#my budget for games... unfortunately a bit small

[three-bunnies-in-a-trenchcoat]

Deltarune: Yes. However it has a different vibe than Undertale. The stakes are not nearly as grave and the jokes are more in-universe meta than looks-through-camera meta (so far). If you are expecting Undertale 2, that's not what Deltarune is. Deltarune is a nod to Undertale in the way that Majora's Mask is a nod to Ocarina of Time, if that makes any sense. Same characters, different hats.

Hm, good to know...

[aquaholicsanonymousworld]

Unexpected Encore

Pairing: Vince Dunn x Rockstar!Reader

Summary: As a jetlagged and moody singer preparing for her halftime performance at the NHL All-Star Game, you struggle to wrangle a group of hockey players into a simple routine. Vince Dunn, however, seems unfazed by your exhaustion-induced attitude and takes every opportunity to charm you with humor, patience, and relentless persistence. Despite your frustration, his easygoing nature begins to wear down your walls, and you start to enjoy his presence more than you’d like to admit.

The arena was buzzing with energy as the NHL All-Star Weekend rehearsals stretched into another grueling hour. Cameras flashed, crew members scurried around with headsets, and the sound team kept tweaking the mic levels—again.

You were exhausted.

Jetlagged, moody, and running on what felt like ten minutes of sleep, you leaned against a speaker, fighting the urge to close your eyes. This was supposed to be fun. You’d agreed to perform at the All-Star Game halftime show, and in a moment of pure ambition (or complete delirium), you’d thought it’d be great to include some of the players in the performance.

Big mistake.

Because wrangling a bunch of hockey players into choreography—even the simplest, "stand here and don’t look awkward" kind—was proving to be harder than expected.

And then there was Vince Dunn.

“Hey, Rockstar, you look like you might actually murder someone. Need a snack?”

You cracked one eye open to see him standing there, an easygoing grin plastered across his face, holding out a protein bar like it was some kind of peace offering.

You sighed, rubbing your temple. “I need a time machine to go back and slap myself for thinking this was a good idea.”

Vince chuckled, unfazed by your exhaustion-induced sarcasm. “Time machine’s a bit out of my budget, but I can offer bad jokes and moral support.”

You exhaled a laugh despite yourself. “Lucky me.”

He’d been like this all day—hovering just enough to be helpful, never pushy, always with a joke ready. You had to admit, if anyone could make the disaster of this rehearsal a little more bearable, it was him.

Unfortunately for Vince, you were too preoccupied with your jetlag and frustration to notice the way he kept watching you. The way he’d linger after a run-through just to see if you needed anything. The way he laughed a little too hard when you rolled your eyes at him.

“Alright, let’s go again,” you groaned, pushing yourself off the speaker. “Maybe this time you guys won’t look like a group of dads trying to do TikTok dances.”

“Bold of you to assume we don’t practice TikTok dances in our free time,” Vince shot back, falling into step beside you.

You snorted. “Do you?”

“Guess you’ll never know.”

He winked, and if you weren’t so sleep-deprived, maybe you’d have caught the way his smile lingered just a little longer when you laughed.

The next run-through was only marginally better, but at least no one tripped over their own feet this time. As you called for a break, Vince reappeared beside you like clockwork, this time holding out a water bottle.

“You’re persistent,” you muttered, taking it from him and twisting the cap open.

“I like a challenge,” he replied, leaning against the stage barrier with an easy smirk. “And right now, getting you to admit I’m your favorite player here is my top priority.”

You raised an eyebrow, taking a sip before deadpanning, “I don’t play favorites.”

He let out a dramatic sigh. “That’s cold, Rockstar. After all we’ve been through.”

You shook your head, a small smile tugging at the corner of your lips despite your exhaustion. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Ridiculously charming,” he corrected. “Come on, admit it.”

You rolled your eyes but didn’t deny it outright. And for the first time, Vince saw something shift—just the smallest crack in your jetlagged armor, a flicker of warmth that wasn’t just polite courtesy.

Maybe, just maybe, he was getting somewhere.

Before you could fire back with another sarcastic remark, the choreographer clapped their hands. “Alright, final run-through before we wrap up!”

You groaned dramatically, stretching your arms overhead. Vince grinned at your theatrics. “Come on, Rockstar, one more time. You got this.”

Something about the way he said it—casual but sincere—made you pause for just a second longer than you should have. He had a way of making you feel like he actually believed in you, not just the performer version of you, but you.

You shook the thought off as the music kicked in, but Vince caught the brief hesitation. He filed it away, a slow, satisfied smirk playing at his lips.

Maybe, just maybe, she was starting to notice him, too.

As the final run-through ended and the crew began packing up, Vince lingered by the stage, watching you sip from your water bottle, your shoulders visibly lighter than they had been earlier.

“So,” he said casually, nudging your arm. “How about this? If I nail all my moves during the actual performance, you let me take you out after?”

You arched an eyebrow. “Take me out where?”

He shrugged, all confidence and mischief. “Anywhere you want. I’m a great celebratory dinner date.”

You studied him for a moment, debating, before finally letting a smirk tug at your lips. “Fine. But if you mess up even once, I’m making you do extra rehearsals.”

“Deal.” Vince grinned, as if he’d just won the biggest game of his life.

And for the first time all day, you didn’t feel quite as exhausted.

[sunlight-shunlight]

i gotta say playing up on the solas romance wasn't really thought through. iirc gaider has said that dorian was the least romanced companion, and the majority of players played a male character. so we can make estimations based on which romances are race/and or/gender locked and assume that solas wasn't topping the romance stats overall. i feel as if the devs/marketing team were conflating the small tumblr/twitter fan culture with the overall audience of the game. sometimes i feel as if weekes and epler do this too. like they dont know that the majority of fans they interact with on social media are part of a small group, and not the whole. when i think about it like that it kinda makes more sense as to how veilguard turned out.

probably! it's not a good way to plan in general imo. and the overall vibes of even the writing seem... Very Online. i don't know how to describe it haha. like overly self-conscious, never allowing any ambiguity or depth in the statements.

but if you look at all the other dai characters, they generally got some sort of satisfying closure at the end. so those fans might look at the vg trailers and go "hm. kind of cartoony? even if my blorbo is in there, i was happy with their dai ending, and don't know if i like the new genre :/" and skip it, or at least wait for reviews to come in.

but if it's solas, the fans got left on the cliffhanger of "your pc's starcrossed lover/evil ex took their arm off and then vanished to cause an apocalypse, but while looking really miserable about it" which is... kind of hard to ignore. so those people would be more willing to think "oh well, the art style doesn't look good, and i don't like the lack of worldstates, but i really want to see what the Unfinished Blorbo Arc ends up as! surely that'll be good at least!!" and buy it despite the misgivings ahaha.

which is... pretty cynical marketing imo! but it also tracks with how they were portraying it as the most romantic and ~steamy~ game or whatever, and hyping up the solavellan parts prior to release.

(despite the fact that you can't even... import your lavellan's basic CLASS or a single PERSONALITY TRAIT. and that's not even getting into how poorly i thought it was written on a basic logic level, and on an out of universe misogyny seeping in level. personally did not care for it lmao.)

they were going for a guaranteed small, passionate, audience (one that they seemingly... disdained a bit given epler's commentary lol) rather than trying to actually make a game that would appeal to various types of people. bc presumably that takes more budget and time, and the ability to write stuff besides Flat Villains As Radical Antifascist Praxis™.

and at the end of the day the development cycle was pretty hellish and like 10 years long, so perhaps it was just a path of least resistance type of thing to get it shipped. idk. it's just an unfortunate mess.

[scullysexual]

You're Never Just Anything To Me (5)

@today-in-fic | ao3 | Prev. Chapter

A look into Mulder and Scully's relationship starting from Millennium going all the way up to Requiem.

V. The Amazing Maleeni.

Over time, the physical wounds heal but the mental ones still remain, lingering at the edges. Scully appears subdued, not quite smiling the way she used to- the smile not quite reaching her eyes like it did. Selfishly, he wants the old Scully back. Unfortunately, Mulder doesn’t think that’s going to happen any time soon.

Scully has laxed her “weekends only” rule, however. She’ll come round on a random weekday to discuss a case. When the case has been discussed she’ll let Work Stuff meld into Us Stuff, she’ll let him hold her and cuddle her. She might, if he’s lucky, let him kiss her too. She never stays. They talk, they cuddle, they kiss, they eat and she always leaves at the end of the night.

Mulder wants more. He wants to talk to her about stuff not related to work, he wants to share his interests with her and hers with him. He spends the rest of the week thinking of things that could be done covertly. By Saturday night, he’s finally found it.

“How about we start a movie night sort of thing?” he asks, broaching the subject cautiously.

Scully rolls onto her stomach and rests her chin on his chest. “Huh?” she asks, her post-orgasmic haze slowing her brain down.

Mulder chuckles. “Movie night, Scully. We watch movies. Maybe take it in turns or something?” His hands stroke up and down her naked back as she thinks.

“Who’s apartment would be watch at?”

“Maybe whoever’s turn it is to pick, we watch at theirs.”

Scully hums. “I guess that could be fun. When were you thinking of starting this?”

“Next Friday?” he poses.

“And who gets to go first?”

“Well since it was my idea…”

Scully sits up all of a sudden, the sheets pooling around her waist, Mulder’s eyes fall to her exposed chest for a moment.

“Rock, Paper, Scissors,” says Scully.

Mulder’s eyes are pulled back up. Scully has her hand out, fisted, waiting.

“Really?” Mulder asks with a bewildered grin.

“Yes.”

He laughs. “Okay.” And holds out his own fist.

Her scissors cut his paper. Mulder let her win, delighting in the way she has a little celebration.

Movie Night is official and she gets to decide the first movie. His hands at her waist and his mouth against hers he mutters, “It just better not be a horror movie,” before they succumb to their desires once more.

…

The Cali case seems a little bit hokey. An amateur magician beheaded on Santa Monica Pier. While decapitation was no laughing matter, a crime was still committed, it seemed to lack the heaviness of most of their over cases. To Mulder, it felt like the perfect distraction, a chance to get away from it all.

They had been stuck at home for the most part. Catching up on paperwork or investigating small local cases. The weather had been miserable and there were rumours of a Budget Meeting for them in the future. California sun sounded appealing.

They pack their things, meet at the airport, board the flight just before lunchtime and land in Cali that same afternoon.

…

She seems happier here. There’s the hint of the old Scully trying to pry herself out. She seems to glow, her smiles reaching her eyes again. Maybe she’s okay.

He wants to savour it. He changes their flight, books an extra day out here. They leave their current motel room and check into another; one room this time, the name simply Mulder. A thrill runs through him.

They wander the pier not as FBI agents conducting an investigation but simply as people. Two people in love. He holds her hand, he kisses her in public. No one seems to care. The world doesn’t end. She once asked him to get out of the car and Mulder thinks, watching her as she looks around in awe, basking in the joy and laughter that surrounds him, that maybe he could this time.

He wastes some money on the mini games trying to show off his athletic ability to her while she watches all the while he continuously misses the bucket, the ball bouncing off the bottom of it each time. She declines her turn and Mulder uses it up instead. The ball goes in and he wins her a dolphin, she’s his lucky number.

They eat overpriced fries and hotdogs for dinner while dangling their legs off the side of the pier. She info dumps on him about dolphins and he listens to every single one of them even though he already knows them all.

He kisses mustard off the side of her mouth and when the sun starts to set he takes her back to their motel. They break their second rule and neither of them seem to care.

…

Scully knew what Mulder was trying to do, why he picked this case, why he made them stay the extra day. She had fun today. She’s had fun all week, actually. Getting out of DC had been good for her. Scully regards the cheap little dolphin he won her and hugs it to her chest. Mulder snores lightly behind her, she watches the waves rolling back and forth from the little armchair, a light breeze rolls through the open window and she tucks her knees under the hem of Mulder’s T-shirt.

Los Angeles isn’t San Diego but being back in California for the first time since Christmas 1997 has a melancholic feeling passing through her. Since the discovery of her infertility she tried to not waste time thinking about babies. The failed adoption of Emily and Emily’s subsequent death soon after, the whole thing seemed impossible. She couldn’t give birth to her own and she couldn’t adopt.

She stopped taking birth control. She and Mulder don’t use condoms and he doesn’t pull out. They didn’t even discuss it, she realises. They didn’t need to.

She presses a hand to her stomach, flat as it’s ever been. It’s been three months, they’ve had numerous sexual encounters. If her body worked properly, would she be pregnant now, she wonders.

Maybe it was all a blessing that she couldn’t get pregnant. There was no reason to worry, no tablets to remember to take, no condoms to fumble about with. To have sex and not worry about any repercussions was, in many ways, freeing. A pregnancy wouldn’t go down very well with the FBI anyway.

But still she wonders if it’s worth it. She longs to watch her body change, to feel a baby growing beneath her skin, to see the proof of her and Mulder’s love right there.

She wonders just what their baby would look like. Boy or girl? Brown hair or red hair? Blue eyes or hazel eyes? Tall or short? Her or him? Maybe a mixture of both, she’d like that. A perfect balance of them both. He’d make a good father, Mulder. And she…she likes to think she’d make a good mother.

The tears are falling before she even realises, dropping from her jawline onto the dolphin and Mulder’s T-shirt below.

“Why are you crying, sunshine?”

Mulder is standing in front of her, she didn’t even hear him get up. Concern is on his face and he crouches down to her level, wipes a stray tear away.

“I want something I can’t have,” she says through sniffles and tears.

Mulder looks at her confused, trying to understand.

“What do you want?” he’s asking. “I’ll give you anything. Just say it, Scully, and I’ll get it. Right now if I have to.”

She laughs because he really would but this he cannot and it makes the tears fall harder. Scully falls into him, clutching at him.

“I want a baby,” she whispers.

The words hit him like a ton of bricks, his heart twisting and shredding to pieces. He feels like an ass.

“Oh, Scully…” he says. His face presses into the crown of her hair. “I’m sorry.”

They stay like that until she quietens. When the tears have stopped and she is beyond exhausted. Mulder carries her back to the bed. When he lays her down she looks at him through tired, hooded eyes, miserable.

“I ruined your day.”

He is furiously shaking his head. “You haven’t ruined anything, baby.” He lays down next to her, spooned behind her and kisses her temple. “We’ll figure something out, Scully,” he says. “There’s gotta be options for us.”

Us.

“You want a baby, too?” she asks turning towards him.

He is quiet. She tries to read his face but it is unreadable. Finally, he says.

“Whatever you want, Scully, I want it too.” He kisses her chastely.

Scully considers that for a moment. Of course children is a big ask of somebody. To introduce a baby into their lives would change everything for him. It would mean getting out of the car. She surveys is sleep-slack face for a moment, suddenly not as exhausted as she was mere moments ago.

Could he really do that, she wonders. Is she and their potential future together really enough?

[corrienteallita]

17 Culpepper House

Erm... so remember how 18 Culpepper House was very much a starter apartment and I was so super proud because bloody hell starter budgets are so gosh darn hard to stick to?

17 Culpepper House IS NOT a starter apartment! But I like it, so whoever moves in may end up with a little kaching kaching if you know what I mean 😉

I actually really struggled with this floorplan. The kitchen started out where the double bedroom is, and then I couldn't fit the two bedrooms in.

Everything got a little bit of a shufty. Unfortunately the living room is a little smaller than I'd like, but I'd like to start to encourage my sims to go off lot for skilling etc. Otherwise I find that my sims just have everything that they'll ever need in their lot, and the game feels very small.

So anyway 😊 That's it! That's 17 Culpepper House!

[munchbuddi]

just beat Metaphor ReFantazio!

[SPOILERS]

I really enjoyed the ending, or more particularly the epilogue. I feel like this story is kinda split between and very classic swords and politics kinda story, and your classic Atlus "your voice is the voice of a rebellious spirit who will change the world" type dealio, and I generally preferred the game in its more small scale moments.

I thought for sure that after the Opera, the game was gonna throw all stakes out the window, and it did a LITTLE BIT— but I generally like how it wrapped up. Parts of the story and those final two dungeons definitely felt a lil rushed, but I really liked the stuff at the eldan sanctum and the Big Reveal that happened there.

There's something really beautiful and fun about the protagonist— named Pisslord in my playthrough— being essentially the young prince's imaginary friend OC hero guy. It really puts the MCs whole overly optimistic power of friendship demeanor into perspective— that he's literally a legendary world traveling hero as created in the mind of a sheepish little book reading prince.

I kinda feel like the production value for the game kinda falls apart right after the opera though. I think the Opera spear throw was the last anime cutscene in the game that actually looks unambiguously GOOD, and the enemy reuse after that point is really obnoxious too! Bit of a shame, but I guess this game didn't seem to warrant quite the budget of like P3reload :^\

I feel like the epilogue with all its "where are they now" nonsense REALLY holds up the ending for me, that shit was so peak. I love seeing my pals and the capital all big chillin'. Also, I like the game thanking me by name for playing, lol. I was the king's magic all along apparently.

I got all the achievements in this run except the two that are UNFORTUNATELY exclusive to NG+ (which is dumbbbbbbbb). Hopefully getting a NG+ save file up to like level 80 doesn't take super long if I skip all the cutscenes and shit, lol.

[just-a-carrot]

🤔 PC parts go on sale pretty often, plus there are a ton of budget guides online. Parts can also go for cheaper too depending on if you're fine with shopping for used parts. There's also websites that tell you what parts are compatible with the ones currently in your cart/that you're looking at. I won't go into in-depth recs since you've said you're not too invested in FPS and resolution (which is fair, I'm just a nerd who studies up too much on this stuff asjdasd) but as a general tip, consider what quality/performance you would like to play your games at and go for that over 'highest number' since that's a pretty easy trap to fall into. Budget, and what you want out of it, always takes precedent over the bigger number. There are countless videos going over how to build a PC, though pre-built computers are always an option (downside is that they're not very cost-effective, since it's the price of the PC plus hours spent assembling it and any other miscellaneous costs). Big general tip for budget PC shopping is to prioritize the GPU, it's the real powerhouse when it comes to quality/performance. You can get a pretty good PC for as low as around $900, and while that's still quite a bit of money it's nothing compared to how price-y higher end builds can get. I hope this was helpful in some way! If you have any questions at any point I'd be happy to answer them, I'm not uber knowledgeable on PCs but I do know a thing or two 😌 if it wasn't helpful, uh... full refund on this Tumblr ask (a whopping $0 in returns)

oh this is all super helpful!!!! i know a little bit about building computers and buying parts because my partner built his (and i also built one with my dad way back when...)

my main problem though is that i don't have space for a desktop computer. it's just a small apartment and i've already got my work setup from my desk (i work remotely on a work computer) so i do all my gaming on my laptop that i have hooked up to my TV (which also gets me out of my chair, which is nice, because i already spend too much time at my desk LOL)

so if i do get a better PC, i would get a nicer/updated gaming laptop, which is unfortunately a bit more expensive... 🥴 i'd also feel so bad getting a whole new computer just so i can have better graphics on DD2 LDKJFALSKDFADS especially with my rapidly deteriorating work situation... 💦

thank you so much for taking all the time to write this up tho! if i ever do have some setup changes and decide to go the desktop route, this'll be super helpful 💕

[clickbliss]

Duelpad Zen 16 Review: a carefully considered controller for fighters, rhythm games and more

by Amr (@siegarettes)

A review unit was provided by Duelpad for this review.

The Duelpad Zen 16 isn't going to surprise you. It's familiar in terms of features and build quality, and it easily fits in with the family of budget fighting game controllers saturating the market right now. It's the same acrylic sandwich design, with the same strip prone Chicago screws, running the same open source GP2040CE firmware. 

What makes it stand out are the small details that show careful consideration. The corners have been extended to make room for your wrists, button rims surround the keycaps to create a feeling closer to traditional arcade buttons, without compromising the hot swap functionality. The OLED status screen sports a small navigation cluster that can be used to configure options without a computer, and it rocks a split layout with extra button placements that actually make sense.

The split layout is my personal headliner, combining a WASD style directional cluster, with a set of thumb buttons that make it a viable option not only as a fighting game controller, but a controller replacement. 

GP2040CE supports up to 4 remappable layouts, so you can swap between layouts that support different games.

For 2D fighting games I keep the two large thumb buttons as jump, keeping the advantages of a traditional Hitbox layout, while allowing a more relaxed posture with more space between the movement and action buttons, and the smaller thumb buttons still free for extra functions. 

For other games I leave the WASD cluster as my main movement, with the thumb buttons replacing the shoulder buttons, triggers, or thumbstick clicks, leaving the pinky column on the action buttons free for additional functions and modifiers.

For example, here I've mapped the thumb buttons to the shoulders and triggers, leaving the 4 face buttons in the first two columns, followed by the L3 and R3 buttons, with the pinky column used to switch the directionals to dpad and right stick movements.

It works for both 2D and 3D games, as long as they don’t rely on the right stick for aiming or frequent camera adjustments. 

In Mega Man 11 I used this setup to quickly switch weapons with the right stick, leaving two extra buttons available to map shortcut buttons. In DMC4 this allows me to quickly perform multi-button maneuvers while charging projectile weapons, and quickly adjust the camera or switch styles by using the modifiers. 

You can even set up dual stick setups, for twin stick arcade games or rhythm games. In Project Diva you can mirror the WASD setup with the face buttons, while in Theatrhythm you can control both sticks on the action and movement buttons, with the thumb buttons available for drumming out notes. 

Let’s talk about that OLED. These tiny screens are quickly becoming a killer feature of modern controllers, allowing you to easily check your buttons and settings. The Duelpad Zen takes this one step further and allows you to change the settings directly on the screen itself. What I initially assumed was an extra button turned out to be a full navigation cluster, allowing you to cycle through various settings from an on board menu, without the need to connect it to a computer. You can change the console mode, dpad settings, RGB lighting and even the extra button mappings through the menu, saving you from memorizing several shortcuts for each function. 

In its current state, it’s unfortunately a bit finicky. At least with my configuration, the menu seems to only operate when I’m in the first profile, and frequently freezes after swapping to another profile, until restarted.  

On the opposite side of the menu are the RGB underglow controls. With them you can cycle through the various lighting modes, though they seem to be controlled separately from the rest of the controller, with no dynamic modes that react to button presses. The topside RGB can be controlled through the menu or web config, with a lot more flexibility for customization. 

The problem is that these LEDs are blindingly bright, with even the lowest of the three settings being bright enough to distract you from your game. I can’t see these as useful for anything except blinding your opponent. 

In terms of other customization, the dense layout doesn’t leave much room for art in the center, but the sides provide ample space for details. A paper layer is pre-installed in the controller, and makes a good template for cutting out your own art should you choose to do it by hand, like I did. 

The Duelpad Zen 16 has plenty of small issues that give a sense of jank to what’s otherwise a well considered device. But none of these issues got in the way when it was time to play. Setting up could be troublesome, but once I dialed in my settings and got into a game, the Zen was rarely less than a joy to play with.

The layout is well spaced and comfortable, the button rims add a sense of stability other controllers lack, and the quiet, fast response switches translated inputs with satisfying feedback. Whether I played fighting games, platformers, or rhythm games, the Zen felt up to the task. With its novel form factor and button layout, I can easily see it staying in my controller rotation, even with many more high end competitors. 

[clockworkrobotic]

The Tragic Saga of the Goncharov Tie-In Game (1995)

so since everyone has discovered goncharov i get to talk about a personal fascination of mine, which is the wild n wacky tale of the goncharov video game tie in. If youre thinking "what the hell are you talking about, there wasn't a video game tie in" theres a reason for that, bear with me

so the game came out sometime around 1995 (different sources place it at various points between 1994 and 1995), and it was one of the first properties to be licenced by sony for a console. It was originally planned to be a SNES-CD release until that console was cancelled, at which point it was ported to the playstation. if youre wondering why goncharov got a tie in like twenty years after the film released, that's kind of why it's so unheard of. sony was testing the waters with its new hardware to see if there was an older audience for gaming, and a few investors were willing to put some money behind the idea. it was actually pretty well-funded all things considered, with a budget of around $1.1m, and the gameplay was similar to that of goldeneye, which released a couple of years later. it was also fairly sophisticated, featuring branching decision trees and several different endings (I think 4? there isn't a lot of gameplay footage available, but there were at least 4)

unfortunately, development was plagued with problems from the get go. Despite its healthy budget, the studio couldn't convince any of the original cast to return to do voice work. Of course they couldn't, the film was two decades old -- you think harvey keitel was gonna bail on pulp fiction to appear in some experimental video game? of course not. so the dev team went for the next best thing: soundalikes.

the problem is, the soundalike VAs they hired weren't used to doing longform work. don't get me wrong, they did their darndest, but their experience was very much rooted in things like radio commercials and short voiceovers. they hadn't really had to act before. oh, and all but one of them hadn't seen the movie. the anecdote goes that they showed up on day one expecting a couple of days work tops, and much to their shock were handed several dozen pages of script (remember the decision trees? branching dialogue baby) and told they were employed for the next six months. Good for them, I think?

The voice acting really suffered from this. a lot of it feels very stilted, it ruins the immersion. yknow how in elder scrolls oblivion all the voice lines were recorded in alphabetical order? It sounds similar to that (altho personally i think the goncharov voice acting is a bit better lol). the directors and actors really struggled to pull everything together.

the result was that, while the game itself definitely wasn't bad, it was outright innovative in places, critics really couldn't get past the baffling performances, which they near-unanimously agreed made the game a slog. someone suggested the game should be played on mute with goncharov the film playing on a second tv, though went on to say that you wouldn't even finish the game then, because you'd just end up watching the far superior goncharov film instead. The game flopped, causing its global release to be cancelled, and was only ever distributed in the UK, Australia, and Japan.

the game had a brief stint as a cult classic, garnering a small online fandom in the early days on the internet. there is allegedly an italian fan translation out there somewhere, although a copy has never surfaced and it is considered lost media. a couple of people have come forward claiming to have worked on it -- they also claim to have met in the neopets forums of all places. i believe them -- and there are a couple of youtube videos showcasing what appears to be an italian fandub, but without the game files it's not possible to know whether theyre real or edited in post.

so now you know the story of goncharov the movie the game, my favourite game i've never played and probably never will. while it may well have been a missed opportunity, i like to think it paved the way for such classics as enter the matrix, and ratatouille the movie the game, and what would the world be like without them?

[angel-shaw]

OKAY SO I LIED

Angel is up first 💖 Cuz I said so >:)

These are my headcanons/OC’s for the Redacted ASMR listeners (Warning there is a lot, I tried to dumb it down a bit but still lol)

Angle <3

Name: Leo Evans Gender: gender fluid(bio fem) Pronouns: he/she/they depending on their mood

If they ever have kids Angle would be happy to have their kid(s) to call them mom. They see it as a title rather than a gendered term. I think rather than Mrs. or Mr. they would use Mx. :)

Angle is the oldest out of 4 kids. They have 2 young brothers and 1 younger sister.

Angle helped raise their siblings because their parents worked a lot. Leading them to resort to quick and easy, cheep meals to feed them and their siblings. They started working when they where 13 by just mowing grass in the summer/spring/fall gardening whenever they could and shoveling driveways in the winter. Their siblings would pitch in and they made it into a game.

They learned not to relay on their parents promises to hang out or spend quality time with any of their siblings because they 99% of the time they got called in or had an emergency. So they spent a lot of time trying to make it up to their siblings, making it a point to never lie to them or brake their promises to them.

They never hated their parents because they loved them they where just busy working to get bills payed and get food on the table. Angle wanted to take some stress off of their parents so they asked them to teach them to do taxes and stuff so they could do it well they finally either spent sometime with their siblings or slept. They also started shopping for groceries and clothes for them and their siblings.

They had a relatively small budget for food and stuff so they got a lot of cheap stuff and relied heavily on the food they got from the school. Saving up any left overs for new clothes or some presents for their siblings.

Well they only got very little for any Hollidays they wanted to make each one special for the others. That’s when they got into decorating and stuff.

They tried to never shoplift but their younger brother (who is the second oldest) would take hygiene products, as he noticed they were getting low so his sibling wouldn’t have to worry about management into the budget. They didn’t realize this until later on (adults) because they were too focused on everything else.

They tried to keep up with school and their homework but found it hard in between taking care of and helping their siblings. They where unfortunate in the teachers department for a wile so they got more stressed by that. “You can’t just not do your homework! It’s important and you will fail without it!” “Sr. all due respect I’m trying I help my siblings with theirs and-“ “Do it well they are sleeping! You need to get it done period! The next time you don’t turn in your homework when it’s due its detention Evans!” Also stuff like “You have free time. You need to use that to study and do your work. Your just being lazy.” So they always felt a need to work themselves to the point of exhaustion. (Their siblings tried the best they could to help but they where also just kids)

They considered dropping out to get a job but their brother (3rd oldest) helped them out.

Once they graduated they got a full time job.They worked at an office job where they handled financial stuff at first. They moved out to their own apartment but made sure to stop by and help out their siblings with anything they needed. Especially when they where sick.

Their apartment was all most always messy and they never eat anything other than cheap stuff or things from their friends. The oldest brother learned how to cook decent meals and their parents job raises so they could afforded some better things. They stoped by for food a lot because they where invited. Their siblings helped them clean their apartment a few different times and never judged them for it.

They had two really close friends in high school that also helped them out. They understood that they had problems with control and stuff so they always listened and didn’t get upset at any fits they had.( got some real one 🙏)

They have a few different ex’s Michael is one obviously. They had an ex-named John, Ethan, and Justin. Those are the ones that lasted longer than 2 months, they had others but their siblings always cut them off quick(and for good reason) 

They started dating Justin is high school and he used them for their body which made their gender dysphoria extremely bad. They had it before, but were still coming to terms with it. He wrecked their self-confidence and it took them a wile to fix it. He cheated on them with a girl in their Science class. That was the final straw for their sister and she made them brake up with the dushbag. They dated for almost a year.

Them came Ethan who love bomed them. This was after he found out Justin had cheated on them and said his girlfriend cheated on him and was abusive as well.(he was lying). Whenever he wanted something and he didn’t get his way he started saying that they where started to act like his ex. They dated for 6 mouths before he slipped up and said it in front of their siblings and got kicked out real quick.

They hadn’t dated in a few years and met John after they moved out. They met him at work and they hit it off. It went well for a while till one day he come home (their apartment they where letting him stay in FOR FREE) drunk for the 3rd and started yelling and throwing things. They left the apartment and walked to their parents house to cry in their siblings arms (poor baby) They went back in the morning with their their brother(the older one) and he was still their, still drunk. They had amused he would be passed out but nooo of course he wasn’t. Which is why their brother instead to walk them home. He put himself between them and ended up getting hit in the face with a bottle. They snapped and knocked him out (work it bitch) . They checked on their brother and called the police,after explaining what happened they where just told to be more careful and to next time call the police when the throwing started so it could get stoped before it got worse than it was. Safe to say that he was not welcome back and they broke up. Sadly he didn’t want to let them go and started begging for them to take him back. They went to HR. But they where useless so they quit and changed jobs. They changed the locks on their apartment and their friend stayed over for awhile. (15 months)

Said friend was Michael who they had met though their other friend. He offered to stay over and help them out for a wile. He slept on the couch for the first few weeks. He helped them get their mental state to a better place and respected it when they came out to him. That’s when they started dateing. He put his arms on their shoulders and told them he cared for them and that they didn’t have to worry anymore. They asked if they could kiss him and he said yes. It evolved from there and they where together for almost 1 and a half years. They had a really heathy relationship and ended up adopting their cat Sweetie when her mom got hit by a car and was left calling out for her mom. Michael had a huge sweet spots for cats, and of course they did to. Sweetie obviously favored Michael, of course she loved them too but she always came when michael called. They broke up on decent terms.(Fell out of love and he wanted to figure himself out.) It still hurt but it wasn’t anything like their other relationships. They had gotten an apartment together so he helped them find a new and in a safe area (away from their ex who still tried to win they back sometimes) They left Sweetie with him when they moved out. They talked on occasion about the cat but both agreed they should probably keep their distance.

The day they met David they walked into a home where store cuz they needed ✨light bulbs✨ and that’s when they saw David. They thought he was cute and grabbed what they needed (+ a little eye candy) and head for the self checkout. They put the bag in their car and went across town to get gas cuz it was ✨cheaper✨ as they where filling their tank they where watching YouTube and an add popped up for a game they had been wanting in a store right across the street. Of course they went to go check it out. They walked in and started looking for it. They noticed David again when they went to check out (they had gotten the game and a new cover for their switch cuz it had Link on it). They knew they saw in at the hardware store and still thought he was cute. But of course a few warnings went off because they where raised to be careful and they raised their siblings that way to. They where going to go home but they started to feel hungry and remembered about the fast food joint relatively close to their apartment and decided to go their for lunch. Then BOOM 💥 A wild David appeared! They said fuck it and made a move. You know where it went from their.

They told David a lot about their childhood but left out a lot of the sad stuff because they still where early in the relationship and they didn’t want to overwhelm him. ( cough cough-you can blame a certain ex for that) of course they told him about their cat and Michael. They mentioned they had other exes to but tried not going into a lot of detail. Of course David found out eventually. (Later on I think.) When John saw them with David outside and he ran up to them smothering them. Of course they tried to push him off, panicking, and David very quickly stepped in and pulled him off of them. Their ex tried to say they where his and David almost growled at him. Once they got away from the bitch David was going to ask who the hell he was but saw that his Angle was close to tears and shaking. He took them home and they told him what happened between them. Of course he was concerned and asked why they hadn’t told him. (He was calm here and wasn’t upset like the jealousy video) (that video made me cry by the way.) They told him they thought he stoped and they just wanted to forget about him. David understand and comforted them. (I WANT HIM OMG T^T)

So I have seen a lot of the Pups AU and I am engulfed by it. So for a little bit of context David and Angle had 2 kids Gabriel who was their first Kido and Natalie the second one

I absolutely love them and I want to add a few things myself - go check it out it is truly amazing 🥰 such amazingness

So because Angle is biologically a female for my OC they gave birth (I would like to say that this makes their identity no less valid and if you think trans people (specifically trans FTM, can’t give birth because it makes them “not a man “or “proves they are a woman “) get the fuck out please and thank you 🥰)

I said up at the top that I think Leo would use the term mom more as a role than gendered thing :) so somethings here include mom as a title they use :)

I think they had a C-section for Gabriel and he had some problems at birth. He was born with pneumonia and had to be care for in the hospital for a wile ( my brother was born pre-mature and with pneumonia so this is a little bit of a personal insert. My brother is fine btw it ok :D )

This of course worried David and Leo both but Gabriel was ok after getting the proper treatment, with Magic the recovery process was a lot easier to. When they finally got to bring him home the others where all over him. Of course everyone respected boundaries and didn’t push for Leo or David to let them hold or say hi or anything. About a week after they came home they invited Ash,babe,Milo,sweetheart,Sam,Darlin and Marie to come over a met/hold Gabriel for the first time.  It was really sweet and Leo took a much needed rest with David as Darlin( this will make more sense when I post theirs lol) and Marie feed/held him.

When Gabriel first started going to school Angle was really worried, obviously, just nerves and Christian help with that because he was also a Parent and his kid was all ready in school. When Natalie was born she did not have any health problems and they could come home a lot sooner. Leo took a lot of videos of Gabriel and Natalie when they were babies and continue to as they grow up because they are adorable and want them to be able to look back at it. (Also because David never got to know his mom and only knew her though story’s and pictures,they wanted to make sure that if anything happened to them their kids would have something)

Also Leo is super protective of their kids. They got called to the school once because Natalie’s skirt was “to short” and she was in a tank top. And when I say Leo went off on the teacher that said that and the vice principal, I mean they had both of them almost trembling. After that they tried calling David. Ya no that didn’t work ether. Turns out he’s also protective and won’t stand for bigotry.

When Natalie was in middle school after her powers had manifested she was being picked on by some older kids. Well normally she wouldn’t take it she was tired and just wanted to go to lunch. A freelancer, a water elemental and a air elemental were the ones picking on her. A fire elemental that was her age stepped in and told them to go away. The freelancer started arguing with the fire elemental and she started to heat up (no fault of her own) and this is when the water and air elemental got the bright idea to poor freezing water on the two girls. Natalie noticed and went into defensive mode pushing the girl out of the way and tackling the water elemental. The freelancer then decided to use fire and ended up burning Natalie‘s side Natalie shifted to protect the other fire elemental girl. Darlin’s kid gave Natalie their gym clothes and her and the fire elemental girl where taken into the office. Angel was called along with the other girls father. Angel was told that her daughter had been fighting and needed to come be picked up they we’re told nothing about the severe burn on Natalies side. She of course want to the school and was on the phone with David when they spotted the fire elementals father outside of the office and she asked. It ended up being Damien who was their with Gavin because of course Damien was upset that his daughter had been fighting, but was concerned because she never got into a five before. So Gavin went with him after he got the call. They talked and what Damien was told was that his daughter had gotten into a fight with another girl in her grade and burned her. Of course this worried Leo because they were told nothing about their daughter being burned. When they were allowed into the office to speak to the kids Angel immediately went out to Natalie and asked what happened and if she was ok. Natalie said she was fine and immediately started defending the girl, saying that she had defended her and she wasn’t the one to burn her. Gavin offered to heal her and Leo thanked him repeatedly. After hearing the full story all of them where upset. Damien‘s daughter was really worried because she thought she did something wrong. Leo quickly assured her that she did nothing wrong and thanked her for trying to help her daughter. Leo then told her daughter to go out in the hall with Damien’s daughter and to plug her ears because “Mommy’s gonna be really loud for a minute ok?” They proceeded to tear the principal the vice principal a new one they told them if something like this ever happened again that they would no longer have a job.  they apologize to Damien and Gavin for the misunderstanding and they exchange phone numbers. When David found out he was pissed. So that’s all I have Angle I’m tired and I’m not gonna proof read this rn,I’ll do it tomorrow and edit any mistakes, if you notice any please point them out kindly :) thank you and I have you enjoyed I probably will make a few short one shots about Angle and their ex’s and David :) I



[bkdotblog]

High Stakes and Friendship Breaks, S3 E11

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Season 3 Episode 11 Recap

My Title: "The Heather Black Eye Reveal Episode"

My rating: 5 out of 7 budget Marilyns

Support for Lisa Barlow: Very strong

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How in Goddess' name are we only on Day 2 of San Diego?

Meredith is making eggs. Good Angie, Whitney, and Lisa lounge by or in the pool, talking about how Jen's behavior was unacceptable and also Heather is being a bitch for no reason. It's nice to know that the schisms formed in the last episode have survived the weeklong programming break and remained intact. Will Jen or Heather answer for their crimes?

Lisa leaves to go eat a single Kit Kat. Best Frenemies Forever Good Angie and Jen convene in the master bedroom. They are unintentionally matching, as is their tendency.

Meanwhile Heather is talking to Lisa in the kitchen. Heather points out that Jen has a toxic relationship with nearly every member of the cast, and a short montage plays to confirm that Jen has cussed each one out on camera. (Except Whitney!) Then Heather breaks down a bit and acknowledges how fractured her relationship with Jen has become.

Speaking to God or Jen Shah, Heather asks for "a little bit of grace," as she has done in nearly every episode of this season.

(Heather also acknowledges that she and Lisa usually bear the brunt of Jen's rage. Hopefully that means she will begin to treat Lisa with respect in mixed company, but I doubt it!)

Let's go to the beach! each!

The sprinter van proceeds to the destination without incident.

It seems somebody (Jen using Angie's credit card?) booked a service that sets up chairs, organizes a picnic, and is staffed by two indentured musical theatre majors for their day a la plage. It looks fun!

The ladies separate into two teams to play games and it almost goes well. When time is called on the sandcastle building contest, Yellow Team Captain Whitney runs over to Team Blue (Heather, Jen, Angie) and demolishes their build. This prompts Jen to bowl into Whitney during the sack race. Bubble soccer is basically sumo wrestling mediated by enormous plastic armor — Danna body slams Jen and Heather to the ground. Team Yellow Wins, and Team Blue has a hissy fit. But there is no verbal argument to follow, probably because the ladies left it all in the ring.

Some of the women go surfing while Jen, Heather, and Lisa sojourn to the boardwalk for lite bites and confrontation.

Jen apologizes for her yacht behavior in abstract. (In specific: She yelled at Lisa, pushed her, threw a crudité platter into the sea and called it a charcuterie board, and then fell asleep.) The night before she did not even recall any of it, and I'd wager that she still doesn't, but wants to move on.

(The other insane thing Jen did last episode — defenestrating Angie's $1,500 shoes like they were a charcuterie board — appears to be forgiven and forgotten.)

Hedda's turn! Jen is mad that Heather is still friends with Bad Angie; Heather is mad that Jen was talking shit about her in Whitney's enormous hot tub.

(I didn't understand the scale of Whitney's hot tub until this episode. It's a small heated pool!)

Jen denies talking shit in the hot tub. (She was talking shit in the hot tub!)

Heather tries to describe how it feels to be Jen's friend: "The sun doesn't shine on the same dog's ass every day."

Jen says: "You flip-flop so much, you should be wearing flip-flops!" Sick burn, nana!

The tension is building like the Empire State. As it always is, when you're dealing with Jen! Heather is describing to Jen how she tends to escalate the situation, using three solid examples from the previous 36 hours. Heather also notes to us, the viewers, in her confessional that she can see Jen running out of viable beef, signaling either her departure from the conversation or her upping the ante 1000 degrees.

Can you guess which way she went?

You're absolutely right—great guess! In the raspy, furious baritone to which we have unfortunately become attuned, Jen scream-admits that she attempted suicide after finding out about the @shahexposed finstagram. And then she departs the conversation, taking her drink to a table in the back.

[BK's Take: I do not find Jen Shah to be trustworthy in any domain. However, we have no good reason not to believe her when she tells Heather and Lisa that she "almost committed suicide, tried to", that she locked herself in the bathroom, that Coach Shah had to break down the door, and that she spent two days in the hospital following the episode. It was a very shocking moment for all present and me, not least because it was Jen's response to Heather asking, once again, if she can't be friends with Angie H. I am very sorry to Jen and her family.]

[For many reasons!]

Jen's admission causes Heather and Lisa to drop their arguments and rally to her side, tending to her in the manner of a wounded bird. But not before Heather and Lisa privately confer: Yes, Jen is psychotic, but let's just shower her with love when she's in the room.

Jen and her emotional support Mormons board the sprinter van bound for Chez Angie, while the surfing women (remember them?) do the same. Tonight's the Marilyn Monroe party, ladies — and Whitney brought the Amazon wigs!

Am I a philistine, or is this a crudité board (no meats or cheeses)? Please let me know in the comments.

The ladies Monroe sit down [BK's Take: Danna is most Marilyn, Heather is best look, Lisa is soooo mother and I love her, Jen brought the only wig that cost more than $28.99 but it's so wrong and looks out of place] and are convivial for about eight seconds. Meredith asks Heather, Jen, and Lisa about their lunch, which prompts silence. It seems at first like they will speak only in abstract and quickly moves on, but Whitney makes the fatal error of asking a follow-up question.

Jen snaps. "Since you wanna go digging," "Since you're so inquisitive," YEAH, I tried to SUICIDE over ANGIE HARRINGTON'S HUSBAND'S FINSTAGRAM.

Whitney is in more than the hot seat -- she is practically splayed out across the crudite platter, and about to be served raw to Jen Shah! (What did we think of that joke? Again, let me know in the comments. And thank you to my readers—both of you!)

What happens next is very sad, but also very satisfying. Maybe a little bit like eating too much ice cream. Slowly, one by one, the women take Whitney to task for her role in spreading baseless rumors and occasionally true but inflammatory knowledge. Example of the former: Talking about Lisa giving sex favors for free Utah Jazz tickets. Example of the latter: parroting back to Heather what Jen said in her seasize hot tub.

Even Meredith, who has been jingling decoratively all episode, opens her mouth against the Wild Rose! (Whit implicated Meredith in spreading the Jizz for Jazz rumors.) Whitney keeps propping up new defenses for each angry housewife, but none of them hold up. She would be better off annihilating them all in one caustic confession, Shah-style!

I do have to hand it to her when she tells Meredith that she's sorry if she betrayed her trust, but Meredith DID talk that shit about Lisa. And Whitney remembers that day perfectly because Meredith was so boring: Whitney made them do dishes because just talking was so awkward.

As if making anything remotely close a point, Whitney explains that she KNEW Meredith wanted to talk shit when she walked in the door, and that's why they had to do the dishes...?

Whitney literally says: "I'm a vibes girl."

Lisa interjects to say that we've all made mistakes, but then Whitney doubles down on "accountability." So then Heather takes the opportunity to say to Jen, can you be accountable for what you said about me in the huge enormous hot tub? And Jen masterfully says, Yes I can. It all started with Whitney saying she's taking a friend break from you...

This is news to Heather.

It's just like Don Draper said: If you don't like what they're saying, change the conversation!

From here on out Heather and Whitney engage in a verbal bout that goes nowhere but in the same circles. Whitney's fillings are hurt and she is processing trauma and Heather won't listen to her or treat her with grace. Heather, to Whitney's point, won't. She cannot even let Whitney land two complete sentences without interrupting her. Watching it is exasperating.

Heather keeps bringing Lisa into it, too. Why??

The conversation goes nowhere and then it's time to go somewhere else. Did anybody eat anything? Whatever. Jen Shah is like, let's go to a gay bar!

Tons of fun. Heather is hot on the mic being like "Fuck Whitney" !

The ladies return to the Airbnb with pizzas in hand. It's 2 AM — Jen and Heather are topless and running around. Lisa goes to bed, as does Whitney, both in good spirits. Jen, Heather, and ... Meredith? are laughing in various states of undress.

3 AM slumber party!

Wait holy shit. I had thought Bravo was adding time stamps to demonstrate just how loose the ladies were letting, but after 3:00, we start getting more minute updates -- who is going to bed at 3:12, who is walking down the corridor at 3:23 -- and then I realize that we are on the precipice of a moment I have waited for since the trailer for the season dropped:

Heather's Black Eye!!!!!!!!!!!!

At some point the cameras switch to the house's (extensive?) surveillance system. We see everybody go to bed, last (?) of all Heather, at 3:24, entering the casita where she is staying. Then, at 4:50, we see the door handle jiggle, and hear a knock, and see a Heather going to answer it. Who was on the other side?

Seven hours later Meredith is summoned to Heather's room. She takes off her sunglasses dramatically to reveal:

When I saw the Eye in the season trailer months ago, I thought it was some cosmetic reaction that was going to be played for laughs. But the fact that the show is telling the story like a full murder mystery has caught me by surprised, and now I'm hooked. Did somebody beat Heather up at 4:50 AM? Was it Lisa Barlow, or do we have a way we can blame Lisa Barlow for it?

That's why it's called BRAVO, folks. I'm clapping! Can't wait to tune in next week. Thanks for reading! -BK

Regarding some of the content of this post: If you are struggling, you can always call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.

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Gay Imagery:

This was Jen! I thought this was Heather when I screen grabbed. Anyway, it's Gay Imagery!

Maybe too good time of a girl, if you ask me!

[sevenspecialidiots]

Hi can I request a scenario where the MC shares half of the power of dia's dad ? I would like to see how they react ! ALSO CONGRATS ON YOUR BLOG

❤️❤️❤️❤️

hello my lovely anon!

THANK YOU SO MUCH AKDFHKAS❤️❤️and thank u for sending this in!! ur my first official req and im very excited ♡︎ since this is my first headcannon please bare (bear?) with me, and if there’s anything you think i can improve feel free to send me a message! i’m all about feedback and how i can make things better :D

a/n: I’m only going to do the brothers (+Diavolo) right now while I get a feel for my writing style, although in the future I may add the undateables :3 (newly dateables?? what are they called now? side characters??????)

MC shares half the Demon King’s powers (Brothers + Diavolo react)

~~~~~ Warnings: Minor spoilers for Lesson 16 for Bell pepper Belphegor. M i n o r. (Please let me know if I should add anything)

Word Count: 2473 ~~~~~

The moment you landed in the Devildom, literally everyone knew there was something up with you.

You radiated powerful energy, but since you weren’t supposed to have magic, no one could exactly place why you felt so familiar. It wasn’t until you were sitting in a student council meeting talking about budgets this and politics that when Diavolo had an “Aha!” moment.

“I’ve figured it out! All this time, I couldn’t put my finger on it, but then I did!” Of course, he sounds like a kid on Christmas and he is so excited. “Your power feels like my father's!”

After some digging, Barbatos finds this: When the Demon King went into his deep, eon-long slumber, the curse used to put him under had some unexpected side affects that Barbatos is still struggling to explain (please be patient with him, he’s not used to be oblivious). This caused some of the King’s powers to transmit away from his body. The power needed a host to survive… and that host happened to be you.

But since you’re supposed to be the human who doesn’t have magic, you get mixed reactions.

Lucifer

Obviously, he was ecstatic. Another headache! Yippee!

Okay listen, the Demon King is like the most powerful demon that exists, so the fact that you share his power means that you too have incredible power.

This man mostly feels frustrated, and he mentally kicks himself for not having caught that minor (major) detail that could possibly change the entire course of the rest of the exchange program if not managed correctly.

Did you know about your power? Do you know how to control it? What if you try to use your magic without supervision and end up burning the House of Lamentation down? What if you hurt somebody? Hakljdhflkasd, what if you hurt yourself?

All these questions are racing through detail-oriented first-born’s head and this is one of the rare times he wishes it were a Mammon-money issue instead.

After doing some digging, it is indeed found that you share power with the Demon King.

He won’t leave you alone, especially with his brothers.

No, Mammon, you can’t use MC’s powers to help your next money-making scheme. And no one is allowed to try and use MC’s powers to play a cursed prank on a certain overly-stressed prideful demon bby. I’m looking at you, Satan.

If you chose to ask him to help you control your newfound power, he might try and downplay how excited he is but nonetheless he is elated and his pride has gone through the roof that you chose him.

Training with him will be efficient. Although it will probably be a little grueling, Lucifer swears it’s only because he sees how great you can become once you’ve master your skills. But, uh… you might wanna use that pact of yours after a couple hours because the words “take a break” are not in Lucifer’s vocabulary.

Mammon

Of course his human shares power with the Demon King! He knows this how? B-Because this is MC we’re talking about! Obviously his MC is super powerful and amazing to the ends of the Earth and-

For a split second, he literally sees dollar signs. You now have MAGIC and with a good ol’ fashion magic show comes MONEY. Even before Diavolo and Barbatos look into it for sure, Mammon is formulating plan after plan.

“We could use this to our advantage! Next time I go to the casino, you could charm people into letting me win! You could put on shows and stuff and show off this awesome new stuff ya got. Imagine the millions that’ll roll in! We’ll be richer than Diavolo himself, and all thanks to the Great Mammon!”

*Casually ignoring that you would technically be doing all the work*

If he does end up dragging you into his one of money-making schemes, you’re in for some fun.

You explode a slot machine that Mammon was trying to get you to curse into giving up the moolah. You accidentally charm Mammon into showing his cards in a poker game instead of the dude next to him and now you’re both in debt. (Or in Mammon’s case, more so).

The next thing you know, you’re in Lucifer’s office getting scolded for handing him another bill on a silver platter.

If for some reason you do chose to ask Mammon for help to control your power, he will be incredibly excited (and then be a total tsundere about it). "Y-You actually want my help? Pfft, oF cOuRsE yOu'D wAnT hELp fRoM tHe GrEaT mAmMoN-!"

Despite being everyone’s favourite adorable doofus, Mammon is still the second-born brother and is still crazy powerful himself.

However, you two will make no progress in learning and will spend most of your time laughing and goofing around until you earn yourselves yet another lecture from Lucifer.

But who wants to be responsible when you have your very own cute demon dork, anyway?

Leviathan

HIS HENRY- HE KNEW HIS HENRY WAS AMAZING…!

B-But what if you don’t want to be his friend anymore after this? Why would someone so strong and powerful and amazing still want to be friends with a gross otaku like him…

….Y-You still want to come to his room tonight to watch My Best Friend Was A Simple Human For A Few Months And We Were Totally Cool With It But One Day The Demon Prince RealIzed They Actually Share The Same Power As The Demon King Himself and Now They’re Really Powerful And We’re Conquering The World And Going On Cool Adventures Together with him?!

Wait, this totally reminds him of that one anime My Friend And I Were Chilling Like Normal People But Then They Found Out That They’re Like Super Powerful But They Still Want To Be My Friend!!!

After some reassurance that you are still his Henry and he will always be your Lord of Shadows, Levi starts to feel better.

M-MC, do you think you could use your powers to give Henry 2.0 an endless food supply…?

If he's being entirely honest, it doesn't take long for the excitement to wear off and he retreats back into his comfort zone. Do you wanna play video games with him? He just bought this new one he thinks you’ll like.

If you ask him to help you control your powers, Levi will be so. dang. happy. Happy, and a little bit conflicted. Why would you want a yucky otaku like him to help you with such an important responsibility?!

Just remind him he's doing the whole putting-himself-down thing again and remind him he's beautiful and that you love him always.

S-sorry MC! Of course he’ll help his Henry! What sort of Lord of Shadows would he be if he didn’t aid his companion, his true friend

He will be completely nervous the entire time and will be able to focus better when he is near water, so practicing what he teaches you will most commonly happen in his room or the bathroom.

Satan

He already knew. How did he know? I don’t know. He just did. Satan is a knowledgeable person, so if he wants to know, he will. So he knows. Periodt.

Once Barbatos and Diavolo confirm his theory is correct, Satan is only more curious than before.

This is quite incredible, MC. Were you able to feel the power before this? How do you think they’ll work going forward? Would you like to try them out with him? Hm, you’d like to pull some cursed pranks on Lucifer with them? He thinks that’s quite the idea and he’d be honored. Oh, that’s not what you said? How unfortunate, you’re joining him anyways.

Everything this man does from here on out relating to your power is driven by his curiosity and drive for knowledge. Congratulations! You’re his personal guinea pig.

Despite the few times you do get dragged into one of Satan’s cursed pranks, he is mostly just curious to know the extent of your abilities. He will spend hours on end observing you and scribbling in a little notebook he bought specifically for the occasion.

He will try to help you learn to control your new power whether you ask him or not, but if you ask him before he offers, he will become elated.

His methods of teaching are quite similar to Lucifer’s (but don’t you dare ever say that to his face). He may push you for hours on end, but only because he’s curious to see if your magic effects your endurance.

Despite this, he does allow breaks! Would you like to go to a cat cafe with him in your spare time?

Asmodus

Ah! Just when he doesn’t think his beautiful MC could get any more amazing, they just have to go blow his mind all over again 💖

He is literally ecstatic when he finds out. Just imagine how many views he’ll get on Devilgram with you! His following might even grow bigger than it already is. Hm? Oh, he knows everyone already loves him. He just needs to reach the stubborn people have brains too small to comprehend what they're missing. ♡︎

He will also be another brother who is curious about the extent of your ability. Not in the same depth as Satan, but he will want to scratch the surface and get to know more about his wonderful MC.

Overall, he doesn’t mind all that much, but he is curious to see if your newfound power could speed up his morning skincare routine.

He always gets at least eight hours of sleep, or his perfect complexion would be completely ruined! But imagine if he were able to sleep in in the mornings, MC. He skin would glow! You’ll help him out, won’t you?

*Insert Asmo trying to charm you into doing it*

What’s that, sweetie? You want his help to learn how to control it? He’d be delighted! Where do you even begin? You could start with ways to speed up that skincare routine…

Oh dear, this may be more stressful than he thought. He might have to hand you over to Satan for this one, he would be much better suited to help you, sweetie.

But don’t worry, MC, he’ll be there the entire time support you through whatever hectic journey you’ve started on… from across the room. We can’t have any of that pretty magic of yours accidentally ruining his new outfit now, can we?

Beelzebub

I cannon that Beelzebub is one of those characters that understands more of what happens around him than he lets on.

That being said, Beel heard Lord Diavolo loud and clear, but these sour hellsting tarantula leg fries are starting to run low and he doesn’t have any more food left to get him through the rest of this student council meeting. He’s sure you’ll understand that this is a very big issue and he needs to prioritize it.

Nonetheless, only when the meeting is over and you, Belphie, and he head over to Hell’s Kitchen afterwards (only for Beel to order their entire stock and nearly run them out of business (again)) does Beel pay mind to your newest situation (MC seems to have a lot of those).

Beel has probably the most mellow reaction of all the brothers. There’s nothing Beel could ever want from you other than your endless love and affection (and maybe some food, but who’s counting?), so nothing in your relationship really changes. Of course he’s happy for you, but other than that he doesn’t really care. (He’s just hungry, man, go buy this big beautiful boi some more of those fries he was eating-)

If you ask him to help you learn to control your new abilities, he will actually be confused. a) He rarely uses his own powers, and he hardly ever needs them because he avoids drama and eats all day and b) if he were to teach you, he’d probably get hungry within the first ten minutes and stop for a snack break and you’d be back at square one.

If you persist, Beel will try to pull himself together to help you. As I said, lots of snack breaks, but Beel is very patient and if there’s anything you don’t understand, he will do his best to push past his hunger to sit down and explain it to you.

Bell pepper Belphegor

(im so sorry every time i see his name i think “bell pepper” please forgive me-)

Belphie was asleep during the revelation, but he heard it. He didn’t open his eyes, but he was aware.

For the rest of the meeting, he was no longer listening to anyone else and instead retreated to his own mind.

Could you feel your powers before Diavolo said anything? Would you have told him? Could you control it? Could you have stopped him from hurting you? Did you know how?

When Barbatos confirms that Diavolo is correct and explains the little he knows, Belphie wishes he could fall into NREM sleep so he can block everything out.

Like Beel, Belphie would also have a more mellow reaction. Aside from his guilt, he is mostly thinking about you're doing. How are you taking this? You guys can still nap together, right? He’ll still be able to visit you in your dreams and show you whatever if you want, if it's okay with you.

If you ask Belphie to help you control your powers, he will actually fly through the roof. This demon boi doesn’t even have wings, but he will fly. You actually want his help? Really? Don’t worry, MC, by the time he’s done with you, you’ll be in better control of it than the man those powers came from.

But listen, first you two need to take an eight hour nap. You can’t give it your all and stay completely focused if you’re totally wiped, can you?

Diavolo

When he figures it out, it hits him like a brick in the head and he is impatient to let his friends know of his new discovery. He blurts out, “Your power feels like my fathers!” and then immediately does that super excited, deep, and hearty laugh that he has.

Why, isn’t this fantastic, MC?! Imagine the fun you could have now. Perhaps you’re even related!

Oh… you’re not related? There goes Barbatos again, leveling his fun… Nonetheless! Diavolo is through the roof and is going on and on about all the exciting ways you and he could play with your newfound powers.

Perhaps you could build a stone golem together dripping with molten iron…! Or you can summon Lucifer a unicorn! Or, or - what if you changed the whole color theme of the castle to… purple and green?! (Lucifer and Barbatos beg you, please do not indulge the Young Lord in his childish antics)

If you so chose to “indulge the Young Lord in his childish antics”, expect a grouchy Lucifer and a Barbatos thin on patience until you return the castle back to its normal colors and get rid of that damn unicorn (please, it’s driving Lucifer up a wall).

If you ask Diavolo to help you learn to control your newfound power, he will be more proud than the Avatar of Pride himself (and that speaks blow horns since we all know how Lucifer can be). If anyone knows how the Demon King’s powers would work, it would be his son. Diavolo is honored that you chose him to mentor you.

When you two actually make progress, Diavolo is a good, thorough teacher who hits all the right marks.

However, your sessions will end much like Mammon’s would - you usually end up falling off track and giggling about something one of you saw on Devilgram. With the inconsistency in your progress, you experience lectures from both Barbatos and Lucifer, but the fun you always have with Diavolo is worth it.

~~~~~ Woahhh okay !! That took me like two days but it was so fun to write!! i hadn't meant for it to be so long but i hope it was what u were looking for :3 thank u ❤️❤️❤️❤️anon for sending it in ♡︎ ♡︎ p.s. i think im getting a feel for how i want to write things so im ready for future posts. i have my bag of skittles and some coffee and im prepared for the next one😎

[getitfrenchship]

HEY ALL, Pikes here! Wanted to give a small update and since I'm posting this at 1 AM I'll most likely reblog this in a couple of hours

Job hunting's not been great. I DID get a bunch of phone calls today and yesterday but only one left a voicemail. Others I don't know are spam even when I do reverse phone look up. Also I keep getting asked to join multilevel marketing stuff or worse, nearly getting scammed, so that's been brining my mood down a bit. Like my whole goal was to be employed before my birthday so I'd have health insurance and afford the stuff I want without dipping into my savings/exceeding my monthly budget but welp.

To try and brighten said mood, I thought I'd try to find a shiny Shinx in Pokemon Legends Arceus. This is without shiny charm because I unfortunately don't have that much of patience to complete the Pokedex. I think I've been at this for a week now? Found a bunch of other shinies but no Shinx/Luxio/Luxray yet.

It's because of that I haven't really been able to hyperfixate on something for a long period of time or worse, haven't really been able to convey my feelings about the meh-ness without sounding like a broken record. And I go back into that "friends and loved ones find me a bother/inconvenience" mindset which is completely untrue but unfortunately persistent. That in turn makes it hard to communicate even more so it's a neverending cycle.

Fortunately IRL things are looking good aside from that. Got a lot of plans with the fam, planning for my birthday party so friends can once again hang out.

And ohhhhhhh my God so many games are coming out in June and July it's almost unfair. I'm contemplating if I should cancel my preorder for 3Hopes special edition and go for the regular one instead so I can get more games or not. I mainly only want the special edition for the art book but I'm not the biggest fan of Musou gameplay (still burnt out from the original Hyrule Warriors on Wii U, and that was when I had a friend to play co-op with). Then again Dedue...

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Dear 'Anime Bad' Anon: I Want To Help I pity your situation, so please have a list of weebshit that isn't moeified, or wherein the cutesy art-style serves a greater purpose. (Note: though they won't be soft marshmallow uguuuu, they may still have issues in other ways. Some may have aged badly with regards to how society views or portrays groups or beliefs, some may have upsetting content and dark themes, and some may simply not be to your taste. Note: Anime is a genre, not a monolith, and the disparaging stereotype that it's all cute girls uwuing over their brother s-s-senpai!!! is as much of a disservice as saying all western movies are just vapid cash grab superhero movie sequels with no inegrity or thought put into them. There are indeed a lot of superhero movies, but they're not all identical schlock (megamind vs venom vs kick-ass),  but even more than that, there is a wealth of creative endeavor just beyond the veil of Marvel's cape: just as there are plenty of good anime if you dig past the isekai high school harem wish fulfillment genre that no one wants to keep making but people keep making because it prints money to a very small demographic of the animation equivalent of a mobile game whale thereby allowing this frankly quite-small industry to work on engaging and worthwhile series where the budget permits, Regardless,)

Mushi-shi: -Pros: gorgeous animation, tranquil vibes, episodic stories so you can cram in an episode between classes or on your lunch break. highly recommended by the literal-who typing this out. -Cons: some themes or stories may cause emotional distress, learning to tell apart Urushibara Yuki's characters is a learning curve.

Baccano-Pros: meticulously-researched 20s-and-30s-era mafia violence with a hint of the supernatural, as a treat, told anachronistically with flair and jazz music. practically made to be binge-watched. the novels are finally getting translated into english as well. -Cons: lots of characters to keep track of, fair bit of blood and violence, some scenes or themes may be upsetting, lots of jumping around between different time periods. See Also: Durarara, another series by Ryōgo Narita with a ton of characters and a plot with more threads an overpriced sheet.

Cowboy Bebop-Pros: incredibly well-regarded, space bounty hunters are cool, episodic series that slowly takes on a plot towards the end, fantastic animation, scoring, and even dub work.  -Cons: some scenes or themes may be uncomfortable, some parts have not aged quite so well, the smart doll version of the main character is ugly, you're gonna carry that weight.

Trigun-Pros: starts lighthearted, develops an increasingly investing plot as the series goes along. fictional westerns are cool. this world is made of love and peace -Cons: some scenes or themes may be upsetting, and probably will be. gun violence is naturally present, but that ain't all of it.

Hellsing (standard or Ultimate. or Abridged)Pros: vampires killing nazis. the original adaptation isn't bad, the second adaptation (ultimate) is generally viewed as an improvement. abridged is a youtube parody version that was so popular the voice actors reference it in convention interviews.Cons: a Lot of violence, even trending to the gorey side of things. Uncomfortable Themes Everywhere, but it's a horror-tinged action series about killing nazis, so that's to be expected. 

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood-Pros: while the original anime was quite good, the second iteration is a large improvement. does to alchemy what naruto does to ninjas: It's Basically Battle Magic. the plot starts on a strong note and doesn't let up from there. -Cons: there are distressing scenes and themes that may or may not be tolerable to the viewer. there are moments of cheesecake and even an occasional joke or a moeblob here and there, and it's not all doom and all gloom all the time, but this doesn't detract from the abject horror-despair that comes to permeate this series as it progresses. finally understand why people on the internet respond so negatively to the name 'nina'! 

[Mod: many more recs/reviews under the break, worth reading for those who like more obscure anime and animation]

Grave of the Fireflies-Pros: you will remember how to cry. it's a good reminder that one country's 'triumphs' often come at the expense of another country's people.  -Cons: this movie is incredibly dark, do not watch if you are in a bad headspace. see also: Barefoot Gen, a similar tale but this time from the perspective of an actual survivor from Hiroshima.

Michiko to Hatchin-Pros: an actually diverse cast of characters tangled up in a messy and very humanizing story, interspersed with Shinichiro Watanabe's particular flare for adventure. -Cons: some scenes or themes are very likely to be distressing. can be tricky to find, too.

Mo no no Ke (not the ghibli movie, though it is also quite good.) -Pros: incredibly unique art style and pacing that draws heavily from japanese theatre traditions, every screenshot is wallpaper-worthy. -Cons: may cause motion sickness. it is a psychological horror series, and one that does not need blood, nor gore, to cause visceral emotional response in the viewer. scenes and themes will be distressing- as really, that's the point.

Tokyo Godfathers-Pros: a transwoman, a (self-identified) homeless bum, and a runaway teen girl find a newborn in the baby on christmas. incredibly wholesome, somehow, and grounded in reality, with wonderful animation from the tragically late satoshi kon. -Cons: it is grounded in realism, and sometimes, people are dicks. mild transphobia warning, too, but in-universe- the transwoman herself is portrayed with kindness and allowed to be her own (wonderful!!!) person. still, viewer be mindful.

Kino no Tabi (the first series is my preferred, the second is shinier but lacks emotional impact- in my onion.) -Pros: mostly episodic, very unique series that can be gritty where it counts and kind where it matters. -Cons: some scenes or themes might be disturbing. finding it's not easy, either, and unfortunately, i don't think the novels are being translated right now, either.

Spice and Wolf-Pros: it's mostly about economics. there are shenanigans, a harvest god, and a slowly burgeoning romance, sure, but it's still mostly about economics. -Cons: there are moments of cheesecake and comedy, and moments that may cause distress to the viewer. it may or may not be to your taste.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica-Cons: yeah i know, it's moeblobs.  -Pros: you're gonna watch 'em die, though, in case that may interest you. it's quite a good subversion of the magical girl genre overall. somehow volks hasn't made an MDD of anyone from the series and i will never understand how that didn't happen.

Wolf Children: Ame to Yuki-Pros: watch a family grow together as a newly-single mother does her best to raise her twin children after the tragic loss of their father.  -Cons: keep tissues handy. certain scenes or themes may be uncomfortable.

Lupin III (Red Jacket, Ghibli, and the new 3D animation are all A+) pros: heist comedy elevated to an art form before half (or more!) of the people reading this were born. the english dubbed series that used to air on adult swim is a treat. cons: this franchise started in THE SIXTIES, so naturally, some shit has not aged well. certain series (fujiko mine) are darker than others in themes and material. the 3d movie that released recently is an excellent starting point.

Samurai Champloo-Pros: breakdancing samurai, a fascinating roster of characters, and a superb soundtrack by the tragically passed Nujabes. -Cons: it was made in the weird era of the transition from analog to digital animation and so the /series master/ was animated at a painfully low resolution, so even if there's a bluray out there (I haven't looked,) it will be an upscale, which doesn't always look the best. as well, there are scenes and themes that may make the viewer uncomfortable here and there.

The Works of Studio Ghibli Oh, I'm sorry, Ponyo too suffused with childhood wonder for you? My Neighbor Totoro not depressing enough?  In addition to the infamous Grave of the Fireflies, Studio Ghibli has made a wealth of movies that aren't aimed squarely at the kodomo (children's) sector. -Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind: climate change existential dread, the movie -Castle in the Sky: government obsession with obtaining weapons of mass destruction destroys everything beautiful, the movie -Pom Poko: human-caused deforestation and urbanization is destroying the natural world and all that live in it, the movie -Princess Mononoke: industrialization will be the death of everything beautiful in the world, the movie, with a side of sometimes everyone (and no one) is the villain when everyone is simply trying to survive -Howl's Moving Castle: The Physical Manifestation of Depression is a Liquid Ooze, the Movie, also War Is Bad It's not all depressing, but let it never be said that Hayao Miyazaki was subtle. Whisper of the Heart is a good coming-of-age story, Kiki's Delivery Service is a classic, Tales from Earthsea is divisive among fans of Ursula K. Le Guin but I personally liked it. From one studio alone there is a wealth of opportunities.

And that's really the point. These are just some from the top of my head. There are so very many options outside of the cute-girls-doing-cute-things genre that I couldn't list them all if I was here for a week. Or as Madoka Magica so ruthlessly showcases, even series that appear a certain way on the surface might not be what you bargained for once you look into them! These are all (I think) mostly older, mainstream-appeal series that should be easy to track down, too -- there are all kinds of singular animations like The Diary of Tortov Roddle, crowdfunded experiments like KICK-HEART, Masterpiece World Theatre renditions of classic (western) novels that never get talked about, films like A Silent Voice that confront social issues- and of course, series like Rozen Maiden that helped popularize this very hobby!

There is literally an ocean of content to explore from Japanese creators alone, and it opens up even more if you look into works from other parts of Asia- just look at how popular manwha have become, or Chinese animations like Leafie, a Hen Into the Wild! It's a genre unto itself, with all the breadth of content and inter-industry problems that come with it, and without any of the respect that similar art forms have been granted over the years. The way an entire culture's art form is often disparaged, disregarded, and belittled- and by extension, the way most of Asia's animated endeavors are often rolled up into that reductive dismissal along with anime and manga- is honestly Not Great, and there is absolutely a thread of xenophobia that runs through it. The industry has so very many problems (low wages, poor training, overwork of everyone ever, archaic financial modules, the exclusivity and breadth of merchandising necessary to turn a profit and how it leads to consumer burnout and disconnection over time, and yes, the way minors are portrayed not just in anime, but in Japanese media in general- and how much of that is actually bad (some of it is indeed,) and how much if it is cultural difference (I've heard people call the scene where the family in Totoro bathe together problematic because of the nudity, but I've also only heard people say that from the West)

-- none of the actual problems affecting the people who produce this medium are gonna improve when the general response to "animators frequently have to live at home to survive" is "that's what happens when you're a weeb."  It's 5am and I'm gonna point out the problems in the narrative around how we discuss this genre of entertainment because it's important, damn you! Regardless, thank you for coming to my unasked for and overlong TED talk about animation on a doll collecting drama blog, feel free to call me a pathetic weeb etcetera on your way out- but while you do so, might I suggest you also go watch a choice animated series! My current go-to is Bofuri, which is a cute-girls-doing-cute-things moefied isekai series that I refuse to apologize for watching. Be free. (The battle scenes are great and it captures the feeling of learning to play a new MMO with your friends better than most video-game-based anime I've seen in a long, long time. does anyone even still remember .hack? how about serial experiments lain...?)

~Anonymous

[kiki-shortsnout]

I’m sending you a million prompts! #24 teasing for Frostironstrange! 💚❤️💙 Thanks!

No problem! I've having fun writing all these small pieces! Thank you so much for the prompt!

~~~~

Tony threw his pen down onto the table, making it clatter as loudly as he could to show his annoyance. Fury ignored it, fixing him with an unimpressed stare before turning back to his holographic presentation. He hated meetings, did anything he could to avoid them. SHIELD briefings, Avenger meetings, hours of listening to Stark Industry shareholders, he dodged them all.

Anything. He’d rather be doing anything else.

Alright, that wasn’t strictly true, Tony had no problems with the Avenger briefings, or their informal troubleshooting meetings where they discussed how they were going to deal with future villains. Tony’s favorite meetings, the ones he never missed, were about the new recruits they were teaching. Something had been unearthed in Tony ever since he’d been mentoring Peter, a nurturing advisor side that he’d never been aware of.

That was what Fury had lured him here with, the promise that they’d highlighted some interesting individuals to bring into the fold. As soon as Tony had pushed his way through the glassy black doors of the conference room, spotting Stephen sitting on one of the pristine leather office chairs, Tony had tried to back out of the room, stopping only when Stephen hissed out his name.

Making his displeasure known with every plodding footstep, Tony had thrown himself into a chair opposite the wizard, slumping over on the huge oval table between them. The only silver lining in this boring bureaucratic meeting was the fact Loki had teleported in part of the way through, apologizing on behalf of Valkyrie and the citizens of New Asgard for his tardiness, pulling out the chair beside Stephen and sitting.

Apart from Stephen’s initial command that Tony stay here, neither of his lovers had acknowledged his presence, both avidly listening to Fury’s monotonous speech about budgets and government legislation. It was all important stuff, Tony wasn’t denying that, but it was Clint’s turn to attend one of these to represent the Avengers.

Tony wondered where he was hiding, and why he hadn’t thought of it first.

Tapping his finger on the table, Tony glanced up at the presentation, biting down the sarcastic comment he had about SHIELD technology and how FRIDAY was far superior, quickly scanning over the relevant information to make sure he understood what was being said.

His gaze flickered over to his lovers again, Loki now stretched back so he could murmur in Stephen’s ear, probably asking for clarification on what was being spoken about. Fury faltered in his speech as he caught Loki whispering, but he said nothing, probably worried he would bring tension to the diplomatic peace they had with the Asgardians.

Tony’s relationship with the other two wasn’t known by many others. Pepper and Rhodey knew, as did Wong, although Tony wasn’t sure he approved after watching him hide himself every time he and Loki spent time at the Sanctum. The only other people who knew were Thor and Valkyrie, who had both been happy for them all, Thor shedding a tear in acknowledgement of his baby brother growing up.

Tony snorted a laugh at that, catching the attention of everyone around the table.

‘Something you wanted to add, Stark?’

‘Nope not me, continue,’ Tony waved obnoxiously, grinning as Fury’s eye twitched.

He chanced a glance towards the other two, but they’d turned their attention back to the presentation, Loki’s teeth biting into his lower lip in concentration, doing nothing to indicate he was in an intimate relationship with the Sorcerer sat beside him. Tony wasn’t ashamed of his partners, and he knew they weren’t of him, but he was firmly of the mind that sometimes the fewer people knew about his life the better.

The media had a way of warping all his intentions, and he didn’t want anything to jeopardize the positive regard humans had towards the Asgardians, nor did he want the Masters of the Mystic Arts to be revealed, and Stephen’s ties to them.

It was unfortunate, Tony wanted to show his partners off to the world, to show how happy he was with them, but the people who mattered knew, and that was enough for him.

Tony felt a slight itch at the back of his neck, and he reached up to scratch it, checking for any loose threads on his shirt collar or stray hairs. Loki’s hair was always getting caught up in his stuff, strands of it caught in his rug, his bed, his shower.

Resting his elbow on the table, he let his eyes go unfocused as he listened to Fury drone on, his mind returning to the project he’d been working on before he’d been summoned. After he’d finished calculating equations in his head, his thoughts turned to the other two sat across from him, wondering if could schedule some sort of date for them.

He hadn’t seen them both in days, bordering on just over a week now.

A tickle ran up the inside of his calf, and he reached down to scratch it, frowning when it continued to tease up his leg towards his knee, feeling suspiciously like a hand. Glancing down beneath the table, Tony couldn’t see anything but his jean-clad legs crossed at the ankle. Suspicious, he glanced over towards Loki, but he was asking Fury a question, his eloquent voice and accent spreading across the room, and Tony could see the effect it was having on the female SHIELD members.

He was such a flirt.

Running his tongue over the back of his teeth, Tony turned his gaze to Stephen who was engrossed in the dialogue between Loki and Fury, his eyes gentle in that specific way of his Tony only ever saw when the wizard was looking at them both.

Not them then.

Writing the whole experience off as an overactive imagination mingling with his intense desire to see them both again, Tony crossed his legs at the knee and leant back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest. He startled as something forcibly wrenched his knees apart, sending him face-first towards the table.

The slap of his palms slamming into the table made several people jump, the woman beside him dropping her pen and notebook onto the floor.

‘Stark!’ Fury barked, banging his own hands down on the table. ‘Interrupt me again and I’ll have you placed on a recon mission in the middle of nowhere!’

‘A bit pointless if there’s nothing there…but noted. Sorry, lost my balance…’ he trailed off, clenching his jaw, refusing to back down, both to Fury and the two playing a prank on him.

Tony was well aware of what the game was, and he was already at a disadvantage, craving their touch because of the time spent away from them, and because he was now powerless to them both. He couldn’t defend himself, there was no physical person to restrain.

The touches caressed his skin with varying pressure, and he knew which was which, could easily pick out the firm, confident touch of Loki, and the trembling, reverent touch of Stephen. Neither of them touched anywhere intimate, but Tony felt himself swaying into the touch, shuddering when he could feel ghostly fingers tease up the side of his neck, clasping gently before they swept up to behind his ears, massaging and then grazing along the shell of them.

He managed to turn his moan into a cough, clenching his hand into a fist and bringing it up to his mouth as he hid his expressions. A weight settled in his lap, and he knew it was Stephen’s. He didn’t need to glance over and see the tiny smirk on his mouth, he knew that Loki, despite his slender form, was far heavier.

‘If anyone doesn’t have any questions?’ Fury brought the meeting to a close, and Tony glared at the two of them across the table, trying to shove all of his emotions into his eyes, hoping they could read his mind and not draw this out any longer.

‘There is something I wish to speak to Stark about concerning the output energy of our arc reactor, but I have no questions for you. I believe you have put your points across well, and I will relay these concerns to our king on your behalf.’ Loki’s voice flowed from him like he was unaware of what his touches had been doing to Tony, like he wasn’t affected by the game he’d been playing.

‘Doctor Strange, can I have a word with you outside for a minute?’ Fury directed at Stephen, his eye darting between the three of them, and Tony wondered if he’d figured it out, if he knew what had been happening during the briefing. Despite his usual ability to hide everything behind a poker face, Tony felt himself grow warm, and he knew he was blushing.

Loki waited until everyone had filed out, not even looking at Stephen as he left to talk with Fury. His eyes were focused on Tony, the vibrant green seeming to glow in the dim room, snatching the breath from his chest as they waited.

He only lingered for a heartbeat after the door had shut and then he teleported across the room into Tony’s lap, his hands mimicking the touch across his neck and ears from earlier and his tongue thrust deep into Tony’s mouth.

‘Are all Midgardian government meetings so tedious?’ Loki panted when he broke away, reaching down to flick his tongue across Tony’s ear, his hands clutching him close, like he too had suffered from the time spent apart.

‘I’ve sat in one of your Asgardian ones, that was far worse,’ Tony gasped, trying to stretch up to get Loki’s mouth back on his, aching for a kiss.

‘Have you missed me, Anthony?’ Loki purred down at him, leaning down so his chest rested on Tony’s, magic holding Tony to the chair as he kept his mouth out of reach.

‘I’ve missed you both.’

‘Always playing favorites,’ Loki scoffed, refusing to let Tony kiss him.

‘The cruel teasing has you written all over it, Lokes,’ Tony grinned.

‘Actually, it was my idea.’ Stephen’s rumbling voice interrupted, the sparks of his portal raining down onto the floor.

‘I hate you both,’ Tony growled.

‘That’s not what you said last week,’ Stephen told him. ‘In fact, why don’t we have a repeat performance, and you can scream how much you hate us.’

Tony gulped, the movement not unnoticed by Loki still perched on him who smirked and leant down to swipe his tongue over Tony’s larynx.

‘Don’t worry, beloved, we’ll replace all those teasing touches with our hands…or mouths,’ he whispered into Tony’s ear. ‘You deserve a reward after listening to all that drivel.’

Tony yelped as a portal opened beneath him, the chair banished away by emerald magic as he collapsed backwards onto Stephen’s bed.

[peekbackstage]

Heya Peek! You wrote in one of your replies that it is difficult for asian artist let alone a Chinese artist to hold a tour overseas. Can you expand a bit on that? Also adding onto to this, I understand that if we were to compare it with kpop, the western reception is quite different towards cpop/c-artist. Though has there been any c-artist who have achieve the feat of a proper world tour overseas?

Disclaimer: This post is informed by my experience in music. All of this is fact, not speculation.  

Hi! You always ask such great questions!

Let’s talk a bit about touring! 

For many artists around the world, touring is often the #1 income generating activity for an artist (unless they have a ton of really high-valued endorsements). Though it is exhausting, it is also very rewarding, as artists get to interact with their fans in a controlled environment and reap the rewards. It is is also a necessary part of the music ecosystem, as many tours tend to support album releases, which generate more sales. 

Many artists in Japan and China actually have very successful careers in their local markets and never have to even leave their home country to tour, because the size of their local markets are really just that huge. Artists from Taiwan, Singapore, and South Korea, however, do have to go outside their immediate local market to maximize their earning potential because their local market isn’t big enough. This is why Kpop is actually South Korea’s #1 export and contributor of South Korea’s GDP. 

For artists who don’t technically have to leave their country to tour, leaving comes with the risk of losing out on local opportunities and higher earning potential, especially if the overseas tour doesn’t come with the same dollar value as local tours. This is easily the very first hurdle all Asian artists have to overcome: passing up on local opportunities for the chance of developing a career abroad. 

The second hurdle that artists have to face is finding someone who will pay for the tour. The misconception that many people have about touring is that record labels or management companies are the ones who organize the tours and pay for them. This is completely incorrect. Instead, concert promoters are the ones who fund, organize, and produce tours. 

You see, all venues are owned and operated by a concert promoter. A huge majority of venues in the United States, for example, are owned by Live Nation or AEG. There are a number that are owned independently, but there’s no question that Live Nation and AEG are the biggest power players in the game. So in order to put on a concert, you have to deal with the venue owner, which is always going to be a concert promoter.  (Or a Chinese casino.) 

The reality is: without a concert promoter such as Live Nation or AEG or an independent promoter (or multiple local promoters) to help pay for a tour, major tours just never happen in today’s live music industry. 

The problem with relying on local concert promoters is that most of the time, local promoters are only willing to shell out money and take a risk on artists that have a track record. Often, they’ll turn to resources such as Pollstar Pro, which track ticket sales, box office revenue, etc. for live events per artist. Unfortunately, many Asian artists actually aren’t registered in the Pollstar system, and so this information is usually inconclusive. As a result, talent buyers for local promoters who are unfamiliar with Asian artists would need to rely on a few things:

Their own research on the artist to determine the artist’s market size, especially if this is an international artist who has never performed locally before

Their trust in the agent/individual who pitched the artist. The trust placed in the agent is actually a huge factor, especially if the agent has historically been able to demonstrate a solid track record of strong box offices.

If the Asian artist in question doesn’t have local representation via an agent or someone else who can pitch them to a buyer, then that means the only way they would be able to tour would be if there is an independent Asian promoter or talent buyer who knows who the artist is and is willing to take a risk. (The alternative would be for the Asian promoter to act as an intermediary agent, but that is literally another post in and of itself and is more complicated so I’m going to not focus on that for now.) 

So, let’s assume there is an independent Asian promoter who wants to take a risk on an artist who has never toured internationally before. Let’s further assume the Asian promoter already has all the money available to pay for this tour. They know who the artist is, sees that the artist is trending locally in their market, and believes that the artist can stage a successful tour. 

First, the promoter has to contact the artist’s management company and ensure that the artist has availability for the time period in which they want to tour. They also have to convince the management company to even be willing to consider the offer. At that point, they have to request the artist’s technical and hospitality rider from the management company so they can actually price it out.

Then, the promoter has to route the tour by securing venue availabilities. This is actually a lot harder if the promoter is funding the tour 100% independently because venues are unwilling to place “holds” on any dates for too long if the show is a rental and not one that involves their own talent buyer. So, the promoter has to act very quickly to secure a number of dates. 

Once the tour is routed, the promoter then has to send a lucrative enough offer to the company that will make the company feel it’s worth the local opportunity cost - and it cannot be a small amount or one or two dates, unless those two dates come with such a huge price tag that the management company simply can’t turn it down. The offer also has to have an entire list of cities, venues, venue sizes, and dates. This is usually delivered in the form of a deal memo to the management company. 

Deal memos for most Asian artists also always include the following: 

Artist guarantee per show 

Hospitality clause that includes 5 star hotels, international travel for X amount of individuals, including business/first class flights for artist (and potentially the artist’s security and manager), and luxury SUVs or comparable vehicles for internal transportation 

Per diem for X amount of people, including artist 

Cost of visas 

Attached tech and hospitality rider provided by artist management

Requirements for artist (i.e. XX minutes of performance, any meet and greets, any PR etc.) 

Now, at this point, if the management company agrees to the terms of the deal memo, they then turn this into a contract which is signed. Once the contract is signed, the promoter is responsible for paying the artist at least 50% of their guarantee as a deposit. They then need to begin working on securing the artist’s visa. This is actually the hard part, especially if the artist previously has never performed in the country. 

So, if we are talking about the United States as an example, as it is the biggest market in the West for Asian artists, the artist has to obtain either an O-visa or an H1-B visa. This usually requires a visa attorney who specializes in international artists who will actually get a letter from a Senator to recommend the artist for a visa. The artist then has to go to their embassy for an interview and their embassy side has to also approve it - especially if it’s a Chinese artist, so that sometimes requires lawyers on the artist’s side. If the visa doesn’t go through and is denied, and if appeals don’t manage to go through in time, then the tour is dead on its feet. So, a visa is really important! 

While this is happening, the promoter has to also work on obtaining a CWA (central withholding agreement) to avoid having to withhold 30% of income that would otherwise go straight to the IRS. If they do not succeed in obtaining a CWA that they can present to the venue, the venue will be required to withhold 30% of all box office proceeds at settlement. (Yeah, I know that’s kind of insane, but it’s technically the law.) This 30% would ultimately impact the promoter’s bottom line, and potentially the artist’s, depending on the kind of contract that is negotiated. (If the artist is made responsible for tax withholding, then the artist’s income will be hit negatively if the promoter is unable to or fails to obtain a CWA.) 

I can go into far more detail about all the promoter’s responsibilities from this point on, but you asked why it’s difficult for an artist to hold a tour overseas - and as you can see, even before we get into the actual technical production part planning for the tour, it’s already extremely complicated. Many Asian management companies simply do not want to deal with that kind of complication when they already know how things work from home and it’s a relatively “easy” paycheck. 

Touring overseas usually comes with a big cultural shock for the artist. Many Asian artists don’t enjoy the same level of fame abroad as they do at home, which means, they often don’t get the same level of care that they do at home. What their team can afford for them locally is not necessarily what the local promoter can afford abroad. Some artists who normally are used to a 5-star experience everywhere may sometimes have to settle for less and be comfortable with the idea of scaling down production, which not all artists are willing to do. (Scaling down on production is usually the #1 most contentious area of negotiation between promoters and management companies. The second thing that they tend to fight on is usually the hospitality rider, but that’s not often as bad as negotiating tech riders.)

Sometimes, the tech rider issue is such a huge problem that the artist will blow their tech budget entirely out of the water - especially artists and management teams who have massive egos and have a lot of trouble understanding they really are not as big of a deal as they are overseas. 

I can think of a particular Asian artist who performed internationally in the United States and insisted on actually shipping their entire stage that they toured with in their country to the U.S. Instead of renting locally, which would have saved a huge amount of money, they shipped the entire stage and all of the equipment. They also decided to fly out over 100 people, 30+ of whom flew first or business class with an average price of about $3000/per ticket. 

The promoter did such a bad job actually marketing the show that they were literally giving away tickets and even paying people to fill seats because of just how bad it looked to have an empty venue. 

It was a complete disaster. 

In any case, there are a lot more reasons why touring abroad is difficult for Asian artists, but as you can see, getting a tour off the ground itself is already insanely difficult - and we haven’t even gotten to the actual performance itself. 

As for your other question - I’ll have to ask that you actually submit that in a separate ask because this particular blog post has already gotten so long, and I think that is another conversation entirely! 

I hope I’ve helped to shed some light on some of the many difficulties that come with trying to stage an international tour for an Asian artist!