#Would you sell your soul?: Interactive Story

[k-star-holic]

"We're getting married" Sung Hoon X Refinery people, unexpected marriage notice

[dreamingofep]

A Blue Velvet Crush

(Elvis/Austin!Elvis × reader)

Character/Fandom: Elvis - Elvis (2022)

TW: Cussing, teasing, SMUTTT, fingering

Rating: Explicit/Mature (NSFW, 18+, so minors Do NOT Interact)

Word Count: 5.4K

A/N: Hello everyone! This picture of Elvis lives rent free in my head and I knew when I first saw it, I had to write something for it.

If you've never seen some of this performance, I'd recommend watching! I'll make another post with the youtube link!

Thank you again❤️

Sorry for any spelling mistakes or goofs.

Mississippi, September 26th, 1956

Traffic was backed up for miles and the buzz in the air was electrifying. You couldn’t hide your nerves though. You weren’t even supposed to be here today but by the grace of God, you got thrown in the ring and had to cover today’s most important story. Elvis Presley was back in his hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi to perform a charity concert. His rise to fame seemed to happen overnight and everyone was dying to see him in person. 

You were just an intern at the Tupelo Mirror and your supervisor that was running the Elvis story got sick this morning. Eric called you at the crack of dawn, frantic that no one was going to be there to take pictures. You had only been at the newspaper for a month and a half, you didn’t want to overstep your role and be too forward, but you mentioned that you have photography experience. You ran your college photography club and were majoring in journalism. You know you can take some decent shots of him. You try to sell yourself, affirming you can do this! The whole reason you were working for the newspaper was to get a better shot of getting a job at a newspaper company after you graduated. You thought this would be the perfect way to gain the experience. And if you got some good pictures of Elvis Presley? That could change your whole life. 

You did have a fondness of the man but like, who didn’t at your age? He was the new cool guy who was causing havoc wherever he went. He was talented and had this luring sense about him. You hadn’t ever seen him in person, but based on the few televised appearances he’s made, he was beyond incredible. You knew he had a talent that no one had ever had. Your parents would always make a fuss if you were watching him and tried to make you feel bad for it. 

“No Christian boy should be moving like that! It’s abhorrent.” Your parents used to say. 

You’d just roll your eyes and grumble under your breath. Your parents didn’t understand that he was something young people could love and be fully immersed in without having to act all prim and proper about it. There was no other artist that would make you feel the way Elvis made his audiences feel. He was passionate and he felt the music to his very soul. It showed so easily he didn’t have to say he loved what he was doing. 

And now you were going to be feet away from Elvis, taking his picture and maybe even getting the chance to ask him a few questions. The cars started moving forward more and before you could get through the gates, a police officer stopped you. You rummaged through your satchel and pulled out your press pass. He quickly nodded and directed you to the portion of the lot where other photographers and press reporters were gathered. You quickly find a spot and throw your car in park. You throw your satchel over your head and grab your camera out of its bag. It wasn’t the most high-end camera but it took nice pictures. You double-checked the camera had enough film and quickly made a beeline to the stage. 

There were thousands of people here already and the buzz in the air was electric. You saw girls jumping up and down giddy that they were about to see Elvis live. You had some of the men standing next to them with a bored expression on their faces like they didn’t want to be there. You had to play it cool though. You had your press badge on and the last thing you needed was for someone to see you acting giddy when you had to be professional today. 

There was a corralled section for the press behind ropes that gave you a bit better access on the side of the stage but it was still very crowded. Not only that, but it was all men here and they were all significantly taller than you. You couldn’t see a damn thing from this area and became worried you weren’t going to be able to get one good photograph of this entire thing!

You try to push and shove your way closer to the front but just get these condescending looks toward you and don’t budge an inch for you. You didn’t expect anything less honestly, the industry was made up of men and wasn’t exactly kind to women entering the workplace. You shake it off, not letting it get to you too much. 

The audience starts screaming as the band takes their place on stage. It’s a small band with just a drummer, bassist, and guitar player. They’re all smiles when they hear the crowd go wild for them. Your eyes are focused on the side of the stage though. You want to get the first glimpse of him when he gets on this stage. 

The audience continues to grow antsy and an announcer hops on stage. He steps in front of the microphone at center stage and taps it with his finger. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, I know you all are very excited to have one of our very own from Tupelo be here today. I need you to give a warm welcome to Elvis Presley.”

The crowd erupts at his name and everyone bursts out in insane excitement. You keep your eyes on the side of the stage and you raise the camera to your face, getting ready for the first shot. 

The audience gets louder and you feel the hair on your arms rise. There you see him. He’s dressed in a velvety blue long-sleeve and loose black slacks with his perfect white oxfords. His hair was greased back and looked shiny. He had his guitar on and made his way to the microphone. From this angle, he looked so tall, his legs easily gliding him across the stage. 

He carried this nervous energy about him tho. He puts his hand in his pocket and grabs the microphone with the other hand. 

Click. 

He starts Heartbreak Hotel and drives the place insane. Everyone is screaming and some girls are even crying. His voice rings out flawlessly and once he starts singing, there’s no stopping him. He can’t seem to stand still. Whether it’s the music moving him or the nerves, he is shaking and moving, making the crowd even more insane.

There are times when the screams overpower his voice coming through the microphone. He has an amused look on his face the whole time though. Especially when he swings his hips and makes the girls go bezerk. You catch yourself blushing at those moves, how he can move his hips so easily as he makes these in-passion faces. He made you feel something you’ve never felt before. It was bad, it was lust driving you to keep looking at what he was going to do next. You wanted him to move more to see just how those hips would move in other circumstances…

Click.

Fucking focus.

He wasn’t afraid to get close to his fans. It looked like he really loved them. You could tell he moved his leg just to get them going and have them look there. Or how he’d say a certain word and prolong it all sensually, it drove the place nuts. Even just the way he held the microphone and dragged it along beside him. He commanded that stage by doing the smallest things. Elvis walks slowly to the edge of the stage where dozens of fans reach out their hands for him. He gets close and reaches out his hand too, still singing and never missing a beat.

Click.

You get the side profile of him but you think it’s going to be a great picture when it develops. What you really want is a perfect picture of his face straight onto the camera. That would be a great way to solidify that you are a great photographer and can do this professionally.

Elvis finishes his set and gets rushed off stage into the building behind the arena. You follow the crowd that’s trying to get to him, hoping you can get another picture of him that’s even better than the ones you took. The other photographers aren’t paying any attention to you and push and shove their way through. You huff annoyed, hoping you can get in there before they close the doors. 

You find a spot on the side but all the men in here are so much taller and crowding Elvis. You slump by the door, frustrated that you might have ruined your big chance to prove yourself at the newspaper as you haven’t gotten a single shot of his face straight on. You wanted to the perfect shot and it seems your opportunity was wasted. 

“Alright everyone it’s time to leave. Elvis won’t be answering any more questions,” a man bellows. Most of the men try to protest but they slowly start to funnel out of the door. You continue to get pushed aside until you’re almost behind the door. You don’t move from behind there because, for a brief second, a devious idea pops into your head. 

Just stay here long enough for everyone to leave and ask for a picture when he’s alone.

Your heart pounds away at just the thought of being alone with Elvis but you had to try it. The worst he could say was no and get out. 

The last few remaining men shuffle out of the room and Elvis yells out that he’ll be right out. The door shuts closed, making your little hiding spot be exposed in plain sight. 

Elvis had his back to the door so he didn’t see you right away. You sighed in relief for that but had to work up the courage to say something to him.

What exactly should you say in this situation? ‘Hi I snuck in your dressing room even though I was told to get out, can I take a few pictures of you for the newspaper?’

You cringed just thinking about it. You took a few deep breaths and straightened out your dress.

“Umm, excuse me, Elvis?” You say sheepishly.

He turns around quickly at the sound of your voice and stares wide-eyed at you. He doesn’t say anything right away and neither do you because seeing him this close and in person is too much.

He is beautiful, in every shape and form, he is beautiful. You’ve never seen such a handsome-looking man before in your life and have no words. Logical thinking went out the window with him and he looks at you with the same expression on his face. You haven’t said more than four words to him but you want him. You want him to look at you and touch you and never stop. Your core flutters at that scandalous thought.

“You scared me there honey. H-how’d you get in here?” He asks with a mischievous grin forming on his face.

“W-w-well I uhhh. Well, I work for the newspaper and I was wondering if I could take a few more pictures of you?” You ask nervously. A long silence fills the room and you are about to turn on your heels and run for the door when he gives you another cheeky smile.

“Sure, I don’t mind at all. What was your name lil’ darlin’?” He asks smoothly.

Lil’ darlin’.

Jesus Christ I’m not going to make it out of here alive with all his charm suffocating me.

“Oh gosh Elvis, thank you so much. This truly means so much to me. And my name is y/n.” You tell him in a hurry. You make sure your camera is on and ready before you look back up at him watching you intently.

“Y/n… that’s very pretty…Where’d you want me, honey?” He coos.

Your heart pounds in your ears and you can’t register anything he just said. All you can do is look at him in shock and can’t believe you’re alone with him. You know how many thousands of girls would kill for a moment like this? And the question he just asked?! Ooh, the sheer audaciousness he has. He knows he's irresistable.

I'd love you to cover me in kisses with those pillowy soft lips...

“Huh?” You say in a daze.

“Where did you wanna take my picture honey? You’re the photographer and all,” he teases. You feel the heat rise to your cheeks and you nervously look down at your camera.

“Oh yeah… sorry… I’ve never really done this,” you admit. His eyebrows shoot up surprised, “First time? Wow, that’s somethin’ for a little lady coming here and coverin’ a story on a day like this. The whole town is making a huge fuss over me, I don’t think deserve it, but it’s very special either way. I’ll make sure to give you the best pictures,” he winks. It feels like your heart just about stopped by that one minuscule movement.

Stop that. Stop that right now!

You sweetly smile up at him and move further into the room, trying to see what angle and lighting would be best. The wall behind him was blue and you thought that would be a perfect backdrop to accentuate the velvet shirt he was wearing and his piercing blue eyes.

“Umm, let’s try with you stand there. I think that would be a nice background,” you say.

He casually takes a few steps back and puts his hands in his pockets.

“Like this?” He asks. You raise the camera to your face, make sure the frame is straight, and push the button.

Click.

He looked good without even trying. He had this golden aura about him. Like he shined from within. He was remarkable and you know that without saying much else to him. Even if you didn’t like him already, you can see the appeal. He was so easy to love. So easy to be around. Everything about him was inviting and warm. You don’t know how you were going to peel yourself away from him…

“Okay, how about one smiling?” You ask. He nods his head and gives you this cute cheeky smile.

Click.

God help me I can’t breathe with this man around looking this good.

“How are they comin’ out honey?” He asks, his southern inflection on honey making you feel like the actual word.

“Oh, just fine. I think they’re going to be amazing when printed,” you try to say casually.

“Oh good… what are you doin’ working for the newspaper?” He asks, fixing the sides of his hair with a comb.

Click.

“I don’t work for the newspaper, not yet at least. I’m just an intern. I’m a student at the University of Mississippi studying journalism and thought it would help to work there for a bit so when I graduate in two years, I can hopefully get a job at a newspaper,” you explain.

He intently looks at you, interested in everything you have to say, “That’s wonderful honey. I think that’s great you’re pursuing that. I don’t doubt for a second you won’t get a job anywhere you apply for,” he says sweetly. You can’t help but blush at his nice words and fiddle with your camera.

“Thank you, Elvis,” you say quietly. He walks over to the sofa that’s up against the wall and casually takes a seat.

He stretches out one arm along the back of the couch and the other rests on the arm of it. His legs were spread open and your eyes can’t help but stare at them. They were so long and he exuded sensuality, it nearly made you dizzy. He sees how you’re looking at him, intrigued with the man that so many found attractive.

You raise the camera to your eye once again as he looks down the lens intensely.

Click.

You felt like screaming like those girls were earlier. You’ve never felt so attracted to someone’s presence. It kind of scared you in a way. 

He moves on the sofa slightly, bringing his hand to his mouth and giving you this luring, sultry gaze.

Oh lord, I’m a dead woman…

Click.

He doesn’t change this pose after the flash goes off, he continues to sit there with his eyes drinking you in. Your body can’t take this, the tension in the room is palpable and you are seriously considering running out now since you have plenty of good shots. Elvis slowly starts to lower his hand from his mouth and you see he was biting his lip behind it this whole time. He slowly drags his teeth across it before letting it go with a pop.

“Anyone ever tell you how beautiful you are?” He asks softly.

You can’t hide your flushed cheeks anymore and lower the camera from your face to see if he’s being serious. His eyes look heavy and somber, but he cracks a little grin to lighten the mood.

“Oh, no… not something I normally hear,” you say insecurely.

“That’s a shame darlin’, you really are. You have the most gorgeous smile, beautiful eyes, and the longest legs I’ve ever seen,” he gushes. 

I’m dead. I’ve gone to heaven and died. This can’t be happening!

“Well thank you very much. I could say the same for you,” you say coyly.

His eyebrows raise at the blunt remark and chuckles softly to himself. He lowers his hand off the back of the sofa and places it on the empty space beside him, looking at it, then looking back up at you. He doesn’t need to say another word, he pulls you in without trying.

You carefully place your camera on the table and take your bag off your shoulder. You make your way to sit beside him as your heart gallops like a racing horse.

He turns his body a bit to face you more and being this close to him is unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. You have to hold your breath or he might notice how nervous you are.

“No guy back home telling’ you how pretty you are hmm?” He says, tucking back stands of hair behind your ear. All you can do is shake your head no. His fingertips barely graze the lobe of your ear but it makes you feel weak anyway. The arousal dripping from your core is not helping the situation and not letting you think clearly.

“Oh, well I’m sorry men are so blind over there. I think you’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen,” he quips, giving you a cheeky smile. “The most pretty eyes, the most pretty nose, the most pretty pink lips I’ve ever seen,” he coos, leaning in closer until you can feel his breath on your lips.

You can’t take it anymore and lean in, devouring his lips with yours. You let out a deep breath as your mouth touched his, his lips feeling softer than you could have ever possibly imagined. He was so gentle with his kiss, making sure he wasn’t overstepping your boundaries. But you didn’t care about that. You screamed for more from him. More kisses, more long heated stares, more everything. 

You boldly, place your hand on his bicep, pulling yourself closer to him. He responds to your touch and you can tell he likes it. His crushed velvet shirt felt nice underneath your fingertips and felt his toned arms. He places his hand on your cheek, pulling you in with more urgency. You feel breathless, loving the way his skin makes yours feel like it’s on fire.

Elvis softly pulls away, not before biting your bottom lip and letting a sigh slip out of his mouth.

“Those lips darlin’, I could kiss them all day,” he mutters, his eyes heavy with lust.

“What’s stopping you?” You whimper. He grins and pulls you in once more.

You can’t believe any of this is real. The way he is kissing you should not feel so good and yet it does. You put both of your hands on his chest, pulling him closer to you by the collar of his shirt. His hands start to roam along your back, feeling the curve of it and how well this dress fits you. Every inch of you wants his hands placed lower. Right at the spot that is yearning for friction from those perfect hands.

He starts to drag one of his hands to your hip, squeezing there then down the top of your thigh. Need coursed through you and you couldn’t help but open your legs a tad bit. You’re not sure if he noticed, but he let out a pleased hum as he kissed you with more intensity.  

You needed to feel him. You needed to feel how soft his skin would be when it’s pressed against yours. Your hand sneaks into his shirt and feel the coarse little chest hairs he had there. You were right, his skin felt perfect and it only made you crave more. You snake your hand lower and onto the top of his thigh. You make the same movements he’s doing to you and you feel his body melt at your touch. 

You move your hand a bit lower and go to caress the inside part of his thigh and you freeze.

“Oh…” you moan into his mouth.

What you felt underneath your fingertips made you cry in need of him. Dear God, he was blessed in more ways than one. He was so much longer than you expected and it made your heart leap out of your chest. His cock was warm and fully hard in his pants as your fingertips slowly start to rub against him. You pull away from his lips and have to look at what your hand is feeling. 

You were going to die and see the pearly gates if you tried to have that inside of you. But God you didn’t care, you wanted him so bad. You’ve never wanted a man like this in your entire life. Looking up at Elvis, he looks calm and collected, still giving you a heated stare. He looks down at your hand, then back up to you with an innocent look about him. 

“You like what you feel baby?” He asks low. You take a deep breath before answering him.

“Y-yes. Yes, I do…” you say softly, your hand moving along him more. He lets out a pleased groan and adjusts his hips slightly, liking the feeling of your touch on him.

“Do you want more? Do you want to feel what it’s like inside of you?” He coos, leaning in for a soft kiss that leaves you dizzy. Your breathing felt erratic and the ache you had in your core only worsened.

“Yes please Elvis… please,” you beg. He smirks at you and kisses your neck, sending a shock of electricity through you. 

“Can I see what you’re wearin’ underneath this pretty dress honey?” He asks you. You nod your head and his fingers find the zipper of your dress easily. He slowly pulls it down and pulls down the fabric off the front of your body. You help him slip you out of your dress and sit there with your white bra and panties left on. He lets out a pleased little groan as he sees you sitting there, trembling with need. He gently touches your exposed skin, leaving little goosebumps behind. He touches your breasts gently, biting his lip as both of his hands cup them and start to play with your nipples through the fabric of your bra. You can’t help but lean into his touch loving every second of this.

He places a soft kiss on top of your breast as he reaches around and unclips your bra. He quickly puts one of your nipples in his mouth and sucks on it, groaning as he does so. Your back arches into his mouth, craving so much more from him. His other hand roams your body but only focuses on the top half of you. Your core was dripping with arousal and aching to be touched by those long fingers. You guide one hand between your legs and have him put pressure there.

You gasp instantly, his touch feeling better than you could have imagined but also realize you’ve soaked through your panties. He takes his mouth off of you and pulls away to look down at his hand.

“Fuck honey, how long have you been soaked like this?” He grumbles, his two fingers sliding up and down through your covered folds and creating the most delicious friction.

“Since I saw you moving on that stage,” you admit weakly.

He chuckles softly, “Oh honey, why didn’t you tell me sooner… this pussy just weepin’ for me?” He asks as his fingers slide the elastic of your panties to the side and expose your leaking core to him.

“Yes,” you moan. He nods his head and slowly pushes a finger inside of you. You both groan together, filling you so nicely. Your hips rock into his hand, needing everything he can give you. 

You throw your head back as he adds another finger inside of you.

“Elvis,” you moan, your chest heaving for more. He watches you intently, liking how on edge you are for him. His fingers twist and curl inside of you and you gasp for air. He likes what he’s doing and can’t get enough got you either.

“You feel so nice and wet baby. Can I give you my cock now?” He asks.

“Please, I want you Elvis, please give it to me,” you beg, reaching for his belt and unfastening it. He pulls down your panties and you lift your hips to help him get them off. You then work on the button of his pants and slide down the zipper. He lifts his hips up too to take them off and you watch as his cock comes out. Oh God, you were weak by just looking at it. His pink tip was peeking out from his foreskin and clear precum started to dribble down his length. His hand wraps around his length and spreads some of that slickness around the tip of him, moving his hand up and down slowly. You look back into his intense eyes and don’t know what to say.

“You want to ride me, honey?” He asks. The look on your face must have shown the apprehension you had thinking about taking him like that. He rubs his thumb along your cheek and smirks at you.

“It’ll feel so good baby. You’re so wet for me, you’re going to cover my cock in your sweet honey and make us feel so good,” he groans as you watch him swirl his thumb around the tip of his cock. A pent-up moan escapes your lips and quickly straddle his hips, needing him more than ever.

He rubs his length through your folds, covering him in your arousal and making you both moan with the sensation. You hold onto his shoulders and press kisses to his cheek. You feel him line himself up to your entrance and hold your hips. Elvis looks up at you with need and his eyes are begging you to have him. You felt the heat of him pressed there against your entrance and you can’t wait any longer. You start to sink down on his impressive length, moaning as you take the first few inches. He felt so good, filling you so completely and stretching out your tight entrance. He throws his head back onto the couch and groans as you take him, squeezing your hips tightly.

The sounds he makes when he’s getting pleased goes straight to your head. You love the way he groans as you move slowly on him. You never knew you could be so attracted to the sound of a man getting pleased. You take more of him inside you and cry out his name, overwhelmed it can be feeling this good. 

“You feel so good, honey. You like how my cock feels inside you?” He groans into your ear. You gasp as his hips move up into you, stuffing more of his length inside of you.

“Yes, oh fuck yes,” you cry out.

You move faster on him, wanting more of him and feeling your walls fluttering each second. His eyes watch how your breasts bounce as you’re riding him, drunk at the very sight of you. You close your eyes, overwhelmed with all the sensations he’s giving you and those eyes only make it worse and worse. 

Your hips grind at the base of his cock and you both whimper. Your clit rubs at the base of him and you feel your walls start to clench around him. You ride him harder, chasing the high of your orgasm. You look back into his eyes, desperate for him to help you.

“E-Elvis… oh please,” you beg.

“Come darlin’, I wanna feel you come for me,” he groans as he snaps his hips into you, causing his cock to get deeper inside you.

You whimper in agony, not being able to hold on much longer. His hands are back on your hips and help you move more. Your breathing is ragged and your vision is blurry, you thrust a few more times on him and you feel your body shudder hard. Your walls squeeze around his length and cry out his name like he’s your saving grace. He groans with you, loving how good you feel around him. He helps you rock your hips into him more, making you come more than you ever have in your life. Your head feels dizzy and your body feels like it’s floating. You never knew a man could make you feel this good.

You keep riding him and don’t want to stop. He was still making these sinful sounds that sent a pulse straight to your pussy as you hear him getting pleased by you. He bites his lower lip as he stares at you, beaded sweat gathering at his temples and his breathing becoming more frantic.

“Ah, honey you feel so damn good. I need to come now,” he says gruffly. He picks you up off of him and has you stand in between his open legs. He grabs his cock in his hand once more and starts to jerk himself off, staring at you with need. You wanted to touch him again, feel the warmth of his length fill your hand. You boldly get on your knees and take his hand off of himself. You wrap your small hand around him and his eyes roll back in his head. Your wetness covered his length and made it easy to move your hand on him. You angle his length toward your chest and he bucks his forward and falls apart. His seed comes out in thick, hot, spurts and lands on your chest. He groans loudly and cusses under his breath with each stroke of your hand. 

“Oh yes honey, yes,” he moans.

He’s trying to calm down and regain his normal breathing but your thumb continues to tease his extra sensitive head. He groans in agony, loving and hating how you’re playing with him.

“God honey I-I-I ain’t never felt so good,” he sighs. “Come here,” he says opening his arms to you. 

You get up and sit on his thigh, your spilling arousal making a mess on him. You wince when you feel the wetness spread on him and look up at him with an innocent smile.

“Sucha messy lil’ girl hmm?” He teases.

“Mhmm, you’re quite messy too,” you quip, looking down at your chest with him covering it.

He laughs amused, “Well, you felt too good what can I say,” he says cutely, placing a soft kiss on your lips.

“I had to say thank you in some way for letting me take some pictures of you,” you say shyly.

“Oh, you didn’t need to, but I’m so thankful you did,” he winks.

You kiss each other more, reveling in this moment together, not wanting it to end so soon. But you knew he had other places to be, you couldn’t keep him in here forever.

“I don’t want to keep you from your day. The whole town is so happy you’re here,” you smile.

“Thanks, honey. It’s nice to be celebrated in sucha nice way,” he says caressing your face, “but this might have been my favorite thing I got today.” He says cutely.

“And what’s that?” You ask smartly.

“You, my new favorite reporter.”

*

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Tagging:

@powerofelvis @burninlovebutler

@neptuneismysister @velvetelvis @ccab @presleyenterprise @loving-elvis @theresalwaysep

@prompted-wordsmith@sillybookmarks @dkayfixates @ellie-24 @rktismylife-blog.@myradiaz@tacozebra051

@thatbanditqueen

@18|kpeters @flwrs4aust @emma181873

@austinswhitewolf @eliseinmemphis

@everythingelvispresley @chasingwildflowers @idontwanttoputanything @ohjustpeachy

@elvisalltheway101 @austinsmutler @kingdomforapony

@generoustreemystic @claire-elvisgirl

@ashtag6887 @burnthheparaphilia @richardslady121

@jaqueline19997

@returntopresley. @iloveelvis @rjmartin11 @that-hotdog @louisejoy86 @misspresley @cattcb @annapresley8

@arrolyn1114 @raginginkedslut @epthedream69

@mh777ep1938 @50sexyshadesfashionista

@oldhOllywOod @hooked-on-elvis @livelovedilfs

[lillified]

Just curious, why do you ship Megastar?

[long post incoming, apologies, you activated my sleeper phrase]

Short answer: I like these characters and their potential. I like the idea of them, and I made up new versions because I want to see their dynamic and subtext taken seriously, and not flanderized/made into a meanspirited joke by media that is supposed to be "mature"

Long answer:

when i was watching transformers as a kid i was really interested in the dynamic of two characters who are mean and jaded and instinctively push eachother away, but work extremely well together. i didn't really understand coding yet, but in my interest in the decepticons as an entity with an ideological identity that wasn't just "bad guy" (transformers was like. the first time i really started thinking about deeper meanings and propaganda in media, which probably explains why i am as obnoxious as I am) I was always sad with how megatron and starscream never really got the chance to have their dynamic approached in a different way. in a lot of ways those two are the heart and soul of the decepticons, and I've always thought that putting more care and attention into their relationship and not just writing it off as a cruel plot device would be the first step in having a more nuanced view of the Decepticons as a whole

personally I believe that, in a similar way to batman and the joker, those two have always had a dynamic that kind of blurs the lines, and at times is outright suggested. unfortunately though, like batman and the joker, over time an unwillingness to engage with the reality of that uncomfortable, sort of meanspirited coding just led to the near-sighted stereotyping becoming crueler and more abusive. acknowledging that it exists at all means acknowledging there was that bias, so the "joke" was just repeated until it became the only thing their interactions were really known for. it's an act of flanderization, and that makes me sad

i guess my case in point is--they have a lot of potential that just isn't realized. even in places where their relationship is given depth there's still almost always this really tonally dissonant violence to their interactions that's never unpacked, not really, because how are you going to sell toys of that? moreover, how are you going to make megatron "redeemable" after that? what could be considered strange, poorly executed slapstick in its origin became aesthetically worse and worse, but was never given serious thought--and I think that makes the story, overall, worse! "maturing" the brand didn't make it smarter, it just made an elephant in the room, and now Transformers is so locked in to its decided status quo that we haven't had a different perspective on any of these characters since Animated.

I apologize for the rant, but it's something I think about alot and your question is somewhat related to that. I'm frustrated by how dismissively these characters are written in versions of Transformers that are supposed to "smart" and "mature", I'm frustrated by how that negatively impacts the story, and I'm frustrated by how the people who like these characters can be dismissive of it. I think there's a lot of story potential and thematic insight into the decepticons that can be gained by looking at these two as characters with a history, and not just a bad joke! I think that you can have all the best parts--the sabotage, betrayal, bitterness, and the irony of someone you refuse to trust who still manages to know you better than anyone else, and have that shown through actions and character development, and actually written instead of having to be overscored by unintelligible violence for the sake of being "dark" and reaffirming, in the cheapest way possible, that you're looking at characters who are evil! I want to see that in a story!

my work is honestly not really about what I think transformers IS, or HAS to be, but what I think it has the potential to be, and what my interpretation of the themes means to me. I want to see all of the Decepticons viewed with a different lens, and these two are probably the most important Decepticons, both on a story/thematic level and a cultural one. transformers was the first piece of media I was really consciously critically thinking about, entirely by chance, and in the interest of art and human expression I want to make something different that is interested in being more thoughtful

anyway, sorry again for rambling. I might delete this later to keep my page clean, but I appreciate the question! I'd give more specific examples of why I like the stuff I made up but those would be spoilers.

[venus-haze]

Got No Reason To Run (Homelander x Supervillain!Reader)

Summary: Homelander fantasizes about you, his supervillain arch-enemy, and getting the revenge he so desperately craves.

Note: Female reader, but no other descriptors are used. This is based on some of the headcanons I wrote here. I’m definitely open to writing more of a supervillain!Reader with Homelander. This is short because it's PWP, honestly. Do not interact if you’re under 18 or post thinspo/ED content.

Word count: 2k

Warnings: Sexually explicit content which includes masturbation. Non-con, violence, intentional scarring, mild bloodplay, and dacryphilia in the context of a fantasy. Do not interact if you’re under 18.

Homelander’s eyes were glued to the television as soon as the story about you began to run. Rosethorn. More like a thorn in his fucking side. Ever since Vought decided to let you wreak havoc on the streets of New York because having an arch-enemy was good marketing, you were inescapable. Every interview inevitably derailed into questions about you, the Homelander Vs. Rosethorn comic series was almost out-selling his solo ones, and to make matters worse, half of the internet seemed to ship you, the marketing team bafflingly thrilled the first time #Roselander trended on Twitter.

All of those things he could reasonably deal with, but among the people who regarded you as an anti-hero rather than a supervillain, they’d developed a conspiracy theory of sorts that you were somehow as powerful as, if not more so than, him. He often seethed in rage over it. You were only alive because you were useful to Vought. At least, that’s what he told himself after the first time the two of you were face-to-face, and you spit your venom at him, burning through his costume and blistering his skin, to both of your shock. The faint scar on his arm became a point of sensitivity for him, few people had ever seen it. To him, it was a symbol of failure, but even worse, it fed into the paranoia that what your handful of supporters were saying was true.

He watched the news replay the security footage of you and your accomplices, a rotation of other, less powerful supes, robbing a bank. You could secrete incredibly potent, acidic poison through your saliva and breath at will, though most people were too scared to put up a fight and see what damage you could do to the human body. You practically skipped over to the vault, spitting on the metal door which quickly melted into twisted scrap. Your goons wasted no time in collecting the money and valuables that were then ripe for the taking.

Your gaze landed on the security camera that had caught the whole crime in action, and you grinned, staring directly at it—eyes crystal clear and haunting, as if you were looking into his soul as you stalked over like a tiger waiting to strike. 

“Homelander, you can come and get me,” you said with a playful wink at the camera before disappearing in a toxic haze.

Something stirred in him at that. He grabbed the remote, playing the clip back over and over until his cock was half-hard. If he were there, that bank robbery would have gone a hell of a lot differently. He licked his lips as he thought about how he would have made his appearance, crash through the ceiling or laser through the wall—no, he would’ve walked through the doors like he owned the damn place.

He had a firm grip on his cock as he pumped the length, imagining the bank was empty and dark, after hours with no hostages in sight. You grinned at him from inside the bank vault you’d just half-obliterated. It was all a game, as usual, playing cat and mouse until you’d make your escape. Not this time. 

Vought’s orders to avoid grievously harming you were endlessly frustrating, but in this instance, he was the one calling the shots. If he had his way, he’d make sure you faced the specific brand of justice a supervillain like you deserved after years of getting away with countless crimes with little more than bruises and scratches. You were too cocky, too smug. He’d be more than happy to knock you down a few notches and remind you who exactly your arch-enemy was and what he was capable of.

“Homelander, come and get me,” you repeated, voice light and airy, clueless as to what his true intentions were.

He strode across the threshold of the bank, his steps strong and purposeful as he closed the distance between you. The ensuing fight was laughably easy since he was actually trying to cause some damage, and from your place on the floor, disheveled with blood trickling from the corner of your mouth, you looked betrayed. 

You attempted to push yourself off the ground, only to be met with his boot on your chest, his gaze nothing short of mean.

“Do you have any idea who the fuck I am?”

Your confused silence infuriated him.

“Answer me!” he shouted, his eyes glowing red.

“You’re—you’re The Homelander.”

“That’s right. So I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, Rosethorn, but injuring me? Scarring me? I don’t bleed. I don’t break. I sure as hell don’t scar,” he raged, droplets of spit flying in your face. “I can’t let that stand.”

“I’m sorry,” you whimpered pathetically.

He scoffed. “You can do better than that.”

“Homelander, please, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scar you. Forgive me.”

His silence was accented with the sound of your racing heart, the blood rushing through your veins. You were terrified. Good. 

“We both know you’re not sorry. You loved every second of it, didn’t you?”

“No, Homelander I didn’t–”

“I think I should return the favor.” 

Your eyes widened, and you began shaking your head frantically upon realizing what he intended to do. He grabbed your arm, and his teeth broke the skin with ease, just a bit of pressure from his razor blade smile to cut you open. Your blood on his lips almost tasted sweet, at least, he imagined it would. 

"Scream all you want, there’s no one to hear you," he would snarl at your weeping figure. Now you had matching scars, now you couldn’t look at yourself in the mirror without being reminded of him too. In a disturbing display of dominance and possession, he licked your open wound. You wailed. He squeezed your arm tighter. You should have been grateful he didn’t try to cauterize it himself. Finally, he released you, but this temporary freedom wouldn’t last.

“You’re a monster,” you sobbed, clutching your injured arm.

“Me? No, I’m The Homelander. I might as well be god. You? You’re only around to make me look good.”

Then he heard it, the way only he can, the sound of your spit collecting in your mouth. He grabbed you by the throat, hauling you to your feet. “Try it, and I promise I’ll take all the time in the world to kill you.”

Teary-eyed, you nodded. When he released your throat, he heard you swallow. 

“Now, how to properly serve you justice for being caught red-handed robbing a bank," he mused.

“Fuck you.”

“That’s not a bad idea at all.”

The fear that would glaze over those eyes that he couldn’t get out of his mind made him jerk his hips, and he slowed how quickly he was pumping his leaking cock. He didn’t want to cum, not yet. Digging his teeth into his bottom lip, he exhaled through his nostrils, trying to ground himself.

Where was he? Fear. You were afraid of him, of what he’d do to you, as you should be. You weren’t rivals, the implication that you were as powerful as him was outright offensive. His lip curled in disdain. 

He pushed you against the wall, tearing off your clothing with little effort, reveling in the way your body shook against his as it was suddenly exposed to the cool air in the vault. He reached from behind, his gloved hands feeling how wet you’d gotten. The squelch of leather squeezing into your wet pussy made him moan out loud, but in his fantasy he was in control, mocking you for being turned on and how easily he was able to fit two–no, now it was three fingers inside you.

Tears streamed down your face as you begged him to be gentle, to slow down. Your legs were shaking as you tried to stay standing despite the overstimulation from his strong fingers curling inside you and pumping in and out. He wouldn’t get exhausted, not from brutally fingering you until you were little more than a blubbering mess. You begged him to stop, to at least have some mercy and give you a break.

“What’s the matter? You told me to come and get you, and here I am,” he taunted. “Don’t think I’m even close to being done with you.”

You cried out in response, or maybe you’d just cum. It didn’t matter, this was about his pleasure. In that moment, watching you sob and struggle got his proverbial rocks off, and he turned your head to capture your lips in a messy kiss. Your mouth stayed open as your desperate protests disappeared down his throat. His tongue curled. He wanted to swallow the noise, digest it, let it sit in his stomach. A wave of pleasure rocked through him. He was close, dangerously so.

He pulled his hand from your cunt, soaked and stretched out for him. Your juices glistened on his gloves, and he broke the kiss to suck each of his fingers as you utilized the time to catch your breath, or at least try to while he gave you this short break. You’d taste perfect, and he’d lick his fingers clean, his mind almost wandering to what it’d be like to eat you out.

Instead, he unbuckled his belt, observing the way you clenched your thighs at the sound of the metal hitting the floor as he rid himself of his spandex bottoms. His hands gripped your hips tightly, and you gasped as he pulled your ass to press against his hard cock. You tried wiggling out of his grasp, and he almost laughed. Stupid girl.

“Beg me not to break you in half right now,” he ordered, his voice low and husky.

You choked out your plea through sobs. “Homelander—don’t do this—don’t—please don’t break me in half.”

“No promises.”

With that, he slammed his cock into your wet cunt, grinning to himself as your eyes squeezed shut and you clawed at the wall, a near-animalistic howl tearing from your throat. He kept a steady, unforgiving pace that made your legs finally give out on you, relying on him wrapping a strong arm around your middle to keep you up. He dipped his head down to press a kiss to your temple.

“C’mon baby, you’ve made it this far,” he purred. “Why not see this thing out to the end?”

He kissed down the side of your face, his lips lingering along your cheek and jaw, covering them in open-mouthed kisses as he moaned into your skin. Your pussy clenched around his cock, and when he glanced at the wound he’d inflicted on your arm, he gave a forceful thrust that had you reaching back to grab some part of him to hold onto. 

You were his. You wanted to be his. You wouldn’t have permanently marked his skin if you didn’t. You laid claim to him first. It was only a matter of time before he reciprocated, showing you what you were really in for. Part of him wanted so badly to just kill you, but the part of him that was winning out was buried deep inside your cunt with the intention of filling you with his cum.

Briefly, his mind wandered to keeping you in the tower, maybe in his own suite, tied up pretty like a present for him to come home to at the end of each day, or maybe isolated in one of the supe containment cells where through time and pressure you’d be begging for him to use you, just to get some physical contact.

As much as he could dream, the main event beckoned him back to that bank vault he’d conjured up, his thrusts into you still strong, but more erratic, and he felt your pussy milking his cock as you came, your voice strained as you cried out his name.

Homelander, you can come and get me.

He orgasmed, and you were gone. Back to reality, just him, his hand, and the remote control he’d accidentally crushed. Fuck. He ran his clean hand through his hair, taking another look at the paused frame of you smiling in the security footage. 

Maybe he would come and get you.

[skullhorn59]

Heavenly Hell

A/N: the story inspired by a daydream, and the name by @hazelfoureyes (sorry not sorry for the tag :P), I cooked up another fic. sinners - enjoy. >:3 Tags/Warnings are added progressively, design changed/fixed with time. mostly proofread! Summary: you have always been a fan of the show Hazbin Hotel in your life - and as you are spawned in a Hell identically matching the Show, you can't believe your sheer luck. you're immediately on your way to eagerly meet the celebrities (at least they are in your world), but your arrival hadn't gone unnoticed... Pairings: Lucifer, Valentino, Adam, Alastor, Vox, Angel Dust, Sir Pentious, Husk x Fem!Reader Tags/Warnings: self aware and insecure Reader, Spoilers for the Show

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

Minors DNI 🚨🚔

The moment you open your eyes, you see red. red above you, red around you, red everywhere.

Are you dreaming..?

Your other senses begin returning to you, and you groan in pain. your entire body aches as you force yourself to stand up. where were you? you sure weren't dreaming, judging by your physical pain.

Wait a damn minute. your body changed. you can feel more muscles aching, in places where none have been before. testingly moving those muscles, you are taken aback. the position of your ears changed. and you even... have a tail?

Looking around, you seem to be in a city, glamoured by a red pentagram in the red sky. lights everywhere, a familiar tower in the distance, and you can even feel the bass from the music of the clubs that are all around. wait. your eyes shoot back, and you squint at the tower in the distance. are those three V's at the front..?

Wait.

You've seen that tower before.

In one of your favorite shows.

Hazbin Hotel.

As the realization hits you like a freight train, your blood runs cold. but with more excitement than dread. did you die and spawn in the Show??? was everyone from it gonna be here, alive (well - undead rather) and kicking?? when did you spawn here? before the extermination?? after?? who was gonna be there??

You take a deep breath to try and calm yourself down. but who did you want to find first? Valentino? Vox? Lucifer? Alastor? someone entirely different?

You do think about going to the Hotel first, but judging by where you've stranded, it would be a lot quicker to go take a look for the Vee's first. and knowing good ol' Alastor, you think with a scrunch to your face, he would likely snatch up your soul right away, should he find out you've only just gotten here.

Nah - no way you are risking that.

At least for now.

And so - you have a makeshift goal. doing your best to keep your excitement at bay as you begin walking towards the Tower, you think about what kind of excuse you'll make up to be able to even see one of the Vee's upclose, let alone get away without having to sign a contract in the end.

Offering them your soul? - immediate no. suggesting to work for them? - as bad as the first, so hard no.

Glancing in between buildings from time towards the Vee's Tower to make sure you're still on the right track, you furrow your brows in thought.

Hmm.. there has to be a way.

Coming to a stop infront of your destination before you could think of something, you feel your heart flutter against your chest. a rare occurance - but all the more fitting. looking up and along the tower to the three V signs, you give your braincells another kick. and suddenly - they kick back.

Information!

Yes! that's it, you can give all of them valuable information! and in return.. ohoho. so many things you could ask for. you are definitely gonna go see Vox first. you have so much to sell him, it's almost depressing. but Val..? you don't have very much that's of use to him. maybe you can somehow convince Vox to get you a... talk... with his fellow Vee. surpressing a smirk, you look forward again, internally preparing your introverted body and mind for the upcoming social interactions.

The doors glide open quietly, as expected, and you step in, immediately being hit by a wall of cool air from an air conditioner above. it's like entering a store, you think.

With a rather fast glance around, you're greeted with a Luxurious Lobby. snuggled into the far right corner, there's a reception, with a bored looking demon behind it. a camera is seated in the corner above it, with Vox's signature line on it. you can spot another one placed in the opposite corner as your eyes search around the ceiling corners.

Red Armchairs instead of regular Chairs are generously placed in the three leftover corners of the room and a few along the left wall too, low coffee tables in between. as your gaze rises along the wall, you see lots of Voxtek advertisements as well as a few screens that almost lazily switch between even more ads. you can't help but take a step closer, your eyes flitting over each and every one of them with barely held back interest, trying to take it all in at once.

Until the sound of someone clearing their throat brings you back to where you were. oops. you turn your head to where it came from, and you see the receptionist almost glare at you over their glasses. you can't tell their gender at first glance - and you aren't gonna assume it.

So you walk over to them, your eyes somewhere near their face, but not actively looking into it, you're still exploring your surroundings a little. you start speaking, insecure from the moment they laid eyes on you. "uh, hello.. I'm uhm.. here to see.." what should you call him? best to go with the most polite one you can think of. "Mr Vox." taking a deep breath, you fiddle your hands together while you continue. "I have information for him that he's.. gonna want to hear."

The Receptionist raises an eyebrow at you, but before they can respond, you hear a noise that reminds you of electric current, and you feel a cool hand on your shoulder, sharp claws firmly placed on your thin clothing, but they aren't piercing through. and before you can process everything, you hear a very familiar voice speak. you gulp.

"Information, you say? sounds like something we should discuss in my office, privately."

─❲♡❳▷Hazbin Masterlist ─❲♡❳▷Main List

[mattivoda]

This post isn’t targeted towards this person in particular but I see this same sort of tiktok come up on my timeline every couple of months and it feels me with a very specific RAGE because of how wrong it is about the core message of this show.

For those who don’t know, the music from the TikTok comes from the musical The Last Five Years, made by Jason Robert Brown. It originally opened in Chicago in 2001, then making its way to Broadway in 2002 after great reviews from critics and audiences.

the elevator pitch of the show is simple; a writer exploding with success (Jamie) and a struggling actress (Kathy) and the rise and fall of their marriage.

Normally this would be a pretty basic musical, right? However the true genius comes from one key part of its storytelling: the order at which the story is shown to you.

Jamie performs his side of the story in chronological order, from the start of the relationship ending with their divorce. Kathy, however, tells her story flipped; starting with their divorce and ending when Kathy first meets Jamie.

The two actors almost never interact on-stage, singing solo songs for every single song except for the act one ending song The Next Ten Minutes, where Jamie proposes and the two marry.

Now you might be asking: why is this important to the story? and which character was supposed to be the “bad guy” in the marriage?

If you delve into the story and look at the way the story depicts both characters’ perspectives on what happened then an obvious fact becomes clear:

Jamie is an asshole and was the main problem in the marriage. You aren’t, and never were supposed to side with him.

Throughout the show, Jamie is shown to be obsessed with his own fame, gloating about how he seems to only be able to exponentially succeed in his writing. His obsession makes him blind to the struggles of his wife, even going as far as deluding himself into thinking his wife’s struggles is simply her being jealous of his success. By the end of the show, Jamie cheats on Kathy and proceeds to blame her for not allowing him privacy.

THAT’S why the storytelling of The Last Five Years is so compelling. By only showing these characters seperate from each other, it forces us to become familiar with Jamie and Kathy as individuals rather than a couple. It allows us to see Jamie’s douchebaggery up-close and personal, with the entire first act highlighting this glaring detail and allowing us to see the consequences of this as his marriage devolve in the second act. Just the simple fact that Jamie’s story is chronological creates a beautiful dichotomy between Kathy’s frustrations, sadness and abandonment and Jamie’s cocky, happy-go-lucky success story.

Before I finish writing this and go to bed, i’d like to say I don’t blame those who hold this view for thinking this about The Last Five Years for one reason only; the only way they got to see it was the movie version.

the film adaption of The Last Five Years (2014) decided that the reason the musical worked was because “interesting timeline go brrr” and decided to keep the original timeline, but instead had both characters constantly interacting.

Instead of having this abstract deconstruction of these two characters, with both Kathy and Jamie monologuing their personal thoughts and emotions separately, they mash together and create this weird, realistic depiction of a breakup. The performances from Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan were amazing, don’t get me wrong, but these choices in the adaption rip the emotion and soul out of its inspiration and sell the corpse for $20 a viewing.

Jamie and Kathy’s marriage is a cautionary tale about what happens when you don’t listen and understand your partner. It is not a desperate attempt of a composer to appear in the right about his marriage and it shouldn’t be a sloppy retelling of a failed marriage with a quirky form of storytelling. Please please PLEASE if you agree with this original TikTok’s message just know you are so UNBELIEVABLY wrong.

tldr; you are not supposed to side with Jamie!!!! he is in the wrong!!!! that’s the whole point of the musical!!!!! don’t watch the movie it sucks and is innacurate!!!!!!! RAHHHHHHHHHHHH

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

You’re a psychology professor, right? Do you mind if I ask what exactly your research expertise/discipline is? Whatever it is always seems so fascinating to me whenever bits of it come up here. At the risk of doxxing yourself, would you be willing to talk about your research?

So if you don't mind, I'm going to answer this a little to the left of the ask. Less because I'm worried about Tumblrers doxxing, more because I'm terrified of my students or coworkers stumbling upon this blog.

My top six essays and articles that explain what I research, none of which are authored by me:

Empathy or Division? On the Science and Politics of Storytelling by Claire Corbett opens up with the lines "Writers can’t always be trusted when they talk about the power and importance of story. We have a vested interest and can get sentimental, promoting the immense power of story, of narrative, as inherently benign" — and it only gets better from there. Storytelling is a tool, one that can harm as much as help; anyone who says differently is selling something.

The Enshittification of TikTok by Cory Doctorow (yes, that Cory Doctorow) does an excellent job of explaining how the forces of individual psychology interacting with the forces of economics and society lead to the enshittification (exactly what it sounds like) of mass resources like social media platforms.

Superhero Comics as Moral Pornography by David Pizarro and Roy Baumeister. Although undeniably negative toward aspects of Western superhero stories, this essay also has a pretty forgiving definition of pornography. Like Corbett's, it takes a refreshingly cynical view of the power of storytelling.

The Mythology of Karen by Helen Lewis explains how a meme (in the sense of a sticky, culturally specific idea) can be sexist and antiracist, empowering and ageist, and trying to force it into molds of "good" or "bad" will never work.

What Do We Know When We Know a Person? by Dan McAdams. I've seen this article on many lists of best-written psychological theory reviews, and I fully agree. The science has come a long way since 1995, but this remains one of the best introductions to the psychology of personal narrative.

The Folk Psychology of Souls by Jesse Bering. "When it comes to death, human cognition apparently is not well equipped to update the list of players in our complex social rosters by accommodating the recent nonexistence of any one of them." It's a little outside my main research area, but I built an entire special-topics class around this one article because it's one of the truest I've ever read.

[eccentric-nucleus]

actually if i'm gonna make a games rec post.

here are some games i have enjoyed recent-ish.

kenshi. an open-world squad-based rpg with base-building elements. get stronger by getting beaten up. lose a fight and get knocked out, have your weapons and food taken by the bandits that mugged you and left you bleeding to death. get rescued by some slavers that capture you and sell you into slavery. free yourself from slavery and limp away until you roll in hours later with a whole squad of overpowered fighters. then head a little bit too far south and get murdered by skin bandits. they take your skin. this is a completely self-directed game; there's no "main plot", although arguably "figure out the history of the world" is kind of the main 'story' mystery. there's also a bunch of unique recruitable characters with custom-written interactions. i usually recruit exclusively from freeing slaves but you can do w/e.

wildmender. a survival gardening game. this one came out recently and the devs are still releasing bugfixes; it's unclear if they'll make large content patches in the future. apparently multiplayer can still be pretty glitchy, and there's a water flow bug that i've been finding very frustrating. the way biomes work is kind of unsatisfying. kind of slim content-wise, but still, i really enjoyed what's there. out of all of the climate change terraforming anxiety games i've seen, this has been the one i've most enjoyed.

hellpoint. a scifi soulslike made by a team of like 12 people. previously i had thought things like "it would be neat if dark souls was less linear". hellpoint is a great example of why that might be a nightmare. the areas are connected in such a complex way, with one-way routes and branching unlock keys and secret paths and hidden doors behind hidden doors that it gets profoundly disorienting. a hint: almost every single hidden door in the game (there are a lot) is the middle panel of the same exact three-paneled-wall geometry. once you notice what it is you will see it everywhere. also, the enemy designs are hot.

crystal project. remember playing fan translations of final fantasy v? remember wandering around in old mmos? crystal project is kind of a... turn-based rpg mmo-influenced platformer. with a job system. you can sequence break the game from the tutorial level and also at basically every other point in the game too, although until you know what to look for it might seem like there's a linear critical path. but there's a lot out there. hint: play on easy mode. the combat gets tough later on and the game absolutely expects you to be finding and exploiting some class combinations.

astlibra: revision. a sidescrolling rpg. it must have been released episodically originally or some of the chapter pacing makes no sense. also it was originally released with a mess of art sourced from all sorts of places; 'revision' is a re-release with a more unified art style. it gets extremely anime all the time. there's a whole obligatory section where you have to ask all the women in a town about what kind of panties they're wearing. it's rough. i enjoyed how chaotic the systems are and how much Stuff there is to pick up and upgrade and unlock. the plot goes some unexpected places though it doesn't quite stick the landing, i still enjoyed what it did. also karon should be the love interest instead.

silicon zeroes. a cpu-building puzzle game. this straddles the line between the tech/code games that are literally just "learn a new language and code in it" and ones that are more structure-themed like, idk, spacechem. connect modules to assemble solutions to problems. it takes too long to get to chapter 3, which is where they start asking you to make entire cpus.

ashen. another souls-like. i just really like the environments in this one. the initial area looks gorgeous and the way it changes through the game is really neat to see happen. the seat of the matriarch is wonderfully awful to traverse and i wish there had been two or three more dungeons like it in the game. you can't level up; you gain stats mostly by progressing sidequests and the name quest. i eventually ran out of things to spend money on AND inventory space to store items. the late-game tuning is a little rough but until then it's great. a hint: there are three weapon types and within that type nearly all the weapons are identical. you get thrown so many weapons that don't matter; don't worry about collecting all of them. see above re: running out of space and things to use money for.

i guess it would be cheating to recommend minecraft regrowth or morrowind but i have also been playing those.

[manias-wordcount]

Edward X Streamer Reader more specifically new experiences he has while dating a gamer. Like hearing her panic while playing Minecraft or Among Us. Raging when playing Uno, laughing and saying weird shit when playing cards against humanity, or cheering when getting a win. How the reader slowly gets Edward into gaming and playing games together with pizza and snacks.

Streamer S/o HCs! (Edward Elric)

𝗔/𝗡: 𝗵𝗶. 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗰𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗼 𝗶 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗜'𝗺 𝘀𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆

𝙒𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚? ⇒ 𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩

𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙧?

(fyi this is a college au, sorry im sorry. Im in love with the ask and im running with it.)

Ed is definitely a big academic so he didn’t really get the hype around watching or dedicating your life to gaming

After dating and being with you for a little bit, he is starting to understand more!

Sometimes he might be reading a book or doing homework in the same room as you while you're streaming

He’ll find it cute when you make up little stories or get really into a game

Plus he has a good angle to watch you and your screen as you have fun :]

He’ll always be caught off guard when youre scared by something or scream 

And he won’t really understand how you got too into the game not to notice at the time

But overall, he finds enjoyment more so in watching you and will eventually ask to join!

He just likes seeing you happy and it’s another way to spend time with you :]]]]

Okay but no i gotta say

Sometimes he makes appearances on stream. SOMETIMES

But when he does? chat goes crazy.

If they see him briefly behind you in your face cam? The simps start to spam

If they just hear his voice off camera? The simps start to spam

If (heaven forbid) you invite him to show his face on camera and interact?

Congrats. You broke every person tuning into your stream

Okay but enough about that, let’s talk about Ed finally gaming

So, of course, you introduce him to some of your favs but also the party games too

For someone who doesn’t sell his soul to Nintendo, he’s pretty good at Smash Bros

And kinda an asshole imposter in Among Us too

But I know he’ll be so cute to play Minecraft with as he explores everything!

Until he starts talking about chemical breakdowns and the science behind everything.

But I’d imagine he enjoys anything that allows the two of you to be close

ESPECIALLY anything that allows you two to just cuddle and eat snacks and lounge on the couch together :]]]

Probably not the biggest fan of single-player games unless one of you is back seating for that reason

But for some weird reason i feel like he would love Fire Emblem WHAHAHAH

Might enjoy Skyrim or Dark souls because he’s a tryhard 

But i think he might have an affinity for things like JRPGs or even deep story games

But overall? I think he’ll get into gaming just because he sees how happy it makes you <3

[loopscereal]

I wasn't sure whether to ask you or Pía so maybe each of you can add your own commentary?? but I'm very curious about your OC Red :0 you've both posted about them a lot and I've been very curious about their admiration for Owynn and their feelings of being inorganic I think? (I might have misinterpreted idk sorry). Whatever the case I just want to know more about the lil guy

Hello!! Sorry for the late responseeeee. Thank you very much for being interested in them :D Also don’t apologize for presumably misinterpreting stuff it's not like we’ve explained him lol ToT It will be a bit of a really weird story to share though, so buckle up lol (Red uses any and all pronouns btw)

This is the capital weird part of our lore AKA programs which we already mentioned in our Pup explanation, but yeah for recap: when shadows interact with a video game that meets the requirements of 1) being kinda broken and 2) having a lot of care put into it (whether it’s how it was created or how the person that had it cherished it or whatever) as in the saying of “putting your soul into it” the shadow gets the idea or asset or whatever of a character or a concept within that game and becomes conscious, that good old trope of "The game becomes self-aware". Normally they get a body and that’s it, they incorporate to normal human society normally and also have mandatory therapy because you cannot come out normal from that ToT 

The exceptions to this are Pup and the now titular little guy!! Red. Red’s name comes from rival red from Pokemon! Red itself comes from a Pokemon copy, a really broken and busted down copy of the most broken Pokemon game everrrr Pokemon fire red: A really buggy and glitchy mess held by tape and raw will power, a start of a beloved franchise with tons of love put into it and also just busted. And That sort of brought Red into existence 5 years ago.

Red did not take over a character or an idea or a concept of a character, Red took over the literal glitches, every unused asset and every game breaking bug, this made it so that whenever he TRIED telling someone of its existence, it just read as glitching and nonsense and what you would think of when someone tells you “haunted game”, everyone with self-preservation is not going to entertain that and will just shut the thing off and sell it or something, programs are expected to emerge in a somewhat normal 4th wall break or something not screaming and static and the game shutting off on its own. He took the name red because among the scrapped nonsense there was also a scrapped trainer Red sprite in there and it was the only semblance of a face amongst that entire mess, and you take any face you can get when you don’t have any, and you take any semblance of an identity you can get when you also don’t have any.

So Red gained consciousness a hot second ago, 5 years ago from current timeline, but was not taken anywhere to become a real person because no one could tell she was one. A guy had his cartridge and just let it rot under his desk for those years because that thing is unplayable and also probably haunted!! Eventually he decided to sell it and you would not guess who got it (Owynn and Loon.)

Loon bought it because he’s just game obsessed, and at this point he was already dating Owynn so they were just hanging out and Loon wanted to play the thing. Haunted game screeching and screaming ensures and Loon was about to do the normal person reaction that is turning the thing off, but since Owynn is a weirdo he didn’t really care? Owynn is curious, not easy to scare at all, and he HARDCORE doesn’t believe in ghosts, so he was determined to fucking around with the thing trying to figure out if it what was wrong with it.

So a lot of Red’s inherent craziness towards Owynn and Loon comes down to the fact that they were the ones who actually got him out of that hell, Owynn fucked around and treated her as some sort of ARG like a loser and figured out what she was trying to say and what she was. Thisss is also badd and this is the moment where we tell everyone that they should never look up to Owynn OR Loon.

Basically, they figured it out! (Mostly Owynn) woho!!! Now they will take her to get a body and be normal right? (no). Owynn is a curious bastard and also inherently just morally skewed, and Loon is sort of a pushover and also an absolute dickhead to strangers and rlly low empathy (doesn’t seem people he’s not close with as real), so owynn just basically kept her in there?? for a few months??? They tried to frankenstein him a bit, tried to figure out what he was and how he worked and all that stuff. And it was obviously dehumanizing as hell and messed up how they were just playing mad scientist with his life, but also 5 years of being completely alone kind of warps your brain a little (a lot), and being seen as something “precious” or cool or interesting got her crazy attached to them 2. 

Eventually they talked and Loon got over his “if i don’t know you you aren’t real” thing because he DID know them now, and they EVENTUALLY after a literal hot second got Red to get an actual body. Took them long enough jesus. 

First of all, they had no idea how to even do this?? Because you need to fill out forms and that and Owynn couldn't on the basis of bad homelife, and Loon technically could but he was also incredibly out of it because he was taken to a part of town he didn’t even know at all and that just panicked him way worse. So problem number one is that, problem number 2 is that Red wasn’t even normal by program standards and was still just inherently glitchy. It all worked out surprisingly, Neither of them had the money nor the want to take care of Red or whatever, and in theory he should’ve ended up in the foster system but the woman who worked on his body saw that even with a body she is just inherently unstable and decided that she could take that responsibility given that she was an expert on the stuff.

So, Red has a really warped vision of those two because how do you not after that??? He sees them as sort of gods? which sounds crazy but then again how do you not after that. When Red is taken out of DS hell, two things are evident. 1) Her file was an English copy, so their “mother” language is English, most of the spanish he knows was acquired directly from hearing the real people out in the real world talk with each other over those 5 years, and even if that sounds like a long time to learn his cartridge was stuck and stored in a desk so what he could hear was limited and also muffled. So their Spanish is kinda bad, they tend to default to English but even then words are pronounced wrong because he never had the need to say most or any of them out-loud. 2) they have no animal. This is due to the scrapped Rival Red sprite having no animal traits. So he has to chose what type of animal person he will be, they knew they wanted to be an arthropod. Loon and Owynn are both arthropods, and she wanted to resemble her saviors, her gods. She chooses a cicada, a true bug! Actual bug! It’s a bit of a play on words on our part, since Red is an accumulation of all of Fire Reds bugs. Cicadas also represent rebirth, and new beginnings, and he was pretty much reborn into a new life by being taken out of DS hell. Another thing you may notice about their design is their eyes, one is a bar that you cannot see the end of, and her other small dot eye, this is also something he chose to have. Its the same eye disorder Owynn has! Xe also styles xir bangs like Owynn, wears stud earrings like Loon, and is in the insect subsection of arthropods with Loon. Generally tries to emulate them both. So, for the parts of themself that Red could choose in, he decided to look like the people he admires/worships.

Little visual help go!! :

Due to forming within an accumulation of glitches, and not a normal sprite like most programs, her physical form still glitches out. Things like chromatic aberration and actual spikes of distortion, which are all visual glitches but still hurt. This facet of how she exists is a lot of electricity, and messes with electronics, and with other programs, since their bodies, although made to be as realistic and human as possible, are still built things. machines and electronics, and therefore tamperable. Due to his glitchy nature, this means that he can bypass a lot of rules set inside of Programs that were made in fear of “machine uprising” nonsense.  Every program is able to re-enter electronics, they can go into the computer and chill there while their body is just sleeping/knocked out. They can do anything you normally can, but have a built in chip that prevents them from easily prating things, easily stealing people's information to make purchases, getting peoples ips, and in general messing with things for their benefit. These are all bypassable by Red due to her “inherently broken” nature. 

Speaking of being compatible with computers, programs have little items on them that their consciousness can retreat into if their physical body is too damaged, this item is sort of like a hard drive of their entire being? It holds them, and can be used to transfer their memories onto exterior hardware like a laptop, phone, or computer. Think of it as back ups to keep themself extra safe! Red is, again, glitchy, and have a terrible memory that gets erased and corrupted as they exist, and the longer they go without uploading their memory the more likely he is to have it become corrupted and forgotten. THey are reminded to upload it, and sometimes do, but even still the memory held within its own mind will corrupt eventually. They are left with watchable memories, thoughts and experiences that they don't remember doing or having. Undeniable proof (memory upload on exterior device) vs I Dont Remeber THat. 

Due to the fact that they clinged so hard to the image of the only useable face they had, and being baseline modeled after it, she has a bit of a thing with hats, since one of the key features of trainer red has always been having that iconic red cap and all of that it’s both a comfort and also something she hates. He doesn’t want to be trainer red or code or something that isn’t alive, but it’s also something that makes him feel less afraid and lost and stressed out because it's familiar, and she has very few things she can even classify as familiar at all. Which is why in some art she has it and in some she doesn’t. 

Xe also needs glasses given that xe willingly screwed his eyes up, but they tend to forget them a lot and having stuff on their face is just generally a foreign and weird feeling she hasn’t gotten used to, so she also may pop up with glasses or without glasses.

She has yet to really crack how to act like a normal person, has a hard time understanding social norms and the concept of lying in general. She’s blunt and sorta rude, she’s not used to moderating the volume of her voice so it tends to be either too loud or too quiet, and he’s horribly bad at lying and borderline cannot do it. They are very easily startled and scared, but she translates that fear into an immediate fight response, so they read as very easy to piss off and also very easy to hit things or hit people. 

Programs are sorta normal by now, and there’s other students who are programs, Red absolutely loathes all of them. It’s mostly just crazy strong jealousy at the people who claim to be “like him” to live so much better than him. Aside from the glitching, Red’s origin has made her have bad memory, be sort of physically numb to a lot of sensations aside from pain (can’t feel cold all that well, can’t feel light touches and stuff), and have an awful time with a lot of motor skills. And none of the other programs have to deal with any of that and it drives him crazy. Other programs also have memories from inside their world, since they are usually “character gains sentience” types, but Red has none of that, They are not a character, not even the MC, they are the glitches. Super jealous, sad, but overall mad. So he just messes with a lot of them, due to being glitchy when he touches other programs he makes THEM glitch and therefore hurt, and he tends to not get into a lot of trouble for it given that Owynn is vice president and plays devil's advocate. He tends to stick to just touching them to mess them up that way but he does have one guy he specially hates who he straight up gets into fist fights with, and it’s the guy who used to have his cartridge. Who is also a program!! how unfair!! he got to live those 5 years completely normal while Red was stuck! Xe wants to absolutely kill that guy.

Speaking of her body and the issues that come with it, They have a hard time doing a lot of stuff and are inherently clumsy due to not being used to any of this. They've had a body for about 6 months? So everything is still insanely overwhelming, scary and stressful; and such emotions of instability heighten her glitches which hurt and make her more stressed and it’s just a mad man’s cycle.

She also just has a really hard time even seeing her body at all, he has dysphoria because he’s nonbinary and her body was made to be male so they look masculine, they have a broad back and a square-ish face and a deep voice and it makes her feel gross. And he also has body dysmorphia, so he just looks fundamentally wrong and it cannot click in her head that the body in the reflection is actually hers at all, it doesn’t feel real in the slightest and it tends to make her derealization and her feelings of not being a real human worse.

They tend to have a really hard time feeling real, mostly when they’re alone because it just plops them right back into that crushing loneliness of being completely on her own for 5 years. When it’s on its own a way they ground themselves often tends to include biting, biting his fingers or a pen or chewing hard candy, likes the pressure in her teeth and likes exerting any force at all and it having a clear effect, this also means that her jaw tends to be super tense and that they grit their teeth a lot, also just bites her nails off and tends to pick off the loose skin around the nails with her teeth which just ends up in messed up fingers.

He has a fixation or proving his own realness, by experiencing as much as he can. Doing is living. Theyll try anything once except they will actually do it, unprompted, anything. Impulsive thought to eat something that by all means no one should consider eating? It's already in her mouth, sorry. Uh she learns about her cicada biology through Owynn (freak) and learns that she can process liquids a lot better than anything else. Soooo her best friend is the blender in her kitchen. They will blend up bread, insects, and meat. Think of that funny scene where Town explains his juices except 100 percent serious that is what she is drinking. It will also drink blood, in some hope that it will make it more of a living person. “how would drinking her own blood make him more of a person if he's having a hard time thinking of himself as one?” Who said it was their own blood? checkmate.

They are mostly not good at school, which makes sense given her background, but she’s freakishly good at math. This isn’t a robot thing, it’s not because she’s has a calculator built in or anything. It’s  because in those 5 years she spent completely alone there wasn’t really anything else to do other than thinking, because doing much else broke the game and therefore threatened to break them. But after a bit she just ran out of things to think about, and then she just started counting to entertain herself, counting up and down, making up operations and then solving them, and doing anything at all to keep himself (somewhat) sane. Numbers click into place and make sense, numbers tend to be constant and expected, a multiplication between two numbers no matter how big will never vary, counting is a way to keep herself entertained. Fun fact, Owynn also counts when he feels trapped, smiley. 

He outright despises the idea of trainer red, the literal character, because a part of his brain tells him that he’s not really a person, nor is he that beloved character, they are a scrapped version of it, a literal error that just happened to present itself with that well known face. And yet he clings to it, because if he doesn’t have that face and that name then he has nothing at all, and she has changed her body enough to resemble other people so it shouldn’t matter, and sometimes she wants to look like the character to feel as if he was a normal program at all. Just don’t bring up that character in front of her, lights a fire in her head.

Despite how Red may feel about their “game counterpart”, they don't harbor any resentment toward the overall Pokemon franchise. This is mostly because Loon really does like Pokemon, I mean, he was interested in the Fire Red cartridge for  a reason. Red has this mental system about how they feel about things, naturally you'd assume they hate Pokemon bc resentment for their source material, but since Loon is someone they consider above them, it “overrides” that. Her emotions toward people she would otherwise be indifferent to is easily and sharply shifted by the people she considers herself to be “on the side of”. extra thing we didnt know how to transition to: 

While Loon is unable to see strangers as real living people, Red has a tendency to see strangers as just inherently more alive than her, more deserving of being called living beings and all of that, everyone who isn’t a program is an actual breathing person, while programs are a cruel mockery and none of them are alive, including her.

AND THATS ALL THANKS FOR READINGGGG

Never ask us anything ever again we WILL send the bible every single time without fail /J

thank you so much for being even a littlee bit interested in our beloved oc Red, we really do love him alot. Uh! you can always ask either of us anything, we share one braincess we have a bluetooth connection… Uh uh iiii do suggest if u were to ask pia ask it oh his not-art-blog @3point14a <- that blog, if you would be so kind

[cmncisspnandmore]

I just need to tell you about this amazing little writer,@cordeliawhohung.

I stumbled across this account by total accident okay? Like 100% had no intention of reading the fanfictions she wrote for. I had only ever heard of Call Of Duty from my husbands late night gaming escapades. But yet, i took a chance, I googled "Simon Riley" and was like "oh okay, bet, military man who wears a skull mask. Lets give it a try," So i did.

I read her fanfiction series called Soft Spot, with basically ZERO context. I googled more in the hour it took me to read her work than ive ever googled in my life. But i was NOT dissapointed. Did i have to reread scenes to figure out who was talking because i was clueless on their names? yes. Did it discourage me one bit? no.

BECAUSE. this girls writing is something else. it captivates you, throws you right into being the main character which is EXACTLY what you're looking for when you read these things. Without fail Core had me hooked. So i did the thing that most anyone does, I left a little ask/message for her. Explaining how this piece of UNPAID, UNOWED work left me on the edge of my seat. How the wrods jumped off the page to try to become reality. Because thats what they did.

And this percious little bean, offered to message me about the characters, to help me understand the things i didnt. She not only eagerly, but kindly informed me of the beautiful characters of Call of Duty Modern Warefare 2, but she also showed me how beautiful her very soul is.

She became one of those people i wanted to talk to all the time. (I probably annoy her with how much i message her, and Core i am sorry, but i cant help it.) We started talking more regularly, and in the few weeks we have been talking, i've come to consider her one of my friends.

Although we dont get to talk a lot, due to her work, time differences and life just being hard. ANY time i see her username pop up in my notifications im thrilled.

I could go on for hours about her, i should. Because there are so many amaizng things i could say about her.

Her writing is next level, if we could all legally publish fanfiction without the whole legal rights thing, Core's story "Soft Spot" would be a best seller. I firmly believe that she would be NYC Best Selling Author her first year. Her way of writing hooks you from the first few words. I honestly get a little jealous of how well she writes, but she was quick to tell me that if we all wrote the same then the world would be boring. Which is true.

So to conclude this post. If you havent, check her out. send her an ask, and get to know the amazing person who runs @cordeliawhohung. You won't regret it.

Also be kind to your fanfiction writers, they do this without pay. For YOUR entertainment. Reblog, like, share, interact with them. They write 100+k fics because they love the same characters as you. They write the works that some people need, that they crave, all on their own time. Be appreciatve and understanding when they do upload and when they can't. They're humans too. Be kind to them. Dont demand things from them.

Core, i appreciate you. I care for you. I will agressively love you from hundreds of miles away. Take care of you, take whatever time you need. And NEVER apologize to anyone for feelings like you aren't doing enough. Because just being you, babes, thats enough.

[k-star-holic]

Na In-woo, meet Park Min-young.. 'Marry my Husband' cast

[mightbeorphanedidk]

what are some IMPORTANT tips you have when drafting a story or writing one

Er idk I don't think I follow a uniform set of rules really. I'll try think but it won't be organised

THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE ISSUE IN YOUR STORY

In a typical narrative work, there is ONE big complication, and a series of events. Your big complication is the thing you have to focus on throughout your entire work, it is the ONLY big complication in your entire work. Your series of events are smaller issues that happen because of said big complication.

Let me explain using an example. In Plastered Smile, the big complication would be Vox kidnapping Alastor, that is your overarching issue within the story. That is the main focus, the main thing that needs to be fixed. That is the goal everyone is working towards fixing.

The series of events would be things like locating where Alastor is, Alastor trying to escape, Rosie offering to sell her soul. Smaller issues that arise because Alastor was kidnapped.

I feel as though, if you have more than one big complication in your work, it becomes, er, for lack of better word, wild. It's all over the place. Maybe it's personal preference, idk, but having more than one big complication makes your fic seem undrafted, as if you're making it up as you go.

2. SUBPLOTS ARE GOOD WE LOVE SUBPLOTS

Subplots are a tad bit more difficult to pull off, in my opinion. I'm still not great at them, but I do encourage using them in your writing. Having subplots, UGH I EAT THAT SHIT UP EVERYTIME. This one's mainly just personal preference lol.

Subplots are like mini-stories happening alongside your main story. Here let me show you my amazing diagram of it

The red would be your main plot. Subplots are put into play as you write your main plot, this would be the green and the blue. They can interact with the main plot, maybe just for a bit, or perhaps it sticks to it (like the green does). I guess the best way to put it into perspective is in romance shows, where the best friend also gets a love interest. Like that.

They're fun to have, but difficult to pull off, in case they cause even more issues in your writing.

3. More of an editing thing, BUT READ YOUR WRITING OUT LOUD!

It's a cliche and basic piece of advice, but it helps so much. Whenever you're editing, READ IT OUT LOUD! That way, it's easy to point out when words are repeated, or the wording of sentences is awkward. And, if your character has an accent when they speak, reading their dialogue aloud helps you add shortening or substitute words to go better with the accent.

4. Try to avoid references to pop culture/media

Again, a personal preference thing. I dislike it when people sneak pop culture references into their writing, and im a hypocrite BECAUSE IVE DONE IT BEFORE

Sometimes it's too tempting not to. I suppose when I say "references", I mean DIRECT. references. Not even subtle, they just immediately hit you in the face with references.

5. If you don't read, don't write.

One of my NUMBER ONE rules in writing applies before you even start writing. If you don't read any sort of book, or any sort of literature, I don't think you should write. I feel like this tip is probably the most harsh-- It's not kind at all how I've phrased it, but it's something I live by. If you don't read any books, you walk into writing completely blind with no sort of scope on how to start. It makes it harder to begin somewhere.

I think thats all i have

[anoddrock]

I can’t believe anyone thinks special effects are the only way to do certain things. Like bro. There is magic everywhere.

Go to a science museum that has interactive exhibits.

I got to make a miniature tornado in a plexiglass pillar. I got to control faux levitation for some spheres. I saw sand become as fluid as water due to a plate under it vibrating. I got lost in an infinite maze of mirrors, and saw solid blank walls in that maze turn into information boards and display boxes.

Learn about different artforms.

There are branches trapped by glass in an infinite state of burning. There are dancers who seem to be Jedi as they dance with their leviwands. There are illusions so powerful that they seem real when you see them on their own, but when someone walks by this breathtaking feat of nature, you realize the whole thing is much, much smaller than you though- but it’s still massive.

Just. Go outside. Marvel at the thousands of ways the impossible are very, very possible. Watch stone seemingly burst into flame with the aid of a tiny bit of rubbing alcohol and a lighter. Think about the tunnels of bugs and rodents under your feet. Did you know there’s a type of critter that seems to break physics? Look up velvet worms.

Look up how massive, multiple-person puppets are made and operated to seem like they breathe just like us.

Did you know an earlier version of Aslan was a robotic puppet operated by three people, two in the suit and one controlling his facial expressions?

Did you know that the animators of the 2005 Narnia said they spent approximately ten hours on each frame. Each frame. It was not a light, easy, inexpensive CGI. They got a clipping from an actual lion’s mane. They spent hours deciding how the hair would move. And in the death scene, once Aslan is tied down, did you know that that’s a puppet? His breath, his head moving, his grief and resolve- it’s a remote operated puppet.

Did you know they built entire indoor snowy sets, and that they made a faux waterfall above a pool to help create the river effects? Did you know that while they did use green screening, the actual sets they interacted with, and the foreground of the background, that was nearly all real?

Did you know that I fell in love with worldbuilding when I was seven, and that I would’ve watched the behind the scenes for the Narnia movies more than the movies themselves if my parents let me? Did you know that artists pour their souls into these things? That special effects that aren’t cared for as well as or more than the actual practical versions will age like milk in a cave? Did you know the same level of love was poured into the first Star Wars miniature and true scale sets? Into the earlier beloved shows like Doctor Who? That everything that breathtaking that you can’t find in real life from before the 2000s was near certainly a work of souls via the hands of those who loved the story and their craft?

Did you know that it can feel like automation and ease and computers are taking the love and care and joy out of the lives of people who really care about the things being made? That quality and craftsmanship are dying everywhere for the sake of cost efficiency?

I. I don’t know what my point is anymore. But I think it might be that some people need to stop short selling artists and the beauty of the world we live in. And that everyone just needs to marvel at the world we live in now and again. Go to a science museum. Imagine a current unconventional art as magic in space. Daydream about magnets and rigging fake flying islands. I dunno. Fall in love with existence and take my hand as I partake in the holy act of creation. Or whatever

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

you are an evil person. the way you’re focusing on how doomed by the narrative the fushiguro siblings are? the way you’re really highlighting how the siblings are so protective of each other & are so willing to sacrifice themselves for the other to live happily? THE WAY IT SHOULDVE BEEN SO OBVIOUS THEY THREATENED TSUMIKI?

oh i’m in tears. i’m mourning who i once was before this fic. i’ve never been so invested in a fic before. i would sell my soul for the lore to this story.

NAOYA. i feel like im overlooking things but was naoya like purposely copying some of gojo mannerisms (the hair ruffle, the clapping) as a big “fuck you” to megumi?

regardless of that, i’m just waiting for the day that gojo (& yuuta) fucking tortures the shit out of naoya for megumi. i’m also just waiting for megumi to wake up to just everyone being so protective of him even though he hasn’t met half of the people so invested in his life before.

(maki being so proud of megumi because of his “if im dying we all dying ” mentality? oh megumi & maki are going to be menaces when megumi finally heals. yuuta will never know peace again.)

Megumi: *finally wakes up* I—Who are you people?

The first years, already murderously defensive of him: your protection detail

they love him a normal amount

Tsumiki was really the only thing I could see them holding over his head. I won’t get into the details here, because we’ll get into them in the fic itself, but Tsumiki’s safety and happiness is very regularly the thing that locks Megumi into action. For Megumi’s start in this world, Tsumiki was what made him sacrifice himself.

At the end of the day, all each one wants is for the other to be safe. And the narrative makes that mutually exclusive. They really are uniquely doomed by the narratively, and that’s what makes their relationship so tragic.

See, I think storytelling is just such a flexible medium that each interaction with the story itself is different. The story I write may be slightly different from the one you read. You can absolutely read in that reason behind Naoya’s actions—it’s the kind of sick shit he would pull, and the narrative will never contradict it directly. I actually love that reading of it. It’s more than a little twisted and viscerally terrifying when you’re in megumi’s shoes.

I just won’t claim I was planning that personally when I wrote it, because I didn’t think of that myself when it was being written. I still love it and think it’s a great interpretation of his actions. I just didn’t come up with it myself.

I included that bit because I thought it would be kind of a perversion of the relationship Megumi should have had with Naoya in a way that was a little cruel and really underscored how terrified Megumi was in this moment.

Naoya should have been Megumi’s blood family. He should have been his uncle. And in a good world, they would have loved each other. Naoya would have never hurt him.

Wrapping an arm around your nephew, ruffling his hair—that can be a very healthy expression of familial affection. It’s something you do with someone you love. Someone you feel safe with. Naoya is mocking the role he should have had in his life. He’s too rough with him. He ruffles his hair like Gojo does, but it shoves Megumi’s entire head around, and he uses his grip on his neck to force him into a car. He’s using symbols of family love as a way to hurt megumi.

It’s a facsimile of affection meant to make megumi feel uncomfortable and unsafe. Because Megumi’s fucking terrified of Naoya. This was his worst abuser for a long time. And Megumi’s not someone who really likes physical touch.

Megumi isn’t safe enough to assert his own boundaries. He isn’t safe enough to pull away. He just had to sit there and take actions that are hurting him. It’s invasive and humiliating, and the forced intimacy of it probably hurt him worse than punching him in the face would have.

[multi-muse-transect]

V in Mortal Kombat interactions.

@aggravateddurian

Duplicate

V: If you’re me from the future, please tell me I get Johnny out of my head.

V: It’s gonna come at a price.

V: So is Jackie alive in your universe?

V: Who's Jackie?

V: So where are you from? Haywood, Badlands or Charter Hill?

V: Haywood.

Raiden

V: It’s gonna take more than just fancy fighting moves to survive NC.

Raiden: Don't judge a book by its cover V.

V: Fuck, it’s so hard to fight without combat implants!

Raiden: You must get used to a life without crutches, only then can you overcome the city itself.

V: You don’t happen to know who’s the Zen Master now do you?

Raiden: Why he’s a teacher in the Wushi Academy!

V: You’re gonna love the esoterica.

Raiden: You should show me sometime.

Raiden: Such a bleak future you live in…

V: It has its perks.

Raiden: It’s horrible that people would do things to themselves to survive such an insane city.

V: The city ends up getting them regardless.

Johnny Cage

V: Told you Alex was the best.

Johnny: The best? She is leading woman material!

V: Johnny and Solomon are actors in this universe?

Johnny: You’re talking about Keanu and Idris right?

V: No, you’re not making my life into a movie.

Johnny: Maybe a video game can work?

Johnny: So you mind telling me how brain dances work?

V: You need to chrome the fuck up first.

Johnny: Adam Smasher sounds like a lame ass name.

V: Why don't you say that to his face when you see him?

Scorpion

V: You remind me of this one guy-he was a bodyguard.

Scorpion: I wish to meet him one day then.

V: Fuck me, what kind of implants cause those?

Scorpion: Technology isn't required to learn magic.

Scorpion: You're getting more and more skilled without your combat implants.

V: It took sometime but I'm getting there.

Scorpion: Arasaka's evil must be stopped!

V: They'll learn to fear the reaper when we raid it.

Sub Zero

V: I've met plenty of gonks like you in NC. All dead in a ditch

Sub Zero: Then I will be the first to survive.

V: You just sold out your clan by working for Arasaka!

Sub Zero: A small price to pay for salvation.

Sub Zero: Adam Smasher has proven himself to be a valuable ally!

V: Don't come crying to me when he bites you in the ass!

Sub Zero: With Arasaka's tech, I will create an unstoppable army of cyber-Lin Kuei!

V: Not on my watch!

Kung Lao

V: Careful, that attitude won't get anywhere in NC.

Kung: Cybernetic thugs don't scare me.

V: A hat? Seriously!?

Kung: Don't underestimate it V.

Kung: Is Panam available for today?

V: As if she'd go out with you.

Kung: I heard about the story of David Martinez. I've had the same experience like that...

V: You should take it to heart.

Sindel

V: This isn't my first time meeting a ruler.

Sindel: Oh? Do tell...

V: Jesus Christ, what kind of chrome makes you do THAT?

Sindel: Please, I don't need machines in my body.

Sindel: Do you do this often? Asking rulers out for dinner?

V: I learned it from a gig in Dogtown.

Sindel: Our magic will help cure your condition.

V: Let's hope it doesn't turn the other guy into pixie dust first.

Shang Tsung

V: Tell me where So Mi is or you end up eating lead.

Shang: You still care about her despite everything?

V: I've known many backstabbing assholes in NC. You're not special.

Shang: But I am built different compared to them.

Shang: I assure you, my magic will make sure that Silverhand will be gone.

V: I'm not selling my principals out to a wizard!

Shang: I wonder if I will have Silverhand's soul when I take it from your body.

V: One-try it asshole and two-I don't think that's how it works.

Shao Kahn

V: I almost mistook you for an Animals member.

Shao: Do you mock me mercenary!?

V: Not my first I've fight someone big with a hammer.

Shao: Then they must've died in the most humiliating way possible!

Shao: I am not afraid of a dying mercenary!

V: You will be.

Shao: All legends fade.

V: Not mine, it will never fade away!

Reiko

V: You're seriously coming at me with a spear and shurikens?

Reiko: Unlike you-I don't need machines under my skin.

V: Many gonks like you die because of loyalty.

Reiko: Then they have died honorably!

Reiko: You aren't afraid of death. Good!

V: I pass by it all the time.

Reiko: You spared Khameleon. So weak and disgusting! Mercy is disgusting!

V: Your devotion to the roided maniac is way more disgusting.

Tanya

V (if female V): You know anything I can get for Judy?

Tanya: I recommend the flowers of the royal garden.

V: My world can use more people like you.

Tanya: Maybe there is. Perhaps you weren't looking enough.

Tanya: I don't trust Reed.

V: Good, don't!

Tanya: Takemura is so blinded by loyalty.

V: That's Goro for you.

Kitana

V: You sound...familiar.

Kitana: I don't even know who you are.

V: Fuck me, I need one of those!

Kitana: First you must learn to train with them.

Kitana: I can't believe the Mox's care about money instead of caring for others.

V: Tell me about it.

Kitana: Thank you for telling me about Hansen.

V: You're welcome princess.

Li Mei

V: I think I know a detective who would love to have you as a partner.

Li Mei: Do tell Earthrealmer...

V: If the cops acted like you then NC would have zero crime.

Li Mei: Perhaps I should teach them.

Li Mei: So much corruption in your city, I'm surprise it's still standing.

V: You can thank the mega-corps that semi-run it.

Li Mei: 6th Street are nothing but barbarians parading as protectors.

V: Lofty patriotic bullshit is all they spew out of their mouths.

Kenshi

V: Fought a guy just like you. Hunted Tigers.

Kenshi: Was he just as skilled as me?

V: You're gonna love Jotaro Shobo since you kill yakuza a lot.

Kenshi: Really? Tell me where he is...

Kenshi: Your blades are advanced but not advanced as sento.

V: No shit. None of them can summon a ghost!

Kenshi: I would love to duel Oda one day.

V: I don't think that's a smart idea...

Ashrah

V: No one is good or bad where I come from...except for Maelstrom.

Ashrah: They are beyond redemption.

V: I know a guy who needs someone like you, he's FIA.

Ashrah: I know he has a good heart but is clouded by devotion.

Ashrah: So Mi is safe with me.

V: Tell her I said hi.

Ashrah: Regina Jones heart is so pure yet full of darkness.

V: Really? She doesn't seem to have a bad bone in her.

Smoke

V: What the hell kinda name is Smoke?

Smoke: One that you will respect.

V: Thanks for taking care of 6th Street for me.

Smoke: They're nothing but savages.

Smoke: The Aldecaldos have such a beautiful culture.

V: Wanna join them one day?

Smoke: Wakako looks like she's taken a liking to me.

V: Odd, she doesn't like anyone.

Geras

V: So..how does my story end?

Geras: Your future is very...hard to tell.

V: You're a Samurai fan?

Geras: I was watching their concerts very recently.

Geras: I suggest you should side with So Mi.

V: Why is that?

Geras: I have met another who travels to other timelines.

V: Ciri? Yeah, she does that.

Liu Kang

V: I can tell you didn't create my timeline.

Liu Kang: I would never create such depravity.

V: Shit, I'm sure Viktor would love you on the boxing club.

Liu Kang: I’ll visit one day.

Liu Kang: In one timeline, you and So Mi are together.

V: That...that's kinda beautiful.

Liu Kang: I have something that will help your ailment.

V: Really? It won't fry my nerves right?