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redhairedfeistynerd · 3 years

Text

Slush and a Side of Toys

Part 1

A/N: I'm months behind on everything but here is my piece for @sweater-daddiesdumbdork and @sagechanoafterdark Winter/Holiday Festival Challenge. I chose #38 donating toys to children.

Pairing: Chris Evans x reader

Warnings: 18+, SMUT, angst, frustrated reader, swearing, alcohol

Words: 5800+

Part 2 will be up soon!!

Please like, comment and reblog. I appreciate it and thanks for reading.

All mistakes are my own

A reminder - my work is not to be reposted anywhere.

There’s a muffled humming coming from somewhere under a pile of paperwork and takeout containers on your floor. The sound is constant, piercing, and irritating. Eyes still closed, head pounding from an evening of too much wine and schmoozing, you reached down towards the sounds and ran your hands over the stack, following the vibrations of your phone. Once found, you yanked it away from it charging cord and used every ounce of energy you had, pulling the phone close to your face. Opening one eye a sliver to hide from the light, you read from the bright screen.

Hey, listen, I know we've had our differences the last few years but I think it's time we put all of it behind us. I saw Rosie the other day and asked her how you were doing but she kept it pretty vague. I hope to hear from you soon, even if it's only a text to say you’re doing okay.

Reading over the message a second time, in utter shock that he had the audacity to message you and pissed that he even dare ask your friend about how you were; you decided to turn off your phone and toss it into a pile of clothing on the floor.

What. A. Dick.

Rolling back over into your cozy blanket cocoon, falling back asleep, temporarily pushing away any thoughts of the man from your past.

The message was all but forgotten until later that day when a familiar song came on the radio and you couldn’t help but think about how you had both downed several beers at a pub and sang it at the top of your lungs. Maybe it had been a dream earlier and the text never happened. Pulling your phone from your back pocket, hoping it was all your imagination, you indeed saw that there was a text.

The ever-so-hard to escape blue eyed man, was trying to weasel his way back into your life and you weren't having any of it. Dropping the phone into the bag sitting at your feet, getting up from the desk, shaking out a bit to ease the tension that one tiny text had accumulated.

"Don't think about him. Don't think about him. Don't think about him," you repeated the words over and over, hoping to push all thoughts aside. In stocking feet, walking around the small hole you called your office and continued to shake it out. The calm didn’t last as long as you hoped, anger slowly creeping up and out.

"Stupid frikkin guy!! UGH!" The sound of your disgruntled cry, shook you a bit, the frustration clearly coming out louder than expected. "All right, settle yourself down, you can't let him have this sort of pull over you," hoping the self-talk would work, you ran your hand through your hair and walked back to the desk. "Delete it, pretend that you never looked at it and it will go away."

There was no way the struggle going on inside your head would even fathom deleting the text. Truth be told, as much as you cursed and hated the thought of him trying to slide back into your life, there wasn’t a month that went by without a thought of him crossing your mind. A song playing, a Romcom from the 90s, the pizza you both loved so much. Why couldn’t you escape him?

You shot off a quick text to Rosie, curiosity was killing you now, itching inside you, desperate to find out how the hell you had come up in conversation.

Y/N -Word on the street is that you ran into a clown I once knew; I’m curious what was said.”

Rosie: Oh no, he didn’t.

Y/N: He did and it was pathetic

Rosie: It was a super quick interaction. Both of us waiting for a coffee and being friendly. He asked about you almost right off the bat though. It almost rendered me speechless after what happened.

Y/N - So, that’s it? What did you say? Did you tell him how fantastic my life is going and that I probably wouldn’t even remember him?

Rosie: you and I both know, that that’s a load of shit. I’ve had wine nights with you, that man-child has never left that brain of yours.

Y/N Shut up.

Rosie: Really though, it was super quick. I said you were doing charity work and were still in the city, happy and healthy.

Y/N- good to know. I’ll just sit here and pretend his message never happened then. Carry on as usual.

Rosie: see you later this week?

Y/N Definitely, bye babe.

Placing your phone down on your desk, you continued opening your mail: thank you cards for volunteering, appreciation notes from parents and kids, and requests for you to help out at other groups around town. The next month would be hectic, with collecting the many donations from around the city. You had to finish training several new volunteers that would assist with wrapping, delivering, and presenting gifts to the charities and individual families that you helped support during the Winter months.

It became a mechanical process, opening envelope after envelope, that you weren’t paying attention to the return addresses. It wasn’t until you read the first few lines that the letterhead caught your eye and did it burn.

Blue-eyed monster strikes again via his mother.

You knew it wasn’t the case though, his mom, was offering a bursary to some of the kids you helped out and she was reaching out to you and other groups in the city to help.

It didn’t take much to pull your mind from work once you had read the Evans name on the letter. Bits and pieces shifted in your mind; you couldn’t fight it any more today. The letter slipped to the floor and you sat back against your desk, the memories that you had been pushing away, were flooding back.

It all started innocently about three years ago, bumping into one another around town, having several acquaintances that knew each other, and a tendency to make the other smile when the lamest dad jokes were thrown around. His face was incredibly animated and you loved the way his eyebrows would jump up while he spoke, there was mischief behind them that you wanted to discover. Even a quick peek, would ease the curiosity.

You recognized that laugh from across the room of the gallery – full of heart and genuine. Turning around, you spotted Chris mingling with other attendees of the charity event. You were here to help raise money for low-income families in the community that could not afford music lessons or music therapy for their children. The profits from the art sold this evening, would help buy instruments for the school that was set to open the following month. You knew Chris had donated and you had volunteered to help teach the parents with baby's groups every second weekend. It was the least you could do, you had a bit of extra time and needed to give back to the community that helped you and your family out during your childhood.

“How did I know you would be here?”

You must have zoned out thinking about that boisterous laugh that you didn’t see Chris walking over to you. You smiled as he leaned in wrapping one arm around you, a beer being held in his other hand. His smell was intoxicating – a mixture of orange and the woodiness of sandalwood. Would it be wrong if you pulled him closer to take a quick whiff before he pulled away?

He took his time moving back from you, winking as his arm shifted back to his side and lifting the beer to his mouth with the other, take a long sip.

“So, you out here to buy some art?” he asked, taking another drink.

“No, not buying tonight. One of the pieces is mine, I donated it to help out.”

“You have something up for sale here?” He questioned, taking a quick spin around to quickly look at all the art hanging around the gallery. “Which one is yours?”

“Oh, I am NOT telling you that. I think I’ll leave it up to you to figure out which one is mine. You can play the role of Sherlock Holmes.”

“Now, that’s just cruel.”

“Cruel? Nah. Mysterious? Yes. Are you up for a little game of 5 questions to help you out? If you can guess which one is mine, then I guess you have bragging rights because I haven’t discussed my art with anyone here. If you don’t figure it out, then I suppose it will be a mystery forever.”

“Oh, I KNOW I’ll be able to figure this out!” Chris says loudly, clapping his hands together and popping each shoulder up and down. “I’m always up for a challenge.”

“Here’s the deal, you ask me whatever you need to to figure out which one is mine. Obviously, you can’t ask which one is mine as one of your questions. Ready?”

“Ready!” Chris said enthusiastically. He took your hand and brought you to the front of the room to observe the first of the paintings. “Let’s take a quick gander and then I’ll start. How does that sound to you?”

“Whatever you need to do, Evans.”

Chris pulled you from canvas to canvas, still holding your hand as he inspected each piece. “First question. “Did you only use paint for the one you donated?”

“NOPE, next question, Evans!”

“Okay, okay, I got this,” he bounced around on the spot and turned his head to quickly glance over the works close to him. “Shit, I guess I should have asked if what you donated was a painting, right?”

You walk a circle around Chris “Is that your question?” you ask, eyebrow raised.

His blue eyes flick quickly to yours before he says, “Ya, actually...ya. That’s what I want to know. Did you submit a painting?”

“Yes, one of my paintings is hanging somewhere in one of these giant rooms.”

“You really don’t think that I’m capable of figuring this out, do you? Ye of little Faith,” he smirked and pulled you to the back of the dark room. “Any reason why it’s so dark back here?”

“Maybe that’s what the artist wanted?”

“Here’s question three then,” he said as he pulled you closer to him, your eyes looking into his as he asked. “Is you painting in the dark room?”

“Is that really what you want to ask me?”

Chuckling, you take hold of his hand and lead him to another section of the gallery. “I don’t want you to miss any pieces, so take a look around here before you ask number three.” He squeezed your hand and looked up, the ceiling adorned with a beautiful piece; birds in flight but as they reached the furthest wall, the began to decay, until only single feathers remained.

“Here’s number three, ready?” He looked to his left where you were nodding your head back. “Did you mainly use your hands for this piece? I mean, instead of brushes or other tools.”

You were silent for a moment before answering, did you want to tell him how much of yourself you had put into this piece? That what the brushes couldn’t do, you did with your hands and arms? “I did. This one needed more than brushes.”

Chris smiled at you, “feel like telling me what else you used?”

“Not a chance,” you said, grabbing a glass of white wine from the tray passing by. “You want a glass?”

Chris held up his bottle, its content revealing that it was still half full. “I think I have a pretty good idea which one is yours, so these last two questions are going to be good.” With two large gulps, he finished up the rest of his beer. “So, what happens when I guess, do I get some sort of prize? Maybe you could paint me or something?”

“If you mean, could I dump a bucket of paint over your cocky head, then, sure!”

Chris burst out laughing, pulling you into him for a squeeze. “I love how you make me laugh and I bet you would actually do that to me. But really, if I do guess, what happens?”

You kept your body close to his, his arm still holding you close as you responded, “what do you think would be suitable prize, Chris? Do you want me to paint something, make you a prince? Maybe something of you and Dodger? Or maybe I could paint your like one of my French girls.”

“I would love one of your pieces, but if I win this, I’d like to take you out. Is that okay with you?”

Your grip tightened around the wine glass, trying not to let it slip to the floor. It was a shock, to hear that this man, one that you had flirted with for months, was asking if you wanted to go out with him.

“Y/N?”

“Sorry, I... I didn’t expect you to ask me that,” you answered, fidgeting with your hands out of awkwardness.

“It’s ok, you can say no! It’s all right to tell me no.”

“No. No. I’d love that. If you can guess which one is mine, I will gladly go out with you. Dinner, drinks, walk – whatever you like.”

Chris placed his empty beer on the table closest to you. “Ready for my last two questions?”

“As ready as one can be.”

“Is your piece hung on the wall as a landscape?”

“Look at you Evans, you got another one.”

Chris rubbed his hands together, his smile wide and full, clearly showing that he was on a winning streak. “Here’s number four and then I’ll go right to the painting I think, the painting I know it is. Chris walked back and forth in front of you before turning to face you with his last question. You had grabbed another glass of wine and took a sip, waiting for his winning question. “Does your piece use more than black and white? – so many of these photos, sculptures, paintings are very monotone.”

“You’re good Evans and yes, I filled my picture with the rainbow. So, take my hand and show me what the answer to this mystery is.”

His warm hand took your free one and he walked you to one of the side rooms – this room was full of colourful pieces. You could feel the heat flushing across your cheeks and a thin layer of sweat formed at your hairline. Chris stopped and turned towards the back wall and pointed to one of the paintings. “I’m pretty sure this one is yours,” he said with a half-smile. “Am I right?”

You had wished, during those few minutes he had suggested that he take you out, that he would guess which one is yours. But what were the chances with over 40 pieces around you? You tried to keep your body from slouching before you softly answered “No. That’s not mine.”

The happiness in his eyes left quickly once you responded.

“Are you going to tell me which one is yours though?” He asked you eagerly.

“No, I think I’m going to keep that secret to myself. Thanks for the fun, Evans, I should get home. Another day of charity work for me tomorrow.”

“Wait, Y/N, I’d still like to take you out though, will you let me do that, please?”

“I guess we’ll have to see what the future brings,” you replied, giving him a little wink and a squeeze to his hand, you took one last sip of your wine before heading to the coat check.

Chris watched you as you wrapped a scarf around your neck and slipped your arms into the long, wool coat. Walking back over to him and wrapping your arms around him, it was a quick hug and he barely had an arm around you before you were stepping back. With a smile on your face, you turned and stepped out into the night. Chris watched as you turned right and glanced his way, your hand lifting up and into a quick wave. He couldn’t stop smiling and knew he had to see you again.

It didn’t take long for that to happen. You couldn’t get him out of your thoughts and dreams after the encounter at the gallery. He really was something; funny, compassionate, a hard worker, and you couldn’t deny that he was incredibly good looking.

After an event in town and a few drinks later, it was easy as pie, asking him over for dinner. He had initially thought you were pulling his leg.

Chris couldn’t stop laughing. "Oh ya, sure you want me to come over for dinner," laughing at your request and taking a sip of his IPA.

The pink that had flushed across your cheeks when you had shyly asked him was disappearing like an ice cube in hot soup. He picked up on the change immediately and apologized profusely. "I didn't think you were serious! You are serious, right?”

"Why wouldn't I be? It's just dinner," you shrugged. “I don’t see why you would have such a dramatic response to a simple question.” There was an awkwardness now and maybe you shouldn’t have asked him to come over. “Sorry, I thought since we kind of hand a friendship blooming and I tend to invite friends over...”

He took hold of your arm and pulled you into his chest, a big smile across his face. “I'll come by; don’t you worry. Which day this week works for you? I'll be out of state after this week for a bit, so hopefully something the next few days will work for you,” he said, squeezing you a bit before he released his hold on you.

Trying not to be awkward, you responded "This week will definitely work, tomorrow or the next day are open for me."

"Let’s go for tomorrow, okay? Would you like me to bring anything?” Chris smiled

“Be sure to bring the dog, he's the one I'm really inviting.”

"Well, fat chance of me coming by now, I see where your allegiances lie, " he said half closing his eyes and glaring at you in a teasing manner.

"Ok then, just drop the dog off, I'm sure he'll enjoy the feast."

Chris couldn't help laugh at the way you were carrying on with this charade. The half-smile that was currently on your face was one full of mischief and it was something that he had come to enjoy the last few times he had run into you around town. He could see a sparkle in your eyes, something that he didn’t notice before today and it was something, that he could get used to.

“A thought crossed my mind... what exactly would have happened if I had guessed right?”

“Since that didn’t happen, I guess you’ll never know,” you said with a shrug and nudged him with your shoulder.

“You sure like to tease me.”

“What exactly am I teasing you over?”

“The opportunity to be in your presence again,” he replied, a slight blush crossing his cheeks.

Finishing up your drink, you placed the glass back on the cardboard coaster and turned to face him.

“What the hell is THIS?” he asked grabbing at the green monster type thing that was hanging from a lamp in your living room

"That, is a flying frog - one of those weird ass dad gifts - he's always finding these peculiar creatures for me and I can't seem to part with them.

"It's sure ugly"

"You're ugly!” You shouted back at him and burst into the most beautiful smile he had seen cross your face.

"What are you, 12?

"Sometimes,” you replied.

Chris couldn’t help but laugh at you and pull you into a quick side hug. "You're a funny one" he feels you squeeze him back softly, a smile crossing his face at the quick interaction.

"I better go take a peek in the oven and make sure everything is baking the way it should. Make yourself cozy, I'll be right back." You looked back to him, pointing at the couches before turning and walking down the hallway to the kitchen. Turning you head back, forgetting to offer him a drink but his long strides had brought him right behind you quickly, almost colliding with your body. He tripped up a bit and moved his hand to your hip to catch himself.

"I want to see what you're up to in here, see what the chef is cooking up.” Chris resting his chin on your shoulder to peek at what you were stirring on the stove.

“You couldn’t sit still and wait for me to come back, did you miss me that much,” you teased.

“I couldn’t stand to be apart from you for a second longer.”

“That is the cheesiest lines, Evans. Does shit like that work for you?”

“What matters is, if it’s working on you. So, is it?”

You hummed, refusing to answer the question and carried on taking care of the food in the oven. Satisfied with how everything looked, you turned the timer back on and offered Chris a drink. Agreeing on wine, you pulled a bottle from the rack, passed the stemless glasses to Chris, grabbed his hand, and lead him back into the other room. Sitting on the larger of your two couches, Chris took a place beside you, taking the bottle from your hand, opening the bottle, and pouring you a generous glass before pouring his own.

“To friendship,” he said raising his glass

“To friendship, good food, and drinks,” you added and brought your glass to his, a quick clink, and sips were taken.

Dinner was ready within the hour and you both continued to chat while enjoying your meal.

“That was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time, thank you”, complimented Chris as he wiped his mouth with the napkin when he had finished his last bite.

The compliment brought the feeling of heat to your face and out of awkwardness you almost knocked your glass over as you reached for the wine.

“Want a refill?” You asked, holding up the second bottle of red that night. “You have good taste in wine, Mr. Evans, this wine is top notch,” you said, looking over the label of the wine he had brought with him.

Chris smirked and slid the glass to his left “I’m glad you think so, I’ll definitely have another. This should probably be the last one though, I feel like I’m overstaying my welcome.” He watched as you poured, your hair falling forward as the wine glass filled. “Cheers, thank you for the invite and many thanks for a delicious meal. You are constantly surprising me with your talents.”

“You aren’t overstaying. I’m enjoying your company and don’t want you to leave yet. Here, let me show you what I’m working on for this year’s event,” you said and pulled your phone out of your dress pocket and slid your finger across the screen. Shifting your body across the cushions toward Chris, you held the phone out towards him.

“What is it you are putting on this year?”

“Another charity event, it’s to help out the single parents that live in the community. I try to donate as much time to charities as possible.”

“You have a heart of gold.”

“I want everyone to have a special holiday season, you do it. I see that you donate time and money to charities.”

“I have the means to help and giving back is extremely important to me.” Chris looked through a few more of the photos before placing the phone down next to him on the couch.

Reaching over to take her phone, Chris put his hand over yours and slid closer. “I know you always think I’m joking around with you when I say how much I love seeing you smile but I’m being 100% honest. Your smile is contagious and I feel like it lights up anywhere we are. It’s a beautiful smile and its part of why I’m so attracted to you.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at him. “Oh shush, you!” you said pushing your hand into his chest, your smile wider than he had seen before. Again, he put his hand over yours and pulled you to him gently with his other hand. He brought you close, enough to hold you against him for a hug. He watched as your eyes tried to find a joke hidden in his face but you quickly realized that there was something else there. You weren’t sure who moved first as your lips met quickly enough that your teeth clacked together and you swore in pain.

“Oh fuck, only I would ruin an almost perfect moment. I’m such an-

He pulled you to his lips again, kissing you softly and trying not to laugh at the look on your face.

“Am I a joke to you, Evans?” you asked, kissing him back on the lips.

“Oh, not at all, I didn’t want to have to explain to people we know how I broke your teeth though. I mean, I could make up some ridiculous story about it, could be fun,” he chuckled.

You couldn’t help but throw your head back and laugh, bringing yourself back up to face Chris and pull him by his shirt towards you and kissing him without any stupid errors. You could taste the wine on him, the sweetness adding to the softness of your kiss. He took the lead, pulling you closer and slipping his tongue delicately across your bottom lip before deepening the kiss.

Your eyes opened when you hear Chris let out a soft moan, not expecting to hear such a sound from him before you could emit one. He did it again and you felt it all the way down your spine and into your soul. Your hands, still in idiot mode, found their way to his hair, and were quickly taking apart his well-coiffed hair by running your hands through it.

“How does your hair smell so damn incredible?

“How do you taste so fucking delicious?

You pulled back, staring him in the eyes “Hmm, maybe you need to taste a bit more, clean that palate of yours,” you teased.

“Are you implying...”

“Not implying, the buffet is open, sir. Dig in.”

Chris’s face went a light shade of red.

��Oh, did I catch you off guard, Casanova?”

“I mean, no... no...’ he stumbled, “OK, fine yes, yes you did.”

“Well, now that you know, let’s get back to business. All right?”

You took control, standing up, taking his hand roughly and leading him to your bedroom.

“I want you to take off my clothing, piece by piece. I want to see it on the floor and,” you said placing her finger on his lips, “no more talking,” you ordered.

“Anything you want,” he whispered into your ear and he ran his tongue down your neck so softly, that goosebumps raised over yours arms. His hands wandered from your shoulders and down your arms, taking hold of your hands and moving them to his belt buckle.

Looking up to him, he nodded, silently urging you. Undoing the belt and still staring into his eyes. Moving to unzip his jeans and push the button away, Chris was unzipping the back of your dress, the cool line of metal touching your back as he drew the zipper down the length of your back.

“You have goosebumps, do I need to warm you up?

“I’m hoping you get to that. Now, what did I say about talking?”

He smirked, pushing the dress down each shoulder until it dropped to the floor. Stepping out of it, you kicked it off with one foot, tossing it towards the wall. Chris’s hands were already roaming, his hands on your hips, fingers sliding into the thin elastic of your panties. His hands slipped across your warm flesh and directly to your cheeks, grabbing each one and squeezing, and pulling you closer to him. His lips were pressed into yours, his tongue back to searching for yours as he wrapped his arms around you and brought you to your bed. Gently, he sat you on the edge and leaned into you bringing you down to the mattress.

His kisses ran down your sternum and across the soft skin of your breasts while his hands ran across the tops, gently running his fingers over your nipples.

“Keep doing that, keep... keep touching my breasts, Chris.”

You could feel him pressing into you, his erection, warm and pushing against your core.

His hands squeezed your left breast while he brought his mouth down to your right, taking the nipple into his mouth, gently sucking it. Running his tongue around the bud, a chill running across your arms and a moan escaping your lips.

“I need to be in you now, please, y/n,” he said, kissing up your chest.

“In the drawer, condoms are there and hurry the hell up, Evans, I’ve waited forever for it to rain and fill up the well.”

He chuckled as he crawled over you, limbs knocking yours, a soft hand slapped across his ass, as you watched him open the nightstand drawer, which got stuck in his effort to hurry. “Come on Evans, you got this,”

“A little self-talk over there to get you motivated?”

Chris smiled as he held up the package and smiled at you before sitting on the edge of the bed to roll the condom down his hard length. He was on you again, returning quickly, his lips pressing against yours. His lips, wet and warm, pushed harder against your mouth as he pushed your legs further apart, taking himself in his hand, rubbing across your wetness and pushing halfway. The groan that escaped his mouth while his tongue continued to touch yours, sent a tingling sensation down your body.

“Chris, please...” you started to plead and before you could continue, he finished pressing himself into you with a grunt.

“Come on baby, show me how well you can move,” he said as he licked a strip across your neck.

Wrapping your arms around his neck and shifting your body against his, you let out a wail. Your bodies moved together, the pace quick, the sounds of your wetness echoing throughout your room.

“Listen to the sounds we’re making, baby,” Chris panted and drove deeper into you. His body was incredibly warm against yours, the sweat making his chest glisten in what light crept in from the hallway.

Chris slipped his hand down and his fingers met your warmth, crawling in to press against your clit. You clenched around him; a low moan escaped his mouth as he continued his movements.

“A bit more, a bit more,” you groaned, your back arching as Chris sped up. You looked up at him and reached your hand up to his face, holding on and staring into his blue eyes as you felt the tingling ball up within.

Faster than expected and with one last swipe of his fingers, your orgasm spread out from within. Your shoulders tingled, spreading down to your fingers as you yelped out, the warmth of pleasure flowing down and across your body. Chris had shifted to move into you, helping your orgasm along as his own shuddering began. His lips were pressed into your neck, your name crossing his lips as he slowed his pace, and leaned onto one of his arms. He continued kissing up your neck and met your lips, heavy breaths escaping from both of your mouths.

“You’re incredible Y/N. Incredible.” One more kiss was pressed to your lips before Chris sat up, heading to the bathroom. You watched the light turn on and the door close behind him. You rolled to your side; a smile of satisfaction crossed your face as you closed your eyes.

Your heart jumped when you were woken by blankets being pulled half off of your naked body. It took you a few seconds to realize that a man, a very handsome man, was sleepy peacefully beside you. Turning to face his back and shimmying closer, you pulled the blanket to cover your shoulders and back. His muscular back stared at you and you couldn’t help but raise your hand to the pale skin, bringing your fingertip to his warm skin and drawing lines to connect each freckle.

“You, know, that feels incredible, please don’t stop,” Chris asked, his words muffled into the pillows.

You continued using his back as your canvas; swans, sunrises, all the beautiful pieces of the world this man helped you see.

Pushing back into you Chris spoke, “I’m going to be away next week, so I’m hoping I can see you again before I head out of town?”

Your fingers drew the word yes on his shoulder in response. Chris turned over to face you, pulling you closer to him for a soft kiss. When he pulled back you couldn’t help but smile and pulled him in for something a bit more passionate.

Bags packed and his dog set to stay with his family, he walked by the room Scott was in. “Hey, I’m heading out, the car is almost here. Give me a hug for the road.” His younger brother stood up and embraced him, giving him a few pats on the back and wishing him well for his short trip. “Will I see you when I get back or you heading back home?”

“I’m pretty sure I’ll be around still. Mom wants me to stay in town a bit longer. You okay if I’m still free loading off of you a bit longer than planned?”

“You know you’re more than welcome to stay,” he said as his phone chimed from his pocket. “Cars here. Take care of the fam and Dodger for me.” His brother gave him a smile and Chris grabbed his coat and carry-on from the table before heading to the front of the house. Dammit, he had forgotten to remind Scott again about what they had discussed earlier that day. “Scott, make sure you get that message to Y/N, okay? This schedule change was pretty last minute.” He shut the door before he heard a response from his brother. The driver held the door open for him and collected his bags to place in the trunk. He couldn’t get you out of his mind on the way to the airport; your smile, the scent of your hair, the warmth of your naked skin pressed against his. He couldn’t wait to be next to you again.

#chris evans #chris evans x reader #chris evans x you #chris evans rpf #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans fic #writing challenge #ssholidaychallenge #redwrites

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robotnik-mun · 3 years

Note

Any good Sonic AU / Fan content you'd recommend? I've been itching for something to get hooked on, and I'm already following some AUs I rather enjoy (Hangin Out, for example), but I definitely want to increase my scope and see the works of even more artists or writers!

My apologies for this taking so long, I had to collect my thoughts. Shameful as it is to say, most of the fan stuff I can reccommend is no longer being updated, though I enjoy them still. That said, there's a few things I check up on now and then that're still ongoing-

@counteyokir has a lovely fan-continuation of the old Fleetway Comics that I rather enjoy- I tend to reblog the pages whenever possible!

There is also Sea3on, a fan continuation of the hypothetical third season of SatAM, written by my good friend @gojira007!

And on Twitter, we have Knothole- a kind of re-imagining of SatAM, it boasts wonderful art and some fascinating ideas and interpretations!

Oh, and before I forget, there is also the works of @sally-mun. She's a spectacular writer, and you should give her stuff a gander.

As for stuff that's no longer being updated- there's Fallout New Mobius and Dr. Bionik, both made by my good buddy @fini-mun!

And last but not least, I am also fond of @ask-aleena-and-friends, a fascinating AU that posits a childhood friendship between Queen Aleena and Robotnik. Ah, how I wish that one were still updating... and that I'd paid more attention back when it was.

So, that's all the stuff I can recommend. I'm no longer as involved in the Fanwork side of things as I once was, but I hope you get something out of all this all the same.

#Sonic the Hedgehog

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buck-nialled · 4 years

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A niall imagine about being inside with him while all This crazy is going on super fluffy

i dont know if you had a particular idea in mind but Y/N is a lil artsy in this one and it is fluffy per your request SO HERE YA GO ANON ENJOY :)) (oh and this also is based around niall’s 3-4hr live he did the other night on insta)

Charcoal Kisses - N. Horan Imagine

It was without a doubt the longest live stream Niall had done in his entire career on Instagram, but he was awake with nowhere to be the next morning along with most of his audience currently attending, so nobody had any real complaints with it. As he perused the song ideas his fans were listing which consisted of various numbers, you sat beside him in your shared bed, a sketchbook you had been meaning to break in for a while now lied in your hands, practically untouched. All the viewers could really see of you was your knee in the frame as you crossed both of your legs together. It was not until Niall readjusted his phone, leaned back and began strumming familiar-sounding chords and busting a rhyme here and there that most of your body was now in view of the twenty thousand people tuning in.

Of course, they begin freaking out, unbeknownst to you who was too caught up in peeking subtle glances now and then at Niall’s head, tilted down slightly. Once you paused your rough sketch to look up at him once more, though, his eyes were already locked onto you and it ignited a vicious fire in your cheeks. “Do ya want to say hi?” Niall questions, before he aims his chin directly to his mobile phone which had picked up every movement from the two of you.

“Oh,” how long had you been in that frame? “Hello,” you send a shy wave to the camera, as a new barrage of comments rolls down the screen. Some were asking what exactly you were doing with the book of blank paper and line of drawing pencils beside you. Though you thought the answer was seemingly obvious, Niall read one of these aloud, therefore making you answer anyway.

“Just drawing.” You were no Picasso, Kahlo, or Warhol by any means. But you did find the activity a relaxing one and have improved most on realism since beginning your venture into the artistic side of yourself. As expected, the comments kept asking what the subject of your sketch was, as if the concentrated looks you had been giving the side of Niall’s face all night weren’t big enough clues. Once again, he passes along the message and asks you himself, “yeah love what are you drawing?” His body leans in closer to yours as his eyes try to peek over the book and take a gander at your drawing. You refused to have him look at it yet, though, and defensively clutched the book to your chest as one of your feet, shielded with a fuzzy sock, comes up and pushes his torso back to where he was originally sitting. Niall decided not to fight it anymore after you rebuke “you don’t let me listen to a song before it’s finished.”

But toward the end of the night, after Niall and you shared a mini-reunion with Julia over the screen, with the thousands of people remaining, you were content with the product in your hands.

“Okay, I think it’s done.” Somehow, Niall still has not caught onto the fact that you were drawing him. Unless his poker face had gotten immensely more believable these past few weeks and you just have not taken notice. But some fans speculated it was him, and were correct, but you did not want to spoil the surprise for the other viewers and more importantly Niall.

“One, two, three!” In a deft move, the sketchbook is spun around in your grip to face Niall, who was looking back at his present-day self. A small gasp left his lips as they slightly parted, before squinting at all of the shading you paid particular detail to and displayed with the charcoal pencils at your disposal.

“Damn, babe.” He whispered, which of course got you smiling all giddy. Now you knew how he felt when you kept finding every possible way to word how much you loved each song on his new album on the day he finally played them for you. From the audience’s view, the angle at which you were holding showed them only a portion of the black and white page. However, it did not take long for the beloved fans to depict the familiar features of your boyfriend’s face, and not too long after even more messages of adorations floated along his phone.

SO BEAUTIFUL OMG

THAT’S SO GOOD!!!

PLS DROP A TUTORIAL RN

While all the fans were overt with their opinions right away, it made you wonder why the person who got a good look at it first and foremost was not saying a single word. Did he find it…bad? Repulsive?

“Is it….” Your voice trailed away, afraid to finish the sentence for him. The corner of his lips pulled up into a smirk as his eyes traveled from the portrait to your eyes.

“It’s like looking in a mirror.” He claims, before taking the book away from your hands to show the viewers the entire piece and it’s detailing. Because it was taking up almost the entire frame, save for his hands and part of his arm, he took the opportunity to lean in and place a sweet, soft kiss to their lips. “It’s beautiful, lover. You’re beautiful.” He mumbles. Your hands take hold of his warm cheeks and you pull him close to you to earn yet another kiss. “I’m glad you like it.”

“I love it.” He whispers, before taking the drawing off of the frame to resume reading the lovely comments your work was receiving. As your hands abandoned his cheeks, they flew to cover your mouth to stifle the cackles about to leave you. Smudges in all different hues of gray coated the sides of Niall’s face, but he was too caught up in reading what his fans were saying.

“What?” He glanced at you peculiarly, still choking your laughs down and managing to let your chest have only a couple bounces from laughter. Upon turning back to the screen, he then saw the marks you had left on his face and furrowed his brows utterly perplexed. Fans then caught on to what exactly you two did behind the drawing when Niall held it up, but you were not ashamed by the fact one bit.

“What did ya do t’ me?” He turns his face to the side, observing his ash-colored jawline. Through your giggles, you informed it was from blending the charcoal in the paper. And just to agitate him further, you reach your dark thumb up to swipe the tip of his nose.

“Stop tha’!” He exclaims, encouraging more laughter to flutter from your lips as your stomach begins to cramp up. You then leave both the camera’s frame and Niall’s side to go wash your hands and also wet a washcloth for Niall’s tainted face. When you arrived back beside him, you took notice of the pout on his lips while he grumpily picked at the strings of the guitar.

“Aw,” you cooed with a smile overcoming your face, “did Niall make a mess?” you tease, bringing the cloth up to wipe away the cloudy gray among his cheeks. He just rolled his eyes and let out a huff in response, but did not interrupt you. You paused before the cloth could reach his nose, making him look at you with raised brows.

“You look like a goth Rudolph.” At the comment, Niall grew annoyed enough to snatch the washcloth away from you and finish the job for himself, grumbling something defensive at your teasing. All you could do was laugh along with the fans, who were taking in the entire scene with love for the two of you.

in need of more niall fluff? take a look at my masterlist! want my masterlist to be longer? put in a request of your own! :)

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thanksjro · 4 years

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More Than Meets the Eye #22- If You Don’t Love Thunderclash, Get Better Soon I Guess

One last issue before we reach Comic Event Hell.

Time to use a dead man to set up the rest of the nonsense that’s got to happen, because apparently 14 issues of setup, including six issues of literal prelude, wasn’t enough.

The first bit of information we’re presented with is the fact that Chromedome and Swerve are on the opposite sides of the camera-shy scale. I guess that’s bound to happen when your spouse has had his video-cam literally connected to his brain for at least several thousand years.

The art may look really gritty and hardcore here, but this is actually due to a filter Rewind has over all his footage that he’s neglected to take off, because it made all the wartime propaganda he would stuff into people’s heads all the more brutal-looking.

No, this is the style of our artist for this issue, James Raiz, who we’ll be seeing a fair bit of over the next several issues. Raiz has worked on the Transformers franchise over the course of multiple license-holders, as well as contributed to both Marvel and DC comics. He also works in special effects, including matte painting and VFX. That’s just neat.

Anyway, the reason Swerve’s completely frozen in place isn’t because Rewind switched out his head-mounted camera for a gun that goes off if it hears you make a self-deprecating joke, but rather because he’s conducting interviews with everyone in the main cast. We get all their introductions, Cyclonus makes a statement about his political stances, Drift sounds like he’s high as a kite, First Aid strikes a sassy pose while not being bitter in the slightest, and Ultra Magnus makes a move that would get him murdered on any given film set in the universe.

You do NOT use your bare fucking hand to clean a camera lens, mister. Go get a microfiber cloth and try the fuck again, you complete and utter duffel bag of a creature.

We get a quick cut of the speech Rodimus made back in issue #1, with an angle that implies that Rewind was in the front row of the front row, then cut over to Rodimus asking Rewind to document their Capital-Q Quest. This is where we establish that this film doesn’t only contain footage from Rewind’s personal camera, but also that of the Lost Light’s security system.

Which feels like the sort of access you maybe wouldn’t want to give some nosy little film buff, especially when you have a secret giant serial killing sadist living in your basement like a disappointing adult child.

See? He was given the job to record the adventures of the Lost Light not five minutes ago, and he’s already using his powers for evil. Eavesdropping evil. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, Rodimus, and you just handed it to the guy with a massive Dominus Ambus-shaped chip on his shoulder.

So Rewind’s got permission to film just about whatever he wants, and Rodimus figures it’ll be nonstop action from here to the finish line! Fights! Intrigue! Mild hijinks and peril! Explosions aplomb! Oh man, I can’t wait to see what kinds of crazy shit will happen on this absolute roller coaster of a Quest!

Smashcut to Swerve literally falling asleep in the middle of a conversation. Yeah, as it turns out, no quest, capital Q or not, is nonstop action. Which is good, honestly, because that kind of seems like it would be exhausting after the first week or so.

Swerve, Tailgate, and Rewind are discussing cool alt-modes, which seems like an odd topic, seeing as Tailgate and Swerve have basically the same situation going on there, leaving Rewind alone in the camp of “does not have wheels”.

I worry about you sometimes, Rewind. Internalized Functionism is a very real problem. Uh, well, in your universe anyway. Us humans have to deal with regular ol’ classism and racism.

Rung gets brought up, and it’s revealed that the wheel on his back is almost purely cosmetic; it doesn’t even actually attach to his body. The lads decide that they’ve got nothing better to do, and set up a gentlemen’s wager- first one to figure out Rung’s whole deal gets 100 space-dollars.

Throwing shit at people’s heads will be a major plot point in the climax of this comic series.

Swerve’s go at trying to win the bet involved tossing a grenade at Rung to hit him in the neural cluster, which is rumored to be able to force an involuntary mode change if done correctly. Obviously, it didn’t work this go around. Then our narrative focus switches over to the crew’s hobbies.

You were listening to Prince, weren’t you, Magnus? Not even deep space is safe from the Cease and Desist.

Skids’ hobby is meeting new people, because he suffers from the terrible curse of being so fucking good at everything he tries, he always ends up dropping whatever he picked up, because what’s the point? This acts as a segue into another flashback, to even MORE bullshit that the fellas got roped into on Hedonia.

These are the Stentarians. They’re like the Cybertronians, if they were better in every way.

And by “better”, I, of course, mean “more bloodthirsty, warmongering, and driven enough to make their civil war last about as long as the Jurassic Period”. Also, they’re all combiners by default, and Whirl seems a little TOO into their whole situation. So much so, in fact, that when the Imperial Guard of their race show up to kill them, he decides to do them a solid by single-handedly ending their entire war.

You know, in most cases you’re supposed to show and not tell for visual media. This is way funnier, though, so it can be excused.

We jump back into the interviews, and Rewind’s just asked everyone if they’re happy. This might seem like an odd question, until you remember that everyone on-board this ship has crippling depression and PTSD, and Rewind’s married to one of the saddest motherfuckers to ever exist, so he probably has this question loaded into the proverbial chamber at any given moment. We won’t cover all of the answers here, because they’ll be more poignant to reflect back on later in the comic run, but let’s take a gander at the characters who’ve completed the first leg of their character arcs this season.

Drift, is that perhaps… an honest expression of your inner thought processes happening right there? Has Rewind broken through your carefully crafted persona, if even for just a moment, with his question? Perish the thought!

Because Tailgate outed himself as being baby in issue #21, I have zero doubt he’s not exaggerating here. He was a janitor, then he fell in a hole and became Dirt-Nap Supreme for six million years; even the most boring day on the Lost Light’s got to be better than that.

And it’s nice to see Chromedome on a good day for once. Hopefully he reveled in it while he had the chance, because this interview takes place maybe a couple weeks before he fucks everything up big time and has to blow up his husband with a missile strike.

Getting back to the Mystery of the Rungian Alt-Mode plotline, we see Rung using his backpack as a wheelbarrow- no idea what he’s actually pushing in the damned thing- and wearing the most disgruntled face I’ve seen him pull in a hot minute. Someone yells for him to come down the eerily unlit and sinister-looking hallway, which he does. Rung would not do well in a horror film.

He winds up at Swerve’s, where Tailgate, Swerve, Brainstorm, and someone who is most likely Trailcutter, given the colors, are hanging out in their alt-modes. Tailgate’s ploy to find out Rung’s deal is to do what he does best- lie! They’re having an alt-mode party, and wouldn’t Rung like to join in? There are, of course, logistical issues with being a car in a bar, especially when your drink is on the table and your head is tucked up somewhere in your torso, but never mind all that! Let’s get crazy!

This doesn’t work either. Maybe we should cut out the middle man here and just get Rung drunk enough to agree to a wet alt-mode contest.

No, I don’t have any idea how that would work.

In our next vignette, Rodimus comes into the comms room, Rewind trailing behind him like a grim shadow of death, to see what the hell Blaster wants, other than just the hugest glass of water.

Raiz’s work is very detailed, and you really feel the weight of these giant metal space robots, but everyone looks like they’ve been put through a food dehydrator.

We get a lot of build up to the character who’s about to be introduced, with a common opinion being shared amongst everyone- even Tailgate, who hates successful people like his life depends on it.

Lovely readers, put your hands together for the ideal male partner for Autobots, Decepticons, and Neutrals alike:

A man with so much charisma and charm that only Rodimus could hate him, Thuderclash brings to IDW what everyone wishes Optimus Prime would, making our disappointing space dad even more mediocre by comparison. He fights for justice, and freedom, and the good of the universe- and he does it all while having a chronic medical condition that forces him to stay within a certain distance of his ship that is also a life-support machine, otherwise he will die. Despite his handicaps, Thunderclash seemingly brings to others what they need most, even if they don’t even realize that they needed it in the first place.

He also, in this one scene, appeals to Drift’s religious sensibilities, does a secret best-friend dance with Ratchet (who he helped to pass his medical exams- yes, Ratchet), and congratulates Rodimus on his questing so far.

Thunderclash is one of those characters that everyone in-universe is supposed to love, and I completely buy it- because he’s completely genuine and humble about all of this the entire time.

Compare this to the last time Roberts wrote Thunderclash, in Eugenesis.

Where he was an ex-Decepticon.

And kind of an abrasive asshole.

And then he died.

Y’know, now that I think of it, Eugenesis Thunderclash and MTMTE Ambulon being basically the same character makes a whole lot of sense, even without the horrors of Roberts’ Twitter getting involved.

Thunderclash reveals that he, too, is on a quest to find the Knights of Cybertron, much to Rodimus’ chagrin. But first he needs the Lost Light to break out the jumper cables, and then for his second in command to stop threatening his life.

Turns out, not everyone is as obvious as the Cybertronians with their naming conventions. Whirl assassinated the wrong folks; I’m sure the Galactic Council is utterly thrilled. Paddox wants to steal the quantum engine technology for the good of his people, so they can kick the ass of the up-and-coming Terradore leader.

Completely unaware of the situation unfolding here in the lab, Swerve is directing Rung towards the warm, loving aura of Thunderclash for another go at winning the gentlemen’s wager- through the power of lying about having friends, Swerve’s “agreed” to get Rung Thunderclash’s autograph, in exchange for getting to check that Rung’s transformation cog is still working. Then they bump into the nightmare currently unfolding. My, whoever will save us from this dreaded menace, who holds a gun to the head of the Autobots’ greatest warrior, confidant, friend, and perhaps even lover?

How about a bartender and a giant vape pen?

Okay, so Rung doesn’t actually turn into a vape. It turns out that the Mystery of the Rungian Alt-Mode is also a mystery to the man himself. Because Rung is old as shit, the Functionists got to see this bullshit for themselves, and ended up testing him over and over and over trying to figure it out, lest he prove to be a flaw in their fascist ideologies. Fun fact: fascists HATE it when people they’re trying to oppress don’t play to their expectations.

The Functionists were the ones who gave Rung his little wheelie backpack, to make him at least appear useful. This sort of treatment tends to warp one’s head a bit, which would explain why he’s bothered to keep it for so long- internalized functionism’s a real bitch.

At least he’s not giving teenagers nicotine addictions under the guise of being somewhat better than cigarettes.

Back with Rodimus and Cybertron’s Autobot of the Year for 40,000 consecutive years, we get the unfortunate news that jump-starting Thunderclash’s ship is going to make the Quest go a bit slower for the Lost Light, much to Rodimus’ horror, though he does his best to put on a brave face; after all, that’s what heroes do, isn’t it?

It’s at this point that it’s revealed that “Little Victories” was being screened to all the Circle of Light members who didn’t get murdered or turned into Legislators on Luna 1, and man are these guys pissy. What was meant to be a recruitment video turned out to do just the opposite, because none of these guys want anything to do with what the Lost Light’s got going on.

Too bad Rewind didn’t have time for a cleaner cut for showing. Maybe they could have at least snagged a couple of these guys to tag along.

As all of the Circle of Light leave the theatre to go call everyone’s favorite Autobot to see if he needs a more crew members, the film plays on behind Skids, back to the interviews, as everyone promises more adventures just waiting on the horizon.

You’re not even on this trip anymore, you dork.

Chromedome gives us the title drop for the movie and issue, and we cut to Rewind organizing a group photo of all the interviewees.

And then Rewind died horribly like a week later. Thus ends season one of More Than Meets the Eye!

While I’m here, I’d like to take the time to cover a little bit of cut content from this issue, a scene between Drift and Ratchet.

Drift, during his interview, recalls the time that Ratchet called him into his office for a very serious discussion about his/Pharma’s hands.

Yeah, turns out they’re haunted.

Well, no, not really, because this is a prank. But Drift doesn’t know that yet.

Ratchet demonstrates this hand-haunting by punching Drift in the face, as he screams damnation at Pharma’s ghost. Drift, because he is a spiritual man, knows exactly what to do to deal with this possession; he draws his sword and chops Ratchet’s hands off, then throws them out the airlock.

This, too, is a prank, not that Ratchet knows it right away, yelling at Drift that he’s crippled him.

Clearly, these two belong together.

This bit of cut script was lucky enough to have gotten drawn by the colorist for MTMTE Season 1, Josh Burcham. Burcham’s line art is iconic- you won’t mistake him for anyone else. It’s rough and angular, and honestly just very charming. I’m a sucker for this sort of style. If you want to see his adaptation of this chunk of script- and trust me, you do- the link’s right here:

https://dcjosh.tumblr.com/post/107665292031/its-done-the-mtmte-22-deleted-scene-in-all-its

#transformers #jro #mtmte #issue 22 #maccadam #Hannzreads #text post #long post #comic script writing

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smokeybrand · 3 years

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This is the Good Life

I read a ton of manga. I find the content coming out of Japan to be far more genuine and creative than the sh*tshow comic industry we have here in the states. I’m not saying there isn’t good content to be found in the massive annals of Marvel and DC, i am in particular love with whatever the f*ck is going on with the X-titles right now, but that is the exception, not the rule. Japan is different. Even the most blatant shill of a cash-in has a unique spin to it. When the moe boom happened and we were inundated with slice of life fodder for a decades, shows like Higurashi, Toradora, Haruhi, Lucky Star, and basically anything out of Kyoto animation, were absolute masterpieces. Each tells a distinct story, adapting that cutesy art style to their respective strengths, and it worked beautifully. The homogeneity of formulaic content here in the US, isn’t really a concern overseas and that is a wonderful thing. It makes for amazing storytelling and a creativity freedom, even when awash in trend or fad. I say all of this to preface the fact that Kajiya De Hajimeru Isekai Slow Life is chef kiss levels of shine, even if it is a manga staunchly entrenched in the grating isekai fad.

Now, i say “grating” in the glib sense because i genuinely love the isekai genre. I have for decades, going back to Escaflowne, El Hazard, .Hack, and Rayearth. What i think most people are frustrated with, is the OP protagonist in these stories. You can only identify with some, overwhelming, power fantasy, so many times going into these tales. How do you frame that narrative? how do you keep it compelling? You don’t. Entries like Overlord and Tensei Shitara Suraimu Datta Ken do a great job avoiding that stagnation by building out the world around their ridiculously plot-armored mains but that doesn’t work all of the time. If you want a character driven narrative, you have to build great characters. You have to make your principal cast affable, flawed, and fun. I think that’s the strength in Kajiya De Hajimeru Isekai Slow Life. You almost immediately fall in love with the cast you’re going to sped all of your time with and that’s absolutely necessary because this story is as much about the world building as it is about the main cast, themselves.

Slow Life follows Eizo Tanya, who is hit by a truck in the process of saving a cat, who turned out to be an inter-dimensional god or something. Since the Kitty deity f*cked up and was almost “killed’, causing Eizo’s death in turn, it offers to reincarnate him into a brand new world with a mad overpowered cheat skill. Eizo gives it a thought and chooses - blacksmithing! You see, Eizo was a salaryman, bitterly unhappy with his life in the old times. He wanted, more than anything, to be able to work with his hands in the new world so, instead of asking for he power to be a Hero or some vicious Demon Lord, he just wanted the ability to make dope sh*t in the woods. Kitty Deity is a little surprised but grants Eizo his wish and, boom! We have the foundation for a pretty delightful romp. Stuff happens, Eizo gets a tiger wife and a dwarf apprentice. His craftsmanship is the best in the world and his tale toward legendary status begins.

The simplicity of this narrative is one that has a level of accessibility not found in most isekai. The simple desire of a man, overworked and looking to be fulfilled, to find value, in what he does with his life, really resonates with cats like me who have been in the workforce for decades. I left my job a year ago to pursue my dream of crating so i identify with Eizo’s passion to be more than just a cg in a machine. More than that, i love the way he is written. Eizo feels real, like a proper person lost in a world of fantasy and magic. The supporting cast is also amazing and decently developed. I immediately fell in love with tiger waifu, Samia. She is capable, tenacious, curious, and f*cking adorable. There isn’t a ton of groundwork about her past being laid but i have a feeling we’ll definitely get into that as the narrative develops and i can’t wait to see where that leads. Newcomer to the story is the dwarf apprentice, Riku Moritz. We haven’t had a great deal of time with her so far, but she comes across as a studious, knowledgeable, junior who yearns to be the best at her craft. She reminds me of Miles Morales from Into the Spider-Verse, to Eizo’s Peter B. Parker and i adore that type of dynamic. We are only a handful of chapters in, but this story seems like it has legs and i look forward to where it goes in the future. I’d say it’s a slow burn, but it really isn’t.

I was hooked from chapter one and a lot of that, aside from the great writing and developing character work, stems from the artwork. My, goodness, is Slow Life gorgeous! There is a purposeful elegance to how these lines and strokes come together. The line work is clean and precise, granting each panel thjust the right amount of detail hile staying true to the artist's personal vision. It's actually very refreshing to see. The style is very distinct and carries it's own, unique hallmarks, similar to Toriyama or Oda, but slightly more relaistic than those. I am absolutely in love with it. Like, i follow a few trash rags because the art is dope and immediately hooked me. Isekai Meikyuu de Dorei Harem Wo, Gunbured X Sisters, or Kouya Ni Kemono Doukokusu immediately come to mind, all decent in their own right, but it’s very obvious the strength of these entries lies in the art. True to form, it took a while for me to get into their respective narratives and, in all honesty, they’ve gotten pretty good but those first few chapters were a bit rocky. The art kept me coming back and now, these three are some of my favorite titles to read. Slow Life did not have that issue. The art immediately took my breath away. It felt like cracking open Tsugumomo, BLEACH, Lv2 kara Cheat datta Moto Yuusha Kouho no Mattari Isekai Life, Gleipnir, Meikyuu Black Company, or Isekai De Skill Wo Kaitai Shitara Cheat Na Yome Ga Zoushoku Shimashita: Gainen Kousa No Structure. That’s a lot of titles but i am a slut for great, unique, artwork and these entries hit my sweet spot immediately. I’m just lucky that the narrative accompanying them was enough to do the linework justice because it would have been a shame to abandon these titles over sheer ugliness. Slow life definitely dodged that bullet. It is, without hyperbole, some of the best looking manga I've seen in years.

Kajiya De Hajimeru Isekai Slow Life is absolutely amazing. It’s an easy read filled with exceptional art, deft character work, and a world that is both compelling and growing steadily. Eizo is a great protagonist, easily to identify with and none of the edgelord OP, baggage most Isekai protags tend to have. Samia is a delightful love interests who carries a quiet strength and enjoyable naivety, which immediately endears and Riku is just plain hilarious. This laid back narrative of a smith who just wants to make dope sh*t, while being dope to his tiger wife and faithful apprentice is an distinct palate cleanser in a world of power fantasy saturated, isekai, trash. I love this book and feel like more people should have eyes on it so, you know, got put your eyes on it. You won’t be disappointed. Also, all the other titles i specifically mentioned. They’re worth a gander, too, especially Isekai De Skill Wo Kaitai Shitara Cheat Na Yome Ga Zoushoku Shimashita: Gainen Kousa No Structure and Lv2 kara Cheat datta Moto Yuusha Kouho no Mattari Isekai Life. Them sh*ts is just plain lovable and have two more of these objectively bias essays forthcoming. But that’s for later, for now, go read all of Kajiya De Hajimeru Isekai Slow Life, right now! Is totally worth! Plus, Samia is f*cking adorable, man. Seriously, tiger waifu is best girl!

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popculturebuffet · 4 years

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Daisy’s Family Headcanons

Whelp a few days ago I had the mixed bag of watching “Daisy’s Diary”. It’s the short that inspired Daisy’s wonderful Ducktales 2017 design, and had some cute donald and daisy stuff... for the first half, the second I could barely watch as his vision of married life was “I go to work all day then come home to a nagging wife who makes me do everything. I also get upset because she’s a human being who has to put effort into looking like she does. “ It really killed the momentum. esepcially since i’ts one of the few really romantic shorts with the two I could find, again only for the first half. But while I came in expecting a terrible second half and breezed and skipped through it as mucha s I could, I did find something I didn’t REMOTELY expect. Daisy has a family. And I don’t mean her nieces and unnamed sister, I mean three brothers (subbing in for HDL, using basically the same design), and more suprisingly a mother and dad.

Now granted i’m sure mickey and donald characters have HAD parents before, but it’s still rare. Mostly it’s nieces and nephews, with goofy being one of the few dads I can think of in disney canon. But no here, while it’s for a short that’s about marriage and thus necessictating “meeting the parents” it’s still.. suprising. Before watching the short i’d pegged daisy and her sister as orphans like donald.. but now I wanted to flesh these characters out. SO here we are. Daisy’s Mom: Janiss Duck (Named after her voice actress, Vivi Janiss)

Janiss lived a hard life: She’s had to use a hearing aid since a young age (updated from the short giving her an old fashioned listening horn thing for a quick, terribly aged gag), and is deaf without it. Not only that but she worked hard for her education degree, and due to her parents refusing to put her through school, had to do so herself. It was working at her college that she met a fellow student and her future husband, Franklin Duck. The two married after graduation, and have been happy since, though being more of a realist than her husband she’s often frustrated with his flighty ways, but loves him all the same. Despite a rough life, and being a stern parent when her twin daughters were born, she still loves her children dearly and dotes on them and fusses over them. She’s also supportive of her daughter’s dream: While she wasn’t sure at first, she eventually came around, seeing in her daughter the same drive she had at her age, and has been valuable emotional support as her adult daughter has tried her best to climb up in the fashion world and had to work for a lot of people who treated her like dirt, something Janiss knows all too well. Even being fully aware of this Janiss has still had to resist hte urge to sock Glamour in the face for her treatment of her daughter. Janiss hard work has paid off however as she is currently headmistress at Daphne Gander Elementary, Duckberg’s finest private school, bought by gladstone’s mother at some point in the past and renamed from a name I do not have. She has won an award from the Elvira Coot Women’s Association and won the “Greater Callisota Educator of the Year” award three times, and the duckberg principal of the year award 5 times in a row. Franklin Duck (Named not after any famous duck people but Franklin Sherman from the animated show “The Critic)

Franklin is a bit of a lunatic, a bit of a weirdo.. but he’s also warm, kind and a loving husband and father. He had a lifelong love of photography, adventure and taking the most of life and easily swept his future wife off her feet with his energy and kidness. And thanks to his wife’s far steadier career, Franklin’s been able to persue whatever gigs he pleased, while still bringing home a decent amount of money for his growing family. His “do it whenever the mood strikes me” style to his career DID however mean he was often home for his kids and more than happy to do the housework and other chores. The result was a chaotic but loving house and that attidue persits. And while he can drop in for some lunacy with his daughters, they do appricate him carring..e ven if they wished he’d call instead of randomly showing up in the bathtub. Al, Carl, and Keno (Named for Al Talifino, Keno Don Rosa and Carl Barks)

Daisy’s little brothers. I do see them aged up to their late teens due to being kids in this short with Daisy, as well as being inspried by @moonstoneflowers aging up of the nieces, but wanting to keep them the boys age. Plus it made no real sense to have daisy have TWO groups of 10-11 kids, nor did the age make sense with how old daisy’s parents would be int he reboot. So their teens. Al is laid back, to the point of letharigc but highly creative.. he’s also high a lot of the time, but makes a point to never do it when the girls or, now that daisy’s seeing donald, boys will be around. Carl is more of the sporting type, already having a track scholarship and does fencing in his spare time. Despite this he’s a nice inclusive fellow. he also came out several years ago to his family’s unanmous acceptance. Keno is a bit of a stickler, and can go on for hours and hours about how much he hates superheroes and other certain things that set him off, but is also a masterful artist, and a dedicated son, taking good care of both parents when he can. Donna Duck:

I decided after reading the aformentioned moonstone’s fanfic to go with the old tried and true , Rosa approved theroy of donna being daisy’s sister. Donna wasn’t as driven as her sister at first, loving to party, have fun and generally not worry about the future.. till she ended up pregnant with a father who had no intrest in his incoming daughters and only agreed to help support them because Janis railed him out, but had no intrest in actually raising or ever knowing them. Donna however ended up thriving under the pressure, quickly getting a job at a local party planning buisness for upstart buisness woman Brigitta Macbridge. In time her job and the buisness florished and when her boss moved on to start up other ventures, donna was givne the full reigns and with her families help was able to, and stil lis able to juggle it with 3 daughters. Who I will get to at some point, but feel I must have time to think of hence April, may and june being absent for now, as I feel they should be as fleshed out as the boys. For now this is where I leave things. I hope you enjoyed this.. either way it was nice to get it all out there.

#Donald DUck #Daisy Duck #Donna Duck #Daisy's diary #ducktales 2017 #ducktales #headcannons #disney

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smokeybrandreviews · 3 years

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This is the Good Life

#Kajiya De Hajimeru Isekai Slow Life #Manga

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lutrain2020 · 4 years

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Meet the Creator!

Introducing: @moriafriend or Jackie!

Commissions: I don’t offer commissions now, and I really don’t see myself offering them in the near future, but if you stick around, I know I definitely will at some point!

Social Media: Tumblr: @moriafriend Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moriafriend/ Twitter (not active on it right now): https://twitter.com/moriafriend

What's your artistic process like?

My artistic upbringing is deeply rooted in doodling all over my schoolwork, so I definitely cherish sketching. I’ve never quite had the time (or the attention span...) to sit and finish line art traditionally, but digital art is quicker, so I try to finish it there. Most of the art I’ve posted has been traditional. I’m still quite new to digital art, so I have yet to explore the mechanics and abilities of Paint Tool SAI (the program I use), but I’m gettin’ there! I just recently started using the “listen-to-music-really-loud-and-draw” method, and it’s doing wonders for my focus! With both my school art and fanart, I go in with little to no plan, and I take pride in what I’m capable of improvising! Winging it is a talent of mine in general, so I love getting my hands coated with paint and just deciding to paint with them instead of my brushes, drawing a shape and making it what I imagine it to be, adding funny little details, etcétera etcétera.

Tell us a little bit about yourself!

My name’s Jackie, but I like being called “moria” because of my username. I’m sort of a “jack-of-all-trades” (ha, ha): I know how to code in three languages (javascript, java, python), adore (astro)physics, was a fastpitch softball pitcher (for 8 years, ‘til school got too strenuous), can play the cello, piano, and harmonica, and make an effort to kiss my girlfriend as often as possible! My favorite color is navy blue because it reminds me of outer space. I really love reading about and talking about mythos/lore (which is part of the reason why I love Linked Universe: the lore pops OFF) and about music theory/movie soundtracks!

What kind of mediums do you like to use?

For fan art, I usually do traditional sketches with mechanical pencils, and sometimes I scan the sketches and use ‘em for digital art :0 ! For art in general, I LOVE acrylic painting (esp. when it gets on my hands >:) ) and have found that I’m pretty okay at using colored pencils too, to my surprise!

What got you into art? what inspires you to keep creating art?

I have ADHD-I, more commonly known as ADD, so my experience in art is largely placed in doodling in school to help me listen better. I would only ever draw people until I got a formal education, and now I only draw people, like, 90% of the time...! My best friend and girlfriend are both artists, and they inspire me to create as well. My biggest inspiration, though, has been my hyperfixations throughout the years! For as long as I’ve been drawing, I’ve been drawing fanart, and I don’t regret it in the slightest. I love my interests too much! :D

What's your favorite/least favorite subjects to use in your art?

I LOVE drawing characters from my hyperfixations, so... that’s definitely my favorite subject to use. I don’t have a least favorite subject, honestly—I’m the kind of person whose default is to like things, so unless something actively gets on my nerves, I don’t dislike it! Even if I’m bad at it... (For which subject I’m worst with? Probably animals. Just haven’t practiced enough!!)

If you have any fun stories about the pieces you made, please do share!

The Legend I drew with pencil that I scanned (if you’d take a gander at my instagram) was created at around 1 AM one night when I was getting ready for bed, went to the bathroom, saw a roach in there, and promptly grabbed several towels, made my escape, and placed the rolled up towels under the bathroom door (so it couldn’t get out) and under my door (so I would feel slightly safer...). After that, I shut myself in my room and drew Legend in one adrenaline-pumped sitting, and decided to post it the next morning. That post turned out to be what made me return to my art account and become active, and was what led to my warm welcome into the LU art community on Instagram! So I guess I owe it all to the roach... thanks for being scary? In general, at this point, everything I’ve posted has been something I drew at an ABSURD hour of the night. (We’re talkin’ worked on from 1-5 AM, folks.) That’s when I can go longest without my focus being interrupted, because everyone else is asleep! And my ADHD medicine gives me insomnia if I take it too late! But I’m partying!

#Meet the Creator #lutrain2020 #lu #linkeduniverse

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itsclydebitches · 5 years

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RWBY Recaps: Vol. 5 The More the Merrier

This is a re-posting from October 9th, 2018 in an effort to get all my recaps fully on tumblr. Thanks!

Hello, moon.

Will we ever learn what happened to you? Not in this episode! That ominous shot (countered with the oddly soothing sound of crickets) is just to situate us before we pan down, revealing the gang making their way to the meeting with Lionheart. And honestly? I kind of love everything about this composition. Let’s tick things off:

We have Jaune and Ren mirroring each other with determined expressions and clenched fists. They’re ready to kick ass if need be.

Same with Ruby and Nora except they look like they’re out for a casual moonlit stroll—with the added bonus that Nora is manically thrilled about this adventure.

Yang is pretty blasé. Been there. Done that. Survived worse.

Weiss? The embodiment of “Ugh I could be home right now instead of walking around in this heat this had better not mess up my hair.”

Oscar looks way out of his depth and is hanging back from the rest, as we’d expect given that he’s a farm boy joining a group of elite fighters that have had years to bond without him. It’s Awkward New Kid Syndrome with a side of extreme danger.

And then there’s Qrow. Out in front. Suspicious looks all around. Iconic hunched shoulders. Really wants to put his hands in his pockets but the animation isn’t quite there yet. Behold, everyone. Our leader.

For real though, jokes aside I honest to god love this opening. It’s quick and from a practical standpoint sets up only that they’re heading somewhere as a group, but if you take the time to actually look you’ll see each of their personalities shining through. We might bitch about RWBY’s faults, but there’s a whole lot of love poured into this series and more often than not you can see it in the details.

Ruby pauses then to take in Haven tower—always one to appreciate beauty even when things are bleak—and then hangs back until Oscar has caught up. It’s a wonderful little moment between them because there’s no dialogue and ultimately none is needed. He doesn’t stop for reassurance, but he could. Ruby gives him that option and waits until Oscar passes her before continuing herself. The whole scene is heavy and poignant. There’s nothing but music until they arrive inside and Lionheart breaks the peace with, “Why hello. There… seems to be more of you than last time.”

Yeah. You can hear the fear in his voice. As if the rest of this setup didn’t already scream “TRAP, TRAP, TRAP,” He’s gotta be super suspicious in his greeting too. Leading them out here in the dead of night. Lionheart up on the podium—both figuratively putting himself above them and literally keeping himself out of harm’s way. Then the first thing out of his mouth is a worried comment on their numbers? Suspicious, suspicious.

Qrow: “Oh you know what they say. The more the merrier.”

He did the title thing! Love that.

Except the delivery makes it clear that Qrow is also suspicious as hell. No one has drawn their weapon yet, but the fight has already started. Qrow and Ozpin know that this is no simple meeting. Now Lionheart knows that they know. A quick shot reveals both his fear and the fact that he came with a weapon of his own:

Qrow tries to continue the charade by asking what’s up with the council and Lionheart is so bad at acting casual it’s actually painful to watch. He wants to know why they all brought THEIR weapons while hiding his own behind his back. As if they in any way failed to miss him standing there with it in full view for the last thirty seconds.

I can’t with this guy. He's just so bad at being bad I almost feel sorry for him.

(Although, as we in the U.S. have certainly discovered the last two years, the incompetent ones are often the most dangerous…)

As said, the fight has already begun. While Qrow and Lionheart trade subtext Yang checks out their perimeter, immediately picking up on the raven that just happens to be chilling on the banister. A simple, whispered “Mom?” and Qrow has his weapon out and a shot off, barely missing Raven as she swoops down beside Lionheart.

Can we appreciate that reaction time for a second? I feel like between Ozpin’s Super Secret Magic and Qrow’s self-deprecating drinking the fandom tends to forget that he’s easily one of the most powerful fighters we’ve seen to date. He demonstrated that in his playful spar against Winter, keeping Tyrian on his toes while also ensuring that the kids were safe, and here as he responds blindingly fast to a one syllable word. A few seconds later Raven calls him out for missing or, just as likely, deliberately missing since he doesn't want to kill her—yet. Which makes it all the more impressive that he can aim and achieve the results he wants in such a short amount of time. You 100% do not want to fuck with Qrow.

A nice cut using Lionheart’s back and Raven becomes human once more. In the realm of ‘artists paying careful attention to how their background characters act,’ Oscar is uncomfortable but isn’t even looking at the threat—almost like he’s listening carefully to something the rest of them can’t hear—while Nora looks downright floored. “They really are magic,” she says to herself, solidifying with evidence what they'd been told a few episodes back.

Okay. Rant time. I still don’t buy these reactions. Really not great on the world building front here. I mean, we’ve had Pyrrha who controls magnetism, Ren who manipulates emotions, Yang has a Hulk mode that includes changing eye color, Blake can create clones of herself, Weiss is basically a necromancer, Ruby turns into rose petals, give him an episode and Jaune will straight up heal a girl, and Nora herself can store/release electricity. Why is turning into a bird so incredibly shocking? It would feel way more natural if they saw Raven and Qrow’s transformations and went, “Okay… so that’s their semblance?” and then Oz has to explain about the difference—being born with an ability vs. being granted it—which is cool and there’s surprise that that’s a Thing, but their reaction to the ability itself is still pretty meh. Because they’ve literally seen weirder.

We’re given no indication as to WHY a bird transformation instinctually reads as more impossible than transforming into rose petals, other than “one is magic and one is not because we say so.” There’s no justification behind the characters’ ability to recognize magic when they see it, especially given the incredibly wide range of abilities RWBY has shown us over the years. Either attach more overt rules to semblances (obvious boundaries where the viewer understands what is and is not possible) or make Ozpin’s magic look radically different. In this world summoning storms and turning into birds doesn't read as radically different. Hell, in many ways Dust, an incredibly common commodity, is more powerful than this supposedly gasp-worthy magic. Why be impressed with Raven summoning rain clouds when Weiss can create powerful winds in her fight against Flynt with just a bit of Daddy’s money?

But anyway. I digress.

The verbal sparring continues. Oscar still isn’t making eye contact. Raven spouts more of her excuses, Salem can’t possibly be stopped, we're all out for ourselves, blah blah blah. Ruby emphasizes that they’ve already done the impossible, but they only achieved that because they were working together. Separation and a pessimistic attitude is exactly what Salem wants. Ruby wants Raven to join them.

And take a gander at that contrast between sisters. As I’ve said before, Ruby is the classic full-of-heart protagonist who believes that almost everyone can be redeemed. As we’ll see in a second, the exemption to this appears to be Cinder. Her murder of Penny and Pyrrha highlights her irredeemability in a way that overshadows Raven’s—and even Salem’s—more nebulous crimes. The bigger your actions are the harder they are to conceptualize. The smaller and more personal they are the harder they are to forgive. Paradoxically, it’s easier for someone like Ruby (and the fandom…) to shrug off Raven’s actions because as of yet she hasn't felt their repercussions as intimately.

Yang though? She has. And in this moment she’s not ready to forgive.

Raven refuses of course and tells Ruby she sounds just like her mother. (Give us flashbacks of Summer!) She summons a portal where a fireball flies through, hitting Ruby square in the chest and allowing the whole evil gang to join the party. We get a closeup on Oscar as he and Oz recognize Hazel, locking them inside while the White Fang sets up their bombs.

Hazel: “No one’s getting in… and no one’s getting out.”

Because RWBY, for all its dark storylines, is still hella cheesy at times lol.

Weiss: “So this was all just a trap?”

Ren: “It appears so…”

Ah, naive little children. If only you were watching from our fourth wall perspective you would have realized it was a trap more than an episode ago! Too bad.

We learn that Lionheart was the one who secured Team Bad a place in the Vytal festival. Not only that, but he’s been passing information about huntsmen and huntress whereabouts to Salem. That’s how they were all murdered and Qrow’s realization of this—after spending all that time looking for them and hoping against hope—is definitely a kicker. “I couldn’t find any of them… because you let her kill them.”

Keep in mind, most of those people were Qrow’s friends.

Jaune, as we’d expect, is at his breaking point. Pyrrha’s murderer is standing right there and, as he says, rubbing their faces in how many people she’s killed—“All with that damn smile on your face!” We’ve had all of two instances of RWBY cursing and it’s definitely needed here. I appreciate that his tears and his anger are basically a call to arms. Most everyone draws their weapon as soon as he's finished speaking. Qrow’s still trying to keep the peace, but Jaune’s very existence is a walking testament to exactly how much these people deserve to be brought to justice.

He yells that he’s going to make Cinder pay for what she did and then comes the most brutal line in all of RWBY.

Cinder: “Who are you again?”

Damn. They’re never gonna top that.

Perfect characterization though. As the audience it’s easy to forget who knows who in a big ensemble cast and, more importantly, who cares about who. From Cinder’s perspective Jaune is a nobody she's barely met. Why would she remember him? If she’d instead made a taunt about his dead girlfriend most of us probably would have just shrugged off the plot-hole, but paying attention to details like this is not only, a) satisfying but b) wonderfully vicious. Way to twist the knife here.

Jaune attacks as we knew he would but Cinder easily blocks him. Ruby joins the fray only to be stopped by Emerald—“You’re not getting near her.” (Love the devotion.) Yang pairs off with Mercury to settle an old score. Raven orders Vernal to take out “the heiress” (rude, she has a name) and in another excellent nod to the switcheroo that tricked both the team and a large chunk of the fandom, she casually throws out that Vernal doesn’t need to use her power to kill a kid.

Good excuse too. Considering, you know, she doesn’t have any.

No more fake outs. Qrow attacks Raven head on with the announcement that they’re not family anymore. Harsh, but deserved. Raven’s “Were we ever?” smells more like denial. We also get a good look at their similar, but differently balanced color schemes.

As their fight takes them out of frame we stay with a rather terrified Weiss. To her credit though she holds her ground against Vernal, assuring her that she’s “more than a name.”

Finally, Ren and Nora—ever the perfect duo—are left to fend off Hazel. He’s one of those real asshole villains who has a “code” that they follow. He doesn’t want to fight two kids half his age and power level… but he has to. Just like he has to keep pursuing his misguided revenge against Ozpin. And he, like Raven, feels the need to announce to the world that this isn’t what he’d prefer. It’s just how things are! Totally out of his hands, I’m sorry to say.

We’re seeing a trend with the villains and their justifications, yeah?

With everyone paired off Ozpin-Oscar (I need a portmanteau for them…) sneaks over to confront Lionheart. Lionheart goes from telling this supposed stranger to get himself out of the fight while he can to attacking him with a rock-lava-energy blast thing in like five seconds flat. Of course, our two favorite BAMFs block it with ease and we get the RWBY equivalent of,

(x)

Holy shit this kid blocked my hit??

Beautiful.

The second the cane comes out though everything makes sense and we get another stellar line of “Not quite” when Lionheart identifies him as Ozpin. I really love that they let Oscar handle the first half of this battle. Yeah, it’s a little flimsy that he’s able to take on an adult after just a few weeks of training, but we also don’t know how much he and Oz are already sharing. Fighting might come naturally to him now in a muscle memory sort of way. Regardless, he kicks ass and I’m loving it.

“You found Qrow,” Lionheart says. “How?” implying that he might have been doing even more work than we saw to keep those two apart. A voiceover from Ozpin wonders what happened to his former ally. The fact that Lionheart knows all the details of Ozpin’s reincarnation tells us that yeah, they were really, really close.

That knowledge is dangerous too. Realizing that Ozpin “couldn’t have had that form for long” Lionheart gets over the debilitating shock of fighting, you know, Ozpin. We hear him rationalizing in the wonderfully creepy manner of the desperate that this is just a boy in front of him, a boy soon to be Ozpin, and if he delivers the kid to Salem he’ll “finally be free" of her. Sounds a lot like Raven thinking that the relic will protect her; a lot like a hurt Tyrian muttering that she’ll forgive him.

RWBY does a good job of reminding us in small ways how utterly terrifying Salem is...and what that fear drives people to do.

This would be the (supposedly) perfect moment for Ozpin to take over. Oh no! Lionheart is all serious now! Oscar is worried! But the only thing Ozpin does is tell him to “fight.” I’ve heard a lot of people in the fandom claim that Ozpin is a monster for his possession, culpable for something that’s outside of his control. But Ozpin has no desire to take over people’s lives like this and—unlike Hazel or Raven—it really is out of his hands, to say nothing of the fact that he does all he can to actually achieve what he thinks is right. He can’t keep himself from merging with Oscar, but he can give Oscar as much agency as humanly possible, including here. The only times we see Ozpin take that agency away is when it really is for the greater good (they can’t afford to hide on a farm forever) or when Oscar is well and truly in over his head, like after the fight with Hazel goes on too long. Taking over Oscar at that point is to save his life, akin to forcing someone out of the way of a blast.

But we’ll get to that.

We come back to the fight between Weiss and Vernal as Weiss tries to buy herself enough time to summon her knight. Vernal easily cuts through her summoning though… which is kind of a relief? In that RWBY (usually) knows when to limit new powers. If Weiss had no real limitations on her summoning—the time it takes, the energy it requires—we’d be wondering why she didn’t just summon a whole, super-powered army every time they were in a spot of trouble. Too many shows (Supernatural...) craft crazy powerful characters and then conveniently forget about that power when it would too easily solve a conflict.

Also, check out that smile from Vernal.

We segue to Cinder and Jaune. Kudos to Jaune for holding his own one-on-one! He really is Pyrrha’s student. Remember what other kid managed to hold her own against a freaking Maiden, at least for a time?

Emerald won’t let Ruby get anywhere near Cinder. She “owes her everything" after all. But she’s willing to indulge her (so to speak) and summons up a mirage of Cinder to fly at Ruby. That and the resulting attack startles her enough that she sets off Crescent Rose, the bullet narrowly missing Weiss.

…Portent of things to come.

Because we’re back on Weiss and it's becoming clear to the viewer why we’ve been focusing so much on her in this battle. A shock from Vernal’s weapon rips out a scream from her, draws Jaune’s attention, and Cinder cruelly asks if he’ll “let her die too.”

Gotta have the fake-out first though. Deciding to take him seriously, Cinder charges with intent to kill and the head-on strike triggers Ruby into remembering Pyrrha’s death. Her silver eyes instinctually go off, blinding everyone and halting the battle.

Emerald knocks her out fast but even those few seconds was enough to effect Cinder. Apparently once you’re struck by that kind of power your body remembers it. She’s down on her knees, clearly in pain, and Jaune takes the opportunity to get a strike in, managing to clip the half-mask she wears.

And yeah. Cinder’s pissed.

Partly from getting caught in one of Ruby’s blasts again. Partly because a “nobody” like Jaune managed to hit her. Awful when that power you sought isn’t as perfect as you were promised, huh? Jaune makes the mistake though of declaring that he’s not important, only his friends are… and Cinder knows exactly how to make one of the good guys suffer.

Why just kill him when you can instead kill the girl he was worried about moments before? Why grant him peace when you can vividly recreate the trauma of Pyrrha’s death instead?

We have just enough time left in the episode to see the team’s shocked faces, watch Cinder’s weapon disappear, and then we cut with Weiss in mid-fall.

It’s a brutal combo of content and editing. Thanks, Rooster Teeth! I hate it!

We all know how things turn out though… so that's some kind of comfort. Until next time!

Other Details of Note

When everyone enters Haven tower we see this statue… and honestly I’m not entirely sure what to make of it. Something something it’s a maiden guarding a Maiden relic. Something something broken chains and freedom. Something something Atlas-esque imagery of holding up a world…you get the idea. It’s symbolic.

Cinder calls Qrow “little bird” and Lionheart “lion.” Always something wonderfully creepy about villains with a penchant for nicknames.

When Jaune first charges Cinder we pull back behind the chain on the statue and see it sway from the force of his attack. It’s quick and subtle, but an excellent visual detail to show us how strong he’s gotten. Pre-Fall of Beacon Jaune never would have managed that kind of force.

For all its faults in places, I enjoy how much this fight makes use of space, especially when it comes to Weiss using her glyphs. It’s not perfect or as complex as what we might have had with Monty, but I think the team is improving in their choreography overall.

Yes, Jaune is well over his schoolboy crush on Weiss---something I'm pleased about---but it still hits hard to have her as the victim here. Out of every team member Cinder could have targeted she chooses the one other girl Jaune might have had legitimate, romantic feelings for. In an alternate timeline, so to speak.

So the whole “villain walks slowly towards the person they’re gonna kill and everyone who normally has superhuman reflexes doesn’t move an inch” trope is crazy annoying, right? Just putting that out there...

#rwby #mymetas #RWBY Recaps

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alicewed-blog · 5 years

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The Lovely Wedding Collections

Subsequent to seeing my lovely wedding collections loaded up with narrative pictures recounting the tale of a comparative couples wedding at a similar scene and hearing about their wedding dreams they choose to book me as their picked wedding picture taker. Throughout the following couple of months I met them again alongside their folks meaning we had shaped an incredible association with Lucy and Declan as well as their folks too.

Hanna as a component of the wedding and occasions group at Danesfield give stunning help and counsel with respect to the arranging your big day including some other extraordinary providers. Their wedding bundles incorporate a toastmaster to fill your heart with joy extremely uncommon and it is in every case flawless to work with Graham Dorward. The couple took the wedding photographer in Delhi recommendation and they booked myself as their picture taker, Seventh Heaven as their flower vendor and PW Audios to supply their disco and lighting including their initials and LOVE, for the gathering.

Lucy and Declan met as youngsters however got together late and have now been dating for a long time they truly are a couple in affection. I asked Lucy how Declan had proposed to her and in extraordinary detail she let me know with the greatest grin all over that it was on a trek to New York together where he got down on one knee and proposed , back in London they picked her excellent wedding band together.

While taking a gander at a few settings when they saw Danesfield House and its eminent grounds the experienced passionate feelings for the spot and just realized it was the ideal wedding scene for them to hold their wedding gathering as they would state their pledges in adjacent Cookham at The Holy Trinity Church in a conventional marriage administration.

Lucy discovered her dress in Pure Couture, in Beaconsfield, a delightful fitted white outfit with a full skirt, worn with cream Rainbow wedding shoes – she looked each inch the ideal lady of the hour. Helen Andrews did her hair and make-up on the morning. Lucy had her hair styled with long delicate waves and wore a precious stone hairband.

While preparing a blessing landed for the Bride, Declan had orchestrated an exceptional present for the lady of the hour of a surrounded an image of hearts made out of maps to indicate where they had met, got ready for marriage and after that wedded, unimaginably attentive and sentimental it conveyed tears of feeling to her face.

We took some unique photos of Lucy with her mum and father before leaving for the congregation. Lucy and Declan had clarified how critical their family were so recording their day and those unique minutes imparted to mum and father were imperative to photo to record the feeling of the day. Lucy had her sister as bridesmaid and Declan had his siblings as his groomsmen.

After the service the couple and visitors delighted in champagne and canapes on the porch sitting above Danesfield's staggering patio nurseries, we took loads of great casual photos of the couple with their family and companions alongside some more gathering photos of the lady of the hour and lucky man with their bridesmaids, groomsmen and families.

As the sun went down and brilliant hour passed I took Lucy and Declan back outside for some sensational dim wow representations of them both with as the scenery.

It is safe to say that you are arranging your big day?

There is such a great amount to think about when arranging your unique day. When you have your scene book your key providers, you can begin finding your picture taker via looking for a wedding photographer in Delhi artist close me, ask the setting they may even have a wedding reasonable of their suggested providers like offer; getting the chance to meet and converse with the photographic artist is extremely useful to set up an association before your big day.

#best wedding photographer in delhi #candid wedding photography #wedding photographer in delhi

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josephinecrichards-blog · 5 years

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3 REASONS YOU NEED A CANDID WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER

Those Friends From Far AwayReal wedding photography (and close cousins like Photo-Journalistic photography) is a non nosy technique for taking pictures. There will be no presenting or modification of the occasion for the picture taker, she basically gives testimony regarding the occasion. The style is deferential of the wedding and its significance to the members and is a narrating device at its center. There are numerous difficulties that two or three appearances while getting ready for their wedding. There are extreme decisions with respect to dates ( the 21st is propitious yet Deepa lands from NY on the 22nd), nourishment choice - would it be advisable for me to add the kaju katli to the menu or the cholesterol rich jalebi? what's more, we should not begin on the procedure associated with finding that ideal marriage dress.

These are old stresses that have been alarming couples and their folks for ages. Presently out of the blue there is another inquiry that gauges substantial on the brains of couple taking a gander at sacred marriage. Would it be a good idea for me to go for a real to life wedding picture taker?

There are a few things several should know about before they answer this inquiry and ideally the arrangement of posts on this will assist them with it.

Right off the bat, WHAT IS CANDID WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY?

Real wedding photography (and close cousins like Photo-Journalistic photography) is a non nosy technique for taking pictures. There will be no presenting or modification of the occasion for the picture taker, she basically gives testimony regarding the occasion.

The style is deferential of the wedding and its significance to the members and is a narrating device at its center.

Okay THAT SOUNDS SMOOTH AND SOPHISTICATED, SO DAMN WHAT?

In the Indian setting couples have become weary of picture takers hindering holy functions with solicitations for postures and rests, collection pages and pages of relatives remaining in front of an audience in insult consideration with the couple, and all in all the vast groups of photographic artists that disturb weddings with their splendid lights and occasions.

Open wedding photography offers a rich option with its calm and significant inclusion of an occasion.

Gone are picture takers shouting at the couple to turn only a smidgen. No more will relatives need to croone their necks investigating 3 picture takers exactly when the mangalsutra is to be tied. What's more, lets not begin on the variety of lights that visually impaired the couples like scan lights chasing for got away convicts.

On a very basic level, an authentic wedding picture taker approaches the wedding as a story unfurling and not an occasion to be secured.

SO CANDID WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY IS BEST NO?

Probably not. Not generally and I'll be the first to reveal to you this.

An best candid wedding photographer includes expansive number of individuals who are imperative to the groups of the couple. Frequently the couple has never observed or met them. So customary photography is greatly improved at exhaustively recording every one of the general population who turned up and the different occasions that occurred.

Likewise a great deal of families need to follow the different occasions that occur in the wedding and the endowments that were traded in those occasions. Again here conventional photography is better.

Conventional wedding picture takers buckle down and regularly the requests put on them are gigantic. We ought to perceive this. The main thing to ask is, what style works for you?

Since you have some setting around open wedding photography let me give you a few occurrences when I accept real to life wedding photography conveys its best.

Look Away And You Miss Moments

The enthusiastic idea of the wedding softens even the hardest hearts. Mothers you thought were extreme developed men cry, old companions you haven't seen since school swing up to be there for you and even the pandit shocks you amidst a function with life-decision 2-streets veer counsel!

These are vital minutes a real to life wedding picture taker is prepared to catch. Frequently I request that the couple present me as a companion in the wedding. This makes the families agreeable and I uninhibitedly move about the occasion catching only these minutes. By utilizing the glimmer inadequately, I wind up clicking a ton of pictures that the members are themselves not mindful of.

A superb affair for me is the point at which a mother of the lady of the hour or a relative sees a picture of themselves wiping a tear or blasting into chuckling and after that they recollect that specific minute! This is the thing that they would be appreciative for - catching a momentary minute they were in. This is the thing that they will love.

Indian Bride with her dad

Timid cousin

Those Friends From Far Away

We as a whole have those school companions who we haven't found in years. Include that close chaddi pals who you appear to have been brought into the world with. At that point we have our posses from school or school who used to arrange 3/6 tea at the bread shop outside grounds.

Well you haven't seen a great deal of your companions in quite a while have you? A wedding is fundamentally one major match up where your companions originate from both LA and Lucknow come to be there for you. Absurdity and wistfulness are known reactions in these circumstances and an open wedding picture taker catches that well.

I have stories to recount companions who nagged a prep to go out on a night drive like great bygone eras hours before the Muhurth. Ladies have gotten make up spread when they bunch embraced their companions from grade school. These are liquefying minutes and the companions thoroughly love when they get these photos, frequently the main pictures of you all together ( there weren't PDA cameras in your youth years!).

I am frequently with the lady of the hour or the prepare during the time of the wedding and I catch in contacting point of interest reunions of old seat mates and inverse gallery companions. The youngish time of real picture takers makes these companions agreeable and frequently they aren't cognizant around us. This is the formula for genuinely contacting authentic minutes.

Couple Shoot

Behind The Scenes

Mehndi, Sangeeth, Muhurtham and Unjal are excellent parts of customary Indian weddings. They are moving services with wonderful setup and profound religious importance. There is another side to the Indian wedding that frequently goes untold and uncaptured. The arrangements.

The lady of the hour preparing for any of these minutes is a straightforward model. Regularly a military is required to complete this. The make up craftsman, a patient kin to take care of the gold assets, a cousin who serves as a driver in the event of any crises and the restless dad who continues pondering whats taking so long.

Covering the lady of the hour preparing is my most loved piece of sincere wedding photography. There is something I find profoundly moving about catching a young lady getting readied for her uncommon day. As a lady picture taker I gain admittance to the lady of the hour's room and subtly drift around when she prepares. My experience as a form author encourages me with getting those ideal shots which catch the progress from basic young lady to dazzling lady of the hour.

Marriage Make Up Indian Wedding Photography

These are only the few of the reasons that you ought to consider getting a sincere wedding picture taker, there are numerous some more. Do connect with me on facebook and twitter to let me know whether you have had comparative encounters!

Labels sincere wedding photography, manvi gandotra, real to life pictures, indian wedding photography, Best Wedding Photographer in Delhi, wedding photograph news coverage

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moonsandmelodies · 6 years

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My Top Albums/EPs of 2018, Part 1 / 2

Like with my end-of-2017 list in December, I don’t intend this to be an in-depth recap. These releases are only what I’ve been able to hear so far, and there’s always some good stuff out there I happen to miss.

I’ve discussed before that I’ve had a lot of issues with the current music scene since around 2015, and not a lot of those issues have calmed at this point. This kind of obligated that I wouldn’t be crazy about this year’s music so far, and I haven’t been. The seeming exact same cliches and trends have persisted, some of them getting even worse. I’d elaborate some more, but it’s too complicated to get into for now.

That said, I have hope for the music to come in the next half of 2018, since I did hear a lot of albums that were close to being overall-strong from these past six months. And I have to say that that’s an improvement.

I’ve also included a song link for each release, including for the honorable mentions under the cut - every chosen song is a personal favorite of mine. Stay tuned for more of my favorite songs of the year in my upcoming playlist!

Top 4 albums

4. Angelique Kidjo - Remain In Light

afro-funk

I was surprised and very intrigued when I learned Angelique Kidjo from Benin was to revamp the entire Remain In Light album by Talking Heads. According to her interview in LA Times, she heard “Once In A Lifetime” long ago and recognized the African influence in it’s sound, which is what eventually led to this cover album. Although part of me wishes some covers were a bit closer to the originals than they are, most of the interpretations are still very interesting and enjoyable with an excellent sense of energy and rhythm.

Listen to “Born Under Punches”

3. Music House - Scandi Disco compilation

electro-disco / synth pop / electropop / synthwave

If you’re bored of the sheer quantity of 80s retro music out there, maybe don’t listen to this. But if you’re like me and love this music enough to still give the continuous new releases a chance, I highly recommend this recent library album. I enjoyed near every song on this one, which is surprising seeing how it has no hype at all surrounding it. I only found it because I was looking through other, older releases by this label, Music House and this happened to be their most recent album. Everything about this album is shiny, stylish and fun with plenty of energy and melody. The production is impressive as expected from a stock music label, and while it has a prominent modern polish they channel the huge potential and legacy of electro-disco very well.

[note: the cover doesn’t seem to exist in a bigger size, hence it being smaller than other covers shown here.]

Listen to “37th Parallel”

2. U.S. Girls - In A Poem Unlimited

psychedelic pop / art pop

Bros are really into U.S. Girls’ music for whatever reason. But don’t let that scare you off - after all, it’s not like musicians choose what kind of audience they get. While I did find the previous U.S. Girls album Half Free a bit inconsistent, In A Poem Unlimited feels like a step up - there were only about 2 or 3 tracks that I didn’t enjoy. The album has a warm semi-70s feel thanks to the band put together for it. There’s also a sense of eclecticism that’s executed better than on a lot of other albums with similar ambitions. The voice of Meg Remy, the one true ‘member’ of U.S. Girls, can be quite twangy and takes a bit of getting used to at first, but it’s somewhat grown on me since then, and it got some time to shine here. This is most often when she does a kind of nervous falsetto like in two of my favorites, “Rosebud” and “L-Over”. While the many styles that Remy explores here aren’t much new (70s funk, jazzy rock, general quivering psych weirdness, a bit of synth pop), the variation of it all and the will to experiment helps keep things interesting, and most of them evade the boring cliches that tend to pop up in so much music lately.

Listen to “Rosebud”

1. Fishdoll - Noonsense

wonky / dream pop / electronic / downtempo

Fishdoll, a new artist from China, somehow manages to recall nearly everything I miss about electronic music of the earlier 10′s. I thought of 'wonky’ producers like FlyLo and Teebs who had such interesting and creative taste in electronic production and samples. Take a gander at the amazing operatic vocal/harp sample that ends “Beijing Well” or the spacey fluttering chords on most of the songs, for example. Fishdoll’s vocals are treated to subtle effects and manipulations that say, Grimes or Washed Out became popular for, channeling a similar kind of surreal sleepiness.

It doesn’t do enough justice to Fishdoll to make so many comparisons, though, since this album really does feel unique. And that’s exactly one of the reasons it’s my #1 of the year so far - it’s an electronic artist doing something unique and doing it well.

I’m looking forward to Fishdoll’s next musical move, and I’m convinced Noonsense deserves more than a bit of Bandcamp popularity, which seems to be all it got upon release.

Listen to “Blueeyce”

Top 4 EPs

4. Elaquent - Celebrate Life!

glitch hop / instrumental hip hop

Elaquent has retained a very good taste in shimmering, jazzy sounds like electric piano and even synths over the years that make his new EP very pleasant BGM. It’s not quite his best (his album The Midnight After would deserve that praise) but I enjoy it much more than his past few releases, so I have some restored hope for his future work. My favorite has to be “Sao Paulo”, which happens to sound more like a modern lounge instrumental than what I’ve come to expect from Elaquent.

Listen to “Sao Paulo”

3. D A V I C I I - W sercu pozostaje tylko to, co wypalone ogniem

hypnagogic pop / synth pop

This musician’s sound is similar to that of Adonis listed below - a kind of lo-fi, airy synth pop, but it makes sense since they’re on the same label. This EP is a bit more ghostly and empty, though - D A V I I C I puts his voice through what seems to be autotune to a very weird, even creepy effect. This is most noticeable on the songs “Skruszone serce“ and “Czas przez pryzmat“ which are also my favorites of the bunch. I have to say that while I like the idea of ‘hypnagogic pop’, it’s often bored or disappointed me; D A V I I C I and Adonis, though, have impressed me to an extent I didn’t expect.

Listen to “Skruzone serce”

2. Ravyn Lenae - Crush

neo soul / R&B / pop

Ravyn Lenae happens to be both a very good vocalist and just 19 (which is hardly older than me). This EP has an organic soul sound with some twists that help to distinguish it from the flood of gritty 'alternative' R&B that tends to get the sole approval from critics lately. It's also very concise, which helps. I figure she has a bright musical future ahead.

Listen to “Sticky”

1. Adonis - Wiosenna ofensywa nie trwa dłużej niż do letnich wakacji

hypnagogic pop / synth pop

I only came across Adonis through Bandcamp recommendations and he's still a bit of a mystery to me. This is in part because all the info and lyrics are Polish. But I'm glad I found this EP, since I enjoyed every one of these five songs - while I’ve been blasting the incredible title track all June. In a similar situation to Scandi Disco, it may not be very new, since it’s pretty much a collage of 'alt 80s’ sounds, but if you love the sort of music that entails (e.g. synth pop/shoegaze/dream pop) like I do, than I certainly recommend it.

Listen to “Wiosenna ofensywa nie trwa dłużej niż do letnich wakacji”

Honorable mentions

Gwenno - Le Kov

art pop / new wave / psychedelic pop / dream pop

I thoroughly enjoyed Gwenno’s previous solo album, and while this one has a similar sound, the songs do begin to feel too similar to each other, which is my main issue with it. Her unique style is still very pleasant to hear, she sings the songs in the revived Cornish language, and there’s a handful of songs I know I enjoy, but I couldn’t help but feel something was missing. I figure it could grow on me. Either way, it came close, hence my inclusion of it here.

Listen to “Tir ha Mor”

SOPHIE - Oil Of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides

bubblegum bass / experimental / post-industrial

There’s little doubt in my mind that SOPHIE is very talented and has a lot of promise as a musician/producer. I also find that while many of these songs are a bit too abrasive for my tastes, most of them still have interesting elements or ideas going for them. I just wish that there could’ve been a little less of the stressful industrial parts and more of the sort of aquatic sounds found in “Infatuation” and “Is It Cold In The Water?”. Or maybe even some more poppy songs. It could’ve gone either way, and I’m sure that either would still be interesting to hear from her. So while this album is not quite up my alley, I’ll be keeping an eye on what SOPHIE does in the future.

Listen to “Infatuation”

JQ - Invisible

new age / ambient / electronic

Seeing how this could be New Atlantis’ most gorgeous cover art yet, I couldn’t help but be a tiny bit disappointed in this. JQ has an interesting taste in sounds and I enjoy most of the ambient/new age tracks on here. However, elsewhere the album devolves a bit into other experiments that don’t always work. The album is split into two, with the first being lighter and the second darker. Overall, like New Atlantis’ previous releases, this does have a lot of good things going for it, which is why I include it here. It helps that most songs (minus two surprisingly pretty 7-minute-plus tracks) are short and digestible.

Listen to “Gold”

Mary Lattimore - Endless Days

Mary Lattimore plays the harp very well on this album and most of it works for peaceful BGM. Some songs do get a bit long-winded though and while I’m not opposed to the idea of harp combined with synths, that doesn’t sound very interesting here. The harp playing itself is still very impressive and I did enjoy around half the songs, which is why I wound up including it. I’ll have to look into her previous work since I’ve developed a much bigger appreciation for harp in the past year or so. My favorite song is without question “Hello From The Edge [...]”, maybe the most tender moment on the album.

Listen to “Hello From The Edge Of The Earth”

Beach House - 7

dream pop / indie pop

With this album I continue to enjoy Beach House at times and not get their immense hype other times. I have to admit I enjoy a lot of 7′s first half, which has a more moody, shoegazey sound than expected from BH. The second half, though, devolves into more twee territory that just doesn’t sound near as interesting. The instrumentation and the ideas sounded less creative, and it culminates in “Girl of the Year”, a bland slow jam with such generic, dreary lyrics as ‘Baby’s gone / All night long’. For this reason, I suggest hearing the first 6 - 7 songs myself, and only include it as an honorable mention.

Listen to “Dark Spring”

Melody’s Echo Chamber - Bon voyage

psychedelic pop / dream pop / progressive pop

Bon Voyage is often similar enough to the Melody’s Echo Chamber debut, but a lot weirder. The longer songs morph and evolve several times, sometimes in very unexpected ways. For the most part this makes for interesting, multilayered results, but in places it does wander a bit too much for my liking. This is most evident on “Desert Horse”, which is my least favorite on the album with it’s unfitting additions of turntable scratching, 808 drums and a general rambling feeling. If I ignore that song and a few other iffy moments, it’s nearing a #5 or #4 position in my above Top 4.

Listen to “Shirim”

#best of 2018 #2018 music #best of 2018 halfway #2018 favorites #2018 #2010s #10s #Fishdoll #Adonis #U.S. Girls #US Girls #Angelique Kidjo #Ravyn Lenae #D A V I I C I #Elaquent #Music House #SOPHIE #Melody's Echo Chamber #Mary Lattimore

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thatmexisaurusrex · 3 years

Text

The Shotgun Angel: Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2: THE DEVIL’S DEN

She was a good deal taller than six foot. From what Pearl could gander, almost seven feet. She, like Ortega, felt too perfectly put together to be real. A cloud of black hair, no loose threads on here maxi dress over a white turtleneck, vibrant stockings with thick socks and doc martens. She shouldn’t look so on point. Not with a hodgepodge outfit like that. Yet so she did, standing aloof behind Noel, following her like a lost puppy hoping for scraps.

“We need coupled blood for the look up, give me your blood,” Noel demanded at the priest and the fallen angel, flailing a knife at them casually and gesturing with a particularly copper bowl.

Like that was a normal thing to do.

“What,” was the only thing Pearl could muster before the priest interrupted with a groan.

“Again? Seriously? I feel like we should just ring out a pint every other month so that you don’t have to ask us every time you want to locate people,” grumbled Iker.

“Coupled? What does coupled mean?” Pearl asked, something in her brain short-circuiting.

Ortega curled his arms around the priest like a bad joke, like snakes on prey, eyes lingering on the man who leaned into his touch.

“We called each other our own gods,” boomed Ortega with a tantalizing grin, the priest choking on his own spit.

“That’s not what we did,” panicked Iker.

“Did I not kneel upon the alter of your shrine, invoking eternal and absolute love and devotion to your being?” growled Ortega, which, wow, were all angels this intense, “Bowing to you as my new religion, revoking my rite to holy power and immortality to be at your beck and call, as are you to me?”

Iker looked away as if shy.

“Can we not talk about this here,” he murmured, “It doesn’t help with how we look amongst the children.”

“We are gods to each other, my dear, to follow to the end of our days, and there is no shame to show love. We are stronger when we show and accept our emotions near the children,” drawled the fallen angel.

Noel waved the copper bowl and the knife, rolling her eyes.

“We going to talk about eternal love and happiness or whatever or are we getting this show on the road – they got married for a case, by the way. They just never got divorced afterwards. It’s helpful but also so annoying,” remarked Noel.

Iker grabbed the knife, doing a few impressive tricks before pricking himself and the fallen angel, allowing a few of droplets into the copper bowl. He wiped off the knife, tossing it back at Noel in an honestly unsafe way, but the cursed woman caught the knife and ushered for Pearl to take it as well.

“Excuse me?” Pearl queried.

“He’s your brother. To track him I need some blood from you too,” explained Noel.

Reluctantly, Pearl grabbed the knife. It felt lighter than Pearl assumed, and looking closer, there seemed to be runes etched into the edge. Pearl pricked her finger, allowing a few drips to flow down, mixing in with the blood already there.

Noel bounded about the place as if she commanded rooms, gathering strange herbs in weird hidden spots.

“Stop hiding your things around the place like a strange hoarder or a sneaky thief,” half-heartedly yelled Iker, “Just choose a cubby or something.”

Noel headed back, crushing whatever mess she was making with her bare hands.

“I don’t know, like, a good handful of those words. I mean, what even is a cubby?” grumbled Noel, tossing a lit match into the mash as white smoke bloomed from the bowl, going straight into her eyes and Pearl still wondered if what she said about not being a demon was true.

Noel wobbled, Dru reminding Pearl she was in the room by keeping the young woman steady on her feet. It made Pearl jump. But no one cared about Pearl’s reaction, though. Noel rested her head on Dru’s shoulder, frowning.

“Well. He’s in Hades House,” said Noel.

Pearl wouldn’t have said the room was exactly a pleasant atmosphere before, but the room’s tension felt as thick as a trifle now. Iker stomped towards his office.

“I’m going with you,” said Iker.

“What? No. I can do this. I don’t need a keeper,” said Noel.

“Iker, she can work a case,” said Ortega, stopping Iker, holding his arm, “You don’t do cases anymore.”

“But its Hades House,” growled Iker.

Noel shook off whatever fears her frown hid before, shoulders stiff as she glared at the Iker, grabbing Pearl and Dru as she backed them both towards the door.

“Yeah, so? Been there before. It’ll be no problem. Better than stepping into an unknown devil’s den,” said Noel.

“Don’t worry too much, I’ll be there for her,” said Dru, chiming in for the first time since she woke up from whatever bizarre coma she was in.

Noel pulled them out of that chapel into the streets, the children from before gaggling and giggling as they watched the three leave. There were a lot of those, weren’t there? Strange little children scurrying about the place. Noel swung around, keeping her hold on Dru as she walked to the left, deeper into New Town, down narrower streets.

“What’s this about Hades House?” asked Pearl, “And devil’s dens?”

There was a rage simmering in Pearl. She loathed this. Not knowing things. She made it a point to never be at the mercy of another person, yet here she was, being dragged deeper into what could possibly be a dangerous trap.

“They’re places where darkness lurks,” Noel explained, “Where daemons make their human homes, where deals are made to particularly powerful people. It’s a horrorfest. Best to keep close, for nothing good comes of them.”

Dru nudged Noel.

“I wouldn’t say nothing good comes of them. I met you in Hades House, after all,” hummed Dru.

And for a moment, Noel smiled wistfully up at her shotgun angel. As if she were human. As if emotions can be held in those topaz eyes. That poor girl was either pitifully naïve or obtusely ignorant. Angels could have no such emotions, even if that fallen angel Ortega seemed to be an exception to the rule. Pearl almost felt sorry for Noel.

“Yeah. I guess I did,” Noel said before clearing her throat, turning to Pearl as she added, “But I’m the exception to the rule, okay? Trust me, no good comes of them.”

The first thing that felt wrong was how pristine the building was amongst all the clatter. A tall, smooth, black obelisk of a building with fire spelling out the words “HADES HOUSE” atop, fire lighting the way to the front door. Pearl glanced over to Dru and Noel, hoping for some sort of guidance.

“So, we walk?” asked Dru.

“What? No. Never. Never walk through the front door – I keep telling you that,” said Noel.

Dru rolled her eyes. As if she could be annoyed.

“You keep saying that. It always feels rude,” Dru responded.

“Well, we’re not going for a visit and a cup of tea, are we? No. This is a wreck them up sneak attack, in and out,” said Noel, pulling them around the building carefully.

Dru was noticeably awkward in her sneaking about, despite how graceful her movements seemed to be up until then. Maybe it was the whole sneaking around thing? Pearl was sure angels rarely had to do such things. They never had to with the powers they have. Noel faltered, pausing for a moment and patting herself down, tossing Pearl a breathing mechanism.

“Wear the mask. It’ll filter miasma out,” Noel said.

Dru froze, gazing down at the mask.

“Miasma? I thought that only happened in films,” stuttered Pearl.

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s how it is up there in Old Town. Very cushy, good for you. Unless you want long term magicks poisoning, wear that mask,” said Noel pointedly.

Pearl grumbled, positioning the ugly mask and adjusting the straps. It felt…filtered. The gross stale kind that one could smell in the particularly old buildings that hadn’t kept up to date on their air systems.

“Why aren’t you two wearing masks?” asked Pearl.

“Oh. Right. Well, angels have no need of it and, um…due to my particular cursing, miasma doesn’t impact me like most humans,” explained Noel, suddenly stiff, “Too much talk. We’re going in. Follow close. Stay near Dru, she’ll protect you.”

Dru gave an empty smile to Pearl that Pearl guessed was supposed to comfort her, but only made her feel worse about this whole situation. To be watched over by an angel? What a monstrous thought. But there didn’t seem to be any other option but to continue on through with them, close to the strange shotgun angel and the cursed woman.

It was gaudier than Pearl expected. Like some sort of hell-themed funhouse, with bright colors and strobing lights. Whatever mooks drew the short straw for back door duty looked like they dressed circus goes punk, intense exaggerated makeup and sharp yet tule-heavy varied uniforms, like someone went to an abandoned carnival and was told to make clothes out of the broken mirrors and leftover costumes.

One stood up, a man with a fuzzy hat and a tiger-onesy, pulling down his mirrored sunglasses as he blew technicolor smoke from his glass straw. Pearl wondered if this idiot was in charge of the rest of the band around.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t lil’ Noel Baird. Haven’t seen you around in a while. Heard you’re making a name for yourself. Whispers on the street,” he said.

Noel didn’t respond. There was a guttural noise, raw and instinctual, as she moved swift, punching the man straight in the throat. He choked for a second, stumbling, gargling, and falling on his back. His friends stood up, twirling their glass straws as they grew longer into glass-like beacons, like horns, horned instruments, something to blow through.

“No, don’t start,” the man tried to warn his cronies before they all began blowing that rainbow smoke like continuous soap bubbles, a woman with half a tutu, half an intricately woven golden clown costume bringing her hands up as she started ruminating words, pulling out a spell.

Spells were usually so innocuous. Blessings by street artists to make money off of crowds. Short films. Hallucinations of a summer day in a desert of red sand. Floating for just a moment. Pearl didn’t know what was happening here. She’d never seen such a spell before. It hurt to look at it.

Noel sucked in the rainbow smoke like a vacuum, the woman starting her spell convulsing and going into shock. For a moment she kept it in, held it as the people around stared in horror.

“Oh halos and harps, she’s a Sin Eater,” a woman with a one-armed, one-legged full body suit announced, horrified, her glass horn wilting back into a thin glass straw.

Miasma. That was what it was, wasn’t it? The rainbow. Daemon magicks. Miasma. They tried to flee. Pearl was sure of it. The only one smart enough to scramble a mask on was the first man who tried to warn the others, the one who knew Noel. Maybe he was able to because he knew this would be coming. The others had no chance, did they? And just like that, Noel blew the miasma straight at them, skin flaying in her wake, all of them crumbling in pain on the ground.

“You’re sick, you know that?” the man on the ground managed to cough, still impacted despite his mask, “To your own people.”

“You’re not my people,” Noel said, stepping over him and continuing onward, Dru pulling Peal away from the carnage in this room.

They stormed quietly through maze-like hallways that didn’t seem to have any normal logic to them, though, somehow Noel knew the way with ease. Maybe it was a disconnect. She was of daemon, even if she denounced it. How could a human swallow miasma like that and shoot it back out? What even was a “Sin Eater”?

They finally reached a door at the end of a diagonal hallway, ducking away from it and stopping. Noel gave Dru a glance, a talk amongst eyes, before Dru grabbed hold of Pearl. Pearl yelped. She heard of an angel’s touch before, sure. She heard about the odd tingly sensation that could come from it, but she didn’t expect it to feel like constant static shock. Pearl squirmed under the surprise of small pain. But neither Noel nor Dru seemed to care. Noel opened the door, hopping down.

When Dru pulled Pearl in too, that was when Pearl realized the gravity felt off, falling to the ceiling of a gold-plated throne room decorated with gem plant sculptures. He was there. Aria. With his stupid expensive quaff and elaborate three-piece suit. And in front of him, a woman with the most spectacular green eyes, like a grassy knoll. Green. Pearl wondered if green was something in all daemon’s eyes. Or simply a coincidence.

The woman was all muscles. A wall draped in an outfit that seemed made of a big top tent itself. She sat on a chair of funhouse mirrors, arms opening as she noticed the intrusion, smile filled with graded down sharp teeth. Noel stepped forward, glaring.

There was something familiar between the woman and Noel. A flicker between the eyes. Of pain, of hope, of humoring the other – both taking a beat before the lava cooled and malice set in between the two. Pearl wondered if this were a different world, then they would talk like it was normal, work out whatever those looks meant. But there obviously was no wiggle room in this world.

“The Baird child. We’ve missed you. Did you come for the price on your own head? How devious of you, I might have underestimated your gumption,” she said.

Pearl knew she should be paying attention or something, but all she could think about was Aria being stupid, kneeling on the ground, gazing upon this strange green-eyed woman with rapt awe.

“You really think that, Mara? That’s what you’re reading from the situation?” spat Noel.

Mara sighed, kicking Aria to the side casually. He toppled over, rolling several times. Pearl moved to do something, anything, but Dru kept her in place.

“I was hoping you’d grown smarter since then. I thought angels were supposed to be galaxy brains or something dumb like that,” Mara bemoaned, “Azazel won’t like this. He wasn’t happy before, but this? In his own abode? You insult him? Oh, you thought it was dangerous before. Let’s see what he does now.”

Noel shrugged, too casual, like she wasn’t scared of this woman. How could she not be scared? How could she be so cool near some daemon? She even looked like she was enjoying this.

“Oh, I’ve gotten smarter. Something I’ve learned from smaller devil dens is that people without your prowess, without your level of Miasma intake? They keep pockets to break over time. They save up and use wisely, unlike the house of gluttony you run,” explained Noel, “They have to, you see, with their limited resources, their lesser scaled magicks.”

Mara was definitely bored now.

“Your point?” groaned Mara.

“It’s like you always told me,” Noel said, circling the daemon, adjusting her stance, signing something so quickly Pearl wasn’t sure if that was ASL or just nervous ticks.

Noel snapped, electricity flowing from a miasma circle surrounding the daemon. Noel grinned for a moment, victorious, seeing Mara roar in pain. She was definitely loving this. There was something in her. There had to be something in her. It horrified Pearl, she knew Noel was not right.

Whatever success Noel earned was short, the ring of lightning quickly dissipating around Mara. Mara growled, turning to a surprised Noel as the lightning soaks into Noel much like the miasma did for Noel back in that first room.

“You spoiled, ungrateful child,” boomed Mara, her hand slapping Noel over.

Like a ragdoll. She flew, broken in the air, hitting the wall hard. Too hard. Deathly hard. She wasn’t moving on the ground. Was she even breathing? Did Pearl make a mistake choosing Noel’s services?

#writeblr #original writing #fantasy #dystopian #writing #Serial #The Shotgun Angel #Chapter 2

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tremendousnerdchopshop-blog1 · 4 years

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10 Steps to Finding a Great Wedding Photographer

In contrast to crafted by your other wedding merchants (music, blossom game plans, cake), photos aren't things you can hear, smell, taste or even observe from the outset—you don't generally have the foggiest idea what you're getting until sometime later. That implies cautious research and particularity with respect to proficient abilities, aesthetic style and individual manner are extra significant while picking your picture taker.

Stage 1: Settle on a Style

Before you start exploring picture takers, you'll have to initially choose what sort of photography style you like, as that will help figure out which sort of photographic artist you'll need shooting your wedding. Get propelled! Invest energy pouring over any sort of symbolism you love, from stylistic layout shots to a design blogger's Instagram feed. When you have a decent assortment of rousing photos, attempt to limit in on what attracts you to them explicitly and analyze what feels generally real to you and your accomplice. Perhaps that is formal-presented pictures, a great photography style or a way of life, photojournalistic feel. In the event that you love sharp and difference y shots, maybe a picture taker with an energy for the emotional is the correct decision for you. Recollect that you don't really need to limit in on one style specifically, since many wedding picture takers can do a mix of likeness and narrative style shots, a blend of highly contrasting and shading pictures, etc. Yet, on the off chance that there's an exceptional style you love, make a point to concentrate on picture takers who have some expertise in it.

Stage 2: Do Your Homework

Start your inquiry by perusing surveys from late love birds and perusing nearby postings, similar to the ones on The Knot Marketplace. Cautiously survey potential picture takers' sites and online journals to look at photographs of different weddings they've shot, which will give you a thought of their style. How would they catch the minutes essential to you, similar to a mother clamoring her girl's outfit or an enthusiastic first look? The plan of the site may likewise have pieces of information about the picture taker's character and reasonableness. Look at their Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages as well, if conceivable. Is the input from customers positive? How does the picture taker react? How would they connect with their Instagram devotees, do they appear to be neighborly and amicable? You get the thought.

Stage 3: Set Up Interviews

This isn't a choice that can be made on looks alone—you should meet your potential picture takers face to face. On the off chance that you like what you see on their site—and their expenses are in your ballpark go—call to check whether they're accessible for your wedding date. On the off chance that accessible, feel free to send a starting email with somewhat about you and your prospective companion, you occasion and the vision for your day, and don't hesitate to append five or so of your extremely most loved photographs from your exploration so they recognize what you love. In the event that the picture taker is as of now set up for your date, you might need to check whether they have a partner or can suggest another shooter with a comparable style. Set up face to face gatherings with three to five potential picture takers who are accessible on your wedding date to take a gander at a greater amount of their work and evaluate whether your characters work. Be set up to discuss your setting, wedding style and what you imagine for your photographs.

Stage 4: See a Few Full Wedding Albums

Try not to put together your choice exclusively with respect to what you find in a picture taker's features display or collection. All things considered, photographic artists show imminent customers an arrangement of their best pictures, all from various weddings, so you're seeing the most elite. The issue with that is you won't get a balanced thought of their work. Request to see a few full exhibitions from genuine weddings they've shot (not another person at their organization) so you can show signs of improvement thought of what your total assortment of photographs may look like after the wedding. On the off chance that you see that the full display photographs are just about comparable to the ones picked in the feature exhibition (that is, they're all so acceptable it's difficult to pick!), you're destined for success. Furthermore, request to see at any rate a couple of complete collections of weddings that are in comparable settings to yours. For instance, in case you're arranging an indoor issue with dull lighting, don't simply see weddings shot outside in common daylight. What's more, in case you're intending to state "I do" on a sea shore at dusk, you'll need to see instances of that.

Stage 5: Review Albums With a Critical Eye

While inspecting a picture taker's collection, search for the key minutes you need caught: Did they get photographs of both the lady of the hour and the man of the hour when they bolted eyes just because? Additionally search for freshness of pictures, insightful organizations (does a shot look great the manner in which it was surrounded, or is there a lot of messiness in the casing?) and great lighting (be careful with cleaned out pictures where little subtleties are obscured—except if that is the style you're after). It's likewise significant that you distinguish affectability in catching individuals' feelings; ensure the picture taker's subjects look, dislike deer trapped in headlights. While both of you are significant, obviously, you need to see grinning shots of your companions as well.

Stage 6: Make Sure Your Personalities Mesh

Try not to belittle the significance of preferring and holding with your picture taker. Is the picture taker energized by your vision when you depict it? When they cause proposals, to do they present them in a reasonable and aware manner, or would they say they are meek? Are their quirks off-putting? So as to get the best photographs, go with a master who has a firm handle of social graces yet is sufficiently striking to go out chasing for incredible pictures and who, most importantly, comforts you and doesn't bother you in any capacity. Keep in mind: They'll be shadowing everything you might do, and the more agreeable both of you are with the picture taker, the better the photographs will turn out. Similarly, you don't need the picture taker to irritate or bother any visitors, yet to shoot them in their best light in an inconspicuous way. To get the best photographs, your picture taker should be sufficiently confident to search out extraordinary minutes, persuading enough to cajole loosened up grins and characteristic positions from visitors, and sufficiently quiet to be a positive power. They ought to pose heaps of inquiries and be a decent audience.

Stage 7: Compare Packages

You won't have the option to nail down a definite dollar sum until you're certain about what you need, what number of collections you need and where your picture taker is based, and bundles extend from $2,500 as far as possible up to $15,000-in addition to on the higher finish of the range. When meeting applicants, request a general range dependent on the picture taker's standard "shooting expense" and bundle, in addition to their standard rates for the kind of collection you think you'll need and the measure of inclusion you're wanting to book the best wedding photographer Click here . .

It's critical to discover what's remembered for the standard bundle, in addition to the fundamental range for any additional items you may need, similar to a commitment shoot, embellishments or extra inclusion, so you can look at rates. Specifically, discover precisely how long of inclusion are incorporated. In a perfect world, you need your picture taker to be there for your full wedding day—from when you begin preparing until after you make your amazing way out from the gathering. While bundles differ, most incorporate around 6 to 12 hours to cover everything from preceremony occasions (preparing with your bridesmaids or first-look photographs) as far as possible of the gathering.

It's generally better to pay for more inclusion if there's an opportunity you'll run over and you unquestionably need your picture taker there until the end (additional time is normally charged at a higher hourly rate). Additionally consider whether you'll need to do a commitment shoot or have your picture taker shoot different occasions during your wedding end of the week (the folks' golf excursion, the bridesmaid lunch).

Likewise, if there's a subsequent shooter remembered for the agreement, and if there's not, get some information about the chance. It's feasible the subsequent shooter can be affirmed later on, yet the principle advantage to having two shooters is, obviously, you get twice as a lot of inclusion. For instance, during your conventional photograph meeting, one picture taker can catch the formal photographs, while the subsequent one can get in the background, photojournalistic photographs, similar to your visitors blending. In case you're having a bigger wedding (250 visitors or more), you may even need to get some information about having three shooters so your photography group.

Stage 8: Ask About Your Rights

Most agreements stipulate that the picture taker possesses the rights to all photographs taken at the wedding, even you ones. At the end of the day, the picture taker can utilize them promotionally (on their site or blog, submit them for production and even spot them in advertisements). That likewise implies you can't simply post the advanced verifications they send you—most picture takers have a strategy that you can just share watermarked pictures or pictures with their credit on them. Likewise, except if you haggle in any case, on the off chance that you need to print the pictures yourselves or request a collection from another source, you'll need to hire the best wedding photographer.

Stage 9: Get the Postproduction Details

It as a rule takes at any rate a month to recover each one of those photograph proofs from your picture taker. Why? Your picture taker is shooting tremendous crude documents far greater than your ordinary JPG. Shooting crude records gives your picture taker more noteworthy capacity to address the photograph, however it likewise sets aside a more extended effort to transfer, process and alter every one of those documents (so as to address shading levels, etc). It differs, however numerous picture takers state they go through an extra 40 hours altering pictures from a solitary wedding, so it can take up to six to about two months (or more, contingent upon the photographic artist and that they are) to get proofs back.

#wedding #wedding moments #wedding photography #wedding photographer #best wedding photogrraphy

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