#unfortunately that was the best recording i could find of it. it's a really cool pieve

[tradingjack]

a sensory network of thousands of eyes.

[lesbianvettel]

So You Think I’m Mediocre? | Jenson Button x RB!Reader

Had to post something for his birthday. Happy birthday Jense ily!

Red Bull reader sees an interview Jenson did where she thinks he’s criticising her. Y/N confronts him. Slight mischaracterisation of Jense, apologies, I don’t know much about his career with Sky. Also he’s not married in this, sorry not sorry Brittny.

Warnings: 18+, thigh riding, slight degradation, unprotected sex

Word count: 2.1k

———————————————————————

“So, Jenson, what are your thoughts on Y/N?” Naomi asked, turning to her coworker.

“I’m not sure she’s all she’s hyped up to be-“ Jenson replies, quickly continuing when Naomi raises an eyebrow, “-Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not calling her mediocre per se- she’s been on the podium for the past 8 races. But has she really got what it takes to win?”

“Harsh words from JB! It looks like Y/N has to work harder to get his approval!” Naomi says to the camera, changing the subject to another driver.

You shut off your phone, slamming it down on the table in annoyance. Mediocre? You? You huff loudly, attracting the attention of your teammate.

“What’s got you all flustered? You should be celebrating!” Max chuckles, walking to sit opposite you.

The race had finished ages ago, and you’d finally had time to relax away from the cameras.

“Stupid fucking Jenson Button. Y’know I looked up to him for so many years, and now he’s out here slagging me off on live tv!” You complain, waving your hands around.

“Oh I saw that, surely he just wants you to get that top spot? Though I’m not giving it to you any time soon.” He replied lightheartedly, a poor attempt at humour.

“I don’t get why he’s so harsh on me! There’s loads of drivers who get podium a lot but don’t win, Charles is always doing it!” You whine.

“Maybe he has a crush on you.” Max joked. Then, seeing your eyes roll, added. “Hey that’d be a good thing right? Maybe he doesn’t want to show bias towards you because he likes you. Plus he’s very attractive- and single.”

“Back off, I had eyes on him first.” You smirk, then frowned again. “You don’t think that’s true, surely?”

“Only one way to find out, you should confront him about it.” Max stood up, excited to hear about the interaction in the morning.

“Though maybe find somewhere private, just in case.” He winked, exiting the room.

•••

You were on your way to your rental car, deep in thought, when suddenly you bumped into someone.

“Oh my god sorry, I wasn’t paying attention!” You apologise quickly, looking up to see who you’d crashed into.

And, of course it was the last person you wanted to see. Jenson Button.

“You can drive 200mph but can’t walk without crashing?” He chuckled, not unkindly.

“Yeah, whatever.” You scowled at him, remembering the interview.

He looked down at you in surprise, “What’s wrong, Y/N? I was only joking.” He frowned.

“Like you were only joking about me being mediocre?” You snapped.

You’d intended to ask him about his comments at the next race, after you’d had time to cool off. Unfortunately, fate had other plans.

“Oh gosh, you saw that? I really didn’t mean it to sound so harsh, I respect you, Y/N, I think you’re one of the best drivers we’ve seen in years!” He rubbed his hand awkwardly on his neck.

“It didn’t sound like it. It sounded like you thought I’d never win.” You replied, pouting slightly.

“Sweetheart, I would love to see you beat Max. Between you and me, I think he needs to lose once in a while to keep him humble. But I couldn’t just say that on tv, I’m not really supposed to show favouritism.” He moved his other hand to rest on your shoulder, smiling earnestly.

You could feel the anger dissipating. “Are you trying to say I’m your favourite?” You replied, your voice sounding hopeful.

“Off the record, yes. I’m sorry you thought otherwise, I genuinely admire your skill and determination.” He rubbed your shoulder with his thumb, smiling sincerely.

You relaxed your shoulders, suddenly feeling embarrassed, blush rising to your cheeks.

“Plus,” he added, moving his hand slowly down your arm, “you’re arguably the prettiest on the grid.” His eyes raked over your body, pupils dilating almost imperceptibly.

Looking up at him through your lashes, you lean into his touch slightly. Seeing your reaction, Jenson brought a hand to your waist, gripping it gently.

“Well, I’d argue Charles wins in that category, at least Max seems to think so, but thank you.” You smiled bashfully.

“Yeah I bet he does. Ya know, I’m just about to head back to my hotel, I don’t suppose you want join? We can order food, I bet you’re starving.”

Your eyes widened at the proposal, unable to speak.

“Unless you have other plans?” He added hastily, “You’re probably going out to celebrate with Max?”

“No! I mean, I was, but it gets old after a while, we’re celebrating practically every race. Food sounds good!” You reply quickly, not wanting to sound uninterested.

“Okay! Great!” He chuckled, his hand moving to your back as he steered you towards his car.

•••

The drive back to his hotel room felt like an eternity. You couldn’t believe it. Here you were, in a car with your idol (and let’s be honest, crush). Jenson fucking Button.

Still brimming with energy from the race, you bounce your leg slightly, hoping Jenson wouldn’t think it was nerves. You didn’t want him to think he had the upper hand - you’d proved him wrong, you were a winner.

•••

Jenson had already checked in a few days prior so you went straight to his room, glad that the hotel was more secluded. As a female driver the media tended to give you a bad reputation.

You had barely stepped foot in the room when you were being pinned against the wall, his body towering over you.

“You drive me crazy, you know that?” He said between hungry kisses, barely pausing to breathe.

“Me? I thought I was just a mediocre driver?” You said, suddenly getting cocky, knowing he couldn’t take his eyes off you.

“Come first and I’ll give you all the praise you want. Live on camera.” He replied, removing your shirt to continue kissing downwards.

“Come first? Well that depends on your skill.” You moaned as he sucked hickeys onto your neck, high enough to not be covered by your race suit.

“You’re such a tease. Strutting around the paddock in your tight suit for everyone to see.” He growls, unclasping your bra, kissing your breasts, teasing your nipples.

“But you’re the only one who gets a look under the suit, baby.” You whined, grasping his short hair and moving his head lower as he starts to unbuckle your trousers.

“Is that so? Last I heard you were whoring yourself out to any driver. Glad to hear you let ex-drivers participate.” He pulls your trousers down, swiftly removing them along with your panties.

“Your sources are incorrect, I’m not a slut, like you were at my age.” You reply, gasping as he drops to his knees, staring up at you hungrily.

“And yet here you are, at my mercy, begging for my touch.” He grazed his fingers across your inner thighs, hearing your breath hitch the closer he got to your sweet spot.

“Fuck, Jense, just get on with it!” You cried in frustration, desperate for him.

“As you wish.” He replied, his face disappearing, tongue lapping at your pussy, gently at first, deliberately missing your clit.

You grab his hair again, pushing him deeper, his tongue entering you while his fingers moved towards your sensitive clit.

He started to gently rub it, still lapping up your juices, making your legs shake slightly, clenching your thighs around his head.

“Jenseeeee-“ you whine, desperate for release. “Please, I need you inside me!” You could feel the sharp burn of his stubble against your clit, and it was almost too much.

He slowly gets up and leads you towards the bed, removing his clothes as you go.

Jenson sits at the foot of the bed and pats his bare thighs. “Show me how much you want it.”

You climb onto his lap, positioning yourself so your pussy was resting against his thigh.

Slowly at first, you rock your hips, gasping as your clit brushed his leg. He held your hips steady, encouraging you to speed up slightly.

A hand rested on your jaw, tilting your head up so he could watch your face, your mouth open, panting.

“You look so pretty like this, love, so desperate for my cock, you’re practically dripping all over me.” He smirked, knowing you were close.

“I need it so bad, Jense! Need your thick cock in me!” You reply, your pussy clenching around nothing. Your orgasm was building quickly, so close you could taste it.

Suddenly he lifted you off his thighs, pushing you gently onto the mattress, climbing on top of you. He chuckled as you let out a frustrated groan.

You gasped as he moved back to kissing your neck, whining at the loss of contact between your legs.

“Are you going to be a good girl for me?” He whispered, sending shivers down your spine.

“Yes!” You cried, arching up as he pushed your hips back down, entering a finger inside you.

You cried out for more, whining his name as he slowly entered a second, then third digit into you, stretching your tight pussy.

“That’s it baby, you’re so good for me, my perfect little slut.” He cooed, removing his fingers as you wailed in frustration.

“Patience, love.” Jenson said softly, moving to rub his dick across your wetness, hitting your clit at just the right angle.

“Please, stop teasing me!” You moaned, already so wet for him.

He smirked, slowly entering you until he bottoms out.

You whine, feeling so full, as he waits for you to adjust to his length.

He starts to pull out, making you whimper, until only his tip was inside you. He slams back into you as you cried out in pleasure.

“You’re taking me so well, darling, you’re so good for me.” He cooed, cupping your chin, pulling you into another deep kiss.

He sets a steady pace, focused on your now incoherent sentences. “You make such pretty sounds, sweetheart. Look at you, barely able to talk, so drunk on my cock.”

His strong hands grip your waist just hard enough to leave bruises in the morning, marking you as his.

Moving back to your nipples he runs his tongue slowly over them, moving one hand up to pinch them, coaxing another moan out of you.

“I’m so close!” You wail, tipping your head back as he attacks your neck again, licking and kissing over the red marks starting to appear.

“Come for me.” He commands, sending you over the edge as he reaches down to circle your neglected clit.

You cum, clenching your walls around his cock, overstimulated by his fingers and thickness.

“You look so beautiful with me inside you. It’s like you were made for me.”

Opening your eyes you gaze up at him with hooded eyes, dazed and glassy.

Your seductive stare sent him over the edge. “Darling, I’m gonna come!” He said, thrusts becoming uneven.

“Jense!” You cry, “Please, inside me!”

His thrusting stops as he fills you deeply with his seed. You almost come again, feeling so full of him, moaning obscenely.

“You’re such a good girl.” He whispers in your ear, pulling out of you finally, mouth watering as he watches his seed drip out of your wet cunt.

You look up at him innocently, biting your lip at the feeling of his cum trickling down your leg.

“I’m all yours, Jense.” You smile, pulling him into a slow, sensual kiss.

Eventually he breaks the kiss, getting up to walk to the bathroom, returning with a wet cloth.

Wiping you down gently, he kisses you again softly. Your eyes are closed as you smile sleepily, enjoying being taken care of.

Once you were clean, he lays down next to you, stroking your hair softly, staring at your puffy lips, red from rough kisses.

“Still think I’m mediocre?” You ask, almost inaudibly.

“Hmm,” he groaned into your neck, tracing a hand across your stomach. “I think you’ve convinced me.”

You smile as he kisses you gently, satisfied by his answer, slowly falling asleep in his arms as he moves his hand to circle your back.

•••

You wake in the night suddenly hungry, realising you hadn’t eaten since the race. A plate of fruit lay on the table next to you, along with a glass of water and a note:

You’ve worked up an appetite, sorry that’s the only cold food room service offered. Don’t worry, I’ll buy you dinner to make up for it.

You smile lovingly down at the man in your arms. Max is going to be so smug when you tell him.

[chenoehi]

been thinking thoughts about KH3, MoM theories, etc a lot lately and this is my current brain rot:

All the Org XIII ancient keyblade wielders seem to treat Sora with either derision or kindness.

Eg. Marluxia and Luxord are friendly to Sora when they’re fading away. Marluxia thanks him and Luxord gives him a card to help him. Luxord was arguably never unkind to Sora prior but he was still antagonistic. Larxene isn’t kind per se but she shows a different side briefly and even smiles at him in the end, which for her actually seemed genuine.

Meanwhile you have Xigbar/Luxu and Demyx. Both of which are, frankly, bastards (affectionately! I love them your honor) to Sora in KH2, DDD, and KH3 even when they don’t need to be. Like, just thinking about Xigbar antagonizing the shit out of Sora in KH2/Radiant Garden and like Cardi B I’m wondering what was tf reason.

Based on what we know of him now, we can make educated guesses as to why he acts that way — his character file is illuminating and offers a lot of insight as to why he may feel differently about Sora, in addition to how nosey af we know Luxu is.

Demyx initially acts friendly but that’s really just him addressing Roxas imo which he makes pretty obvious by speaking directly to Roxas in KH2. And while he was objectively terrible to Roxas in terms of ditching him on missions in Days, he was never actually rude or unkind to him that I remember. For the most part he’s friendly with him both in game and in comics (that I know of). And he seemed alright with Xion.

Sora? Nah. He’s sarcastic as shit and while I love me some barbs, I tend to agree with the opinion that sarcasm is veiled contempt.

In fact contempt is the word I feel fits best for how both Xigbar and Demyx act/feel toward Sora.

But Riku? Demyx calls out to him in Remind and starts talking like they’re besties, he smiles at him softly — which is not at all weird or like his soft smile for Ienzo, no not similar in the slightest — and he gets up in his personal space, which, while not entirely unusual for Demyx, is in contrast to his interactions with Sora. It’s made a little creepy by the odd familiarity with which he’s treating someone he’s supposedly just met — and not even properly. (it’s actually crazy to me but rn I’m realizing the org members almost never introduce themselves to anyone lol Sora has no idea who these people are, like he literally doesn’t know what to call them so he just says “it’s org 13” bc names? what’s a name?)

And this single solitary interaction between Riku-Demyx for me is all just so strange because there’s few people on record in the games that Demyx is actually friendly toward. Xigbar, Ienzo, Roxas, maybe Xion, now Riku. That’s an ..interesting mix. I’m not counting Vexen because dude was finding every excuse to walk away from science boy in RG before getting sucked into the scheme via manipulation (and arguably his own ego, cause you know, he’s the only one who could pull it off bc no one would suspect him). He literally claims himself that he had no real friends outside of Xigbar and we know that association alone is 👀 At one point Axel speaks somewhat kindly of him, but then Demyx was saying how much quieter it was and how he’s glad the loudmouths were unalived in Castle Oblivion. Not very neighborly of him, but then again Axel and Zexion were friendly enough to bet on who’d die next only for Axel to axe (aheh) him so a lot of that backstabbing shit went on. So maybe he was cool with Axel but clearly not enough to be friends with him, even though he apparently wanted friends. (On another note, I still find it super odd Axel chose to defend Demyx to Roxas instead of piling on, we never even saw them interact. It’s weird.)

It’s unfortunate we don’t get to see Xigbar/Luxu interact with Riku on his own but, like with Demyx, I think he would be less bastardly than he is with Sora. Maybe it’s a keyblade master thing, maybe Riku’s just earned more respect, or maybe he just can’t stand that Sora is the ‘hero’ putting others (Riku et al) in danger constantly by needing to be rescued or protected — at least from Xigbar/Luxu’s perspective.

[erenyeagerssgf]

streamer!silver wolf as your gf

♡ characters: silver wolf

♡ contains: gn!reader, established relationship, fluff, hcs, not proofread

♡ a/n: this inspired me to write again after a long time. i love silver wolf sm and i don't see enough content for her, so here's my piece! requests are closed, but suggestions are welcomed!

silver wolf definitely lives in a house with blade & kafka

they are also probably content creators or something

kafka is kind of her manager because she could care less about pr and sponsors, she just wants to play games!

has a really cool set up (best equipment only) and room but it's messy

always looks for cheats/funny glitches in every game (she gets genuinely amused by it💀)

silver wolf definitely gets so invested with what she's doing that she forgets to eat & drink water when she streams

you've probably encouraged chat to make sure they remind her of water breaks & sometimes you come in with food you've made her

always chewing pink bubblegum tho

silver wolf's membership/special streams are her teaching viewers how to code

i feel like she makes song covers once in a blue moon

she has a nice voice and she knows it, it's just too much work to record the vocals, find an instrumental, and all that!

on another note, she makes u playlists <3

i hc she listens to punk music (punklorde duh) & hyperpop

oh and she def gets u guys matching items! a fur tail keychain (which she attaches to her belt most of the time) & scrunchies/hair accessories

back to streaming, silver wolf's a master at rhythm games (she eats proseka players up)

definitely on leaderboards

hasn't really considered entering a pro gaming tournament, but you encourage her because she's just so good!

silver wolf is a bit hesitant to have you on her streams, but when you are, she LOVES playing games with you

you guys coop stardew valley & are married in game for sure <3

just like she did to the trailblazer, she will force you to pull for characters you probably don't even want

lowkey encourages you to make bad decisions in game, you get so frustrated and she thinks it's sooo funny

she makes up for it though when you're offline

you'll find this really rare item and look at it like ??? when did i get this?

when silver wolf gets tired on stream, she cuddles herself up in the blanket you got her so she could be more comfy <3

her viewers thinks it's so cute omg

she definitely makes fun of the people in chat that are down bad for her, she only wants your affection🙄

as a joke her viewers probs make really "cringy" thirst trap video edits of her (sometimes with you) and she likes to react to them on stream

silver wolf is pretty expressionless most of the time, but she cracks a smile and a few chuckles at the edits, they're too amusing to not laugh at

you've probably saved some edits of her on your phone though👀

randomly goes through your phone one day & is like wtf??? there's a whole album of edits dedicated to me??

actually gets a bit flustered & cuddles with you later <3

omg yk how she likes to pinch cute things? she ALWAYS pinches your cheeks or other parts of your body

ugh i love her <3

unfortunately, i’m giving up the layout i had with the pictures. tumblr just won’t let me format my posts the way i want it to😔 enjoy!!

[specialagentartemis]

hi artemis! a friend I made during artfight who doesn't have a tumblr account asked me to pass a question on to you!

they're wondering if you know of any good resources for researching more modern history. This is what they were interested in specifically:

"i am trying to think of somewhere i could find information about when cars started appearing in songs and i am absolutely blanking on how i could find things about this

i know the library of congress has a LOT of stuff [and a really good system for filtering the search results] but… i don't even know what i would enter into the search bar sjdhgj. cars?? songs?? the spread of motor vehicles??"

i know this isn't your specific area of expertise but i thought you might still have some thoughts, or be able to point them to someone else who could help. also, they asked me to tell you that you're very cool and they like your posts :) (i concur)

Aww, thanks! <3

Hmm unfortunately, this is not really a topic I know anything about. This is a combination topic/time period I don't study, and a method (corpus analysis) I haven't really done.

But I can talk about how I would go about it, because starting research from scratch is a specialized skill and it is Daunting.

First, I go to Wikipedia on my topic--let's try the Wikipedia page for "Lyrics." The "Academic Study" subheading has no references--pity. Ignoring most of the article text, I scroll down to the references. Scanning them, they're not that helpful, but "Further Reading" suggests Moore, Allan F. (2003). Analyzing Popular Music. That looks potentially useful! File that away.

All right, now I go to academic databases. My own university's library database and JSTOR are my first options. Let's try some keywords--technology in popular music. Hm, no, that's mostly turning back books and articles about the technology used to make and disseminate popular music, not references to technology in the lyrics. Wrong tack. Try technology popular music lyrics. Little bit better--it turns back The Bloomsbury Handbook of Rock Music Research, that sounds promising. The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, sounds like it could be a useful reference too. Still, this turns back a wide variety of things, none of them about cars. All right, "technology" was too broad a concept. We want to know about cars. Try cars popular music lyrics and automobiles popular music lyrics.

Aha! Here's some good stuff! "Sentiment analysis of popular-music references to automobiles, 1950s to 2010s" (Wu et al. 2022); "Experience economy in the making: Hedonism, play and coolhunting in automotive song lyrics" (Askegaard 2010); Driving Identities: At the Intersection of Popular Music and Automotive Culture (McLeod 2020); "Communicating cars: television, popular music and everyday life" (Alam 2020, a chapter within the book Race, Taste, Class and Cars). Now this is what we're talking about!

And reducing my search terms to cars in popular music, I turned up a book called Popular Music and Automobiles. Jackpot!

Tbh research is trying various keyword strings, and then sifting through a dozen irrelevant result for every relevant one. Identifying relevant-looking books and articles from titles and abstracts is also a skill. JSTOR is good but arbitrarily limited; Google Scholar is pretty good; Library of Congress has records of nearly everything but is in my experience kind of overwhelming unless you know precisely what you're looking for. University library databases are the best, if you have access to any.

However, once you've hit on something specific, the LOC is really, really good in this way: you can go to the page for the book you found--here's "Popular Music and Automobiles"--and then look at the subject tags. Automobiles--Songs and music--History and criticism is its own subject tag! You can see what other books have that subject tag!

... looks like, including Popular Music and Automobiles, it's only four. (and one of those is also McCloud's "Driving Identities," lol.) But, hey. That's two more books about the topic you didn't know about before!

These are the tactics I use when I want to research something new! Hope some of this was helpful.

[galactickohipot]

I'm done with Dawntrail's msq! Here are some of my thoughts! The new zones are really cool and varied! It's a pleasure to explore. There are little settlements and villages scattered all around the maps and I LOVE IT! It feels so lived in and credible. It's really nice seeing npcs go about their little lives there. The graphical update really helped in seeing this vision realized and it's so nice to see. I've come to notice more details in previous zones too! Overall the battle content is real nice this expac, mechanics are more engaging than in EW. As a casual sch main (rip smn), I'm happily peeling dps off the ground in expr dungeons. I also liked the vibes and the job quests in Tural; it reminds me of early AST questline, which was a pleasure to go through. As for the rest, unfortunately msq is absolute trash tier. Some people are comparing it to ARR, but that's honestly underselling 2.0 in a lot of ways. Spoilers ahead!

First, I must confess, I am an ARR enjoyer. I love its world building, its slow pace, how lived in and carefully crafted everything is, how rewarding it is to pay attention to lore details, how incredible it is at hinting at something bigger. My favorite expac is HW, and while I haven't found anything quite like it since, I still find the rest of the story at least entertaining. Now, with that said, I didn't set my expectation especially high with this new expansion. It was supposed to be the start of a new saga and so I imagined it would start slow, with what I assumed would be a lot of settup. I was sorely disappointed. Honestly, I don't even mind Wuk Lamat, but the fact she is so present in the adventure makes it hard to ignore how poorly written she ended up being. Her character flaws never have actual consequences, every problem is resolved within one or two cutscenes and none of her victories feel earned. Several times they could have meaningfully challenged her character, but they never went past surface level banalities like "friendship is magic". As a result, she feels like a broken record half of the time. A shame!

What gave me a good laugh was how Krile kept hitting us on the head with her whole "OMG Zoraal Ja is Evil!" everytime she sees this character. It would've been nice yknow... to let us wonder about who he really was, his family ties , and what his intensions truly were. but no, they told us everything from the get go.

The characters say what they mean and mean what they say. The heroes are never wrong, never mislead, always have the purest of intentions. Their beliefs are never challenged. There's no subtext, no wonder, no mystery. So why care at all? All of it is a big fat missed opportunity. DT's characters deserved better.

In recent expacs, I've been annoyed with their tendency to solve issues like unemployment or poverty in a few lines of dialogue. For example, in ARR and HW, you would deal with the symtoms of an issue, like refugees being preyed upon, or people in need being taken advantage of. When done well, you would be given a good overview of the situation, several angles and hopefully, a bit of nuance. In later expacs, you get 16yo Alphinaud telling you if you are poor you should find work lol. The npc's agency is often cast aside so your character can look good, so you can come up with every solutions, so you can be the hero. They don't feel like a people you're trying to help, they are plot devices to facilitate your power fantasy. Writers find ways around complex situations, to reassure the player that no no their way is the best, there was no other choices. It thoroughly reduces the impact of the story imo. I really believe some issues need to stay unsolvable in a story. Not everything can be resolved by killing gods, and that's fine. It's mature, it's humbling.

In Dawntrail however, this has been taken to the extreme! A lot of these problems end up feeling very one note, and the solutions, condescending. One scene and it's dealt with! Concepts, questions or consequences don't really have time to stay with the characters or the player. It feels like characters are written in little boxes, rarely interracting with a rich world and its history, and are conveniently pushed along by little plot devices. As a result, the over-arcing narrative isn't cohesive at all. The only part that worked on me was Cahciua's questline, because we are left somewhat wondering about her or Erenville's feelings for a little while. Otherwise, nothing lingers between questlines, and things really feel badly pieced together. Now, I was really looking forward to the world building in DT! I know past expacs also had cultures based on rl ones, but the focus of the story wasn't tourism then. By drawing attention to it, it becomes apparent that every zone is rushed, reducing the tribes there to one or two easily digestible trait for Wuk Lamat to understand. She'll either solve their problems with a grand monologue about peace and love or pretend she grew from the 2 hours tutorial on "trading for dummies". It's so frustrating! Either they don't trust in their own writing ability or they don't respect the player's intelligence.

Dawntrail is shiny, pretty and colorful, but the moment you scratch the surface, it crumbles down. The plot falls apart if you think about it for more than two seconds. The elements are all there but this feels like a first draft. It's just so inoffensive and bland!!! It is ironic that the dawn of a new saga, the golden legacy of FFXIV, completely forgot how ARR came to be. How painstakingly and carefully the new game was crafted when 1.0 crashed and burned. It's a game about heritage, and yet it didn't take time to properly consider its past strengths. idk man... Time to go back to the drawing boad!

[cyvonix]

I know we only have one episode, but so far, the new dndads is exactly what I wanted for season 3.

To preface this: I REALLY ENJOY SEASON 2! I thought they had a lot of cool ideas for it and ultimately I think they pulled it together and produced a really enjoyable experience with a latter third that included some of their best work. That being said, I'm not alone in saying I still thought there were very noticeable bumps along the way, and the two biggest problems I felt were present have already been solved in this new season.

The first is, though the obvious angle is complaining that season 2 wasn't enough like season 1, on the contrary, I thought it was shackled by the first season. Tying the story directly into the events and characters of S1 but giving us an all new main cast was unfortunately just set up for comparison, and even until around the last half of the season, I felt it was trying to recapture the lightning in a bottle that was the first season, and only once the crew seemed to let go of that a little more did I actually find myself noticeably enjoying the episodes more.

The second is, and I don't know if anybody is with me on this, it just felt too complicated. The ongoing story retained from the previous season, the new mechanics the cast were trying to introduce toward the beginning, the set-up involving essentially an entire off-screen shifting of the realms themselves, even the characters themselves felt less easy to latch onto than the very defined archetypes and dynamics of the dads from season 1. Again, I think they smoothed this out in some fantastic ways over time, but it was certainly a hurdle for me.

Now we have season 3, where both of these issues I had are essentially completely obsolete. I'm not sure if the season will somehow tie in to the overall lore of the show (for the record, I hope it does at least a little) but the narrative is very obviously not at all beholden to the events of either of the previous seasons. And I would also say the characters are back to more understandable comedy archetypes BUT while all retaining very obvious character flaws that could lead to much more depth in the future, which I personally think simply works better with the cast's style. All in all, I would just say this feels extremely refreshing as a listener, and I would be willing to bet it does for them in making it as well. High, high hopes for this era of dndads.

[ryuichirou]

Replies

A couple of replies related to drawing, so I’ll post them together.

Anonymous asked:

what do you do everyday, do you have a job or just draw something that make everyone fail NNN? Wait, now is already DDD.

The answer is Yes to both of your questions, Anon lol My entire life is dedicated to everyone failing NNN and succeeding at DDD.

I draw for a living! And I spend pretty much the entire day drawing:  I spend the first chunk of the day either working on commissions or on our personal projects, then I take a break to write replies (not sure if it’s a break...), then I finish up stuff for us to post (it’s previously made sketches, I mostly just need to clean them up, fix them a little and throw some colours on them; sometimes it takes longer, sometimes it takes a couple of hours), and then I sketch.

I am honestly very grateful and lucky to be able to produce so much art on a daily basis, and opportunities like these unfortunately never last forever, so I would like to do my best and keep posting fun stuff for all of you while it’s possible and fun to do. I am happy where I am at in terms of this stuff, and insanely lucky to draw twst boys for commission work as well.

Anonymous asked:

Hello! How did you end up drawing NSWF? Did it come naturally or was it a meticulous learning process? I'm asking because I'm considering getting into it myself, (seems efficient to brush up anatomy, and also *money*) but I don't know where to start; whenever it gets to ''sexy parts'' it looks kind of awkward, like it shouldn't be there. And morphology references don't seem to help that much : (   If it took a learning curve for you to get where you are, do you have any tips or recommendations? I'm sorry if it's inappropriate to ask, I'm just a bit lost and thought I'd ask someone who knows what they're doing

Hi Anon! I talked about it a tiny little bit in this reply, but that post was mostly about me accepting the fact that I want to draw smut mentally lol I’ll talk a little bit about my actual learning process here!

My first attempts at drawing this kind of stuff were very awkward, which is obvious and perfectly natural. It felt wooden, stiff, like I had no idea what I was doing but I desperately wanted to make it look good, but didn’t have any tools for it. For the record, this was my skill level when I first started drawing smut.

My very first attempts were very inspired by one specific artist that drew cute yaoi pics, so I pretty much copied some poses from them to get myself familiar with how this whole thing works. At first I didn’t even draw any genitalia, just… wooden bodies smushed together lol

I was miserably bad at it at first, but I feel like something shifted in a couple of years, which incidentally was around the time we got into a bunch of very cool R18 artists, including Mentaiko (Itto). Even though my own artstyle is nothing like Itto’s, the way he draws bodies is so spectacular, I learned a lot from his works. I really encourage you to read Priapus if you haven’t already lol And I studied it as well by redrawing parts of my favourite frames, staring at the pages a lot, trying to draw something similar myself. Studying things that you yourself find hot makes you better at drawing hot stuff – go figure…

And to be honest, I feel like this is still the main thing that I do. I found my sketches from a couple of years ago where I just drew like 40 different vaginas being fingered from all the art that I liked lol It’s a very long learning process. But when it comes to tips, here is what I can say:

Study things that you find hot as much as possible; be it art, doujins, 3d gifs, irl stuff – anything. And try to keep in mind what exactly are you currently analysing and studying: the anatomy, the colouring, the ideas, the poses; all those could be studied separately.

Sometimes I scroll through a lot of irl porn just to get some poses ideas. Don’t take too much time doing it though, like very quick tiny sketches that only take like a minute or so. Just as a little reminder that yes, this pose also works like this. Or when it’s at this angle, the leg goes like this. All those little details are important to remember.

You don’t have to draw the entire body and stress about it; you only have to draw the sexy part and indicate which character it is somehow! You don’t have to show any faces either, as long as it’s easy to see who’s fucking lol

Squishing and pulling are your friends. Bodies are soft… sometimes a drawing with bad anatomy still works because the butt is squeezed too deliciously to look away. You can study hands squishing things or parts of the flesh squishing against each other separately, it’s very helpful.

Make everything very very moist. Add dripping sweat and other liquids, add saliva, tears, a lot of wet surfaces and bright highlights. A lot of drawings feel not hot enough because they’re too dry… that’s my bias though!

I think that’s it… if you have any further questions, please let me know! And good luck with learning and drawing spicy stuff, I hope you have a lot of fun with it and get paid a lot!

[moonferry]

fsioy chapter 15!

chapter fifteen is HERE folks. way less angsty than the last one which, again, i apologize for. basically some overflow ideas that are technically part of ch 14 but would've made it far too long lolol . anyway enjoy.

word count: 4642

warnings: mentions of death, fighting, grief, high emotions

summary: kent and willy deal with the aftermath of lee's death. kent can't seem to cope and willy offers a story from his past and some helpful insight.

ao3 link: here

other chapters: chapter master list

Kent stayed in Willy’s arms, tears once again streaming down his cheeks. He couldn’t believe it. Lee was gone. He had lost both his friends in the span of two days. It made him wonder, just how cruel could the world be? 

The two sat in silence for a while, Kent huddled close to Willy and desperately trying not to look at Lee. He thought that, if he didn’t look, it wouldn’t be real. But it was real. His friend was gone. And he wasn’t coming back, no matter how hard Kent wished he would.

Willy glanced between the boy in his arms and the cooling form slumped against the wall. To him, they looked almost the same - someone far too young to experience something so horrible, so horrific, so… cruel. It scared him, to be honest. Willy had seen thousands of situations just like this, of boys taken far before their time. All because of this Yoba forsaken war. He looked at Kent and thought back to the promise he made. He couldn’t let something happen to Kent. A small sigh slipped past his lips and Willy tightened his grip around Kent’s shoulders. Kent was probably the closest thing to a son Willy would ever have. 

Kent sniffled, though he was grateful Willy was there with him. He wasn’t sure he could do this alone. When Danny died, it had been different. Kent still had someone he could talk to. Kent still had Lee. Now, he had no one - except for Willy, that is. Part of him was curious, though, at how Willy knew where to find them. 

“Hey, Willy?” Kent asked, tilting his head up to look at the older man. A small, concentrated frown formed on his lips.

“Aye, lad?” Willy asked, looking at Kent. He knew what was coming, though he wasn’t sure the best way to answer it. It’s not exactly the easiest thing to say “I didn’t trust you so I followed you”. 

“How did you find us, anyway?” Kent asked, his brows furrowing together as he tried to figure it out. He knew Willy had intended to explain when he entered, but the man hadn’t had a chance - due to some unfortunate circumstances. 

“Ah..” Willy started, parting his lips with a faint smack. He thought for a moment - debating how to word it. Another sigh slipped past his lips and he spoke once more, “To be honest, I overheard you and yer friend chattin’ - back at the base, y’see.. An’ well.. I sort of followed ye. Just to make sure you lads were safe..” 

“What?” Kent asked. A wave of disbelief crossed his face. He looked at Willy, his expression turning slightly hurt. “You followed us? Why?” 

“No offense, lad,” Willy started, cringing as there was no easy way to explain. He took a deep breath before adding, “But you and Private Leegland have a… track record for being a little.. Ah.. irresponsible.” 

Anger flashed Kent’s face. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Willy thought they were irresponsible? Sure, there was that time Danny had to pry Lee’s hand out of the fence with pliers after Kent had dared him to grab something on the other side. And the time where Lee managed to stir up a hoard of angry insects and Kent “accidentally” walked right into their warpath.. And the time where - you get the point. But, irresponsible? Kent was hurt that Willy thought so low of them.

“You really think that?” Kent spoke sadly, his voice layering with hurt. He looked away from Willy, ashamed. 

“Ah, no.. Kent,” Willy spoke, immediately regretting his choice of words. He stammered, trying to reconcile the situation. He spoke again, “I didn’t mean it like that, son.” 

“Then how did you mean it, Willy?” Kent snapped, his face contorting in anger. Tears welled up in his eyes. He continued, “Don’t you think I know how irresponsible I am? Don’t you think I’m trying my best? Don’t you think I tried to save them? Don’t you think that, deep down, the only thing I know I’m responsible for is the death and destruction of everyone around me? Don’t you think it hurts me to know that - when I try to do something good - it always fails miserably? Do you think I want to be this ‘irresponsible’, Willy? Have you ever stopped to think that - maybe - I didn’t want this responsibility? I’m only 18, Willy! Eighteen! And my whole life is collapsing in front of me. I didn’t want any of this. I didn’t even want to be here!” 

Tears streamed down Kent’s face as he rambled. He buried his head in his hands and let out a groan of frustration. It seemed that, no matter where he went, everything seemed to end up a mess. He started to wonder if, maybe, he was cursed. It seemed that way, anyway. 

“First of all, calm down, lad,” Willy spoke, attempting to ease Kent’s rampaging rant. He placed a hand on Kent’s shoulder before continuing, “Second of all, have you ever stopped to consider that I’m trying to look out fer ya? I would not be tryin’ this hard to save your skin if I didn’t care.” 

“Thirdly, you’re so caught up in yer own head that you won’t listen to me,” Willy spoke, shaking his head in slight disapproval before continuing, “I’m trying to explain. Now, if you’ll stop yammerin’ for five seconds, I’ll tell ye what I mean.” 

Kent narrowed his eyes, though he appeared to be listening to Willy’s words. He began to protest, though Willy gave him another shake of his head and Kent shrank down. 

“You asked how I mean it, and the answer is not that simple,” Willy started, pursing his lips together as the explanation formed in his mind. He thought once again about his promise and nodded. Now was as good of a time as any to tell him, he supposed. “A few years ago - maybe one or two, tops - your Pappy asked me to do something special for him.” 

“Chris and I were the best of friends - you know. I’d do anything for that man, and I’m sure he would’ve done the same, if our roles were reversed. Now, your Pappy comes up to me, and he says ‘Willy,’ and I’m like ‘Aye, what’s up, Chrissy?’ and Chris responds, ‘Willy, I have something to ask you.’ I’ll never forget what he said to me that day.” 

“Now, at the time, ol’ Chris had just returned to service - you remember, right? He comes up to me an’ he mentions this thing - this very important thing - and obviously, I’m like ‘Ah, sure, tell me what’s on yer mind,’ and so he does, but what he said surprised me. He turned to me - his face real glum - and he said, ‘Willy, if I don’t make it out of this and you do, I need you to promise me that if you ever see my boy - Kent - that you’ll take care of ‘em for me. He’s a bit immature now, but he’s got a good heart. Just like his Ma.’.” 

“I nod and tell Chris I will, though I mostly assume he’s jokin’ - I mean, I couldn’t imagine Chris “The Bear” Neilson not making it back, ya know? If anyone was made to withstand war, it was your Pappy.. But then, the unexpected happens. Chris… he.. Well, he thought he could save everyone, but… in the end he couldn’t save who mattered most - himself. I was so distraught - like how you are now, boy - and I couldn’t help but wonder why the ol’ universe would take someone as great as Chris. Then, I realized that’s all the universe does - it takes the good people and rewards the bad. Now, I’m no angel, I assure you, but I couldn’t help but wonder why I was spared and he wasn’t. I was there the day your father died, you know. I was the one that found him, pinned under the rubble. And with his dying breath - he wasn’t worried about himself. No, he was worried about you, Kent. The last thing your father told me was to remember my promise - to take care of his boy. So, I made it my mission to watch out for this boy who I’d only heard of. And then when you showed up on me boat that day? It felt like a blessin’ from the divine. From that moment, I knew I would do whatever I had to to protect you. So, yes, I followed you. But not because I don’t trust you, Kent. Because I don’t trust myself. I don’t want to let your father down. I can’t let your father down.” 

Kent was quiet, thinking about Willy’s words. His brows knitted together, a look of deep concentration crossing his features. He hadn’t known any of that. Willy had been watching over him all this time, all because of his father? Kent had spent the last few months in agony because he missed his father deeply. Because he knew he’d never have the comforting knowledge that his dad was looking out for him. But that wasn’t true, was it? HIs father had been there the entire time - just in a different way than Kent had hoped. He looked at Willy and a look of gratitude covered his features. 

“You’ve been looking out for me this whole time?” Kent asked, tilting his head in a curious disbelief. Willy nodded before replacing his hand on Kent’s shoulder and giving it a firm squeeze.  

“Aye, lad,” Willy replied with another nod. He turned to look at Kent, his lips forming a small line. He spoke once again, “I really cared about your father, ya know? I’d do anything for that man. Even if it means takin’ care of his son - even if said son just accused me of never lookin’ out for ‘im.” 

“That means a lot Willy,” Kent admitted, a small smile spreading onto his lips. He reached out and wrapped the older man into another hug before adding, “Thank you. Really.” Willy allowed himself to be hugged, patting Kent’s back in a fatherly manner. He glanced towards the other side of the room and frowned. Willy’s eyes landed on Lee, still slumped over and lifeless. 

“Ah,” Willy started, sadness evident in his voice. He motioned for Kent to pull away from the hug before standing and approaching Lee. “I’ll carry him back. Follow behind me - closely. I dealt with the one who shot this lad here but I don’t know how many more of those buggers are still out there,” Willy explained as he crouched down and gently scooped Lee into his arms. 

That’s right, Kent remembered, they still had to make it back to camp - now with Lee’s body instead of Lee himself. He was hoping he’d forget that part. Kent’s expression dropped once again as reality seemed to set in. 

The two walked in silence, Kent holding the small lantern in his hand and trying to light the path ahead of them. It wasn’t much light, but it would do. Kent glanced around uncomfortably in a desperate attempt to not look at what remained of his friend. However, despite his best efforts, his eyes always seemed to land on Lee. The stillness and quietness irked Kent. Lee had never been either of those things. It made Kent realize that this was no longer the Lee he knew. It made Kent’s heart ache. He stopped in his tracks, overcome with raw emotion. Willy glanced back at him and his brows knit together. 

“Come on, Kent,” He urged, attempting to get the boy to move, “We can’t stay here. We have t’ get ye back to camp. I don’t want ya gettin’ hurt - or worse.” 

“I just can’t stop thinking about him, Willy,” Kent admitted, a sigh slipping past his lips. He turned to face Willy and looked up at him before asking, “How did you cope with losing my father?” 

“Ye want the truth, lad?” Willy asked, his lips forming a thin line. Kent nodded. Willy gave his own nod in response before sighing. “I didn’t.” 

“It haunts me everyday. I see a lot of him in you, ya know. That makes it harder. But, you know the one thing that gives me comfort?” 

“What’s that?” Kent asked, tilting his head to the side. 

“Fishin’,” Willy replied, a small chuckle slipping past his lips. His eyes crinkled up as Willy gave a wry smile. 

“Fishing?” Kent asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief, “Seriously?” 

“Aye, but it’s not just fishin’, lad,” Willy started. He took a deep breath and began trying to explain, “When I’m fishing, I can be alone - just me, my thoughts, and the calm water beneath me boat. I start thinking about everythin’ and everyone I’ve lost. I look at the water and I feel like I see a glimpse into where they are now. More often than not, they look happy. At peace. It helps me find some sort of comfort - knowin’ that they aren’t suffering like I am anymore.”

“Does that really help?” Kent asked curiously. It seemed like an interesting concept - and one that was definitely worth a try. 

“It does, most of the time,” Willy confirmed with a small nod. He looked at Kent before adding, “It doesn’t have to be jus’ water, though. You can find glimpses o’ them everywhere. Like the sky, fer example. Look up at the stars and tell me what ya see.” He instructed, pointing a hand towards the night sky above them. 

Kent looked at Willy, skeptical. The man gave him an encouraging nod. Kent sighed, though he glanced up at the sky. At first, he just saw the faint speckles of stars filling the inky blackness. Then, he looked harder at the constellations. Instead of the usual star formations - all of which his wife could name by heart - there was a new one. It looked similar to two people resting against each other, one with their arm around the other’s waist. He squinted, allowing the image to come more into focus. The longer Kent stared at it, the clearer the image became. It eventually morphed into a reflection of his two friends. They appeared to be smiling - unharmed and at peace. A tear rolled down the curve of Kent’s cheek. The image began to blur and slowly fade. He sniffled, though he continued looking upwards - afraid that if he looked away, the image would disappear entirely. Kent now understood why Jodi was so interested in stars and astronomy. If it could give you a glimpse into a better life - a life free of suffering and pain - maybe space was worth exploring. 

“You saw them,” Willy started, speaking to Kent as the boy’s gaze finally dropped from the sky, “Didn’t you, lad?” 

“Yeah..” Kent nodded, his face a mixture of melancholy and bittersweet, “Yeah I did.” He placed a hand over his chest - bringing the necklace that was still clasped in his hand closer to his heart. Even though he was consumed by the grief of losing them, Kent was grateful that they finally had each other. That they could be together in whatever was after this life. A single tear rolled down his cheek and Kent placed the necklace in his pocket for safe keeping. 

“They looked so happy, Willy,” Kent admitted, finally turning to look back at the older man. Kent felt a small bubble of guilt wash over him. He squeezed his eyes shut to avoid the spillage of any more tears. Kent mumbled sadly, “I wish they could’ve been that happy while they were alive. If anyone deserved each other, it was those two..” 

“I get that, son,” Willy acknowledged with a small nod.

Willy looked down at his arms, his expression dropping as his gaze landed on the limp, sagging weight in his arms. He turned back to Kent and nodded his head - signaling it was time to begin walking again. He called out, “Come on, lad. Let’s get back. You need to rest - today has been one hell of a day.” 

The two walked in silence - neither having the energy or the motivation to hold much of a conversation. As they walked, Kent continued to mull over his thoughts - trying to wrap his head around the events that transpired earlier that day. He was still in shock so the complete grief of losing Lee mere moments ago hadn’t set in yet. He knew it would hit hard in the morning. He just wasn’t ready for it. 

Kent watched as Willy stopped by the medical tent to drop off Lee, but he couldn’t bear to see the man when he returned empty handed, so he sprinted towards his new cabin. He laid down on his uncomfortable stiff mattress and clamped his eyes shut. He silently hoped for sleep, though all his mind granted was images of the past few days - painful reminders of everything that has happened over the past 48 hours. That thought stung. Had it only been two days? It felt like weeks had passed. Kent had experienced more grief and suffering in 48 hours than most ever would in their lifetime. And to think, the cause of it all was this infernal war. Kent was sick of it. He made up his mind: tomorrow he was going to leave. No matter the consequences. With his mind made up, Kent closed his eyes and drifted into a dreamless sleep. 

When the morning rolled around, Kent sluggishly dragged himself into a sitting position, his feet dangling over the edge of his bunk and resting on the cool ground beneath him. His chest tightened as the grief began slowly settling in, but Kent shook the thought from his mind and pushed himself into a standing position. He didn’t have time for emotions right now. 

Kent began hastily gathering what few belongings he had and stuffed them into his suitcase. 

“What are you doing, Kent?” A voice called as they approached Kent, suspicious evident in their voice. 

“Packing,” He replied, not even looking over his shoulder to determine who he was speaking to. 

“Why?” They asked. 

“Because I’m leaving,” Kent retorted. He looked at them, his lips forming into a thin line. It was Ray, who was once again trying to strike up a conversation. Didn’t he know what Kent had been through? What was so important that he had to interrupt his packing? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He just wanted to pack in peace - and to not think. Kent knew that if he was left to his thoughts, he would surely break down. He was currently trying very hard to convince himself everything was fine. He was failing miserably. Kent clamped his eyes shut once more, stopping in his tracks as a sob built up in his chest. 

“I heard about Lee,” Ray spoke again as they approached, resting a gentle hand on Kent’s shoulder, “I’m sorry.” 

Hearing someone else speak Lee’s name seemed to break him. Kent heaved a small sob and gritted his teeth. He wasn’t going to cry in front of someone he barely knew. Instead, his sadness slowly turned to anger. He knew it was misplaced, but he couldn’t help himself. 

Kent turned around and gripped Ray’s collar, lifting the taller boy off his feet before harshly slamming his back against the wall. 

“You didn’t even know him,” Kent snapped, his anger overtaking him. Tears began streaming down his face and Kent sobbed again. He spoke again, his voice harsh and filled with raw emotion, “You didn’t know either of them. Danny and Lee were so amazing and… and now.. Now they’re gone, Ray. And all you have to say is ‘I’m sorry’?!” His knuckles turned white with how tightly he was gripping Ray’s collar. 

Kent looked at Ray’s face and saw the man was nodding, though there was the faintest hint of fear plastered across his face. Kent looked at his fist and recognition washed over his face. He instantly dropped Ray’s collar and stepped away from him. Regret added to the mixture of emotions he was feeling. He had never been the violent type, yet he lashed out at someone who didn’t deserve it. 

“Sorry,” Kent mumbled before turning away from Ray, ashamed of his actions. He couldn’t even bear to look at him anymore - afraid Ray would do something in response to his anger.

Instead, Ray exhaled a small sigh and approached Kent once again, resting his hand on the middle of Kent’s back. 

“It’s okay, man,” Ray spoke, his voice ripe with sincerity, “I get it. I was the same way when Ma died.” He looked at Kent, pausing for a bit before adding, “Do you feel better now, at least?” 

Ray’s response caught Kent off guard and the surprise flashed across his face. He thought about Ray’s unexpected question, his brows furrowing together. Did he feel ‘better’? He supposed. He didn’t feel nearly as angry, but he still felt awful. 

“I guess so,” Kent replied with a small shrug. He almost stopped himself from saying anything further, but his emotions began - once again - bubbling in his chest, threatening to boil over if someone didn’t turn down the heat. He sighed and added, “I just miss them so, so much..”

Ray gave an understanding nod, gently patting Kent’s shoulder. Before Kent realized it, he was crying once again. He turned and wrapped his arms around Ray, surprising the both of them. Ray’s eyes widened. He hesitated - trying to decide if he should push Kent away. He glanced down at Kent and noticed how fragile the other boy looked. A small sigh slipped past Ray’s lips and he wrapped his arms around Kent’s back. 

“I miss them. I miss them so much, Ray,” Kent spoke, blubbering through his tears. His vision went blurry, stinging as the salt tears streamed down his cheeks. He spoke once again, “And.. I feel like it’s all my fault they’re gone.” Kent hesitated for a moment, realizing he had just told this to Ray - of all people. His lips formed a thin line and he apologized, “Sorry. You probably have better things to do.” 

“No. Not really,” Ray shrugged, shaking his head as he spoke, “You just lost two people close to you, Kent. You don’t have to apologize to me.” 

Kent nodded. He glanced down and realized he was still hugging Ray. He removed his arms before apologizing and rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Ray gave a slightly uncomfortable, yet understanding smile in response - though it looked more like a grimace, if Kent was being honest. 

He returned to packing and managed to stuff every item in his suitcase - save for the clothing on his back.  Kent reached into his pocket and took out the necklace. He inspected it, brushing his fingers over the cool metal and tracing the engraving of his friend’s names. Kent sighed, feeling hollow as he looked at the tags. He was grateful Lee had given them to him in his final moments, but he wished the owners of the tags were here with him instead. Kent put a hand up to his neck and revealed his own necklace - it held his own tag and wedding ring. A faint smile spread across his lips as he saw the ring. He wrapped his fingers around it and pressed it into his palm. He then released his grip on the ring and placed the tags around his neck, letting the necklace fall against his chest. The tags crashed together and created a melodic clinking. If Kent closed his eyes, the clinking of the tags sounded similar to the three of them laughing together. 

Kent grabbed his luggage and ran towards the door of the cabin. He abruptly pushed it open, sending it flying against the wall with a loud crash, and sprinted away from the camp. He managed to get a few feet before realizing he had no idea where he was going - when he and Lee arrived, they had been driven in a special vehicle. And, to make matters worse, a similar vehicle was pulling up next to him. 

Kent’s eyes widened and he sprinted faster. His legs ached and his lungs burned, but he kept running. He couldn’t risk getting stopped by the driver and being asked questions about what he was doing. He ran until his legs begged for a break. He ran until he felt like he was going to topple over from exhaustion. Yet, the vehicle always managed to catch up to him. The driver rolled down the tinted window and shouted out at him. Kent peered in, trying to see who it was. It was Willy. 

“Kent!” Willy called out as he trailed behind Kent, having to barely press the gas on the vehicle to keep pace with him. “What are you doin’, lad?” 

“Leaving!” Kent called back. He tried to walk slightly faster, but his legs were close to giving up. He didn’t want Willy to try and convince him to stay. There was nothing left for him here and he wasn’t too keen to die for someone else’s cause. 

“And where do ya think you’re goin’?” Willy asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically. 

“Home,” Kent answered simply. He looked ahead, determined, before adding, “I’m going home.” 

“Not that way, ya aren’t,” Willy spoke, a hearty chuckle bellowing in his chest. He reached a hand out the window and pointed in a different direction than Kent was walking before adding, “City is that way, son.” 

Kent let out a frustrated groan, though he turned around and continued walking. Willy watched as Kent’s pace seemed to slow. He shifted the vehicle into reverse and slowly backed up to speak to Kent again.

“With that snail’s pace of yers, it’ll be sundown before ya even make it halfway to the city,” Willy spoke, another chuckle rising in his chest. He stopped the vehicle and motioned for Kent to get in, “At least let me drive ya.” 

Kent looked at him skeptically. Wouldn’t Willy get in trouble for helping him escape? He didn’t want to cause Willy his badge, but his legs were tensing up and pleading for him to stop walking. He scrutinized Willy. 

“How do I know that this isn’t a trick?” Kent asked, skeptically. “How do I know you won't bring me back to the camp?” 

“Get in, lad,” Willy spoke, a wry smile spreading across his lips. “Then, we’ll see if it’s a trick, eh?” 

Kent pursed his lips together, seriously debating Willy’s offer. He sighed and walked around to the passenger’s side of the car. Kent hesitated - his hand hovering over the door handle.

Willy spoke again, “You’ve been through a lot, lad. I’m not gonna make ye go back. I’m not heartless.” 

Kent glanced at Willy, allowing his words to set in. He reached his hand out and grabbed the handle. He opened it and plopped himself down in the seat. Willy smiled at his response, motioning for Kent to place the small safety belt over his lap.

“Now, let’s get you home,” Willy spoke. He turned the key in the ignition, letting out a hearty cackle as the vehicle roared back to life. “Hang on, lad. We’re going to do a little… off roadin’, heh.” 

Kent gripped the safety bar near his head, worried about Willy’s ability to drive. The drive over wasn’t pleasant, so Kent wasn’t eager to go through that again. It didn’t help that Willy was driving at a high speed in order to get Kent into the city limits faster. 

Kent looked out the window and gazed at the sky. He reached towards his chest and clasped his hand around his wedding ring once more.

“I’m coming home, Jodi.”

[fritzes]

quarterfinals!!

wta:

sabalenka v krejcikova: purely in terms of tennis ability and current level, aryna should win this. barbora has only beaten her once, and it was in dubai where she was in the form of her life and beat everybody (aryna has beaten her three times since then). that being said, I wouldn't be surprised if aryna starts to feel the pressure of defending her title since this is the first time she's ever defending a grand slam title and once you're in the quarterfinals it definitely starts to feel more real. again, she should win, and I think overcoming her own mentality will be more important than overcoming barbora's tennis

gauff v kostyuk: coco is looking really great right now. she hasn't dropped a set, and her closest set was a tiebreak that she won 7-2. I don't think marta will be able to beat her, but I do think she can challenge her and I honestly think that's a good thing. part of the reason why coco was so resilient in the us open final was because she played a lot of tough matches leading up to it (the opening match against siegemund, the three-setter with wozniacki, the semifinal with muchova) and if she does play aryna in the semifinals, having a tougher match under her belt will help her

noskova v yastremska: well, no one was expecting this one. really great runs from both of them at this tournament. noskova is in a bit of a strange place here because she's coming off of that insane win over iga and then the walkover over elina. she'll definitely be well-rested, but she also didn't really get the chance to play off her post-upset nerves so I think that could definitely be a factor here. yastremska looked really good in the match against azarenka, keeping her cool whenever she was down and she had some really clutch points. I don't think I know enough about either player to make a prediction about who will win, but I'm excited to see who will make their first grand slam semifinal

zheng v kalinskaya: both of them have been really dominant in their matches so far, with qinwen even handing out a bagel in her last match. I watched kalinskaya against stephens, and while she was playing great I don’t think she’s quite at qinwen’s level. if qinwen serves well and maintains her consistent groundstrokes, this is her match to lose

atp:

djokovic v fritz: not much to say here, unfortunately. even if taylor plays like he did against tsitsipas, his chances are really slim. he's 0-8 against novak, and this is the quarterfinals at what is undoubtedly novak's best tournament. he would have to pull off a miracle to win this match

sinner v rublev: so, apparently andrey has never beaten jannik in a full match (he retired twice against him). I think that says all you really need to know about this matchup: if jannik is at full strength, he's just a better player. they have the same weapons in their powerful groundstrokes, but where jannik is just a bit better is the placement and variety. andrey doesn't really play strategic tennis, but jannik does and he can and will take advantage of that. and, going into this, andrey is definitely thinking about his 0-9 record in grand slam quarterfinals which definitely won't help his mentality. another interesting this about this match - the balls are gonna get really fluffy really fast. some of the players have commented on the balls fluffing up, and in a match where both players hit as hard as they do, that's just gonna accelerate it. I'm not sure if this is gonna affect either of them, just something worth noting

medvedev v hurkacz: of all the matches on this list, I think this one will be the closest. with hubi’s serve and daniil’s return, I just don’t see daniil going up a break at all and I do expect this to be a tiebreak-heavy match. that being said, if daniil serves like he did in his last match, he will lose. the double-faulting is unacceptable against hubi, who will consolidate any break he gets to win the set. this could be an upset, but if daniil finds his serve again he can definitely win

and I don’t want to talk about the last men’s match because one of the players shouldn’t be allowed to play. I hope carlos kills him

[nexttrickanvils]

18 Zuke and Mayday!

18. Squishing the other's cheek

---

Zuke has known Mayday for a good few years now and those years have taught him some important things about his band mate and best friend.

“Zuuuuuke.”

For example, to never ever trust what happens when May made that expression with that tone of voice.

“Yeeees?” Zuke cautiously asked as he lowered his magazine

Having successfully gotten his attention, May plopped down on the couch next to Zuke.

“So I was wondering something. Ever since that last encounter with your brother...”

“Okay?”

“What was up with the zonkey recording?”

Immediately Zuke covered his face with the magazine and groaned.

He was willing to let that stupid recording be a dumb inside joke with him and West. But May? Absolutely not!

“Oh come on, Zuke, I just wanna know. You know unlike your brother, I can actually keep a secret! Pleeeeease?”

“Why do you want to know so bad?”

“Cause it's gonna bug me if I never find out!”

At least she's honest… and it's not like it's this deep shameful secret, just something embarrassing from his childhood. Besides, knowing the context doesn’t really make things worse so…

“Alright, the short story is “I was ten and I lost a bet.””

“And the long story?”

Zuke sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before continuing.

“So when I was like four or five, I was super into zonkeys. I thought they were the coolest animal ever since they were a mix of two different animals.

“Zonkeys.”

“This coming from the grown woman who was upset over the unicorn at the Natura district being a guy in a costume.”

“Hey! At least unicorns have cool horns. Zonkeys are just weird looking donkeys with stripes.”

Zuke couldn't help but laugh at May's reaction to his teasing.

“Yeah well I was a kid living in a little sleepy kampung, it didn't take much to impress me. But I kind of got over it when I was older. Unfortunately no one told one of my aunts who made me a zonkey costume years later.”

“Oh… oh no…”

“Yeah you can tell where this is going.”

“So what was the bet?”

“Honestly I don't even remember what it was. I just remember that the loser had to wear the costume and do a song and dance. And yeah that loser ended up being me.”

Mayday stared at Zuke briefly before bursting into a fit of giggles.

“Wow, you must have been preeetty confident to take on whatever bet you did.”

“Nah, I think I just really wanted to embarrass West. Didn't help that he was just hitting his growth spurt at the time so the thought of him trying to fit into the costume was hilarious to me”

At that, May laughed harder. When she finally stopped, she smiled at Zuke and it was at this point that Zuke noticed that May… apparently moved closer when he was telling the story. She was practically sitting in his lap now.

“Is it terrible of me to think how cute you probably looked in that costume?”

“C-cute?”

May proceeded to squish Zuke’s cheeks, “Little Zukie the zonkey.~”

Under normal circumstances, Zuke would have already gently pushed May off and got off the couch but something about their position and May calling him cute just froze him in place.

Thankfully like a scaly little angel saving him from… whatever this moment was, Ellie let out a hungry chirp echoing from downstairs.

“Uh heh, I think it's your turn to feed Ellie this time.” Zuke said

“Yeah, yeah.”

May stood up and turned towards Zuke.

“Hey, after I feed Ellie, let’s get some dinner at the Hideaway. I’ll share one of my dumb childhood stories since you told me yours. Sound good?”

“Yeah, sounds good. I’ll get ready in a minute.”

With that, May finally made her way to the stairs, shouting to Ellie that “mommy was coming with num nums.” Once Zuke was sure that May was out of eye and ear shot, he grabbed a pillow from the couch and screamed into it.

He could still feel the warmth on his face from where May touched him.

[the-90s-music-colosseum]

Round 4 Match 15

propaganda below the cut! (massive wall of text warning)

Tracy Chapman:

"I can’t think of anything clever to say because I’m too busy sighing dreamily"

"GUYS ITS FUCKING TRACY CHAPMAN VOTE FOR HER OR ELSE ILL EAT PLAYDOUGH"

"Tracy Chapman made the best song of all time (fast car)"

"ik im the hope sandoval guy but if hope doesn't make it tracy has to she made me realize i was a lesbian i just thought i was bi then i listened to her and now im a lesbian she is powerful she is strength if you looked at her and looked at my art you would see 20 years of inspiration from one single woman"

"she's too good to commit atrocities to me but im the gore guy and you aren't for that. i would let her take out my vocal chords and use them as floss. i would have her saw down my bones to make a vinyl of her music. i would go on all fours and let her slaughter me like a pig. i want to be her cat"

"The most powerful written and performed voice of the 90s. Everyone, of any nationality or belief system, could feel the words Tracy Chapman sang. She gets her dues but deserves even more."

Stephen Malkmus:

"i can't even stand stephen malkmus but there's a very special girl out there who needs this win"

"My perpetually stoned, nonsensical girlfriend...if we don't invent the time machine soon I might die. He's like 6 ft tall so unfortunately I'd be like one of those birds that ride on giraffes and eat bugs out of their fur. And then I'd die in a weed accident during the recording of Wowee Zowee? Before that though I'd spend 25 hrs a day in bed with him. Alright thanks"

"Stephen Malkmus chronically addicted to moaning and gasping in Pavement songs like he’s getting the best dicking down of his life in the back of the tour bus while everyone else is asleep"

"This is the indie-label match, right? Then it has to be Malkmus, he *made* the scene. And he's still releasing excellent music today. He's just the most influential rockstar of the 90s."

"my gay pavement fan uncle gets out of prison tonight and he knows you ratted him out in '06. the only way to make this right is to vote for stephen"

"Pretty please vote for him, my friend loves him and he really wants him to win"

""There were times he refused to speak to his bandmates, pulling a jacket over his head and referring to himself as "the little bitch"." I have also heard him refer to himself as a brat, a queen, a primadonna, a sociopath, and a narcissist. All of these descriptors have made me want to slam him against a wall and turn his neck fun new colors."

"I mean, Pavement is THEE indie band of the 90s. The lowkey snark, Koreaaaa, so much style that it's wasted. And Malkmus is an understated cool rockstar: the hair, the face, Silver Jews! He never ever sold out. He's the 90s."

"the most beautiful man ever he looks like a gorgeous fairytale prince. he has been hot since he emerged on the scene and continues to be so as their reunion tour comes to a close. stephen forever"

"we have to consider the autism swagger. find me a pavement write up that doesn’t spend three paragraphs waxing lyrical on his inability to make eye contact. find me a YouTube comment section that doesn’t have hoards of moms swooning over his flat affect. his refusal to wear anything more formal than a flannel for the first decade of his career? genuinely culturally influential. 30 glorious years of expressionless performances. sunglasses in the dark. so many straight men falling over themselves for him they made a joke about it in the Barbie movie. raw tbh sex appeal. and he’s got a great nose"

"he had a couple of unfortunate haircuts during this period but highkey i would break both of my arms to just be able to make out with him. please vote for SM my life is in danger if you don't"

[winterfireice]

Sophie and Keefe get to watch two of their best friends fall in love

this first chapter is mostly background info and set up for the rest of the fic but I hope you enjoy

Taglist: @frizzle-mcshizzle @amandayetagain @doodle-do-wop

(special thanks to Doodle for helping me with this idea and for infecting me with Copper Mare thoughts)

rest of the fic under the cut

“All it really took was adding a couple of extra wires and then I could make the device transmit holographic images,” Dex says, talking about his new invention. One he created after a very long discussion between team Vailent trying to describe what an odd statue looked like after Sophie and Biana found it during a search of an old Neverseen hideout.

After thirty minutes of back and forth of glitchy videos and awful descriptions, not to forget the repeated sound of someone banging their head against a table on the other side of the imparter Dex had decided to make something to help them for the future. 

“Now if we carry these I don’t have to worry about Stina getting a concussion. I’m trying to figure out how to add the feature to our imparters but I need to find a way to size it down and I didn't have time last night because the triplets would not stop adding me into their games against my will.”

“Wait, you made this in a night?” Stina asks astonished, “C’est incroyable,” the last part is under her breath and in French so not many people hear it except for Sophie who happens to be sitting next to Stina. The corners of Sophie's lips turn up a little bit when she realizes that Stina has completely forgotten about her Polygot ability. 

“Yeah, it was pretty simple after I figured out that one of the transmitters that make the image 3D was too far to the left and it was skewing with the transmitters that were next to it,” Dex adds, “And technically I made six, one for each of us and an extra in case one breaks or if the counselors want one. Oh! This is actually pretty cool, the shell is programable so you can pick the color of it, this way we won't get them mixed up and Biana may not lose hers if it's a bright color,” 

“I don’t lose things that often,” Biana says in a scoff that is most likely in a joking manner, 

“Biana you almost missed a meeting yesterday because you lost your imparter,” Wylie chimes in from the couch on the other side of the room, 

Team Vailent had a routine meeting to discuss some problem the counselors were concerned about but the team solved the issue in record time and then decided to hang out for a little while longer especially since Dex wanted to share his new gadget. 

Right before the majority of the group’s seventh year, Master Cadence had shown them an older building on the edge of Foxfire’s property that would work for a lounge/office if they needed an extra space away from both the Black Swan but also the Councilors offices, since then they had been using the two-room crystal building for after meeting debriefs. 

It was perfect, far enough away from their classes that no one would overhear them but still close enough that they could get to their classes in time. The Vackers had some extra living room furniture that they brought over to make it comfortable and the building had a bathroom connected. Dex had found a mini fridge no one was using in his house and after hooking up a water feature it was the perfect hang-out. Sometimes even being used for studying or a quick place to get away from everyone else.

“I did not lose it! I simply forgot to turn it on hence not getting your call,” Biana says pulling Sophie out of her thoughts,

“That is unfortunately not a better excuse Bee, the only reason you made it was because I called your brother,” Sophie says closing her history book, “Speaking of not getting to places on time I have to go, Keefe planned a date night for me and I don’t want to be late,” 

“Ooo, have fun,” Biana squeals,

“Any idea where he’s taking you?” Stina asks as Sophie is grabbing her stuff,

“Nope, he said he wants it to be a ‘super secret surprise’” Sophie says in response,

“Correct me if I’m wrong but isn't a secret what makes a surprise a surprise?” Wylie asks her as he gets his own things organized, he doesn't always come back the the team hangouts since he’s a bit older than the rest of the group but every once in a while, he brings a book and some advice that the rest of the team sometimes take,

“You would be correct but I ignore that because I love him,” She says as she heads towards the door, “Hope you all have a good night see you tomorrow,” 

She steps outside and brings her leaping crystal out and leaps home, where Keefe had instructed her to meet her.

When she gets home she is greeted by Keefe with a bouquet of flowers and a nicely wrapped gift box. He is also wearing an alicorn onesie that Sophie did not know he owned,

“Happy late third year anniversary!” Keefe cheers, “I know we said not to make a big deal out of it since we both have been so busy but I wanted to get you a little something plus a fun night, so be prepared for food I definitely didn't make and star gazing,” he laughs,

The two of them had been mostly together for the last three years ever since they kissed after he came back from the forbidden cities. There had been a brief separation right before their first full year together because of poor communication but after a lot of long and deep conversions, they got back together and have been ever since. They even survived Keefe giving them both food poisoning on their second anniversary which is one, why he didn't cook for them anymore and two, why they had decided to stop making a big deal out of their anniversaries.

“That sounds amazing, please tell me there is chocolate in there somewhere,” Sophie says while she reaches past the gifts to give her boyfriend a hug,

“It's in the box, right above the matching onesie,” Keefe smiles,

~~~

One clothing change later the two of them are sitting on a big fluffy blanket near where their first kiss was and eating a bunch of baked goods and some gnomeish dish that tasted remarkably like pizza.

“Mm, this tastes amazing I thought when I first moved here I would miss all the human food I was used to but so many dishes here taste so much like the stuff I grew up with just with super different textures,” Sophie says after finishing her second slice of a foamy cake-like substance,

“It is amazing, there is also some mallowmelt over there. I tried to get the majority of your favorite foods I also tried to make custard bursts but they just seemed to melt when I took them out of the oven,” Keefe tells her with a small laugh, which then causes Sophie to laugh especially because he has mallowmelt covering his face while his head and hair is covered by the hat of the onesie that not only has a horn and ears but big cartoon eyes. 

“I love you so much right now, I mean I love you every day but today you brought cake and comfy clothes with pockets,” Sophie says reaching out to wipe to clump of frosting off of his nose,

“Ok very important question, how much food do I have on my face?” Keefe asks,

“Oh, I see more butterscotch than I see your face Keefe,” 

“Perfect,” He laughs using a napkin to wipe off half a slice of mallowmelt off his face, “Oo, look up there! Shooting star you have to make a wish now, it is the rule,” 

“I don’t know if I have anything to wish for right now,” She says smiling, “We’re happy, my parents are safe, the Neverseen has been really quiet, and team valiant is doing great, and right now my amazing boyfriend created a literal picnic from my dreams,” 

“Well then wish for all that to stay the same, or just keep watching the pretty lights with me,” 

“That sounds amazing,” Sophie replies, she moves the boxes of food to the side and snuggles closer to Keefe letting his lips brush over hers for a moment before settling on his chest. They spend the next few hours watching the stars until they get so tired they are falling asleep and decide to move into the house. 

~~~

Sophie’s eyes start to open because of an insistent buzzing sound coming from somewhere in the room. And shuffling awkwardly and still half asleep does not help her find her imparter.

“What’s going on?” Keefe asks rubbing his face,

“The council is calling me, Dex added specific ringtones for emergencies. I need to find my imparter, I threw it somewhere last night but I can’t find it!” 

“Ok, ok I’ll help you look,” Keefe says getting up still in his onesie, he almost comically drops to the ground to search under the bed. As he does this the little alicorn wings flap up and down like a weak attempt the fly,

“Got it!” Keefe cheers and throws it to Sophie and she would not have caught it if not for telekinesis,

“Hello, it’s Sophie what’s wrong?” 

“A bunch of scrolls have been damaged because an intern put them next to a water fountain, we need you guys to re-write them. Also, why do you have a horn?” Bronte says through the apparent video call Sophie had answered,

“Oh, I don’t know how to answer that in a way that will make sense to you,” Sophie responds as Keefe tries to stifle a laugh from the other side of the imparter, “I’ll let the rest of the team know we’ll be there in like twenty to thirty minutes,” 

“Good, sorry to take up your Saturday,” Bronte hangs up and Sophie flops back onto her bed groaning, 

“Ugh, I do not want to go!” she wines, “And I can not believe I answered Bronte in this outfit,” 

“Are you saying that these amazing clothing pieces are not the top fashion possible?” Keefe jokes,

“They are amazing and I plan on this being a new favorite of my pajamas but it’s not great for calls with my kind of boss,” 

“Fair, now you should get ready for your very important and very cool job even if it is boring sometimes and takes up your Saturdays,” 

“Fine,” Sophie grumbles “You should probably go though, because I will definitely get distracted if you are here,” 

“Ok, but can I have a kiss before I leave?” 

“Of course,” 

~~~

“How do we live in a place that can where we can literally teleport because of magic crystals and we have basically superpowers but we don't digitalize our files?” Sophie says, 

It was almost three in the afternoon and the majority of the team had been in Atlantis since ten in the morning and they were all bordering on death by boredom. Sophie had let Wylie go home after his dads called him for help with a bunch of old boxes they were going through. 

The more time passed, the more irritable Stina got, the more Dex talked to himself, and the longer Biana took to finish reading a page. Sophie was hanging on by pure desperation to go home.

“Items found, two boxes of unknown containers of fur - origin unknown,” Dex reads aloud, apparently not only did they have to rewrite reports but also go back over the inventory of a Neverseen hideout which seemed to be Team Vailents main job for the last couple of months, “Why did the Neverseen have or need this much fur! If they are going to be weird it might as well make sense,” Dex complains, 

“I don’t care about the why, I care about when we can put these scrolls in a box far away from any possible water damage and leave,” 

“I appreciate that we have this job but at this moment I hate it,” Biana adds to the conversation,

“You are not alone in that thought,” Sophie says, “How about we take a break, if we keep going like this none of our work is going to be as good as it should be,” 

“Good idea, plus I can show you this,” Dex says pulling out a small cube and attaching it to his imparter. In Sophie’s eyes, it looks like it’s levitating but after knowing Dex for so many years she knows there is probably a more logical explanation. 

“It’s a compacted holograph gadget, and it can plug into your imparter. It's not as great quality as the bigger version but it should work in a pinch if we don't have space to carry the full-size one,” Dex starts he goes on to talk about how he made it but Sophie gets distracted by Stina who cannot keep her eyes off Dex,

“I should not find this cute,” Stina says, and it takes a moment for Sophie to realize it was said in French 

“Ok you need to stop making fun of me in languages you know I can’t speak!” Dex says all of a sudden to Stina who only replies with a simple,

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” 

Sophie smiles a little to herself but luckily no one notices. The rest of the day continues in boring forms and the occasional balled-up paper being thrown around the room. Not many interesting things happened for the rest of the day except Dex somehow falling asleep while still sitting up,

“Je crois que j’ai envie de t’embrasser” Stina whispers to Dex while Biana is out getting food,

While Sophie does find it hilarious that Stina has completely forgotten her friend is a Polyglot, she also is definitely starting to feel like she is intruding on a big secret, especially if it includes romantic feelings for people that are not Sophie,

“I’m flattered but I think you should be telling Dex you want to kiss him, not me,” Sophie responds in French to make her point,

“Wait what,” Stina quickly turns horrified, “Oh no, you're a Polyglot. How did I forget that?” 

“I have no idea, I’ve been trying to figure it out for days. By the way, you talk to yourself in French a lot,” Sophie laughs which causes Stina to throw one of the couch pillows at her,

“I have never been more embarrassed in my life,”

“Well as someone whose life has basically been on display since I moved here, I promise you it can get more embarrassing than having a crush, but as someone who went through the same thing I get it. If you ever want to talk let me know, ok?” Sophie says as Biana walks in,

“You two know you're speaking a different language right?” Biana says as she puts down a couple of boxes of food on a table near us, “Because you both do that sometimes and I’m not super sure you notice,” she laughs which somehow earns a glare from Stina to both of them.

“I do not do that regularly,” Stina grumbles, causing Sophie and Biana to laugh even harder waking up Dex,

And Sophie does not miss how Stina’s annoyed frown turns a little bit more into a smile when she hears Dex’s voice,

[photon-bytez]

SOMEBODY ONCE TOLD ME-

I know it’s been a very long while since our last episode, but after dealing with other projects, along with real life getting in the way from time to time, we’re finally continuing our next part of the second road trip across the Maasrichtian. While it only has 5 segments like the last episode, and does borrow some of last season’s “Freshwater” thunder quite a bit, I still had a good time with Swamps. And the segments presented here do bring a few things to the table for PHP in general. You’ll see what I mean when we get into them.

Snacks on the wing

The episode starts with the wetlands of Asia, where baby azhdarchid pterosaurs are attempting to fly for the first time. Keeping up with this show’s record of baby animals meeting their end, the pterosaurs have to deal with the threat of getting eaten by a horde of Shamosuchus. Unlike the Simosuchus from earlier in the season, these relatives to today’s crocodiles and alligators comfort more to the shape that we’re used to seeing these reptiles in. While I don’t have much to say about this segment, I find it cool how it draws comparisons with how Freshwater crocodiles hunt flying foxes in Australia. Even when millions of years apart, some hunting strategies are just that good.

Gone fishin’

The episode then cuts to the forests of South America, where the focus is on a truly unique animal; Austroraptor. For those not aware, this was a species of raptor dinosaur that was not only huge for its family (Think 20 feet long), it also lived a life of hunting fish. These of these guys like what would happen if a grizzly bear and a heron had a baby together. The plot of this segment shows a young male trying to score some lunch of his own. Many of the larger adults can only only catch garfish like it’s not their problem (which is something that our male is new to), but they can be aggressive, often attacking each other if one of them disrupts the other’s hunt. Until he learns how to catch prey successfully, the best option that the main male has to take is to snatch someone else’s prey, and try not to lose at least a few feathers in the process.

“Hippity hoppity, get off my property”

We then cut back to Madagascar to see the return of another Season 1 veteran. Y’all must’ve loved Beelzebufo so much, you all wanted to see more of the bay dinosaur-eating frog (And I really wouldn’t blame any of y’all). And fortunately, Apple heard everyone’s pleas for the devil toad to return, so here we are! The segment has a male Beelzebufo trying to find a good place to attract a mate. Unfortunately for the frog, a herd of Rapetosaurus just happened to come back and waddle in the mud, making things even harder for the Beelzebufo. That must be frustrating.

The Beelzebufo then has to find a new place to set up his courtship display, away from the titanosaurs. After a bit of hopping around, and even doing this…

Keep on rollin’

Our champ eventually finds a good enough spot to try again, with the Rapetosaurus herd moving on. They even leave footprints in the mud that get filled with water. The only complaint that I have for this scene is the lack of the Beelzebufo raising his eventual tadpoles. The concept art for the devil toad that was made by Gaëlle Seguillon refers to it as “Beelzebufo adult”, so it could be possible that devil tadpoles were considered to be in the show. Either that, or we could see another Beelzebufo-themed segment in a possible Season 3, taking alot of inspiration from how African bullfrog males raise their young. I may or may not be planning to add that to my hypothetical Season 3 idea, so keep your eyes peeled.

Head Games

Despite the episode literally being called “Swamps”, we cut to a dusty plain in North America, where the area in question used to be a swamp that eventually dried up. It’s here where we see the second pachycephalosaur of the series in the form of Pachycephalosaurus itself. It’s no secret that the domed heads of these creatures were used for some sort of territorial display, so we see an older male fighting a younger and rowdy male, who has been causing trouble for the herd. After a long and hard duel, the old male is knocked down, and his younger rival bellows out in victory. This turns out to be a bad idea, as it gives the old male time to get back up and strike down his rival. With the battle lost, the young male is then exiled from the herd, where he has to fend for himself. I’m not gonna lie, he’s gonna need everything in his kit to survive. Y’know why?

In the night, no one can hear you roar

The last segment of the episode shows us how basically terrifying T. Rex can be when hunting. After the last season shows how these giant predators can be doting parents or a loving couple, this segment serves as a reminder that this is still Tyrannosaurus Rex that we’re talking about. When night falls on the floodplains of Hell Creek, a couple of T. Rex brothers stalk around the forest, spying on a group of Edmontosaurus. The two split up, with one of them stepping on a fallen branch, intentionally causing the herd to get nervous. Thanks to their padded feet muffling any heavy footsteps that could be heard, along with their extremely good night vision, the predators spring into action. While one of them lunges for an Edmontosaurus, the latter is sent towards the other T. Rex. With both of them clamping their bone-crushing jaws into their hapless prey, the hunt is soon over, and the two get to enjoy their hard-earned meal. A funny thing to mention is how neither of the T. Rex crashed into the opening, roaring as they charged towards their prey. Large predators cannot afford to waste precious energy by running out and screaming like a mad man, so they need to be careful, often turning to ambush tactics to catch prey. If anything, this instance of averting usual pop-culture depictions of dinosaurs serves to make these beasts scarier than they already were. Unlike the mindless, perpetually roaring and shrinking movie monster that shakes the ground itself with every step, you’d never see or hear the real thing coming, until it’s too late…

This takes the phrase “Bonehead” to a new level

The Uncovered segment of the episode takes a closer look at how pachycephalosaurs like Pachycephalosaurus used their domed heads in fighting. I don’t have alot to say about this part, but I can say that headaches must be a major pain when it comes to these guys.

And with that, we only have 2 episodes left. I apologize for pumping this review out late into the month. Being busy with other projects, along with dealing with real life stuff and being a lazy ass from time to time can do that to you. Nonetheless, the next review on our list covers one of my favorite episodes in the entire series so far, so that’ll be fun when we get to it. Get ready to “dive” in again next time, because we’re gonna be soaking up the thirst of the land.

…I hope you laughed at that joke.

[diamarch]

TOEFL Experience. Part III

Hello, everybody! I'm really glad you're still here :) Today I'm going to talk about the unofficial websites for complex (all sections) TOEFL preparation.

TST prep

Their Emergency Course (premium package) was my first purchase on my way to a pretty good TOEFL score. However, unfortunately, it is not the last or the best. Let me explain. Among the benefits I can name:

Structured and short information about all the content of the TOEFL test (paid, however, can be found in their YouTube videos for free);

Templates for speaking and writing sections for basic and advanced levels;

Practice tests with answers and their explanations (some of them in open access on YouTube in old videos);

Comprehensible design of the website and cool colors;

Examples of Q1 for the speaking section (for free);

Newsletters with special hacks and news from ETS (for free)

Josh's charisma (can be found everywhere :)). However, if you use this website with the materials from their YouTube channel, you will quickly realize that you've wasted your money. First, throughout all the videos, Josh McPhearson repeats that it's OK to pass the same test more than one time after, for example, two weeks. And that was a trap! I passed approximately two or three tests (in sum from the website and from the YouTube channel), trained some specific types of questions from reading and listening in the separate section on their website, and then I simply couldn't find the completely unfamiliar test, despite the fact that I was promised to have 6 complete practice tests in my package. So, the limited number of practice tests was an outrageous fact for me because it seemed like some of them were open-access on YouTube. Moreover, I think that this emergency course in general doesn't give you much more information about the test than their YouTube videos. So, basically, I paid mostly for templates, and that wasn't a rational decision, even if a 50% discount was taken into account. Don't be enchanted and blinded like me; use only their free materials. I didn't try their group classes and evaluations, but Emergency Course is 100% not worth your time and money.

2. Best My Test

Since I needed more practice and more tests, I started to search for other complex solutions where I could train all the TOEFL sections. I found this website, and after reading some articles about it, I began a free trial. It gives you an opportunity to pass the sample test, which is a shortened version of an actual test. After trying it, I was on cloud nine because it was exactly the thing that I was looking for.

First and foremost, the experience is not the same but really similar to the official TOEFL test. You can see the instructions, the buttons, the interface for recording your voice, the way the text in reading and questions to it are placed, the writing interface, which is also close to reality, and the most important is the timer. That was the core reason why I decided to pay for this.

Another benefit is, obviously, the availability of a huge number of practice tests with recorded statistics of your success in every section and question type (for reading and listening).

The theoretical materials are also included. It is especially useful when you see that some type of question is your weakness based on the statistics of your success. You catch it, jump into the corresponding lesson, learn some strategies, and train.

Templates and explanations for speaking and writing can be found. Moreover, the evaluations of your speaking and writing by humans and AI are included in the Custom and Premium packages. From my own experience, AI evaluations are pretty accurate, as they rated my speaking at 21 points and I gained 22. And writing reviews from experts was also full of insights and powerful advice. +/- There are also vocabulary and grammar materials, but I didn't have much time, so for me, these materials were uneffective. And finally, maybe for some readers, the textual form of theoretical material will not be comfortable, so I consider this aspect of Best My Test a disadvantage. However, they already made videos for certain lessons. Overall, Best My Test was a treasure for me, without any doubt. I regret that I found it too late (it was 2 weeks before my exam).

As you can see, these websites cause lots of strong feelings in me; however, I appreciate both of them because I have learned not only how to take TOEFL but also have seen a real picture of our world. The beautiful, loud, and charismatic is often empty. And the real treasure is often much cheaper and kept silent. Stay tunned :)

[drowsystarlight]

Could you do for headcanons - 3 and 4 for your runner 5 ? :)

HIIII (immense sobbing) (I love them they’re my favorites)

Dynamic trio headcanons (Spoilers for s2 finale btw!)

Yyyep you read that right; 3 4 5, triple threat agency in my BRAIN!! I love to talk about 5am but i honestly feel like 345 would be the best trio in the runner pile! I also think they’re closer in age—somewhere from early twenties to mid-twenties. Idk their canon ages but both Jody and Simon sound around 23-25 to me, and my Five is 22-24.

Jody and Simon are polar opposites and Five is a sponge. Y’know how Simon is all mister Jokes and Funny guy while Jody is a lot more ohhh nooooo zombies brlughg? My Five is a recluse so I feel like this trio will only form in s2, after Sam finally gets through them after AVITD! But even then, my Five is selectively mute and has a hard time socializing, so they’re quiet and would listen to Jody and Simon bicker 95% of the time.

But you know Simon. He’s chatty and funny and always easy going; Five would hate it at the start but they’ll warm up to it eventually. I also think Simon is touchy and my Five is touch averse so they would REALLY hate to be around this guy at first. Jody is a lot more gentle and understanding in a sense. Sure, Five has a notorious record of ignoring everyone at their first few weeks in Abel (they are the type to leave you mid-conversation if you say or do something they don’t like), but Five has let Jody talk longer than everyone else. She’s really nice, y’know? Though Five hates feminine words/pronouns about them so as soon as Jody slips (not her fault though, since my Five hasn’t really communicated that they don’t like fem words), they leave.

Well, premise is that Five eventually joins conversations by being there. Bit by bit. In missions, and then inside Abel when they’re not all busy. Simon would totally swoop in and eat on Runner Five’s table at lunch/dinner to chat them up since he’d be so eager to get through them (bc really, how dare you ignore Simon?? LMAO?? He’s funny and COOL five cmon now get with the program!) In the first few tries, Five gets up and leaves. And then eventually they begrudgingly stay because Simon begs them to hear him out and that he just wants a fun little chat. They got off on the wrong foot but Five eventually happily sits there to hear him out—new song, new story, etc. Stories are fun and Simon is charming. Eventually, Jody joins in, and over time it becomes a little tradition to join Five when they’re alone and chat them up even if they don’t respond as much, or at all. When you’re someone with the reputation of leaving conversations, Jody appreciates their presence alone and Simon would joke about it. “Oh, Runner Five, could’ve told us you were mute and like gender neutral stuff y’know?” And then their bickering starts as soon as Jody swoops in to defend them.

When Five finally starts learning how to sign (thanks to Evan finding a sign language book and giving it to them so they could communicate better), they join the conversations bit by bit. Five can’t sign that fast yet but the two would wait them out before continuing. Five would reference past conversations and it turns out they’re a reservoir of information and memories and conversations. I bet Simon would use them as a backlog to win bets whatsoever. Jody would eventually teach them how to knit or sew 🥹🥹 and then she’d probably let them know how she thought Five was intimidating at first, and that it’s thanks to Sam for figuring out their hard edges so that she knows what to, or what not to, refer or talk to them with. Five likes to draw Jody and Simon chatting and bickering about (apart from all the other pages full of Sam ofc) but they don’t show this to them at all. Only Sam has seen the notebook. My Five is very shy about the drawings.

In missions together, like the whole whack-a-mole thing (s2 side missions), Simon and Five will UNFORTUNATELY do their best to beat the current highscore. Jody would be the one sensible mf who holds the single braincell in the trio but she eventually joins them “Just so they’d be done faster”.

Simon would be the one to call out Five’s specific interest towards Sam and Jody will be the one to hypothesize if it’s a crush or more. The both of them are their best wingmen—with Simon eventually branching out to poking Sam to make a move and Jody taking Five away for private advice and some tips on Sam Yao’s likes and dislikes. Hell, she might also teach them how to sew a new hoodie, or knit a cute little beanie for cold days or nights.

Five’s first words to Jody is something like “you’re a good person”, and it just comes out randomly. Maybe while sewing together somewhere private.

Five’s first words to Simon isn’t really a sentence—it’s just a full-on laughter fit. And then they tell him he’s ridiculous. This is the first time Five would’ve laughed (apart from light giggles within Sam’s presence and jokes).

When Simon turns out to be the traitor, Five takes it really hard. They did find a friend in him and is 100% sure he was coerced into betraying Abel. They’re also empathetic with his decision but that’s overshadowed with anger—towards Van Ark, the apocalypse, Simon himself. If they had the option to talk to Simon when Jamie confronted him, they’d ask him—verbally—why. They’d want to hear him out no matter how long it takes. They’d stay there and just absorb his side of the ordeal. But Five isn’t good at regulating wrath so regardless of what he says, they might also be the one to beat up Simon into a pulp instead of Jamie—and then give him a weapon as a final “I care about you, but you fucked everything up and I can’t trust you anymore.” Then leave him out there like Jamie did. The key difference is that Jamie did it for Archie’s sake and revenge; Five would do it for their own feelings and to relieve the frustration feel. The other half of that murky feeling goes into exploding Van Ark’a last chopper down.