#you don't even have the small indie company excuse .

[junonreactor]

god whatever [sees the maplestory thing] man what the fucj

[olderthannetfic]

This opinion could go either way with people, but I also think most won't read bc this got long. Also, preface: This is about individual artists and authors, maybe some small indie companies, not huge production companies or whatever.

I'm really really tired of people who constantly harp on specific artists, and writers about what they create, and demanding they "diversify" their works, instead of just looking for artists and authors who already do exactly what they ask for.

I'm not saying you cannot wish for more diversity, especially from your favourite creators, but it's baffling to me how someone wastes so much energy demanding, and hating on an artist who's been drawing the same "genre" for years, same with authors. Instead of using all that energy on actually finding and then supporting the artists and authors and indie studios who do.

Yes some artists only draw one body type, on race, one trope, one dynamic, and they get a huge following. An author who only writes a specific set of characters, culture, and a certain genre. But how about of instead of going after that artist, you actually go and support artists who draw more diverse already? How about you buy books and read the works of authors who already writes the things you want? How about you support artists and authors who not only write these things, but maybe even have actual experience with what they write about?

I'm not excusing or justifying "laziness" of artists and authors who don't want to branch out, those who refuse to ever update their skill-set and become stagnant. But at some point you also need to figure out that these artists don't need to do anything they don't want to, and if they want to stick to their little niche, then that's their hole they want to stay in.

You can then either leave and find someone who created a much broader type diverse of works, or you could find some other, maybe even less popular artist, who also stick to their own thing but creates exactly what you want. Hell, how about you follow all the artists who create things you like so that all the things you see can hit all the buttons? Instead of wanting one person to do everything, find many artists and authors who do their own thing.

You want more diverse works to look at or read, but for some reason so many people don't want to diversify the amount of artists and authors they look at/read and follow, or they only stick to a certain puddle of artists and authors. They don't even bother going outside of it, to see that the entire ocean is filled with people creating different things.

Hell, some times it's actually quite nice when an artist or author just sticks to their niche because you know exactly what to expect. You follow the boobs and ass artist? Well you know to always expect some good boobs and ass. You bought books from the dramatic fuckery author? Well you know you'll always get some prime dramatic fuckery from their stories.

I feel like a lot of people are just really lazy, and want to be spoon-fed works they want from who they want, instead of putting their big kid panties on and just finding people who fit their tastes. Actually helping those artists and authors succeed, instead of sticking to one person and becoming pointlessly angry that the artist who's been drawing the same thing for years, still just wants to draw the same thing, or the author who's written in the same field for decades still only writes in that same field.

--

[peetapiepita]

Thoughts on what general audiences can do for the WGA and SAG strikes

I've read up a lot on the strike situation these past weeks because I'm someone who consumes A LOT OF media content. The strike will affect my daily life and I'm a curious girlie when it comes to show biz rules. So here are some of the takeaways I wanna share with my fellow audience:

1. Understand the strike

The strike is happening for 2 major reasons:

1.) The studios are refusing to pay the creators/actors residuals on streaming services.

This makes it hard for the majority of writers and actors to make a living by doing their respective jobs. They used to rely on residuals from old projects (DVD and blue-ray sales, renting, etc.) to pay bills. That's just not happening today.

To try to get out of paying residuals, the major studios started this trend this year to take old and new shows/movies off their streaming platforms and use them as an excuse for a tax write-off. Disney did this last month and got a 1.1 billion tax write-off. They can currently do that without consulting the people involved AT ALL, taking away their livelihood without warning.

2.) The studios want to retain the rights to use AI writing and performing.

In the negotiation with SAG, they proposed a plan to pay actors only one day's wage to use their AI image FOREVER without paying them ever again. And the actors wouldn't have a ground to argue that. This is straight out of Black Mirror Season 6 Joan is Awful. Netflix is really writing its own villain origin story right now.

So what would happen if the workers budge and give up mid-way?

They'll end up losing their means to survive and have their images stolen. So striking for a few months is definitely better than starving indefinitely.

What's happening right now?

Right now, no projects fiananced by AMTPT companies can film with SAG members or develop with WGA members, which means only a very small percentage of all Hollywood productions can still happen. (More to come about this.)

With finished projects, if they're being released in the next few months, they're going to be released without any promo from the actors. They can't take part in interviews, premieres, fan events, or even post about their projects on social media.

2. Help with the strike.

Now that the double strike has officially happened, what's the best outcome for the workers and the audiences?

If you're just a casual entertainment enjoyer:

Cancel the streaming services not essential to you. The studios are going to panic more when they start losing even more money.

If you're a fan of a fanchise/upcoming blockbuster:

Flood the companies behind it, demanding them negotiate with the SAG and WGA on their own and agree to a fair deal. Threat not to support the projects unless it's settled fairly.

These studios with upcoming big-budget movies are bleeding money and panicking right now, any added pressure is good.

If one company buckles, the others would follow suit.

If you have money to spare: (Congrats on being rich, btw!)

Donate to the unions and support the ones with lower income in the first place, they'd be struggling with bills if the strike goes on for too long.

For everyone:

Call out big studios who are still planning on filming projects during the strike.

Please note there are exceptions to the strike rule:

1.) Foreign productions.

Please note an actor has to be part of the foreign union to work on these. Some of the foreign unions are still in meetings to decide if they'll allow US companies to work with their members, the most notable ones being the UK one and the Canadian one. Fingers crossed they don't fall for the deals the US studios are offering.

2.) Indie productions.

Indie companies can make their own deals with the workers since they're not included in the overall deal. So a very small amount of US projects can still happen. Make sure a project doesn't fall into this category before calling them out for scabbing.

That's about it for now. I might add more later in the replies if I think of anything.

[cy-cyborg]

As someone who's worked in the game and film industries, I have a few theories.

1. People see these warnings all the time in the industry, but no one talks about why they're there. All the companies I worked at (which, full disclosure, was 2, and 1 indie project with some uni friends lol) include the warning to cover their asses in case an unknown glitch shows up and causes flashing lights/textures by accident (there's a lot of common graphics glitches that cause neon strobeing colours). I honestly think a lot of devs think it's purely a legal thing that those warnings are there and honestly don't realise this is a real disability. It's like those warning labels you see on a bunch of American products that say something will give you cancer. Like yeah, it can, but the chances are so small no one actually worries about it, its just there to cover them in the 1 in a million chance it does. They think about these warnings the same way. Because so many people put it in just in case, and no one explained why it's actually needs to be there, people stopped taking it seriously.

2. In film, these scenes with the flashing lights are easier to make look cinematic, especially in VFX heavy/animated scenes. VFX studios are on such heavy crunch, and dark scenes let them cut A LOT of corners. Like a lot. You only need to focus on what's close to the camera/focal point. People won't see the rest. Flashing lights let them highlight details on something the camera wants you to focus on, but it's only brief, so you don't need to pay as much attention to the background, allowing you to hide mistakes and cut corners easier. Even when this isn't the case and they're not trying to hide anything, scenes with these flashing lights can be easier to make look good very fast with little effort, which is great for when you're in crunch (a lightsaber fight with lightning is simpler but still looks really good and cinematic with very little effort compared to the same fight in the day time with consistent lighting).

3. With horror games in particular, I'm starting to see a lot of games using glitches intentionally. Like bugging textures, glitching lights etc. It's an intentional design choice that I think might be stemming from those glitches happening during production and the devs thinking it looks cool, and adding it in on purpose to add to the creepiness, without consideration of its impact on players (probably because of the point I mentioned before). The thing is, this can also come back to crunch too. These glitches have to be reported and you have to write down exactly how you got them (at least on the projects I worked on) which is basically a road map detailing how to do it on purpose. If you're in crunchtime and need some final "cinematic effects" and you have the choice between the glitch that looked cool you have literal instructions on how to make, or spend a day experimenting to get something cool looking, you're going to pick the quick option.

This isn't to excuse the inclusion of these scenes/effects, but I think it's why it's suddenly everywhere. A lack of proper education in the industry about WHY these warnings are there in the first place and crunch culture making it necessary to cut corners and find fast solutions regardless of who it hurts.

god it feels like lately we have lost so much progress in terms of movies and tv and gaming actually remembering that people with photosensitivity conditions (epilepsy, migraine, etc) exist and that it’s SO FREAKING EASY to not include effects in your media that will send them straight to hell

we went from early 2000s “we are all petrified of another Pokémon Shock incident so let’s be nice to the people whose brains can’t handle the flashes” to “nearly every movie and tv show has a flashing lights warning crowdsourced on social media and games have been so emboldened to not give a fuck that we had a game with a literal seizure inducing machine built in”. I literally do not get to watch anything on launch day anymore unless I think it’s worth the extremely non zero chance of having up to a week of pain so bad it can make me faint.

what the absolute fuck happened??

[themostefficientwaywithwater]

plagiarism from a random ass indie game studio is such a non issue though nintendo is doing something evil with this shit

Oh no no don't get me wrong, Nintendo's trash for doing this, I can't be on their side when they are so "trigger happy" at suing people for the most inconsequential shit (i.e. cease and desist orders for uploading fangames, nuking Citra, that one man they put in jail for 3 years and stole all his income for the rest of life, etc.). And I'm completely against software patents, which do nothing but limit the creativity of developers just because adding to a game something as simple as checks notes "an icon that points at the character's orientation when they're behind a wall"? could get you sued so that company can suck out your money.

What I meant is that, although Pocket Pair's action is a lesser evil, I still have to disagree with a company whose main strategy is to blatantly copy features from other "mainstream" games without other reasoning than "if it worked for them it'll work for us", without adding anything meaningful of their own creation. Specially when, besides Pokémon and Breath of the Wild, they allegedly plagiarized from Hollow Knight, "another"* indie game, so the excuse of "they're doing it only to big companies lmao cope" doesn't really apply. I just don't want indie games to become yet another souless field where everyone tries to copy everyone just because a game with X genre/feature succeeded so now everyone has to forcibly add it to their games to try to appeal to players, even if it's detrimental (it's kind of happening already, with the surge of farming simulators and metroidvanias in response to stardew valley and hollow knight, just like it happened with open worlds in AAA's in response to BOTW). Pocket Pair has exhibited an utter lack of creativity, I've watched some gameplays of Palworld and I've found it… souless, and I think it only succeeded because people where disillusioned with Pokémon (as someone who likes Pokémon: god same) and Palworld is a pokémon shitpost made game. And if you like Palworld? Good for you! Honestly! But I don't think we should support these kind of practices just "to own Nintendo/Gamefreak/insert-shitty-company-here" when they seem to be willing to steal from indies too.

That being said, I don't support what Nintendo is doing. Software patents, as a whole, are a mistake, specially at the hands of a company who has done shit like fucking stalk a fangame developer or sue a family for putting a pikachu in their son's grave. I'm not going to defend them for this, no matter how much dislike the company they're suing. But I still dislike Pocket Pair, and I'm not going to idolize them just for facing the titan that is Nintendo. That's all. Both of them suck. It's just that, while they both fart, one is louder and smells worse.

(*) I want to add that the lines between indie/not indie are a bit blurry right now but, while Pocket Pair is small in comparison to the AAA industry, I don't really think the "indie" label fits it; or, at least, it feels a bit unfair to put a game like Palworld (made with a team of 50-something people and a budget of 6 million) in the same group as Stardew Valley, Hollow Knight, Celeste, etc., which much smaller teams and budgets. IDK, just rambling tbh

[pooepw]

143 - the f11 button is out to get you

stream

guys, it was my fault. i am not an electrical/hardware/computer engineer. just someone with a computer science degree. i did not know that i was supposed to plug the cable into the wan port. anyways, good stream today. i actually somehow left lies of p on a moment where i was just about to fight an important boss. the boss was quite difficult, but eventually i learned the attack patterns well enough to perfect guard most attacks. i then defeated some lesser bosses. i don't want to spoil too much since this game is rather new.

something different

i just looked at the steam awards, and they are awful this year. well, i can at least say knowingly that one of them is tragically bad and undeserving of anything.

starfield

this game is so bad dude, and it got the award that is completely contrary to its design: most innovative. this game is the same game as the previous bethesda titles. EXACTLY the same (in terms of gameplay, which the award is based on). it is another of the bethesda games where the player wanders a realm and does things, such as side quests. oops, i made an error. the player does not do things, they do thing since the game does not have any real content outside of quests in this game. the content of each planet blends into a slurry of the same exact content since the planets actually have the same content copied and pasted everywhere with the only change being the amount of stuff on each planet. and the reason that the contents of the planets do not have the right to be called things to do is because these parts alone do not impart any actual thing to do. the places on planets are merely husks to do the quests in the game. bethesda even got space travel wrong in this game. there is literally no content in space. there are only places to go into in this game. it may as well be a glorified plane for the player to wander upon as well.

i know i am malding over what is nothing, but it is important for gamers to comprehend what is and is not good because if players do not then companies will continue to get away with things like this. i am not too sure if it was discovered late last year, but the talk about bethesda was that the company does not use game design documents. they apparently have not since 2006 with oblivion. this is simply unacceptable. the joke of calling bethesda a small indie game company is an overstatement of the work they actually do. players should not excuse companies for selling products like this and pay for them at a price point of $70.

for all the reasons that above and the reasons that i put on a previous post, i will not buy any more games developed by bethesda.

do not buy from company list anymore so far:

pokemon company

bethesda softworks

if you are wondering who i think deserved the innovative game award, i think it should have gone to lies of p. i did not play a ton of games last year that were released in that year, but i think that lies of p is actually a game that had innovative mechanics for the genre it fills. it is indeed a mishmash of different mechanics from other games like the guard and prosthetic mechanics from sekiro and dodging like bloodborne (as well as the ambience), but these are fun mechanics that the game took special spins on and added in their own way to have cool weapons with the weapon assembly system. not to mention that the game also has story based mechanics that the player interacts with. this game was leagues more innovative than starfield.

p.s. when i said that the awards were awful, i only meant starfield. but i think that the awarding was such a travesty that it warrants the entire awards being wrong.

[omamervt]

here's my prediction if OGL 1.1 is actually as bad as it sounds from this draft. It's not good for WoTC.

First off, they've been using "D&D 5E is the only game you need" as part of their core marketing since its 2014 release, to the point that if you go on a general TTRPG forum and just ask, "what game is good for X style of play/story," you'll get a swarm of people who, rather than answer your question, will tell you how to sort of maybe do it in 5E. And this new license means less content will be made for OneD&D. So people will actually stick with 5E. It'll be like 3.5 all over again. Not sure people will actually cancel their D&D Beyond subscriptions over it, but they might if WoTC makes it harder to just play 5E.

Second, when I say "less content will be made" I mean less content will be made under OGL. See, there's nothing stopping you from just, like, not mentioning D&D and putting your supplement out for sale on DrivethruRPG anyway. In fact if people really do this I doubt it'll take long for there to be a universally-known codeword people start tagging their D&D stuff as, even if it's just like "Brungeons and Bragons."

Third, while the original OGL was beneficial to publish your D20 games under because it meant you could create brand association with D&D (seriously, would Pathfinder be what it is now if they DIDN'T just come out and say it works with all your 3rd edition supplements?), WoTC does not own D20-based RPGs. You cannot copyright gameplay mechanics, just exact phrasing. If Paizo determines that OGL 1.1 is a bad deal, I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see a pretty quick turnaround on something like Pathfinder 2.5 and a whole new edition of Starfinder. If someone like Kobold Press doesn't like the new deal, literally nothing is stopping them from making their own TTRPG and marketing it as compatible with supplements published since 2014. They don't even have to be incredibly original, they just have to phrase things differently enough that they're not violating WoTC's copyright. The "new" games don't even have to SELL well, they only need to exist as an excuse for the company to do what they were doing before, just outside OGL.

And here's the wild thing. the new OGL makes it sound like WoTC thought they were losing money off the old license, when in reality it was all part of what made their game's brand ubiquitous. The next-most popular games emulate it. Third-party supplements all support it. Allowing people to say that BENEFITED WoTC. It kept up the market for core rules and 1st-party supplements, because if all these third parties are helping to promote it, it has to be good, right? And now they might lose that. But being the only RPG has been part of their brand for so long that they literally named the new edition "One." I don't KNOW that them losing that will be better for indie/small-press RPGs, but man, fingers crossed.

[fratboykate]

Questions, and feel free not to answer because I'm just playing devil's advocate here, are you hating on Disney because they are "ruining the industry as we know it" or because it means that now people need to compete harder for financing? Is this like a "before we could get money for our small project and the investors would be happy with a 20% ROI but now they expect every project to be at 300% performance" (aka they want every indie tragedy to be pulling Marvel/Star Wars blockbuster income)?? Or is this about people not going to the movie theater to see indies/dramas anymore and just saving their money for the 3 or 4 big Marvel/SW movies each year (or every other year)? And I don't mean people have stopped watching these movies, because there's an audience for them, just simply not wanting to put themselves in danger for anything less than a big bombastic show? (Danger as in mass shooters in pre-COVID19, and now COVID19). Or is this about purity of craft!?

It's a string of things but the ones you mentioned are included in that. All of that is "ruining the industry as we know it". It's not just one thing, it's multiple things eroding it from multiple sides and audiences are more than okay with letting it happen just to get their quick fix of flashy explosions a few times a year.

In ten years when they realize that Disney owns the vast majority of all of media and they get to dictate what you watch both in film and TV will you come to realize that "monopoly is BAD". I hope we don't have to reach Avengers 47 until people finally come to terms with the fact that yes...in fact...superhero movies are not cinema and that everything every major filmmaker has been saying is correct even if they get butthurt about it. This entire genre is generic, sanitized bullshit. In it's attempts to appeals to everyone everywhere and what you end up with is nothing special or exciting because you inherently can not push boundaries within that model. The "EVERYONE IN EVERY SINGLE PART OF THE WORLD" is actually the most restricting model there is. It's fundamentally impossible to do that but they still try and that's how we end up with the garbage we do.

Beyond just the quality of the content, Disney as a company is just as shady, fucked up, and exploitative as Amazon but you are all very willing to look the other way because it has repackaged it's evil behind the two ears and things you want to consume. You get on this website and post "DOWN WITH BEZOS" sandwiched in between you posting pictures of your walls covered in official Disney merch and your Spider Man ticket stubs. I have to laugh because the double standard and the hypocrisy is wild. Disney is as evil and capitalistic a conglomerate as they come but apparently that one doesn't matter. That one we'll excuse because...Avengers and Star Wars, right? I see.

[icaruskey]

Nobody is disputing Tentickle's quality, the issue is that it's in really poor taste. It's already poor taste for Americans to be flying Ukraine colors everywhere, and then as "Fuck War" dildos... To say nothing of the broader political implications. Why not Fuck War dicks for Middle Eastern countries and so on? Why care about just Ukraine unless you're a milquetoast liberal capitalizing on a bandwagon? Like we might not be used to thinking critically about what we shove in our holes but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be done.

Okay so like, I can see why people would be bothered by a dildo company creating fuck war dildos in theory -- but they're donating 50% of the profits to a specific cause.

I mean, no, I cannot know for sure if they've done so, and the only way we'd learn is if they posted some sort of proof (that can be admittedly doctored) but from what I know of the indie dildo community, people who make that quality of pours are generally not assholes.

So I don't see it as comparable to US citizens hanging Ukraine flags everywhere because at least something is being put towards the war effort.

Now as for the "why not the Middle East" I can't tell you. There's a lot going on here. I don't know how the UK teaches history (I checked, they seem to be UK based) but in the US, we're taught that the Middle East is constantly at war with itself, that the artificial borders created with a bunch of nomadic people created high tension and it is constantly going to shit.

That's not an excuse mind you. I just remember that's what I heard when I was like. 15. And most of that was through church so! WTF.

Anyway, it can be a jump on the bandwagon. It can definitely be in bad faith. But I guess I see the best in people and having a close connection and sentimentality to the tentacle dildo community, I can see why an artist who feels so overwhelmed by the news dominating the airwaves may try to do something to help.

Does it dismiss the fact that people should be donating directly? Does it diminish the problems in the Middle East? No.

But, like I said, I like to see the best in people, and it's fucking hard to not get burnt out on everything. I literally am not talking about Ukraine or anything because I am too overwhelmed to even touch on the subject. But I see it literally everywhere. Every time I log on tumblr, every time I log on reddit. Even in my emails.

Idk. I'm not saying it's not wrong to be infuriated that Ukraine seems to be getting extra attention when so much is going on. But... idk. I guess while there's definitely a race factor for a lot of fucking gross individuals out there, there's also just. It's Russia. The cold war. All these old, long buried sentiments rising up again and it's not exactly easy for people not to be terrified that this is WWIII coming up.

Idk (again) lol. I'm waffling about but at the end of the day, I just see an artist wanting to do something so they don't feel so useless. And as someone who feels like that when he turns on the web and sees Ukraine news and the pushback against all the attention its getting and people I like getting harassed for trying to talk about their issues and all my stuff irl... I guess I can't bring myself to assume the worst of a small creator.

[darling-i-read-it]

Lunch

Indiana Jones x reader, Catcher Block x reader

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings: none I don’t think!

Author’s Note: So galaxy brain is probably the only way to describe @milleniumxhan today and I just made up some situation where this would happen (before Down With Love and like post last crusade) and I just LOVE IT! The concept! I didn’t have the reader end up with either but the CONCEPT! Ugh I’d love to do this with a different prompt in the future, maybe where the reader ends up with someone or something? Idk i just love this

Requested: by @milleniumxhan n, Oki I just had a random thought and ik the timelines don't exactly add up but like it'd be so cool if u could do and Indiana Jones x reader x Catcher Block. Like smthg with ewan McGregor and harrison ford in vintage is so hot. Idk abt the plot tho. If I think of something I'll msg u.

Summary: the request!

Genre: idk bro

(not my gif)

You sat Indiana’s desk and flipping through the papers and letters that he had scattered around. You wondered briefly how the hell he even was able to grade papers when he was on expeditions all the time. The few times you went with him you never saw him settle enough to grab his bag and grade anything. Then again, you had slept most of the flights which may explain it.

“Can you double check this?” he asked, moving away from the chalkboard. School had ended about an hour ago and he had yet to leave so as the honorable best friend you were, you stayed back to give him some company. You taught at one of the buildings across the street.

You were about to put the letters down when you came across a letter from a journalist. Indiana got those all the time, people always wanting to hear about his adventures. You didn’t blame them. You often blamed him for never taking a chance on any of the journalists. Some of them would write him a piece that might get him more recognition for his findings which you thought he deserved.

The letter was carefully typed out, the typewriter ink and spacing pristine. You raised an eyebrow and skimmed it briefly.

“Y/N?” He turned to look at you reading over the paper and you held up a finger, mouthing some words here and there. You saw it was signed by Catcher Block and nearly combusted. Catcher Block wanted to interview your best friend? If that wasn’t a dream come true you didn’t know what was.

“Catcher Block wants to interview you Indy!” you told him excitedly and he raised an eyebrow, walking over to see what you were looking out. You had taken your legs off of his desk and on the ground to steady yourself from being too excited.

“Catcher who?” he asked, looking over the words. He got those kinds of letters all the time. Commending him for being such a great archeologist and such and that they wanted to interview him. There was never any surprises. The only surprise here is that you seemed to know who this was.

“Catcher Block! New York City journalist.”

“You’ve read some of his stuff?” Indy asked and you shrugged.

“Sure. He’s really hot. Can you accept this one? For me!” you pleaded. Indiana was hesitant. Especially since you seemed to be attracted to Catcher Block. You and Indy had been friends and colleagues for years and because of his fear of commitment he had never tried to make a move, even when he wanted to. He enjoyed you and your friendship. He didn’t want to ruin that. You were also a few years younger than him which also was an easy excuse for him to not want to start a relationship with you. But you had never really talked about your dating life with him. There was never a need to. He couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy.

“No. Come check my work,” he stated simply, throwing the paper aside and walking back to the white board. You scoffed and took the paper, dialing the number on the bottom in Indiana's phone on his desk. He should have known.

“Hello?” A man picked up on the other end and you smiled.

“Hi, is this Catcher Block?” you asked professionally. Indy gave you a look and you stuck your tongue out at him. You could almost feel the smugness on the other end of the phone.

“Yes ma’am. Who is this?”

“I’m calling on behalf of Indiana Jones who would like to accept your invitation for an interview. When can you fly down?” There was a brief scuffling on the other end and then Catcher was back.

“Is tomorrow alright miss?” he asked. You nodded, giving Indy an innocent smile.

“Yes tomorrow will be perfect.” You spewed some stuff about where and when to meet him and then hung up, smiling.

Tomorrow came quickly and Indiana made you promise that you would come to dinner as well at some fancy restaurant. He didn’t want to be left alone with some stringy journalist and he was determined to prove to you that you didn’t need any Catcher Block in your life.

Indiana came to pick you up at eight and was amazed at your outfit choice. You had really made yourself up for dinner. He wasn’t sure if he should be jealous or flattered but he wasted no time in playfully flirting with you on the way to dinner.

And then you saw Catcher Block and Indiana cursed aloud, not that you noticed.

“Hi! I’m Catcher Block, I am so glad you’ve allowed me to do this Mr.Jones. And you must be Mrs.Jones?” he asked. Indiana almost confirmed that but you just dismissed him with a wave of your hand and then the two of you shook Catchers hand.

“Just a friend. I spoke to you on the phone actually! I’m Y/N Y/L/N,” you clarified. He raised an eyebrow and as he shook your hand briefly brushed your left hand ring finger, making note that there was no ring there.

“Oh well in that case,” he said with a charming smile and kissed your hand. You blushed and cleared your throat, retreating behind Indiana with a small smile at Catcher.

The dinner actually went okay for the most part. You had gotten so used to Indiana flirting with you that a new form of attraction from someone else threw you off bad and you had trouble standing your ground. Eventually however, you did get there. You were able to add to what Indy was saying and go into more detail because he obviously was not a fan of talking to Catch. You had fun, hanging out with Indiana and Catcher.

You left that night and the next day Indy stopped by your classroom to see how you felt about the interview/dinner.

“Do you think we could go for another expedition then? I am exhausted of being here,” you complained. Indy sat on one of the students desks and laughed.

“I’m getting a little old for that don’t you think?” he teased and you rolled your eyes.

“You’re not that o-” You were cut off by the phone ringing. You raised an eyebrow and picked it up. It was unusual to get a call this late in the school day on your school phone.

“Hi, is this Y/N?” You smiled and your eyes went wide. Indy knew who it was.

“Yes it is. Catcher?” You twirled the phone cord with your finger and Indiana scaled the space between you two in three large strides so that he could hear what you were saying into the phone better.

“Yes ma’am. Listen I had fun with you last night and was wondering if you wanted to get lunch tomorrow before I left town,” he asked. You smiled to yourself and Indiana shook his head.

“No lunch,” he told you and you hit his arm.

“Lunch would be perfect!”

Ewan: @daphne-fandom-writing , @satanslov3r @records-and-stardust @broodybats

[punkscowardschampions]

Buster & Rio

Buster: Sleep well? Rio: Not a wink Buster: Told you to come in here but won't say I told you so as well, like Rio: Still not convinced that's the great idea you're painting it as Rio: Anyway, had to keep an eye on 'em regardless of comfort Rio: Not so your stuff was safe, don't get it twisted Buster: Suit yourself Buster: They're asleep now, yeah? So coffee or tea? Rio: Like friggin' babes Rio: butter wouldn't melt, okay bitches Rio: You offering or you got staff for that? Rio: 😉 Buster: Capable of pressing a button Buster: Sorry to shatter your illusions Rio: Jokes, babe Rio: Coffee, though, tah Buster: Yeah, well, you weren't the only one kept up by the youngers Buster: Sense of humor is heavily tied to mood Rio: Aww, so grumpy Rio: thank your lucky stars you don't live with 'em Buster: Do you want butler service or do you want me to spit in this cup? Think on Rio: After being treated with an insight into your sexual health? Not taking my chances Rio: 😬🤐 Buster: Behave Rio: What can I say? Bed company I'm keeping Buster: I have no idea if you meant that or if it was a typo for bad Buster: Too tired to decode you right now Rio: No typos with these tired eyes Rio: Didn't fancy your 'rents finding any of us lounging on their sofas Buster: Well, as you can see, babe, not an issue Buster: Catch them doing the opposite at the office Rio: Foresight's a bitch Rio: and Indie kicks in her sleep Buster: Not too late to take me up on my offer Buster: Get your head down, they don't need watching now Rio: You started the coffee yet? Buster: All these fancy settings, takes me a while to figure them out, like Buster: Go Rio: Settles that then Buster: Catch you later Rio: You should Buster: Yeah Rio: Might cheer you up Buster: You wish, babe Buster: You ain't that good at handling people Rio: Yeah I am Rio: but shh, sleep now Buster: Pleasant dreams Rio: Backatcha Rio: [A nap later] Rio: You 'rents are back, sleepyhead Buster: Typical Buster: Get one of them to put the coffee back on then Rio: Debating waking them up and making it a party Rio: nothing having 'em running back to the office faster 😏 Buster: But we'd have to deal when they've gone Buster: Do you really fancy that? Rio: A fair point Rio: Get up then Rio: Me here making awkward small talk like they weren't shocked to see me omw to the loo Rio: Fair Buster: You're not selling it Buster: Reckon I'll stay here Rio: Don't be a prick! Rio: I'm dying Rio: they're your parents Buster: They know where my room is if they wanna act like it Rio: I'll let 'em know Rio: know you're alone and decent so Rio: as decent as you can be Buster: Cheers Rio: are they still asleep forreal? not heard nothing? Buster: 'Course Buster: No waking them Rio: Christ Rio: Good thing I didn't book us on an early back Buster: Not just a pretty face Rio: So charming Buster: I know Buster: You coming back or what? Rio: That wouldn't be weird to explain at all Buster: Bet mum and dad are already rushing around Buster: They'll be gone again soon Rio: Alright, know-all Buster: Like you said, I do live with them Rio: True Rio: Still Buster: Suit yourself, babe Buster: Did they make you coffee or just talk at you the whole time? Rio: They had time for coffee Rio: s'good Rio: you want? Buster: Yeah Rio: You coming down here or Buster: Bring it me Rio: Lazy Buster: Is that a yeah or a nah? Buster: Don't want it over my head, like Rio: Your bed was comfy so Rio: just this once Buster: Cheers Buster: Not the kind of compliment I'm used to waking up to but I'll take it Rio: Well, you kicked her out before she had the chance so Buster: She's got my number, she'll call back Rio: 1-800-GIMMESELFESTEEM Rio: Shaming Buster: You got all that from a perfume spritz and a glance as she passed, yeah? Buster: Very astute Rio: No, I'm saying, if she calls back, then its obvious what she needs Rio: and it ain't you Rio: and a spritz is generous for the bottle she showered in Buster: No if Buster: She'll be calling Buster: 'Cause yeah, it is obvious what she needs, you had that much right Rio: Disgusting Rio: You're obvious, that's for sure Buster: What's wrong with that? Rio: Nothing Rio: if you're fine with being basic then that's cool Buster: Fuck off Buster: Who do you think you are Rio: Touchy Buster: Nobody could blame me Buster: I've been proper nice to you Rio: Well, I was only joking Rio: You do need this coffee Buster: Not denying it Rio: I appreciate it, alright Rio: I'll wake 'em up and we'll be out of your hair Buster: I know Buster: I'm not saying you have to go Rio: s'alright Rio: can't commandeer Nance's room all weekend, lazy hoes Buster: Not like she needs it Buster: And we all need more sleep, wouldn't be such a moody cunt else, would I? Rio: True.. safe to say she wasn't vibing Brixton Jamm's hip-hop night, like Rio: Idk your life, boy 😏 Buster: Finally admitting you don't know everything, is it? Buster: You must be tired Rio: Not the same thing as admitting defeat Rio: just so you know Buster: 'Course Buster: When are you proper thinking of going back? Rio: as long as they're in school monday morning, we're sweet Rio: not that it'd be the first time either of 'em were a no-show but you know, promised Ma Buster: 😇 Buster: Where they dragging you tonight, so I can be prepped in case one of them does a runner again Rio: idk, we got as far in the plan as they wanted to go shopping today but Rio: doesn't seem likely now Buster: Did you wanna or you just the babysitter? Rio: never gonna turn down shopping Rio: but they wanna hit carnaby, camden, which ain't really my scene, nah Buster: Even you've got more taste than that, like Buster: If you wanna throw the word basic around throw it their way first Rio: Umm piss off 🖕 Rio: They're allowed to be tourists if they wanna, they are Buster: And I'm allowed to take the piss if I wanna, 'cause I ain't Rio: If you're looking to impress with your LDN knowledge, take the actual and become a cabbie Rio: Useful, if one of 'em does a bunk again Buster: Piss off yourself Buster: I've done my good turn Rio: Yeah, ride that one to Christmas, like Buster: As the only ride I got last night was to a shitty postcode, I will Buster: You heading to Italy for that coffee or what, like? Can't get the staff Rio: Poor baby rich boy Rio: I had to say bye to your parents Rio: One of us had to be polite Buster: Why? Rio: 'cos word travels fast in this fam Rio: can't be a bad guest Buster: Says you Buster: They didn't know you were a guest, so they won't be shouting any of this about Rio: Had thought you'd drop 'em a text at least when you said it was fine Buster: No fun in that though Rio: 🙄 Rio: Can't with you Buster: Can't what? Buster: Other than keep up, like Rio: Pah Rio: Who's still in bed? Buster: Don't play that you don't wanna be Buster: Proper cosy you were Rio: I already said Rio: comfy bed Buster: Yeah right Rio: What else? Buster: Not being kicked, of course, always an advantage Buster: And then there's how fucking good I look, and smell, despite the blonde's best efforts Rio: And with your rep, too Rio: 😂 reckon there's no room for me now you've moved your ego in Buster: You're tiny enough to make it work Rio: I'm not small Rio: you're freakishly large Buster: It's both, babe Buster: No saving your ego on that one Rio: 😾 Buster: You make it work too Rio: Cheers Rio: Your proportions aren't that circus freak, really Buster: I know Buster: No complaints here Rio: as if you're listening regardless Buster: Have a job not to hear, like Buster: Me and the neighbours Rio: 😷 Rio: Please Rio: too early for that Buster: Speaking of, I think one of 'em moving about up here Buster: You might get to shop after all Rio: Hooray Rio: Least they're definitely alive Buster: How long for is debatable, sounds like they're moving for Nance's en-suite with some speed Rio: 😑 Rio: can't take 'em anywhere Rio: really wanna spend tomorrow cleaning up the pig stye your making Rio: thanks lads Buster: The cleaner will deal Buster: All bants aside we've got one Rio: I will do it Rio: don't be stupid Buster: Don't be so stubborn Buster: I'll slip her some extra cash and she'll be buzzing Buster: Standard Rio: I'm not gonna just leave it but she can get it up to standard when I no doubt fail, yeah Buster: Now you're being stupid Rio: I am not Rio: this ain't a hotel Buster: You're a non-paying guest even more reason to leave it Buster: This is literally her job Rio: doesn't mean I've got to make it harder for her Rio: it's not a big deal Buster: You ain't Buster: Nance is literally the messiest person alive Buster: She won't bat an eyelid at those two Rio: Is it? Rio: You'd never know, Miss professional Rio: anyway Buster: She reckons it's a dyslexia thing Buster: Excuse if I ever heard one Rio: 😂 Rio: So mean Buster: Still true Rio: I'll give her chance to defend herself and expose you when I next see her Rio: s'all good Buster: 'Course Buster: I won't care I'll have died of thirst 'cause my coffee never came Rio: Drama 👑 Rio: surprised you ain't accused me of putting the silverware in my bag Buster: As much as I can bet your fam runs out all the fucking time, you can afford to replace it yourselves Buster: Hardly the poor relatives Rio: never stopped you playing the snobby one before though Buster: Ain't my fault I'm better than you, babe Rio: 🤢 Buster: And I'm the dramatic one, yeah? Rio: I'm not even, that is genuinely how offensive your little act is Buster: Says you Rio: Yeah Rio: You forgot who I am again? Buster: Nah, but you've forgotten me if you think all this is an act, like Rio: Whatever you say Buster: I know you hear me Rio: I dunno why you wanna be unlikeable Buster: I ain't Buster: Just not trying to attract you, babe Rio: Obviously Rio: but who are you Rio: girls as thoroughbred and long in the face as their ponies? Buster: Why do you care enough to ask the question? Rio: Nothing wrong with curiosity Buster: Nah, but you don't need to be curious about who I'm with or why Rio: I'm not Rio: I just wanna know what you're trying to achieve Buster: Nah, you wanna judge Buster: Already done without chatting about this Rio: And what, can't handle what you dish out? Buster: Fuck off Buster: I can handle you easily Rio: Sounds it Buster: I've proved myself enough to you for one weekend Buster: But go off Rio: Proven the opposite of what you're preaching Rio: hence the curiosity Rio: but forget it Buster: I get it, you're into me Buster: Get in line Rio: Now you're just being ridiculous Buster: Joining you in it, babe Rio: Whatever Rio: I'm going to get ready Buster: Cheers for the update Rio: 🖕 Buster: Sooner you're ready the sooner you can sort them and go Rio: Believe it or not, they're capable of doing that themselves Buster: Sounds like it from here Rio: If you wanna help and get 'em out quicker, point them in the direction of another bathroom, yeah? Buster: And have you call me out again, nah, you're alright Buster: Handle it yourself Rio: Oh my God Rio: fine Buster: Try and keep it down though, I'm going back to sleep