#Metal Gear Solid has a unique problem

[cartoonsbyandie]

-

[sebpfmpp2]

Research - Specialists

Personally, I do not have a chosen specialism, I want to focus on all fields of game design, game art and game programming.

Game Design:

Practitioner: Shigeru Miyamoto

Mr. Miyamoto is renowned for creating iconic and groundbreaking games such as Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, and Donkey Kong.

Mr. Miyamoto's emphasis on intuitive gameplay, engaging mechanics, and memorable characters has set a standard in game design. His focus on creating immersive worlds that appeal to a broad audience demonstrates the importance of user experience and accessibility. Learning from his emphasis on simplicity, creativity, and player engagement can inspire a designer to prioritize these elements in their own work.

Game Art:

Practitioner: Hideo Kojima (as a Game Director and Artist)

Mr. Kojima, the creator of the Metal Gear Solid series and Death Stranding, is known for his attention to visual storytelling, cinematic presentation, and unique artistic vision.

Mr. Kojima's work showcases the fusion of art and narrative in gaming. His commitment to pushing the boundaries of video game storytelling and creating immersive, visually striking worlds can inspire game artists. Learning from his approach to integrating art seamlessly into the narrative, experimenting with unconventional visuals, and paying meticulous attention to detail can influence how game artists approach their craft.

Game Programming:

Practitioner: John Carmack

Mr. Carmack, co-founder of id Software and lead programmer for games like Doom and Quake, is known for his groundbreaking work in 3D graphics and game engine development.

Mr. Carmack's technical prowess and dedication to pushing the limits of hardware have had a profound impact on the game programming field. His focus on optimization, efficient code, and innovative use of technology set a high standard. Learning from his emphasis on continuous learning, open-source collaboration, and a deep understanding of hardware can inspire game programmers to approach problem-solving with a combination of creativity and technical excellence.

These practitioners are excellent examples of what any person can grow to be if they put in the effort and I plan to be no less determined to succeed and passionate as they are.

[barbermcnamara89]

'Minecraft' with a Story isn't as Bizarre as you Imagine.

A narrative-driven game like Minecraft the block-building phenomenon that is loved by both adults and children alike, might sound a bit contradictory. Minecraft is an unstructured game with no plot or characters. The world is randomly generated and the best stories are made up of the things you build and explore. The game's openness is what makes it unique and is also the reason why Minecraft: Story Mode, an off-shoot with a carefully crafted plot has been met with so much skepticism. Minecraft is a game that does not have a storyis it possible, or is it even necessary for a different developer to create one?

Telltale Games is most famous for its adventure games adaptations of popular franchises such as Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead and Fables. In contrast to Minecraft these properties are based with established stories and characters that the team can work with. With its own game engine as well as a comic book art style, Telltale typically offers a game "season" consisting of five episodes. They are divided into cutscenes, branching conversations, quick-time events and puzzles. You may occasionally be able to explore an environment. However, there's very little exploration or creativity. You are looking for freeform crafting and building similar to that of Minecraft? You'd better look elsewhere.

Minecraft: Story Mode works despite these massive differences. It's a charming celebration for the game that made Markus Persson a billionaire. The narrative and characters feel like they belong in the world even though they're not in the original game. In episode one, you take on the character of Jesse and, unlike other Telltale games you can choose between a boy and a girl, and also the choice of one of three races. It's a nice touch that instantly gave me a sense of connection to the character. The voice acting was performed by either Patton Oswalt (best-known for his role in Ratatouille or The King of Queens) and Catherine Taber (you might recognise her voice from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker or Star Wars: The Clone Wars). You and a handful of your friends aim to win a building competition at Endercon, a convention that is like Minecon.

There is no mention of Jesse's treehouse or his or her pet animal Reuben or the Endercon contest in the original Minecraft game. This could be a problem, but Telltale quickly impressed me in a variety of ways. Story Mode is not the most compelling storyline for Minecraft. It's a distinct take on the blocky series and is set in its own distinct version of the Minecraft world. This lets the creators explore while protecting the source material. Story Mode includes many elements that are familiar to those who played of the original game. Creepers, beacons and portals all are present in the first episode, and are easy to recognize. When Telltale introduces a novel concept -- for example, a colorful amulet used to track important characters It does not feel out of place within the Minecraft universe. Strongcraft Story Mode is respectful to the original game's design by expanding, but not compromising Minecraft's existing mechanics and items.

Although the pace is slow to start but once the Endercon building contest has ended, the plot picks up considerably. At the very beginning, Telltale introduces a group of heroes called the Order of the Stone, who once defeated the Ender Dragon, and then became a legend. The danger that the world confronts is tied to these heroes, and it's here the developer sets up some of the major mysteries of the five-part season. Although it's not exceptional however, I'm still enthralled enough to watch the remaining episodes.

Story Mode is designed to be a family-friendly. There are limitations to the writing and Telltale's ability to use its cheerful characters. Fables (The Wolf Among Us) and The Walking Dead have provided more opportunities for the team to create unsettling and dark characters with a shady plan. These properties provoke stronger reactions from the player, making more difficult decisions , and more complicated relationships with the characters you pick. Most of Story Mode's cast is likeable (aside from Jesse's friend Axel, who tends to be self-centered and impulsive) and I spent the majority of my playthrough just trying to be best friends with everyone.

Despite this the characters are distinct and have quirky and lively personalities. All of them have clear motivations and desires which makes it much easier to predict the consequences of every dialogue choice. Previous Telltale games have had occasionally stiff scripts and inconsistent pacing -- an inevitability of a series with a variety of stories -- however, they've always made me feel passionate about the characters. Story Mode is no different, which is a testament of the quality of the writing. Jesse's friends might be a bit shallow, but they're easy to identify with. I really want my "Nether Maniacs" (early on the show, you can choose your team's name for the building competition) to be able to remain together, so I'm interested to see how the game is trying to separate them in the later episodes.

Even if you've never played Minecraft before, there are plenty of things to appreciate in the Story Mode's first Chapter. It's a charming, if simple tale that features interesting characters and memorable sets. In terms of game design, it could not be further from Minecraft but somehow Telltale has managed to make it work. This is due to the excellence of the writing, and the clever integration of classic items monsters, gameplay mechanics. Story Mode raids everything in Minecraft's toolbox to aid in its own storytelling, and ultimately it works to excellent effect. The game could have been a sloppy and awkward cash-in, however instead it's a thoughtful, respectful spin-off that celebrates Minecraft's special brand of creativity.

[euclidrefinishinginc]

Benefits Of Solid Dry Film Lubricant Services

When oil or grease is applied to a bearing or gear, it can create a protective fluid film. This solid dry film lubricant in Cleveland protects the bearing or gear from wear, migration, and debris. However, when machinery is exposed to extreme temperatures, load, or wear, the liquid can change its fluid state and no longer offer protection.

Reduced Wear and Friction

Dry film lubricants offer a durable alternative to greases and oils. They have low coefficients of friction and can operate at higher temperatures than oil or grease. They are commonly used for metal-to-metal contact applications that require tribological protection from seizing and galling, as well as in release coatings. They also have excellent chemical and corrosion resistance.

These coatings are made up of a resin matrix that binds lubricating powders like graphite, MoS2, and PTFE to the substrate surface. They form a layer of lubricant that can be applied in thin films to prevent friction between mating surfaces and to improve lubrication efficiency. The material’s crystalline structure allows these coatings to shear into stacks of layers that slide easily against each other, creating a dry lubricant film. The layer-to-layer adherence of the dry film coating is what reduces wear and friction.

Reduced Downtime

Proper lubrication is critical to the safety and efficiency of machinery and equipment. Inefficient lubrication can result in downtime, part failure, equipment breakdown, and increased maintenance costs. Solid dry film lubricant services are formulated to reduce friction and wear on mating surfaces, avoiding the problems associated with fluid lubrication. They can be applied by a variety of methods, including spray, brush, and dipping.

Synthetic lubricants are formulated with additives to increase their performance in areas where petroleum based products may not be suitable. These lubricants typically offer superior resistance to abrasion, corrosion, and chemical attack, and are compatible with a wide range of processes. These lubricants are resistant to wear, galling, seizing, corrosion and temperatures, and can be used for fasteners, fabricated metal parts, chemical processing, semiconductor, and high temperature applications. 

Also, read about Types of Solid Dry Film Lubricant Services

Reduced Maintenance Costs

Solid film lubricants provide a more robust product alternative to oils and greases for many applications. They can protect tooling and components from galling, seizing, fretting and corrosion. In addition, these coatings are able to operate in extreme temperature ranges and oxidizing environments that regular fluid lubricants cannot tolerate. They can also resist out-gassing under vacuum, making them ideal for aerospace and military applications. Dry film lubricants consist of a thin, firmly bonded film of a solid lubricating material, such as molybdenum disulfide or graphite, that is adhered to the substrate with a resin binder. 

Increased Durability

There are a variety of dry film lubricant coatings available to protect and improve the performance of metal surfaces. These coatings, which are commonly formulated with different combinations of PTFE, graphite and Molybdenum Disulfide, offer high resistance to corrosion, wear, friction and extreme temperatures. Each dry film lubricant coating has unique properties that require proper selection and application for each specific surface. This is especially true for metallic or nonmetallic substrates, the operating temperature range, and the expected lubrication performance levels.

Euclid Refinishing Company, Inc. can help you determine which dry film lubricant coating is best for your application. We also provide testing services to ensure that your coatings are performing correctly. These lubricants can be applied to metals, alloys, non-metallics and thermoplastics. 

Resource URL: http://bit.ly/3HZqxto

[michelsencurtis41]

'Minecraft' with a Story isn't as Bizarre as you Imagine.

A narrative-driven game like Minecraft, the block-building game that is loved by adults and children alike, may sound bit odd. By design, Minecraft has little in the way of plot or characters. The world is randomly generated and the most memorable "stories" happen naturally according to what you choose to build and explore. Its openness is the reason that makes Minecraft so unique. This is the reason Minecraft: Story Mode has been met with a lot of doubt. Minecraft works because it doesn’t have any kind of story. Is it possible, or right for another developer to make one?

Telltale Games is most well-known for its adaptations of adventure games of popular franchises, such as The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones and Fables. In contrast to Minecraft these properties are based with established mythology, characters, and stories that the team can work with. Telltale utilizes its own game engine and comic book art style to create a series of five episodes. They are broken down into cutscenes, branching conversations quick-time events and puzzles. There are times when you're able to explore an environment. But, there's very little exploration or creativity. Do you want free-form building and crafting like in Minecraft? Better look elsewhere.

Despite the vast differences, Minecraft: Story Mode is a success. It's a delightful celebration of the game that made Markus Persson a billionaire. The story and characters appear to be part of the world, even though they're not mentioned in the original game. SCREAMYGUY.NET You play the role of Jesse in the first episode. Unlike other Telltale games, you can pick between a boy and one girl, and also choose one or more of three races. It's a nice addition that instantly made me feel a sense of connection to the character. The voice acting was performed by either Patton Oswalt (best-known for his roles in Ratatouille or The King of Queens) and Catherine Taber (you might recognise her voice from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker or Star Wars: The Clone Wars). You and a handful of your friends set out to win a building competition at Endercon, a convention that's similar to Minecon.

There's no mention of Jesse's treehouse, his or her pet animal Reuben, or the Endercon contest in the original Minecraft game. Which could be a problem, but Telltale quickly impressed me in a variety of ways. For one, Story Mode doesn't claim to be the ultimate storyline for Minecraft. It's a fresh take on the blocky franchise, and it is set in a distinct Minecraft world. This lets the creators play around while still preserving the original material. Story Mode also weaves in countless elements that will be familiar to fans of the original game. Portals, beacons, and creepers all are present in the first episode, and are easily recognizable. Telltale's new concepts like a vibrant amulet that can be used to locate important characters, aren't out of place in the Minecraft universe. Story Mode is respectful to the original game by expanding, but never abusing Minecraft's established mechanics and items.

The pace is slow at first, but once the Endercon building competition ends, the plot kicks into high gear. Telltale introduces the Order of the Stone, the heroes of the Order of the Stone who once defeated the Ender Dragon but then faded into legend. The peril the world now is facing is a result of these members, and it's here the developer sets up some of the major mysteries of the five-part season. Although it's not exceptional but I'm still interested enough to continue watching the remaining episodes.

Story Mode is meant to be family-friendly. There are some limitations to the writing process and Telltale's ability to use its cheerful characters. Other properties that it's adapting in the past like The Walking Dead and Fables (The Wolf Among Us), have given the team more chances to create darker and more unpredictable personalities with devious strategies. They trigger more intense reactions in the player, trickier decisions and more complex relationships with the characters you choose to identify with. Story Mode's cast is enjoyable, except for Jesse's friend Axel who is self-centered and impulsive. I spent the majority of my game trying to be the best of friends.

However, the characters are distinct and possess an enthralling, lively personality. It is easier to predict the outcome of each dialogue because they all have clear motives. Previous Telltale games have had occasionally stiff scripts and inconsistency in the pace of play -- a fact that is inevitable, perhaps, with branching storylines -- but they've always made me care about the characters. The same holds true in Story Mode, which is a testament to the quality of the script. Although Jesse's friends are somewhat superficial, they are easy to be a fan of. I really want my "Nether Maniacs" (early on the show, you can choose your team's name during the building competition) to be able to stay together, so I'm eager to see how the game tries to pull them apart in later episodes.

Even if you've never played Minecraft before, there are plenty of things to enjoy in the Story Mode's first Chapter. It's a sweet story with simple characters and a few memorable sets. In terms of game design, it can't be further away from Minecraft, but somehow Telltale has managed to make it work. I'm putting it down the quality of the writing and the way it cleverly integrates classic objects such as monsters, gameplay mechanics, and other items. Story Mode raids everything in Minecraft's toolbox to support its own narrative and, ultimately, it works to excellent effect. The game could have been a lazy and awkward cash-in, however instead it's a smart and respectful spin-off that is a celebration of Minecraft's unique brand of imagination.

[thisaintascenereviews]

I Prevail - True Power Metalcore and post-hardcore band I Prevail is one of the most interesting bands in the heavy music world right now. They got big back in 2014 with their cover of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space,” and while I didn’t care for it (mainly because I don’t care for a lot of Punk Goes Pop-ish covers anymore, because it’s so played out and cringy nowadays; here’s looking at you, Our Last Night), they exploded. They’ve dropped two albums since then, one in 2016 that I haven’t heard (or if I did, I don’t remember it at all), and in 2019, entitled Trauma. I did hear that album when it came out, and you know what? It was pretty damn good. Not great, or anything of substance, but I very much enjoyed it. These guys are really interesting in the sense that they combine metalcore, post-hardcore, pop-punk, pop, alt-rock, rap-rock, and hip-hop into a blender. Trauma didn’t utilize all of those things, but they had a nice little pop-metal sound going on with traces of hip-hop and pop thrown in there. It was generic, but still very catchy, fun, heavy as hell (there are some tracks that go hard on that record, which you wouldn’t suspect from a band that has a Taylor Swift cover as their biggest song). The album was even nominated for a couple of Grammy’s the following year, and that’s nuts, but they’ve been gearing up to release a new record, entitled True Power. Three years later, I wondered how their sound would evolve and improve over their last record. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to give it a shot, only because I’ve been listening to more pop-punk / easycore stuff lately, but I wanted to give it a few spins just to see how I felt about it. True Power is not a good album. I’m going to say that outright, but that’s a very loaded statement. I’ll do my best to explain why this album isn’t very good, especially in comparison to Trauma, which I would definitely argue is a lot better than this. The biggest elephant in the room when discussing this record is its sound. Trauma, while generic and not that unique at all, was a catchy and cohesive album that flowed somewhat well (a few songs stuck out, but it went between very heavy cuts and more pop-punk / pop-metal cuts), and it only stuck to a few ideas, whereas this album has no idea what it wants to be. True Power moves between metalcore (if you can even call it that; there are barely any breakdowns or straight up heavy songs here), pop-punk. post-hardcore, hip-hop, rap-rock / nu-metal, pop-rock, and straight up pop on a few songs, but it’s all done in such a messy and awkward way. These songs have no rhyme or reason, they all just come and go without having any sense of cohesion, and it’s a real big problem. That wouldn’t be as much of an issue if the songs were good, and I’ll admit that the album has some solid cuts, such as “There’s Fear In Letting Go,” which is a generic pop-metal cut but it’s still solid for what it is, or “Long Live The King,” which is a nu-metal / rap-rock cut that sounds pretty cool what it is, too, but a lot of the songs here just aren’t good. If anything, they’re bland and boring beyond belief. I mean, there are two pop / piano ballads in the last few songs, the two songs being “Closure” and “Doomed.” They sound somewhat different, but they’re both pop ballads, and they’re only separated by a single song. Why? These two songs didn’t need to be here, or at least, only one of them should have been. That’s also on top of having a 15-song tracklisting. This album is bloated beyond belief, and it’s kind of a slog to sit through, especially when a lot of it just isn’t good. I will give this album some credit and say that there are moments here and there, such as a guitar riff, a hook, or some harsh vocals that are very good (that’s the thing, they’re a talented band, as their vocalists are very good, and their instrumentation is very tight), but it’s very fleeting. The production is at least really good, as it’s very crisp and clear, but the rest of this album is so lackluster, it just leaves me with nothing. I haven’t even mentioned the lyrics on this record, and while the lyrics on Trauma were also quite generic, they dealt a lot with mental health and how much of a toll it can take on a person, but this album is just a lot of whining, complaining, and bragging, which is super weird for this band, and it’s a total 180 of what they did on their last album. It’s harmless, but it’s still very weird. All in all, True Power isn’t a horrible album, by any means, and I wasn’t expecting this album to be a masterpiece going into it, but I was hoping for a streamlined pop-metal record like Trauma was, and this isn’t it at all. It’s messy, clunky, spotty, and painful to listen to in spots. There are some moments of “white guy rapping” and it’s really bad, even if their clean vocalist is good at, well, singing, and some of the hooks are painfully bad to listen to, I don’t like hearing them over and over, but there are a few good moments, and some songs that are just “okay,” so it’s a harmless metalcore / post-hardcore / pop-metal / pop album. It’s just not one that I’d personally recommend, although I can see this having an audience. This is perfect for people that are new to metal, or want something that’s “heavy” but without constant screaming and downtuned guitars. You get that, but you also get some pop hooks, hip-hop instrumentation, and things like that, so if it seems like something you’d be into, maybe give it a listen, but I’d avoid this at all costs otherwise.

[lewisotto6]

<h1>Steel Doors And Windows Producer In Pretoria</h1>

This is as a result of burglar bars are easily welded onto the frame in the course of the manufacturing process. Cottage pane windows mixed with burglar bars present an aesthetically handsome, protected product. Spot-on methods for steel windows, doors and partition walls geared to greater requirements in phrases of thermal insulation, hearth & smoke protection, burglar resistance and extra. We provide our superior high quality FORMAN Brand products, supported by and exclusive to Metal Windows, Cape Town’s premier window and door company. These low maintenance designs use steel on the skin and wooden on the within for a warmer effect internally, power effectivity and sturdiness. Crittall ’s doorways and windows – the designs that most likely spring to mind when you’re pondering industrial-style glazing – are renowned and are made from steel. If you’re lucky sufficient to have a period property with unique Crittall Windows, you can replicate the historic designs. Steel doorways and windows can look simply nearly as good once they aren’t authentic to the property, though. Metal-framed glazing is an elegant possibility that fits properties of various styles and will look great for years to return. The steel window methods from RP Technik open up new architectural potentialities, whether in new buildings or in renovation initiatives subject to monument preservation requirement. Steel doors and windows have been favoured because the Nineteen Thirties, for their strength, fashion and sturdiness. Today, modern steel doors and steel windows additionally offer energy effectivity, safety and may be simply maintained. Manufacturers create thermal breaks in steel windows by splitting frames into exterior and inside sections, then reconnecting these sections with a polymer . However, this technique, if utilized to a Hope’s window, would considerably undermine its superior structural strength. (When absolutely opened, they offered 70% ventilation as compared to 50% ventilation for double-hung windows.) Austral windows have been usually utilized in colleges, libraries and other public buildings. PROJECTING windows, generally called awning or hopper windows, were perfected in the Nineteen Twenties for industrial and institutional buildings. They were often used in "mixture" windows, by which higher panels opened out and decrease panels opened in. Since every movable panel projected to one aspect of the frame solely, in distinction to pivot windows, for example, screens might be introduced. PIVOT windows were an early type of industrial window that mixed cheap first value and low maintenance. Pivot windows grew to become commonplace for warehouses and energy crops where the shortage of screens was not a problem. These insulators are a part of the frame and forestall heat being carried out outdoors by the steel, which may create condensation and leave rooms chilly. They may even cease the metal frames indoors from feeling chilly in winter or scorching in summer season, each of which can affect a room's ambient temperature. Together with fashionable glazing, thermal breaks guarantee doorways and windows are power environment friendly. Metal doors and windows can be manufactured utilizing aluminium. The W40 High-Performance profile provides the most customization of all our profiles. Made from solid Swiss steel, the W40 is right for the extra demanding, large-scale tasks, together with bi-fold and sliding doors. A fourth type of profitable weatherstripping includes the use of a caulking or sealant bead and a polyethylene bond breaker tape. After the window frame has been thoroughly cleaned with solvent, permitted to dry, and primed, a neat bead of low modulus caulk, corresponding to silicone, is utilized. A bond breaker tape is then utilized to the operable sash overlaying the steel part the place contact will happen. When the window is opened, the bead will have taken the form of the air infiltration gap and the bond breaker tape could be removed. This is very the case with rolled steel windows, which are sometimes mistakenly not deemed worthy of preservation within the conversion of old buildings to new uses. The ease with which they can be replaced and the mistaken assumption that they can't be made vitality efficient besides at great expense are components that usually lead to the decision to remove them. We’re proud to have grown our operation into the country’s most popular manufacturer of high quality steel windows and doorways. Steel Window Design specialize in designing and manufacturing steel windows and steel doors for all sectors of the Australian constructing and development market. And 20th-century window designs, including in lots of the works from master architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Steel Window Frames For Sale This resolution is when the old steel window gets remove in complete by breaking it out from the plaster. A slimline by-product of W20, W30 Steel Windows are appropriate for outward opening double glazed domestic and lightweight business applications. They incorporate double climate seals plus fully drained and ventilated glazing. With the aluminium vs steel debate, it must be noted that pound for pound, aluminium can be cast to be stronger than some steel. Aluminium was discovered means back in 1808 by one Sir Humphrey Davy.

[orbitmachines]

Dual Shaft Shredder Machine Manufacturers in Coimbatore

Dual Shaft Shredder Machine Manufacturers in Coimbatore

Orbit Machines are the best Dual Shaft Shredder Machine Manufacturers in Coimbatore. The double Shaft Shredding Machine is made utilizing cutting edge headway. The Orbit Machine Manufacturers E-Waste Shredders and Granulators are tailor-made to suit unequivocal client fundamentals of reusing different sorts of e-wastes. These machine-made and coordinated Shredders and Granulators are especially sensible for reusing e-waste at the sensible expense and basic recovery of savvy things during the reusing framework.

Orbit machines are the perceptible Dual Shaft Shredder Machine Manufacturers in Coimbatore. Our Dual Shaft Shredding Machine is High Performance. These solid shredders are Hard Drives, Network Servers, Printers, Copy Machines, Computers, Motherboards, and generally more without any problem. With a goliath level of e-waste shredders, going in size from 8.5" x 16" to 40" x 72" has an electronic waste shredder to decide your issue. Our Trading is the terrific Twin Shaft Shredder Machine Manufacturers in Coimbatore. Especially precise cleaning and long life for Twin Shaft Shredding Machine.

Orbit machine is the essentially Dual Shaft Shredder Machine Manufacturers in Coimbatore. Our Dual Shaft Shredding machines are accessible in different sizes. Our low-speed, twofold shaft shredders are particularly sensible for this joint exertion. The low-speed ensures that the electronic waste is meticulously destroyed with low radiations. The annihilated material is positively genuine for e-scrap reusing machines and subsequently for cutting workplaces where critical metals are confined from their toxic substances. Orbit machine is a Two Shaft Shredder Machine Manufacturers in Coimbatore. We have been competent to introduce a wide-show up at Twin Shaft Shredding Machine.

We are the unique Double Shaft Shredder Machine Manufacturers in Coimbatore. It can meet the client's necessities of cleaning a wide extent of Double Shaft Shredding Machine materials. Twofold shaft shredder machine is the pre-handling gear, the arranged material to be separated is overseen into the two shafts whose rotors are moving progressively in switch headings (subsequently create and upheaval free). The cutting plates are halted on the shaft. This twofold shaft shredder machine is expected future; how much the sharp edges or their width unreservedly pick the size of the outcome material size.

Tags: Organic Waste Shredding machine manufacturers in coimbatore, Two Shaft Shredder Machine Manufacturers in coimbatore, Twin Shaft Shredder Machine Manufacturers in coimbatore, Double Shaft Shredder Machine Manufacturers in coimbatore, Dual Shaft Shredder Machine Manufacturers in coimbatore

[thebookreader12345]

Stories

Pairing: Blake Gallo x reader

Summary: Being the youngest member at the firehouse, Y/N wants someone her own age to fill the open spot on truck, and when she meets Blake Gallo, she instantly knows that he’s the one

Requested: No

Warnings: mentions of death by fire

Word Count: 1,408 Words

Note: Pulls from the events of Chicago Fire, Season 8 Episode 2, A Real Shot in the Arm

“Casey! Hey,” I greet. “I was just wondering how the search for the new firefighter for truck was going.”

“I haven’t found the right person yet if that’s what you’re asking,” Matt said.

“That’s great. Well, not great because we really need a new member and all but- okay the reason I asked is because I was hoping you would consider getting someone around my age,” I tell him.

Matt laughed and shook his head. “Now why would I do that?”

“Because, no offense Captain, a lot of the people in this house are way older than me, and while I appreciate everything you and the rest of Firehouse 51 have taught me, it would be nice to have someone I can really connect with. All I ask is that you consider it,” I exclaim. Just then, the alarm blared throughout the firehouse, and someone came over the speaker.

“Truck 81, Ambulance 61, person trapped, 9724 North Dayton.” Matt and I sprung into action immediately, running from our spot in the sleeping corridor to the apparatus floor where we put on our gear. After that, we climbed into the truck along with everyone else and sped off towards the scene. At the address, we found a guy tangled up in some rope hanging from a building. There was another truck company there, but apparently, their ladder wasn’t long enough to reach him. As I was standing around waiting for orders, a younger firefighter whose coat read Gallo ran over to me.

“Can you give me a hand?” Gallo asked.

“Uh, sure,” I respond. Gallo lead me over to a ladder, and we both picked it up, bringing it over to the side of the building. He then started climbing the ladder to get up to the balcony, and when he was at the top, he turned around and gave me a smile. 

“You coming?” 

I returned the smile and stepped onto the first step of the ladder. “Definitely.” It came to me soon after about what Gallo was trying to do. He was going to scale the balconies so that we could get up to where the man was quicker than the ladder on the truck. I grabbed onto the balcony above me and pulled myself up, then attempted to grab the rail at the top, but I missed, and my hand fell away from the metal. I let out a small shriek as I hung one handed from the balcony. If I let go, I would fall to my death. And I couldn’t reach the top railing any more since I was hanging down. That’s when Gallo appeared above me and offered me his hand. I reached up as high as I could and grasped it, resulting in him pulling me up and over the balcony. Gallo instinctively pulled me to his chest, and when my feet touched solid ground, I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” I breathe out.

“No problem. You okay to keep going?” Gallo questioned.

“Yeah. I’m good. Lets go,” I murmur. Gallo and I scaled the rest of the balconies fairly quick, and just as we got to the one at the same height as the man, Matt and Kelly started climbing up the ladder. There was a balcony separating Gallo and I from the man, meaning we had to jump across. I climbed onto the ledge and grabbed the pole connecting the next balcony to the wall before leaping over the gap. Gallo followed my lead, and now we were both right by the man hanging from the roof. Gallo jumped into action and slid himself between the poles connecting our balcony to the wall, and then wrapped his legs around the man to keep him in place. I came up from behind and hooked my arms under Gallo’s armpits to keep him steady, and to make sure he didn’t fall. Seconds later, Matt and Kelly appeared on the ladder and helped get the man down. As soon as we all got to the ground, I pulled Matt aside. “Look, I know I don’t have any say in picking the new firefighter, but I think you should consider him,” I say and gesture to Gallo. “He saved my life, so he’s already earned my trust. And yeah, he may be daring, but inside, all of us are. I think he’d be a great addition to Firehouse 51.”

.......................................

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet our new candidate, Blake Gallo,” Matt spoke and gestured to Gallo, who was at his side.

“Well, if it isn’t my knight in shining PPE,” I announce. “It’s nice to finally get to officially meet you, Blake. I’m Y/N. Y/N L/N.” Blake shook my outstretched hand, and as soon as our skin touched, I felt butterflies in my stomach.

“Y/N was our previous candidate, so she is going to be keeping an eye on you. Y/N, I want him on a short leash,” Matt ordered.

“You got it, Captain. Come on, Blake. Let me give you the tour. Oh. And welcome to Firehouse 51,” I add and give him a small smile. That night, after our first shift, I invited Blake over to Molly’s to get better acquainted with him. We were sitting at a table with two beers in front of us, and Blake was telling some funny story about his last firehouse. I laughed and took a sip of beer, enjoying the liquid’s taste as it went down my throat. For awhile, we just talked, and I felt so comfortable around him already even though we just met a few days ago. “So,” I say and take another swig of beer. “What’s your story, Blake?”

“My story?” Blake questioned.

“Yeah. Your story. Every person has one, and they’re all different. Our stories are what make us unique.” Blake still seemed confused by what I had said. “The reason you became a firefighter,” I clarify. Gallo hesitated, and I could tell that he had a big story, but by the looks of it, it definitely wasn’t a happy one. “You don’t have to tell me if you’re not comfortable. We just met. I don’t want to push you.”

“No. It’s uh, it’s fine. When I was 12, there was a fire at my house. I hid in the closest when the smoke started making it’s way into my bedroom. When I was finally rescued by firefighters, I found out that the rest of my family was dead. I lost my mom, dad and little sister that night,” Blake confessed.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I also want you to know that you’re not the only one,” I tell him.

“You mean.....” Blake trailed off.

I nodded. “I was 16. My older brother, he was 18. It was the summer right before he was going to start college, so my parents wanted to have a nice family vacation to send him off. We rented a log cabin in Wisconsin right on the lake, and we were going to spend the week there. The last day of the vacation, my brother and I went into town to see if we could find any neat souvenirs, and when we got back, the cabin had been burned down. There were firefighters everywhere, along with two body bags. My parents, they didn’t make it. It happened awhile ago, but the pain never really goes away.”

“Yeah. I know the feeling,” Blake agreed and downed the rest of his beer. “Listen, I know we just met and all, but uh, I um.....” It seemed that Blake couldn’t find the right words to say. Finally, he took a deep breath, and looked up at me. “Would you maybe want to go on a date sometime?”

“You do know that there aren’t supposed to be in-house romances, right?” I ask, a playful tone hidden in my voice.

“But I thought Severide and Kidd were-” Blake cut himself off when he saw me trying to hide my smile. “There’s no rule, is there?”

“Oh, there is,” I admit. “But so many people have broken it that Boden doesn’t care anymore. And I would love to go on a date with you, Blake Gallo. How does after next shift sound?”

“That sounds great,” Blake replied. “I will text you with the details when I have them.”

“I can’t wait. I’m really excited to see where this goes,” I disclose.

Blake smiled. “Yeah. Me too.”

____________________

Tag List:

@prettypyschoinpink @securityfriendly-jay @scarletsoldierrr @lorenakaspersen @virtualreader @carnationworld @caitsymichelle13​ @anotherfan07​

[lucky-draws]

hi so i wanted to ask u for art blog recs! specifically metal gear! i've been looking for blogs like yours but none are really very active anymore sadly so if u know any and could direct me to some that would be awesome!

ohh hello!!!! ok, i can list some ppl who i like, some of them are more active than others bc yeah ur right it's hard to find lots of super active metal gear blogs sadly...in my case i just happen to have too much time on my hands right now xD

i guess i won't like. actually tag them bc i don't rly know most of them to talk to jggjjg so i feel shy doing that but I'll just list some urls, some of these will probably be people you've already seen tbh jgjg problems of a smallish fandom

- bigmonsteras is someone whose art i love, they do a lot of peace walker stuff that's rly good! - daydreamycrustacean posts quite a bit of mg stuff and i rly like their art too, they've done some great comics. - 730chocolate has a really unique style, so i like their stuff a lot, altho they're not super active. - pyersiki is also someone i rly like, they draw a lot of kaz content lol which is great. - sgushyonka has some rly good mg stuff, they did some cool pieces as well as funny stuff. - someone who is pretty active is the esteemed ba7land ...they draw a lot of uh. bara stuff like Very Big Tits big boss but i mean good for them. they do a range of stuff actually some cute snake eater content tbh. - pe4cewalker is doing some rly nice art of, uh, surprise surprise, peace walker related stuff, some very good kaz content. - kokirby has a cool style and did some great ocelots although i don't know how active they are metal gear wise. - berserkbrandee seems to be fairly active, they do some cute otasune stuff. - littlenim does some lovely art, cool style and does mgs3/pw as well as otasune era stuff. - jxthics has some great stuff although they're not as active now mg wise i think, but i like them a lot. - crybabimeiri has done some really lovely pieces but not as active mg wise at the moment either. - groznisad has a really fun art style, they posted recently so i hope they're somewhat active. - pejuad has some very cool stuff, i love their solid snake pieces, v interesting style - truthful-tidings used to do mgs stuff, i think not as much now, but their ocs and other stuff looks cool lol - gncbigboss posts mgs art occasionally, they did some cool sniper wolfs i seem to remember - wingedtrumpet is a blog i just noticed the other day, they did a post with some funky looking raidens, so one to watch maybe

i guess also just keep checking the mgs tumblr tag for new posts/new artists cropping up! i know tumblr messed up the search so that if you go to the 'recent' section you get a load of stuff unrelated to mgs, but if you click on the 'tagged' section instead, then you actually will get recent posts that are almost all mgs related. (that's what i’ve found on mobile anyway lol)

im sure there are many good artists i’ve forgotten or not come across, these are the somewhat active/current mgs ones that come to mind though anyway. i’m only on tumblr for fandom stuff, not twitter, so i guess there’s good stuff on there i might be missing. (u won’t catch me posting on the light blue hellsite anytime soon tho LOL)

actually, for art in general, i keep seeing a bunch of disco elysium related fanart on my dash and all of it looks so good...i’ve never played that game or know anything abt it but everyone into that seems to be doing amazing art lmfao ...not relevant in the hunt for mgs blogs but it’s something i was just thinking the other day lol

i hope this was somewhat helpful, or alternatively if u already knew most of these blogs on the list then my apologies jjgjh, anyway thanks for dropping by!

and actually, i guess if anyone else wants to rec any blogs i didn’t mention - or even to plug ur own blog lol, nothing wrong with that - then feel free to drop an ask i guess and i’ll answer that here too!!

(also feel free to take a shot every time i used the words “cool” “stuff” and “lol” in this post jjjhhhghg)

[weepylucifer]

Mairon is working on a circlet when the Dark Vala first makes his offer.

“What is it you’re crafting?” he asks, hovering over Mairon’s shoulder, casting a jealous, covetous gaze at his work. “Who is it for?”

“It is a gift intended for Lord Aule,” Mairon replies, abandoning all pretense of activity, tilting his body backwards from the fire of the forge, disgruntled as the Dark One grabs his project and lifts it, white-hot and just beginning to cool, to inspect it up close. The heated metal does not singe him. It seems that the most unforgiving of elements cannot harm the Dark Vala, the biting ice does not sting him, the unremitting flame does not burn him. His large, dark hands darken further upon contact with the heat, the veins beneath the skin pulsing and lighting as though filled with molten lava. Mairon admonishes himself not to stare.

(Oh, they will find out what it takes to harm Melkor’s hands. They will find out in time.)

“It is a nice trinket,” the Dark One says, his dismissive tone setting Mairon’s teeth on edge. “I have never seen Aule wear jewelry,” he adds.

“That as may be,” Mairon says, keeping his voice blandly emotionless. It is true. All precious gems and metals are at Lord Aule’s purview, and yet, when clothed in physical form, he goes in his simple, robust leather apron, adorned with a few occasional beads in his hair and beard and no jewelry besides. Aule is constantly at work, and cannot afford forging accidents caused by finery getting caught or snagging somewhere.

“It does not suit you toiling away at producing trinkets nobody will have use for,” the Dark One states.

Mairon shrugs. “My Lord will appreciate a token of his Maia’s devotion, whether he wears it or not.”

“How many Maiar does Aule have? How many tokens of devotion?” The Dark One looks at Mairon down his nose. “There are grander things to be crafted,” he adds without waiting for Mairon’s answer.

“In time,” Mairon says.

“Now,” the Dark One corrects. “If you were to come to my kingdom, you and I could begin the shaping of the world in earnest.”

“Lord Aule would hardly permit such a thing,” Mairon says dryly.

“Forget Lord Aule,” says the Dark One. “Come with me, learn from me, aid me and see your craft soaring to heights you can now scarcely even imagine.”

He goes on a rather lengthy, rambling tangent on all the things he means to build, extolling the excitements of his machinations, the pleasure of freedom to work as one wills without direction from anybody, the satisfaction of the Dark One upon getting what he perceives to be his due. To Mairon, his words sing of love of himself, and little besides. To his mind, the Dark Vala needs a speechwriter rather more urgently than a smith, but he holds his tongue and does not say so.

“I must decline,” he says.

The Dark Vala’s eyes go wide and round. He had not expected being denied.

“I am no lost and stumbling spirit you may entice to your side,” Mairon continues. “I am in good standing here. I serve my Vala well, and see no need to forsake him and the life I know for another.”

The Dark Vala looms suddenly much closer, one hand setting the circlet down, the other reaching, touching, winding a lock of Mairon’s hair around his index finger. Mairon holds himself still. Maiar do not usually disallow touches from any Vala, for who would decline the loving caress of their gods? But surely the Dark One is an exception, surely here it may be permitted to resist.

“But I have observed you,” the Dark One says. “I have seen your potential, and you are easy on the eyes as well... do you not yearn, as I do, for something more than this predetermined path, laid out for us by small minds of limited imagination?”

His voice is a dark, deep murmur in Mairon’s ear, husky and rich. Mairon remembers when he heard it first, reverberating with the Discord. He rears away before he can fluster, yanking his hair out of the Vala’s grip. “I yearn for nothing of yours,” he snaps.

---

“You are still observing me,” Mairon says, his mouth drawn into a tight frown. The Dark Vala is at his forge again, leaning faux-casually against the anvil, and Mairon has not bowed upon entering and seeing him there, has not tacked any honorific onto his statement. The Dark Vala doesn’t request it.

“’Tis so,” Melkor admits unabashedly, in a tone of voice as if he’s talking about the weather. “What am I to say? You fascinate me. Aule has many Maiar, but you... I see a fire within you that’s unique to yourself.”

Mairon crosses his arms. “I am not different from anybody else,” he says, his voice as frigid as the gales Melkor will conjure on occasion.

“Ah, but isn’t that the problem?” the Dark Vala asks.

Not wishing to look at him, Mairon busies himself donning his protective gear for the work ahead. “I do not see any problem apart from you pestering me.”

It should have earned him rage and rebuke, this open disrespect towards a Vala. What he gets is a huff of laughter.

“But you are not happy here,” Melkor then says, sobering.

“What would you know about my happiness?” Mairon asks, perhaps more sharply than he had intended.

“I watch. I listen. You keep apart from the others, you stay in the forge all day and late into the night. And you have a look about you of one driven.”

Driven, is he? Well, perhaps. “I wish to excel at my work. This is not abnormal nor unusual.”

“You strive for greatness, and they have you tinkering with jewelry. Shiny little baubles, made to be pretty and useless.”

“I like my craft,” Mairon almost snarls. Why does he feel like he’s being put on the defensive? What must he justify to the Dark One? He turns his back on Melkor and pretends to be immersed in selecting tools from his kit.

“Oh, aye,” Melkor says dismissively. “But don’t tell me you have never wished to expand your repertoire? To shape the very bones of Arda to your liking? To be instrumental to that grand undertaking? Do you not wish to be unfettered?”

Safely with his back to the Dark Vala, Mairon rolls his eyes. Is this the kind of talk that has led other Maiar to abandon Aman to stand by Melkor’s side? “’Tis no use wishing for what cannot be.”

“But it can,” Melkor husks, so clearly in love with the sound of his own voice. “If you come to my realm with me, you will taste of freedom - ah, bah, taste? You will drink deeply of it, yet never slake your thirst. It’s impossible to get one’s fill of true independence, once enjoyed, but oh, how heady...”

Mairon’s hands are gripping the edge of his workbench, fingers clenching tightly. Why is this empty prattle getting to him? “You have no idea of what you speak,” he grits out.

He turns around to see Melkor raise an eyebrow. “Oh, indeed?”

“How can you possibly? You’re a Vala.”

Melkor straightens from his affected nonchalant slouch. “That... was quite a lot of venom.”

Mairon sighs. “You cannot know what it is like. You were put upon Arda to rule it. You cannot know what it is to be created from nothing and immediately be told to serve. To get assigned a master, and a duty, and what you will learn, and what you are to devote your existence to, for eternity and beyond. They say it is a blessing, a privilege, that the Valar in their grace and Eru in his wisdom have put all Maiar in their places, adorned us with these powers... it doesn’t occur to the others to yearn for anything beyond what they were given... but all I see are shackles. Shackles the likes of which you and your ilk have never worn.”

“If you--” Melkor begins.

“You ask me to forsake Lord Aule and join your court? Why? To exchange one slavedriver for another? Here at least I get to subsist and carry out my servitude in comfort, and Lord Aule is nice to me when he remembers I exist. You wish me to forsake my standing here and join you in the wild? What can you offer me but the life of an outcast, despised by all? And what would you use me for, if you had me? Wanton destruction, or so I hear? Oh, that would certainly render me more useful than my current work. Nay,” Mairon cried, “there is nothing you may tempt me with. I will abide here, and hopefully get a chance to contribute to the shaping of Arda in some small, insignificant manner, if nothing else. So do not speak to me of freedom, when all you offer is more servitude.”

Melkor has grown quite still. He blinks. “I... had never considered this.”

“Of course not.” Mairon feels quite out of breath. A distant part of him is panicking, he realizes, his head abuzz, his chest tight, as if an iron vice is clamping down on it. He has never told anyone these deepest, most heretical thoughts of his. Why then, with the Dark One, did it seem so easy?

“Remove thyself from my workplace,” he grits out through clenched teeth. “Do not approach me with thine offer again.”

Melkor steps back from the anvil, inclines his head in acknowledgement, and sweeps out of the room. Mairon sags against his workbench, his knees as rubber.

---

“Mairon.”

Mairon wonders where the Dark Vala goes, when he’s not here in the forge harangueing him. Does he have a place to stay? He hinted at some realm of his own existing on Arda. Mairon is not privy to the knowledge of its whereabouts.

He doesn’t ask. He crosses his arms, the solid and comforting weight of the anvil at his back. “I thought I made my reception of your offer quite clear. I will alert the guards if you persist.” He resorts back to a more formal mode of address. He is determined not to slip up and proclaim overfamiliarity with the Dark Vala again.

“I understood you well,” says Melkor. “You wish to remain here. Yet, my fortress will still need a smith.”

“Lord Aule has many Maiar,” Mairon reminds them once more.

“Ah, but I want the best,” Melkor replies. “I want excellence. I want that flame in you, undimmed by whatever chains you here.”

“You are going to take me by force?” Mairon asks.

Melkor snorts, as if Mairon had made a joke in poor taste. “Certainly not, no. But if you are not to be mine, at least your artifice must be. Oh, simmer down, little flame, I will not repeat my offer. I only ask to let me linger, for a short while, and observe your work. To learn from you, so as to pass the ways of your craft on to other, more willing souls.”

Mairon must admit, he had not expected this. He is taken aback. “Teach a Vala? That is... unheard of.”

Melkor shrugs. “Why does that matter?”

Now Mairon rolls his eyes openly. He is beginning to take the measure of Melkor, and suspects that he will not be punished for such impudence. “You wish your presence in my space to build familiarity. You are counting on me growing attached to you and more receptive to your offer, provided you stay around long enough. This will not succeed.”

Melkor is not deterred in the slightest. One corner of his mouth quirks upwards in a crooked grin. “Perhaps it will, perhaps it won’t. Either way,” he repeats, “my fortress will attain a smith.”

So Melkor hovers as Mairon finishes the circlet, asking questions about the process, about how Mairon would go about making other things. It takes several days, in which they meet. Melkor learns the name of every tool in Mairon’s toolbox, their feel in his hands and their multiple uses. He attempts to resist it at first, but Mairon feels himself growing bolder in Melkor’s presence, and soon entrusts the Dark Vala with little tasks: stoking the fire, compressing the bellows, fetching red-hot iron from the forge with his bare hands. Melkor should by rights complain about the menial work that is so beneath him; he never does. He watches, grows absentminded, fiddles with his fingers or the hem of his robe, hums snatches of songs, and apologizes - a Vala, apologizing to a Maia! - for his flighty attention.

The circlet is soon finished, and Mairon contemplates giving it to Aule, this work that has become of his and Melkor’s hands, and it feels wrong. For a moment, he considers giving it to Melkor, and banishes that thought.

---

Once the circlet is finished, Melkor stays away.

Days turn to weeks and Mairon wonders if it is true, if the Dark Vala has given up and rescinded his offer, if he has taken Mairon at his word and will not appear again. He feels content in that thought. He feels relieved. He feels, perhaps, lonesome. He feels as though an opportunity has passed him by. Opportunity for nothing much, he tells himself sternly, and crushes those foolish thoughts.

One night, Mairon is the last one in the forge and considering turning in for a few hours, Melkor reappears. He is carrying an object wrapped in cloth, and looks preoccupied.

“I have given thought to what you have told me,” he says, no greeting, no preamble.

“It is nice to see you too,” Mairon replies.

It actually gives the Dark Vala pause. “Is it? Nice to see me?” he asks, genuinely baffled. “Well, now. Ahem. Indeed. I was about to impart to you the thoughts I had.”

“I’m sure they will be riveting.” And not at all go on at length, Mairon adds mentally.

“I should hope so,” Melkor says. “You should sit.”

For lack of a chair, Mairon sits on the anvil. Melkor, meanwhile, takes up pacing.

“You were right,” says he. “I was wholly unprepared to see things in the way you see them. Yes, my siblings and I were instilled upon Arda with the knowledge that it is ours to rule by right. An existence for the purpose of servitude to another is different from anything I know.”

He releases a deep breath. “I can see why you chafe at it. Merely contemplating such an existence for a few brief moments rendered me disgusted.”

Oh, splendid, Mairon remarks to himself. He thinks I’m disgusting.

“Mairon, if you came with me, you would not have to live thus.”

What?

“I would see you instated in Utumno to rule by my side. Free to work and think and speak as you see fit, in servitude to no one.”

“Except for you.”

“No!” Melkor shakes his head. “I have servants enough, and I will have more. You, however, are different. For you I would have a different purpose. You see, I can sing a fortress out of the ground but I haven’t the mind to maintain it. I can persuade people to my cause, but can I see them situated, organize the many needs of a court, build and craft and make law? My kingdom needs more than a smith, it needs someone to maintain order, and I feel it might be you. Take your place by my side and rule with me whatever realms we shall have, and be elevated above all Maiar who would cower in subservience to my brethren. Be my Prince Regent, my Lieutenant, and we shall be in eternal covenant, and make our every choice together.”

Mairon had never thought to find... this anywhere, least of all with the Dark One. It is too good to be true.

He shakes his head. “Y-you lie.”

Of course. The Dark Vala has found what makes him tick, and is now looking to exploit it. He will lure Mairon to his keep with honeyed false promises, and then Mairon will be trapped. He should not have bared himself emotionally as he has. He should have been more cautious.

Melkor ceases his pacing. “Look into my mind and see that I speak true.”

Mairon rears upright to abruptly he almost topples off the anvil. “You mean... initiate osanwe? A Maia to approach a Vala? That... is against the natural order.”

Melkor shrugs. “What of the natural order? It needs reworking anyway. Look around you and tell me Eru didn’t do a rather shoddy job of it.”

A blasphemy. The arrogance of it. Mairon finds he isn’t too bothered.

He has never opened his mind to anyone, preferring to keep his own heretical thoughts closely guarded. He opens it now.

The mind of a Vala feels... different, and yet the same. There is more power there than Mairon could dream to possess, but at the same time... in some ways, it is not much vaster than his. In power, they may be unequal. In thought, in wisdom, in foresight or sagacity, they are not. Their basic make is similar, Ainur both of them. Something in Mairon settles.

There can be, for them, a meeting point. They can grow to understand one another. Know one another fully.

Yes, there is arrogance, plain in Melkor’s mind, a potent strain of self-worship, a kind of jilted entitlement towards his siblings and the realm of Arda, an inclination towards petty malice. There is chaos there aplenty, swirling maelstrom depths of thought and intuition and emotion that Melkor himself probably cannot hope to gauge, much less master.

But, in his offer to Mairon, there is no deceit.

I believe you, Mairon thinks, beyond astonished at finding this.

Melkor’s mind reacts with a sudden blinding flare of reliefhopeglee. In this mental space, he seems less guarded, because he blurts, This fills me with joy.

Mairon laughs and withdraws.

“I believe you,” he says again out loud.

Melkor nods, appearing to try not to smile. Finally, he unwraps whatever he has been carrying wrapped in his dark cloak. It is a chest sung from dark wood. He flicks the clasps open, removes the lid and lowers himself to one knee.

He kneels, and Mairon is bewildered all over again.

From the chest, Melkor takes a circlet not unlike the one they have been making together, made from dark metal, inlaid with obsidian. Clearly it is the work of a beginner, one who has not yet had time to hone his smithing, but it is charming in its crudeness. It is obvious that some thought went into it, if not (yet) the height of artifice.

This Melkor sets on Mairon’s brow.

“My Prince Regent, steward of all my realms, ought to have a crown of his own,” Melkor says. “It does not come close to what you could create, but it is a start.”

The weight of it feels unusual, but not unpleasant.

Then Melkor removes from the chest a second object, wrought from the same material. It is a hammer fit for a master smith, simplistic but elegant designs adorning the hilt. It is not gem-encrusted and ostentatious, but something he could actually work with. This he proffers to Mairon also, who hefts it in his hands. The grip is decent, the weight and balance of the head about right. This then is why Melkor was so interested in examining Mairon’s tools.

“I knew you would want something of practical use,” Melkor says. “I hope that if you come with me, I will get to see wonders wrought with it. Not in my service, but to our mutual benefit and that of those that may follow us.”

Something practical.

Mairon is not inclined to romanticism. He prefers life neat and ordered, he prefers facts, figures and useful deeds to great, gushing avalances of emotion. He prefers to take life on and mold it - smelt it down and beat it, if necessary - into a favorable shape. Melkor must have seen this, and decided to gift him a tool to do the shaping with.

That and a crown, to win his freedom.

This is what Melkor has been doing while he was away: crafting a gift in a way Mairon would, to meet Mairon on his level.

And Mairon starts to believe, Maybe I’ll be alright with him.

[aackermqn]

May I please get a written matchup for attack on titan? I can be described as introverted and withdrawn because of events in life despite being outgoing and lively in the past. I randomly doze off and daydream a lot when I’m alone, with friends, and family. Because of my introverted personality I am often mistaken for cold a lot because of my “resting bitch face.” Once people get to know me I am just emotionally shy and empathetic. Even though I can respond and identify to the feeling of others, I have a hard time expressing my own and try not to express it often. When I’m with friends I am very upbeat, joyful, and hardworking by supporting my friends and family and putting their needs before my own and keeping them happy. I’m pretty much independent and a hard worker that spends too much caring for everyone but myself. My friends describe me as a good listener and easy to talk with because I Am open-minded and easygoing. I like to watch anime, read manga, play video games (final fantasy and kingdom hearts: my favorite series. also metal gear, solid, resident evil etc.), watch DC comic films and shows XD Besides that, my ultimate favorite hobbies include drawing fan arts of Kpop groups & anime, while listening to music (second ultimate favorite hobby). I also like to swim and drive around because of my love for adventures and imagination (also relaxation). I have a strong passion of disliking bugs (especially cockroaches). I especially love to eat sweets , in particular boba and macaroons. I have big brown eyes, long wavy brown hair, baby face (don’t look my age. I Am mistaken for looking 13-17), slender body. I am half-Chinese, el salvadoran, and French descendent. Sexuality: heterosexual Age: 24 gender: female.

thanks for the many details, it makes it easier to pinpoint who i thinks would be the best match for you!

i also listen to kpop! my favorite groups are: blackpink, loona, red velvet, and bts :))

ahh i’m getting too off topic so anyway, congratulations i pair up you with...

Armin Arlet!

after i read the description of yourself, i instantly matched you up with armin for so many reasons!

you both share many traits and i think that would attract him to you because he’d appreciate a s/o who is similar to him in some ways

armin isn’t known for being the most extroverted, so trust when i say that this man is literally the sweetest and understands if you don’t feel comfortable doing somethings due to you being an introvert and shy; he gets it and will be down to do whatever you want that doesn’t involve you getting too anxious because you’re stepping out your comfort zone <33

i feel like armin is a total daydreamer too !! this sweet boy would love to share you what he daydreams about whenever he’s with you and 90% of the time they involve YOU hence why he’s so excited to tell them to you 🥺

armin might’ve been intimidated by your “resting bitch face” at first, but nevertheless will still attempt to get closer or at least become a friend of yours.

when he finally gets to know you inside and out, he falls in love with you because of the way you put everyone needs before yourself, (although he might scold you sometimes for doing that) he appreciates how caring you are and your selflessness is what really attracted him to you so much

armin is pretty smart with reading emotions and has no problem expressing them himself (even though he’ll often have a flustered face while doing so sometimes), so he won’t get impatient or disappointed if you have trouble expressing yourself; at the end of the day, he’ll still understand how you feel and that’s all that matters

armin TOTALLY READS MANGAS!! he would be the type of boyfriend to buy a whole new series so you both could read it and spend nights talking about it or making theories which is one of his favorite things to do with you

he’s a fan of horror in general so horror video games would be a favorite of his and i can see him playing resident evil with you :)

while i see armin as more of a indie fan, he still occasionally likes kpop and i see his favorite groups being: twice, red velvet, nct dream, and astro

one time you caught him dancing to the chorus of russian roulette by red velvet and his face never turned red SO FAST (he was lowkey killing the dance tho 😩‼️🕺)

as we all know, armin is a huge admirer of the ocean, so in the summer this man would BE DRAGGING YOU TO THE BEACH EVERYDAY 😩😩

he likes to go exploring with you and is ALWAYS done to create a trip to adventure somewhere with you

if you wanted to drive around with no destination at 2 am then he’s already putting his shoes on and grabbing his keys

armin’s boba order is honeydew milk tea with tapioca balls, fight me on this 😡

he finds your unique ethnic background so interesting and although this might seem weird, it swells his heart to think of how special and diverse your kids would be (if you want kids)

def caresses your baby face with his hand and gives a lot of forehead kisses

HE WOULD FRENCH BRAID YOUR HAIR BECAUSE HE THINKS IT LOOKS SO PRETTY ON YOU !!!

i definitely think armin would be a great s/o to you and vice versa! (◠﹏◠✿)

[zachsgamejournal]

PLAYING: Mega Man Legends

Ah yes, a wonderful PS1 classic. Exactly what I needed. Exactly what I always need.

I played through three Star Wars games back to back: Dark Forces 2, Mysteries of the Sith, and Jedi Outcast. What I hoped to get out of these games was strongly Star Wars themed action adventures that were pickup-and-play. They were that, for the most part. But the levels were overly long, the difficulty uneven, and the complete experiences were mostly...exhausting. So when choosing my next game, I felt like I needed something more “reliable”. Mega Man Legends might be just what I was looking for...

I played the game as a teen in the 90s. It blew me away. Not sure I had played a Mega Man game, but I knew of them as 2D run-n-gunners. So to see a 3D Mega Man, with voice acting, cut scenes, and a full-fledged story was surprising. And it wasn’t like every game at this time were of this caliber. Resident Evil 2. Metal Gear Solid, and Ocarina of Time hadn’t been released yet. This game was blazing new trails!

Now...that’s not to say it’s a complete original. Tomb Raider had already shown the world how 3D platforming shooters could work. And much of MGL is RPG-inspired. Still, there was decent anime voice acting, and cut scenes. The graphics were doing the best they cool for 1997 on the PS1, and the art-direction is still a delight now in 2021. But what really always blew me away was how the buster-canon could be customized. You bought add-ons that boosted specific stats: power, range, fire-rate, and energy (clip-size). You could customize the canon with certain combinations to fit your play style or the situation. I’m really disappointed more games haven’t ripped this off completely (looking at you Borderlands!).

What I really love about this game is the freedom. That’s what makes all great games to me, a sense of freedom to enjoy the world presented. And I love getting to explore and find secrets. Anyway, I’ve enjoyed this game in the past and I’ve restarted it many times, but I’ve never beaten it. That changes now. I’m committed.

The controls (playing on Duckstation) kinda suck. You move forward, back, and left-right with the D-Pad. To turn (rotate) you have to use the shoulder buttons. It’s a precursor to the now-standard two-stick shooter controls of all FPS’s. But at this time, it was a complicated concert of actions to get around. Luckily, the environments aren’t too crazy: usually just straight hallways and large, open spaces. But some challenges are only challenges because of the controls. This is made more annoying by the fact that you can’t shoot while moving.

Well...you can. But only when moving forward or sideways. Not while backwards or turning. I think this is fixed in MML2--but not sure.

There’s a Lock-on button to help with the shooting, but it can occasionally focus on the wrong target. But even without the lock-on, there’s a pretty helpful auto-aim for targets mostly in front of Mega Man.

The difficulty pacing of the game is...well it’s bad. But that’s because as much as the game likes to hold your hand with tutorials and gameplay explanation, they don’t do a great job ensuring you’re properly equipped. I remember playing a few times and finding the first “bosses” to be brutally difficult. You basically go from exploring a short beginner’s dungeon to fighting three boss fights back to back. And these are not easy-going boss fights. These are “hope you’ve mastered these awkward ass controls” boss fights.

But the problem, it seems, is that I just wasn’t prepared. I double-checked a shop before going into the fights and found I was able to upgrade my health points by about 3 notches. I bought a health flask, and upgraded it as well. And then I was able to buy buster parts to make my canon  more formidable. This time, each boss fight was...not easy--but not frustrating. I didn’t fail any of the objectives, and found I could take a few risks without fear of losing. So now I’ve made it a point to constantly visit shops and grind some Zenny for upgrades.

This is where the RPG-ness comes in. While you don’t earn XP and level up--money (zenny) can be used to purchase health, armor, and weapon upgrades. You can also find weapon upgrades in the “dungeons”. Not all combat happens in dungeons. Much of the fighting has been above ground, in forests and towns.

The dungeons are pretty simple. They’re basically on grid-layouts with hallways leading to a variety of open rooms. It would be super easy to randomly generate these kinds of levels. And while I get some Zelda vibes from the treasure chests, the dungeons lack any sort of creative puzzle solving or unique tools and obstacles.

Given that the story of this game is that “diggers” (treasure seekers, tomb raiders--whatever you wanna call em) are exploring underground dungones/vaults for riches, the game could have easily been about finding islands with dungeons and exploring them. I mean, this game could totally function as a Sea of Thieves, and be infinitely playable. But I’m not sure games as such were really in the minds of designers at the time. So instead they created something more linear and story-driven. Which totally works.

Speaking of story--it’s silly. Mega Man is a “Digger” that goes around looking for refractor power sources. It seems this is a post-apocalypse world where oceans have risen to engulf much of the mainland (climate change warning??). To have power, the new cities that have formed must scavenger power from subterranean labyrinths filled with hostile robots. But while the Diggers appear to be generally well-meaning, there are pirates who seek power for power’s sake.

There’s a legendary abundance of energy called the Mother Lode. Um...Ok. It’s supposedly underneath this specific city that Mega Man and friends just so happen to crash land at. So Pirates have begun attacking the city to claim it. One of them is a girl named Tron Bonne. While she works with her pirate family and their army of super cute lego-looking robots, she develops a crush on Mega Man after he saves her from a tiny dog. It’s kind of an interesting development as you see signs of the pirates and Tron before the invasion truly begins. 

Beyond that, there’s not a ton of plot development. It’s really more character driven. Not super complicated characters, but people trying to live their lives while pirates bomb the library (why the library??).

I’m hitting the point in the game I reached when I first played as a teen. That first time was the furthest I’d ever gotten. So once I’m past that, it’ll be all new territory. I can’t wait!

While playing this, though, I can’t get Elder Scrolls out of my mind. I’ve really wanted to play through Morrowind or Oblivion. That thought has made me wish MML was open world like ES.

[belliesandburps]

Followup with MGS4 Peace Walker and 5?

History has a funny way of repeating itself. :P

This one's actually gonna be long, so I'll cap it here to spare those uninterested in non-kink posts the burden of having to scroll past this fanboy rant. 'XD

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

3. It's Okay

Soooooo...not a controversial opinion to say that I don't think MGS4 is GREAT. I adored it when it first game out, and I still enjoy replaying it from time to time. But good lord, so many of the interviews shed light on a LOT of this games problems.

Some backstory is required. Hideo Kojima was done with MGS by this point. He planned to move on and leave the series to the younger generation. But then, there was a lot of internal conflict and struggle to determine what MGS4 should be after Fukushima quit (AND was rumored to have been murdered by the Yakuza...how that rumor started...and became a SERIOUS rumor that millions believe, I do not know...). So Kojima came back, course corrected, and the end result was kind of a giant mess.

I'm not talking story because, there's just way too much to unpack. But as a game, MGS4 can't decide what sort of video game it wants to be. It had a brilliant idea that had never been done before with its Battlefield Stealth, which were the best parts of the game. And then they get dropped two acts in, and what gets replaced in their stead is not nearly as fun.

The game had substantially less boss fights than its predecessor, and a lot of them were mechanically simplistic or just didn't let you get creative with how you fought them. And we later learned there were a lot more bosses planned, more gameplay sequences planned, and an entire other PMC group that got canned in favor of the Scarabs so Shadow Moses could be guarded by machines instead.

There's a lot about MGS4 that I love. I think the first two acts are amazing, ESPECIALLY Act 2. I think the mechanics are great. REX vs RAY is criminally fun. The sheer buffet of insane weapons gives the game a good amount of replay value. And the graphics still hold up to this day!

But what I finally realized is that the game juggles way too many ideas and doesn't give any idea the time they deserve to flourish. Battlefield Stealth could've CARRIED MGS4. But it gets dumped before we can get our moneys worth. A disguise sequence could've been really creative, having to juggle different identities with OctoMask every time one identity is burned. But it's only used once and wasted because it's only used for a terrible tailing mission that doesn't let you actually explore the European City. And too many of the action set pieces are kind of bland except the bosses and piloting Metal Gear.

MGS4 should've been MGS4. Not MGS's "Best Hits."

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

1. LOVED it!

I know this is unpopular to say, but I'll say it. Peace Walker is one of the best Metal Gear games ever made. I adored almost everything about it. The gameplay improves on MGS4 in most ways because it doesn't juggle a billion ideas all at once. It's MGS4 stripped down to stealth action from start to finish, and that's all I wanted. The level design is great. The insane volume of guns changes the entire feel of combat in later post-campaign gameplay. The mission select options mean you can jump into all the parts of the game you enjoy the most. There's TONS of bonus missions that are really inventive and fun to replay. And the story is one of the best in the series. It's straight forward, very tight, characterized well, and is the best iteration of Big Boss to date.

Peace Walker's also the FUNNIEST MGS game by Kojima as well. There's so much more personality and levity to everything, to the point where Big Boss often feels like an MCU character. That might sound bad, but it's really not. That corniness fits MGS PERFECTLY, and I'd argue is tonally spot on for this series. MGS doesn't need to be dark, gory or explicit. It's a silly series that's about giant robots, corny bad ass super agents with an anti-nuke message.

The only downsides to Peace Walker are the QTE's and the boss fights. This was a feature that only ever appeared in this game and for good reason...it was fucking terrible. So basically, you had cutscenes that forced you to do various QTE's or else get dinged on your ratings at the end, even if you played perfectly. Fairly minimal, but then, you get to Strangelove's torture. And this is the single most rage-inducing part of any MGS game ever made. It's an insanely physically painful button mashing sequence that will leave your fingers raw and your PS3 triangle buttons jamming. And the ONLY way you can replay one of the best missions in the game (the prison escape where you have no items) is by redoing that sequence over and over. And the boss fights? While inventive, they're all just grindy bullet sponges with no personality, no stealth tactics, and no room for creativity the way you can get creative with every other MGS game's bosses. This was the biggest disappointment for me because the stealth and combat mechanics of PW are great and would've been SO good against human enemies like what Portable Ops had. Instead, every boss is a mini-Metal Gear all voiced by the VOCALOID AI from the mid 2000's, and each one takes forever to destroy. It sucks because PW had a TON of bosses, but only a few of them are any fun, and that's only if you have weapons that are strong enough that they don't take ages to destroy.

But asides from the bosses, the REST of the game is so damn good that I don't even care because that's just one element to a much larger, grander game. Which is even more impressive when you consider PW was originally on the PSP before the PS3 port. And this game has more content and replay value to it than most games I've played since.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

1. LOVED it!

Hooooooookay...so, I've rambled about my storybook romance with MGSV for YEARS now. (Just ask @twistedtummies2, he's been subjected to my fanboying of this game more than anyone in existence XD) But there's a reason I regard this game as one of my all time favorites and the best MGS game to date.

It's REALLY freakin' fun.

Kojima had been re-energized by the time he got to MGSV. He'd been working on the game around the time he finished Peace Walker in 2010. He KNEW it was his final MGS game and wanted to do something completely different...

...He wanted to make a game where the central focus was on...waaaaait for it...the gameplay...

MGSV was designed to be, what he described, as a toybox. You have these missions that all take place in structurally unique outposts like any level in MGS. And the missions are designed with the structure needed so that they all feel different, but all remain so open ended that you can play them countless different ways.

MGSV's game model is everything GTA SHOULD'VE been. It fully embraces the open world freedom and incorporates that into the missions flawlessly. And it plays in such a way that stealth and combat both feel like they were the primary point. In MGS, combat is usually a last resort. But with MGSV, you can fly into an outpost blasting away on your helicopters mini-gun, shoot up the bad guys, rescue your target, throw them back into the chopper and fly away while "The Final Countdown" blares on your choppers loud speakers.

Every method of gameplay is valid and the controls, the enemy AI responsiveness, it's all, bar none, the best I've experienced in ANY video game. Sneaking around feels tight and tense and combat makes you feel like Jack Bauer on adrenaline. (I mean, he IS the voice of Venom Snake)

And I really like the story for the most part too. Its weaknesses are really glaring. Namely, the "Fun" of MGS is completely devoid in the story (which is really odd since it's FRONT AND CENTER in-game). Venom Snake only has maybe six minutes of dialogue in the entirety of this 30+ hour long game. And the way Skull Face gets completely undercut right at the home stretch is something I have NOT stopped bitching about for almost six years, and my friends can personally attest to that.

That and the ending feels too abrupt.

We know that Kojima got fired by Konami's VP and said VP scorched the entire production company after that and made a series of dickheaded decisions that pissed off a LOT of fans, burning much of the good will Konami IP fans had towards the company. But that had nothing to do with MGSV's abruptness. That was the plan from the start because only Kojima would think to end the entire series on a plot twist like that.

And I think the issue isn't the twist at all. In fact, I LOVE the twist. The issue is that the game should've continued beyond it so Venom Snake could cope with the truth and realize how badly he'd been screwed. I think even people who hated the twist could've been won over if there was a little more to the games epilogue than Episode 46.

Also, the games boss fights were a tad underwhelming. Not the fights themselves, I LOVED all five of the games bosses.

Oh? There were twelve?

No. I meant what I said. Because so many of the games bosses are rematches against the same bosses. All MGSV has is the Skulls, Quiet, Eli, The Man on Fire, and Metal Gear. They're great bosses that do everything the best MGS bosses always did; give you tons of options, incorporate combat AND stealth, have varied attacks AND even have multiple methods to sneak around the boss and avoid the fight completely. But for a game as long as MGS, you need more variety. And frankly, the bosses NEED more personality. Skull Face should've had more XOF assassins acting as the bosses in the game along with the ones we have. Elite assassins like Quiet, with their own powers and specialized weaponry so the fights feel completely different from the ones we have. And oh yeah, SKULL FACE HIMSELF SHOULD'VE HAD A GOD-FUCKING-DAMN BOSS FIGHT!!!!

Buuuuuuut those issues don't even matter if for all the games issues, I still replay it frequently when it's almost six years old.

So yeah! There's the massive rant you totally didn't ask for! :D

[musings-of-a-lovesick-fool]

One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure

Ship(s): Karl Heisenberg/Colvyr Covali

Summary: After three long months apart, Colvyr is back with Heisenberg in his factory and the Lord has a surprise in store for his favourite pet.

°°°

Colvyr was use to this, thrown over Heisenberg's shoulder like a sack of potatoes as the older man made his way back to his factory. The mutant's face was level with Heisenbergs back and his only show of defiance towards the situation was occasionally flicking Heisenberg in the face with his tail. Which was only met with playful nips and amused huffs.

It hadn't been a surprise when Heisenberg had made a surprise appearance in his chambers, he was ever punctual about his, 'playdates', as Lady Dimitrescu disdainfully called them. Play dates that happened to last three months at a time. They had an agreement, well, Mother Miranda had forced them, to share Colvyr's time. He had initially been brought in as an experimental addition to the family however it became apparent Alcina and Karl were considerably fond of him.

Ever an opportunist Mother Miranda took advantage of their affections, promises of one being able to keep the mutant as their own if they made her proud. Whatever making her proud entailed exactly was yet to be known. So, here the Lord was wandering into his beloved territory with his beloved pet in his hold. He'd spent three long months tending to Mother Miranda's beck and call much to his chagrin and he thought this time with Colvyr was well earnt.

"I've cleaned up our place lover boy, expanded it even since you were bitchin' about it last time. May not have gold trimmings like that tall bitches place but it should be up to your, oh so high standards," Heisenberg teased as he entered the factory, playfully readjusting Colvyr on his shoulder and making the mutant grab the back of his coat in fright. Colvyr flicked the man's face with his tail once more, huffing as his face flushed lightly; be it at the nickname or insinuation he was high maintenance he wouldn't say.

"The only reason I was 'bitchin' 'bout it last time was cuz of the rust everywhere, I couldn't put anythin' down without it gettin' all grimey," Colvyr pouted, not feeling his reasons for complaining were too outrageous to be made fun of. Heisenberg simply laughed, flicking his wrist to summon large pieces of debris and scrap to walk upon. The lack of solid ground made Colvyr cling to his lover, tail coiling around his torso and arms wrapping around his waist, much to Heisenberg's poorly hidden delight.

"Don't you worry there sweet pea, I ain't dropped you yet have I?" He grinned, walking with ease as he made his way higher up the factory toward their 'home'. Home being a glorified word for a room with a bed and small kitchenette, it suited Heisenberg just fine before but with Colvyr now living there it did feel a tad cramped. And despite the fact that Heisenberg had not in fact ever dropped Colvyr, unintentionally anyway, the mutant still shivered at the sight of the ground moving farther and farther away.

"Why couldn't we have used the stupid elevator?" Colvyr whined, burying his face into Heisenberg's lower back. He would always argue he wasn't afraid of heights, just falling from a great one, but no one ever believed him. Heisenberg especially didn't believe him as he felt every shiver and hitched breath from his stubborn pet. The smile on his face might have been considered cruel, but it wasn't truly from Colvyr's discomfort but more so the feeling of him clinging to him like he was the only thing keeping him alive.

They could have taken the elevator, but Heisenberg preferred this way for that reason alone. After three months apart how could he be expected not to want to be touching Colvyr as much as possible? If it meant spooking him for all of three minutes surely that was justified.

"Alright buttercup, we're here," Heisenberg announced as he stepped onto a concrete platform. Ahead of him a bright red door stood, tucked away into thick concrete, surprisingly clean compared to its surroundings. Colvyr doesn't make any attempt to move, just waits patiently as Heisenberg unlocks the door and steps inside. As soon as the door is closed however Colvyr writhes and ungracefully climbs over Heisenberg's shoulder and lands on carpeted ground on all fours.

His feathers are bristled and his claws dig into the new carpet, sniffing the air to inspect the new scents invading his senses. Red eyes race around the room that looked much larger then before, with an entirely new hallway leading somewhere at the far left of the room. Heisenberg watched with a facade of amused apathy, however his tongue dragged along the back of his teeth anxiously as he waited for Colvyr's approval of the new look.

Colvyr, continuing on all fours, explores further into the room, noting the bed had been moved and replaced with a couch and small tv and the kitchenette had been sized up. The dining table remained the same, no need for a big fancy table for two people after all. Another addition was a bookshelf, filled with trinkets as well as books and Colvyr was delighted to see the music box Heisenberg had crafted for him sat atop his favourite book.

The constant sway of Colvyr's tail gave away his approval and a high delighted chittering broke out from his throat, bouncing through the room and towards the hallway.

"Hey now mister, wait for me, I got a surprise in the bedroom," At his mentioning of a bedroom Colvyr made a mix of a purr and squealing sound, a sound so very unique to him. Well, after Mother Miranda had her way with him that is. Heisenberg chuckled and walked ahead of the excited mutant, hearing him prance excitedly behind him as they walked down the short hallway.

Heisenberg held up a playful finger to Colvyr as he turned to the right, pushing open the dark wooden door agonisingly slow and stepping into the pitch black room. Colvyr immediately freezes and whimpers, pupils growing large as he tried to see into the darkness. He could make out Heisenberg's shape and what looked like a bed but the rest was a mystery.

"Karl you know I hate the dark," he whispers, sounding small and fragile as he cowered from the doorway. Gentle shushing came from the shadow of his lover, who could just picture the once swaying tail now tucked between two furry legs.

"Come on now darlin' you know I'd never let you get hurt, come here," His loving cooing is enough to get Colvyr nervously crawling into the room. Staying low to the ground and eyes wide trying to take everything in, even with his enhanced sight the darkness still proved hard to navigate. But luckily Heisenberg is waiting with open arms and Colvyr stands and falls into his chest eagerly, holding onto him tightly as if scared he would disappear  the moment he let go.

Heisenberg chuckled, not in a teasing or amused manner but in a genuinely loving way. His lover could tear apart any of the other mindless drones in the entire village and yet here he was afraid of the dark and a little fall. It was endearing to say the least and probably one of the things that made him love him so dearly.

Colvyr's eyes had squeezed shut upon contact, so when light flooded the room the only thing he saw was the red of his eyelids.

"C'mon now i've been waiting all this time to give you this thing don't make me wait any longer," Heisenberg playfully spoke, gloved hands patting Colvyr's shoulders comfortingly yet roughly. Tentatively Colvyr opened his eyes, first looking up at Heisenberg's expectant smile and then to the rest of the room. A small gasp escapes him at the sight of two large mechanical wings laying atop the new queen sized bed. The scars on Colvyr's back almost sting at the sight and he all but bounces in his spot and nearly snaps his neck with how quickly he looks back up at Heisenberg.

"You, made those? For me?" He asks in disbelief, it wasn't that Heisenberg wasn't thoughtful, in fact every gift he gave was handmade with a little bit of his heart and soul molded into it. But this was the largest gift he'd made so far, the cogs and gears and screws all intricately and meaningfully placed to make them as aesthetically pleasing as they were functional.

"Who else d'you think i'd make 'em for you numbskull," Heisenberg snorts, affectionately ruffling Colvyr's hair and ushering him towards the wings. Clawed fingers carefully pulled away the cloth binding the wings together and revealed a metal chest harness. Tears welled up in the mutants eyes and Heisenberg sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth.

"Karl..." God his name sounded angelic coming from him, "I love them, but... Mother Miranda, she–"

"She won't do a goddamned thing," Heisenberg snaps, cutting off Colvyr's worried mutter and stalking forward. Protective hands cup faded purple cheeks and brush away blackened tears, his eyes are hidden behind his glasses but Colvyr can feel the intensity of them.

"That bitch only cut off your wings when you tried to escape yeah? Well you got me now so there won't be any more prison breaks right? So there's no problem and if there is she can take it up with me," He huffs, confident enough in his reasoning that Colvyr felt his flames of doubt flicker away. Colvyr chose not to think too hard on how he left out Alcina, Heisenberg never liked to think about her relationship with him and made it very clear.

He trusted Heisenberg with every fibre of his being and if he said it was okay then who was he to argue. A smile slips onto Colvyr's face, a matching one appearing quickly after on Heisenbergs. Colvyr leans in after a beat, Heisenberg eagerly after and as soon as their lips brush and breath mingle all the tension of months apart boils over. It isn't a gentle kiss by any means, it's passionate and hungry in more ways than one, Colvyr's hands holding onto Heisenberg's wrists desperately as he tries to deepen the kiss as much as physically possible.

Hearts that shouldn't be able too, beat erratically against ribcages, butterflies swarm their stomachs and any thought of anything else vanishes from their minds. The only thing in the moment that matters is them, their lips and teeth clashing and starving skin meets starving skin as the two fall against each other on the bed. It wasn't a simple lust filled embrace as someone on the outside would assume from the groping hands and shuddered breaths, but one of simple and utter adoration and starvation for their very souls.

Three months was starting to feel like an agonizing eternity for Heisenberg, it was even worse knowing his 'sister' was putting her hands on Colvyr the entire time they were apart. The only solace was the face she would pull upon seeing the countless bitemarks and hickies covering Colvyr's skin and the fact he would return to him eventually. Even with that, as he laid with Colvyr curled against his chest and tail wrapped around his thigh he couldn't help but wish he could have him to himself forever.

Maybe soon that could be a reality, if his future plan fell into place. Then he could give Colvyr the life he deserved, away from all this misery and finally safe with him. He would do anything to make that happen, even if he had to wait another century or so. He'd waited this long after all.

[twiststreet]

I'd be curious for more of your thoughts on that Hibbs piece. I've read him for years and often find him insightful, but this one seems very reactionary in a very typical retailer way ("blinkered" was a good word Kim O'Connor used). Particularly, he seems to pretend that Diamond is just fine as is and that DC had no reason to want to switch distribution. I recently swore off DC, but I've noticed since the switch that those comics have been on time at my lcs each week. Diamond, not so much.

Yeah, I don’t really agree with that (I missed whatever Kim said), though I really don’t know what’s going on at a retail level.  I haven’t gone regularly to a comic shop in years.   

(Setting aside the health stuff, which is the most striking thing in there:)  Hibbs is a retailer writing from a retailer perspective, so wishing that he was saying something else”... I mean, we know what we’re signing up for when we read it; we know how to slot it into our own personal worldviews. I’m not to going to complain that Hibbs isn’t going to tell me how long to cook a steak for, or that he’s not yelling that the Direct Market should be dismantled because if those were what I was looking to read, the egg should be on my face for pulling him up to begin with.

The question with Hibbs I think I always have is “how representative is he of retailers generally, as a store in San Francisco.”  (And I think people slightly overstate how non-representative he is because if you hear him talk about his operations, he makes clear he operates differently for different retail audiences, when he had that second store going-- I don’t know if that’s still a thing, but.  And also: I don’t fucking know what it means to be San Francisco anymore because what is that city even...). But generally, you know, you take that data point into consideration but still try to get at what you’ve signed up for, when you read what he says-- where are retailers’ heads at... You know, you go “well if Hibbs is at 8 then even adjusting -2 for factors x y and z, that mean Joe Median-Store might be at 6 and 6 is great / isn’t great, etc.”   

Hibbs has always erred slightly worried, on the spectrum of human reactions, so you know, (even though I personally tend to be drawn to that more than optimism), I’m not sitting here going “I bet DC’s going to license all their characters tomorrow because he says so” because it’s not like the first time I’ve heard that-- though it remains entirely possible, possibly a good idea for the suits (though probably not for anyone else), who even knows.  (Though if you’ve been listening to Rob Liefeld talk on Robservations about Heroes Reborn you’ll already know a significant challenge that would face-- that if they do a trial balloon, the people who already entrenched will do whatever they can to poison the trial balloon so as to make the case for not doing it and remaining entrenched...)(that becomes tougher after multiple waves of layoffs, though).

But what he’s talking about-- DC just did its own Heroes World...? As soon as I heard all that to begin with (and I didn’t pay close attention because the world was happening), my first reaction was “oh shit, Heroes World!”  So a comic retailers saying “this is looking the same after __ months in these specific ways” ... I’m going to pay attention to that.  I just remember how spectacularly unlikely it was that comics cleaned up the mess they’d made of themselves in the 90′s. It was a ridiculously unlikely set of events that turned things around, and I don’t think you can reasonably expect those events to happen again.  (Especially after the “we learned a lesson from the 90′s” part turned out to be a lie, which is something I know I was yelling and screaming about for years and I was getting called like “ungrateful” or something by the Serious Comic Voices of Seriousness for it, there were entire CBR blog posts about how I didn’t understand how great things were now, etc, etc, etc... I don’t think they pull that “we learned not to rip people off” lie again, not this batch of assholes.  Though who knows, maybe....)

I mean, sure there are criticisms of Diamond to be had, of trad retail to be had.  And there’s the giant black box of “how desperate are people right now” that hasn’t been reported on.  There was a time in ‘02-’04 or so  when a book distributor or somebody like that went down, and it almost took out Fantagraphics with it. And this seems worse than that! Where’s the money flowing here and whose debts are getting paid first?  I don’t have any idea.  There’s all these systems in play that have been knocked out by COVID, and who knows who’s owed how much money or how much product is sitting in a warehouse collecting warehouse fees, etc., like this is all a fucking disaster and there’s no reporting on it (comic reporters are too busy encouraging Damon Lindelof to make Watchmen TV shows) and there’s ... DC is a black box in a black box in a black box (he said, having waited for 3 years for DC to answer an easy question once). 

But even if DC had good reason to do whatever it did?  It doesn’t seem to matter much if the rest of the comic market’s built around Diamond and if no one has the health of the Direct Market on its radar.  And DC doesn’t if they fucking fired everyone who understands the health of the Direct Market as even being a fucking concept to begin with, which is extremely likely at this point.  Or ... I don’t know-- it’s the old comic problem of people wanting to argue that “the thing is bad an we need to replace the thing.”  Diamond’s bad and we need to replace it.  Okay.  With what?  And with comics, the answer is usually “moonbeams and hopes and hugs.”  There’s just a lot of wishful thinking out there that a Better Answer just shows up.  I don’t know about that... 

Comic retail’s built around selling Batman. For DC’s moves to be this impactful, that’s a problem at the core of the system.  The undoing was in the origin.  So i get that criticism,  and it’s well taken (except to the extent there’s an entirely speculative argument built around it that either (a) there would be some other system that’d exist but-for and (b) there’d be some flourishing of human creativity but-for). But that’s still a lot of people and a lot of human energy that’s at issue.  And the few life rafts that are out there, you’re not going to get a lot of people on them.  Digital is a joke (according to me, a digital comic publisher! hahaha)-- hibbs if anything overstates the possibilities there because as a retailer, he doesn’t want to bring up that we’re in the Golden Age of Comic Piracy.  (And ... I like being a digital comic publisher!  I’m having fun.  But). And bookstores-- bookstores are great, provided your readership expectation are 10-14 year old girls.  Which might be better for comics if that became the default comic as compared to 35-50 year old bachelors that’s the DM’s bread and butter, but... I think you probably have to be okay with a lot fewer people having gigs.  Bookstores can’t even remotely support the same level of human activity that comic shops can, by the look of things.  (You know at some point you have a larger cultural heat death going on, that’s the part I find interesting, but...)

I don’t know. Hibbs might be to an extreme.  I might be to an extreme.  But having seen people voting for Biden and then going “wait, he’s going to hire racist industry-controlled centrists??  we got nothing for our vote?  we’ve been betrayed!”... having seen people talk about what a great human being George Bush was (I saw a tweet fucking today that was like “George Bush was underrated because he was nice to a trans person once”)... I’ve become very cynical about the human memory or ability to learn lessons.  I don’t think people remember 1995-1999 in comics, and just... how ridiculous it was when that got turned around.  It was like watching them pull off a fucking heist to turn things around last time... Comics are selling-- people are buying comics.  So it’s not as bad as last time.  It’s nowhere close.  But... People overestimate how structured the industry is, and obviously the DC layoffs suggest that the people looking purely at the bottom line don’t understand and didn’t account for the unique levels of institutional knowledge required for the industry... Other media, you don’t hear about hand-selling as much.  When have you ever seen a movie because the guy who owns the theater told you it was good?? Or because you saw the director standing over a flea market table looking like they were about to cry...?  Like... I don’t know.  

I do know for me, I want to start thinking about a next project, and I’ve been looking again at what the Big Hit Books have been these last couple years (I kind of avoided new stuff when I was working on my things) and... You know, part of what changed things in the early 00′s was there were new voices with a new style ready to come in.  Now?  Jesus, I don’t know.  At first blush, everybody’s writing books nearly identically, and it’s just this massive level of bombast and confidence (good for them!) and huge splash pages and hyper-emotional narration and... it all just is this blockbuster schmear that’s very impressive but entirely skippable anyways.  None of it’s as a bezerk or strange or just weirdly interesting to me as 10 seconds of  a Metal Gear Solid video essay... it’s a lot of big splash pages of Thanos or Thanos-for-creator-owned-comics... But it all seems like halls of mirrors-- none of it seems very outward looking... You know, Kojima did halls of mirrors by the 4th game, too, but in Death Stranding, he had like Amazon deliverypeople, and you’d play the game and go “oh shit, this gig economy is making my formaldehyde-baby cry” and like... he had something besides the hall of mirrors to him.  (And I mean, the 4th game is a criticism of the hall of mirrors, according to a video essay I saw, but...).  Or you know, it’s like the thing that Rebuild of Evangelion 3 is criticizing, they’re doing unironically... I don’t know.  It’s weird; the books are weird; I keep wanting to ask like “what should I be reading here” because I’m mostly ignorant besides a Hulk or a Long Con or Sink or ... I never saw the end of Seeds but I thought Seeds had something...

Sorry to ramble.