#with the collision there's the added reason of wanting to get far

[itz-pandora]

Huh

[aliceinborderlandsquidgame]

Silence | The Salesman x Wife!Reader

Summary: He Plays with others and enjoys their spiral into desesperation. But a call from his wife means more.

Warnings: Canon violence - Sadistic!Salesman - Lovely!Salesman - Whipped for his wife -

The Salesman smirked as he saw the two men in front of him. Both seated in front of each other, restrained to their respective chairs and with gags on their mouths (now removed so he could listen to their pleas and cries)

Both were sweating and crying as he ordered them to go again.

The Salesman likes games. He likes others suffering under them. He enjoys it like its his favorite TV show.

Currently he was making them play Russian Roulette and added to that he was making them play rock papper scissors with the twist of removing one hand. Once they do the one who loses its the one the Salesman will shot. So far both have survived against the odds. But The Salesman did like it, two fresh bullets inside the revolver waiting to pierce throw a brain of one of them.

"Again" He commanded and both men looked at each other. The odds of dying still high "We should make this more interesting" He added another bullet teasting them as he showed them the three bullets and closed it rolling it.

"Please stop this. We wont tell anyone" One of them said between sobs as the Salesman put the gun under his chin a sick smile present.

"Oh no, I cant do that. You see, you two are here for a reason. And only one of them can walk out of this alive. You both wanted that" he used the gun to point to a lot of cash a gift from the organization for his good work. He did not need more money, and the organization knew he did enjoy playing personal games. A win over win.

"We dont want it" the other Man said "We dont-"

"Then you would prefer to go back to your life of worm? To be hiding from loan sharks and keep being beaten" he then took a look at the other men "or give yourself to alcohol and then sleep on the streets? Doing it whatever to get a small part of the money you need? You two dig on others and cause trouble and suffer. No one wants either of you in their lives. Because they know just how bad you two are. This is a chance" he opened his arms signaling the room they were in with a big smile. Eyes shining with amusment "Man up! Kill the other one and get yourself a better life. Thats what im offering, im not bad im being generous" he said his smile big and twisted as he leaned in between them "Go on, do something for your life once" he whispered then got back to his standing position a serious look now "AGAIN" He screamed both men starting to play the rock papper scissors  with both hands "FASTER" the different shapes went faster as the heart of each men beated wildly.

"AND-"

A ringtone broke the atmosphere  the song "My only love" being played on the background. The Salesman pulled out his phone seeing the picture of himself and his dear wife, she was calling him. Probably to ask him about dinner or where he was.

"One moment" He said to the two men who were too stunned. They saw the Man who at this point had showed nothing but empyness and cruelty towards them get a sincere smile and a centrain bright in his eyes as she answered the call.

"Hello my Love, everything alright there?" The Salesman empy voice was now filled with emotion and love as he walked away from the two men. "Mhm I see, no its work. My Boss sent me two internts for late training" he said smirking over his shoulder "oh? Yes I will tell them you said Hello, they are doing....well the could do better"

One of the men feeling like this was his chance in a desesperated atempt screamed "DONT BELIEVE HIM!! HE HAS ME AND ANOTHER PERSON HOSTAGE AND IS GOING TO KILL US!! PLEASE YOU NEED TO CALL THE POLICE"

At your house your face took a suprised look and then confusion "What was that ? I hear hostage and kill, you giving them too much work?" You joked not knowing what was happening. You did listen to what could be a collision "...Dear are you safe?" You asked worried thinking it was him in danger.

At the hideout the Salesman had just knocked the Man's face with the revolver. His breath coming hard as he held himslef from screaming knowing you were still on the line.

"Im safe my Love. This two like to play jokes instead of following orders. Im afraid I will be home late" he answered his voice back to a lovely tone "Please dont wait for me awake I hate seeing your tired face...fine I will wake you up once im home. I love you"

Once he handed and pulled his phone back he circled the two men one of them now leacking blood from his head.

"I gave you two too much credit" he started as he went towards the table and took the four bullets left. "If you two cant read a room I dont expect you to be able to rebuild your life" he finished the sound of the gun ready to shot sending shiver down their spines.

"You will root in hell" the one who screamed earlier said "and your wife will-"

Two shoots to his head and he felt backwards the other Man screaming at the sight.

"One for talking. Two for mentioning my wife" He said without emotion turning towards the other Man.

"Wait!! I did not do a thing, it was him! Please I dont want to die, please please!"

"Worms. Always trying to get a way out. You dig and dig and if you find a competitor you push then. In other case I might have let you live. But you did overlook one thing"

He pointed the gun towards his hands both out from under the table and on his lap crushing his legs.

"You moved your hand when earlier I said not to unless i gave the order" he cold metal made contact with his head "You dont deserve a second chance if you cant even follow a simple order like that"

Another shot and just because he was angry the three bullets left were used to.

He took a look at himself feeling the blood on his face and shirt. He would have to clean the place and himself before going home to you.

And find another two players for next time.

~○~○~○~○~○~○~○~○~

Finally when he got home it was four in the morning. He silently left his briefcase and changed before joining you on the bed, wrapping his arms around you. He kissed your head when he felt you move.

"Shh go back to sleep my Love. Im here now" he whispered into your hear kissing it then letting his head fall against your neck smelling you. His heart melting by how you looked all sleepy and in his arms.

He did not want to think on whatever that worm was going to say about you. He may die and walk in hell, but you ? You were too pure and kind. You would live a peaceful life that he would take care of and protect. No one would ever hurt you or say your name in a bad way.

You would live by his side forever. Being the closest thing to good and real as he played his part for the organization and his twisted needs.

[dizzyduck44]

So let me get this straight. This weekend

Lewis makes some sarcy comment about Lando losing the lead in the sprint.

Lando leads race start to last corner, dragging his teammates arse round in his DRS the whole way, to then gives up the win on the line against team orders.

Stewards went for a tea break during quali, arrived back for Q3.

Max gets given a single place grid drop, losing pole.

Max goes on the war path with George, squares up to him on the drivers parade, (insert swear word of choice where you think appropriate) “I hope you and your FIA buddies are happy”.

Oscar cuts the pit white line in front of Lewis and is under investigation before the cars make it to the grid. 😡

Race starts, Lewis jump starts, Lando nearly takes the lead at the first corner.

Esteban (who unbeknownst to anyone was driving his last race for Alpine) collides with Franco in the first corner.

Two corners later Lance Stroll drives into Alex and gets a 10 second penalty and 2 penalty points.

Lewis gets a 5 seconds penalty for the jump start.

Liam then gets a 10 second penalty and 2 penalty points for causing a collision.

Maybe from earlier contact Alex’s wing mirror decides to go solo and sits on the start finish straight.

FIA has a meltdown. They turn the pit straight into a disco light, yellow/green/yellow/green/yellow/green/yellow/green. Double yellow. We select double yellows. No back to single yellows. No we really think this should be a double yellow.

Meanwhile drivers are pottering around, Max is pumping in fastest laps, race continues until Valtteri takes out the mirror and makes a bad situation 30 times worse.

The FIA have to do something now right?

NO.

Because by now Max wants the world to burn and has started screaming he doesn’t think Lando lifted during the flag Hokey Cokey.

Well Max they ain’t got time to care about that, because Lewis and Carlos now have punctures.

Someone at the FIA remembers they employ a safety car driver for a reason and send him out.

Safety car goes through the pits so the debris can be moved. (This option was available to them 10 minutes earlier) and Lando nearly runs into the back of Lewis who suddenly slams on.

Calm decends for a few laps. Until. Yeah it’s Max again. “Anything from that yellow flag?” (Remember this later).

Safety car is coming in, cars seem confused about when Max will go. Max and Lando are on the radio saying the safety car lights are still on. Lando’s team tell him they aren’t.

We start racing.

Hell breaks loose.

The stewards decide that Lando didn’t lift during the double yellow, despite the fact they didn’t know what flag to put out, and it changed as he passed the sign. 10 second stop go penalty and 3 penalty points.

Now I am well aware there will have been people watching who have never even heard of this penalty. Apparently the last one given was 2018. For comparison, the FIA gave Max a 5 place grid drop for the same offence at the same track last year. The same year they allowed a tractor and Marshalls on the track in the pouring rain with no flags.

Lewis gets a second penalty, this time a drive through, again don’t see many of those, it’s normally penalty added to your race time. By now I swear they are just looking for penalties they haven’t handed out yet this weekend.

And a 10 second penalty and 2 penalty points for Alex for causing a collision as well.

Sergio also gets investigated for dangerous driving.

BUT WAIT

We then give George a 5 second penalty and a penalty point for driving too far behind the safety car.

Post race Max continues to rant about George and how he effectively begged for the grid penalty and decides now he was asking about Lando as he thought “he had got DRS from a back marker” and wanted to be sure that was why he caught up. Note earlier comments he asked TWICE about.

Lando with zero context of what the world has just seen, takes it hard and thinks he is responsible for the whole shit show.

Oscar gets given a reprimand for his earlier pit lane incident.

Ted Kravitz has confirmed that the lights on the top of the safety car did in fact go out. But the drivers can’t see them because of a spoiler on the back of the car! The ones underneath did in fact NOT go out.

AND THEN

Fans have found Ferrari might not have lifted during the double yellows either!!!!

Seriously when pissed off fans are more on top of data than the stewards, what is even the point?

The FIA need to realise they are there for the safety of the drivers, teams and spectators. This is the point the teams need to band together and address the FIA, what were you doing for 8 minutes with debris on the track? You’ve handed out one of the harshest penalties for a situation you created. Two drivers had punctures because of a situation you created.

Honestly I know Esteban won’t be on the grid in Abu Dhabi, Lewis seems to have zero motivation to do it. Unless you are McLaren, Ferrari, RB or Alpine do you even care about this race?

Seriously so many errors were made in the running of this race today I would say strike it from the record, but Zhou and Sauber got points!!!! And that would be far too cruel.

But I leave you with this thought. The FIA can stop a race and abandon it due to poor driving standards. Does this go both ways? Can drivers stop and abandon a race for poor stewarding standards? Today would have been a strong candidate.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

How would you go about writing in different languages? I struggle with a part where a group of characters are speaking in a language one of the mains does not know and the other one does, but i wish the reader knew what is being talked about. Another aspect is switching between languages when something is meant for the nonspeaker.

A expression in like of "switches to german" fills me with cringe and i feel like just wroting the part in german and adding translation is too confusing

Thanks for all the help with all the advice posted!

Writing Ideas: Using Different Languages in your Story

Keep both languages. Simply repeat the phrase. If you want your readers to understand the exact meanings of words from your source language, you can provide translations within the text. This strategy requires a lot of work for just a couple words, so it’s not practical to use it for large chunks of language. It works great if you only need to focus on a few crucial words.

Sprinkling of foreign language. Write in English, and use the foreign language as little as possible. If you can cut the foreign word out of the sentence without hurting anything, you’re probably fine. But if the meaning of the foreign word is key to understanding the sentence, then rework it.

Provide a glossary. The textbook method. The most comprehensive approach is to provide a glossary of non-English words used in your book. Nonfiction authors use glossaries much more often than fiction writers do. It might be an inappropriate solution if you are writing a lighter book. On the other hand, if your goal is complex cultural understanding, then this approach is by far the most thorough. Downside: The glossary approach requires significant reader buy-in. Not all readers will want to stop mid-paragraph to find a definition in a glossary.

Transliteration. Stick to one alphabet. Transliteration—the process of converting writing into a different alphabet—is a different issue than translation. Unless you have a specific, important reason to include words written in anything other than the Roman alphabet, transliteration is a more effective tactic. Things are more complicated when you are working with a language that does not share the Roman alphabet with English. Any English-reader can sound out Spanish words. The same isn’t true words written in Cyrillic or Hebrew text.

Don't fake it. Respect the language. Sometimes a project requires you to interact with a language you have no knowledge of. The simplest answer is to stick with the full translation method. This will allow you to bypass the problem altogether. However, if your project requires the actual inclusion of another language, you will have to do one of 2 things: (a) Consult a native speaker. (b) Study the language.

Play with language. In your first draft, you can let language run free. Write dialogue and narration in whatever way makes sense for your characters, your setting, and your own writing process. The collision of languages might lead you to unexpected and interesting places. You can—and will—worry about clarity problems when you get to the revision stage. Feedback from beta readers will help you determine what needs to be done for reader comprehension. If you find that you need to bring in any of the other strategies, you can do so at any point.

Full translation. Write it in English. Just because characters are speaking a language other than English does not necessarily mean that you need to actually write non-English words. Often, it is enough to simply indicate that a conversation is happening in another language. You can relate the speech through indirect dialogue. You can simply report the content of the speech, not delivering an exact quote. Because indirect dialogue is understood to be summary, it buys you leeway in how you render the translation. There is no expectation that you are capturing the actual words as spoken. But the full translation method can be used with direct dialogue as well. The 2 main types of translation: (a) Word-for-word translation is more literal, as it sticks to the strict meaning of source language words. (b) Sense-for-sense translation is looser, as it focuses on communicating ideas in the target language.

Narrative summary. Don't use this technique for crucial turning points in a scene. It's more of a shortcut so that you can get the point across quickly and then move on to the good stuff. But if all you need to do is get the point across quickly, then go ahead and summarize it. Sometimes, it's the most economical way to keep the story going, especially if your character doesn’t speak the language. What you lose in style you’ll gain in pace.

Untranslated. Some words are essentially untranslatable. Let it be. If you are depicting a language community where English and another language are routinely mixed together, you might leave some words untranslated. (This strategy can also apply when writing about a language community where people speak different forms of English.) The benefit of capturing the sound of speech can outweigh any reader confusion. Further, you might be writing for an audience who is used to hearing this mix of language.

Sources: 1 2 ⚜ More: References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

Here are some tips from the sources linked above. You can also find some examples using these strategies in the original articles. Try some of them and choose which ones suit your story. All the best with your writing!

[demonpiratehuntress]

that's not for you to decide

Roronoa Zoro x F!Reader

Summary - he thinks you deserve better, and decides to push you away. that just makes everything worse, but you ultimately forgive the big idiot.

Warnings - HEAVY angst in the beginning but turns to comfort, this can work for both versions of Zoro i think? REPOSTING BECAUSE I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED THE INCOMPLETE DRAFT

GIF by anime-aishiteru

GIF by suuho

You don't know how it came to this. You tried to replay everything you'd ever done, to figure out where it all went wrong. To figure out what you could have possibly gotten so wrong for this to happen. But you were drawing blanks, and it tugged on your heartstrings even more.

You sat there and watched the swordsman listen intently to the woman who spoke to him, a beautiful native of the island.

Your crew had stopped here to replenish your resources. It was supposed to have been just that, yet you ended up staying for far longer than you expected. The downside to having an overenthusiastic captain with a unquenchable thirst for adventure, you supposed. Luffy would never have just sailed away and left this small village to suffer at the hands of a not-so-mythical and super grumpy griffin.

But now here you were, pining after the one person you wanted most in the world - who only seemed to be pushing you away. It gnawed at your heart, and left you painfully overthinking everything you'd ever said to him, everything you'd ever done for him. A week earlier everything had been fine, and he was friendly with you. Then something changed, and he grew distant and cold. And now, it seemed, he was adding 'breaking your heart' to the list of things he was doing to you.

You looked down at your drink just in time to see a teardrop make contact with the alcoholic liquid, the collision sending ripples outwards in the small, circular shape of the glass. You had tried hard, really hard, to not cry right here, in front of everyone. But fate, it seemed, was working even harder to make sure you were heartbroken by the end of the night.

"(Name) are you okay?"

You barely heard Nami, your eyes drifting back towards Zoro and the woman who was chatting to him animatedly. He met your gaze, and for a moment something flickered in his eyes, before he turned his attention back to her and moved closer. He gave her his full attention, making sure to show that he was actually listening and not dozing off like he did whenever Nami was bothering him. Your heart sunk even lower in your chest, a dull aching beginning to grow. The tears fell faster, and you gripped your drink tighter as that familiar stinging in your throat came. You dropped your head again, before unintentionally letting out a loud sob.

All your crewmate's heads snapped in your direction.

"S-Sorry," you apologised, hastily putting your drink down before getting up. "I-I'm-" You stopped when you noticed only one of them hadn't even bothered to look in your direction.

"That idiot," you heard Nami and Sanji grumble in unison.

That was the last straw for you. Your heart crashed to the bottom of its cavern, shattering in the process. Tears filled your eyes faster than you could stop them, blurring your vision to the point you only saw a blob of green a few feet away. You swayed on your feet, stumbling a bit, the full weight of his rejection hitting you full force.

"(Name)!"

You jerked away from the hand that grabbed your arm, not knowing who it was. Only then did Zoro look at you, but that's because everyone else was looking at you as well. You turned and fled, your shaky legs doing their best to carry you as far away from the scene as possible.

You fled into the forest, an area known on this island for it's unimaginable horrors.

-

He only thought you deserved better. In his mind, he was doing you a favour by pushing you away. Because he wasn't good for you, and he didn't deserve you. You deserved a lot better than him. And this was what he thought was a reasonable justification for his behaviour.

His heart sunk at the sight of your tears. He was acting like he didn't see them, but he noticed each and every drop that fell and each one caused a painful pang to reverberate through his chest. He hated it when you were upset, and he despised when you cried. But now he was the cause of it. Part of him wanted to drop this act, run to you and beg for forgiveness.

But he stayed where he was.

He let you think he didn't care. That he was going to keep chatting up this mindless bimbo in front of him. Because that was better for you right? He was only doing this for your sake.

Someone's fist collided with his jaw, sending him stumbling back a bit.

"What the hell?!" He glared at the blonde cook, "You really wanna start a fight right here, waiter?"

Sanji was about to say something equally insulting, but was interrupted by a bloodcurdling scream erupting from within the forest's tall, gloomy trees.

Your bloodcurdling scream.

Zoro's blood ran cold. Every bone in his body stiffened for a millisecond, before he tore off towards the forest, sprinting faster than he ever had in his life. His heart was racing a million miles an hour, thundering in his chest like it would break out of his chest and beat him to you.

When he finally found you, his heart almost stopped.

You were on your back on the ground, lying in a pool of your own blood. Your shirt was ripped at your waist, which seemed to be where your wound was. Upon closer inspection, his panic increased tenfold. The gashes were deep, three long claw marks decorating your waist.

"(Name)!" He surged forward, shaking you roughly. His fear was getting the best of him, and he was starting to think the worst. "(NAME)!"

There was no response from you.

You didn't move.

He placed his ear on your chest, searching frantically for the sound of your heart. He almost gave up, when he heard it. It was very faint, scary faint, and dull. It was barely there.

What had done this to you? Whatever it was, it was incurring Zoro's wrath. He felt an unstable fury build up inside him, anger like nothing he'd felt before ready to consume him. He looked around, desperate to find the cause of your injury and kill it. That would maybe make him feel a bit better - and distract him from the fact that you were half-dead on the floor.

"Z-Zoro?"

Your weak voice caught his attention immediately, and he felt relieved. He turned to you, immediately scooping you up and dragging you onto his lap. He tried not to look at your wound as he removed his shirt, ripped it open and tied it around your waist to at least staunch the bleeding a little.

"Don't talk," was his response, his voice a little higher than it usually was. He was avoiding your gaze, unable to meet your eyes.

This was his fault.

He quietly rose to his feet, bringing your weakened - and, alarmingly, paling - body with him. He held you close, one arm hooked under your knees and the other under your back. He positioned your head on his shoulder, and ran all the way back to the village with you in his arms.

The crew met him halfway, Usopp fainting when he saw how much blood there was. Sanji was glowering at Zoro, absolutely furious that he let such a thing happen. Nami was asking a thousand questions at once, questions the swordsman didn't have the answer to. Luffy had gone quiet, not used to seeing his crew in such a panic, and definitely not used to seeing you drenched in so much red.

"Get her back to the ship," the captain finally spoke, surprisingly the only sane one at the moment.

"Excuse me," they were interrupted by the same woman who was talking to Zoro earlier, "We have a healer. It would be quicker to bring her there, and it looks like she needs immediate treatment. Besides, now we can properly thank you for helping us."

Zoro looked away, guilt ripping through him. She was partially the reason you ran off, him being the other part. He didn't want to make an already bad situation worse, but Luffy immediately nodded and told her to lead them to the healer, so Zoro had no choice. The woman offered him a sympathetic smile and tried to touch him, but he shrugged her off angrily. He was mostly angry with himself, for even daring to pull such a stunt.

-

If you had taken her to your ship, she would have succumbed to her injuries.

Those words played on repeat inside Zoro's head, making the swordsman feel helpless for the first time in his life. This evening had been full of firsts for him.

You were okay now, alive and resting. You were still gravely injured, and they were told those three claw marks would leave permanent scars. Zoro had flinched - you would now have a permanent reminder of the night he'd hurt you in the worst possible way. You'd live, but you needed lots of rest, and would probably need to limit your movements for the next few weeks.

"Sanji!"

The swordsman perked up when he hesrd your voice, indicating that you were finally awake, but his heart fell again when he heard you calling for the cook and not him. He supposed he deserved that, but it still stung quite a bit.

Swallowing his pride, he turned to where you were eagerly hugging Sanji, happy to be up on your feet again. Zoro slowly made his way over, guilt filling him again when he saw the way your smile dropped when you looked at him. Another painful sting.

"I'm going to go find Nami, Usopp and Luffy," you decided, looking away from Zoro. You still loved him, but it hurt to look at him right now after what he did.

"I'll help you, you shouldn't even be moving around like this," Sanji gently took hold of you and led you away.

Zoro wanted to protest, wanted to stop you and pull you into HIS arms is HE can guide you around, but you looked so heartbroken because of him he felt too ashamed to act on that thought.

"No, it's okay. Zoro can help me."

"Are you sure?" Sanji asked uncertainly.

"Yes."

He was stunned to hear you say that. His head snapped in your direction, to see you making your way over to him. He thought he might have passed out and was now dreaming when you wrapped your arms around his middle, leaning into him.

In one swift but gentle movement, you were in his arms.

"I'm sorry," his deep voice rumbled in your ears, "I'm so, so sorry." And for the first time ever, his eyes glossed over with tears. "Please forgive me. I don't deserve it, but I'll do anything to earn your forgiveness. Please."

His begging caught you off-guard, but you were too saddened by the way his voice cracked while he was speaking.

"I love you. I promise I'll show it. Please, please give me a chance."

You bit your lip, looking down at your lap and fiddling with the hem of your shirt, "Why did you do it?"

His grip on you tightened, and he let out a shaky breath, "I thought you deserved better than me. I tried to make you hate me so it would hurt less when you found someone else. Because you deserve someone much better than me, and I don't deserve you at all."

"That's not for you to decide," you said quietly.

"I know, I know," he mumbled, ashamed. He couldn't even meet your gaze anymore.

You sighed, making him look at you, "You are the biggest idiot I have ever met, you know. But despite that, I am still madly in love with you. And I forgive you." You kissed his cheek. "Now let's go find the others."

-

A week later, you were still hobbling around the ship like an old lady with a back problem. Much to Zoro's chagrin, as he kept insisting you stay in bed and he'll do whatever you needed to do. The rest of the crew agreed, all of them taking turns to do your chores or help with your duties while you just rested and recovered.

And you know damn well this green-haired man is going to pick you up and take you straight back to bed if he sees you up and about.

"I'm fine!" You protested, when he brought you dinner that night.

He glared at you, "Your blood is still soaking those bandages. You are not fine. Now stay."

You pouted, "I'm not a dog."

He sighed and gently pressed a kiss to your forehead, "Let me take care of you, alright? I have a lot to make up for, and this is just the start."

"No, you don't have anything to make up for," you smiled innocently, tugging him down next to you. "You didn't attack me."

"But I-"

You shut him up with a kiss, "Listen, it's pretty fucking impossible for me to hold a grudge against you, or to even stay mad at you for five seconds. Seeing the look of shame, guilt and regret on your face on the island was enough for me to know that you didn't want any of that to happen. And what's the point of being upset or angry over something that you didn't intend? It's a waste of emotions."

He stared at you in awe, your words striking him deep, "I'm still sorry."

You sighed. You had already long forgiven him, but he had not yet forgiven himself. It was going to take him a while.

-

"Here."

You glanced up from your bed as Zoro walked into the room, holding something out to you. Your eyes lit up when you saw what it was, eagerly taking the book from his hands and shifting into a more comfortable position.

"I figured since you're stuck here for a while, might as well keep you from being bored," he sat down next to you, slowly. "Do you...like it?"

Over the last few days, you had gotten a multitude of gifts from the green-haired swordsman. From handcrafted to store-bought, he had been surprising you almost every day with something new. He was also - very surprisingly - getting along with Sanji, after hearing you ask him to be nice to the cook. It seemed he was pretty serious about proving his love and erasing all trace of that horrible incident from your mind.

"Does it hurt??"

You snapped out of your thoughts when you heard Zoro's concerned voice, realising you had started crying. With a shaky laugh, you shook your head no and wiped your eyes - you got as far as two drops before he wiped the rest away.

"No, I'm just...I'm so grateful for you. You've been amazing these last few days, even more so than usual. I just don't know how to thank you, and I'm overwhelmed by how loved I feel right now. I love you. So, so much."

His concern melted away into shyness, the small blush coating his cheeks giving away his embarrassment. He tried to cough awkwardly and play it off, but you knew better. He loved being complimented, he was just too stubborn to show it.

"Love you too. Come here." He got into the bed next to you, pulling you close so you lay on his chest, letting you dive into the book while you rested on him comfortably.

-

His acts of service did not stop.

Even after you were able to walk around with no pain, Zoro was still lifting things out of your hand, carrying them to where they needed to be for you. He was still offering to take your night watch, or any watch, and he was still doing your chores.

Even...dare I say it...washing dishes.

"Here."

Sanji handed him another dish to wipe, just as you walked in. You giggled at the sight, a tiny pink apron draped over your boyfriend's body as he wiped the dishes dry and set them on the rack.

"I see you two are hard at work."

Zoro lit up at the sound of your voice, almost dropping the plate he was wiping. He turned to give you a rare, happy smile, greeting you with a loving gleam in his eyes. You returned the smile and sat at the table, watching them work and thinking about how much you absolutely adored this man.

"I can work now, you know."

"Let me think...no," both he and Sanji said in unison.

You laughed.

[interactivefictionramblings]

[Spoilers for HSR, S3. Cain’s romance route.]

Just some CainLane rambles (and some meta).

So, do you think that - in the context of the story, not because, even in HSR, LI screen-time needs to be balanced to some degree - Cain was less affectionate with Lane this update due to (1.) being ill/irate, or (2.) expecting Lane to regain her memories of their past soon, and distancing himself in preparation of the pain?

(I had four possibilities, but I’ve forgotten two. Edit: this post has been edited to add one such reason I forgot, plus some additional thoughts that spiraled off from adding it; at the bottom.)

Honestly, although I considered other reasons, we know he withstands what his mark causes him just to languidly kiss her, so…

I think he may’ve been bracing himself.

The worst timing for a return of the brother he discovered ‘hated’ him (yet to be discerned). What a reminder of how it feels to be rejected; living and breathing around him… Maybe both options are actually the same: he felt ill about being around Abel partially, in his romance and maybe platonic routes, as a reminder of what’s to come with Lane… I want to know if one of my theories is right, and Cain was punishing her at first, for waking him from Baal’s control, thus getting him tortured. I can just see Lane feeling such confused horror at her trust issues making her wonder if it was all a punishment - does he really need her, or was it all revenge?

Meanwhile, he thinks her reaction is about his part in her torture, and possibly his reaction to her waking him, because he probably panicked with rage at the torment she’d soon cause him.

Cue heartache-enhanced longing. Kinda hope we get an alternating POV in a 💎 scene with them yearning for each other, but thinking it’s probably all over between them. And in the end Lane has to make the choice: does she choose to believe in him? Because she’s been in this trust-limbo, but it hasn’t led anywhere, and it’s not really an option anymore. Either Lane can and will give her trust to him, or they won’t be able to be together anymore. They’ll both just be consumed in their fears and anticipation of rejection if she continues to feed her distrust.

It wouldn’t just hurt her, but Cain, who sees it.

And what if he calls things off, because of that?

(Cain doesn’t want Lane to be afraid of him.)

So, to stay with him…she’d need a leap of faith. To let down her guard completely, by choosing to place her belief in him, in his promise to her. That he’s on her side, he cares about her, he’d ‘of course’ help if she needs it. That she’s his, and he is hers, and everything he gave is real.

There’s no other way. Either I’m stuck in place or taking a step forward.

Ever since I read this ⬆️ I connected it with her trust issues with Cain. I didn’t think she’d just take that leap then, so I wasn’t surprised she didn’t, but I have felt her sentiment here would return in some capacity, later down the line in their relationship. I figured it’d probably be the situation we have, now: her distrust pushed to as far it can go while they were happy together; as in, to the collision of the past’s truth with the present relationship they’ve built. Only, she has to choose either to step into his ‘reach’ entirely, baring herself to true betrayal, or backing way.

(A few hours before he sees Abel: If you’re not backing away, then everything’s fine for now.)

Her half-measure of trust and self-protection has met it’s limit. Now, she has to choose one.

And it’s not just like this with Cain - either if in a romantic relationship or platonic one. They’re all going to meet a similar issue; a collision of her trust in the squad, or protecting herself, in dire circumstances. The last mission will force her to act on her true-self. Step back, or closer.

(Lane, S2E8: Perhaps such moments are called decisive precisely because a person acts based on their true self.)

Well, anyway, this is what’s been going around inside my head. Maybe it’ll be different though.

Oh. And I said this already, but: once they have real trust between them, then it’ll make sense in the story for them to have the 143💎 scene so many of his romancers expected in S2E10.

(I mean, not me; that’s why I don’t dislike what we got - it fit their dynamic at the time, imo.)

Edit: oh, that’s right. One of the possibilities was his psychic connection with Abel. Maybe that was a factor, although I still wonder if the main reason was Cain knowing she was close to recovering her memories. Hmm 🤔

I’ve been wondering, since Abel confirmed the connection, is he still getting Cain’s emotions and memories, or was that only while he was in that unconscious state he couldn’t wake from?

Because otherwise…when would Cain & Lane get some privacy again in this story asdfghjkl. Like, poor Cain, seriously. Damn.

Honestly, as soon as Cain knew about sharing memories, I knew the romance would be toned down, until it was handled - although I did not expect it to be toned down THAT much. But I digress. I really hope it’s more that it was only while Abel was comatose, but maybe I missed something stating otherwise? I’ll need to read everything again…

Oh. Hey, perhaps they just need to ‘complete’ the spell to end it? Transfer some of the power to Abel, I mean; not all of it. That’d make sense.

[chussyracing]

About the "lewis: how far am I off, pace wise?" post that you reblogged with a tag asking what that meant… the question has legitimacy. The question is ambiguous and you are right to say so. However, there is a default meaning in F1 to that question. I would have expected Ricky to have used that, added clarification, or agreed in advance with Lewis what it would mean instead. The default meaning is that "how much slower is my lap compared to the competitor I should be thinking about?" Yes, this is also ambiguous, however, that is normally addressed by the engineer specifying who is being compared. For example, "Your pace is equal to Charles, don't worry" if Ricky had clocked that 7th was the best Lewis could reasonably hope for in that moment and wanted him to focus on getting the car home without excess loading. Or "You are 2 seconds a lap slower than the car behind, he will/won't [delete as appropriate] catch you." The latter part may or may not be spoken - that's part of the communication style driver and engineer develop as they collaborate.

Every alternative meaning you put in the tags is also possible. Had Ricky answered using one of those alternatives, and Lewis objected, then I would have blamed Lewis for a lack of clarity. However, if the engineer has interpreted it that way, two things would be expected: 1) the measurement would always be in seconds per lap. Pace is expected to be measured as a rate, not a static amount of time. Ricky's answer was like being asked by a police officer if one knew what speed one was doing and answering, "Well, so far my journey has been just under three miles…"

2) I would have expected an indicator of what Ricky was comparing. I will use your alternative interpretations to give examples of reasonable responses: - "Your pace is matching the car ahead, good work" - "The Mercedes are 3 seconds a lap faster than us right now" - "You are 1 second off the delta for this tyre set" (note that there's an "expected" in that sentence which usually isn't stated, for concision) - "You are 5 seconds slower than before the damage, well mitigated (Lewis sounded rather down about the groundhog collision and needed encouragement) You absolutely could be a race engineer. However, specifically because of your background, I think you would make very sure that your driver had the same understanding of what set calls like "how far am I off the pace?" meant - before it ever got asked in a race. I get the impression Lewis would appreciate such effort :)

hard agree - it's always under time pressure on the radio and it just shows that you need to get used to each other. funnily enough i think ferrari is in a bigger spotlight compared to others in this department - because it is ferrari, because it is lewis hamilton and because (simply as that) media love to get something to talk about.

[batsplat]

favorite motogp rivalry not involving any of the aliens ?

you know, the fact that this is so tough shows just how inescapable they've been in the sport. still, I'll give it a shot

you can go several directions here - either stick to the present, or go for stuff this century that's more in the background, or go way way back. I'm reasonably fond of that eighties early nineties period and the varied rivalries they produced between all the anglos... you know, spencer, gardner, lawson, rainey, schwantz, doohan, that lot... (admittedly some haven't massively endeared themselves to me with their post-retirement punditry, but it is ever thus with athletes.) couldn't do that justice here but a few quickfire thoughts

lawson and gardner is one of those fun ones where you have two completely different blokes competing who just fundamentally Did Not Get Each Other at all. gardner was cocky, forthright, brash, whereas lawson was far more reserved, cool-headed, cerebral... and, of course, they didn't didn't just understand each other, they also didn't like each other at all. infamously gardner was not exactly thrilled when his long time rival was signed for honda (gardner's manufacturer) and gardner had to find out by reading the papers

also they shot this safety ad together and apparently didn't speak to each other the entire time, even though they were in close proximity for hours. don't you just desperately want to recreate this with certain riders, hm

anyway, of course there's also rainey and schwantz, probably the one everyone knows... as ever, important they didn't get on and hated to lose each other

all culminated in the dramatic 1993 season, with schwantz determined that it would finally be his year... and it's a classic season, one hears (even if one is unable to judge for oneself), but a title fight with a sad twist when a collision between the two of them at misano ends rainey's career while handing schwantz his only 500cc title. in the end, it also ended schwantz's career, who retired at the end of 1994. of course dorna promised they'd never go to misano again, which they stuck to for a full fourteen years

then again, arguably the vibes were a bit too good back then between riders, like what's all this then (from schwantz)

actually, I suppose none of those were technically 'motogp' rivalries, but. same difference. there's a few in the years after... I do find the whole 1998 250cc season deeply compelling, but it also would feel like cheating because what makes the harada/capirossi thing so fun is that valentino is there acting as the third man. very much the dynamics between all three of them that are so great. plenty of spats in the years after that, but something like dovi/iannone is more just good fun than a proper 'rivalry'. you do generally need some proper development for a real rivalry, and the aliens just monopolise so much attention this century. so you do basically have to fast forward to... well, the last few years, where the most notable ones have been pecco/fabio and pecco/jorge martin

now I do like pecco/fabio conceptually - it's interesting to have this rivalry between two guys who were being moulded into being the marc challengers by their respective manufacturers and then to have had marc suddenly disappear on them. the way it suddenly thrust fabio into the spotlight, how it put all these expectations and pressures on him and essentially made him title favourite overnight... vs how pecco is the closest motogp has had to a dominant force in the post prime!marc era and is constantly uneasily grappling with that legacy. you've got all this uncertainty and insecurity and asterisks and the shadow cast by the greats (who haven't even had the decency to go away completely), the weight of those legacies... also, two kinda funny title fights, if odd ones (especially '22 lol). main problem is that their wildly contrasting fortunes whenever they were title rivals mean they've managed to avoid actually fighting each other on-track. insanely frustrating and the real asterisk for this rivalry

pecco/martin has been strong stuff, yeah. super contrasting personalities, such visibly different riding styles, and considerably more material when it comes to on-track battles than pecco/fabio (still more work to be done though). that intra-manufacturer arc has been fun to follow, this stand-off between ducati's golden boy and the challenger with the eternal underdog mindset. both have a tendency to feel like the world's against them (which is a trait many riders share, sports is such a wonderful breeding ground for victimisation complexes), both are so incredibly unreliable. both rather volatile in their own ways, both battling their own insecurities. also, it doesn't hurt that they've got a bit of shared history as teammates back in the day. would've been interesting to see them as teammates in motogp, curious how jorge reacts to this latest twist... the needle between them has been fun, especially the silly valencia stuff, though I wouldn't mind some more openly hostilities between the pair of them - and I do feel like marc's reemergence has inevitably ensured the two of them are paying less attention to each other. even martin's grand big fuck ducati thing is now more about being rejected in favour of marc than about pecco getting preferential treatment. still, they've got time, could give us plenty more to work with

which is my favourite of those? I don't know... the tricky thing about the older rivalries is that I believe very strongly in evaluating rivalries by actually watching their competitive output and there's only so much of them I can watch. I guess by process of elimination it's currently pecco/martin? for a hot second there I suppose pecco/bez looked like it could be quite interesting, but they didn't really fight for the title and remained friendly so. whatever. it'd be nice if everyone else picked up the slack some time soon

[talesofourworlds]

@mistralxsoul continued from here!

Today was, decidedly, a little bit strange. And even that felt like it was putting it mildly, Guy thought.

His travels had brought him to a city called Zaphias for the time being. It was a much needed break, considering everything he'd been helping to achieve back home. Finally putting a stop of Van's plans and concluding everything at the Absorption Gate hadn't been an easy task, after all. Even without that, he'd been kept plenty busy in Grand Chokmah in the immediate aftermath. Whether that be with walking Emperor Peony's rappigs or settling into his own life, it had been a busy time for Guy. Fortunately, the Emperor had understood his need for a break. Much the same as his friends would have, he imagined.

So far, the stay had been pleasant! Zaphis itself was a nice enough city, or at least was presenting itself to be. In some ways it reminded him of Baticul. That likely had to do with the way the city was structured, Guy concluded. Nobility higher up in the city and the rest of the citizenry further down. In turn, the similarities had reminded him of Luke.

Oh, Luke... he hoped his friend was doing okay now that he had a chance to try and figure out what to do with his life. Knowing his friend, though, that wouldn't be an easy task. So, Guy shook his head and decided to go about his day. Luke wouldn't want Guy to dwell on wondering what he was doing with himself, Guy decided.

Ever since he'd arrived in the city, though, people he had taken the time to talk to had kept mistaking him for someone else. Someone called Flynn, he'd gathered pretty quickly. First it had been some of the knights he'd seen, then just regular citizens. Each calling him that name. One particular man who'd had a dog with him had greeted Guy like they were old friends before realizing the mistake. He hadn't really understood it, but politely cleared up the confusion before the man and his dog were on their way again. Apparently the two had had somewhere they needed to be outside the city.

Still. To repeatedly get mistaken for someone? Strange...

"Whoever this 'Flynn' is must be pretty well liked," Guy concluded as he continued to walk. It was still bizarre, but he could brush it off. Still, as he started to make his way down one particular street, his mind wandered. People kept mistaking him for someone who, he imagined, must have looked remarkably similar to him. Back home, given everything that had happened before he'd decided to take his trip, there would have been an easy explanation. But surely that couldn't be the case here... right?

All too suddenly, Guy became aware of what sounded like a scuffle. The familiar sounds of someone in armor was among the mix. Guy figured it was one of the knights he'd run into earlier that day, and from the sound of it he thought maybe they had it handled. He could help, but as he started to turn his head to see just what was happening, it happened. A yelp first, then a sudden weight crashing into him.

The knight in question, a blond man with his hair styled in an oddly familiar way, had gotten knocked right into Guy. The additional weight of his armor added to the force to the collision made it, in a word, memorable. Guy's own yelp mingled with the knight's as he fell to the ground with the armored man on top of him, and for a few long moments he took in the pain. Not the worst thing he'd ever endured, Guy knew, but it still hadn't been pleasant to get knocked into.

Fortunately, the knight's apology reached him as he found himself being helped to sit up.

"Don't worry about it," Guy told him. "I'm just as much to blame since I wasn't paying attention." Then, he got a good look at the knight in question.

For a heartbeat, Guy was stunned into silence. It almost was like looking in a mirror when he really took in Flynn's features. From the way Flynn's hair was styled to his eye color, they looked eerily similar.

A replica...?

No... no, that couldn't be the case, Guy reasoned with himself. The more he looked, the more he noticed differences. Flynn seemed a little more youthful in his facial structure. His eyes were a slightly different shade of blue. His voice, too, Guy realized as he was asked if he was okay, was different.

Van hadn't replicated him. He couldn't have. Guy knew there was a possibility of everyone having a sort of twin in the world somewhere, but he never thought he'd actually be seeing living proof of that.

"Oh, yeah," Guy finally answered, giving his head a small shake. "I'm okay. A little sore, but I think I can manage. This is hardly the worst thing that could've happened." A light laugh punctuated the thought. Getting knocked over and having a man in armor fall on top of him certainly wasn't as bad as the pain he'd endured when the curse slot seal had been at its worst, after all.

He looked past Flynn for just a moment, noting the fallen dagger and the nick on Flynn's cheek.

"What about the guy you were after? Is it really all right to let him get away?" If he could, he wanted to help. It was the least Guy could do after what had just happened.

[manyothermusingsofmine]

Food for Apology || Drabble

Fandom: Xmen

Warnings: None

Wordcount: 2553

Summary: Comforting an upset friend takes many forms, and sometimes you can really only talk about how you feel after getting some good food in your stomach first.

-------------------------------

"So the mission went poorly."

With a slight lean against the cabinets so he had a full look of the kitchen, Gambit had been keeping an eye on the foods he had made for dinner. Despite always making more than he thought he needed, there were plenty of people who would try anything from trickery to just straight up using their abilities to get an even bigger share despite most of them already being well fed for the evening. Besides, it was a fair assessment to make with how the last mission had gone according to everyone put on duty for it.

Miranda hadn’t been taking it well, so he had been on the look-out for anything in the kitchen that decided to miraculously start moving around; she hadn’t been physically seen since she was healed back up by Shadow. Gambit had fully expected some quippy remark in return to his statement, the newest addition to the team rarely leaving the chance to apply her sarcastic and dry sense of humor untaken.

Instead the floating plate holding a singular beignet that he had been talking to was sat down on the nearest cabinet with a clatter he could only describe as sounding annoyed and upset. He threw a quick glance its way, looking back to address the empty kitchen instead.

"Do ya wanna talk about it?"

The silence was a pretty loud 'no' in that regard.

"Well. There's no reason to sneak around the kitchen in full suited force," Gambit mused, adding a few more beignets to the plate that had been slammed down, "Gambit's not in the habit of rationing food based on mission success rate; this ain't bootcamp, petite. We take care of each other. If you do decide you want to talk, you'll know where to find me."

"Who are you talking to?" Shadow asked as she entered the kitchen, only to have the question answered as the plate started floating again and disappeared through the open door she just came from, "Oh. Well, there went my answer, I guess. … Any luck getting her to talk? Should I go after her, you think?"

He decided to not initiate conversation, looking up at the night above where stars had started to twinkle in the sky. It left both of them in silence for quite a while, until at some point it was her who grew uncomfortable with the quiet.

"Non,” Gambit replied while handing her a plate of food as well, “best we can do is keep her fed; it's called comfort food for a reason, chère. She'll talk when she's ready to."

It was probably, undoubtedly, weird to feel anything resembling relief at a floating plate coming down the hallway, but as Kurt watched it easily swirl around him to avoid collision it was kind of the only way he knew she was still around the mansion. For all anyone knew, Miranda could just decide to leave the place like this and no one but Logan would be any the wiser. He stood there, watching as the plate of beignets disappeared upstairs, debating for quite a while whether or not he should leave her to her own devices or go after her.

He eventually decided to do what he would want his friends to do if it were him in the situation; check on him. In a moment’s notice he was at the top of the stairs, following the faint scent of fresh food to her room just in time to see the plate vanish through the windows. Out of politeness that he couldn’t shake off even if he tried, he still knocked on the door and waited a minute before entering despite being fully aware she had left through the window.

Assessing the situation for a moment, he hopped up on the window sill, easily tossing himself further up to the flat part of the roof with all the grace of an acrobat, and without needing to use the thick plants that grew all over the walls of the building as a makeshift ladder. The plate stopped moving a few feet away from him, as far away as the flat part of the roof allowed her to get before running into more stone wall. He watched for a bit as it was set down, using it to get a feel for where she was relative to him and the walls, before going over and sitting down on the opposite side of the plate.

"What do you want, Kurt?" her voice was clipped, short, and she tried to feign an air of being unbothered that the tremble in her tone immediately disproved.

"To watch the stars."

"Must you do that in the exact same spot I picked? Actually, don't answer that. This is such a prime brooding spot I'm expecting Logan to show up any minute now."

"Why do you keep doing that?"

"What?"

"Deflect, dismiss and joke about your feelings as if doing so is the same as dealing with them?"

"Oh? What, would you prefer this?"

Her tone had become sharp and irritated, dropping her invisibility as soon as the last word left her mouth. Kurt just looked at her; taking in how the whites of her eyes had turned a faint red, the tears she had been crying by herself painting a picture of red patches under her eyes and over her cheeks. She didn’t give him any longer to respond to her question, flicking her veil back on as easily as pushing a light switch right.

"Ja, I would, actually," he said softly while watching a beignet disappear seemingly into nowhere, "I would prefer it if you didn't use your powers to run and hide away from those who care about you."

"I don't even prefer looking at this, so you'd be the first.”

It wasn’t even enough to make him flinch, the verbally biting way her emotions decided to come out. It only made his concern grow, the way she acted like these emotions made her lesser, somehow. It so clearly came from a sense of hurt that she didn’t want to face head on.

"Care?" she scoffed a little, "in the same way my coworkers did when I vanished and no one bothered to come look for me? Years of almost perfect attendance, and the one time I don't show up for two days in a row they stop my contract and don't even come for a wellness check. Some care that is. I doubt they even noticed. I have always been invisible, if not literally then figuratively. Nothing but a cog to be replaced when it becomes too much of a nuisance to repair."

"You're not a nuisance to us. To me," Kurt replied, leaning back on his arms to look up at the stars again, his tail lightly swishing around as he spoke.

"Not yet," she muttered, a hint of fear tinting the words

Silence lingered between them yet again, as Kurt thought of what to say to actually ease her worries. He thought back of the mission, of how she had frozen in the line of sight of the Sentinel. He didn't blame her for that at all, the big hunks of metal were terrifying even for a seasoned mutant to deal with. And while it had stung that she didn't wait for him on the other rooftop, it started to make sense why she had retreated on her own accord; sounded like 'by herself' had always been her way of dealing with things.

"You're afraid you’ll be left stranded out there when you need help the most."

From the way the food halted in midair, he assumed the statement had left her slack jawed. It had. In the flash of a moment a lot of emotions boiled up, refusing to be suppressed and bottled back up this time around.

"You have no idea what you're talking about, Kurt! You have no idea what it's like to always wait for the next moment you finally manage to annoy or bore someone enough that they'll leave! And now, added to that, the fact that I can't get out without help, that I can't even move out of the way of danger because my body doesn't listen to my input?! Oh, no, even worse, just fucking bail on the team entirely, great form Drifting, let's add cowardice and hypocrisy to the ever growing list of your damn flaws, fucking great!"

"I'm not mad at you."

"And somehow, that makes it worse. Because if you're not mad at my choices, what are you? Disappointed, upset?"

"… Ja, maybe a little bit disappointed, that you left. But, worried, mostly; worried that you got hurt further on the way. Concerned, that you didn’t seem to trust me when I told you I would come back."

Clearly that was an answer she didn't expect, as she didn't react to it. The air between them was thick with lingering tension, something the invisible mutant didn't know how to counter act or address without instinctively wanting to lighten the mood. The plate started to float again, being held in Kurt's general direction.

"Care for a beignet?"

An apologetic peace offering, the softened and ashamed tone in her voice more telling than anything. Letting out a soft huff, he accepted, easily swiping one of the treats from the plate with his tail and tossing it over to his hand.

"... You're right about one thing, Miranda; I don't know what it's like to be you. But, really, you think I haven't wished every now and then to be able to hide away from the shame of failure like you can? That I've never felt like a liability to the team and wished the ground would swallow me whole for a bad decision made in a tense situation? I didn’t calculate the timing of that last teleportation right, I took too long to call for back up, all I can do is apologize for that and try to do better next time."

The silence spoke volumes; she never considered that, and yet it seemed so obvious that some would be envious of how her powers allowed her to hide away from the world if she didn't want to deal with any of it.

"… All I hope is that you don’t really think of me, of anyone in here, as malicious or cruel enough to leave you out there on your own,” he only halted to actually eat the treat he had been offered, before continuing; "Unless they incapacitate me to a point where I can’t, I’ll always come get you. I promise."

".... I'm sorry," came the choked reply as she was still trying to fight back her tears- the fact that Kurt didn't see her didn't make it any easier to put her actual feelings on display, "I don't... I should've- I... sorry."

"It's okay."

Something gave out. Whether it was the energy to keep fighting against her tears, or that the mask meant to hide the emotions started to slip didn't matter. Her invisibility followed suit, flickering out as she couldn't keep up the concentration for it, revealing herself back to him. He took one look at her as the tears rolled down her face, shoving the plate aside to close the gap between them before pulling her into a hug. Gently pressing her head to his chest, he ran his hand over her hair while wrapping his other arm around her while silently allowing her to let all her feelings pour out of her.

He held her until the wild whirlpool of emotions stopped swirling, gently keeping her close as the coolness of the evening finally seemed to work its calming magic, only letting go when he was sure she calmed down by a significant amount

"Feel any better?"

"Yeah. Sort of. Thank you. And.. I’m sorry."

"Gern' geschehen. Apology accepted."

A different kind of silence fell between them, as she took a moment longer to linger in the comfort before finally lightly pushing herself out of his embrace.

"... Y’know, someone could've at least told me those fuckers are huge. That would've been a nice heads up."

"That's fair, sorry about that. And? Am I as soft and plushie like as you always imagined?" he laughed as that earned him an elbow to the side.

"Shut up. Wanna go see if there's any of these beignets left? Apparently, Gambit doesn't ration out food based on mission success. His words, not mine."

"If he did a lot of us would starve," Kurt replied with a chuckle, offering his hand for her to take, "come on. His food is always in high demand, so if we want to get lucky and get some left overs we have to move. And like it or not, I’m still faster."

“Somethin’ the matter, petite?”

“Show off.”

She had to admit he wasn’t exactly wrong, though. She couldn’t match the quick and easy way he brought her back to the kitchen, nor the way he dropped the empty plate off and convinced Remy with little but a pair of soulful puppy eyes and a polite request to give both of them more food. He left, leaving the two other mutants as Miranda told him she would be out in a minute. She leaned back on the cabinets beside the Cajun, not exactly wanting to face him completely; and he picked up on the vibe that she wanted to say something but had no idea how to start the conversation.

“I’m… sorry,” the way her voice trailed off and became much smaller on the final word made him quirk a brow; it read like the habit of someone who wasn’t used to her apology being enough to make amends.

“What for?”

“Snapping at you while you were just trying to help. Multiple times.”

“’S alright, heard plenty worse in my life.”

“You sure?”

“Oui, now, go on, get out of here. Our fuzzy friend didn’t swindle me out of an entire plate of beignets just to have them by himself, you know?”

“Oh come now, Gambit has yet to meet anyone capable of saying no to that face; seems to me like it’s working on you as well, non?”

She couldn’t help but chuckle at that, simply amused by witnessing that chain of events play out in real time. She did have to hand it to him, Kurt’s kindness got him far in a lot of things.

“How did he manage that, anyway? You’re growing soft on us, Remy?”

“How’s Shadow doing, Remy? Told her yet that what you feel for her runs far deeper than surface level attraction?” That was a clap back response he clearly hadn’t expected, as Miranda turned her head to look at how his red eyes widened with how pin point direct that had been. She gave him a small smirk as he awkwardly looked off and rubbed the back of his neck

“You’re not as slick as you think you are and unless you solve that little conundrum successfully, I’ll take your opinions on my relationships with a ton of salt, if that’s alright with you. Bye now,” and with that she left as the slight growl of her stomach ushered her to get some food.   

[yourtoradorasextendedwarranty]

For anyone who’s actually sane, the Potomac mid-air collision was neither the fault of DEI nor was it the fault of removing FAA officials.

Analysis of the ATC audio and ADS-B data reflects that the American CRJ was doing everything correctly without deviations. The Blackhawk helicopter was also following instructions and responding correctly. So where does this leave us?

Well, the most likely scenario is that the Blackhawk pilots made visual contact with the wrong plane, another American flight coming in behind the CRJ and acted on the assumption that this was AA5342. Further points of note include that PAT25 pilots were in training, and were wearing night vision goggles, which block peripheral vision and make distance harder to judge (which would have been critical in a visual approach)

However regardless of the exact circumstances, there are two glaring problems which have existed for decades:

1) The established helicopter routes 1 and 4 allow for crossing the Potomac through the DCA descent flight path with only 100 feet of separation, with only Visual Approach. This is actual madness. Not only is visual difficult at night already, but Blackhawk helicopters are meant to be hard to detect at night. This was always an accident waiting to happen. Just the day before, the same accident was narrowly avoided thanks to a TCAS RA, because the aircraft were operating above 1000 ft. But unfortunately during the accident itself, it was below 1000 ft. so TCAS cannot operate.

2) The CRJ and Blackhawk pilots have ATC over different frequencies. ATC can hear and speak to both, but the CRJ and Blackhawk cannot hear each other. Added to the above, it was always an accident waiting to happen.

In conclusion, this was neither the result of DEI hires to ATC nor was it Trump firing 100 FAA officials. This was a result of poor airspace design that nobody bothered to change because it had worked out so far.

Sources: Blancolirio, VASAviation (RealATC), FlightAware, FlightRadar24, WUSA9 News (Interview with former ATC)

I know you wanted me to post this which is why you didn't address it to me but let me make something pretty clear. Your explanation reeks of people being grossly incompetent. Something we OFTEN bring up in regards to DEI. Also if it had worked so far, why did it all of a sudden fail now?

Couldn't be because of poor hiring choices, a shitty inflation economy, and gross incompetence to fill certain quotas. NAH couldn't be that. Also we just had another crash.

Do I know why? No. But all of this after Biden's Tenure reeks of his policies. Is it because of that? Maybe not. Who knows. It's just wild that because of DEI we had the Boeing leaks, the FAA having to admit to discriminatory hiring practices (again DEI), and lack of workers in these areas. Again because of both DEI & Inflation.

Could it just be gross incompetence alone? Sure. But hiring practices over the past 6 years by companies makes that not very believable. How many more crashes will we see? How many more bodies?

Procedures work when they are tested thoroughly and planned well. And should they fail, something was planned poorly, OR poorly executed......as a result of many such reasons.

Like idk, "They had the wrong plane" why did they have the wrong plane if they did. Who's the controller that handled that? How'd he get hired? Military had DEI hiring practices too I'll have you know. Why? Because I was in, and still have friends in. And the promotion structure has passed up whites and asians for at least 4 years. I know because I've heard it from friends SEEKING and more than qualified for it.

DEI has sunk into more gaps than you are aware of. AND EVEN IF it was only a small part of why, it was still a PART of why. So kindly don't tell me it didn't play a part. Your story reeks of it. But you are so blinded by the idea it couldn't be the case, that the people that don't want this to be the fault of DEI at all are ignoring every other industry it has affected. The true "Trickle Down" policy.

[schwender-exe]

Devlog #2

Hello all again and welcome to devlog #2!

First up, we have tiles! While not the final look of them (to be honest I drafted them up to try them out, but I kinda dig the simplistic look?) they'll be what's making up the terrain in the game! After playing around with it for some time, I found it a hell of a lot easier to map out levels/rooms with these tiles than the old system I had in place.

Originally, what made up the terrain was Polygon2Ds with collision added on top of them and while it was easy to use, it made the terrain a bit to one-toned for my liking and made plotting out levels a bit of a nightmare because I could do any shape or angle or whatever with it, which sounds nice but... well a bit too much freedom can kill my creativity which is why the limitations of the tiles feels like the right balance.

Moving on to what's next: the curse I wrought upon myself. To be more specific? The story vs gameplay and my failure to plan ahead.

I'm not one to plan things out much, I tend to just go with the flow and address problems as they come into view, but that's been biting me in the ass for a bit now. You see, I sent out a test build about a month ago to some dev friends and I got some feedback which has stuck with me. "You need something in between when you arrive at Chloe's abode and when you meet Chloe." (Chloe being the mushroom-headed character). The reason it stuck with me is because I realized, while I had a story, I didn't really have much in terms of gameplay to smoothly fill in the beats in between. The problem with trying to shove gameplay into a story which didn't account for that, well... You can imagine it didn't go well. So here's my new plan. I'm scrapping the story I have so far and will be re-writing it with new gameplay in mind that'll hopefully flow together well. What kind of gameplay? well that's a tough call. I've been juggling ideas around in my head for weeks and none seem to stick, so far I've managed to get a swimming/floating kind of movement in game which seems fun, but I'll have to tinker around with it more before I can say it 'fits' anywhere. If anything, it was at least a fun exercise in the new state-based character controller I've made this time around for the player.

Well what about combat? That's always an easy one, well... I've shied away from that for some time as I thought combat would move the game in a direction of becoming like most other platformers out there where slapping in combat is a simple solve-it-all glue you can put anywhere. If I'm going to add in combat, I want it to be interesting, unique and of course, fun. I'll be experimenting with more movement options, possibility of combat, the use of items, etc. and will be sure to update next blog post with what I achieve.

Moving on from that, I've also been experimenting with dialogue! I've added on to my dialogue code and have added dialogue portraits which, I'm not sure how I feel about as of yet, honestly. I don't think I have enough to base my opinion on whether I'll keep it or not as I like having the dynamic poses of the overworld sprites. I might have it as a toggleable feature in future as to give players the option to view the overworld sprites or the visual novel-esq sprites.

I hope this devlog was an interesting read, I know I didn't seemingly make much in terms of progress, but with the circumstances I'm in it's been a bit of a bottleneck in productivity. I hope next devlog I'll be in a better spot to provide more to show.

[aburruso-capstone-uhwoacm]

Progress Report #2

Quite a lot has happened since the last update, some good, some bad...

First of all, there’s the pre-production phase.  Last time, I mentioned that I had to do the color schemes for Sasha and the obstacles.  To be honest, that was much harder than I anticipated.  The first issue was that I switched to digital for the color scheme.  I am still not good at drawing on an iPad, so it took a while to finish the drawing.  Then, there was actually figuring out Sasha’s colors.  I had decided early on that her main color would be green.  Beyond that, though, everything was difficult.  I experimented with a lot of different colors schemes, but they were not working.  At one point, I figured out one reason why I was having trouble: Sasha’s boots were messing with the balance of colors.  So, I redesigned her to have longer pants and sneakers instead.  Not only did this make her palette work better, but I feel that this makes Sasha look more like a vigilante teenager (versus the boots, which I now think made her look more like a professional soldier).  The palette on the far right (not the transparent one :P) is the one I decided to stick with for the time being, though for reasons I’ll explain soon, I may change it again…

I also did the color schemes for the firewalls and servers, which was much easier.  Then, I worked on the UI.  This is where I encountered yet another issue with the color scheme.  I originally wanted the floor of the play area to be a light color with dark grid lines.  However, I found that the opposite (dark with light grid lines) works better.  The only problem is that now, the servers, firewalls, and even Sasha don’t stand out enough against the floor.  This is clear when you look at the grayscale version of the UI: Sasha and the obstacles are already dark, so they almost blend in with the floor.  Since I already decided that the floor needs to be dark, the only solution will be to change the color schemes of Sasha and the obstacles… hopefully, I can find some time to do this.

Okay, but enough of the bad news.  Let’s get to the good news.  Save for adding the concept art, I finished the game design document (or at least the first draft… I’ll explain pretty soon).  I also got started on the first build of the game!  I have included a video showcasing what I have so far:

That being said, I am not completely finished with this build yet.  As you can see in the video, Sasha (the blue square) moves and shoots at the same time.  However, I want to make it where she will only shoot once she has finished moving.  I think I will be able to figure this out rather easily, though.

Of course, making this build didn’t come with its challenges.  The first obstacle involved following a tutorial I probably didn’t need to follow; although it was useful for creating the grid, I realized that it also involved a movement system that my game would not use.  Once I realized this, I decided to stop following it. 

A bigger issue involved Sasha’s movement.  I encountered so many bugs when trying to program it, such as:

Sasha not being perfectly aligned to the grid when she stopped moving

Sasha shaking uncontrollably whenever she stopped moving (and even when I just booted up the game)

Sasha not even moving at all

Sasha respawning at the wrong area when she ran into an obstacle (she is supposed to respawn at her last position)

Fortunately, I was able to solve all of these issues.  Right now, besides making Sasha shoot after she finishes moving, my biggest issue involves the respawn mechanic.  I originally had it where Sasha immediately respawns.  However, my plan was for her to have a short “hurt” animation beforehand.  The only problem is that Sasha seems to get stuck inside the obstacle.  This means that the collision code keeps triggering, meaning that Sasha will never get a chance to respawn.  I think I can find a way around this, but it may involve changing the animation I had planned.

Speaking of changing plans, I have decided to remove the eviction bot from the game.  Considering all the trouble I’ve been having with the code so far, I do not feel too confident that I can properly implement this feature.  The main reason I had the eviction bot was to force the player to keep moving across the grid; now, I’m thinking that I can do this just by placing the servers and firewalls in a certain way so that the player cannot shoot all of the former down from a single position.  I’ll have to update the game design document to reflect this.

That’s everything that has happened up to this point.  In the next few weeks, I’ll finish the build and redo the color schemes (I’m also thinking of changing Sasha’s hair style… we’ll see…).  Then, it will be time for some playtesting.  Let’s see how things go from here…

[louarlov]

QUERENCIA, Chapter 1.

📌 kim mingyu’s au

🚸 the story and characters portrayed in this au are purely fictional and created for entertainment purposes. any resemblance to real persons, living or deceased, or any actual events or institutions is purely coincidental.

𓋭  ۫   ☔️ ﹒ ❊  ͚

today is a really special day for seungcheol and his closest friends as they gather to celebrate his upcoming wedding. in just ten days, he'll be marrying maeve, the love of his life. both their families and friends, including mingyu whom seungcheol chose as his best man, are working together to organize the wedding.

"damn, you could have picked any spot in manila or even gone for a beach wedding. why baguio? you're really hard to read sometimes.” jeonghan needled, shaking his head.

seungcheol responded, not missing a beat, "just go home if you don't want to be here. there's a reason why i didn't pick you as the best man." it was a joke with a teasing edge, meant to ruffle his friend's feathers—jeonghan just rolled his eyes. "mingyu isn't anything special either. i just wanted him as my best man, but honestly, i wouldn't have picked any of you.” seungcheol added with a chuckle.

jeonghan, minghao, hoshi, and woozi exchanged glances, momentarily lost for words. mingyu, in particular, wasn't in the best mood—a recent encounter having put a damper on his best man excitement.

flashback

a hushed buzz of words circulated through the air as seungcheol revealed his choice for best man at the wedding. the glances directed at him seemed to silently question, "of all people?” meanwhile, mingyu, wearing a playful grin, took the news as an opportunity to banter with those around him, reveling in his important role.

"i had a feeling you’d pick me." he grinned, giving seungcheol a playful wink before getting up to give him a hug. seungcheol went along with the fun, but secretly wished maeve's parents weren't around, or he would've kicked his butt already.

"seungcheol must be out of his mind.” woozi quipped, his words a mere whisper meant for the ears of their group of friends.

mingyu felt like he had just won the jackpot of happiness, having been selected for the role of best man—as he made his way back to his seat, a sudden collision jolted him, creating a small commotion that drew the attention of onlookers. just as he was about to assist the person who winced in pain, a loud shout rang out, filling the room. "are you dumb? pay attention, you idiot!" a woman's voice carried with it a sharp edge, prompting seungcheol to hasten towards the scene.

he looked at mingyu, silently urging him to let it go. "i'm sorry, mafel. please forgive my friend; he didn't mean any harm," he apologized, scratching the back of his neck. mafel glanced around at her surroundings and then at the two men before her, mustering a glare before turning on her heel and walked away. mingyu returned to his seat, casting an angry glance at his friend. the cheerful mood he had earlier was completely shattered.

"how dare her?”

"let it go, gyu. honestly, it was your fault.” minghao consoled him, receiving nods of agreement from the others.

"my fault? well, if it is, i can apologize. she didn't have to shout. such an attention seeker." his voice carried to the neighboring table, prompting hoshi and woozi to gesture for him to lower his voice. he responded with an eye roll.

"watch your words, she's a woman.” jeonghan admonished sternly.

"whatever.”

end of flashback

seungcheol noticed mingyu's grim expression and asked, "are you still upset about what happened?"

"of course i am. who wouldn't be? she humiliated me."

"please let it go? i'll buy you anything you want, just don't spoil my wedding.” seungcheol pleaded, offering a cute smile to coax mingyu. he couldn't afford to back down now that he was about to marry mafel, his first and greatest love.

"i wouldn't go that far, jerk.” mingyu rolled his eyes again, opening his phone to distract himself from the sour mood.

"by the way, the stylist is already looking for the attendants, especially the bridesmaids and groomsmen. choose an outfit you like for the wedding.” seungcheol announced, prompting their friends to head over to where the stylist was.

mafel’s point of view

i find myself in the stylist's room, reluctantly participating in organizing my sister's wedding theme. i never wanted to be here in the first place. they made me the best woman, a role i initially declined. it didn't make sense for me to have that position, considering my distant relationship with maeve.

as the bridesmaids and groomsmen start to arrive, one person catches my eye—the man i collided with earlier. he must be furious with me for my earlier behavior. truth be told, i'm frustrated with myself too. i shouldn't have acted that way. but my parents' behavior has left me so agitated and i ended up yelling in irritation.

when the stylist calls for the best man and woman, i stand up. what a twist of fate. he looks at me in confusion, then his eyes widen in fury. "you're the best woman?!"

[ar-firstpersongame]

The Process pt3

Lastly I added some final touches, like changing the enemies from the Unreal Engine mannequin to some ghosts I made in Maya.

I also changed the enemies so that they can actually take damage and die (So that the weapons have a use to them).

Although something I realized is that the enemies could damage the player from far away, also the player could pick up items through walls if they were facing away from them. It was because each weapon would appear in the right hand after being equipped I didn't want to destroy and create the assets every time, so I would move all the inactive weapons behind the player.

Although it still had its collisions so it would count as the player character. It was an easy fix though, I just turned off collisions for all the weapons as it wouldn't change much in game.

I also designed some UI elements in Photoshop to help indicate what abilities were available and what's happening.

Reloading.

Speed Boost.

Speed Decreased.

Lyre's ability (I called it 'Get Vocal' in all the blueprints, cause the player would shout before gaining the speed boost).

Trumpet's ability.

I enabled these and disabled them from the Player's UI:

For whatever reason changing whether it was visible or not wouldn't change if it was... visible. So I enabled / disabled it.

[rootvegetableboy]

cm dev log #1 - november 2023

wow! it’s been a productive first month! i’m already feeling leaps and bounds ahead of where i started, and boy oh boy do i already have a lot to share. this post got pretty long, so i'm putting everything under a read more :]

for starters i have full directional movement—i’ve only drawn 4 directions so far but working towards a full 8, and i am now Proudly Competent at fun GameMaker things like collisions, tilesets, parent objects, and sprite design. all that is to say: i made rooms you can walk around in.

shortly after this i figured out room transitions, so alda was finally able to get out of her basement. everyone clap for her <3 around this same time i also added a “functional” start menu: functional in the sense that it starts the game when you select “start” and closes the game when you select “quit” but non-functional in the sense that none of the selected settings do anything at the moment. it was mostly a way for me to start becoming familiar with drawing boxes & text into the game, a skill i needed to figure out for a LOT of reasons: dialogue, flavor text, general ui, basically anything in the game involving the written word

after this i took a short break from text and textboxes (before eventually diving into a full dialogue system) by learning parallax backgrounds. the screenshots from these are probably the prettiest i have so far, i ended up showing off the final dialogue system in this room because it was such a delight to work on.

out of everything i did this month, i spent the most time building and refining the dialogue system. it took a LOT of trial and error lol but i actually really enjoyed the process and i definitely feel much more skilled at this than i did initially! i have a system in place now that i feel really good about. i also created my first sound effects (character voices specifically!) for the game using Argot, a vocal synth patch for Max/MSP that my friend William Blamkin created for his Master’s thesis. (please check it out if you are interested! it’s pay what you want and open-source!) in retrospect, it’s pretty thematically potent that the first sounds i created for this project are the main characters’ voices… i <3 them...

the dialogue system is pretty much complete at this point, and set up in such a way that if i want to go in and add more text effects it won’t be too difficult. i have a few goals loosely set for december: coding-wise i’d love to get a save/load system implemented pretty soon, and i’d really like to get the beginning neighborhood area in somewhat of a demo-able state. i’m kind of my own bottleneck as there is so much art that needs to be done and i can only work so fast— thankfully, i have a friend helping me out with both writing and area design, so i’m not feeling too overwhelmed at the moment!

thanks for reading if you got this far! i can’t believe it’s already been a month… i’ll see you in january 2024 with log #2! :^)