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cordonianroyalairlines · 10 months

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All I Want for Christmas Part 1

Series: Cordonian Royal Airlines

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairings for series: Various

Pairing for this chapter: Riley x Drake, Liam x Max

Word Count: 2,475

Rating: General

Warnings for this chapter: None

A/N: Listen. I had an idea for the @choicesprompts #rewritechallenge holiday edition. I had the whole scene in my head, but then I decided it needed a little lead-up. Then I decided the lead-up needed a lead-up and then these characters completely just took over, threw my script out the window, and took a whole detour to examine a little budding romance between Liam and Max when this story was supposed to be focused on Drake and Riley (and it still is, mostly).

Long story short, it got a little out of hand so I have split it into two chapters. I'm tagging all of the following:

@choicesprompts rewrite challenge, holiday edition TRR x Untamed Heart (one of my all-time favorite movies). @choicesficwriterscreations holiday prompt: Stuck together in the snow; @choicesdecember2023 Christmas and @choicesholidays: This is the worst Christmas ever.

“Goodbye, Mrs. Lassiter, have a pleasant stay!” Riley waved with a smile painted on her face as the last passenger debarked. The smile faded from her face as the guests disappeared down the jet bridge and her eyes took in the heavy snowfall blanketing the runway.

Max noticed her despondent expression. “You okay, Ri?”

She turned toward her best friend and coworker with a sigh. “Remind me again why I volunteered to work this flight?”

“Uh…because your sister is getting married in less than two months, and you needed the overtime to pay for the ridiculous over-the-top bachelorette party she wants.”

“Right. Amelia,” Riley nodded to herself, “I’m doing this for her.”

“I think you do too much for her, Ri,” Max clucked at her like a mother hen, “She takes advantage of your generous nature.”

“Oh, Max, it’s fine. You only get married once!”

He arched an eyebrow at her.

“Okay,” a giggle burst out of her, “Hopefully, she only gets married once!”

“Frankly, I’m surprised she found anyone willing to marry her. Is there something wrong with him?”

“Max!” Riley laughed as she thumped him playfully on the shoulder before turning serious. “I just hope we’re able to take off tomorrow as planned.” Tomorrow was Christmas Eve, and she had promised her mother she’d be home so she could spend Christmas day with her parents and siblings.

“I wouldn’t count on it.”

Riley turned toward the voice to find the pilot striding toward them. Captain Liam Rys stopped in front of the flight attendants to announce, “There’s a blizzard headed straight for us.”

“Maybe we could just fly out right now—” Riley started hopefully.

“That’s a negative,” Liam cut her off, “that would put me over my flight limit for the day. We’ll proceed to the hotel as planned and hope for the best but be prepared to spend Christmas here.”

“Remind me why you agreed to fly into Estonia, the blizzard capital of the world, two days before Christmas?” Max grumbled.

Liam’s eyes flicked to him in annoyance. “Because of the obscene amount of money Mr. Lassiter was willing to pay for me to do so. You’ll thank me when you get your next paycheck and there’s a substantial bonus on it, on top of the holiday bonus you just received.”

“It’s okay,” Max shrugged with a tinge of disappointment in his tone, “My brother is in Japan anyway.”

Liam’s expression softened a little. “I’m sure he wishes he could spend Christmas with you.”

“Well, he’s flying with Leo, which he loves. I’m just disappointed that we’re almost never assigned to the same flight.”

Liam averted his eyes, unwilling to tell Max that was on purpose. Bertrand had requested that Max not be on the same flight as himself after the younger Beaumont’s enthusiasm became embarrassing for him. Max had gushed to a passenger about his pride in his older sibling, proudly articulating that, “My brother’s the co-pilot. He’s really good at it. He’s almost good enough to be the pilot!”

Liam shuffled his feet awkwardly, then nodded at Max, “Yes, well…. See you at the hotel.”

“You will?” Max’s head whipped around in surprise. Liam had never expressed an interest in seeing him outside of work before.

“Well, he was a little snippy,” Riley observed as Liam disappeared down the sky bridge.

“But did he seem….I don’t know…interested in-“ a flush crawled up his neck and then flared across his face, “Never mind. Of course not.”

Riley’s brow furrowed. “Interested in what?”

“Nothing. Let’s just get this cabin cleaned up so we can go.”

***

Riley awoke the next morning to sheets of snow pouring from the sky, blanketing the city in white as far as she could see from her hotel window. Which wasn’t that far. The snow was coming down too fast and too thick for her to see past the parking lot.

“Shit!” She aggressively pulled the curtains closed and dove back under the covers.

***

“So, what have you two been up to all day?” Liam asked as the four-member flight crew sat down for dinner in the hotel restaurant.

“Well, I slept in, then I called my mom to let her know I wouldn’t be making it home today and probably not tomorrow either. Then I drown my sorrows in a steaming hot bubble bath.” Riley responded as she pulled the menu over to her.

“Yeah, but then we saw a movie,” Max reminded her. Turning to Liam, he rambled excitedly, “This hotel has a theater in it. There was popcorn and everything! And then we took a cooking class! Can you believe that? The hotel chef hosts a class here once a week, but they did an extra class today because it snowed everyone in.”

Liam smiled at Max’s enthusiasm. “That sounds like fun. Now I feel boring. I read all day. Drake, what about you?”

“What about me?” Drake was busy shoveling a complimentary roll into his mouth.

Riley laughed. “Have you not been listening to the conversation? He wants to know what you did to keep busy today, you dork.”

Drake grabbed his water glass and chugged the cold liquid down to cover the fact that he had not heard a word of the conversation since Riley stopped talking. He was still picturing her in that bubble bath. When he sat the glass down, he responded, “I did my usual morning workout. The gym here is excellent. Since I couldn’t go for a run, I hit the heavy bags and then swam a few laps.”

“How many is a few?” Max asked.

“Twenty.” Drake’s eyes flicked to Max as he answered before landing quickly back on Riley’s face searching for any clue that she was impressed, or at least interested in him.

Not that he cared. She was a coworker, and he didn’t date coworkers.

“All before lunch?” She raised an eyebrow.

He wasn’t sure if she found his morning activities impressive or stupid. Her expression gave away nothing. “I find it hard to sit still,” he answered.

Liam scoffed, “You sit in the cockpit for hours at a time.”

“First of all, that’s different. I’m doing plenty as you well know and second of all, that’s why I need more physical movement when I’m on the ground.”

“Makes sense to me!” Max nodded emphatically as the waitress arrived with the menus.

They ordered their food and ate while making companionable chit chat. After dinner, Max suggested they continue the night across the lobby.

The hotel bar was crowded. The four coworkers quickly parted in the crowd. Drake and Liam navigated to a small table in the back and ordered drinks.

“You don’t want to ask her to dance?” Liam nodded across the room to the dance floor where Max and Riley were laughing and twirling to the music.

Drake followed Liam’s eyes and froze as he watched her sway and shimmy to the thump of heavy base. “I don’t dance.”

“I’ve seen you dance.”

“Not well.”

“So, you’re worried about embarrassing yourself in front of her?”

“What? No!” Drake reached for the tumbler of single malt scotch as the server placed it on the table in front of him and took a long pull as his mind spun with ways to shift the conversation away from his nonexistent love life. “What’s going on with you and Max?”

Liam startled so hard that bourbon sloshed over the rim of his glass. He stared at Drake in a blind panic. “What do you mean?”

“I mean….you usually pay no attention to what the flight attendants are doing when we have layovers. Yet you invited everyone to dinner tonight and you’re the one that was watching them dance. I’m pretty sure you’re not into Riley because if you were, you wouldn’t be pushing me toward her. So that leaves Max. Tell me I’m wrong.”

He lowered his glass to the table with a sigh. “It’s that obvious?”

“To me, but I’ve known you for a long time, Li.”

Liam blew out a long breath. “Shit.”

“Why don’t you just tell him you’re interested?”

“No,” Liam shook his head vigorously, “I can’t do that!”

“Why not?”

“So many reasons! Starting with the fact that I’m his boss and that’s a sexual harassment suit waiting to happen.”

“Not if he likes you back,” Drake countered.

“That’s not likely.”

Again, Drake asked, “Why not?”

Liam scoffed as he gestured toward the dance floor. “I mean, look at him! He’s fun and popular and hilariously funny. And look at those dance moves! He’s interesting and cool. What could he possibly see in me?”

“Hey, don’t sell yourself short, man.”

“I’m a stick in the mud and you know it. I was the president of my debate team. He was the lead in his school’s production of Beetle Juice.”

“How do you know- “

“Bertrand told me.”

“So, you’ve been pumping his brother for information?”

“Not the point. He’s amazing and fun and talented and I’m….me.”

“Liam, come on, man, you-“

“When I was twelve, I read law books for fun.”

“Geez, okay. Never mind. You’re definitely going to die alone.”

“Shut up,” Liam laughed, “I know you think I’m being dramatic.“

“You fly planes for a living,” Drake reminded him. “In my experience, a lot of people find that sexy.”

“Yes, well, I know your experience is quite extensive in that area but-“

“Are you calling me a man whore?”

“If the shoe fits….” Liam muttered into his drink.

“Insult me all you want, but it isn’t going to change the fact that you’ve got it bad. You should just tell him.”

“Oh, okay, Mr. I don’t like Riley.”

Fuck. Drake took another long drink. The conversation had come full circle. His eyes drifted across the room to find her again. She was still with Max.

***

Riley led Max off the dance floor and to a table as she flagged down a server for some water. “What’s up with you tonight?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you’ve been acting squirely all night and you keep looking around like you’re searching for somebody. What’s that about?”

Max flushed, “Ah….I think I might have a thing for Liam.”

“Wait…what?” Riley shrieked, then clapped her hands over her mouth.

“I don’t know….” Max dropped his eyes to the table. “I mean, you know, he’s hot or whatever.”

“Max!” She slapped his shoulder. “Since when? And why didn’t you tell me?”

He shrugged. “Just recently I’ve started to notice him more, that’s all. He’s always being nice to me and- “

“He’s nice to everyone.”

“I know, but it’s more than that! I can’t explain it, okay? It’s just…the way he looks at me sometimes….”

“I have never seen you act shy before! You hit on that model last week!”

“Oh, him? Yeah, but that was just--”

“That man is an international star, and you had zero qualms asking for his snap.”

“I know, but- “

“And he gave it to you!”

“Sure, but Liam isn’t just a pretty face, Riley! He’s so fucking smart and serious. He’s sophisticated, and there’s just no way he’d be into a goofball like me.”

“Ah, Maxey, anyone with half a brain would be into you.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re my best friend.”

“Yes. But also because it’s true.”

“No, it’s not. I’m the general fuckup in my family. Just ask Bertrand. Or my father.”

“Max, you’re not a fuckup!” Riley admonished. “You’re just different from your brother and father, thank God! I’m sorry, I know you love him, but Bertrand is the most boring man alive, and your father is a dick, so please don’t judge yourself by his opinion of you.”

“Bert’s not boring. He just had to grow up fast. My father put a lot of pressure on him and he, unlike me, rose to the challenge. I mean, look at us. He’s a pilot and I’m a flight attendant. Do you remember what my father said when I told him I wanted to be a flight attendant?”

“Yes, but on the bright side, it was the first time he acknowledged your sexual orientation.”

Max snorted, “That’s not funny, Riley.”

“You laughed.”

He bumped her shoulder with his own with an amused shake of his head, “If your point is that my father is a homophobic, controlling, abusive asshole whose opinion should mean nothing to me or anyone else with a lick of self-respect, then point taken.” He lifted his glass to her.

She lifted hers and tapped it into his with a grin. “My work here is done. Now go over there and ask him to shoot darts or something.”

***

“All right, well, this has been fun, but I’m going up to bed now.” Liam pushed away from the table and stood up, stretching as he did so.

“You really are a stick in the mud,” Drake laughed as the server cleared their table and asked if he could get them anything else. “Yeah, an unopened bottle of what we’ve been drinking tonight.”

Liam turned to go but froze as a voice that sent heat shocking through him spoke, “Hey…Liam….you wanna…go play darts or something?”

He turned to find Max smiling at him. Trying to push down the rising panic in his throat, his eyes flicked to Drake, who just gave him an amused smile, then back to Max, who looked uncharacteristically nervous. “Uh…. sure.”

“Great!” Relief washed across Max’s features. Then he remembered himself and begrudgingly turned to include Drake in the invitation. “Would you like to join us?”

“Nah, I’m good. You two go ahead. I’ve got a bottle of top-shelf whiskey, and this hotel has steak on their room service menu. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay then, goodnight and Merry Christmas,” Liam didn’t meet Drake’s eyes as he waved bye and then followed Max to the dart boards lined up against the far wall.

Drake chuckled to himself as he took the bottle from the server and thrust a handful of bills at him. He started for the door, then thought better of it and backtracked to the bar, reaching across and grabbing a clean tumbler to take to his room with him.

He had to dodge a bunch of drunk people on his way back, causing him to veer off course until he was damn near on the other side of the room.

It wasn’t so much that he saw her as he felt her presence. His head lifted and his eyes somehow went straight to her despite the dozen or so people between him and the table she was seated at. Without making a conscious decision, his body angled in her direction, and he made his way over to her, reminding himself the whole way that he didn’t get involved with coworkers.

#cordonianroyalairlines #trr au #the royal romance #drake x mc #drake walker #liam rys #maxwell beaumont #liam x max #christmas 2023 #drake x riley #choices fic writers creations #cfwc fics of the week

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selpide · 10 months

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a long, confusing, existential introduction

i have noticed there's a proportion of us humans who seem to have a tendency to look for the essence of things

an obsession, some would say

(some would be right)

minimalism, others will state

(other will be wrong)

(there's nothing small about this search)

i am a number of this proportion, you see

everything i do, i try to undress it to the bones

find the skeleton

trace the carcass

what's the closest i can get to one truth before it burns my skin alive?

that's where i like it

that's where i live

a nomad in the borderland of skulls

there's some holy serenity in being able to go the distance

that distance

i went that distance yesterday

i have trouble putting into words what i do

and what i do is who i am

so i spend an unhealthy (what is healthy anyways?) amount of time in this so-called minimalist search for the most precise arrangement of letters to make other people understand what my ego claims as hers

i am a writer

that is without a doubt

the first thing i have ever been

the last thing i will ever be

let's set aside the clearness and focus on the blurry lines

i am a singer

(i make songs)

am i a singer?

i am a cinematographer

(i am an audiovisual communication graduate)

am i a cinematographer?

do i deserve to claim myself as part of these guilds, these collectives, these ideas, these concepts, these communities, these archetypes, these

words

do i deserve to be called by any of these perfect words?

when you are called by your name

even if you know you are not your name

(you are not some letters nor their sound

you are flesh and blood and bones and maybe, if we are all lucky, a soul

however

when this name is called upon)

you answer

as if you were synonyms

as if meaning and symbol became lost within each other until becoming one and the same

so when someone says

"writer"

and i turn my head

when i jump at the sound

when my brain has already done the job — and i cannot escape my fate — the fate my brain has woven for myself — when someone calls for a writer and i raise my hand

do meaning and symbol get mixed up just the same?

this is where it got heavy for me

do i deserve to claim the same name as every single person who came before me, and whom i admire, and whom i respect, and whom i couldn't dare to offend (them nor the rest of the world) by suggesting we may belong to a somewhat similar category?

but then again

names

words

why should anyone be worthy of a title? surnames are given. they come to us by birth. like it or not, they're part of our identity — they give information on who we are — be it by acceptance or denial — be it by proximity or self-made walls — opposite or mirror — we don't need to deserve our surnames. they are us and we are them.

am i a singer?

yes

am i a cinematographer?

yes

i first was a songwriter — a writer of songs. then i discovered i could sing them. badly. but they were sung. less badly. and they kept on being sung. less less badly. and then i discovered i could put my own music into them. i once met kim yerim on the streets of madrid. i handed her a piece of paper with the lyrics of my song written on them. and she spoke these words: "so you are a producer? you are a composer?". and it was a conversation, and she was looking at me in the eyes, and so i answered. i said: "yes". and it was as simple as that. because it is true. i produce songs. i compose songs.

i am a producer.

sunghyuk said i already am a producer.

and it is as simple as that.

so i write songs. and i sing them. and i produce them. and that's all too long to fit a social media bio, isn't it?

so what am i?

a music maker

i am a music maker

i first was a scriptwriter — a writer of scripts. then i discovered writing scripts was too boring for me. there is only so much you can control about a story with a script. movies have so much more to them. movies move. so i started editing videos. turns out i have an eye for that. rhythm. that's all it is, really. i have an inner metronome. i can sense patterns. i can repeat them. i am a little clock pedaling backwards and onwards and to whichever direction has the beat that pulses the brightest. but you can't edit a blank screen — you need images. and there is only so much you can control about a story when images aren't yours. so i got myself a camera. a little green sony point and shoot, y2k excellency, all digital grain and untreated saturation and pixelated zoom. then another camera. a little red sony handycam that, as i write this, is on the cabinet under the tv of this apartment in the middle of another continent that i moved to three months ago

(i got this camera when i was 14)

(i think it might be my favorite camera)

then another one

then you know how it goes

i became a videographer

but these cameras could take pictures too, right?

pictures are so beautiful

i became a photographer

this kind of motion got be so obsessed i could not picture myself doing anything in this life that didn't rely on its cadence

so i got into college and i majored in film

(it's not film)

(you can't major in film in spain)

(not in university)

(so i got into audiovisual communication)

(you can major in audiovisual communication in spain)

(in university)

(i specialized in film)

(i wrote a film script as my final degree thesis)

(i ended up working as a scriptwriter)

(i am, as of today, a scripwriter)

(i miss my red sony handicam)

(i miss the colors)

i miss the motion

i direct my own music videos

i keep a record of my own life

i can't escape live photographs nor still movement

there's so many information in there

how can you shorten that up for a social media bio?

a filmmaker?

but does that sum up everything?

i don't think so

so what am i?

an image maker

i am an image maker

let's get back to words

because i am a writer

that's the only one i savor between my teeth

every letter is mine to say, mine to keep, mine to pray, mine for me

a writer

but what does a writer do?

letters are the smallest piece of a writer's craft

but we are not letter makers

same happens with words

we work with them

we don't create them

(not all the time)

(not as a summary of our duty and routine)

(words are not the word)

it's sentences

i guess that's it

that's just how minimalist it can get

so what am i?

a sentence maker

i am a sentence maker

i am a music, image and sentence maker

but what is music?

what are images?

what are sentences?

art

i am an artist

yes,

but

(always a but)

aren't they all languages?

i am a translator

aren't they all symbols?

i am a speaker of metaphors

aren't they all unexplainable ?

i am a magician

aren't they all but a beautiful attempt to capture, to portray, to preserve, to understand, to celebrate, to blame, to share

life

itself?

i am a life curator

(it's funny

i have a song about this

i scrambled some of its lyrics around

i love clues and riddles and the silly breadcrumbs some humans leave for others to find in hopes of making their everyday a little more adventurous

i hope someone someday finds this funny

i hope someone someday

thinks of this

as an adventure)

this is me

sélpide

life curator, writer and magician

welcome to the museum

i hope you find yourself inside here

#writing #writers on tumblr #writeblr #writers and poets #writerscommunity #songwriter #singer songwrtier #existentialism #artists on tumblr

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rustic-space-fiddle · 9 months

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Lil rant (MAYBE PJATO SHOW SPOILERS?)

Lots of opinions up ahead so uh, look out.

I’m watching the PJATO show and I really love some parts. The casting—they’re all wonderful (literally everyone, Mr D is hilarious) and any fears I had have been quelled because they’re all amazing and the trio fit their characters well (even IRL and they’re so precious). Camp Half Blood — so well done. The cabins are huge, the colosseum is just what I imagined, and they really did great on making it properly large and vibrant. I love it. Some of the extra beats they’ve added to make it better expanded beyond the strictly Percy POV in the book have been good. Annabeth and Grover chucking Percy into a fountain to try to heal him was hilarious and totally in character—probably my favorite part so far. Also: AHHHH SEAWEED BRAIN!

But is anyone just feeling… like the pacing is super slow? Like I get that us “zoomers” have tiny attention spans and stuff but “The Horse and His Boy” was my favorite Narnia book and I read LOTR when I was 11 so I don’t think my attention span is quite so bad. These kids got ADHD and it feels like every talk and every scene just drags. Every time I think the energy is gonna rise, it gets smacked back down by lackluster scene climaxes. Again, I’m not trying to say we need more explosions or booms or arguments, just that I]it isn’t even remotely eliciting the same kind of goose-pimple/heart thumping moments I remember from the books. I reread them constantly and it’s always thrilling.

And the music… someone I was watching it with said it sounded like generic Marvel music, and they’re kinda right. I can’t remember a single note from the score at all, and I’m always listening to movie/TV scores because they’re like listening to the story in music format! PJATO’s score though? Can’t even remember it. I can’t remember any of it even being used in certain places. I thought they’d try to get older instrumentals to make it unique, like lyre AND electric guitar in the mix, but honestly I can’t even remember what it sounds like. That’s bad, right?

[[EDIT: I just looked up the score on Spotify and it was literally made by the people who did the “God of War” game score. There’s no freakin way this music is bad. I’m gonna listen to it alone later. Maybe it’s just set really low in the mix… ]]

The “death” of Sally Jackson was so lackluster. Just a standard medium long shot, can’t even remember if the music flourished or dropped or anything. Their acting was great, but it was framed so poorly that it just felt… idk…

The pacing feels like it’s something I would do as an amateur who doesn’t yet understand how to edit on my first few write-up’s of a script. I’m not trying to be mean or unfair because I REALLY wanna love this show and I genuinely love a lot of stuff about it and I can tell that so many people are working so hard on it, but holy moly I feel my brain begging for someone to do something impertinent and just slap the show into a roll whenever I’m watching it.

There’s another issue I have with the timing of the most recent episode but I don’t wanna go much further.

Again, this is all opinion and not meant to say anyone shouldn’t like the show or that the people in it are stupid because they aren’t at all and people should like it! I’m just saying that as someone that really appreciated the pacing of the books (that was quick but never sacrificed the storytelling and slowed down when it needed to), I am really feeling that this show isnt shaping up like that. Additional note: I’m not even saying that the pacing of the show needs to BE the pacing of the books. I’m just saying that the pacing of the books is one of the things that made it so good and I really haven’t read many things with pacing of that quality.

Aaaanyway feel free to disagree with me or roast me alive. I just haven’t seen anyone talking about it and I wanted to rant a little and see what other people thought. I’m still gonna keep watching because I think if they can fix the pacing, imma really freaking enjoy this and in case they do, I don’t wanna miss it. And because I’d rather have more PJATO show than less!

#Rusty rants #pjato spoilers #pjato show #percy jackon and the olympians #mild spoilers #critique #please don’t hate me #Mr Riordan I’m sure everyone is trying their best #but this pacing is seriously gonna be the death of me #if I was 10 I would get bored and turn it off #I’m powering through because I love pjato and I wanna support this cast and the team’s hard work #long post #pjato

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divineerdrick · 6 months

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Adepticon Reveals for March 21, 2024

I've almost recovered from COVID, so I'm going to actually watch the livestream for Adepticon and catch the reveals! Whoot!

Before we start, let's try and make some predictions. First, the easy one. We're probably going to get the reveal for Age of Sigmar 4th Edition, though they'll probably just call it the next edition. Everyone's calling this one, since we're currently wrapping up this edition's narrative campaign and GW seems determined to keep to their 3 year cycles. It's practically a gimme.

We know we're only getting teasers for Heresy and Necromunda, so I don't have much to say there. For 40K, we're probably going to see something Chaos. I'm not exactly sure where we are on the roadmap, but that teaser definitely feels like Chaos. I don't think they'll reveal our mystery Codex just yet, but I'm ready to be wrong there.

For Warcry I'm guessing we'll be getting a new box announced. Same for Kill Team, though I don't think we've seen all the previously announced boxes released yet. I'm betting we'll see something similar for Old World, since they seem to be bringing armies back a box at a time. They've been talking green skins, so maybe they'll show us a full box set for them.

For Underworlds I'm going to go a bit further. They'd mentioned new ways to play some older war bands, so I'm guessing they'll be announcing some new rules or expansions to breathe some life into older Underworlds sets.

With those predictions pinned for me to suffer or celebrate, on to the show!

IMMORTALITY IS A CURSE

That's the heading we're beginning the show with. Okay then!

Just Lewis today, then? Okay! Hello, Lewis! What you got for us?

Okay! So they're going to have various presenters talking to people to do the reveals. That's new! Let's see how it works out.

Yep. Those are some spikey boys.

Dread Talons! Oh hey! We've got the Chaos Lord with Jump Pack back! Definitely some new sculpts there. After the show, I'll go through the articles and take a look at what exactly is new.

We got Nick and Simon for this part of the reveal! They definitely look like they're ready to have some fun! Oh! And we've got both Stu and Josh today!

Oh wow! We're getting two new CSM battle forces! Interesting!

Mentioning Vashtorr, I hope he gets a bit of a glow up. I really like him, and it would be nice if he got rules that make him feel like he the Lord of the Soul Forges.

They're announcing eight detachments for CSM. Couldn't let the slaves of the corpse emperor have all the detachment fun! This is definitely going to be a sticking point considering Tau players just got their hands on their codex and it only has four. While I'd prefer fewer, more well balanced detachments, the way GW has been dishing them out to each faction is kinda weird. I'm expecting to hear some grumblings about this.

Okay, so they're trying to go for kind of an interview style feel to this presentation. But it's feeling very scripted. Like . . . really scripted. WarCom's purpose has always been to be the hype train for GW. But even with the obvious restrictions on how they'd interact with chat, there still felt like there was a little bit of genuine interaction. This feels very phony to me. Not sure I like this new way of doing presentations.

And, of course, they're suggesting all the CSM fans should run out to grab both boxes. I'm curious how this will turn out. On the one hand, this will allow someone still collecting their army to pick the box they think will serve them best. On the other, that's even more FOMO boxes coming out. And again, can't help but note that Tau only got Kroot in their box, so Tau players that wanted to actually play Tau didn't get served very well. But CSM is getting quite the spread it seems.

Wow! Even the way that cut off felt abrupt and forced. Geh. Really not liking this so far . . .

So apparently that's not it for 40K. They really want all the 40K fans to stick through the entire show and maybe find something they like from the other systems. For now, it's time to visit the Mortal Realms. Don't think it's AoS yet, but let's see what we get.

It's Warcry! And it's a new boxed set! Looks like an Osiarch warband verses an Idoneth warband! Those are gonna be some interesting miniatures! Of course we already saw those new hounds teased.

Just Nick and John this time.

Oh! I was wrong! Looks like it's Sylvaneth, not Idoneth. I got a more Idoneth feel, but these look like they're both oddballs for their factions. The Osiarch warbands are exiles. And the Sylvaneth have been infected in some way.

Warcry isn't going to smaller box sets yet it seems. This boxset will contain both warbands and the terrain.

Oh! Moving right on to Underworlds it seems! Let's see what's up!

Underworlds often gets the craziest warbands. We've got a Death warband, and I think a Chaos warband? It's honestly hard to tell, they've got kind of a torture asylum kinda vibe to them.

So this is our new box and season. Oh well. Maybe there will be more, but it was a swing for the fences prediction.

So our Death warband is Flesheater courts. The delusion for this band is that they're all gourmet chefs getting ingredients for their lavish banquets. Yum!

The Brotherhood of the Bolt are crazy flagellants that have at some point been struck by lightning. And so they believe they've been chosen by Sigmar! Like I said, Underworld warbands are fantastic.

Now we're back to get a little bit more build up for the full AoS reveal. What could it be?

Oh! Getting teased by some Chaos boys! This dude looks badass!

Looks like Cities of Sigmar verses Slaves to Darkness.

Oh! Dudette! Abraxia, Spear of the Everchosen! Really awesome model with some really cool lore behind her.

From here, we're moving on to the next chapter of the Dawnbringers. I'm not caught up on this lore, so I can't comment much here. As I keep watching and listening though, I can't help but be reminded of how well the AoS lore has developed. I really loved my read of the Dominion book and of Morathi. There just isn't enough space in my life for both setting and systems to receive equal attention.

Teaser time!

Dune. Arrakis. Desert Planet.

Oo! Something Mechanicum this way comes!

The little post teaser chat has me thinking this is Mars and that we might be doing something with the war there. It would be nice to get a campaign for the Martian Schism with rules for both Mechanicum and Dark Mechanicum forces.

And now Dwarves! Looks like they'll be getting our next Old World box set! Dwarf players rejoice! Most of these are looking like older sculpts still, though I think that one champion might be new.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's a new Dwarven champion. And he looks awesome! We're also getting a new Dwarf King that can be fielded either on Shield Bearers or on foot.

Oh! I see GSC!

Yes! I'm finally getting my GSC kill team! And they'll be up against an all new Votann Kill Team! Unfortunately, it doesn't look like my Kill Team is all new miniatures, as we've got part of the Broodcoven here. I was kinda hoping for something more bespoke. It's not like we've got a large variety of units.

Votann, on the other hand, definitely needs new units. So I'm glad they're getting some much needed love. These are Hernkyn Jagers, and are part of the advance forces for the Leagues.

Rotlock Negotiation! Heh!

"Anyone else want to negotiate?" "Wh-wh-where did he learn to negotiate like that?" "I wonder . . ."

Oh! It's specifically a Brood Brother Kill Team! Veteran Brood Brothers! Very nice! Looks like it is at least a little bespoke!

And I think this is our Necromunda teaser. Hah! Well that was quick!

Alright! Time for that "just one more thing."

Got quite the badass taking on some Tzangors! Oof! Really intense depiction of how harrowing being a Stormcast must actually be!

Woah!

That's one way for the Skaven to begin their assault! Bloody 'ell!

And yeah, they're just calling it New AoS, the New Edition. We can count guys! You realize we're only up to 4, right? There are Orks that can count to 4!

Alright! We're going to get into rules here! It sound like we're getting a full, proper Edition change along the lines of 40K 2nd to 3rd, 7th to 8th, or 9th to 10th. Wonder if they're going to try what they did for 10th and give us some free rules.

"Opening up the game to more players than ever."

. . .

Guys. You realize that AoS was already the simpler system, right? How much more simple are you going to go? I'm okay with streamlining, but you can go too far. There are parts with 10th Edition 40k where I feel you slimmed down too much. While I do think there is potential fat to trim in AoS, there's some things they slimmed down in 10th I don't want to see happen here. For example, I don't want to see AoS go to a 10th Edition style Enhancement system. They went to lean with that system, and I hope they expand it in future editions. Kitting out your heroes is an integral part of any fantasy setting. You can't do that if you've only got three Enhancements for your entire army!

He's literally using the same language Stu used for 10th Edition. I'm all but waiting for him to say "Simplified, not simple."

But! One thing I think AoS could use, is something like Combat Patrol. If they took the Vanguards and made them standalone buy and play armies, that would be good! I'm hoping that's more how they're planning to get newer players in, not by greatly "streamlining" the game.

D'oh! Combat range is gone. I know one AoS fan in particular that's not going to be happy about that. That was such an elegant way to do different size weapons without Rank and File. Oh boy, this is turning into my anti-hype . . .

Oh! Here we go! Spearhead looks to be the AoS version of Combat Patrol. There's the claim from 10th, that it will be the most balanced game. We saw how well that worked . . . I'm trying not to be down since this is still good. But I hate hearing the same marketing hype that we already saw fail to play out.

We're getting more USRs, so that's definitely good. I'm a big fan there!

Okay, there's another one they claimed for 10th that I please, please, PLEASE want them to actually have followed through on! Stu had talked about how in 10th they tried to make it so that when you look at unit, you know roughly what to expect from that. But 10th just has no consistency as to how strong or tough weapons or models are. I'm really hoping that when Ben says they lined models up and tried to assign stats to them, they really actually did it.

Okay! They're doing free rules at launch. That definitely helps things!

And with that, that's the end of our reveals. And we're back to that banner, "Immortality is a Curse." Which is incidentally, one of the reasons why corporations suck!

Final Thoughts

Okay, my initial plan is that I was going to go through the reveal show, and then take a closer look at miniatures. But I think I'm going to make that a Part 2, since I'm seriously running out of gas. The 4E reveal really didn't help.

What is it with fantasy settings and fourth editions?

I'm trying not to be to anti-hyped by this. There were cool things in this reveal show. Let me TL;DR my sticking points.

I don't like this new style of presentation. It's too staged and controlled and there's no opportunity to get more information or clarifications live.

Two FOMO boxes for CSM is maybe too much. On the one hand, I like the idea of having more purchase options. On the other, I can't help but feel this is them seeing if they can sell more big boxes.

Eight Detachments for Chaos. Fluffy, and puts them on par with the divergent Space Marine chapters, but also makes anyone who got five, or even only four detachments feel even poorer.

They're selling the Broodcoven again! Did they just make way too many of these? Chances are if you play GSC, you've already got this. It greatly reduces the value on this box set. I hope we can get those Veteran Brood Brothers by themselves.

All those selling points for 4E are the same ones we got for 10th. And they really failed to deliver on them. That doesn't mean they won't succeed with AoS. But taking weapon ranges away is a bad start.

Other than that, those were some great reveals with great miniatures! Abraxia looks absolutely sick! We've got Mechanicum teasers for Horus Heresy! Dwarves are one of my favorite classic Warhammer armies! And the new warbands for Warcry and Underworlds are all awesome!

I hope we get real livestreams back. I hope those boxes are just what CSM players needed. I hope they do more with the detachments in the future to bring more balance and parity. I hope I can get those Veteran Brood Brothers sooner rather than later. And I dearly hope that all my fears for Age of Sigmar 4th aren't justified.

I'm gonna try and catch the livestream for Grinding Gear Games tomorrow, so I'm gonna go to bed for now. I'll try to spend some time drinking in the cool minis sometime this weekend.

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wakeupthemembersofbylernation · 8 months

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why do you think byler is less popular than mlvn on instagram?

on tiktok, tumblr, twitter and pretty much all other platforms byler is the more popular ship, but for some reason mlvns is more popular on instagram.

This is a good question! I’m not sure there’s a definitive answer, but if I were to take a stab at it, maybe it has something to do with the age demographic/type of fan on each platform?

Tumblr is very gay platform, and it’s also a platform for theorizing, so it makes sense that Byler is more popular here. Mlvn just kinda exists right now. There’s not much to theorize about. Like if you really believe that the monologue fixed everything and Mike and El will live happily ever after, then okay. It makes sense why a lot of them believe Mlvn will get married young and have children, cause where else is for them to go? All the other ships have unfinished business, even Jopper, the ship that’s probably in the best place after S4. They still have to figure out how to work together as a couple with a blended family.

Byler is inherently exciting to Tumblr cause it’s all about theorizing and anticipation. And it’s queer. Age demographic-wise, it seems like Byler Tumblr is all over the map too: from millennials who’ve been through this before with other ships that turned out to be queerbait to Gen Z adults my age to younger Zoomers who are truly excited about a ship becoming canon for the first time. There’s probably some of Gen Alpha here too, as well as people from Gen X. This shows that Byler is exciting and appeals to a wide range of folks.

With TikTok, it’s a younger skewing platform, and fandom-wise, there’s an emphasis on edits as well as Byler theorizing. And honestly, Season 4 genuinely didn’t give Mlvns that much to work with when it comes to edits. I mean, Will is in most of the shots. And Mlvn theories don’t seem that exciting. The GA already sees Mlvn endgame as the foregone conclusion, and he monologued to her. What else is there to theorize about? Since TikTok is a newer platform, it seems like there’s just less Mlvn-loyalists making content there, and Byler shippers have just taken it over. This is in large part due to Stranger Things as a whole exploding in popularity during summer 2022 and a lot of people switching sides to Byler during that time. There was a lot of content to create. I also think to some extent angsty edits perform better. And Byler obviously has a lot of angst.

Twitter honestly seems like the biggest war zone to me, which is why I stay away from ST Twitter for the most part. There’s just a lot of petty fights and arguments. Clearly we have a strong presence there, as evidenced by us causing the whole Byler script fiasco in august 2022. Mlvns there seem to be the most toxic, and I’ve noticed they always have Regina George tendencies (a lot of them have PFPs of Millie, Regina George, Barbie, or Olivia Rodrigo for some reason). I don’t know if it’s true that there are more Bylers than Mlvns on Twitter, but if that is true, that’s once again because Byler is just more exciting lol.

I think Instagram is a weird creature overall. It’s older than TikTok, so the fandom presence was likely established in 2016 when Mlvn mania began. It’s not really algorithmically based in the same way (with clear trending topics), so I think it’s easier for people to just follow and interact with accounts they support. I’ve noticed that a lot of the Mlvn accounts are Fillie accounts or Fillie-adjacent accounts often run by young girls (but not always- there are older fans too).

They tend to overly romanticize Mlvn and genuinely see it as the height of romance, even denying that they have any problems whatsoever. And they tend to bombard ST comment sections with extremely overzealous pro-Mlvn stuff, sometimes bordering on bizarre. Maybe part of this is due to IG basically being Facebook for younger millennials/older Zoomers? I think it’s a substantially more normie and less queer space than Tumblr. It’s also picture-based, so Mlvns often post screenshots from the show and pictures of Finn and Millie.

And obviously reddit is pro-Mlvn to an extreme too, with Bylers basically been exiled to the Byler subreddit. But there it’s largely middle-aged men who can’t fathom their favorite nerdy 80s nostalgia show becoming “woke” and gay.

#byler

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chirpsythismorning · 1 year

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I’m not going to get my hopes up, but if Netflix has to have an answer by October, when do you think filming will start then?

Hypothetically if the strike is over in Netflix's case by Oct or in general for all the studios, filming for ST would start up shortly after that. They've been ready to start filming since June, so they're pretty much just in limbo waiting rn.

There might be some cast members in the middle of something when the strike ends, so that doesn't mean every single cast member will take a flight to Georgia and be there the day after the strike to start filming. It will happen in waves, where some who are available at that time will get all their arrangements in order and make the plan to start filming while others might need a few weeks to get everything in order.

Sometimes filming happens out of order, especially with scenes that are really time consuming for VFX in post production, but still I do think that the priority will be either those scenes or scenes from the first few episodes. Those episodes are the most fleshed out script wise and they're also the episodes we're going to see sooner than the later ones. In the case they decide to split it into two volumes again, having those earlier episodes finished sooner than later allows them to then be able to edit them sooner and have them complete for releasing. So if the premiere period rolls around, and they're still behind on some parts of Vol 2, they'd be prepared to release Vol 1, with extra time to focus on the rest. Pretty much the same thing happened for S4, where Vol 1 premiered in late May and then they were still editing Vol 2 in time for it's early July release.

If the strike is officially over and all filming in the industry amongst these studios has been green-lit to return, let's say October 1st, then it's likely by mid October they would be starting filming again. Or if it was mid October that the strike ended, then maybe filming would be starting by the end of the month. If it's late October, then probably early November for filming to start. The transition won't take months, at most a couple of weeks.

Again, they were ready to start filming in June and they don't necessarily need every single actor to have their schedule free in order to start. They just need actors who have scenes alone or with other actors who are also available who they also happen to have scenes with in order to start filming. It is unlikely that whatever schedule they had planned originally for the cast back in June will be identical post-strike, as that will all presumably shift to accommodate everyones new schedules at that time of the year and going forward.

This is all a hypothatical scenario. Regardless of if the strike ends in October or September or god forbid January, which is when the Emmy's are being postponed until, Filming for ST5 would take a matter of a couple of weeks to set up and begin, and would then continue for the next 12 months following, give or take.

#byler #stranger things #st writers #hypotheticals #no one knows for sure when this will end #but whenever it does it won't take another month+ for filming to start #filming ramping back up depends on a case by case basis #some shows/films could take just a few days to get together and some could take several months #ST is a case where I see it taking maybe 2 weeks tops #even if they're not in full swing #they will be filming in some capacity sooner than later with whoever is available and has scenes in those first few eps

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pharawee · 1 year

Text

I love Chains of Heart. I really, really do. I just wish they'd had more time or money or idk to have better script editing. This series could be so much better with a tighter script.

This week especially could have been incredible without all the repetition (I get why they did it and I get that flashbacks and circular storytelling are a staple of Asian drama but imo it went way over the top and deprived us of scenes and reactions that could have shown us more of the actual fallout of everything that's been going on.

Slightly off-topic but I love the sfx make-up here. The blues and greens of the fresh bruises and the texture of the scraped skin are so well done (lmao I'm not being creepy, I swear, I used to do cosplay and I love my bruise-wheel). And the bruises actually change between scenes too, showing the passing of time (or maybe Lue has supernatural healing now, who knows).

But yeah, this is what I was talking about. I wish we'd actually seen this conversation happen (rather than just the beginning of it) instead of more flashbacks. And yes, it's not strictly necessary for the narrative. It's just that I want to see more of Hin/Marc Pahun and I was so curious about his reaction once he'd figured it all out.

Same with these two. They wasted a whole scene on Deedee waking up and deciding to go for a hearty breakfast. Instead, he could have called Phayu to make the connection between them clearer. This one short slip-up on Deedee's part is the only hint that he's the one Phayu sent to watch over Ken.

Also, this bit with Nott. I don't know if it's because they're planning a spin-off with Nott and Guy (I'm all for it!) but I don't think anyone who hasn't read the novel(s) will necessarily realise that Nott has genuine psychic powers and that this is a perfectly reasonable thing to happen in the author's book universe.

(It could have been even more confusing, though. There's a bit in the novel where another one of Phayu's friends (it's ok, he has his own novel too) conjures up Peter Lue's ghost because apparently he's hanging around and is understandably worried about why someone stole his whole life.)

This to me was the strongest moment in the whole episode (sorry Ken, I'll get to you in a bit). I was waiting for Hin to figure things out and confront Din about it - even more so since I realised that Hin is actually the oldest sibling (never mind that Marc Pahun is over ten years younger than Boom Raweewit - but I don't even mind since Hin is described as incredibly pretty in the novel lmao. Plus, Din is wearing the face of a presumably older man).

I love the way he chose to confront him via the phone call to make the evidence against Din/Lue even more damning. And I love Hin's (extremely justified) anger, and the way he broke down Din's walls (which must have been something Din was yearning for anyway).

So Lue has an evidence board. Good for him. I half-expected his lair to be filled with photographs and sketches of Ken but apparently he's way more focussed than that (but it would have been super creppy and a nice comparison to Ken's walk-in photoalbums).

Lue/Din also has a whole superhero closet and wtf are you even going to use these weapons for? What, are you going to duel Ingpha with a bat'leth (also do I spot Gun/Fin's garrote)?

But I find this bit even more interesting. Ken is doing something to Lue's phone. Maybe he'll use it to track him down next week? Because it seems like Din/Lue is already planning to leave again. He#s got to see this through, after all.

And then there it is. The big confrontation. Only, I was a bit confused at first until I realised that this is all Ken can do to give in. And at this point there's really no reason to talk about the past anymore. It can't undo the hurt and the pain. It can only destroy what could be a new beginning. There's always going to be an unbridgeable gap between who Din was then and who Lue is now. So Ken finally grants Din/Lue his wish:

And it works, in a way.

Imagine how dizzying and disorienting it must be when your heart feels one person and your mind sees another. But eventually...

I love how this scene is all passion and (re)discovery and as such it mirrored Din and Ken's relationship. But it's also far more gentle and loving and new for them.

And remember when all Din/Lue dreamed about was this:

Well...

It's ok that they forgot the scars. I don't even mind. 😭

Which brings me to Inspector Don aka Poppy my beloved:

And despite the preview for next week I'm still convinced he's a good guy. What other reason is there for him to keep all of this to himself? Plus, he seemed concerned rather than angry (or evil lmao).

So I'm guessing he's actually doing a much, much better (and legal) job of bringing Ingpha down. Negl I'd love for him to save the day, close his case and show that Din's whole quest for vengeance was completely pointless.

Because honestly, was it all really worth it - even if Chief Ingpha is going down in the end?

#jane watches stuff #chains of heart #chains of heart the series #in which i'm nursing a headache so randomness is all i can manage lmao #i haven't even watched love syndrome yet #and i haven't watched bed friend since last week oops #i'm making chains of heart my only personality trait

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yumeasmrscript · 4 months

Text

[PART 5] Going on a date with the Wizard [M4A] [Fantasy] [Neko Listener] [First date] [Cute] [Romance]

Author notes:

I’m still alive! Been busy with a few stuff, but hopefully I managed to find the time to write part 5. Next update will be for my other medieval fantasy collab series <3

As always, you can monetize with the script, and since English isn’t my first language, feel free to make edits to the scripts to make things sound better, or if you want you can change sfx and such it’s okay too!

If you haven’t read the other parts, you can find them on my scriptbin!

Hope you will enjoy part 5, se you (hopefully) soon with part 6!

Summary: After accepting the invite from the Wizard, the day has come and you go out together! Chilling together inside a comfy and warm cafe, you watch the snow falling gently, whitening the streets outside. The snowy weather also gives the perfect opportunity to create a cute and unexpected present with magic.

____________

[Action/things happening/Moods] Thinking

[Door opening, bell ringing, door closing]

[Happy] Here we are! I was really looking forward to this moment, since when you accepted my invite. Aaah, it feels so warm in here… it almost makes me want to stay here forever. [Chuckle]

True, my house is warm too, but we don’t have all of these amazing coffee and tea options. Or all of those sweets. In fact, now that I think about it, it’s been a while since I last bought a cake or something. [Excited] You know what? Before we leave, we could get one to bring with us, so we are settled for the next week!

I’ve been focusing so much on research for curse lifting, and you’ve been working hard to assist me with my shop, I’d say we earned it, don’t you think?

[Happy] Great! Well then, for now, let’s just sit over there. It’s near a fireplace, and it’s a little bit more secluded compared to other tables, I think… you might want some privacy, just in case.

[Footsteps]

[Relaxed] Aaah, it’s so beautiful in here. Oh, look, each table has a candle too! This one is… [pause, smelling the candle] ...vanilla, definitely vanilla. What a nice aroma… shall we light it up?

All right! [Finger snapping] It smells so good… don’t you agree? It gives you the same vibes of coming back home after a long journey. Do you… like this place? [Relaxed] It’s been so long since I last came here, it looks so different compared to last time. I can see the owner really cares about this place, it’s so much better compared to the past… Oh, anyway, I took this before sitting: it’s their menu.

[Page turning]

They have so many options! Wait, do they really serve this too?! Pecans aren’t so common here, I’m so happy they made a coffee with pecans too. [Slightly frustrated] Argh… now I really want to have this, but I swore to myself that I would have tried the limited edition one. I guess… [shyly] maybe we’ll come again here, together? It could be, like… a weekly date, or something. You know, like a treat for our hard work and an occasion to spend some “chilling-time” together.

I- [Embarrassed] Yes, I just called it “date” but- I mean- You know, it’s like-- [The more it goes on, the more it gets flustered and no sense] Going out together because- it’s… fun? I mean you don’t have to call it necessary “date” if- if you don’t want to see it as a date. Like, it’s not a “romantic” date. More like an “appointment” date? Or a colleagues date? B-because that’s something colleagues do. Or friends too. Because, yeah, we… are both colleagues and friends. And roommates. And-- friends can sometimes have these “friends date”, and… uh… [whispered] okay, this is so awkward. How do I get out of this mess I put myself in- Please, floor, just swallow me and let me disappear.

Don’t-- don’t laugh at me! [Pause] [Pretending to be offended] Yeah, I can see that you think it’s funny… [Pause] Oh, look! It’s snowing! [Whispering] And perfect timing, thank goodness.

[Chill again] It’s so beautiful from here. It’s the first snow of the year, I didn’t expect it! Though… hopefully we won’t freeze going back home later.

True, it’s enchanting nonetheless. Delicate, too… it reminds me of you, you know? [Chuckle] Now we’re fair. I can’t be the only embarrassed one. [Satisfied sigh].

So? Have you decided what you’re going to order?

[Excited] Ooh, I bet that’s super tasty! I’ll go for the limited coffee with caramel, vanilla and toasted almonds. I’ll go get them, please wait here for a moment.

[Chair moving, footsteps]

I said it without even thinking… but, it really feels like a date. A… “real” date with them… Why am I so nervous? It’s not like it’s the first time we went out together, and we always stay together at home to… [sigh] I must have looked like an idiot. It never happened to me, come on, get yourself together! Just… calm down, calm down. Behave like you always do. It’s just… a date. That’s what I had in mind when I invited them, after all. Saying it out loud, like that, though… well, at least they didn’t mind. That… that must be a good sign. I guess?.

[Pause, sigh]

They… truly look beautiful, leaning their cheek upon the hand like that, while they watch the snow with a dreamy and relaxed expression. I can’t believe how much close we’ve grown. Thinking that a little bit more than a month ago we didn’t even know each other, and now I… can’t imagine going back to my house and not finding them there. I wonder if… is it the same for them. Or maybe… [worried] they’re staying only because they need their curse lifted? We never really talked about it and… I’m not sure I want to know the answer. Not… now. I’m pretty sure, though… I can’t think of anyone else I’d wish to have close to me.

[Footsteps]

[Relaxed] Here it is, this one is yours and this is my coffee. [Sound of cups being put on the table, chair moving]

[Taking a sip]

Aaah, it feels so warm. It’s just the perfect drink for a cold and snowy day like this one. And it’s so sweet too! What about your? How is it?

[Happy] Oh, I’m glad you like it! It really looks delicious.

Are you sure? ...Well, if you insist, I’ll take up on your offer.

[Drinking] Wait a moment-- [embarrassed] isn’t this some sort of an indirect kiss?!

[Cough] [Kind of choking tone] I think it went down the wrong way- [More coughing] But... yes, it really is tasty! [Last cough, but still a slightly choking tone] Yes, yes, I’m okay. All good now, I can’t allow a coffee to take my life [Chuckle]. [Truly all better, hopeful tone] Would you... like to try mine too? Here.

Now that I think about it… this happened already, didn’t it? When they had to take the health potion and didn’t trust me enough to take a sip, so I had to take one first… I hadn’t thought much of it back then. It feels so different now, though.

So? Do you like it? [Pause] I know, right? It’s really delicious!

Are they… blushing? I wonder if they had the same thought. Oh, come on, why is it so awkward… I need to say something! Anything!

Uhm… [cheerful] Oh, have you ever made a snowman?

[Nostalgic, happy] When I was younger, I used to make snow bunny instead. It took less time and effort. I remember seeing a wizard in this village making one and giving it life thanks to his magic, for just a little while, but it was so adorable. I think that was the first time I felt attracted to magic, you know? [Chuckle]

Oh, I thought it was pretty common back then! So you’ve never seen a snow bunny coming alive and bouncing here and there? If you want, we can make one later. If it keeps coming down like this, I’m pretty sure by the time we get home, there will be a thick layer of snow.

[Pause]

Well, yes, it could be anything. A snow bunny, a snow man, a snow cat. [Mockingly] Do you want to make a snow cat? [Chuckle] [Pretending to be serious] No, of course I’m not making fun of you, don’t give me that look! [Laugh] [Happy, chill] But still, wouldn’t it be cute? A white, cute, snow cat. After all, today is our day off. We need to have fun and relax, and what’s a better way to have fun than making things with snow?

[Chuckle] It’s decided then.

[Excited] Oh, and… I forgot to tell you, I’ve heard about a grimoire with a lot of researches related to curse lifting, written by one of the best wizards of the past. The good news is that it uncovers a lot about curses and curse lifting, much more compared to all of the other books, so we will have a greater chance of finding a solution for your case. [Upset] The bad news is… to get it I’ll have to travel to the capital. [Slightly sad] Aw, don’t make that face. [Trying to cheer the listener] It could be your chance and I won’t be away for much. It should be just four days, the capital it’s not that far after all.

[Bittersweet] Oh, as much as I’d love for you to accompany me, I can’t let you do that. It’s getting colder and colder, it’s not the best idea to travel in this weather, plus I need someone to run the shop for me. Especially now that we’re a little bit… short on money, and unfortunately the grimoire is pretty expensive. That’s the second bad news.

[Comforting] No, no, don’t be sorry! And I don’t want your money either. It’s true that I’m buying it to help you, but it’s still something I would have eventually bought as a wizard. I’m sure you know already, but you never stop studying magic even when you’re great at spells and stuff, because when you’ve studied all the magic coming from the past, there is still so much more to uncover in the present. And before researching the present, I must study all about the past. So, don’t worry about it, okay? If you deal with the shop while I’m gone, you’re already helping a lot.

[Encouraging] Hey, it’s all right, I know you can do that. You always make perfect potions, for someone who doesn’t use magic or spells. As for the chanted amulets and spell-scrolls, I’ll deal with them in advance so you won’t have to worry. I think… we should give this grimoire a chance.

[Serious] No, I’m sorry, but… I don’t want to wait for the weather to change, I don’t want to waste precious time. I… [sad] haven’t forgotten about how you truly feel, and I promised to you that I would have worked harder. So please, let me do this. It’s not a problem for me, I assure you! And again… it’s only for four days. All right?

[Relieved sigh] Good.

[Pause]

[Happy] Well then, enough talking about work. Why don’t you choose a cake to bring home?

Oooh, nice, that seems delicious.

What- no, don’t you dare! [Confused, but gentle] I’m can’t let you buy it for us, I’m the one who invited you, so I’ll be the one paying for it.

Huh? What’s that look- hey, no! No, wait!

[Sound of wrist being grabbed, chuckle] Nope, I’m not going to let go of your wrist! Nu-uh. I can’t let you pay, absolutely not. The money you earned with your hard work… you’re supposed to use it for yourself, not for these things. I mean you’ve been helping so much with the shop and at home, and it’s only fair that I give you extras when we have them thanks to you. You’re still working for me, remember? And all of these money you’re saving up, you’re supposed to use them for something you like, not for… these things.

Are you sure? Sigh… [Happy, genlte] You’re always so stubborn, aren’t you? But… it makes me happy, really. Seeing that you care this much… too. Okay, let’s do this: since I’m the one who invited you to this, uh, date… my coffee and your drink too are on me. If you’re absolutely sure, I will accept your kind offer to pay for the cake to bring home. Do we have a deal?

Perfect! I’ll let you go now, and be right behind you. I’ll just grab the empty cups.

[Pause]

[Calling back the listener, with a “warned you” tone] Hey, only the cake.

[Sound of cups and spoons, footsteps]

Here is the rest of what we own them, and… oooh, this cake smells so good! [Excited] Shall we have a slice when we get home? Or maybe later, after dinner. Great! All right, let’s go.

[Door opening, bell ringing]

The snow it’s not going to stop soon… [worried] are you cold? I thought I saw you shivering a little bit. Hm, if you say so, okay, [Hopeful] Would it be a problem for you if we go to another place before going back home? I’d love to show you something, since it’s snowing.

[Happy] Here, come with me.

[Footsteps]

It’s pretty near, don’t worry, I wouldn’t have asked you to go there if we had to walk a lot under the snow. It’s just a minute, more or less.

[Relaxed] The village is so quiet when it’s snowing, it almost looks like a ghost town, don’t you think? But… it still brings out so much beauty. With everything quiet, everything covered in white… if only it wasn’t this cold, it would be perfect. Still, I think it’s better this snowy weather if compared to the suffocating heat of the summer. What do you think? Are you more of a winter person or a summer person?

Heh, I knew that. [Excited] Oh, we’re here!

[Happy] I’ve always loved this park, I remember once when this little lake froze, and thanks to the wizard I told you before, that made sure with his magic that the ice was stable and safe, there were kids skating on it. If you haven’t tried it yet, it’s super fun! I mean, after you go through the first struggling step of falling every few seconds. Well, that phase is also fun, but for those who watch. [Laugh]. Still, if it happens again this winter, I’d love to take you here... and skate with you. [Shyly] ...What do you think?

[Happy] Perfect! This year feels much more colder than the past one, so who knows, maybe we’ll get the chance. But... this wasn’t really the reason I brought you here, actually… come with me.

[Footsteps]

See this tree? It’s a silverleaf willow. While researching to find a remedy for your curse, I found out that this willow’s leaves are used as an ingredient for some kind of curses. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really help much with our case, but… I also found out that at the base of this willow, when it snows, if you use a specific spell, marvelous flowers can bloom. The magic helps transfer the vitality of the silver leaves to the snow that settles on them, and directly to the ground without it dispersing, thus allowing these rare flowers to blossom. Here, look:

[small pause] You first touch the silver leaves, and you let the snow melt upon your fingers. Then you touch the ground underneath, without waiting for too long, and… here the magic makes its trick. Look… it’s blooming.

[Gentle] Isn’t it beautiful? That’s the silverleaf lily. It… doesn’t really have any purpose, and it’s something that wouldn’t exist without the help of magic, but… I personally find it lovely.

I’m so happy it snowed today, so I was able to show it to you! And… here, take it.

[Happy] You know, since it’s the result of a spell, it’s not really going to wither. You can turn it into a pin for your hair, or for your clothes… I think it would look great on you either way.

Of course you can keep it! That’s… the point, after all. [Chuckle] Take it as a “thank you” for the cake. [Shyly] And, maybe also as… [small pause, slightly sad] uhm, no, never mind. I, uh… I think it’s better to go back home now. The sun will set soon, and [Cheerful again] we still have some snow bunny to make! Oh, wait, maybe you wanted to make some snow cat? [Laugh]

Okay, okay, let’s go. Let me know if you feel too cold, you can snuggle up to me if you need to.

[Footsteps]

Kitty?

[Gentle] Thank you for coming with me today. I really had a lot of fun, and I hope it was the same for you.

[Relieved] I’m happy to hear that, kitty. Really happy.

#asmr scripts #asmr roleplay #asmr #roleplay #asmr boy #asmr boyfriend #redacted asmr #relaxing #comfort #asmr community #scriptwriting #fantasy

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ollieofthebeholder · 10 months

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to find promise of peace (and the solace of rest): a TMA fanfic

<< Beginning < Prev || AO3 || My Website

Chapter 68: September 2013

Tim isn’t sure how he feels about this. Or even if he feels about this. It’s hard to feel anything right now other than pain—crippling, agonizing, inconceivable pain. The kind of pain that comes after an accident or malicious injury; the kind of pain no medicine can really suppress, can barely dull. It’s the pain of a near-mortal wound, the pain of a destroyed bone, the pain of an injury that means losing a limb to save the rest of the body.

He doesn’t even know if he wants the pain to stop or not. Maybe he’ll get used to it, maybe someday it will only be devastating rather than debilitating, but like a phantom limb, he suspects the only way to make it stop altogether is to make the brain forget there was ever a limb there to hurt, let alone lose. There’s a part of him that’s afraid that someday, he may want that, he might be willing to cauterize his brain, to scoop out the memories of the good times if it means not hurting over their absence.

Right now, though, he just wants it to ease back enough that he can feel something other than that unimaginable ache.

Lou seems to think this will help, and he trusts her. After all, she’s the only one who fucking noticed something was wrong when he came back to work, dazed and broken and bewildered. She’s the one who gave him a few days to collect his thoughts, then left a lemon on his desk—a running joke they’ve had since he got shifted to her team four years ago—and made him a cup of sweetened herbal tea. She’s the one who rambled about nothing and everything, about the High Holy Days and what a shame it is that there aren’t any major Catholic observations in September, and then eased him into what was bothering him.

He hasn’t told her everything. Most of it’s too unbelievable. But something about the sharp, piercing look she gave him over her half-moon glasses when he fumbled through his half story tells him she maybe guesses more than he’s saying. And when he finished, she scribbled an address and a name on a piece of paper and slid it to him.

As he looks down at the paper now, cobalt blue ink in its loopy Spencerian script, he hears her voice again, uncharacteristically soft and gentle: Talk to them. Tell them everything that happened, even if you think it’s something nobody in their right mind would believe. And if they believe you, come back and tell me everything, because I’ll believe you, too. Then she laughed and assured him that she believes him anyway, but she knows him and knows he won’t believe himself until someone else does.

She’s right, he has to admit. If he hadn’t been there, he wouldn’t have believed it.

The office is closed today, or at least Tim’s department is. The publishing company lets each department head set their own schedules and days off, so Lou’s first act as head of this particular Editing team was to decree that they would be closed on all religious holidays requiring any kind of observance, regardless of the religion, as long as at least one person on her team celebrates that holiday or observance. Today is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Lou will be at services all day anyway. Since there’s nothing else for Tim to do on a Wednesday except brood, he’s made his way to this place.

It’s…a lot fancier than the office building he works in. It’s old, and there’s something familiar about the architecture that he can’t quite put his finger on, and isn’t sure he wants to. It gives him a creeping feeling of dread. At the same time, it gives him a feeling of…he won’t call it rightness. There’s nothing right about this place. But definitely certainty. Lou’s right. Whatever answers he’s looking for, he’ll find them here.

He glances at the plaque next to the door—THE MAGNUS INSTITUTE, EST. 1818—and mounts the steps, then pushes through the fancy, ornate wooden door. He finds himself standing in an open lobby, the floor of polished wood smoothed by countless feet. Doors and corridors lead off on either side, and in the center is an ornate staircase with a lush carpet leading up the middle; another staircase heading down is just visible beyond a door. Situated between the two staircases is a desk surrounded by file cabinets and bookshelves, behind which sits a woman who looks like Lou’s evil twin fixing him with an interested look.

Since she’s the only person Tim can see, he walks over to her desk and switches on the charisma. It feels a bit stiff, but he manages.

“Good morning,” he says, trying to be professional. “Uh, my name’s Tim Stoker, I’m here to see…” He looks down at the paper in his hand again.

“I’ll take it from here, Rosie,” a voice says.

Tim looks up into the eyes of someone he deduces is not named Gertrude Robinson, unless this is a way more progressive organization than it appears from the façade. The someone, in fact, is a man of indeterminate age somewhat older than Tim but not quite old enough to be Tim’s father, in a crisp tailored suit the same charcoal grey as his eyes that looks like it costs more than Tim makes in a month and a tie the same shiny brown as his slicked-back hair. He studies Tim with a benign expression of mild interest that nevertheless fixes him in place.

“Uh,” Tim begins.

The man holds out a well-manicured hand that’s never done a day’s hard work in its owner’s life. “I’m Elias Bouchard. Gertrude Robinson is unavailable today, I’m afraid, but I have everything set up in my office. If you’ll just follow me?”

The inflection at the end of the phrase makes it sound like a question. The look on Elias Bouchard’s face brooks no argument. Tim follows.

The man’s office is…odd. There’s not really another word for it. There’s no computer, no laptop, not even a fax machine. There are a number of very old bookcases lining the walls, full of thick, leather-bound books, and if there’s a window they’re covering it. The heavy wood desk looks like it contains enough drawers, hidden or otherwise, to outfit a warehouse hiding the Ark of the Covenant. Atop the desk sits thick ledger with a green cover emblazoned with EXPENSES 2013 FISCAL YEAR in gold foil, set to one side. There is also a small stack of paperwork, all bearing the same symbol—what looks like a stylized owl set within a circle and clutching a ribbon in its talons, Tim can’t make out the words on the ribbon—set next to a thick-barreled silver fountain pen.

“Please, Mr. Stoker. Have a seat.” Bouchard gestures to a chair upholstered in rich red leather, then sits in a far more ornate leather chair behind his—Tim presumes it’s his—desk.

Tim sits slowly. This can’t be where the man works most of the time—it must be a receiving room or something. There is no personalization to this room whatsoever. It’s entirely possible that he doesn’t mix work and his personal life, which, fine, but still, Tim would expect there to be a picture, a plant, a novelty pen holder, something. Instead, the office is completely bare and soulless.

Numb as he is, he can’t wrap his brain around that. His office, small as it is, bursts with his personality—the wall calendar with pictures of lakes and waterfalls he’s planning to hike to someday, the desk organizer with an image of the man from the Monopoly board leaping out of a flaming pit with GET OUT OF HELL FREE written beneath it the guy he’d been with in uni had given him for Christmas before breaking it off and moving back to Colorado, the lopsided trinket box constructed of flat wooden sticks and glitter glue his neighbor’s son had made for him at summer camp as a thank you for teaching him to ride a bike while his mum was at work, the photograph in a goofy ceramic frame currently lying face down because he can’t bear to look at it anymore but also can’t bear to take it down. Five days out of nine he can also count on there being a lemon with googly eyes glued to its peel staring at him from somewhere, which is usually his cue to go down to Lou’s office, with its photographs of her nephews and nieces and their kids—or at least the ones speaking to her this week—its awards and accolades proudly displayed wherever they’ll fit, its Newton’s cradle, and the knitted shawl draped over the back of her chair, for a cup of tea and a chat or a good laugh about something. Hell, even Howard Jackson, who hardly ever says a word to anyone except to snap about the quality of authors these days, has a pair of small flags stuck in a bud vase on one corner of his desk—the Portuguese flag and a pride flag that Tim’s never worked up the courage to ask him about. But Elias Bouchard’s office has…nothing.

It’s unnerving. Much like the rest of this place. Tim figures he should just talk to this guy and get the hell out of here. Hopefully it’ll help.

“So,” Bouchard begins. “Tell me, Tim. What are you afraid of?”

Tim blinks, hard. “What?”

Bouchard continues smiling benignly. His pen is held between two fingers. “In the Institute we are keenly interested in the anatomy of fear. Much that is stored here is disquieting. It is important to know if anything here might…upset you.”

Tim frowns. He doesn’t consider himself fearless by any means, but his biggest fear—losing his little brother to something he can’t save him from—the fear that’s dogged him since he was five years old—has already come true. What else is there to be afraid of?

“The only thing that might upset me,” he says, biting out the words with distinction, “is if this place doesn’t have the answers I’m looking for.”

Bouchard sits back. He looks inordinately pleased. “Good,” he says.

Before Tim can ask what the fuck that is supposed to mean, he continues, “Now then. Have you ever had a…supernatural experience?”

Tim gestures helplessly. “I mean…that’s why I’m here.”

Bouchard nods, but doesn’t ask him for details. “I see. Well, Louise Wexler was wise to send you to us. Our library is extensive, as are the assets of the Research department.” He uncaps his pen and adds, “In fact, I think that would be an excellent fit for you. Your academic credentials are substantial, and your employment records are quite stellar. Your lack of studies in the paranormal is, of course, a bit of a disadvantage, but not nearly as much as one as you might think.” A faint smile flickers over his face. “In fact, we currently have only one employee at the moment who had a degree in parapsychology before joining the Institute. Although we do have an excellent incentive program for employees who wish to expand their knowledge of—”

“Wait, wait,” Tim interrupts. “I have a job. I’m just here to—I mean, Lou didn’t send me here to—I didn’t apply to work here.” Sudden misgiving seizes him. “Did I?”

“You’ve been through a very difficult week, Tim,” Bouchard says, in a tone that’s probably meant to be soothing. “It’s natural that you would have some doubts about your movements.” He writes something on the paper in front of him, then pushes it and the pen towards Tim. “I’m afraid our library is not…open to the public. We have some very, ah, sensitive material stored there, as well as in other places. We allow students access, on a limited basis, but unless you plan to go back to school in order to study the paranormal, or are producing some sort of scholarly work on the topic, the only way to get those answers you’re looking for is to join the Institute.” He nods at the paper; Tim, looking down at it, realizes it’s a contract of employment. “As I said, Research would be an excellent fit for you, or if you prefer, you could perhaps work in Artifact Storage. I’m afraid we have no openings in the library at this time, and the Archivist usually handles the hiring of her, ah, assistants more directly.”

This is all going way too fast. Tim’s head is spinning. He’s sure Lou just suggested he come here to talk, something about…a statement? It’s fuzzy in his memory. But…Bouchard knew he was coming. He had the paperwork all ready. And even if this isn’t the most conventional interview Tim’s ever had…

“Research is fine,” he mumbles, a little dazed.

Bouchard beams. “Good! Sign here, please.”

Tim signs. And signs. And fills out a few forms. And hesitates when he’s asked if he has any emergency contacts, because his dad all but accused him of having a hand in Danny’s disappearance because he was jealous, of all things, like he’s ever been jealous of his brother in his life, and his mum’s gone off someplace he can’t reach her.

“You can leave that blank for now,” Bouchard says.

So Tim skips over that, and fills out the rest of the paperwork, and signs one last time. He pushes the forms and pen back over to Bouchard, who picks them up and studies them quickly. “Perfect. Well, that all seems to be in order. Do you have any long-term projects you need to complete at your current job, or will you be able to start on Monday?”

“Uh.”

“Ordinarily we would have you wait until the sixteenth, as that is technically the start of the next pay period, but I’m sure you would like to begin your research as soon as possible.” Bouchard raises an eyebrow. “Unless there’s some reason why you shouldn’t?”

“Uh, no. No, that’s good.” Tim tries to smile. “Thank you, Mr. Bouchard.”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary, Tim. Just ‘Elias’ will do.” Bouchard—Elias—rises and holds out his hand. “Welcome to the Magnus Institute.”

Tim shakes his hand, collects his necessary paperwork, and walks out of the office. It’s not until he’s standing on the street in front of the building that he thinks, What the fuck?

What has he just done? He likes his job, likes working in publishing. Lou’s like a second mother to him, or at least like a crazy aunt. Even if he doesn’t really get on with his other coworkers, he’s built a life for himself, he’s building a career. Is he really going to throw it away for a place like this?

He looks down at the logo on the paperwork, paperwork that doesn’t disintegrate into ash on the wind like the flier he held after surviving…that. All that, and he didn’t even tell Elias about Danny. The man doesn’t even know why Tim came, not really, and yet he was so soothing and helpful…

Unless…unless Tim did apply, in some sort of weird fugue state after Lou slipped him the address. Unless in his application he mentioned that he was looking to change jobs after the loss of his brother. Unless this is Elias Bouchard’s way of saying yes, Tim, your experiences are valid, you saw what was true, now come and learn how to stop it.

Yeah. Yeah, that has to be it.

He can talk to this…Gertrude Robinson person sometime once he starts working here full time. Meanwhile, he can make use of the library. He can look up…there are a lot of things he needs to look up, a lot of possible threads to pull. Maybe he’ll give it a week or two to get settled in and learn how the people here do research, and then he’ll know where to start. Maybe he can’t save Danny, but maybe he can save the next guy from losing his brother. It’s worth a shot.

Meanwhile, it’s getting really warm. Tim undoes the top button on his shirt and makes his way towards the river, thinking he’ll go somewhere for a cool drink and then…and then…and then he’s not sure what. Go home and figure out how to draft his resignation letter at the publishing company, he supposes. He’ll need to tell Lou first thing tomorrow morning.

Changes are coming. Big changes. And Tim is pretty sure he isn’t prepared for them.

#ollie writes fanfic #tma fanfic #to find promise of peace (and the solace of rest)#tim stoker #elias bouchard #grief #mention of loss of a sibling #gaslighting #manipulation

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roughdaysandart · 6 months

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My magnum opus: This portion of the Ch16 Rough Day comic script edits

Ok I say something's my magnum opus ALOT, but this is it...at least for now, thats how much I adore this. Once again im trying to keep as much of it to the original as possible but there really is so much that you can do to modify that much charachter-developing smut out before you have to make another scenario to convey the same message and flow with the original story and plot/direction seamlessley.

Why did I suddenly jump to abridging the LAST section of ch 16 for chrisitan roomates today? Well, I happened to rewatch Eyes Wide Shut today, and the Christmas party scene between Alice and the Stranger got me thinking of the perfec scenario in which to remove explicit smut from the picture while conveying the same idea:

Instead of taunting Mando with Spicy Comm time, why not have Sweet Girl talking to another man while he listens instead?

ALOOOOt of good ideas from EWS entering my mind palace now (not the creepy ones tho...also def no infidelity bc SG WOULD NEVER) for the edits, and Im so excited to share more editied/revised/added scenes prompted by EWS!

***DISCLAIMER: since this more like a script right now, not all of the dialougue is included yet (will do that when I make my way back to CH 16 in a few weeeks probrobly, trying to do edits in chronological order of the chapters), just the descriptions and jists of the changed scenes, how they relate to past and future content, etc, although admit thats some parts have full dialougue because I couldnt stop myself.***

Anyway, heres your CHUM my fellow sickos, feast away!

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ROUGH DAY (original by @no-droids), CH 16, "Ask me again tomorrow" (last part): ABRIDGED FOR CHRISTIAN ROOMATES BY @roughdaysandart

Sweet Girl is in the middle of downtown Nariss, after buying a change of clothes. Standing in the square right in front of a large tower of an inn. She surveys at least two dozen floors, noticing how it even boasts a convention/event center, or maybe it's a restaurant, somewhere around the center, the large, warmly-lit balcony likely having a perfect view of the city skyline, and she hears it audibly bustling. She notices a banner outside the front doors of the Inn advertising an all-night auction. Some traveling collection of artistic and historical rarities from the outer-rim.

Knowing it's crazy-expensive to pay for anythig here, she knows there's no way she's spending her precious credits on a room, even after spending last night in a tree, and is definitely not feeling bold enough to break into a room either when a New Republic headquarters is literally right next to the Inn.

At first she naturally wants to stay clear of officers, knowing they're trouble for Din, but then recalls what he said before she left.

(insert flashback : “I’m only telling you so that you’ll know your advantage and find a way to exploit it. I can’t be seen by any officers, or they might arrest me.”

Thinking about the growing variables in her favor, along with her increasing fatigue, she decides she IS feeling bold enough to try sneaking into the lobby or a secluded corner within the inn that has a sofa she could rest on for the night. But then another thought comes to mind: on the chance that Din does get close to her tonight: if she’s going for crowds and officers, why try to be out of the way then? Why not take it as far as she possibly can right now?

She shuffles in her pack to find and put on her mechanic’s goggles, which she only brought out of habit, not believing that she would actually end up using them for something like this. Finding a spare tool and trash bin in an adjacent alley, she confidently walks past the Inn’s receptionist, grumbling about how she hates being called in this late for repairs. She then rides the lift to a random floor, finds her way to the nearest bathroom, leaves the tools in a random stall, and takes all the time in the galaxy freshening herself up and changing into her clean clothes.

Close to midnight. She knows where she's gotta go next. Leaving her bag in the fancy decorative dresser in the ladies room, she walks out, an air of vitality entering her despite the fatigue with the new feeling of cleanliness. Making her way to the lift again, she politely asks a passing service droid where that auction she saw a banner for is tonight.

She finds everything she's looking for there. She expected something like this, but didn't expect to hit the total Maker-jackpot. There are officers even at the door of the bar, holding security for the largest and grandest collection of items she has ever seen on the balcony. For them to not hire private security, she thinks, the event or company must be affiliated with the New Republic somehow, maybe some resesrch-based or educational branch. Shes seen countless large gatherings these past few months as a consequence of traveling with Din, but never has she been to anything like this. Such a vibrant venue littered with well dressed attendees, whom she guesses must all be there to admire or bid for the pieces. Upon passing the epicenter of the auction, she takes notice of the particularly ordinary outer-rim objects and such displayed, knowing first hand of how common or worthless such things are, at least back on Arvala-7. Perhaps to everyone else, such ordinary things from the outer-rim are seen as exotic rarities.

She also comes to see that the balcony and patio is not only a convention center, but also dons an equally exsquisite bar. And it's not the mere presence of a bar that necessarily excites her, but the plethora of plush seating fixtures littering the surrounding space of it. And although she didn't want to waste credits on a room here, she KNOWS she has credits for what she sees as she nears the bar. She can't resist when she notices a certain wine fixture on one of the glass shelves, its contents the same distinct color as and labeled with the depiction of that purple fruit she had come to crave these last few days here.

Drink in hand, she makes her way to the large sofa up against the corner farthest from the doors, passing close to and admiring the view of the skyline at the edge of the balcony. Now, her view is triangulated, where she can see the bar, crowded auction, and the vast opening of the balcony. She plans to just rest there for a few hours, maybe just doze off until she gathers her strength again and can scurry off to begin evading Din long enough tomorrow to reach the orphanage.

It is then she notices the comm clock change to midnight, and she opens the comm first, making an effort to cup her hand along her face and ear in an attempt to block the ambient chatter from Din. He notices her demeanor, along with the chatter, predicting correctly that she is somewhere nicer in the city after spending last night in a tree. They talk for a few minutes as she continues to sip on her glass, more frequently as the banter grows, not imagining the fruit could taste any better than it already did. Okay with the alcohol, yes, but also with Din’s company. He mentions that they need to charge the communicators tonight, and SG contemplates how she is going to find a place to leave hers as she rests in the bar for the night.

After a bit of her glass is emptied, she sets it on the low table in front of her, readying to respond to Din’s last remark. From her lowered gaze, she sees a hand reach out, lifting to take it away. “Sorry, that's my glass”, she protests as she adjusts her gaze upwards, vision noticeably a little buzzed. A well dressed man. A very well dressed man. He pauses as she blinks, pulled out of her euphoria in forgetting anyone else or thing existed beyond the exchange between her and Din. In one motion he then slides past the table to sit by her at the empty side of the long sofa, handing the glass back to her hand. “I’m absolutely certain of it.” he clarifies warmly.

The comm is still open. She would have closed it to prevent anything the man said from possibly giving her location away, but her mind was lagging a little both from the unexpected newcomer and the continued buzz. The man's tone is noticeably flirtatious. A small introductory exchange occurs, and she entertains his flattery lightly, giving passive responses and continuing only because she is so humored by how Din relentlessly questions who this man is, what she's doing, through the earpiece. And, she can't help but feel a bit reckless with this ridiculously good wine in her system.

Throughout the conversation, her responses double in meaning to both the man and Din. They are mildly flirtatious responses to the man, but are in fact clever answers to all that Din grunts through the earpiece as he grows more agitated, though most of it is purposefully taunting, being how he knows this tone is only for him. But it is for him,she reasons, it just happens to also answer the things that man in front of her says.

The man attempts to impress her by mentioning his prestigious position in the traveling exhibition of outer rim rarities and such (funny line: about how she is an outer rim rarity/beauty). He mentions that this is the gallery’s last night, that they always do an all-night event to close the gallery before leaving in the morning. He sighs, stating how disappointed he is that he decided to leave earlier than the end of the event tonight, not expecting to happen upon company like her. He explains that he even had all his things already packed and put on the company ship, and that he was just on his way to drop off his key before he sat here (flashing the room key from out of his pocket intentionally).

She obviously doesn't even consider the proposition, but thinks for a moment. An empty room, a high rise SUITE, and the guest is conveniently NOT spending their last night in it. She, or maybe the wine, convinces herself that she HAS to keep entertaining him so she can distract him long enough to swipe that key. It's beyond dangerous territory with Din hearing it all, like poking a caged animal with the way he can just do nothing but endure. She may know that it's just a distraction to get the room key, but Din most certainly won't. He will think she is escalating things just to get to him for no reason, and she wouldn't normally be this bold, but the promise of a free shower and mattress is too irresistible. Plus, she's sure she can explain herself to him, however warped but harmless her logic is right now, once he calms down. If he calms down. If he doesn't find her right this second and choke this man out right in front of her with blind rage. But Din’s growing demands into the comm to know her location make it obvious that he won't be finding her anytime soon.

She takes that into consideration, and can't help but enjoy the sudden power trip she has in making Din this helpless, knowing how rare it is. Disguised in conversation with the man, she lets Din know of her desire for him to see her, and how he should naturally feel the same desire. It's in this section that she discovers and turns on the video function of the communicator.

“…You wouldn’t.” Din challenges.

Din can now see and hear her head-on as the comm on her wrist faces her head while it moves to rest on the higher cushion of the couch near the man’s neck. Din is obviously fuming through the ear piece the whole time now being able to see what she is doing. Between blending conversation with the man, she manages to look into the camera and basically speak directly to Din, the audacity only making him more ruffled. The conversation with the man continues to escalate, and she moves closer, subtly inching her freehand where she knew she saw the key return to his pocket.

After successfully swiping the key, the next few moments in their conversation ultimately brings it to an end. The man asks about something that makes her response include a word that has “Man” within it, and the exchange ends something like this:

“Man-uh-man(___finish word___),” she stutters, feeling something as her heart remembers that all too familiar word she was so close to uttering. The stuttering means that she is taken aback when she hears something in the earpiece interrupt the word. “Din,” he whispers, so quiet she almost wouldn't have heard if it didn't come directly in her ear, like he almost doesn’t want to but has to anyway, and then her face turns red hot. The man asks if everything is alright with her sudden flusteredness.“D-Din,” she blurts instead, trying to keep her voice as quiet as possible through the rising swell, though at the same time quite forcefully trying to NOT say it. It would NOT be good to mention his name to anyone, even if by accident, even if the man has no idea what those three precious letters really mean. She blurts, “D-DINNER, I–uh– need to have dinner, that's all-uh. T-too much to drink heh heh”.

The man mentions how late it is for dinner, though propositions to join her. She manages to convince him to stay seated when she promises to let him after she uses the ladies room. In the last few creative flirtatious remarks she uses to try and appear genuine about it, Din’s voice comes through the ear piece, only different.

“Stop.” he growls, the return of his natural authoritative tone jarring in her flustered moment. He must have seen it, she thinks. She still had her wrist up when she was caught off guard, before she ended the video-function. He saw the way her tummy and chest started to heave, how her body froze at the shock of hearing him say his name suddenly—and yeah, Maker, he saw it, because his tone makes her quickly scurry out of the bar, sad to have accidentally left the rest of her glass behind. Oh well, she thinks, just makes the man believe more that she's coming back, better for her she guesses.

Making her way back to the bathroom she cleaned up in a few levels below, she begins trying to explain herself to a very incoherent Din, trying to start with how she had to do it, but not able to clarify exactly why she had to quick enough over Din’s explosiveness. The middle of the exchange goes something like this:

“Dank Far–,” Din spits through the earpiece, and she thinks the mic might just break. “You think—y-you think—”

What?” she hums, basking in the afterglow and rush of the epic saga before and so, so curious. Truly, completely mindless in this cloud of sensation, she has no clue what she's thinking, but if anybody would be able to tell her, it’s him.

She reaches into the dresser in the ladies room and hauls her heavy pack onto her back. There’s a moment where his breathing stops. It’s completely silent on the line, before she hears another few heavy footsteps on his end pick up and then halt just as quickly.

“You think you can taunt me?” He murmurs, dangerous and deadly quiet. “Show me exactly where you are, disappear and then make me waste forever trying to get there? You think that’s gonna work?”

She makes her way out into the hall and towards the lift, considering it. He may have not predicted her strategy perfectly, but his insight has stopped surprising her by now. “...Maybe.”

You can hear the seeping agitation in the short pause.

“Maybe you shouldn’t fall asleep tonight.”

Ooh. That one sends goosebumps down her arms, but she's gained four hours on top of a twelve hour head start. He can’t scare her with that tone, not when she's still woozy with giddyness and he isn’t right in front of her. Instead of wilting beneath the hard threat, she just blinks gently at the communicator as she pushes the button to the floor that matches the one on the room key, finding strength in being the only one to get him this worked up when he’s always so composed, this talkative when he barely says a word. “Maybe I’ll just stay here then?”

“Maybe you wanted me to know you’re in an inn because you already found someplace to hide that isn’t one,” Din reasons very, very adeptly. Stars, her heart subtly begins to pick up at the speed in which he's going to speak this fast. “Can’t be planning to stay with someone you just met because you’d already be there, can’t be going to a hostel because you found the one city on this moon built for commerce and not aid. Not staying in another inn, you can’t afford it—the view looks high up, that robe is expensive, and you already bought food and at least five pairs of shoes in two days. I don’t think the place you found is even in Nariss. You think you can outsmart me, sweet girl?”

The chill down her spine doesn’t reach her eyes, she doesnt let it. She just feels herself smile, tilting her head, but Din doesn’t accept her silence the way she’s always accepted his. He wants an answer from her, right now, and it’s clear in the dark rumble of his voice, the danger slowly brewing beyond what she originally planned for.

“Tell me,” he orders, unamused and leaving no room to disobey.

As the lift door opens, she thinks ahead and decides to spare them both his likely meteoric response of hearing the room door beep and open in a minute.

“How long do you think you can keep running?”

She waits a second when she braces herself at what she's about to dare to do before she quickly whispers it. “I………gotta go”, she winces with a mischievous smile as she goes to close the comm line.

“DON’T YOU D-” Dins voice starts, only to be cut off immediately.

The silence is deafening after, him practically yelling that last bit, and she hopes that the cradle was closed so the kids' poor little ears were saved from the blast. She exits the lift and moves down the hall, heart still racing from daring to cut him off at the peak of his rage. She finally finds the key’s matching room, and Maker, when she opens the door, she tries to stifle her gasp so as to not wake any neighbors in the hall.

The room is extravagant. The first thing she notices is the giant window peeking over the breathtaking skyline, letting in all of the purple and blue hues of light the sky blended with the glowing lights of the city. And then the bed, a giant bed and a giant mattress. It might as well be made out of pure spice the way it makes her nearly sob with happiness.

She then spends an untraceable amount of time enjoying the exploits of her treacherous efforts. An actual shower and mattress, dying of sleep depravity and the mental energy needed to keep up that whole exchange through it. Once she finally pauses to settle on the bed, she opens the comm line again, bracing herself for what might be the most nervous she's had to be in a while.

“Finally going to tell me where you are?”. Din’s voice isn't loud, but it most certainly isn't relaxed. He must be livid now, having all that time to fester and brew as she took her time cleaning herself up in the fresher. He might only sound this calm not to scare her off, if that's what he thinks made her hang up last time anyway. “In a way, yeah.” she starts. “It's actually good news, but you may hate me for it, if you don't already.” She lets a short pause ring in the air in an attempt to measure his temperature. “.......good news…..” Din finishes, audibly impatient and saying it through a clenched jaw. Seeing how he is making such a desperate effort to sound composed and just keep her talking, she once again thinks it's safe to venture into dangerous territory once more tonight with him.

“Remember how you thought I wasn't planning to stay with someone I'd already met, or I'd already be there?”

“…………………………………..yes”

“…..Well I am here””

“…………………………………..okay”

“B-but i'm not with them”

“................................................uhhuh”

“A-and do you remember the man I talked to earlier, at the bar?”

“.............................................…I'm trying not to”

And do you remember when he mentioned his uh…room?

“………”

“D-din?”

“……………………….how…could I….forget.” Din spurts through gritted teeth, almost a mumble. She's sure if he's got something in his hand right now, it's most certainly broken with the way his fists must be clenched, she just prays it's not the kid.

“Uh-well-I um….”

“…………………………………......you what?”

“.........................................…. I’m in their room–”

“you–”

A prolonged silence sinks in, and she wonders how long she can even let this go on before something genuinely bad happens. She's already had her fun for the night, why push it more when she's already gotten what she wanted out of him?

Letting DIn’s stunned silence radiate a few seconds more, she finally laughs, explosively, forgetting any concept of neighbors anymore. Stuttering between giggles, she manages to utter: “Im-s-soryy-HAHA-its b-because I haha-i um–....I st-stole his room key—hahaHAHAHAHAH–I–m so sorry that I -–ha– but it was right there and he didn't even notice-HAHAHA- when he was busy talking to me, so dumb and clueless HAHAHAHAHAHA” . More silence over the comm, and she wonders if he actually hung up before she could finish before. She stops laughing a moment to check in case. “D-din? I'm so sorry, haha” she says breathlessly, gasping for air and hoping for any response at all at this point.

“......For the first time in my life, I feel provoked to throw my helmet.”

“ahaha–Please dont be mad, I had to–”

“ –Mad? That's not the word we're dealing with, what we've got is something I can't even think of a word for. And you HAD to?” He sounds beyond annoyed, but she's grateful he's not boiling like before.

“HAHAHAHAHA, k-kind of–HA–”

“….You think that was funny?” his tone gets serious again. "You better pray that I never find that man".

"Well I know for a fact he's not coming back, which is why I took it" she childishly giggles.

Din stays silent. For a second, she prays he doesn't actually throw the whole chase out the window just to find that man as soon as possible now and vent his anger.

Suppressing her gasps for oxygen, she starts: “ohh come on, you predicted that I would be somewhere nicer after spending last night in a tree. You should've known what I was really after the whole time haaha- I I know you didn't see him show me the card but– I let you see me the whole time, how could I in Maker’s name ever–?”

“Doesn't matter if it was a means to an end, that was just….. way too hard to watch.”

A second of silence passes as her breathing finally slows.

“I'm sorry you had to hear it”, she breathes, sincerity rising in her tone. “But I wouldn't have wanted you to hang up, I missed your voice. … I swear, all I was thinking about was you the whole time, in my ear, I could barely keep up the conversation trying not to say your name. I only thought of you and how much I wanted you with me then.”

“……………..”

“-Y-you and t-the uh–room key—haHAHAHHAHAHHAH”

“I've met mercenaries less sadistic than you are right now.” His voice sounds flat, just in pure astonishment at how she is actually able to push it yet again. Another burst of laughter, and she falls back on the bed, gasping for air as she tries to regain her composure.“Well why don't you come give me what I deserve and lock me away already, hmmm? Bounty hunter?”

“That's one way to put it”, his voice sounding more humored at the thought, though clearly still trying to sound as upset as he can. “AHA-hahahaaaaahahaha…..”, her laughter fades finally from pure exhaustion, her abdomen now on fire from the extended flexing.

Note: and something like : "you know im not goint to let this go/forget this easily/make you pay for that"

"Haaaa, I'm counting on it." she sighs.

A few seconds pass as the tension settles with the time. “Give me your coordinates”. A tender, sweet tone seeping through the mic. She closes her eyes and exhales, “Ask me again tomorrow.” But then, instead of immediately responding, she just hears Din’s footsteps suddenly pick up, faster than any pace she’s been able to keep over the past few days. She doesn't think it sounds like a run necessarily, she knows that his legs and strides are far longer than hers and it’s probably pretty much equivalent to a run for her. She hears the rhythm of her demise speeding up, coming closer and closer, and everything in her both fears it and welcomes it.

“We’ll see,” he tells her, and then the red light vanishes and her earpiece clicks to silence.

She moves to place the comm on the charger at the bedside nightstand, at last able to put her mind to sleep along with her body.

Even though it takes her much longer to do so than it normally would on a bed so large and comfortable, after such an exciting night and not being used to flickering light when she tries to sleep but wanting to experience the rarity anyways, she’s eventually able to pass out. But, not even a few minutes into a restless dream, she turns over and accidentally knocks her communicator off the wireless charging station on the side table.

It blinks with four percent battery life.

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lohstandfound · 1 year

Text

editing the spores script because we're recording it as a radio play and i decided to take part of it and switch it up for the bmc au that i keep thinking about but wont actually write because i am not writing a fanfiction au based on a short story i wrote

LOG 268:

JD: It's day 268. Brooke woke up. For good, this time. She'd been drifting in and out of consciousness for the past few days. But I think… I think we're in the clear. For now, anyway. I don't-

BL: Jake?

JD: Ah, shit- Brooke, don't sneak up on me like that.

BL: Sorry. Mind if I join you?

JD: Oh! No, not at all. Just- trying to do another log, you know?

BL: Trying?

JD: It's… It's getting super hard. This- This mission.

BL: Yeah… With Rich?

JD: Yeah…

BL: You hear him, don't you?

[Pause]

JD: Yeah.

BL: I do too. Just… Telling me to trust the plants, to follow him. I hear him tell you the same thing.

JD: I… I don't know if it's real. I… I did a report weeks ago. Or, I tried to. Things got… Weird. I don't-

BL: You felt out of it?

JD: Yeah.

BL: I think this is the first time since we got here that I've been… Well.

JD: Chloe is worried about you.

[Chuckle]

SD: Chloe's always worried about me.

JD: Yeah, she never left your side.

BL: She called me an idiot when I woke up. She was telling me not to leave her ever again.

JD: She loves you.

BL: I love her too. More than anything.

[Silence]

JD: Are… Are you okay?

BL: I don't think so. I'm fucking… I'm losing it. And I'm- I'm scared I'm going to do something to Chloe.

JD: What… What do you mean?

BL: Rich. The plants. The spores. They've done… Something. And I don't trust myself anymore.

JD: It's going to be okay-

BL: But we don't know that. We don't know that everything's going to be okay. Just- I wanted this to be, you know… remembered. That I love her, that nothing here is going right, that I don't want to go. Maybe… Maybe HeadQuarters can prepare better for next time or something if they know what happened.

JD: Brooke, we don't even know what happened.

BL: We know some things. Just… Promise me something. Please…

JD: Okay…

BL: If something happens to me, make sure Chloe doesn't spiral. Make sure she's okay…

JD: I promise. Cross my heart.

BL: Thanks.

[Silence]

BL: I'm going to bed. Thank you, Jake.

JD: Any time, Brooke.

[Silence]

JD: What are we supposed to do?

END OF LOG

#lohst.txt #brooke lohst #jake dillinger #georgie if you see this no you did not #spores

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nochi-quinn · 2 years

Text

legend of vox machina watch party episodes 10-12: non-fungible thordak

"she's not having any of our shit tonight"

did matt get a haircut

"you're not leaving 'til 2 am, bitch"

"are you a vampire coven?" "if taliesin were here we could talk about it"

episode 10 act 4 part 3

"this is where we forgot to draw the city"

liam fangirling his own show

"OPE he lost his fingers"

"stop SPOILING. there's gonna be ACTION in the show."

"the tree piece in this game is really OP"

"shitty vox machina came in to ruin their Warhammer game"

"I forget which animals are fused with humans."

"shut UP matt"

"shout out - oh shit he's in the room"

"you slapped porkchops for like hours"

why does that sound like a euphemism

"I feel like that'd be it for me"

"matt mercer is mean!" "I didn't spend hours building those toothpick barricades for nothing!"

"that's why we named her pike"

"is there no basement? there is not"

bassment

I love how much they love their show. I know I was poking at liam earlier but it genuinely is so charming

"same arrow! that's called being responsible"

phil defending his poor herdsmen

"you guys are VIOLENT"

"TOP ROPE"

"spoilers!" maybe it'll be different on my screen

"and they were correct"

I FORGOT HE ONLY HAD ONE HITPOINT

recklegreweapomastah

"you sound like you've had your ass kicked" environmental storytelling

"there's a z-pack in there somewhere"

"zanror, needlessly hot" liam is fully horny on main tonight

"are they brothers like neptune and uranus were cousins"

"but I was born in canada"

"I actually had to shit myself for that line" "we all did"

"it's fun! and also disgusting!"

"let's not psychoanalyze me tonight"

"keyleth is the cutest" glad we're all in agreement

matt is all of us

"get a JOB leave him ALONE"

"she's bullying vax" "you're not wrong"

"he's doing the whole band" how else are you gonna get backstage

"we had to cut things from other episodes to get in 'at dawn we plan'" good

you are now Neutral with The Herd

release the underwear bible

"it is a square"

"you know what's weird? watching this scene with your kids"

"HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THIS" "it was very difficult"

"did you have to have a talk about bondage and safety?!"

"we have…DIFFERENT PARENTING STYLES"

COLOR SCRIPT COFFEE TABLE BOOK

GIMME

that's a cool band logo

oh NO

matt broke all over again

listen sometimes you just have to have a mental breakdown, it's good for your mental health

"we asked! we forgot."

"turkey vulture!"

"in a week we can talk about it. …something else bad will happen by then." my life for the past year and a half

sam: let me make this as awkward as possible so it can only get better from here

"you write a creepy thing and you feel guilty about it" "critical role"

the writers were on top of that one

"we talk all the time you guys"

"none of this should be happening"

"see, now chat's mad at you"

SAM

THAT was liam?!

I'm turning in my voice actor fan card

"you're gonna be the guy they hit"

the fact that he wasn't doing a low bass was why I didn't clock him tbh

"take that, vegeta"

EPISODE ELEVEN

"seventy-five!" "eighty-three!" "hike!"

OH the mugs!

samuel

"beautiful nonsense scene"

travis slapping sam's hand away from the edits

"what you did is bad!"

"THIS IS A GOOD SHOW"

"I'm sure it's fine"

"this is taliesin's front yard, actually"

"look what they did to my boy"

"campaign 4 reference, shh"

"kiss him, vax"

I looked up the show sam and liam referenced, it aired 92-93. I was 4.

umbrasyl listens to linkin park, it's canon

"he's a lot less menacing if you think of him as a whiny kid" there's a lot of that in that last fight

"award-winning awkwardness"

"ashley did not have to act here"

"I think taliesin wrote some of this bullshit"

"if you'd stop FEEDING THEM"

"cut my heart out" liam gets me

"blood pools are my kink"

"it's capri-sun, it's fine"

"it's a discotek at night"

"I've had this dream" I have been blessed to not have drowning dreams, if that changes now I'm fighting matt in the street

between the two of them liam and courtenay voiced half of new vegas

matt drop the raven queen lore

matt you have to tell sam's kids it's the law

"is it YOU?"

not the creepy cg mask

"he's just a little dork!" accurate

percy 100% would have been a train nerd

why did liam's mic pick up him knocking on his head so clearly

very cool that they built the trap in 3d

"this is basically a documentary"

"HO DAMN"

"he goes INVISIBLE?!"

phil with the list of the names

that, that "can't hit what you can't see" felt very adolescent to me

"some said longer, some said shorter" "we disregarded both!"

"the only episode this season where we end on a cliffhanger"

"episode 47 down"

travis I heard you echo that "duty"

remembering that liam went through all of this while dealing with his mother's death

matt: like comment and subscribe

"if you don't do it you'll turn into a squidface" "that's season 3"

"for some people that's a plus"

I don't know why I like the phrasing "deity version" so much

"there's love there!"

the way he says "conversations" means those two have definitely had at least one fistfight over canon

DARGINS

weasel dragon

Dragon Department

CEO of Dragons

I want "Dragon Team" on my resume

"because percy invented the metric system"

"it's canon now"

17 de Rolos

UMBRASSYL

"chat wants you to show - " "your muscles"

"I practice in the car so my neighbors don't call 911"

EPISODE TWELVE

hope devouwewer

"I want a pink dragon that spits out glitter"

"back inside that bad dragon" liam no

watch out for that treeeee

"but HOW THOUGH" sam gets me

"always bring a healer" stares at laura

"when the raven from the opening went by I fell out of the chair"

"you don't have to choose one" mica/percy/vax polycule

embiggened vestige

umbrasyl on 3G

"YOU'RE NOT MY DAD"

travis keeps catching himself from saying "d&d" and says "ttrpg"

"that's just liam just talking to me"

"kiss her you fool"

scanlan as paul rudd makes 100% sense and I hate it

"RUDE. UNNECCESARY. didn't have to do it and did it anyway"

vex can't feel vax bc gatshadow's made of lead

"ancient dragon, he can do what he wants"

"we had another ending in case we didn't get a season 3 where scanlan ran and everyone died" "whAT?"

"why would you DO THAT TO ME"

liam stop saying bad dragon

"ANIME YELL"

to make an omelette you have to crack a few scanlans

"that's a scrabble word"

"the theme….but slow"

"it's all hue lights"

wait WHAT

rewatches every previous yennen scene

"she could have written a letter" but the mail fraud

age has only done amazing things to cree summer's voice

"what porpoise"

"to go do Vegas"

"put it all on red"

"I'm putting it all into bitcoin"

"he's a cryptobro" "he IS the big bad!"

"you don't get the egg, but there's a code for each individual egg"

I made the poor decision to drink liquids during the watch party again

"that's that thing that I said!"

you know what it makes me think of lernie from hades

this is not a complaint

GOD I mentioned an artbook and now I want it so bad

thordak: talking mad shit for someone in thagomizer range

sketchy vax wings?!

sketchy vax wings!!

"it's not over for all you lefthanded people"

"my wife's a lefty and every morning I say the same thing"

"don't worry laura, you'll be something someday"

The Internets

where's that comic that always makes me cry with the AWNP lines over That Counterspell

matt dropped out of art school to be a rules lawyer

ghibli keyleth!!

cASSeteria

"now you've made me sad" "GOOD"

"fifteen seasons and a movie trilogy"

"he's the EP so he said he gets the killing blow"

"is that you writing" "he uses a typewriter"

"oh god I have to do this again"

#critical role #watch party #the legend of vox machina #crititag #liveblog #reaction post #spoilers #lovmtag

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randomnameless · 2 years

Note

FantasyInvader reply on the Edelstans going full circle on “translation=making Edelgard look bad” is the first time I heard of Treehouse hating Rhea, but it honestly makes sense now that I think about it.

Oh,

TBH I ranted a few years ago about the localisation and the direction Cherami Leigh received to dub Rhea, and, uh, well...

I don't think she hates the character or anything, she just goes with the direction given, but man what a load of crap Pat told her lol - she made an interview where she says Pat told her Rhea has a hair-trigger temper (tfw she only loses her shit when you try to reenact the genocide she escaped when she was younger - but nah it's just a hair trigger temper) and how Rhea "just is", something we know is bullcrap because she's the same person who's insecure about "bothering" people if she eats with them, Rhea isn't the assured person she tries to pretend to be, but Pat dgaf.

Regardless of the meaning of the quotes, if you have time to spare of the feh wiki, just compare the delivery of lolcalised!Rhea and Inoue!Rhea (her Halloween alt is telling), they're like night and day - but in the game proper, we have the fe datamine website !

Short story : Lolcalised!Rhea isn't supposed to emote bar being AnGrY, monotone (that line where she worries about Aelfie's plans in the DLC could be swapped with her reading the notice of aspirin) or have 2 lines where she's relaxed (billy supports) - Jp!Rhea is allowed to be upset, to mourn, to be worried, cheerful etc etc.

I've already complained a lot about FE16's lolcalisation, cultural bias at play and wanting to soften a certain character, but to exaggerate only a little bit, I have the feeling Rhea was portrayed in the lolcalisation (and not localisation, the lol is very important) as the ultimate bogeyman of the "dictatorial evil leader of an organised religion who is also a zealot and does not tolerate dissent because she's religious" which has...

idk, but serious issues because again, if you are supposed to localise a product you cannot edit something red to be something violet and sparkly and if the shitstorm (that ultimately came from a misunderstanding!) about "creative localisation" is any indication, more and more people are fed up with lolcalisations altering the meaning, not of a word, but of a game to suit their own agendas.

Oh, and not specifically tied to Rhea but in a way it is because it adopts Supreme Leader's prop a ganda words :

A friend earlier noticed that the NoA official website - where you can buy the game (digital version) - adverstises Fodlan as a land controlled by the Church of Seiros. Oddly (lel) enough, this "controlled by the Church of Seiros" crap of a tidbit doesn't appear in the japanese website, and even in the european ones!

I don't believe we got another version compared to the Treehouse version - even if at times, the french script is closer to the japanese one and at times they come up with their own bullshit - but there is a point to be said that in a certain part of the world, the game was advertised in a way that kind of fit a certain's characters POV, something that doesn't exist in the rest of the world. And it's in that same "part of the world" that the person who directed the VA for the eng dub, well, worked and directed said VA.

So what, is it some great conspiracy or something else? lol no.

Did Treehouse told NoA "don't worry, I've got this game, I'll localise it just close your eyes and market it that's all" and they went bonkers? And for some reason whoever was in charge at the NoE branch didn't close their eyes (maybe half-closed) so we have a weird mix between the two? idk.

#anon #replies #FE16 #lolcalisation issues #lolcalisation woes #I mean I've shared recently a pic for the anniversary of rhea baking cookies with the widest smile ever #you won't make me believe that someone who is only familiar with Pat's Rhea would have drawn this #they're like two different characters #i understand trying to localise certain concepts/things to make them understandable for another audience #but damn if FE16 with Rhea went absolutely wild #imagine it's as if someone seriously take Ron the Deatheater and adds him to a serious work like a localisation #but i confess i've always been critical of the dub #that's generally the case where you live in a country where english isn't the main language and where we're used to consume media in our #own language #it's always the issue of if i have to listen to something i don't understand i'll take the original instead of the second hand copy thanks #and by the time you can understand the second hand copy the original is too ingrained in your mind and you notice differences #that's also why I'll keep on saying it but imo dual audio should be mandatory for games with voice acting

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tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 2 years

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Another Long-Running Panel Show Friday (January 27, 2023)

The Last Leg: Really good start to the new season. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed this show when it was off, until this episode. The Last Leg has its times when the quality dips, and maybe a bit more in recent years than in older ones, but they always seem to start new seasons strong, like they rejuvenated their enthusiasm while they were away and are excited to be back. I’m only slightly ashamed to admit that I laughed out loud at Alex Brooker’s opening joke, about his own hands being at least as good as a walrus’s fins for… I’m trying to think of what euphemism I want to use here, and all I can think of is how I recently heard Steve Hall call it “getting at myself”, which was such a strikingly strange term that I don’t think I’ll be able to call it anything else anymore. Anyway, the quite juvenile jokes about that made me laugh, and then they pretty much kept the energy from there. It was a loose episode, with Adam Hills letting things go off script a little more than usual before bringing it back, and it was fun all the way through.

Great guests, too. Obviously, Richard Ayoade is always funny on panel shows. He paired very well with Lucy Beaumont – that’s a contrast in styles I hadn’t realized would work so well until I saw it. Also, every time I see Lucy Beaumont I remember how perfect she is. Her whole schtick revolving around being comically earnest, literally leaning forward and not quite following but trying really hard, is consistently engaging. She had Adam just about breaking down a couple of times, it was great.

Having Angela Rayner on is a little dicey; politicians using comedy shows to whitewash their image is not great, even if it’s a politician who seems generally all right. But at this point, compared to everything else all the politicians are doing, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition going on a comedy show to answer silly questions and play some silly games is not the main thing plaguing the system. She came across quite well, anyway.

WILTY: Another good episode this week. I thought Jayde Adams was the highlight, in her WILTY debut. She took over many parts, particularly the mystery guest round, and it was funny every time. I just wish she’d gotten a better card of her own, she could have done more with it. Ellie Simmonds was very entertaining too, seemed to be genuinely vaguely baffled but having a good time.

Not such a good episode for me – I went 3-2 in the guessing, and only finished with a winning record due to the completely free point I got from Lee Mack’s obvious lie at the end. But I did enjoy that, a bit of old school WILTY with making Lee Mack defend something absolutely ludicrous. There’s an argument, and maybe a good argument, that that bit is getting rather old by now. I still find it funny every time, though.

QI: This was a good one too, mostly. I thought Tom Allen was the star of this one, he fits in really well on shows like this. I was hoping for more from Cariad Lloyd, as she has a history of really shining on QI (particularly some of her interactions with Sandi Toksvig), but she was relatively quiet this time (or just didn’t make the edit much). She had a couple of good stories, though. Everyone did. And Sandi seemed even more likeable than usual this week.

I like Jamie MacDonald too, I know him only a little bit from The Now Show. He has the same name as my favourite character on my favourite TV show ever (Jamie MacDonald from The Thick of It), so I mostly just remember him for that, but on this episode I think he said enough funny stuff so I’ll start remembering him for that instead.

The News Quiz: I skipped this one again this week. It had Geoff Norcott on again, and even though the rest of the lineup looked fine, I just can’t be bothered that right now. That’s not normally the case – I’ve listened to and watched plenty of episodes of The News Quiz and other things with Geoff Norcott, and just been mildly to moderately annoyed with him. But at this moment I have such low tolerance for that shit. I do “listen to the other side”, every day, on my CBC news podcasts. I do my civic duty of being informed about what all sides of the issues are saying. Don’t need to hear it in my comedy as well, when I’m just trying to be entertained.

Next week, however, looks great.

That’s an absolutely stellar QI lineup, across the board. Jo Brand never disappoints on WILTY. I’ve just checked and am surprised to see Joe Wilkinson’s never been on WILTY before, but I’m glad they’re fixing that now. I always enjoy when people who have particularly odd TV personas go on that show and we try to guess what’s real about them.

And Frankie Boyle, obviously, is a rare, unexpected treat on The News Quiz. Susie McCabe’s also always great, and pairs well with Frankie when she’s on New World Order. I guess that lineup is to discuss the potential independence referendum, since Ashley Storrie and Alex Massie are also Scottish. So that’ll be fun. An exciting episode of Andy Zaltzman And The Scots.

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