#they were all things i liked in the past that i figured id revisit during the pandemic

[todayisafridaynight]

you probably won't even care about yakuza by the time the plushies are out if we go by your track record

i cant even deny this cause my interests do tend to have a shelf life of one year and it'll be one year come june

[xxcureangelxx]

5, 9, 10, 13, 20, 21, 24, 25, 28, 30-35, 38-42, 44-46, 50, 52, 54, 60-62, 66, 71-74, 86-91, 96, 100! 😊

okay I literally have no clue how old this is and if I'm even taking the questions from the right post but here goes I guess? 🙈

<u>5. What is your favorite Color?</u>

PURPLE

<u>9. How tall are you?</u>

about 1,70 meters or 5'7"

<u>10. What shoe size are you?</u>

size 40-41, I think that's about 8 in US sizes?

<u>13. What talents do you have?</u>

uhhh good question... not sure if it counts but I guess I'm quite good at a lot if things but can't do anything extraordinarily well?

<u>20. Are you religious?</u>

Absolutely not. Due to family history and a lot of other things I'm actually against it a lot but people can do whatever they feel like is right for them as long as they don't harm others with it.

<u>21. Have you ever been to the hospital?</u>

Yes, quite a lot actually. practically grew up in hospitals as a baby because of kidney issues, broke both my legs with 4 years old, had to revisit for tests a lot during my childhood because of the kidney issue. it calmed down afterwards until I was back in hospital last year because of my terrible mental health and I'm currently in a rehabilitation clinic for it as well.

<u>24. Baths or showers?</u>

Shower's because we don't have a bathtub

<u>25. What color socks are you wearing?</u>

currently none, I love going barefoot, but usually I wear white, gray or black. I know... I'm a bad gay.. no rainbow socks (;ŏ﹏ŏ)

<u>28. What type of music do you like?</u>

you know.... I hate this question with a passion even though I love music so I'll just throw in my yt-playlist here and everyone who's interested can look through it to get a picture xD not sorted in any way and not a conclusive list at all, I just add songs as I find them

<u>30. How many pillows do you sleep with?</u>

mostly just one at a time but I've got two different ones. one is the normal fluffy kinda pillow, the other is made of some kinda foam material and rather thin.

<u>31. What position do you usually sleep in?</u>

I'm always lying on the side! have been doing that since I was a baby too.

<u>32. How big is your house?</u>

compared to what? 🙈 I'd say decent size for 5 people to live in, would have space for 1-2 more if rooms were used differently but definitely not enough to comfortably live with 12 or even more people like my family used to. we've got like 3 proper sleeping rooms (one of which is the attic so not very nice in terms of heat and the staircase is smack in the middle of the room), a kitchen, a dining room, a big living room, a tiny bathroom that barely fits a toilet and shower, and the basement is a mix of storage, electrics and stuff, washing room/utility room and it's got another smaller room that's been turned back into a small workshop but used to be the room of my brother and later my grandmother.

<u>33. What do you typically have for breakfast?</u>

I guess this is where it shows that I'm german but we usually just eat bread (preferably whole grain) with cheese or slices of salami or ..meat sausage? is that a proper translation? 🤨 idk... it's rather simple really. on the weekend maybe buns and boiled eggs. on the occasion that I'm too tired for it or don't have enough time I eat cereals but it's not very common when I'm at work/school

<u>34. Have you ever fired a gun?</u>

No, and I don't want to

<u>35. Have you ever tried archery?</u>

Yes!! I did last year when I was in the hospital and it was super fun! was quite good at it as well, even for my first try 😤

<u>38. What's the longest you've ever gone without sleep?</u>

I think about 3 days? if we count "barely unconscious for a few hours" as sleep that is... otherwise no clue...my memory of the bad sleepless time is quite hazy lol

<u>39. Do you have any scars?</u>

yeah, quite a few tbh. got 2 huge ones from surgeries due to my kidney issues, well they look like 2 but it's actually multiple ones since they simply cut open party of the old ones again, tiny hooman apparently have very little skin. then I got some other ones here and there from accidents, general dumbness, etc, like when I cut through my sunday morning bun and almost cut half of the tip of my finger off because my mother sharpened the knife and didn't tell me or that time as a kid I couldn't wait for my ironing pearl pictures to be done and burned myself on the hot iron, mostly stuff like that.

<u>40. Have you ever had a secret admirer?</u>

I mean.. if they're a secret... how would I know? ;) not sure if it counts that it took me months to realize I had a crush on my best friend and the feelings were reciprocated and I was too blind to see the signs?

<u>41. Are you a good liar?</u>

Nope. People actually think I'm lying more often than I lie... so.... :/

<u>42. Are you a good judge of character?</u>

I'm.. honestly not sure what this one means? like, am I able to judge what kind of character a person has after barely meeting them or smth? if so, I'm terrible at it

<u>44. Do you have a strong accent?</u>

in german? nope. in english? hmm hard to judge since I rarely hear myself speak. I think the stuff I do know how to pronounce is mostly okay but since I learned it through reading I'm simply unsure of a lot of pronunciations. 'also'.... I can not for the life of me pronouns that word no matter how many times I hear it... it's kinda become a quirk after some classmates pointed it out to me and I'm incredibly aware how terrible I say the word but.... just can't get rid of it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

<u>45. What is your favorite accent?</u>

I.. actually really love the way my best friend talks? 👉👈 they're french btw. just... typical me for struggling to understand them though, already terrible at it in german too...

<u>46. What is your personality type?</u>

honestly, I don't think I can answer that. I'm big on self loathing and everything's pretty shitty so, no thanks

<u>50. Left or right handed?</u>

Right handed. but does it even count id I'm bad at doing things with that hand too? lol

<u>52. Favorite food?</u>

hmmmm tough question... not the biggest fan of food in general a lot of the time... probably Züricher Geschnetzeltes

<u>54. Are you a clean or a messy person?</u>

Definitely messy. my allergies did not like this post trying to clean and tidy up more often though. my depression does not like this post either

<u>60. Do you talk to yourself?</u>

sometimes. quite a bit when watching movies or if I mess stuff up

<u>61. Do you sing to yourself?</u>

barely. got a lot of bad experiences with that so i keep my singing to a minimum. my shower is a great listener though

<u>62. Are you a good singer?</u>

I was in a choir for a few years when I went to 'middle school' and I had like one solo part once but other than that I can't really say because I barely ever sing in front of people

<u>66. Do you like long or shor hair?</u>

this question is currently my absolute nemesis.. I've got suuuper duper long hair and have had it ever since elementary school and I used to be super happy with it and sometimes I still am happy with it but other days, depending on where I'm at genderwise, I absolutely hate it and I just want to take the closest scissors and cut it all off... currently haven't had the guts to look for new hair styles though... but in other people? or women more specifically? I love long hair 🥺

<u>71. What makes you nervous?</u>

Or the shorter question: what doesn't make me nervous... I'd say pretty much everything has got the potential to make me nervous. I'm an overthinker, anxiety is a big thing for me and ptsd makes me scared of almost everything. so.. yeah... sucks to be me sometimes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

<u>72. Are you scared of the dark?</u>

Yes, very

<u>73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes?</u>

I try not to but sadly I sometimes do, even if it's not my place to. I really don't like that part and hope I'll be able to learn not to sometime

<u>74. Are you ticklish?</u>

Yes and I hate it 😭

<u>86. What are you allergic to?</u>

again, easier question: what am I not allergic to... it's... a lot... like, really a lot. with the test on the skin of my arm I reacted to every single substance and the more thorough blood test lead to much of the same result. the absolute worst are birch trees (pitty, love those), then the usual pollen of pretty much every tree or flower, all animals with fur or feathers, dust and... yeah list goes on and on, you get the picture... :/

<u>87. Do you keep a journal?</u>

no.. have tried to multiple times in the past but never made it more than a week... too depressing to write and read... the therapist at the rehab clinic is currently forcing me to try a positivity diary for the millionths time, can't even get that done each day even though I'm doing it on my phone and get notifications to do it each evening...

<u>88. What do your parents do?</u>

making my life hell lol.. okay on a serious note, my father was a car electrician, he's retired by now, my mother is a housewife, she used to work different jobs before her first kid, later on she took care of my grandmother who was suffering from dementia, got some money and retirement points for that too.

<u>89. Do you like your age?</u>

I-... I don't know? it's weird because I both feel a lot younger and a lot older than I am rn....

<u>90. What makes you angry?</u>

another tough question... I actually have anger issues in that way that I'm barely capable of feeling anger... used to be worse but I already worked a lot on it in therapy so there's at least some there now... in the past I simply started to cry and felt overwhelmed by sadness whenever I was supposed to feel anger... so I can't tell very well what makes me angry because I first have to realize that I'm feeling anger or more like should be feeling it....

<u>91. Do you like your own name?</u>

Not really, no, but I guess I finally figured out some reasons why.. I've recently started going by a bit of a different name too but only my closest friends know so far and I'm not sure if I'll be using it irl at all..

<u>96. How did you get your name?</u>

I'm still trying to get my mother to admit that she named me after this song but she keeps denying it.. she's a fan of this band so it would have fit.. but she keeps saying she just liked the name, no long thought process behind it..

my chosen name is a bit of a different story. an ex friend I got to know through yt gave me that nickname almost 10 years ago after I complained that you can't make a shorter nickname out of my birthname and it's also the name of s character I like, especially his voice, and... idk it just feels more gender neutral and I simply feel comfortable with it. it just fit.

<u>100. Color of your room?</u>

same as question 5: Purple 🥰 or... well half the walls are purple, the other half is white

phew... can't believe I made it through all of these....

in case people haven't noticed yet, I'm currently kinda getting back into tumblr? I think I've already stayed a lot longer than any times I tried getting back before. it mostly started because we've got super bad wifi at the clinc I'm at rn and reddit takes up waaayy too much mobile data and... idk, I guess I just missed the vibe of tumblr

I'm not sure how long I'll be able to stick around but we'll see

[mittensmorgul]

On revisiting the use of Christo, I agree it gets a pass because they were younger and still learning the business. It’s in later seasons where they seem to have forgotten how to handle a situation similar to one they had before that makes me wonder. Is it the writer’s inconsistency or are the writers showing us deliberate character mistakes? It’s sometimes implied they are getting burned out but their knowledge should always be demonstrated since they are now considered senior hunters.

Hi there! I actually don’t know exactly what situations you’re referring to here. Do you have specifics I can address? Because just speaking in vague terms like this, I’m not sure exactly what you mean. I’m happy to do my best to explain my personal understanding of whatever situations you feel might be them “forgetting” stuff they knew how to handle at some time in the past. :)

In the meantime, please enjoy this response from another anon on the same topic:

[ID: an ask message reading as follows: 

Re Christo anon, I loved how they hung a lantern on that with Jack trying to get the lowdown on Harper during his solo hunt with Dean in 14x06 - it's a nifty tool for newbie hunters but you don't need it for all the reasons you laid out. /end ID]

AND OMG YES, how quickly I forgot 14.06, and Jack’s bumbling about learning hunting techniques. If we hadn’t also had 13.04 and 13.06, I would’ve wondered if it wasn’t just Dean (and maybe Sam, and even Cas) overpreparing Jack, telling him he must use all of the tools available to him so as not to leave him unprotected or unprepared. But because of those earlier episodes, we KNOW it was just Jack’s own personal lack of understanding about How To Hunt Properly combined with an excitable eagerness to prove he CAN handle a hunt and knows what he’s doing. Poor bab.

Like with the line of questions he asked of Athena in the funeral home in 13.06, about cold spots and stuff that had nothing to do with anything zombie-adjacent but immediately “outed” Jack as a hunter to the shifter, you know? Rookie mistake, but also one borne of his need to prove to Sam that he was a Good Hunter and Fit In. And even in 13.04, not understanding why they would need to lie about their identities and have a cover story to hide their true motives for being there. Jack is also still kinda shaky on the How To Human basics, along with the How To Hunt basics.

But you’re absolutely right, 14.06 really hits us over the head with it all. This is a fledgling hunter who hasn’t learned to narrow things down through conversation and context, and just throws everything he’s got at a wall to see if anything sticks. And all of this was underscored in fluorescent ink by his absolute social naivete, as well, in dealing with Harper. They were definitely using Christo as one of those “this dude has no idea what he’s doing and he’s gonna get himself killed ffs” warning flags, funny as it was. I mean, I remember posts after the episode first aired laughing at his awkward technique with both small talk with Harper, and bumbling attempts to slip in all the hunter tests to see if she was some sort of monster.

I mean, to make it any more awkward than it already was, he would’ve had to pour the holy water on her directly, you know? And the Christo felt like it was tacked on just in case anyone hadn’t yet figured that out. To US who have been watching for all these years, hearing that for the first time since 1.04 should’ve been a massive flashing warning sign in both directions-- both to the people like me who thought it was a hilarious example of Jack’s complete inexperience, and to the folks who have whined for years that it was some sort of magical demon tool that they stupidly never used again it served as a neon sign as to exactly WHY they never used it again... because it was stupid... :’D

That said, back to my original anon... if you do have a specific example, I’m happy to clarify my understanding of the thing, but without a bit more guidance I’m afraid I don’t know exactly what you mean. Feel free to reply to this (which I may or may not see, since I’m rarely on tumblr these days), or send another anon (which I will see eventually! I’m checking my inbox at least once a day) :)

[theintrovertedpoetspodcast]

The Collector

It was cold and rainy, the leaves were brown and beige; their texture crisp, fragile. She was listening to the rain tapping against her windshield. She sat there quietly thinking, coaxing herself for another day of the same old mundane routine. Every day the same, nothing new, yet nothing was the same.

“I don’t want to go in there,” she thought. “I don’t want to face the same old perverts, the perverts who give you the animalistic, godless stare. The x-ray vision all men are gifted with…but why me?”

What felt like an eternity had only been two minutes. Laurel got off her SUV and made her way into the fitness center, doing her usual routine; weights first then cardio.  

On the elliptical she reflected on her recent failed relationships. Dating back to her teens, every romantic encounter had a Shakespearean ending. The first a cheater, the second an abusive junkie and cheater, the third a married one, the fourth a sociopath, the fifth a stalker, and this past one…a mythical creature. Yes, this was no ordinary human from the male species, no, no, no, he appeared to be heaven sent, delivered by the angels.

The INFJ never felt made for this world, and she wouldn’t want to meet anyone who was. But just like the Greek Gods, this mythical man was flawed. She sensed his flawed nature but didn’t care to know about the placeholders before her.

She auditioned for the role of a Greek God’s plaything. Laurel applied her rose-colored glasses on and leapt into the downward spiral of this man’s Styx River. She had been needing to go on autopilot for a while, she had been residing far too long inside of her head…almost a decade. She had always found this creature appealing but never dreamt of capturing his attention. Laurel never noticed the Demi-God aiming his arrow towards her. She had been shopping around for a new fitness center and had run into him again at the new gym just like at her current one. She remembered him from a few of her HIIT cardio classes and weight training sessions. Again, thinking nothing of him but just another pretty face, she proceeded to explore her potential new gym. From a safe distance the mythical man studied her every move.  

Two months had gone by, Laurel still contemplated whether switching gyms would bring her closer to inner harmony. While transpiring between reality and her thoughts, Laurel’s phone lit up with a text alert. She swiped to see who it was, a number she didn’t recognize. Upon opening the message, the sender had been revealed, the Demi God from her HITT classes. The creation was asking her out on a date. Laurel hesitated before responding...how did he get her number, when and why had he noticed her, isn’t his preference male, what does he want from her, was this a sign from the heavens, was this the breath of life she needed in order to feel human again? She responded to his messages agreeing to a night out for appetizers and drinks.

Days leading to their first real life encounter, Dominick the Demi-God sent her daily messages, vetting her while simultaneously revealing how she caught his eyes while exploring her potential new gym. Expressing how he had envisioned her outside of gym attire, he confessed he’d visualized her looking exquisite; to him the bookworm was a siren.  

Friday night, cold, dark, and rainy; being winter, darkness spread faster…at 6:00pm rather than 9:45pm, at least in her hometown that is. Laurel was putting her face on, the final step in her beauty ritual before having Dominick pick her up. Applying her nude tinted lipstick, the anxiety began to set in. Breathing became a little difficult, she could hear the tempo of her heart ringing in her eardrums. For a few minutes she thought about canceling the encounter.  

“snap out of it,” she thought. “This is the adventure you need and are craving.”

With that sentiment, Laurel rummaged through her vanity, she quickly grabbed her miniature pink Bic and her straight shooter. She brought it to her tinted lips and lit up while inhaling profoundly. On the exhale she heard her phone vibrate…it was Dominick, he was on his way for her. She shuddered upon reading the message. She got up and walked towards her fridge staring at the rouge contemplating about chugging a cup or three. Would mixing a cocktail of central nervous system depressants be wise for a first date? She closed the fridge door and settled for taking a few more hits of the blue dream, while applying her eye-drops and spritzing herself with her favorite perfume. When her phone shook for a third time, she knew it was show time. On the other side of her front door Dominick was waiting for her.  

He was standing beside his black muscle car wearing a brown leather jacket, black t-shirt, blue jeans, and chucks. He was fair skinned, 6’0 tall, muscular build, broad wide shoulders, full pink sensuous lips, light brown hair gelled back. Laurel was wearing blue jeans, long sleeved purple V-neck wool top with a zipper on the décolletage, black leather knee-high boots with a square flat heel, straight black shoulder length hair, and Levis jacket.  

They shook hands formerly introducing themselves, while exchanging light pecks on both cheeks. Dominick, playing the role of gentlemen, opened the passenger door for her and waited for Laurel to be comfortably seated. On the way to the generic first date at an Italian restaurant, Dominick began making inquiries about laurel’s occupation, education, age, etc. etc. the usual first date background check. She revealed that she was twenty… years of age and was studying to be an architect and was a secretary for a landscaping company.  

Once seated at the restaurant on red leather booths across from each other, Dominick began unveiling his occupation. Being in the public eye. Laurel became distracted with Dominick’s knowledge on red wines and other spirits. Due to his occupation, Dom revealed that he was a well-traveled man and his travels have taught him many, many, things. Rather than noting his confession of having two faces, one for the public and one for a select few to see, Laurel was enchanted by his knowledge in other languages and worldly manner. A third confounding variable which was throwing Laurel’s senses off was the blue dream;

Once she was allowed the floor, she began discussing her thesis and plans she had for the summer. During this part of the conversation, Dom’s eyes widened, and pupils dilated. He then revealed having a master’s degree himself and confessed his true age. Prior to their date, Dom played his age off as only being ten years her senior…truth is he was twelve years her senior. She wasn’t fazed by this, Laurel had always preferred her men to be older, wise, seasoned… prior to Dom the oldest man she had ever dated was only ten years…so what harm could another two years added do? Besides, it didn’t hurt that Dom was a walking, breathing, Greek Sculpture. Once approving of his true age, Dom’s mouth widened with a smile and eyes began to smolder. The date progressed and ended as most first dates do, at the doorstep with a kiss on the cheek.

The following day Dom contacted Laurel, immediately rescheduling a second appointment inside the head of the INFJ. Laurel agreed to go on a second date with Dominick the Demi-God. He had enchanted her since the first date and proceeded to do so via daily text messages. By checking in on her daily, he proceeded to lure Laurel into his honey trap. Laurel was no longer Laurel; Dominick wiped the slate and changed her nom de guerre to Angelee.  

The day of the second date the skies were charcoal and ashy. It was chilly and drizzling. It was five hours before the date and Laurel had received daily messages from Dominick, however the context and mood had suddenly changed. Dominick was no longer playing the role of friendly jester; he had changed the tone into a sultrier one. He no longer inquired about her hobbies, views on political matters, or future aspirations; Dominick now inquired about Laurel’s carnal nature. The inquires took her by surprise due to him portraying a pious nature. With each question, her temperature rose filling her cheeks with a tsunami of blood flow. The change in rhythm managed to shift gravity and her equilibrium. Feeling flustered Laurel was tempted to cancel the date, but the id had won by then, the thought of tasting forbidden fruit was far more enticing than always wondering about what could’ve been….

The hour came for Dom to whisk her away in his black chariot. Stunned with excitement and fear Laurel quietly let Dom guide her into his car. On the commute to the restaurant Dom began to pry about the earthier side of Laurel. Feeling shy, she let out a nervous laugh and looked at the raindrops on the window. Realizing he faced an obstacle in order to get his answers, Dominick had devised a plan b to get Laurel to open and play his game. Enjoying the energy, she was emitting, Dominick decided to take her to a classy cocktail lounge. Rather than sitting across from her like the first time, he chose to sit next to her, having her cornered up against the wall leaving her no room to escape. He kept her comfortable by having rum elixirs poured for his Angelee.  

Each rum cocktail made her stomach feel warmer and legs feel lighter. Dom had the fourth drink instinct to his advantage. With the rum elevating her body heat, Dom later helped her remove her coat in that cold December night inside the drafty cocktail bar. The coat had been hiding her low v-cut mauve satin silk dress. The dress clung to her curvy figure effortlessly, the silver choker accentuated her décolletage and olive skin. Dom’s ravenous smile widened, and his eyes lowered. Feeling warm and at ease Laurel’s defenses were obliterated by the rum and Dom’s calming nature.

With the alcohol fogging her perception Laurel was no longer aware of the possibilities the night could perspire to. Picking up on her impaired judgement, Dom revisited his follow up questions about her fleshy nature. Completely disarmed, she answered his inquiries honestly. Feeling pleased about the explicit answers she provided him, Dom ordered a fifth and final round of rum drinks for his angelic host. Seduced by the sweetness of the rum elixirs, Laurel finished them until the last drop.  

It was last call, both Dom and Laurel, knew one more fill of poison and Laurel wouldn’t be lucid and it’s not how Dom planned this night to end. No, no, no, for the final chain to be hoisted onto his angel, he needed her to be lucid enough for his final attack on her senses. Feeling sedated and fiery, Laurel played along with Dom’s game of twenty-one questions. Finding a ruse to keep her from going home, Dom offered a cruise onto the desolate streets, inviting her to see his future home. On the car ride over, Dom’s gentlemanly nature had dissolved; he no longer relied on subtle double entendres to convey his intentions. His requests were now direct and unfiltered. Upon hearing his request, Laurel blushed while feeling enticed simultaneously. Laurel felt her heart race while hearing Dom’s deep voice lower in octaves sending shivers down her spine. Dom parked his car outside a gated residential and turned to face her. Feeling his hazel eyes pierce through her, she turned around to face him.  

“This is where I’m hoping to live,” he calmly stated.

“It’s very nice and quaint, lovely night sky view,” she nervously added.

“Hmmm…yes, it does have a nice view, “he whispered, “but the view I have immediately to my right is more fascinating.”

Laurel turned to face him, Dominick had unfastened his seatbelt and crossed the border of the cup-holder towards the passenger seat. His eyes were closed shut and his lips protrude outward. Feeling affectionate and warm, Laurel leaned in the other thirty percent needed for this first kiss; she too closed her and tilted her head to her right, helping Dominick’s lips land onto her soft nude shaded pout.

Upon arrival Dominick grasped the back of Laurel’s curly hair, cupping her head in his palm while pressing his lips harder onto hers. The magnitude and length of this first wave crashing onto her lips numbed her pretty pout out. Dominick pulled away gasping for air looking out the front windshield, while Laurel looked to her right and placed her right hand’s fingers onto her sore lips retracing his steps. Mother nature appeared to be on Dominick’s side, the drizzle was no longer a light tap, it transformed into a stronger precipitation, Dom convinced Laurel to wait out the storm at his current hideaway.  

On the drive to his manor, Dom took a hold of her left wrist and nibbled on it gently. Each peck sending a jolt of life all over her spine. Watching her squirm in her seat invoked a cushy bellow from him. With her left wrist clasped tightly in his right hand, Dom placed her left hand inside his blue jeans. She felt warm, firm, pulsating flesh, no cloth, jeans and the highest point of his pelvis. Laurel gasped and looked at him, Dom kept his eyes on the slippery roads while grinning from her shocked reaction.

“Almost there my angel, be patient,” he ordered.

Still in shock at the geographic location of her left hand, with his right hand still clasped tightly around her wrist, she felt his pelvis grow warmer. Her heart was at her throat, pounding against her ear drums. The gravity had shifted from her legs to her head and chest.  

They pulled up to an asphalt driveway in a quiet side of town. The only thing stirring in the neighborhood was fall leaves and stray cats. Dom opened her passenger door and led her into his cream mason embraced by a large oak tree. Once the door shut behind them, what little pseudo light pierced through its opening was banished out. Alone in the abyss with their desires and flesh, Dominick stood behind her wrapping his hands around her tiny waist and pressed her up against his pelvis. A heavy pause helped set the mood for the atmosphere.  

Laurel took a deep inhale and breathed in the scent of Dominick’s cologne, on the exhale Dominick pushed her onto a couch while simultaneously unzipping her silk dress. Laurel landed on her back in nothing but lingerie and heels, back against the sofa cushion, while her hips were elevated on the arm rest.

Dominick found his way to her in the dark, he gently mounted himself on top of her. His arms and broad shoulders barricading Laurel's petite frame, while adjusting his knees to encompass her legs. Once comfy he finally spoke, his husky booming vice sending shivers down her spine. He professed the energy she was emitting was intoxicating him, her flesh fully aware and intrigued, she allowed him to bury his face into her nape, he began leaving a trail of nerve tingling kisses from her right shoulder onto her hypersensitive nape. Once at the neck he bit down onto her vulnerable neck. Laurel's instinct was to round her back and toss her head further into the couch cushion. Dominick then pulled back onto his feet and pulled Laurel up to her feet by her tiny little wrists. He led her down a hallway in the dark house into his chambre.  

Once inside his boudoir, Dominick pulled back his curtains allowing the streetlight to illuminate the bedroom. Laurel sat down on the edge of the bed and patiently waited for him to make his way to her. Dominick removed his brown leather jacket and placed it onto a chair. He then walked towards Laurel and placed one of his hands on her neck while allowing the free on to roam past her boundaries of her body. Alas, he had the long-lost Amazon in his web. Her bronze skin, raven curly hair, full lips, toned petite build, firmly in his hands, all for him to consume at his leisure. Feeling her heartbeat all around his firm grip, Dom let out a low grunt, being in full control of her hyperbolized the tension. Dominick held her life in his left hand and her flesh in his right, coating her with his fingertips.  

Lying on the bed, Laurel felt the warm firm grip from Dominick's masculine hand. Rather than resisting or feeling alarmed, Laurel let a soft murmur escape her lips. Placing her hands above her head, basking in the masculine energy protruding off dominant Dom's skin and firm grasp, she surrendered herself to his masculinity, something she rarely allowed former lovers to witness.  

Prior to Dominick, Laurel always gave the illusion of being herself to others, to them her "vulnerable side" was easy to uncover. Little did they know she had given them tidbits of a false origin story. Dominick being only the second to truly uncover the feminine carnal side of Laurel. For Laurel had never been one to be present in the moments of her life, no, Laurel always played the role of spectator, her personal motion picture. Always analyzing the character's intentions and her life's plot twists. Somehow, Dominick had gotten the INFJ to slow down her race against time, he managed to get her to forfeit her place in the race and relinquish all logical achievements, leaving them to be attained at another time and place. For now, he needs Laurel to be present in the here and now. Usually a dig at her train of thought stressed her, but Dom had managed to annihilate the walls of defenses Laurel was skilled at constructing.  

Dom then proceeded to unbuckle his black leather belt and unfastened his torn faded blue jeans dropping to his ankles; “clink!” He then pulled his shirt off his upper-body revealing his carved-up Adonis belt and black tight briefs. He strode to the bed, comfortable positioning himself onto Laurel's vulnerable body. Spreading her legs apart with his right kneecap and placing his hands on either side of her. Laurel still seated up on her elbows was now cheek to cheek with Dom; feeling his hot breath once again on her neck and ear lobe. The only other time she felt the gravity shift from within herself she was hallucinating.  

After momentarily allowing her to assess the dissolution of personal space while marveling at his sculpted masculinity, Dom unloaded his full body weight onto her forcing her to lower her sternum onto the soft exposed bed. If resistance crossed her mind, it would have been futile. Appearing to be sculpted by the Gods themselves, Dominick could easily overpower her, she was no match for him. Lucky for her, his synergy was warm and enticing. Once comfortably mounted onto the bed and Laurel, Dominick proceeded to close the gaps left between their bodies. He crashed his hips and sternum onto hers, forcing her to feel his full weight all over her. Dominick resumed having his right hand clasped tightly around her neck while snaking his left hand onto her back pulling her in centimeters closer. Without effort Laurel helped Dominick lock the final clasp of her restraints. He had her where he wanted her...three months of patience, paid off.  

Using undertones Dominick confessed the synergy and flow Laurel had been entrancing him since the first day he scooped her out that September evening. Feeling speechless, Laurel tilted her head to her right, inviting him to bite her once more. Seeing his cue, Dominick proceeded to take a third serving of her soft full nude shaded pout. His caress was sensational and amorous. Laurel allowed a continuation of waves crashing onto her senses. Once Dom paused for air, Laurel forced herself to make eye contact with him, all while having his palm latched onto her neck. Dom's eyes glowed with the film of salacity projecting onto her pupils.  

Seeing her pupils dilate more, Dom forged a way to drive his hips deeper onto Laurel's pelvis. She rounded herself deeper into his vice, while he dove back for one more gravity shifting peck. Dom then dismounted her and walked towards the nightstand where he had a speaker. Laurel's ears quickly recognized the notes and tempo. He needed the encounter to mesmerize all the senses. For the final time, he mounted himself onto Laurel, as if it was going to be his last time breathing her in. The only space left between them was that of their lips not connecting. Laurel elevated herself onto her elbows and began to kiss Dominick's jawline, while simultaneously looking up at him. He let out a passionate sigh and smiled at her. Being chest to chest with her, Dominick looked at the 5'3 maiden and shoved her down onto her back, how dare she try to take the reins from him. the night he carefully orchestrated.

"Lie down my angel," was the last thing Laurel heard before Dom plunged harder.  Laurel lamented arching her back. It was clear this was a power move, used to remind the angel of her rank in this heaven. Dominik roared, while engaging in a rocking motion. There she was, entrapped with one arm, and anchored by his thighs and pelvis. Alas, his patience gave him what he needed to get his fix. She belonged to him now. Dom skimmed his fingertips over her body. Finding his ways to her neck again and placing it right over her hyoid bone.

“I wonder if she knows,” he thought.

It seemed she didn’t. All laurel did was hold onto Dom’s wrist as his thumb applied pressure onto her neck. Those beautiful doe eyes.

“I almost feel sorry,” he again thought.

By then the crescendo of the drums had reached their peak. Laurel placed her left hand onto his wrist, now clasping with both of her hands. Dominick peered into her honey brown eyes; her pupils were dilated, nostrils, flared, lips, parted. He knew he had her there. At the moment, he was the only one who could give her what she needed. No one else. Should he give her want he wants and keep driving into her or, should he stop and leave her hanging.  

“If I keep going this end, all of this. Yes, she is shiny and new...but after this...she will always be used,” he carefully contemplated.  

“Why was he hesitating,” she pondered? “What is he waiting for? I’m all his, this is the closest we can get, we’re almost there...I’m almost there.”

“Just do it, finish her,” he decided.  

Dom then drove harder and more precisely into Laurel. Laurel’s nails clawed into his forearms. Her breathing, heavier and louder. Engaging his core, he kept rocking, making his pace faster, shoving himself more aggressively into her hips. After a few power drills, he seemed to have finally broken Laurel’s honeypot. Laurel finally arched her back and let out a profound soft pitched groan.

“Good girl,” he grunted.  

Laurel was gasping for air, eyes closed. Dominick watched the female warrior in all her vulnerable glory, on her back gasping for air, with her brain temporarily fried. He then proceeded to turn her onto her stomach. Placing his right hand under her abdomen he managed to prop her up on all fours. She was now facing the mirror across his bed. Seeing her reflection in the mirror, the reality of the situation threw her off. She found looking at herself this way unnerving.  

“Relax my angel,” assured Dominick while rubbing her lower back. “Nothing wrong with peaking.”  

Laurel then proceeded to make eye-contact with herself, she did not recognize the vixen staring back at her. She looked at Dominick and saw him positioning himself on the bed. Once ready, she felt his rigidness pierce through forcing her to wince.  

“Easy,” he commanded.

He made eye-contact with his reflection as well, only instead of feeling awkward, he looked confident and assertive. Laurel noticed the arrogance emitting from his smug smirk and shifty eyes. He wasn’t making love to her; he was acting out a role. No longer feeling the novelty of the situation, Laurel turned to stop Dominick.

“What, what’s wrong,” he gasped?

“Were you close?”

“No, are you? What’s wrong? Does it hurt?”

“No, no, no, you’re great really; truly the best,” she gushed.

“So, what’s wrong Laurel?”

“It’s just the whole...mirror thing, I have never imagined I’d be seeing myself doing this so soon.”

“Oh, oh, oh, so too intense?”

“Yes, a bit.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, here, here come lay down,” he motioned on the other side of the mattress, facing away from the mirror. Laurel faced the door on all fours again and patiently waited for him to restart. There was a pause. Laurel wondered what the hesitation was. She turned around and saw him grabbing his jeans.

“What are you doing,” she asked?

“Oh, silly us, we got so wrapped up in the moment we forgot to use protection,” he replied.

“Oh! You’re right! By all means!”

Laurel turned her head away and began facing the wall and door again. She patiently waited hearing his belt and pants rustle. She heard the crumpling of a wrapper and Dominick making a profound exhale.  

“Okay, ready,” he asked?

“Ready,” she responded.

Laurel felt the bed move as Dominick pulled her by the hips towards his pelvis. In a quick swift motion, Laurel felt a firm thick strap around her neck. Dominick then pulled Laurel off the bed and onto her feet all while clasping onto his belt around her neck tightly. Laurel unsuccessfully tried using her fingers to break the vice the belt had on her neck. He then turned her around making her face the mirror once more.

“Look,” he grunted into her ear. “Look at your reflection Laurel!”

Laurel looked in the mirror and saw her eyes swelling and releasing tears. Her mouth gasping for the air surrounding her yet denied to her. Dominick smiled as she pieced together the reality of the situation.  

“I wonder if you’re praying,” he inquired while tightening the belt until he heard a snapping sound and Laurel’s body went limp.  

“It was cold and rainy, the leaves were brown and beige; their texture crisp, fragile. The rain was tapping against her cold, dull skin. She laid there quietly, waiting for someone to find her. Every day the same, nothing new, yet nothing was the same. Three years had passed, and no one ever knew whatever happened to Laurel until I met you,” Dominick was sitting across the table from a 5’3 fair skinned brunette.

 “Wow Dom, that was quite the story you wrote there,” she remarked. The woman had a curvy build to her. Wide hips, full breasts, short curly hair, round framed specs.

“Thank you, being complimented by someone like you means the world to me professor…”

“Oh, no, no, not yet. I won’t be a professor until a few months from now,”

“Well here’s to successful teaching in your future Dina.”

 They toasted waiting for their appetizer to arrive.

 The End 

By: Ilana Jade

[adaysnotes]

10182020

A while ago, a friend’s online post made me revisit my cellphone history. My brother and I went Googling to really find out the actual model names of the phones we were using back in those days. I, for the sake of posterity, decided to list mine in order. He was laughing at me for doing it but you know me. I always love me some history.

Motorola T2288 (2000) This was my first cellphone. It was a hand-me-down from my mother when she got another Motorola model that had bigger letters on the display (but was a single-liner display only, good Lord). This one didn’t have text messaging ID so it was quite a pain in the ass at that time. I lost this phone that Christmas break when my cousin and I had the unfortunate experience of a budol gang.

Nokia 3210 (2001 - 2002) My first Nokia phone and this was a graduation gift from my parents. Really enjoyed customizing this one with all the cases, the backlights, the operator logos and personalized ringtones. I had blue lights on the display and alternating lights of blue and green on the keypad area. Rubberized casings were the thing back then and that was the first accessory that I bought, if I’m not mistaken. I always end up going back to the blue stock casing though. This one’s LCD eventually gave out because it’s a China model. And I couldn’t pay for an LCD repair every fcking month.

Nokia 6150 (2002 - 2004) When I finally retired my 3210, I got to use one. I don’t know how I got this but I do know that Mama brought this one home secondhand for a spare unit, I think. I remember having my first telebabad experiences with a girl I liked with this phone, and how constant texting would hurt my fingers so bad because the keypads on these were bad. By this time, I was past the customize your Nokia phone backlights and casing, but I did change the case to the an original blue (I got it with the red one). I didn’t know how exactly these died but I’m pretty sure it was with the display also.

Nokia 3315 (2004) Sometime during ‘04, my 6150 gave up on me and we didn’t have any extra phone. We didn’t really grow up to each-person-must-have-a-phone type so for a couple of months, I was sharing a phone with my younger brother. That summer, if I need to go out of the house (since I was going to review classes for college entrance exams), I’d borrow and bring it with me. Then, after coming home, he’d be the one to use them until late at night when I’d get to use my SIM card on it again.

Nokia 3100 (2004 - 2007) This was my favorite phone of the bunch. One of my closest friends had this phone way before I did and I always like how simple yet fun to use it was. It also had glow-in-the-dark materials on the side of the front case. I got this when my parents grew tired of me asking for my own phone, I guess. This was the phone I had when I graduated high school and also during my first years in college. Oh, the memories I had with this one.

Nokia 3310 (2005 - 2007) I got a used unit from Greenhills (where else?) that December for my Sun SIM card. This was when it was a thing to have a Globe/Smart number AND then a Sun mobile number. It was my telebabad phone, the one where you’d just load up the Sun with unlimited calls subscription and just call all of your friends with a Sun number. Cheers to all kids who didn’t have a landline during puberty!

LG KU250 (2007 - 2008) At that time, this was a bang-for-buck phone. It had pretty decent features, a camera, external memory, a headset, etc. My 3100 was still decent but I was really on the lookout for an affordable camera phone that I can pitch to the board members (my parents) for financing. I saw this on the newspaper ad and figured it was something that I can make my case on. It didn’t took much convincing since this phone was really, really affordable for its resume.

Nokia 7210 Supernova (2008 - 2010) Not counting the used 3310 that I bought for cheap as my Sun phone, this was the first phone I bought with my own money. It was a sexy ass phone and I loved just how it looked. It had basically the same feature set with my LG, but it had a sleeker design and a better camera. (Some of the photos I had on this phone looks still fairly decent to this day). I fucked this one up though when I stupidly threw it across the room... and straight to the kitchen sink. The LCD was trashed and I had it repaired at your nearby cellphone repair "expert” but it was never quite the same after that... what with all the class B parts they replaced it with. That’s my bad.

Nokia 6212 (2010) Well, after fucking up the 7210, I got this for myself. I just had to find a somewhat quick replacement for it at that time and I couldn’t afford to get another Supernova. This one served its purpose, lasting until even after I graduated college. I can’t remember which of my brothers ended up with it after I stopped using it. I couldn’t use it as much when I started working because camera phones weren’t allowed where first worked. If your phones had camera or internet connection, you have to leave it at the counter outside and get it when you get home. Or maybe go check your missed calls and messages during lunchbreak.

myPhone QT22 (2010-2012) No camera phones in the workplace led my office batchmates and I to this phone. We were a close bunch, and we were looking for a “group” phone that we’d all have and is acceptable inside the office. They found this one, which was really affordable... and it had dual-sim capability and a QWERTY keyboard too. We found a way to use Facebook though using a Sun SIM card and its free Facebook promo at that time. It would display notifications and your friends’ statuses and you’d be able to post statuses as well, but it never shows images. It was the Facebook Free then.

Nokia 1660 (2010) There came a time when I didn’t really like using the myPhone because the inbox capacity was very, very limited. I was tired of having to erase messages all the time to receive incoming plus I was also wanted the experience of the message thread feature that some of the phones already have then. So I looked up phones on the internet that had those and would still be viable to bring inside the workplace. Once I found out what model I needed, I visited some shops at the mall and came home with this. No two months after I got it, I lost when I left it in a trike on my way home. Yeahp.

Blackberry Curve 8520 (2011 - 2012) Twitter. Facebook. BBM. After sticking to a very-2G myPhone for almost two years, one Saturday I just decided I was done with it and said “eh, what the hell”. I went to the nearest mall and bought the Curve. Now, don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t that impulsive. I was already looking to upgrade to Blackberry for weeks then, maybe even months, so the writing was on the wall already. Some of my myPhone friends and I were already talking about which Blackberry to treat ourselves with. I was looking forward to the latest Bold model and was supposed to wait for it to launch here, but that Saturday felt different. And I just bought what was there.

iPhone  (2012 - present) This was also the time I switched to postpaid so I was able to periodically refresh the iPhone model throughout the years because of their offerings. Frankly, it was because of the camera really. The Blackberry Curve had a really sucky camera and I was at a point in time where I wanted to enjoy taking photos of random things, and actually recognize what they are when I transfer them on a computer. I haven’t felt that way about taking photos since I had the 7210 back then. 

Well, to be honest, I’m actually excited about the iPhone 12.

[swanderful1]

A Cold Awakening: Ch 15/?

Summary:  Modern crime AU. Twenty years have gone by since Storybrooke was shaken to the core by a gruesome crime that went unsolved. Sheriff David Nolan and his partner, daughter Emma are forced to revisit the crime. At the same time, Killian Jones and his older brother Liam have been drawn back to the town they had longed to never see again, struggling to find their own answers. As taunting notes and clues show up they are taken on a journey to finally bring justice for the Jones family. And Emma Nolan finds herself caught in a situation more dangerous than she could have ever imagined.

Notes: So the past couple of weeks have been a lil crazy. I finished college on Friday so the weekend was not a productive time for me. A lot of celebrations and a lot of champagne. The chapter took a bit longer than anticipated but here it is!Thank you for all of the support, as always the kind words in the comments and reblogs and messages are amazing. So please continue to let me know how you feel. I love hearing!

Disclaimer: as always I own nothing, all rights to OUAT.

Rating: M

Word Count: ~6400

Read the rest on AO3 and ffnet 

Emma hardly processed her next moves before she realized she was driving. Her bug flying through the streets as the sun set on the horizon. The sky painted in hues of pink and orange. The day had gotten away from her. The gears turned in her head as she pictured the drawing. The careful strokes and shading of the hands, the ring that had once belonged to Moira Jones was still on her finger. Her skin crawled at the thought.

As she made the final turn to her destination her phone rang. Without looking at the caller ID she swiped to accept the call.

“Hello?” she said into the speaker.

“Hi, Emma.” The familiar lilting English accent wrapped around her name caught her off guard.

“Killian.”

“I told you I would call, love. You sound surprised.”

“Not surprised, just… in the middle of something.”

“Anything I can help with?” the tone of his voice changed. Maybe he picked up on the animosity in her own voice, she wasn’t sure. But there was more behind his question than just general curiosity.

Her car was parked now. Stopped in front of the old Jones mansion. The task seemed more daunting than it had when she had left her own home. “A big piece of information fell into my lap today… about your mother...” Emma was unsure of whether or not he would even be comfortable coming to his old house. “I need to go with it and just see what else I can find before I take this to the rest of my team.”

“Emma, darling, where are you?”

“I’m at your parents’ house.” She could have stopped there. She could have. “If you want to meet me.”

There was a long pause. No doubt weighing the emotional implications of what returning to his childhood home would do.

“I’ll be right there.”

Emma sat in her car. Staring up at the crumbling grandeur of the Jones mansion. The fading beauty of a once affluent family. She wasn’t sure what she was coming here looking for. But she knew she needed more to go on. Robert Gold was her son’s grandfather. Her ex-boyfriend’s father. If there was any possibility that she was wrong about her gut instinct, it could hurt two of the most important and steadfast people in her life. She had to be certain. And now that she knew the compass was pointing in the direction of Mr. Gold, it would be easier to decipher what was relevant and what wasn’t.

When she saw headlights behind her in the circular driveway she felt a bit relieved. Because neither one of them would have to enter this house alone. She unbuckled and righted herself to go see Killian. This was far different from the most recent evenings they had spent together. But there was a part of her that was comforted by the fact that he was here anyway.

“Hi,” Emma said as Killian walked toward her, locking his car.

“Hello.” His voice was terse, and his eyes locked with hers instead of the staggering house behind her.

“If this is too much for you, you don’t have to be here.” She took a chance and stepped closer to him. Though the nature of this encounter wasn’t…. sexual, she wondered if he minded her proximity. In a way Emma was testing the waters. But he didn’t pull away, instead leaning into how close she was. Brushing hair from her shoulder. A move he had all but trademarked at this point.

“I want to be here. I want to help.” His eyes were light, a soft expression on his face. But all the while a sadness behind it. This was a monster he was finally confronting. And he was trusting Emma to be the one he did it with.

Silently she took his hand. The strong lines meeting hers. The electricity melding them together. But it wasn’t the same current of passion, or lust… or whatever it was between them. There was an anxiety that came from going into this house. And she was willing to take some of that on for him. As much of it as she possibly could. They stepped into the house and his hand squeezed hers ever so slightly, she realized in some remote way he was grateful.

"I haven't been back since that night." His eyes didn't meet hers when he said it, instead they drank in the sight around him. The total disrepair of the Jones estate, his old home now crumbling around them. They shouldn't be here. Not with the investigation still at large. However, the house technically belonged to Killian and Liam as they were the heirs of the estate. She couldn’t imagine either of them wanting much to do with it. He took a few steps forward releasing her hand. Emma bit back a slight intake of breath when he let go. She missed his touch almost immediately.

“If this is too difficult, you don’t have to help, Killian. I know you want to but this…” she looked at him, trying to gauge his level of discomfort. “This must be so hard to be back here.”

Killian stepped closer to her. His feet shuffling through the debris littered on the tile. His hand reached up and brushed hair off of her face before taking his thumb and wiping the single tear from her cheek. She stood still as this man, this beautiful and broken man who had lost nearly everyone and experienced such tragedy could still touch her like there was light left in his heart.

"Don't cry, love. It was all a very long time ago." His hand cupped her cheek and pulled her so they were eye to eye, "You've helped me more than you could ever know."

Her heart fluttered from his words. She believed them.

“In a way, it’s good this has all resurfaced again,” he said, standing inches from her. The fabrics of their clothes almost touching. “It’s a demon I haven’t dealt with, really, ever.”

“You were sixteen when it happened, of course you didn’t.”

“I know. And perhaps this all is a way for me to gain some sort of closure. Whatever that means.” His hand went up to scratch behind his ear. The vulnerability filling the room. “Now, why are we here?”

“I think I found something… someone actually who may have been responsible for the murder.” Emma knew it was entirely wrong to be divulging this level of information to him. But she also knew he would help her in anyway that he could.

“You’ve figured it out?” He looked utterly shocked. The cat and mouse game being played during this investigation had affected him differently but it was still there.

“I think that I have but I need more to go off of.” She didn’t want to tell him everything, at least not in so many words. The kind of accusations she was making against her son’s grandfather made everything that much more delicate. “It’s complicated.”

“Are we looking for something specific?” His brow furrowed. Fair enough. How was he supposed to help if he didn’t know what they were looking for?

“No… but I have a general idea of where we need to be.” She bit her lip. “First of all does this ring look familiar to you?”

Emma held the ring up to Killian’s line of sight. He lightly grabbed her hand, she tried to ignore the pull toward him. Hoping they could move through this without getting carried away… physically.

He rotated the silver band within his fingers. Pensive. “Not that I’m aware of.”

She read him. It was easy enough, he was telling the truth.

“I have reason to believe it belonged to your mother… that it was a sort of symbol of her relationship with the man she had an affair with.”

“I see.”

“I’m looking for any other kind of memento she kept around the house. Anything that would support this hypothesis of mine.”

“She kept all of her things in her closet… jewelry and such would probably all be in there.” He knew she would be aware of that. He knew Emma was obviously intuitive enough to put that together, but she would never mock him for offering the statement anyway. It sounded more so like he was reasoning it in his head as he said it, an attempt to process his first time being here in so long.

“Of course.” Her hand went from his, to the side of his face. He was tearing up. His blue eyes even more so from the tears.

“Liam and I, we um, we used to play in there. All of the clothes, and shelves… it made for a nice playground.” A smile played on his lips, a sad one, but nevertheless it was there.

“You don’t have to come into their bedroom if you don’t want to.”

Her closet would have been off of the master bedroom. The same place where Killian had walked in to find his parents murdered nearly twenty years prior. It was the place his crumbling world had finally shattered to pieces. And Emma did not want to be the one responsible for dragging him back in there.

“Thank you,” his voice came out in barely a whisper and he didn’t pull away from her touch. It was interesting how just twenty four hours before they were laying together in bed, reveling in the afterglow of passionate sex. Now they were engaging in something just as intimate but far less pleasurable.

He leaned forward, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a hug. One that warmed her entire body as he encircled her. It wasn’t amorous or sensual in any way, just… grateful.

“But I think I’m ready to see… their room,” he mumbled into her hair. Emma pulled her face back, a bit surprised. “Come. I would like to see some of the rest." He reached for her hand again and began pulling her toward the stairs, his choice of the word "some" did not go unnoticed by her in the slightest.

The room was overrun with leaves and twigs and branches. The skylight above had broken, leaving the master suite vulnerable to the elements. The floors warped from a leak in the roof that had gone unrepaired. She could barely make out the presence of furniture. A four poster king size bed was against the far wall by the windows. A dresser was to her right, moon beams from the window.

Emma looked over at Killian, who stood next to her in the double doorway. Her eyes caught the space on the floor where she knew the bodies had been. The bodies on his parents. The darkness of the moment crawling through her skin. She could not even imagine how he was feeling.

“The closet’s to the left, darling.” He finally broke the silence. Obviously not wanting to linger in the space.

Her eyes found the door to the closet and she walked toward. Killian on her heels. There was no guarantee she would even find anything helpful. The amount of time that had gone by combined with how messy everything had been with the investigation could have wiped away anything concrete Emma hoped to find.

The closet was in slightly better shape than the rest of the house had been though. The lack of windows and privacy making it almost like a vault from the outside world. That being said it was completely dark so the door had to be left open. Emma had also brought a flashlight because she had a feeling electricity would not be available. From what she could see there were still clothes hanging on the racks. Moira’s on one side, Brennan’s on another. Shelves of shoes was on the far wall. Everything preserved like a tomb.

“You guys lived rather large, I’ll give you that.” Emma noted. The rack of thick fur coats untouched and ostentatious.

“They had an awful lot of money and weren’t afraid to spend it.”

A vanity was set up between a few racks of clothes. The wood surface dusty from years of neglect. A framed photo of Moira and Brennan on their wedding day. Young, loving, naive. A bouquet of lilies in Moira’s hand. Brennan’s hand around her waist. A handsome man in his day. Say what you want about them, but they were an attractive couple.

“Your mother was very beautiful,” Emma offered peacefully.

“Aye, she would have liked you, you know.”

Emma looked up at Killian in the dark. But she could still read his face. The statement was heavy. The mere thought of meeting his parents overwhelming. But instead she wondered, “why’s that?”

“Because you’re smart, and driven, and selfless…” He looked down at his feet, seemingly gearing up for whatever was coming next. “Because you make her son happy.”

The honesty in his eyes was paralyzing. But the whole experience was cathartic for him. And she was glad he was here, able to even speak of his mother. Emma wanted to kiss him, she wanted to reach up and touch him. But this was a sensitive place. He wasn’t being flirtatious when he told her he made her happy.

Like he was almost reading her mind he leaned down and pressed the barest of kisses on her lips. A small reminder that, though they weren’t in bed together, there was still something between them. Reeling from the chaste kiss, Emma turned and began digging through the contents of the vanity.

There was some jewelry, an old brush, a sleeping mask. Nothing to raise an eyebrow at. Drawer by drawer she went through, Killian behind her holding the flashlight so she could see. Emma smiled finding a remaining picture of a young Killian. Though it was covered with dust she picked it up and cleaned off the frame.

"What have you got there, love?" he inquired shifting to see what she had picked up. A smile spread across his face as well. The picture was of him, probably no more than five or six years old, with a big grin on his face (missing teeth and all) in the big circular driveway out front standing next to a bike. "That was my first bike. I begged my parents for one and I finally got it."

"You were adorable." Her hand affectionately touched the frame.

"Were?" his eyebrow popped up as if to say 'I'm still fucking adorable'.

"You didn’t turn out so bad."

Emma peered closer. Moira Jones was behind him. Her arms around her son’s shoulders smiling just as big as Killian was. The sentiment was adorable. That it was something his mother kept so close to her. But then Emma’s eyes caught something. The faint outline of it in the background. A cane.

“Oh my god,” Emma gasped. The distinct presence of black pants, the body of its owner held up by a cane.

“What is it, love?”

“Killian, do you ever remember a man with a cane coming to your house?” Emma pointed to the fraction of a person in the background of the picture. Killian held the flashlight toward the photo.

“One of my mother’s doctors had a cane… he used to come to the house.”

“So he would just come to your house for checkups?” This wasn’t adding up in her head. Why would Gold pretend to be a doctor? Just to come over?

“He was my mother’s therapist. For a while actually. But then one day he stopped coming over. So I assumed she was better.”

Now it made sense. The reason Killian had told Emma his mother had been in therapy as long as he could remember. Because Gold had pretended to be her doctor. It gave them the perfect excuse to see one another. And the reason Killian had spent so little time in the town of Storybrooke. He had never been to Granny’s. He had no connection with anyone in town. Why his family never went there, because his mother was keeping them away from realizing Robert Gold wasn’t actually a psychiatrist but the owner of the local antique shop. Where the ring had made its way back to, because he had been the one to give it to Moira Jones.

“Killian, this man… he wasn’t a doctor.” She braced herself. This was enough, it was enough to go to her father with. Emma was certain Gold was behind this, all of this. But she couldn’t tell Killian right now. There was only so much she could reveal to him ahead of the investigation team. “My intuition was right, about the person I think it was.”

She was eye to eye with him now. “I need to talk to everyone at the station… it’s just what needs to happen. But I promise, as soon as things are more concrete I will tell you.”

“Okay, love.” He knew they were already dancing on a fine line just being here. There was a level of understanding between them that allowed this to even happen in the first place. “I trust you.”

A few moments later they were standing out front, Killian ready to get in his car and drive away. Which was the last thing she wanted, she wanted to just spill the whole thing and tell him what she knew. But she had already broken so many rules, so much protocol by even being here with him.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to wait here with you until your father arrives?” Killian asked, backing her against his car. She wished she could just get in the passenger seat and ride away with him. But she had called David, he was on his way with Graham. They would be here soon and she would tell them everything.

“This is something I need to do… and I’ve already told you more than I should have.”

“I know, and for that I’m grateful. The last thing I want is to get in the way of you and doing your job.”

“Don’t think I’m not conflicted. Because I am.” She was. Even still as she looked into his eyes she knew they were on borrowed time but part of her didn’t care. “This time, let me call you, Killian. As soon as things are underway I promise I’ll call you.”

“I’ll miss you tonight, darling. But do what you must,” he whispered against her lips before bending to give her a kiss that was far more intense than the last. His soft mouth, now hard on hers. She opened her mouth to grant him entrance. And too quickly it was over, because their reality was strong. He wasn’t supposed to be here and her team would be here any moment.

“That’s one hell of a good bye.” Emma’s fingers went to her lips, the repercussions of their kiss vibrating through her.

Killian smirked, the first light moment of the entire time they had been here. He opened his car door and began to climb inside as he said, “And you’re one hell of a woman, Emma.”

Without another word he put the car in drive and rode away, taking any resolve Emma had left with him.

David and Graham arrived a few moments later, the timing could not have been more perfect as they pulled into the driveway. She immediately began explaining to them the context of the visit. How she had found the drawing, showing them the ring, and where it had come from. Emma told them Gold had acted strangely even for him ever since the case had reopened. And explained her reasoning for not wanting to come to them immediately with the information until she had more. The fact that Robert Gold was her son’s grandfather, Neal’s dad. It was messy. It could get sloppy if she didn’t have her facts correct.

Emma walked them through her snooping in the house, conveniently leaving out Killian’s presence in the whole thing. And showed them the picture she had found in Moira’s closet. The last piece of the puzzle would be having Killian and Liam identify a picture of Gold. The fact that he had been posing as their mother’s therapist further proof that there was malintent.

David was disappointed in her, she could tell. But to a certain extent he understood. There was no part of Emma that wanted Gold to have been behind the murder but a lot of signs pointed toward him.

“We’ll get the rest of the team out here first thing in the morning. To do a full sweep,” Graham looked over the picture frame. “If there’s anything else linked to Gold we’ll find it. I’ll call in Boston for back up. This is a big place, we’ll need more than just the three of us. And the light of day.”

“Neal and Henry get back tomorrow from their fishing trip…” Emma thought out loud. The idea of them coming back from such a nice weekend together to something so awful and drastic made her stomach churn with anxiety.

“We’re gonna have to bring Gold in for questioning, Em.” David’s voice softer now.

“I know.” This was just so difficult. The irony of the fact that Emma had at first avoided becoming more involved with Killian because of how personal that would turn the investigation, was not lost on her. Because now the case was somehow managing to hurt even more people she loved. Not that she loved Killian. She didn’t. Not at all.

“And if either Killian or Liam can ID Gold as someone they recognize then…. It’s pretty much a done deal,” David continued. At least he and Emma were on the same wavelength. He had taken the words out of her mouth before she could actually say them.

It was late now. David, Emma, Graham and a few others had taken into account the newest developments. Yellow caution tape had been restored to block off the property. A search team was in place for the first light of the morning. Gold would be called in as soon as the search began. A warrant to search his shop and house would be ready by the morning as well. They had to be careful. Gold’s wife worked with them. If Belle caught wind of them gearing up to question her husband there was a chance she would tell Robert and he could have time to get away. So silence fell amongst the team in order to preserve the information until go time.

David had told Emma to go home, rest and prepare for the next day. It would be brutal, he warned. As much as it was important to remain unbiased in an investigation, it was hard to do that when the ties of a small town ran so deep. There wasn’t a fiber of Emma that wanted Gold to have been the one who murdered Brennan and Moira Jones but more likely than not he was the one responsible.

Emma forced her body into the car, so tired and ready for sleep as she looked at the clock to realize it was 12:30 in the morning. How had time gotten so far away from her? It was barely nightfall when she had arrived and now it was already the next day? The day where everything would change, hearts would be broken, and families would be destroyed yet again. This was difficult. And she didn’t want to be alone.

She drove. Outside of the town line. In search of some sort of companionship. Emma didn’t know if Killian would be awake. It was the middle of the night. But she hoped that he was, and that he wouldn’t be angry with her from keeping her latest discoveries from him. She hoped he would understand that she had a job to do above all else and the personal developments of their relationship could only break so many rules. The less people who knew about tomorrow the better, but Emma still didn’t want to be without him when the morning came.

The penthouse was quiet. Dim with nightfall. Maybe this was a bad idea. The poor guy was probably fast asleep in bed with his dog, who the fuck was she to walk in and disrupt even more of his life? But just as she was about to turn to climb back in the elevator, she heard the padding of bare feet across the marble floor.

“Emma… I thought you said you were going to call, love.” In his hand was a mug of something, judging from the steam Emma suspected tea. “Not that I’m complaining.” He was wearing flannel pajama bottoms and a gray t-shirt. The most she had ever seen him dressed at this hour in recent memory. His hair was disheveled from sleep in the most adorable way, sticking up in all directions and reminding her of earlier that day when she had awoken next to him.

“I just felt like…” she could feed him a story, about some excuse that would give her reason to be here right now but there was none other than, “I didn’t want to be alone, Killian.”

“Neither did I.” He raised his small mug in front of his face, “I’ve just made some tea. Chamomile. Care for some?”

“I would actually, yeah.” She smiled. And then he did right back. Because despite everything else going on around them, the heaviness of what had transpired and what was to come, there was a solace in each other that made everything feel lighter.

Emma and Killian sat on the couch, sipping their tea and talking. She had been jittery when she arrived, the adrenaline combined with the lack of sleep turning her body into a temple of anxiety and stress. Killian’s eyes became more clear the longer she was there, it was obvious he had been crying just a bit. No doubt the reason for his tea making in the first place. The sleeping trouble. The emotional trauma. But now he seemed better, like he was only focused on what was happening just then.

After a while Emma yawned, and Killian offered her his bed for the night. As much as she should probably leave, go home and rest for the inevitable. She didn’t. She took his offer, and followed him up the stairs. Her hand in his. A hum of current flowing through her skin where he touched her. She wanted more, the yearn for him rarely ever truly ceasing, but at the same time the simple thought of sleep was so tempting.

Emma had been in his room before. Their time together here had been intimate… passionate… rough. But now the room appeared different to her. The gray hues of the curtains and comforter and cushioned headboard were soft and calming. The high ceilings were grand and made the space feel huge. A low hum of classical music played in the background. Princess lay at the foot of the bed in a peaceful sleep.

“Do you have a side of the bed you prefer?” Emma asked breaking the silence. This would be her first time sleeping here, even if it were for only a few hours.

“No, whichever you want is fine with me.” He looked at her, they were feet from the bed, a bed they had been in before for different reasons. So why was she so nervous?

“I’ll take the left.” Emma smiled. It was a bit forced. But not because she wasn’t happy to be here… and next to him. Because this would be their second time sleeping in the same bed in two nights. And that wasn’t really ever something she had done.

“Emma, if you don’t feel comfortable, I can sleep in the other room, love.”

“No,” she said almost too quickly. “I want you here. With me. Okay?”

“Alright.” She didn’t realize they had still been holding hands until he lifted hers to his mouth and pressed a gentle kiss to her wrist. Butterflies erupted in her body. But she fought them off and she shed her clothes and climbed into bed. She left on her underwear and tank top, since Killian wasn’t exactly nude. She didn’t want to assume anything. Even still her underwear left little to the imagination and as Killian settled in behind her she felt just how far his imagination had wandered.

Emma wanted to feel him, to touch him, she really did. Pretend the sexual connection was the only thing between them but it wasn’t. And she lacked the emotional stamina to dive into it now. She was so tired that the second her body settled into the plush mattress the only thing she could imagine doing was sleeping. Though that didn’t keep her hand from wandering. Slowly stroking the top of his thigh, getting closer to the affected area.

But she felt the grasp of a strong wrist on hers, the presence of the man behind her. “Emma, darling, it’s alright. Just sleep.” He removed her hand from his leg and wrapped it with his own. Enclosing his arms around her in a comforting embrace. Her whole body felt warm with his touch. Like she was wrapped in a cloud. Before she knew it she had drifted off, eyes closing, her last memory being the gentle press of kisses to her the bare skin of her shoulder. And she could have sworn she heard him whisper the faintest, “we have each other.”

Emma couldn’t have been asleep for long. When her eyes opened the sun wasn’t even up yet. She looked at the clock on the nightstand. 3:30 am. Her nerves wouldn’t let her sleep again. As she laid there in the dark she realized the dog had gone and it was just she and Killian in the bed. His warm body still pressed to hers. This was complicated. 6000 layers of complicated. When they had been sitting on the couch sipping their tea before sleeping, he had asked her if he would know today who had killed his mother. She had answered honestly, yes, he would. There had been so little she could give him in the past few months that was certain, but of this she was sure. By the end of today he and Liam would know. And hopefully they could finally begin their healing process that had been delayed so long.

Killian stirred in the bed behind her. A low groan coming from him as her body instinctively pressed closer to his. Emma didn’t know if he was awake until his lips were next to her ear and he quietly said, “having trouble sleeping, love?”

“A little,” she said back. Not sure what her next move should be. The night had been so emotional, so difficult for him… and her. She didn’t want to press him. But that didn’t stop her from wanting him. Or the adrenaline in her body channeling itself into something more raw and animal-like at the sound of his morning voice in her ear.

He didn’t say anything back though, instead moving the hair from her shoulder, exposing the skin to his lips, trailing them down her neck and shoulder. Setting a slow and tortuous pace.

“Mmmm…” he moaned, leaving little bite marks at the surface. Emma’s entire body alight with need. Her energy transformed so suddenly from anxious to wanton. She squirmed beneath his touch as his hands made their way to her breasts from behind. Massaging over the fabric of her shirt, her nipples hardening from his movements.

“Killian…” she managed to croak out. Her eyes falling shut and her head leaning back against his chest. “Are you sure….?” The weight of the day and what was about to happen with the case presenting a bit of an emotional roadblock. Though her body was completely betraying her thought process on that level. Because deep beneath her thighs was the pooling of heat and tingling of skin. Waiting for him to be where she needed him.

His voice was in her ear again, the hairs of his beard scraping the space just beneath. “Emma, love, please don’t deprive me of the one thing that I want…” He bit her earlobe, knowing he had her hooked. The confidence in his voice so erotic.

“What exactly do you want?” she barely got out, grinding her ass into his erection. The deepest, basest parts of her taking over.

His hands moved from her pert breasts to the sides of her face. Turning her head toward him to meet her eyes. So blue. They were so so blue and stunning. Her breath caught just looking at them, even for the one thousandth time. He still affected her.

“I want to make love to you,” he said. Breath heavy. Eyes hooded. Brows dark and prominent. But beyond all of that he was serious. The choice of words wasn’t a mistake. Nor were they a lie.

He waited for her to say something back. To acknowledge the gravity of the statement in its deliberateness. Her hands resting on his t-shirted chest. His thumb stroking the vein in her neck.

It didn’t frighten her like she thought it would. Surprised her, definitely. So much so that she didn’t know what exactly to say. Instead she leaned into him, pressing herself along the lines of his lean body. Shivering with ache. And kissing him until she couldn’t breath and had to pull her lips away just barely to catch herself.

“I would never stop you,” she urged, against him. Kissing him again once she said it. Hoping he understood what she couldn’t actually say. She took it as he did when his arms pulled her into him, deepening the kiss. His one hand cradling her head, his other moving her leg to hitch around his waist. Her center meeting his, their clothes between their most intimate parts but the heat was still there.

She tugged on the collar of his shirt. Needing to feel his skin. “Off. Now,” she commanded desperately. And he obeyed. Stripping bare of his clothes. All the while keeping some part of him on top of her. Emma removed hers as well, wanting to be as close to him as possible. Her lips finding there way to trace from his mouth to his sharp jaw to his neck to his throat and his chest. The thick, dark hair tickling her chin as she moved. She heard a low moan escape his throat, her hands doing their own explorations of him.

After a few moments he grabbed hold of her chin, pulling her face up to meet his yet again. He wasted no time before kissing her, his tongue invading her mouth in the most slow and careful of movements. Her head craned back to allow him deeper. Hands roving over her flushed skin.

Slowly he rolled on top of her, his weight causing their hips to meet. Emma gasped, giving way to some of the friction she needed. She arched her back, in hopes of feeling even just the tip of his length. She could already tell her center was impossibly wet for him. He knew as well. As one of his hands made its way to her slick folds, teasing the bundle of nerves ever so softly.

“How is it that you’re always so ready for me?” he asked and Emma felt him begin to line his cock up at her entrance. His warm tongue met hers. Claiming her mouth.

“I-I,” she groaned as his lips pulled from hers. The confession so close but instead she settled for, “I want you.”

Whether he knew what she was going to say or not he didn’t question her. He kissed the insides of her legs before he eased his large member inside of her. Allowing her to adjust to its size this time. Emma felt full to the brim as he bottomed out. Killian’s lips fell to her neck and chin, breasts, slowly, wet, delicate. Such a contrast from before. He moved his hips in time with hers, an unhurried pace. His forearms holding his chest above her.

Emma spread her legs wider, welcoming his hips, urging him to grind with her. Thrusting, as the heat inside her veins turned electric and she was gasping for breath. She could see sweat begin to form in the darkness of his hair. She tugged on it, the shaggy ends, to pull his face closer to hers.

“You’re so tight, darling, every time,” he bit out. “You feel amazing. So gorgeous. Not a single part of you I don’t want to devour.”

Her arms went from his hair, lower and lower, to his ass. That she had grown to love grabbing on to while in the throes of passion. And judging from the way he picked up his pace when he felt her hands there, he loved it too.

“I can’t make it much longer, love,” he whispered. She knew he couldn’t. The way his cock throbbed against her walls she knew he was about to spill. And so was she. Immersed in the bliss of his every move. Her toes curling into the sheets, holding tight to him, fingernails in his skin, warmth in her center. Her peak was building, nerves on edge.

“Come. With me, Killian,” she spoke. She rarely ever did when they engaged in this. But the way his cock drove her to her climax she wanted them to fall together.

“As you wish, my sweet.” His lips quickly caught hers. Tugging her to a passionate kiss as they both finished in tandem. His seed coating her thighs and the inside of her thighs.

Their breath heavy, the only sound in the room, Emma held his head to her chest as he suckled her bare chest in the aftershock of her orgasm. Slowly they both calmed themselves. When he finally lifted his dark head, and pulled her to his chest, she looked up at his angular face. She knew with certainty a terrifying truth.

Emma was falling in love with Killian. And things were about to become far more complicated.

[rpgmgames]

January's Featured Game: Wishbone

DEVELOPER(S): Skitty, Kwillow, Ellie, Natasha ENGINE: RPGMaker VX Ace   GENRE: Western, Drama, Farming Simulation WARNINGS:  N/A SUMMARY: Wishbone is a character drama-slash-farming sim game that takes place in a wild west-inspired setting. The player takes the role of a farmer, fresh off the wagon in a new town and tasked with building a successful ranch. Wishbone might seem sleepy and mundane at first, but there’s trouble brewing on the horizon: a fierce, prolonged standoff between the lawmen and the outlaws that will decide the fate of the town itself.

Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!

Introduce yourself!  *Skitty: Hello! I'm Skitty, a scruffy weirdo whose hobbies include drawing, programming, and cooking. I also happen to be the coder, project manager, and one of the main artists. In 2014, I released my first game, Theo's Big Adventure, but actually haven't really been involved in the community... I'm a bit of a hermit.

*Katie: Hi! I’m Wishbone’s portrait artist, and I also do some other less easily categorizable stuff, like writing, spriting, concept work and research! This is the first game I’ve ever been a part of the team on, if you don’t count an unfinished choose-your-own-adventure game I made in Flash when I was 13.

What is your project about? What inspired you to create your game initially? *Skitty: It's kind of a funny story. Several years ago, I used to be part of the Fallout: New Vegas roleplay community on tumblr. Just for fun, a few of my friends and I came up with an alternate universe where instead of living in the post-apocalyptic desert, all the characters lived in the wild west instead. We ended up having a lot of fun with the idea! My friend, Ellie (who is also working on this project as a writer), suggested the idea of an Animal Crossing-esque game based on that setting... and I, having coding knowledge and having made a game before, volunteered to make it. The struggle between the four central characters remains the same as the initial concept, but the project and the people of the town have evolved a lot since then.

How long have you been working on your project? *Skitty: I started it around April 2015, so it's a few months short of two years old. Progress has been slow because I'm also juggling a job and other obligations, but even during busy times, I typically manage to work on Wishbone every week. Every couple weeks, new features get done and updates are posted to the dev blog.

Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *Skitty: The three biggest ones are Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, and Red Dead Redemption. From Animal Crossing, we have have befriending townspeople and decorating your house. From Harvest Moon, we have the farming mechanics and romance. From Red Dead Redemption, we have hunting, foraging, and outlaw bounties. And I suppose Fallout: New Vegas deserves a shoutout for kicking the whole project off, albeit indirectly.

*Katie: I’ve liked Wild West settings for a while, but this project has made me go big on trying to absorb as much information from both the actual time period and from media as I can. Lately I’ve been trying to cram as many old Westerns into my eyeballs as I can so I get a good picture of the (romanticized) aesthetic and shorthands that have been used for this genre in the past.

Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them?   *Skitty: Honestly, we’ve been fighting against RPG Maker’s limitations since the beginning, since the game we’re making is quite unlike a top-down RPG.

I would say that the biggest difficulty so far has been the patch of code that manages animals aging, getting sick, eating, giving birth, etc when the day rolls over. Originally, each animal event had an autorun page that would process that information when the player entered the barn map, but that would get very messy if the player didn’t enter that map all day. It got even messier if the player sent the animals in the barn out to pasture! To solve this, I first had to learn the order in which autorun events are evaluated (tip: it’s determined by the event ID number!). But that wasn’t enough… as more features were implemented, it became obvious that that approach just didn’t work. There were too many conflicts, and every time I’d fix something, I’d have to go through 20+ animal events, each with 40 pages, and change something over, and over and over… it was incredibly inefficient, typo-prone, and hard on the wrist.

Eventually, I got sick of it and recoded the whole animal system to use “generic” Common Events for interaction (basically I copy the animal’s specific stat variables to “generic” variables used by the function, then call it), with the aging/giving birth/eating/etc handled by a single event that was called once when the player slept. In hindsight, it seems so obvious… but my previous project didn’t use Common Events at all, so the first year of Wishbone’s development was largely dedicated to learning how to use them effectively.

*Katie: My biggest obstacle has been myself. I’m both a procrastinator and a perfectionist, which is just a horrible combo for ever getting anything done. Thankfully Skitty keeps me as on task as she can, but I still get mired in fixing-loops, and you would not believe the amount of times I’ve sent her revised images just because I moved a nostril two pixels to the left because it had been bothering me so badly.

Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *Skitty: It actually hasn’t changed a whole lot. In the beginning, we had this core concept, basically just Animal Crossing plus Harvest Moon. But even back then we knew we wanted a big plot and minigames and sidequests and stuff… it was just a matter of figuring out if those were feasible to program.

I’d say it actually has more features now than it did in the original concept, too. I think in the beginning we had maybe five minigames, now it’s more like 8-10ish (depending on what you consider a minigame).

*Katie: It’s far larger than we had intended, that’s for sure! The art style has also shifted quite a bit, from the switch to wholly original graphics from borrowed sprites to subtle alterations in the sprite and portrait style. I think the biggest, most significant change, aside from making all-new sprites, is the inclusion of the sky in most of the game’s maps.

What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? *Skitty: It’s pretty much the same as it always was–me as the programmer/project manager/spriter, Katie as the portrait artist and other spriter, Ellie, Dax, Jester, and Reuben as character/plot contributors. Oh! I guess the big difference now is that we are in the process of hiring a composer?

What was the best part of developing the game? *Skitty: Seeing it all come together into something finished and cool. Sometimes I like to just lovingly look at the maps and videos and such I’m proudest of and think “wow, I did that! And it turned out almost exactly how I’d imagined!”

*Katie: Agreed! The little bits and pieces don’t seem like much, but when they’re part of a whole it’s like they’re completely transformed. I’m also happy to be working in a group - it makes me so proud to be part of this effort!

Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *Skitty: Man, I’d definitely be craftier about how I handled the code for the animals. I didn’t know a lot about scripting at first, MONTHS worth of headache could have been avoided if I’d known how to use script calls.

*Katie: I don’t want to say ‘I wish I could change everything!’ because that’s not true, but it’s hard to keep myself from feeling I can always improve the parts I’ve contributed to the game. I’m doing a lot of learning on the job, and when I look back on things I’ve done before - even just a couple of portraits or sprites ago - it feels like I need to do everything over and make it better!

Once you finish your project, do you plan to explore game's universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *Skitty: We definitely have plans to use the characters again, but when they’re revisited, it’s going to be in different contexts. You won’t see the desert of Wishbone again, but the characters will absolutely be popping up in future projects.

*Katie: Yeah, these characters are sort of like… actors, in a way. Type-cast actors. We like to put them in different scenarios and see how they adapt.

What do you look most forward to upon/after release? *Skitty: Gosh, it would be amazing if people liked the game enough to call themselves a fan! I’m definitely looking forward to people’s reactions to discovering plot twists and easter eggs and such. I hope people like the characters, too.

*Katie: Having something like this done would feel amazing. I’ve never been part of something this big before, and it’s a lot to be proud of. After that - if even a handful of people like the game, I’d be elated!

Is there something you're afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game?  *Skitty: I hope there aren’t too many bugs in it when I release it! I mean, I’m testing it as I go, but it’s a really big and complex game… there are going to be things I don’t catch. I’d be really disappointed if I released it with a glitch that broke people’s save files.

Also, I really do hope people actually like the characters… I’d be sad if they didn’t.

*Katie: I hope the art does justice to the game… I’d hate for it to be distracting or off, it’s something I worry about frequently. And boy I hope the story and characters come off okay!

Question from last month's featured dev: What's the biggest turn off you can get on an RPG maker game? *Skitty: Hmm… honestly, using the default sprites tends to be a pretty big turnoff. As an artist, it is very important to me that the game have an “aesthetic”, a sense of atmosphere, that the characters feel like individuals… that’s what really catches my eye and makes me want to learn more. I know not everybody is an artist, but like, a simple 8-bit sort of style, or even a “shitpunk” style like Space Funeral is more eye-catching than the default tiles.

Also, I find games made with the default tiles tend to be very easy to get lost in due to the generic nature of said tiles… if you gotta use those, at least make sure your maps are tightly-built and easy to navigate. I’ve played several RPG Maker games where the player spent a lot of time in huge, empty green fields with little or no landmarks. Add some stuff to make the area memorable… players will thank you for it!

Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *Skitty: Try to set realistic goals for your first (or second, or third…) project. It’s so tempting to want to tell your magnum opus immediately, but that’s usually a recipe for ending up frustrated, disappointed, and quitting. My first project, Theo’s Big Adventure, was fairly short, used mostly ripped sprites from Mother 3 and ripped music from other video games, and still took a year and three months to complete.

Also, try to make working on your project a habit. I find that the hardest part is often just getting started… but once I get in the zone, I can work for hours. Set goals for yourself (whether it’s as big as “I’ll finish Chapter 5 by April” or as small as “I’m going to work on my project for at least 30 minutes today”) and reward yourself if you complete them. If you don’t complete them, don’t beat yourself up… just set the goal again (adjusting it to be more reasonable if needed) and give it another shot.

Oh, and one more thing… it’s alright for something to not be perfect. One of the biggest killers of a long-term project (aside from overambition and having it not be a habit) is perfectionism. Don’t get caught up in the cycle of continually revamping the same pieces over and over again–just let it be imperfect and move on. Nobody’s first project is perfect, but future-you needs the experience and confidence you’ll gain from finishing it to pull off the project of your dreams in a few years.

*Katie: All of the above, but from someone who’s less disciplined, to people who perhaps have similar issues: get somebody who’ll keep your nose to the grindstone and get you working and finishing things when all you want to do is either chase butterflies or toggle an eyeball back and forth to make it “perfect”. You would not believe how much it helps.

We mods would like to thank Skitty and Katie for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved! 

Remember to check out Wishbone if you haven’t already! See you next month! 

- Mods Gold & Platinum 

[noisyunknownturtle]

Did BTC Miners Crash Bitcoin Price With 51 Days Before the Halving?

Bitcoin (BTC) price has started to show strength in its recovery since the black Thursday selloff this past week, but is this something we can expect to continue? Or is this a dead cat bounce on the way down to lower lows?

In today’s analysis I’m looking not only at the charts, but also at the possibility of large Bitcoin miners being the cause of the 50% price drop on March 12, after supporting data emerged last week suggesting that short-term holders sold a whopping 281,000 BTC, which resulted in the crash.

Daily crypto market performance. Source: Coin360.com

Did miners dump over a quarter of a million BTC?

In an article published by Coinmetrics on March 17, on-chain data supported the fact that short-term BTC holders were most likely responsible for the selling rather than new holders.

The figures they quoted included 281,000 BTC was on the move after 30 days of holding, compared to 4,131 that hadn’t been touched for over a year before being moved.

This data might suggest to some that it was weak hands that FOMO bought in during Bitcoin’s 30% price rise at the beginning of 2020. However, one has to consider the possible motives at play for such a large amount of Bitcoin being sold off cheap.

This to me opens up the very real possibility that the same people responsible for Bitcoin’s price rise this year, were the same people responsible for its fall.

As can be seen in the chart below, Bitcoin had been trending in a downward parallel channel since June 2019 — a trend that seemed to bottom on Jan. 4, 2020, which saw the Bitcoin price take off in a new ascending channel.

This new impetus for Bitcoin’s price was welcomed, but not questioned. Why did Bitcoin start to rise? Was it the upcoming halving, which is now just 51 days away? Was it the mining difficulty increase? Was it renewed institutional interest? However, what if it was all of these things combined, but with a twist.

What if the miners stopped selling Bitcoin?

There are 1,800 new Bitcoins mined every day, and between the period of Jan. 4 and Mar 12, there would have been 122,400 Bitcoin mined. This is about 50% of the amount that was revived by short term holders, and you don’t get more short term than freshly mined BTC.

BTC USD daily chart. Source: TradingView

Why would miners crash the market?

I’m not going to pretend that I know any of this for a fact, this is just a theory with a lot of supporting data. But I will throw a few reasons that would make sense for larger miners to crash the market before continuing with my analysis.

To liquidate leveraged competitors (many smaller miners hedge on leverage platforms like Bitmex);

To increase their market share ahead of the halving (because of the above);

To shake out big manipulators (PlusToken scammers, Institutional investors) prior to the halving.

I believe the above to be plausible reasons, especially if you consider how much hashing power comes out of China, a nation that pretty much has a crystal ball when it comes to the Coronavirus outbreak, as the first cases where being reported there back in November 2019.

This almost creates a perfect storm of conditions to execute the black swan event that was able to simultaneously gain dominance in the market, and regain control of the price. After all, if miners have no control over the price, then the halving will have no impact.

If in doubt, zoom out

BTC USD daily chart Source: TradingView

When you zoom out on the Bitcoin 1-day chart, it’s almost obvious where miners could have stopped selling. The breakout at the beginning of the year just looks like a bump in the road, as we have since resumed the same downward channel we were in for the entire second half of 2019.

We’ll never really know whether or not the above scenario is true because of the selloff. However, one thing that is definite is that the price bounced off the support of the descending channel at $4,400 as anticipated in last week’s analysis, so I am keeping these levels in mind looking forward to the week ahead.

At present, the price is holding above the middle of the channel, which is around $5,800. However, should this level fail to hold, then I expect $4,200 to be tested next week.

Should $5,800 continue to hold, then $7,200 is the key level of resistance for Bitcoin to push past and flip to support to be rid of this descending channel once and for all.

Mining difficulty reduction

BTC mining difficulty. Source: BTC.com

Since the beginning of 2020, we have largely had the mining difficulty increase. This, in turn, seemingly saw the price rise, and as such, it seemed like a valid indicator.

However, next week we are set to see the year’s first double-digit adjustment, and unfortunately, it’s a negative one of -10.54%. Only time will tell if this will have a negative impact on the price of Bitcoin.

The yearly trend suggests that it might also just be correcting itself after such a dramatic selloff on the day it last increased. Bitcoin has a history of punishing its holders prior to big rewards, and the next chart might help you visualize what could be in store over the coming weeks and months.

BTC Rainbow Chart Source: Blockchain Centre

Similar to the stock to flow ratio chart, only this one I feel helps convey an important message, and that message is “Keep buying Bitcoin at these levels.”

Whilst this chart isn’t intended to be financial advice, and like the S2F model has most likely been based on hindsight, what it does show is potentially how long we might remain in the blue “fire sale” zone both ahead and beyond the halving.

As a Bitcoin hodler and trader, I take great comfort in one thing shown on this chart. There are many more buying opportunities than there are selling opportunities, so should the price of Bitcoin continue to slide next week, try to view it as an opportunity to buy more, rather than reflecting on how much of a rekt pleb you feel right now.

Bullish scenario

I said it last week, I’ll say it again, the CME gap still exists at $9,165. Whilst it feels almost impossible right now, 90% of CME gaps still fill, so there’s always a possibility.

However, being more realistic and looking at the week ahead, if Bitcoin can hold $5,800 as support then all eyes are on $7,200 as the key level to break out from.

From here, I would expect the next level of resistance to be present around $8,000 before we can even start to think about $10,000 again.

Bearish scenario

We can’t completely ignore all the global turmoil right now. Thus, if $5,800 fails to hold, I think it’s highly probable that we will revisit $4,200.

Falling below $4,200 is not a scenario I believe we need to consider. However, if this were to break, then $2,760 would be the last level of support I’d be looking at, as this would represent an 80% retracement from last year’s high of $13,800. If it fails to bounce there, then I would completely expect Bitcoin to go to sub $1,000 levels.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of @officiallykeith and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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The post Did BTC Miners Crash Bitcoin Price With 51 Days Before the Halving? appeared first on For Crypto.

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[angryconnoisseurface]

Did BTC Miners Crash Bitcoin Price With 51 Days Before the Halving?

Bitcoin (BTC) price has started to show strength in its recovery since the black Thursday selloff this past week, but is this something we can expect to continue? Or is this a dead cat bounce on the way down to lower lows?

In today’s analysis I’m looking not only at the charts, but also at the possibility of large Bitcoin miners being the cause of the 50% price drop on March 12, after supporting data emerged last week suggesting that short-term holders sold a whopping 281,000 BTC, which resulted in the crash.

Daily crypto market performance. Source: Coin360.com

Did miners dump over a quarter of a million BTC?

In an article published by Coinmetrics on March 17, on-chain data supported the fact that short-term BTC holders were most likely responsible for the selling rather than new holders.

The figures they quoted included 281,000 BTC was on the move after 30 days of holding, compared to 4,131 that hadn’t been touched for over a year before being moved.

This data might suggest to some that it was weak hands that FOMO bought in during Bitcoin’s 30% price rise at the beginning of 2020. However, one has to consider the possible motives at play for such a large amount of Bitcoin being sold off cheap.

This to me opens up the very real possibility that the same people responsible for Bitcoin’s price rise this year, were the same people responsible for its fall.

As can be seen in the chart below, Bitcoin had been trending in a downward parallel channel since June 2019 — a trend that seemed to bottom on Jan. 4, 2020, which saw the Bitcoin price take off in a new ascending channel.

This new impetus for Bitcoin’s price was welcomed, but not questioned. Why did Bitcoin start to rise? Was it the upcoming halving, which is now just 51 days away? Was it the mining difficulty increase? Was it renewed institutional interest? However, what if it was all of these things combined, but with a twist.

What if the miners stopped selling Bitcoin?

There are 1,800 new Bitcoins mined every day, and between the period of Jan. 4 and Mar 12, there would have been 122,400 Bitcoin mined. This is about 50% of the amount that was revived by short term holders, and you don’t get more short term than freshly mined BTC.

BTC USD daily chart. Source: TradingView

Why would miners crash the market?

I’m not going to pretend that I know any of this for a fact, this is just a theory with a lot of supporting data. But I will throw a few reasons that would make sense for larger miners to crash the market before continuing with my analysis.

To liquidate leveraged competitors (many smaller miners hedge on leverage platforms like Bitmex);

To increase their market share ahead of the halving (because of the above);

To shake out big manipulators (PlusToken scammers, Institutional investors) prior to the halving.

I believe the above to be plausible reasons, especially if you consider how much hashing power comes out of China, a nation that pretty much has a crystal ball when it comes to the Coronavirus outbreak, as the first cases where being reported there back in November 2019.

This almost creates a perfect storm of conditions to execute the black swan event that was able to simultaneously gain dominance in the market, and regain control of the price. After all, if miners have no control over the price, then the halving will have no impact.

If in doubt, zoom out

BTC USD daily chart Source: TradingView

When you zoom out on the Bitcoin 1-day chart, it’s almost obvious where miners could have stopped selling. The breakout at the beginning of the year just looks like a bump in the road, as we have since resumed the same downward channel we were in for the entire second half of 2019.

We’ll never really know whether or not the above scenario is true because of the selloff. However, one thing that is definite is that the price bounced off the support of the descending channel at $4,400 as anticipated in last week’s analysis, so I am keeping these levels in mind looking forward to the week ahead.

At present, the price is holding above the middle of the channel, which is around $5,800. However, should this level fail to hold, then I expect $4,200 to be tested next week.

Should $5,800 continue to hold, then $7,200 is the key level of resistance for Bitcoin to push past and flip to support to be rid of this descending channel once and for all.

Mining difficulty reduction

BTC mining difficulty. Source: BTC.com

Since the beginning of 2020, we have largely had the mining difficulty increase. This, in turn, seemingly saw the price rise, and as such, it seemed like a valid indicator.

However, next week we are set to see the year’s first double-digit adjustment, and unfortunately, it’s a negative one of -10.54%. Only time will tell if this will have a negative impact on the price of Bitcoin.

The yearly trend suggests that it might also just be correcting itself after such a dramatic selloff on the day it last increased. Bitcoin has a history of punishing its holders prior to big rewards, and the next chart might help you visualize what could be in store over the coming weeks and months.

BTC Rainbow Chart Source: Blockchain Centre

Similar to the stock to flow ratio chart, only this one I feel helps convey an important message, and that message is “Keep buying Bitcoin at these levels.”

Whilst this chart isn’t intended to be financial advice, and like the S2F model has most likely been based on hindsight, what it does show is potentially how long we might remain in the blue “fire sale” zone both ahead and beyond the halving.

As a Bitcoin hodler and trader, I take great comfort in one thing shown on this chart. There are many more buying opportunities than there are selling opportunities, so should the price of Bitcoin continue to slide next week, try to view it as an opportunity to buy more, rather than reflecting on how much of a rekt pleb you feel right now.

Bullish scenario

I said it last week, I’ll say it again, the CME gap still exists at $9,165. Whilst it feels almost impossible right now, 90% of CME gaps still fill, so there’s always a possibility.

However, being more realistic and looking at the week ahead, if Bitcoin can hold $5,800 as support then all eyes are on $7,200 as the key level to break out from.

From here, I would expect the next level of resistance to be present around $8,000 before we can even start to think about $10,000 again.

Bearish scenario

We can’t completely ignore all the global turmoil right now. Thus, if $5,800 fails to hold, I think it’s highly probable that we will revisit $4,200.

Falling below $4,200 is not a scenario I believe we need to consider. However, if this were to break, then $2,760 would be the last level of support I’d be looking at, as this would represent an 80% retracement from last year’s high of $13,800. If it fails to bounce there, then I would completely expect Bitcoin to go to sub $1,000 levels.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of @officiallykeith and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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The post Did BTC Miners Crash Bitcoin Price With 51 Days Before the Halving? appeared first on Tip Crypto.

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[thisdaynews]

Fight against facial recognition hits wall across the West

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/fight-against-facial-recognition-hits-wall-across-the-west/

Fight against facial recognition hits wall across the West

“Here, it’s the other way around: There is a basic right to data protection and informational self-determination, which means that every piece of data that’s collected and processed about us means an intrusion into our basic rights, and [law enforcement agencies] can only do that on a legal basis, and after being granted permission.”

Tech industry leaders are meanwhile seizing on the opportunity to shape any global rules that may emerge. In December 2018, Microsoft President Brad Smith unveiled principles for facial recognition regulations in a rare call to action from a leading industry figure. Amazon Web Services’ public policy chief, Michael Punke, urged lawmakers to enact legislation that would both “protect civil rights while also allowing for continued innovation and practical application of the technology.”

For now, though, face-scanning tools are rapidly becoming commonplace, embraced by the public and private sector alike.

Say goodbye to anonymity

At the same time, companies like Facebook, Apple and Google have built facial recognition into their most popular devices, for instance as a means of unlocking phones or automatically tagging friends in photos. Amazon has emerged as a top supplier of easy-to-use facial recognition systems, whose customers have included police departments and U.S. government agencies.

Among public authorities, the appetite for facial recognition systems seems to know no bounds. Across the United States, federal, state and local agencies have been conducting so-called experiments for years, with the Transportation Security Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection both use facial recognition at select points of entry. On the state and local levels, police departments in Florida, Colorado and Oregon have begun to adopt the technology, with others exploring its use.

The situation is no different in Europe. In the U.K., two police forces have been testing facial recognition technology to identify passersby in real time with street cameras. The French government has rolled out a facial-recognition-enabled ID card over protests from digital rights groups. Meanwhile, Hungary’s interior ministry is installing 35,000 cameras across its capital, Budapest, and the rest of the country to capture both facial images and license plates.

Facial recognition is already up and running at some European airports from Lisbon to Prague, where passengers from the EU and Switzerland can skip long lines by opting for an automated border control system scanning their faces.

“That’s worrying,” said Matthias Monroy, a civil liberties activist who works for the leftist Die Linke party in the German parliament. Paired with the power of artificial intelligence and high-powered computing, such technology may soon “make it impossible to move around anonymously in a public space,” he added.

‘Virtually unrestricted’

In the U.S., the debate around facial recognition has focused mainly on government’s use of the technology. After the American Civil Liberties Union issued a report on Amazon’s sale of its Rekognition software to police departments, San Francisco became the first city in the world to ban local agencies from using the technology, in a blueprint that activists hope will be replicated elsewhere.

That cause has also found a following in Washington, where a coalition of congressional Democrats and libertarian-leaning Republicans, worried about the implications of unchecked government surveillance, wants to restrict the use of facial recognition by federal agencies like the FBI, TSA and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Leaders of the House Oversight Committee have explored a bill that would block funding for any new use or expanded use of the technology by the federal government, the panel’s top Republican told POLITICO in August.

“We don’t want any more money being used, no money used to expand what we have or to purchase any new ability to impact or use this technology,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) told POLITICOat the time. A “vast majority” of House Oversight Republicans still favor a federal timeout, Jordan said more recently, though he conceded that “I’ve been all focused all on impeachment.”

Before his death, then-committee chairman Cummings warned at a hearing last spring that under current law, the government can use the technology to “monitor you without your knowledge and enter your face into a database that could be used in virtually unrestricted ways.” He later called the issue “one of the few things that everybody, Democrats and Republicans, seem to agree on.”

The committee’s new chairwoman, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), has expressed a desire to revisit the issue but has not committed to pushing for a moratorium on federal use.

And even if such a proposal were to advance in the Democratic-controlled House, it would likely face opposition in the GOP-controlled Senate from moderate Republicans, many of whom see the emerging technology as a crucial law enforcement tool.

“I think that is unlikely to gain support in the Senate,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told POLITICO this month when asked about the prospects of a moratorium.

Coons in November partnered with Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, a libertarian-leaning Republican, to introduce legislation requiring that federal agencies obtain a warrant before using facial recognition for targeted surveillance. But even more narrow proposals such as that bill, which has yet to pick up any additional co-sponsors, have failed to gain traction in the chamber to this point.

In Brussels, new European Commission leader Ursula von der Leyen has promised to take on facial recognition as part of a pledge to write binding rules for artificial intelligence during the first 100 days of her term in office, which started on Dec. 1.

That call coincides with a series of rulings from data protection authorities in various EU states, which have called for caution in deploying mainly “live” facial recognition and urged public authorities to draft legislation around its use. In the past few weeks, privacy watchdogs in Sweden, France and the United Kingdom have all issued position papers on the subject, with the French and Swedish regulators halting efforts to deploy facial recognition at the entrances to high schools.

However, the Commission’s road map for AI does does not necessarily mean any EU-wide rules on facial recognition will ever see the light of day. Despite promises to encode accepted practices in law, European officials have voiced a cacophony of opinions on what exactly the law on AI should contain, with high-ranking bureaucrats hinting that it may skew toward guiding principles instead of hard rules.

That is why it’s likely that courts and data protection watchdogs will write those rules in Europe. In late August, a British court rejected the first major attempt to curtail police use of facial recognition, saying security benefits outweighed the risk to privacy and individual freedoms.

Legal experts expect European rules for facial recognition in law enforcement to come in the form of what’s known as “ex post” regulation: First, law enforcement will take advantage of existing legal gray zones and start deploying the technology — until either a judge or a data protection authority will restrict or stop that use, or rule that it conforms with existing law. Cases that could set such precedent are underway.

Steven Overly in Arlington, Va., Isabella Borshoff in Cardiff, U.K., and Lauren Bishop in Brussels contributed to this report.

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[writingguide003-blog]

'A total blast': our writers pick their favorite summer blockbusters ever

New Post has been published on https://writingguideto.com/must-see/a-total-blast-our-writers-pick-their-favorite-summer-blockbusters-ever/

'A total blast': our writers pick their favorite summer blockbusters ever

As the season heats up on the big screen, Guardian writers look back on their picks from the past with killer sharks, mournful crime-fighters and time-traveling teens

Face/Off (1997)

Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext/PARAMOUNT

Madman bomber Nicolas Cage stole John Travoltas dead sons life. So gloomy FBI agent Travolta steals Cages face. When Cage steals his face and his wife and freedom John Woos Face/Off becomes the biggest, wackiest and most operatic summer blockbuster in history, a gonzo combustion that flings everything from pigeons to peaches at the screen.

Hong Kong cineastes might applaud a script with roots in the ancient Sichuan opera genre Bian Lian, where performers swap masks like magic. Popcorn-munchers, of which I am front row center, are here to watch whack job Cage and soulful Travolta, two actors who love to go full-ham, play each other and go deep inside their iconographies. Call it hamception. Or just call it a crazy swing that hits a home run as Cavolta and Trage battling it out in a warehouse, a speedboat and, of course, a church. As Cage-as-Travolta gloats to Travolta-as-Cage, Isnt this religious? The eternal battle between good and evil, saint and sinners but youre still not having any fun! Maybe hes not, but we sure are. Bravo, bravo. AN

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Photograph: David James/Publicity image from film company

Theres been an increasing sense of desperation clinging to the majority of roles picked by Tom Cruise in recent years. Outside of the still shockingly entertaining Mission: Impossible series, he was miscast in the barely serviceable Jack Reacher and its maddeningly unnecessary sequel, his awards-aiming American Made was throwaway and his franchise-starting The Mummy was a franchise-killer. But four summers ago, he picked the right horse just maybe at the wrong time.

Because despite how deliriously fun Edge of Tomorrow was in the summer of 2014, audiences didnt show the requisite enthusiasm. It was a moderate success (enough to warrant a long-gestating sequel) but it should have packed them in, its combination of charm, invention and sheer thrills making it one of the most objectively successful blockbuster experiences in memory. The nifty plot device (Cruise must relive a day of dying while battling aliens over and over again) allowed for some dark gallows humor and a frenetic pace that kept us all giddily on edge while it also contained a dazzling action star turn from Emily Blunt whose fearless Full Metal Bitch wrestled the film away from Cruise. Blame its relative failure on the bland title? Cruise fatigue? Blockbuster over-saturation? Then find a digital copy to watch and rewatch and repeat. BL

Back to the Future (1985)

Photograph: Allstar/UNIVERSAL/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar

Back to the Future very nearly wasnt a summer blockbuster. The reshoots required after Eric Stoltz was booted off, then the fact Michael J Foxs Family Ties commitments meant he could only shoot at night all meant filming didnt wrap until late April. Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg duly pencilled in an August / September release.

But then people started seeing it. Test scores were off the scale. Said producer Frank Marshall: Id never seen a preview like that. The audience went up to the ceiling. So they bagsied the best spot the year had to offer 3 July hired a squad of sound editors to work round the clock and two print editors with instructions to get properly choppy. They did, and those big trims tightened yet further one of the tautest screenplays (by Bob Gale) cinema has ever seen. The only bit of fat they left was the Johnny B Goode scene: sure, it didnt advance the story, but the kids at those test screenings knew we were gonna love it. Back to the Future is a pure shot of summer cinema: grand, ambitious, insanely entertaining. Deadpool, Avengers, take note: a blockbuster can be smart as hell so long as it wears it lightly. In the end, by the way, the film spent 11 weeks at number 1 at the US box office. Thats essentially the whole summer. CS

Teminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Photograph: Allstar/TRISTAR/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar

The first film I ever saw at the cinema was The Rocketeer. We drove into Bradford city centre, bought our tickets at the Odeon and sat through the 1991 tale which followed the fortunes of a stunt pilot, a rocket pack and a Nazi agent played by Timothy Dalton who sounded like he was from Bury rather than Berlin. The way into the multiplex there was a huge poster for Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Arnie sat on a Harley with a shotgun cocked and ready. My dad was a huge fan of the original but he still couldnt swing taking a seven-year-old to see it. It wasnt until I borrowed a VHS copy that I finally got to see what was behind that image. Skynet, dipshits, T-1000s, a nuclear holocaust and a motorbike chases on the LA river.

Blockbusters dont usually have that edge: theres a more brazen mainstream appeal. But Judgment Day was and still is an exception. It did huge numbers at the box office (more than $500m), was a rare sequel that was arguably better than the original and introduced really odd bits of Spanish idiom into the Bradford schoolyard lexicon. I probably would have been scarred for life watching it as a seven-year-old, but as a teenager it gave me a story I doubt Ill ever get tired of revisiting. LB

The Dark Knight (2008)

Photograph: Allstar/WARNER BROS.

The summer of 2008 was a busy one: Barack Obama emerged from a contentious democratic primary to become the first ever black presidential nominee of a major party. The dam fortifying the entire global financial system was about to burst. China hosted its first ever Summer Olympics. But somehow, and not exactly to my credit, what I remember most from that summer is the uncanny, ridiculously over-the-top publicity blitzkrieg that preceded the release of The Dark Knight, which has since emerged as not just an all-time great summer blockbuster, but an all-time great American film, period.

There were faux-political billboards that read I believe in Harvey Dent; a weirdly nondescript website of the same name; Joker playing cards dispersed throughout comic book stores, which led fans to another website where the DA was defaced with clown makeup. Dentmobiles, Gotham City voter registration cards, a pop-up local news channel: the marketing campaign might have seemed excessive had the movie not so convincingly topped it. Ten years later, as films like Deadpool and Avengers: Infinity War try to reach those same heights of virality, The Dark Knight remains the measuring stick by which every superhero movie, and superhero villain, is measured. JN

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Photograph: Jasin Boland/AP

In many ways, Fury Road is summer: arid, scorching, bright enough to be squinted at. The driving force behind all the high-impact driving is scarcity of water, the essence of life in a desert where death practically rises up from the burning sand. Even in the air-conditioned comfort of a multiplex auditorium in Washington DCs Chinatown, watching George Millers psychotic motor opera left this critic sweaty and parched. My world is fire and blood, warns the weary Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) in the scripts opening lines. Staggering out of a theater into the oppressive rays of the sun, it sure can feel that way.

Millers masterpiece fits into the summer blockbuster canon in a less literal capacity as well, striking its ideal balance of dazzling technical spectacle and massively-scaled emotional catharsis. There was plenty of breathless praise to go around upon this films 2015 release, much of it for the feats of practical-effects daring, but the hysterical extremes of feeling cemented its status as a modern classic. I cant deny that Ive watched the polecat sequence upwards of a dozen times, but Millers film truly comes alive in Furiosas howl of desperation, and in Maxs noble disappearance into the throng. CB

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

Its the music, its the giant boulder, its the Old Testament mysticism, its the whip, its the Cairo Swordsman, its Harrison Fords crooked smile, its the bad dates, its Karen Allen drinking a sherpa under the table, its the melted faces and exploding heads. Its all these things plus having the good fortune of seeing this at the cinema at a very young age, therefore watching most of it through my terrified fingers. (Indy tells Marion to keep her eyes shut during the cosmic spooky ending; way ahead of you there!)

The modern blockbuster as we know it was created by Steven Spielberg with Jaws and George Lucas with Star Wars, so the hype was unmatched when the two collaborated in 1981 with Raiders of the Lost Ark. As a kid I had no idea this was a loving homage to cliffhanger serials from the 30s and 40s, I took it as pure adventure. The seven-and-a-half minute desert truck chase (I dont know, Im making thus up as I go) is probably the best action sequence in all of cinema (John Woos Hard Boiled does not have a horse, sorry), but watching as an adult one notices a lot of sophisticated humor, too. (Indy being too exhausted to make love to Marion, for example, is something that didnt connect when I was six.)

Its strange to think I watched these cartoon Nazis on VHS with my grandparents who had escaped the Holocaust, and no one benefits when you do the math to figure out how young Marion was when, as Indy puts it, you knew what you were doing. But for thrills, laughs and propulsive camerawork (though a little mild Orientalism), nothing tops this one. JH

Independence Day (1996)

Photograph: Everett/REX/Shutterstock

Short of actually calling their film Summer Blockbuster, rarely can a films height-of-summer release date been so central to a films raison detre. This being the mid-90s, when po-mo and self-referentiality was all the rage, brazenly hooking your tentpole film to 4 July was seen as a pretty smart idea.

Fortunately, all the ducks did line up in a row for ID4: a game-changing performance from Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum at (arguably) his funniest, a rousingly Clintoneque president in Bill Pullman and most importantly in that run-up to the millennium physical destruction on a gigantic scale. Much comment at the time was expended on the laser obliteration of the White House (an early shot from the Tea Party/Maga crowd?), but I personally cherish director Roland Emmerichs signature move of detonating cars in somersault formation. Like many other huge-budget films then and since, Independence Day was basically a tooled-up retread of cheap-as-chips format of earlier decades though who these days would roll such expensive dice on what is essentially an original script, with no comic book or toy branding as a forerunner? We shall never see its like again. AP

Aliens (1986)

Photograph: Allstar/20 CENTURY FOX/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar

An Aliens summer is one for moviegoers who prefer to sit in in darkened rooms when the sun is shining; the brutal confines of the fiery power plant make an excellent subliminal ad for air conditioning. In 1986, James Cameron took Ridley Scotts elegant, iconic horror template and turned it into an all-out action blockbuster, forcing Ripley once again to face down her nemeses in a breathless fug of claustrophobia, sweat and fear. Its relentlessly stressful and unbelievably thrilling.

I first saw Aliens many years after its initial release. Owing to its sizeable and long-lasting legacy, it was at once immediately familiar, yet also brisk and brutally fresh. I understood that it was a classic, but I wasnt prepared for just how good it is, for the pitch-perfect management of tension, the pace that never really lets up, the emotional pull. The maternal undertow of Ripleys protection of Newt, and the alien mirror of that, adds a level of heart unusual in most blockbusters, and her frustration at being a woman whose authority must be earned again and again, and then proven again and again, remains grimly relevant, 30 years on. Its also a total blast. Now get away from her, you bitch. RN

Jaws (1975)

Photograph: Fotos International/Getty Images

It is the great summer blockbuster ancestor the film that in 1975 more or less invented the concept of the event movie. And unlike all those other summer blockbusters, Steven Spielbergs Jaws is actually about the summer; it is explicitly about the institution of the summer vacation, into which the movie was being sold as part of the seasonal entertainment. It is about the sun, the sand, the beach, the ocean and the entirely justified fear of being eaten alive by an enormous shark with the appetite of a serial killer and the cunning of a U-boat commander. And more than that: it is about that most contemporary of political phenomena: the coverup, the town authorities at a seaside resort putting vacationers at risk by not warning them about the shark. The Jaws mayor has become comic shorthand for the craven and pusillanimous politician.

A blockbuster nowadays means spectacular digital effects, but this film is from an analogue world. It bust the block through brilliant film-making and an inspired score from John Williams, summoning up the shark with a simple two-note theme which became the most famous musical expression of evil since Bernard Herrmanns shrieking violin stabs in Psycho took the place of actual knife-slashing. I still remember the excitement of the summer of 1975, and the queues around the block at the Empire, in Watford, round the corner from the football ground. The inspired brevity of the title meant the word was repeated over and over again to fill the marquee display: JAWS JAWS JAWS as if they were screaming it! PB

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us

[lifewiththealtmans]

Exactly 1 Year Later

 So the question is, where should we begin...

      Well, like the title says, it’s been exactly 1 year since we published our last blog and I can tell you this... a lot has happened since then! We will of course add more photos down below since i’m a photographer and I know a lot of us are visual people so you like to actually see the things we’re talking about and not just read about them. To make things simple i’m going to list out the details in the past 12 months so you know how things have happened in our life. Of course, we’re just going to stick to the highlights and not mention everything. That could take forever. (SIDE NOTE: most of the places we mention in this blog is connected to a link... if a “place” has a line under it, then click on it to learn more). Also, most photos were taken by me (Dustin Altman) except the top one and the photo of me. Just in case you were wondering, my business name is Altman Media Group. So if you need anything let me know!

     - LET’S GET STARTED -

  From November to December 2016

      After finishing our commitment in India last year (November 2016) we took off for Cyprus, Melina’s home. We lived with her mom and spent time in the Greek culture and I actually started learning some of the Greek language. I sounded like a pro, not really but hey, it takes time like anything else. Right? AND yes it was “All Greek to Me” as the old saying goes. Meaning, I didn’t understand anything that was going on. I can say that the food was amazing (Melina’s mom... Ms. Haido is a great cook and baker). In Cyprus, we had lamb, gyros, halloumi... nooow... there’s Jesus and then there’s halloumi... it’s definitely a joke... kind of... but yes halloumi is amazing and my favorite! What is it you ask? It’s goat cheese that they grill! Ok ok ok.. I said that I wasn’t going to mention everything but I have to share this short story. In the winter the weather in Cyprus is very interesting. For example, one day we went to the beach to revisit the place where I ask Melina to marry me 2 years prior in 2014 (while in college I flew over to Cyprus and proposed on a cliff by the beach at sunset.. it was amazing) ANYWAYS..... back to the story! So, one day we went to the beach and the weather was perfect, about 70 degrees (F) which is around 21 Celsius for all you guys not in America. Long story short, the next day we went to the mountain known as Mt. Olympus (Cyprus) and I couldn’t believe what I saw. There was snow everywhere!!! It was beautiful. The drive is only 1.5 hrs from the beach to the mountains and the weather was completely different. 

THE BEACH: Ayia Napa, Cyprus (this is close to where I proposed)

The Mountain: Mount Olympus, Cyprus  (we went sledding in the snow) 

   At some point I had to go Istanbul, Turkey for a day or so....  (while I was in Istanbul, there were some bombings)  I wasn’t near them.

      Cyprus to Greece

        After leaving Cyprus in late December 2016 we flew to Thessaloniki, Greece where Melina’s sister lived at the time. It was an interesting place. Let’s just say when we were there, things were really inexpensive. I remember getting freshly squeezed orange juice with our breakfast for 1 Euro which was like $1.20 USD which is amazing. You can’t buy fake orange juice in the states for that price. Another thing I noticed about this specific city was the amount of graffiti that was on buildings all around us. Besides that, we got the opportunity to go visit my sister-in-laws boyfriends family up in the mountains and along the way we seen a very beautiful place by the beach! The photo below was one of the first places where Paul (from the bible) preached a messages on his missionary trip to Greece.  

The Town: Kavala, Greece

Taking off in Greece and now going to.... (drum roll)

      We enjoyed our time in Greece... but up next was our FAVORITE CITY ON EARTH!!! Let me make this fun... do you think our favorite city is  ( A ) Cape Town, South Africa  ( B ) New York City, New York  ( C ) Budapest, Hungary  or  ( D ) New Delhi, India    Sooooo... some of you are probably wrong, some of you probably haven’t even heard of some of these places in the world and some of you guessed it right! It’s Budapest, Hungary! We love it there so much! So a little bit about the place.. Melina lived there for 7 years. She studied there and staff with a missionary team there. WHY do we love Budapest? Well, almost all of the buildings look like 500 years old, there’s Castles, and historic bridges, the Danube River divides the city, there’s also mountains, and plenty of amazing food! (Hungarian food.. yummmmm) One of the coolest parts of this trip to Budapest was the fact that my mom, two brothers, and cousin came all the way from America to meet us here. We counted this as our family vacation since me and Melina don’t live near family anymore. Ok, let me try to speed things up a little by putting up a few more photos of our time in Budapest.

The Town: Szentendre, Hungary (1hr with the Train from Budapest)

CITY: Budapest, Hungary ( in the winter )

My family in the street of Budapest (yes it was very cold)

      All 3 of these guys had their birthdays in Budapest!!! By the way, they were ice skating in this photo in front of a castle... SO MUCH FUN!  January 2017

      Now..... you know why we love it! It’s absolutely beautiful! (SIDE NOTE: we actually flew from Thessaloniki, Greece to Budapest, Hungary for $16 USD. I know you think it’s impossible but we did it. HOW? Europe seems to have much more affordable flights than places like America. I don’t exactly know why that is but for some reason that’s how it is. Now, they’re not all that cheap but sometimes you can find a STEAL / DEAL. Whatever you want to call it.

Budapest to Paris

     After leaving Budapest, we flew straight to Paris. We got the opportunity to take a bus to downtown Paris to see the Eiffel Tower. It does look a little smaller than you would expect in person but come on... It’s the Eiffel Tower. Who cares?! It was just amazing that we could actually see it in person! After the Eiffel Tower, came the not so fun part. We didn’t know where we where going to stay for the night so I looked up some stuff on airbnb. At some point we found out that something wasn’t working with my bank card so yep... we had to sleep in the Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris. Let me just say that we were a bit uncomfortable, followed by, I wasn’t the happiest person in the world and it wasn’t the best night of sleep we have ever had.

Paris to Montreal

    So after Paris we flew over to Montreal, Canada where we meet up with a missionary friend and stayed with her for a few nights. She took us around Montreal (they speak french there and it looks a little like France) and as aways I love Montreal in the winter because they have sooo many good places to ice skate ( I love iceskating ). We figured from there we would move back to Boise, ID near the area that me and Melina had completed our missionary school (our school was through YWAM, the second largest christian missionary organization in the world).

Montreal to Myrtle Beach

       We found out that there wasn’t enough money to make the trip and to start renting a house in Boise so we decided to fly down to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where I am from to work and save up some money. My grandma let us stay in one of her condos and for about 3 months from the end of January - April 10th, we worked and saved our money. 

Myrtle Beach to Boise

     During that time in Myrtle Beach we bought our flights to Boise and on April 11th we departed for what we now call home... BOISE, ID! We are very blessed to call this city ours home. It is so beautiful here! There’s tons of outdoors stuff to do. For example, there’s hiking, fishing, hunting, skiing, swimming, camping and the list goes on and on. We’ve been here for about 8 months now and for 6 of those 8 months, I found my way into the car business. Yep, I was a car salesman.... Trying to shine for Jesus isn’t always easy in this business :)

Of course, this is me! I worked for the Top dealership in this region. ( it was a miracle how I got the job )

     Being in that business gave us a good start here in Idaho. Melina has became a swimming coach for the Boise National Team in downtown Boise. She also teaches Chinese students english online, while maintaining clients for her massage business. 

     It’s almost December so we’re excited about going back to South Carolina to visit family for Christmas and then we’ll be coming back home to good ole Idaho!

HERE’S A FEW MORE PHOTOS OF IDAHO and US IN IDAHO:

CITY: Boise, ID

Me and Melina out doing some business work.

TOWN: Cascade, ID (cascade is the town where we completed our missions school) AND YEA... it’s really that beautiful! We camped here for a night or two.

This river is behind our school building.

Soooo this photo looks pretty vintage but I actually took it a few days ago when we were at the 2017 YWAM Graduation party up in Cascade.