have drawn in viewers through their original roleplay content, using Minecraft as a vessel to tell a story and have fun with each other outside of the plot line. Over the past couple of months, members have broken some of the highest viewer counts on the live streaming platform Twitch, with long time member TommyInnit having a record high live viewer count of 650,237 and other long-time Dream SMP member, Tubbo, with 332,671.

THE ORIGIN OF THE SMP

The Dream SMP is a private and whitelist survival multiplayer (SMP) server in the game Minecraft created by the content creator known as Dream. The server’s beginning was streamed on Twitch April 24, 2020 and featured members of the group known as the Dream Team composed of content creators Dream, GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap, and BadBoyHalo. At the time the server originated, all members (producing content and not just friends of the cast) were at or less than 1 million subscribers on Youtube. According to Youtube, 1 million is a great milestone: “We’re honored to celebrate them when they reach Creator Award subscriber milestones,'' 1 million being one of those milestones. Its initial rise to popularity, however, began around July and August of 2020, when seventeen-year-old Minecraft livestreamer from the UK, Tommy “TommyInnit”, joined the SMP and began a series of arguments and banter with other members of the SMP. It would also ignite what is known as the Disc Saga: music discs acquired by Tommy that he and Dream would continue to fight about until January of the next year. TommyInnit didn’t just bring bickering, though, he also brought along many more members that would later become some of the most statistically large names of the SMP and the Minecraft community in general: Tubbo and Wilbur Soot. Wilbur Soot, particularly, played a critical role in the growth of the SMP.

BEGINNING OF THE STORYLINE

Originally, nobody had planned on the SMP becoming what it is today: whether that is from a high viewership perspective or how unexpected the creation of a plot line was. As far as plot, it was Wilbur “Soot” Gold that created it. He tells in an Insider interview that “I was invited into the Dream SMP near its inception but I only joined fully when I had an idea for building a country in Minecraft”. In the SMP’s infancy, Soot began creating an “illegal potion shop” that would spin off into a nation of non-American members called L’Manberg. He further tells Insider how he writes for the SMP, saying “I write up a series of plot hooks and points that should tie together, however we improv dialogue and comedy throughout to take us from point to point”. As Soot mentioned, these streams and videos that take place aren’t simply the players getting in-game achievements; the lore functions as would a television show, with some episodes holding more relevant pieces of plot and some just being the in-between pieces to help the plot develop. Another early member, Fundy, mentioned that the server went from “a casual survival game to a whole story-line filled with plots and twists,” and that “role-playing is a key feature of the Dream SMP, some parts are scripted, some parts are improv, and some parts are ‘non-canon’, where it is just counted as a standard Minecraft server”. The unique nature of the Dream SMP makes it viewable for people who may not be as invested in the lore as others. Additionally, moderator of the popular “DREAMSMP UPDATES!” account on Twitter with over 205,000 followers, NotAlex, told Insider “The Dream SMP did something really special--taking an original idea, creating new things that have never been seen on Minecraft and incorporating them with humor and characters that you can become easily attached with”. This statement is backed up by Youtube statistics: little over a year ago Dream had 1 million subscribers and currently has over 21 million Youtube subscribers, boasting over 1.8 billion views on his main channel. The numbers speak for themselves, and this is what people appear to like. In addition, there have been other SMP roleplay servers such as SMPLive or SMPEarth, but none of them have pertained to as large of a demographic as the Dream SMP has.

WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE PLOT?

The SMP can be mapped into two different sections: Before Tommy, which was non lore-based streaming, and After Tommy, where he started an initial piece of lore and his friend Wilbur Soot created a storyline that would play off of that. The depths of the SMP can be broken down into many different smaller sections with different character analysis and connecting different plot points to each other, however here are is the most basic ideas of the plot:

Note: This is all roleplay and none of the malicious attitudes portrayed by the characters are that of the players themselves

*Indicate ongoing pieces of plot

1.Disc Saga: Tommy obtains music discs that become his prized possessions. Dream picks on Tommy and tries to steal them so he can have power over him. Tommy recruits his friend Tubbo to help him retrieve them. Ultimately, the Disc Saga ends January 2021 after Tommy and Tubbo retrieve them and send Dream to prison.

2. L’Manberg War: TommyInnit and Wilbur Soot create a new country entitled L’Manberg in hopes to create something “better” than the world of the basic Dream SMP. Upset with this, Dream declares war on the few members of L’Manberg against his own forces. L’Manberg seems to be winning and their ally, Eret, brings them to a final control room where it seems as if they were to get powerful gear to fight against Dream. However, Eret instead reveals to be a traitor and all members of L’Manberg lose one of their three lives. Here, the infamous phrase of the SMP is coined by Eret: “It was never meant to be'' and L’Manberg is blown up for the first time. It is also here where Dream and Tommy have a duel to decide the fate of L’Manberg’s independence. Dream wins, however Tommy gives his discs to Dream in order to give L’Manberg independence.

3. L’Manberg Election and Electoral Fallout: Wilbur Soot and Tommy run as President and Vice President of L’Manberg under the name POG2020 in order to show their citizens that it functions like a democracy. They have two main opposing sides: SWAG 2020, Quackity and GeorgeNotFound, and SCHLATT 2020, JSchlatt, who pool their votes together. The creators of L’Manberg, POG 2020, won the majority of votes, but because SWAG and SCHLATT pooled their votes, SWAG/SCHLATT 2020 won the election. As the new president of L’Manberg, Schlatt revokes the citizenship of Wilbur Soot and Tommy and they are forced into exile where they begin to work with long time Minecraft player Technoblade in an underground commune known as “Pogtopia''.

4. Manberg/Pogtopia War: Schlatt renames L’Manberg to “Manberg'' and it begins to function similarly to a dictatorship. Wilbur is driven to insanity as he cannot stand his beloved country falling into the hands of someone else. Throughout this time period, many members of Manberg escape to join forces with Pogtopia. In a final Pogtopia conflict, the forces of Manberg and Pogtopia clash and Pogtopia takes the victory. They reclaim the land and Tubbo becomes the President. Everything seems to be going fine, however, Wilbur leaves the celebration and enters a small secret room that is presumably connected to 736 pieces of TNT under L’Manberg. Just as Wilbur is about to turn his back on his allies, his father finds him and asks “what are you doing”. Wilbur explains “the thing that I built this nation for doesn’t exist anymore... it’s over”. He repeats the infamous saying that happened before L’Manberg was blown up once before and reveals himself to be the traitor of his own nation: “It was never meant to be”. Destruction occurs and Wilbur forces his father to kill him. This is Wilbur’s last death.

5. Exile Conflict: After the war, citizens begin repairing the damages of the nation. Meanwhile, Tommy and, at the time, new member Ranboo set GeorgeNotFound’s house to flames. Tommy takes the fall for this as Dream pressures for Tubbo to exile Tommy, his best friend, as punishment. Ultimately it is decided that Tommy will be exiled, alone. Dream visits Tommy a lot during exile to manipulate him into thinking they were friends. Later, Dream blows up Tommy's exile home and Tommy runs away to live with Technoblade and tries to restore the allyship they once had. They stick together until Tommy and Tubbo forgive each other and Tommy leaves Techno. Tubbo accepts Tommy back into L’Manberg and at this point, Dream has both of Tommy’s prized discs.

6. End of the Disc Saga: Dream leaves Tommy a compass and tells him that only he and Tubbo are allowed to meet him where the compass leads, otherwise the discs will be gone forever. They meet up and Dream brings them to his lair where he shows his plans to collect prized possessions from every member of the SMP so he has control over them. Dream threatens that Tommy can choose between the discs or Tubbo’s last canon life. Tubbo tells Tommy to choose the discs as he says that Dream “described me as a pawn, and this is checkmate”. However, Punz, a merchant that Tommy paid in hopes to make amends, arrived with the rest of the SMP to Dream’s lair. They all discover the truth about how Dream wants to have blackmail on them all. Tommy takes 2 of Dream’s canon lives, all of his belongings, and sends him to an inescapable prison. Tommy secures the discs and the disc saga ends as Tommy and Tubbo listen to the discs at their favorite location.

7. Prison Arc*: Tommy has visited Dream in prison several times, but went to say goodbye to Dream for the last time before starting a new chapter in his life. However, while Tommy is inside, TNT goes off somewhere around the prison and it is forced into lockdown. Based on a contract Tommy signed, he had to stay in the prison until the guard figures out what happened. While they were trapped, Dream taunts him in a playful manner, but Tommy is still shaken about it as the prison reminds him of several traumatic moments that happened in his past (the L’Manberg final control room and exile). Tommy is told of a resurrection book that Dream supposedly has. Tommy is skeptical and lashes out on Dream questioning him on why Tommy should believe. Dream beats Tommy’s body and Tommy dies. His closest colleagues are told of his death and many blame themselves. Days later, Tommy is resurrected from Dream in the prison, however, nobody knows that he got resurrected. Dream and Tommy discover that 1 day on the SMP is 1 month in the afterlife, meaning Wilbur has been in the afterlife for 9 years also meaning that Wilbur is the most informed person on the SMP. Dream plots to bring Wilbur back to life as he thinks that he will get Wilbur to break him out of prison.

8. Blood Vines*: Mysterious red vines have covered the SMP and emerge from what they call the “Egg”. Member known as BadBoyHalo becomes closest with the vines as he can hear them talking to him. He tells many people that “the egg demands blood” and tries to get members to join the Egg’s side, yet many refuse.

WHERE IT IS HEADED

It doesn’t seem like any of the fans are going anywhere, especially considering SMP members continuously reach the top spots on Youtube’s trending page. The Minecraft community in general has begun to flourish during the COVID-19 quarantine, as it has brought back older players that need something to do while stuck inside as well as the new generation of kids consuming this type of entertainment. It is safe to say that the Dream SMP storyline will continue to captivate viewers through its original use of Minecraft at least until the plot ultimately ends. To find more in depth information about the Dream SMP plot as well as the players themselves, visit the Dream SMP Wiki at dreamteam.fandom.com.

[punkpoemprose]

December 5th- Livestream

Universe: 2010′s AU Streamer! Anna AU Rating: Teen (maybe I’ll do a smutty followup at some point!) Length: 4368 Words

A/N: Sorry this is a little late. I didn’t have wifi for most of the day so I spent it doing other Christmas things instead of writing.

“So you’ve really never played a videogame before?” She asked, “Like you didn’t play Pokémon or Mario as a kid?”

She was sitting, cross-legged, atop one of the four washers in the apartment complex’s laundry room, snacking on Nacho Doritos and undoubtedly making a mess in a room meant for cleaning things. Across from her, pulling clothes from the drier was her neighbor Kristoff. She wouldn’t admit it to anyone except for maybe her sister, but she’d been intentionally doing her laundry on the same schedule he did his, He wasn’t usually the social sort from what Anna could tell, but she found him very attractive and relished the weekly opportunity to get to know him better. Also, secondarily, but no less importantly, it gave her the opportunity to stare at his very tones ass as he bent over to remove his clothes from the dryer. That he always wore basketball shorts on laundry day was proof enough to her that God was real and she or he wanted Anna to thrive. Or to be tested for her strength of will. Perhaps both.

“Not really,” he admitted with a shrug, “I grew up mostly playing hockey. One of the ice rinks used to have a pinball machine, and I played that, bit it probably doesn’t count.”

Anna snorted and set down the bag of chips, shaking her head and wiping her fingers on her sweatpants. He was a totally unique guy, vastly different than the “pretty boys” she normally took an interest in. Her attraction to him ever growing since the day he moved in. That day, when she’d first noticed him, she’d been given the great pleasure of watching him lift heavy boxes through her window, and then through her peephole after he’d climbed the stairs.

“Did it have a screen or a ball?” She asked, more as a joke than anything given that she knew the obvious answer.

“Touché,” he replied.

She took one last good look at his rear as he straightened up, appearing to be satisfied that all his clothes were out of the dryer and into his green laundry basket. The smell of his dryer sheets wafted over to her from the open dryer as he shifted out of the space and she decided that she needed to up her laundry scent game. It was unfair that someone was allowed to be as attractive as he was and to also smell like lavender and citrus and all the good things on the Earth.

She noticed, probably a bit creepily if she was being honest with herself, that he wore boxer briefs. And since she’d first noticed it weeks before the image of him wearing them and nothing else had haunted her late-night thoughts like a sexy specter. As a result, it had provided her of the most perfect mental picture of what he might look like in her apartment, in her bedroom, undressed and giving her the eye. She bit her lip trying to rid herself of the thought, lest he glance over at her and see her giving him bedroom eyes, or worse, drooling all over herself. He probably didn’t even realize that he was weapons grade sexy, because that made him even more attractive in her books.  

“Sometimes I play solitaire on my computer if I’m waiting fi something to load,” he offered in his own defense.

He was turning towards her now, proving her concerns correct. He rested his basket against his hip as he leaned back on the now empty dryer. His sheepish smile and tone told Anna that he knew that the defense was not particularly convincing in anyway, but that he needed to at least try.

“That’s just sad,” she teased, shaking her head as if she truly were severely disappointed in him instead of just joking around.

“Well not everyone plays videogames for a living Anna.”

It wasn’t an attack really, but more of a statement. When she’d started talking to him the words may have had more sting, but now, knowing him and his gruff but kindly manner, she took it for the joke and defense of his lack of experience that he meant it to be. If he had a flaw it was that he was a bit of a grump. He’d never been mean though, and she was already watching him soften more and more by the day.

“Well not everyone is a chef either Kristoff,” she replied, “It takes all types to make the world go round.”

“I’m a baker,” he corrected.

He rolled his eyes at her when she shrugged and gave him her best “po-tay-to, po-tot-o” look. The look and sigh of exasperation that this rewarded her made her laugh. There was little better than the playful exchanges she could have from him in just looks, and it was one of the many reasons why she enjoyed being around him. They didn’t know each other very well yet, but she still felt like he got her somehow.

“And also, just so you know, you sound like my mother.”

“She’s a wise woman.”

She of course knew that he was a baker, but she hadn’t really realized that he’d rather be called a baker than a chef. Either way, she was still hoping that maybe someday he’d show up at her door with dinner, or a cake or something, just so she could invite him in.

“That she is.”

A silence fell between them as he folded his things and while Anna swapped her own clothes out of the washer and into the dryer. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, but rather a companionable one. That was of course, until they both seemed to come to the realization simultaneously that one of them would be leaving sooner or later.

“You can change it by the way,” Anna offered.

“My mother being wise?”

She almost laughed. She hadn’t met his mother, but she doubted that with a son like him she had the power to change anything about her. If anything, she might ask her for some wisdom of her own.

“Oh gosh, no. All mothers, or at least all the ones I’ve met, have been wise. No, I meant the ‘never played a videogame’ thing.”

He shrugged at first, but then gave her a look betraying a greater level of interest. She wasn’t sure whether he was going to say yes or no, and there was a long pause as he thought about it.

It would be fun, she thought, to play with him. Maybe, if he’d let her, she’d stream it too. Videos of experienced players teaching others always had high entertainment and replay value. It would be good for her brand, but mostly she just wanted an excuse to invite him to her apartment. She’d been wanting for a while to see him somewhere other than in stairwells and the laundry room.

“What do you play?” He asked finally, seeking out more information.

She wasn’t sure he was quite ready for the long list of games she’d streamed before, let alone the even longer one of games she’d played just for fun. She decided it was best to give him the highlights of the CliffsNotes.

“I play a little bit of everything. I’m competitive in Overwatch and League of Legends, but I’m not really like… going to in person tournaments of anything. I just get invited to a few online cups here and there. Mostly I just play for my audience rather than thinking about joining a league or anything.”

He looked at her like she had three heads that each of them was speaking a different language. She’d gotten too deep too fast she supposed.

“I just mean that those ate the games I play against people seriously in. I play other games for fun and for people to watch how they’re played.”

He nodded, and while she could still see confusion in his eyes, he was making a solid effort to understand. She did notice that he was giving her a sort of amused smile, like he was enjoying the conversation despite not really knowing what it was she was talking about.

“Can you put that into different terms? I get that it’s competitive, but are you playing for money or points or?”

“Sometimes a cup will have a cash prize, but mostly I earn money from people watching my streams on Twitch and then the replays and the play throughs of games I post on YouTube.”

They’d talked before a bit about what they each did for a living. She’d been trying to figure out how to ask him what bakery he worked at so she could drop by sometime but hadn’t quite figured out how to be subtle about it yet. He knew that she was a streamer, and while it was a difficult career to try to explain to someone, he’d made the effort to understand as she offered him more and more details each time. He hadn’t asked for her username of anything, which was always equal parts disappointing and unsurprising. She didn’t really want him to watch her videos per say, but she also wanted to be able to imagine that he was tuned into her streams when she was doing them. She just wanted to be able to pretend for a little while that he was interested in her enough that he’d want to watch.

“Uh, I don’t know where this falls exactly, but my sister’s kids play Minecraft. Do you play it? They talk about it, but I don’t really know what it’s all about.”

“I could show you,” she replied, feeling a bit bold, “We don’t even have to stream it if you don’t want.”

He stopped to think again, and Anna was careful not to let her eyes wander too far down his body as she took the time to take in the muscle of his arms, the way his black t-shirt strained over the expanse of his chest. Whatever it took to be a baker, she decided, must be one hell of an upper body workout. His rear, she’d already decided, was surely hockey related. He’d never said so directly, but she was fairly sure he still played, and on occasion she’d see him carrying a large duffle up and down the stairs.

“I guess I wouldn’t mind. Could my niece and nephew watch?”

She grinned. It was a date.

They’d settled n the weekend, not too early, not too late. She’d insisted on calling his sister to let her know personally that the kids could watch them play from home. When her sister had called him to let him know about the call, she’d told him how nice Anna had been over the phone and how she’d even given her instructions on how to keep chat closed for the kids’ viewing so that if anyone typed something profane they wouldn’t have to see it. Generally, Anna set up the whole evening and his one and only job was “show up and have fun”.

He’d been a little uncomfortable with the idea even after agreeing to it. He didn’t really know how to act around her, let alone on camera. The fact of the matter was that he was an introvert and Anna was the opposite. She was warm and gregarious, and she was, at least to his yes, radiantly beautiful.

When she’d offered to teach him to play a game, to bring him into her world, into her home, he hadn’t been able to say no.

For months, since he moved in and they started sharing their laundry room conversations, he’d been trying to find a way to get to know her better. All he’d wanted was an excuse to take more time, because when he was with her, he felt happier than he could ever remember being with anyone other than his family or his friend Sven.

He was sure Sven would be tuning in to see whether he made an epic fool of himself. The whole viewing world, or at least all her viewers, would be watching him bumble about, but it was worth it because it would make Anna smile. And he supposed also that it was a plus that he’d be able to play a game with his niece and nephew the next time he saw them, but mostly it was for Anna.

He took a deep breath before knocking on the apartment door. He’d wanted to bring her flowers or something as a thank you for teaching him how to play, but Sven had put the kibosh on it when he’d brought it up, insisting that it would make it seem like a date and that he needed to “play it cool” until “the real date” that he was somehow sure there would be.

“One sec guys, I think that’s him!”

He heard the patting of bare feet moving quickly across the hardwood floor. When the door swung open with a creak, he was met with a grinning Anna and a warm rush of air into their always too cold hallway.

The breeze carried on it the smell from her apartment, which hit him more directly than the heat. It smelled like the holiday collection at bath and body works had an illicit affair with the food scented and musk Yankee candles producing a lovechild that reminded him of what the bakery might smell like if it was in the middle of a garden. It was all sugar and spice, chocolates and floral.

It was like her, and as he saw the bright décor evident even in her entryway, he couldn’t help but smile. It was no surprise that she’d want to be in a place as bright and fun as she was.

“Hey,” she said excitedly, reaching up to click something on the headset she wore, and then reached for his hand, “I’m so glad you could make it! Your niece and nephew are viewing with everyone else. They’re extremely excited for their Uncle Kris to learn a videogame.”

He felt her fingers card through his as she lead him through the door and into the apartment. She was talking and while he was trying to listen, he was distracted by the fact that somewhere in his head, something was screaming over the fact that she was holding his hand, and that he was in her apartment and that this was all happening.

“Okay?”

“Huh?”

She was looking at him and he forced himself to focus on that, the way she was giving him an understanding smile, preparing to repeat what she’d said while he was busy spacing out.

“We’re going to just do an hour unless you decide you want to go longer. We’re going to play on my PC instead of console today. There’s going to be another monitor next to you with my livechat running but you don’t have to interact with chat if you don’t want to. I’m going to just give you a spare headset for audio, okay?”

He wasn’t really sure that he was okay. He was feeling spaced out and wasn’t really sure whether or not he was going to regret this whole thing, but then she squeezed his hand gently and he decided that it was all alright.

“Yeah, thanks for doing this. I’ve been meaning to…” Spend time with you? Ask you out? Watch your streams like a creep because I want to pretend you’re talking to me?, “learn to play something, you know… for the kids. They’re going to think you’re the best after this.”

She smiled and squeezed his hand again, this time holding it tight for a little longer before letting it go entirely, like she didn’t really want to let go.

“I’m glad you’re letting me. I’m really glad you came tonight.”

He took a deep breath, trying not to read into it as she led him over to her streaming setup. There were two chairs set up in front of a webcam with a bunch of screens around them. The main screen had “Standby” written on it next to a cartoon of Anna wearing a headset and drinking a hot cup of tea. The little icon was kicking one foot back and forth under a cartoon version of her computer chair and the cup was billowing steam. It was cute to say the least, and she must have agreed because she walked over, got into her chair and “booped” the nose of the drawing before beckoning him to sit next to her.

“Ready to go?” she asked brightly, handing him a bright green headset that had been sitting next to the main computer’s mouse and keyboard.

He took it and put it on, deciding that this was, in fact, going to be alright after all.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

She smiled and he felt her hand go to his again, giving it a squeeze where it rested on his lap before she pressed a button on his headset, then one on hers, and then clicked a few things with her mouse, bringing them on the stream, live, before an audience of a few hundred people.

***

“Hello and happy Saturday!” Anna announced warmly, trying to focus on working even though Kristoff was right there at her side, relaxed and smiling at her more than he was at the camera, “As you guys requested Kristoff, my neighbor is back for the fifth consecutive weekend to learn a new game.”

She tried not to roll her eyes when she noticed the amount of comments in chat that were, to say the least, thirsty. Anna had noticed that since having Kristoff on her stream for the first time, a fair amount of her female audience had been staying on stream for longer than they normally would. Normally she wouldn’t complain, but there was something about them thirsting over Kristoff that made her want to get her mod to kick them from chat.

It would be bad for business, but every time she saw Kristoff’s eyes wander over to chat and saw him flush from the attention, she wanted to take him into the other room and give him the proper attention he deserved. She’d gotten close to kissing him after the last stream he’d joined her for, and then again, the morning after when he’d brought her coffee and a beautifully glazed apple turnover from the bakery he owned just down the block.

She’d thought, weeks back when they’d done their first stream together, that she couldn’t possibly be more interested in him than she already was. But then he’d been funny and kind and an eager learner in her stream, and then she’d received thank you flowers days later, and he’d agreed, while they did their laundry to do another stream. And she’d fallen in love with him in just a few weeks, she’d fallen in love with the way he was thankful even when she was the one who needed to thank him. She’d fallen in love with the way he offered to come back again and again and again because it had been good for her work, and the way he’d invited her to see his bakery because it was only fair to share as much of himself with her as she had with him. She fell in love with the way he could be quiet, but that his gestures and facial expressions could speak volumes, and she fell in love a little more each day.

“Due to popular demand,” he said, taking a moment to look over at her for confirmation as he’d become more comfortable talking on stream, but preferred to address her more than he did the camera, “I’m going to be playing a dating sim.”

There was a subset of her viewers who, instead of thirsting after Kristoff, had been dead set on getting them together. There were also those who assumed that they were, in fact, together, but the viewers she was enjoying most were the ones who actively attempted to get them to talk about their “chemistry” and “tension” on stream. They were lead by a user named SvenjaminButton and Anna decided that if she and Kristoff ever did get together, she was going to track him down and buy him dinner, because he rallied the troops in a spectacular way, getting people to request more Kristoff on the stream and giving Anna the excuse to see him.

The dating sim had also been his idea.

She loaded it up and laughed at the bad graphics, it was one of those one dollar steam games that someone just threw together from preexisting code and some drawings. She wasn’t expecting much from it, but Kristoff was playing along like a champ, and she was looking forward to talking to him after the stream ended about how silly it was.

His skills with games were improving over time, and this point and click was surely not going to cause him any challenge, but still she appreciated that his initial response to the game launching was to move closer to her, putting her into his space should he need any assistance. She liked to think that maybe he just wanted to be in her space anyway.

“I hope you find true love,” she teased, the stream already going wild.

“I think I already have.”

***

Kristoff was still kicking himself for what he’d said at the start of Anna’s stream as they were logging off. He was pretty sure that she thought he was just playing up a joke when he’d said the bit about already having found true love, but truthfully he wasn’t, and he felt adrift. He’d fallen for her, and he’d fallen hard. She was just so fun to be around, and she instantly had changed his perspective on games from being a waste of time to being something actively enjoyable. Half the fun was, of course, just being with her.  

“Thank you so much,” she said when the stream ended, leaning back in  her chair and practically tipping her head onto his shoulder as she did so, “You’ve really been so wonderful with all of this. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you enough for all the time you’ve been putting in.”

He smiled, happy that he’d been helpful to her, that she’d been happy to spend the time with him.

“You don’t have to thank me Anna. I’ve been enjoying myself. But… if I could maybe ask you something?”

This was the night. It had been Sven’s suggestion, and he still wasn’t sure of how he felt about it. He wasn’t exactly the kind of guy who made moves, but he’d never really had a cause to do so before. He could be bold in business, in work, in life, but in love? It was new for him.

“Of course Kristoff,” Anna replied, leaning her face towards his as she leaned back, bringing her face so close to his that all he would have to do was move a few inches to kiss her. That, he thought, was going to far, even if he desperately wanted to do so.

“Would you be interested in going out to dinner? Anytime you want, I know you’re busy, but I’d really like to take you out.”

She gave him a look of surprise and immediately he wondered if he’d just ruined everything.

He could feel the heat rising to his face, feeling like he’s just picked the wrong answer in the dating sim they’d been playing. He could practically see the little heartbreak icon popping up over her head, but then, he watched as she too flushed.

“Like… like on a date?”

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He raked a hand through his hair, trying to focus on something other than how close her lips were to his and how incredibly wrong this could all go in almost no time at all.

“Yes. Unless you’d prefer not, because I like being your friend and I don’t want to ruin that if you’re not interest…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, because Anna’s lips were on his and she was kissing him. Then as he leaned forward, he was kissing her and reaching out to bring her closer. He couldn’t catch his breath before she was climbing out of her chair and onto his, her thighs moving to the sides of his as she straddled him on the chair and kissed him until he was breathless.

His hands didn’t know where to go, but after a moment of them simply hovering, he let one wander along her sides, feeling her waist and her hip while the other brushed against her hair and rested against the back of her head.

She pressed herself into him and he held her close as they kissed harder and faster, lips becoming kiss swollen and wet as they explored together. He hadn’t ever really kissed anyone like he was kissing Anna, so he focused on the pleased sounds she made when he pulled her closer and kissed her harder.

“Can I take this as a yes?” he managed, when they broke for a moment to take a breath.

She was resting her head on his chest, her eyes, when they met his, were dark and pleased. She must have enjoyed the kiss as he had, and he was glad for it. What he’d started to say was true. He’d be happy to have her as a friend if that was all she wanted.

He felt like the luckiest man on earth that she’d wanted more.

“Tonight,” she said, “Take me for dinner tonight because I’ve been wanting this for months now. I don’t think I can wait.”

His heart raced as he thought about Anna, for months, wanting him as she did now.

“I don’t think I can either,” he admitted, letting his fingers card through her hair as he held her tight.

He didn’t know where he was going to take her yet, but he knew that wherever they went, the food would taste sweeter than it ever had before.

[lildevyl]

The Darkiplier Origin Story

Alright, guys, gals, demons, ghouls and Multi-Fandom Fiends!  Well, this is going to be a bit of a different kind of post!  You see a friend of mine @weirdmixofweirdness​ did a livestream early today (weirdmix17) on twitch celebrating the 3 Year Anniversary of Who Killed Markiplier!  Unfortunately I had to miss it, due to being at work.  However, a Creative Buddy of ours @shark-unus-buddy​ popped in!  Now, this was the first time that they watched Who Killed Markiplier and they asked if I could “Info Dump” about a couple of my all time favorite Egos of Markiplier!  Darkiplier and Wilford Warfstashe!

*Cracks Knuckles*

Alright, Darkiplier, where do I even start with this Ego?  Well, to be honest, Darkiplier is literally one of the most popular Egos of Mark’s.  Now I could just let MatPat here explain everything on what’s going on, on Markiplier’s Channel with the Egos.  But since you, @shark-unus-buddy​, gave me permission, I’m going to be using all the notes that I’ve been secretly taking from Game Theorist for the past 3 years to good use!

So, for me to explain Darkiplier things here are going to get very meta.  What I mean by that is I’m going to be explaining a lot of things that I know of to the best of my knowledge, of things that happened in Mark’s life to help lead him to YouTube and all the things that I put together with a lot of other theorist of the Storyline of the Egos.  Does this make sense?  I’ll try to explain things as best as I can!  If you have any questions, feel free to DM me or pop in my inbox!

Alright, so from the beginning!  Well, still to this day there is a huge debate on whether or not Darkiplier or Wilford Warfstashe is actually the first Ego.  Now, if you ask Mark himself, he will say that Wilford is the very first Ego, going all the way back to the video, The Fall of the Slender Man.  However, many fans believe that Darkiplier is the first Ego of the Channel.  Me, I have no clue on which it right.   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

But getting back on topic here!  Darkiplier like AntiSepticeye, started out as a Fan Creation, from when Mark started to do “Creepy Edits” in different videos, usually in “Horror Games” or he just wanted to make “Creepy Edits” for the aesthetic of October and Halloween.  Many people in the Community loved the “Creepy Edits” and began to make a Character based on that.

Now, when Mark first started YouTube and started to do the “Creepy Edits” it wasn’t the best time, of his life.  Mark like a lot of us, turned toward YouTube b/c he needed a Creative Outlet.  During that time, he (Mark) was in a very bad/very dark place.  I don’t know all the details, but what I do know is, Mark didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life.  College wasn’t for him, and unfortunately, he wound up in some debt due to some medical bills from his surgeries.  During this time, he started his YouTube Channel, but even that almost didn’t last long.  The YouTube Channel that Mark has now, is literally his fourth, yes you read that right, his fourth Channel.  And this was way before the Demonizations, Copy Rights, and COPPA came along!

When Mark started his Channel and began doing the “Creep Edits” the fans began to make all kinds of fanart of Darkiplier.  Darkiplier even was added into a lot of different fan games as well.  One the most popular ones is Hearts and Heros.  However, Darkiplier didn’t really became a thing or Canon on the Channel until about 2k17, with Mark’s first ever Choose Your Own Adventure, A Date With Markiplier.  Mark himself said during a charity livestream that he wanted to bring Darkiplier back and started to make that character as his own character.

2k17 literally became the year that the “Lore” of Darkiplier started to come about.  With a little skit comedy video called Markiplier TV we start to see somethings with Wilford and Dark.  Dark and Wilford of course breaking the fourth wall.

“Look, Wilford, I appreciate what you’ve done for us, but how is this suppose to help us take back control?  We’re the heart and soul of this Channel after all.”

Yes, you’ve read that right!  Darkiplier knows that he is an Ego and the Channel exists!  Actually, come to think of it, he actually acknowledge that in A Date With Markiplier.

“Did you miss me?  I’ve been waiting a long time to see you again.  I’ve been pushed aside.  Replaced.  Mocked.  And then he had the gull to not invite me on his little adventure with you.  Never again.  I’ve been waiting patiently!  He promise to let me again!  I’m tired of giving people a choice!”

And if your wondering yes, some of this is very familiar!  Why you may ask?  Well, for starters, some these lines were reintroduced in the Origin story of Darkiplier and Wilford Warfstashe in the four part mini series that Mark launched called Who Killed Markiplier.  Now Mark actually talks about the behind the scenes of Who Killed Markiplier, the story behind it, and all during a livestream.  I’m just going to give some bullet points here.

*Actor!Mark decides to gather the gang back together for a Poker Night

*Actor!Mark winds up and you (The DA) and Abe the Detective go on to try and figure out who’s the murderer.

*Along the way you meet a lot of different characters, one of them is Damien’s sister and Mark’s ex-wife Celine.

*And there is a bunch of Supernatural Activity going on, that we later find out, and then we see Darkiplier.

It’s a lot more then that, but I don’t want to make this super long post and longer then it should!

Now, we fast forward to 2k18.  We don’t really see much of Darkiplier except for a couple of videos.  One being the very popular fangame Hearts and Heroes.  Now, this is actually one of my favorite fangames, and has a really good storyline if you want to watch Mark play it or can play it yourself for free on Gamejolt!  The other video was literally a teaser called Go Back to Sleep.

Last year though! 2k19, was literally the year for all of us theorists!  Mark had gotten inspired by the AntiSepticeye videos that Sean (JackSepticeye) did and the amount of praise and positive feed back that Sean had gotten.  And Sean being Sean loves to throw out some hints for the Egos every now and then.  Mark decided to do some of his biggest projects to date!  One of them of course is Damien!  An animation about the characters Damien and his sister Celine and there is a nice little surprise at the end of the video! ;)  But after that video came one of Mark’s biggest projects to date.  A Heist With Markiplier.  The sequel to A Date With Markiplier.

Now, there hasn’t been anything as of this year with Darkiplier.  Although, if you watch Unus Annus, you can see that sometimes, Darkiplier and Wilford tend to come out in a few videos.

But that’s all I have for the Origin Story of Darkiplier!  Let me know what you think!