#because the ap curve was so insane

[lowestechelonabomination]

was freaking out about how I was going to fail this one stupid seminar class that's for SOME REASON a graduation requirement and thinking there's no way I'm getting above a 60 in it because there are only 10 assignments for the whole semester and all of them are weighted equally and all of them SUCK and are exactly the stuff I hate doing and I've been super behind in the class for the past 3 months so basically I'm screwed and then uh. my four missing assignments got put in as zeroes and my grade only dropped to a 58. WHICH IS BAD. but if I turn them in and get 50s on all of them and then get a 90 on the culminating paper (WHICH IS WEIGHTED THE SAME AS THE OTHER ASSIGNMENTS FOR SOME REASON BUT WHATEVERRRRR) I'll have a solid 76. WHICH IS NOT GREAT. BUT IT'S NOT FAILING. GUYS I'M NOT GOING TO FAIL

[beautifulbuckys]

Speakeasy (Steve Rogers x Reader)

“I’m not villainizing your peers because they like to get drunk on the weekend, Mr. Rogers, I’m villainizing you and your peers because you use illegal practices to keep yourself in business.

“You better chose your next few words very carefully, sweets,” 

Summary: When Tony Stark insists on hosting a themed party, you find yourself in the shoes of a 1920′s role with all the other Avengers. But what happens when you spot the Avenger you’d been harboring a crush on?

Warnings: Some swearing, intense conversations, some sexual moments but nothing smutty (just spicy!) 

A/N: I refuse to write and read mafia fics, but I still somehow came up with this. Enjoy!

Tony Stark lived for dramatics. 

Nobody who’s been in a 5-mile radius of the man is surprised. The list goes on with his over-the-top Iron Man suits, excentric galas, and Avengers-themed Pop-Tarts hitting the shelves. The Stark parties hosted what felt like every other week topped the list. More than once, without fail, he found an excuse to host parties. Infiltrated a Hydra base? It sounds like a party needs to be hosted! Bucky’s 106th birthday? The balloons are already inflated! Did Peter get an A on his AP Lang test? A cake has already been ordered. 

Tony’s newest fascination has been themed parties. He’s only hosted one, yet it managed to be more extreme than Morgan’s last birthday party; you could’ve sworn you saw a real unicorn. As he put it, the theme was ‘Football’ themed, hosted in a timely fashion for the Super Bowl. It was the grandest Super Bowl party you’d ever attended. Tony insisted everyone wore team colors, much to many people’s dismay. Although it may come as a shock, Bruce and Peter weren’t the most enthused to attend a party about football. 

Now, as the summer is winding down, he is planning another. The theme, you ask? He proudly announced it to be Roarin’ 20’s! 

“Ladies and gents, I know you’re all so excited! I can see the passion behind Bucky’s cold, dead eyes!” Tony announced in front of the team. You were all seated around the orange curved couch Pepper purchased for the compound, 

The silence amongst the team spoke volumes. 

“I’m gonna vamp it up a bit! By tonight, Morgan should have dropped off individual letters to each of your rooms. You have 1 week to read the said letter and follow instructions varying on what you received. This party isn’t going to be the only thing modeled around the ’20s,” Tony winked.

After Tony’s small speech, you couldn’t help but feel a little curious. The personalized letter, delivered by Morgan? He must have gone above and beyond on these invitations. A lot of the team got up, leaving to go resume their business. Others stayed back. Sam was already sitting on the couch with Natasha, unpausing the cheesy romcom they started earlier. Steve hung back too, coincidentally he had just finished his workout when Tony called a team meeting. God did he look good!

“Are none of you curious about this personalized letter stuff?” Natasha shook her head, her red waves dancing as she did so. Sam also shook his head, eyes immediately returning to the flatscreen.

Steve sighed, lifting himself from the couch. “You know Tony and his insane theatrics,” 

When you got your letter, you were overjoyed. As promised, Morgan knocked on the door. She was dressed in a bright yellow Princess Belle dress and pink fairy wings. Her bright smile shone like a thousand suns when she handed a metallic gold envelope with your name on it. 

The second you shut the door, you ripped open the envelope. Inside, was a black piece of cardstock decorated with gold lines and other crazy details. Gold lettering described the overall setting of the party. Nothing you hadn’t been exposed to already. However, on the bottom, there was writing instructing you to look on the back. Curious, you turned the invitation around and began reading the small paragraphs on the back. 

This party was also a role-play? We all had characters. 

You? You were the “Hollywood Bombshell’, as Tony so kindly put it. The invite had a small paragraph explaining your character for the night. She loved playing hard to get, was extremely confident, and adored attention. She’d do anything in the world for it. Wonderful! In smaller writing, Tony noted that he’d be providing our wardrobe.

And provide he did. 

The long, scarlet dress that just barely dragged on the floor was gorgeous. It was pure silk, with a large slit running up the left leg until your mid-thigh. The bodice was loose. 3-finger wide straps hung off your shoulders, creating a purposeful sag right where a small bit of cleevage appeared. All in all, it was gorgeous. Tony provided accessories, a matching set of gloves and pearl earrings accompanied the stunning silk. With the whold get up on, you felt like a hollywood bombshell. Natasha insisted on assisting you with hair in makeup under the ruse of ‘girls time’.

“I bet you’re hoping Steve will be the leading actor to your actress,” Natasha winked, helping create a beautiful red makeup look to match with your outfit. She was wearing a figure hugging black sequin gown. Her ruby colored hair was paired with a small black headband. 

You playfully slap her on the shoulder, “And what are you, Cupid? I don’t think he wears a sexy black dress, Natasha,”

Natasha chuckles, grabbing your chin gently and tugging your face closer to hers. She was incredibly concentrated on finishing your pencil eyeliner. “You’re no expert on Cupid, then. Sexy sequins are in. Maybe Steve will be wearing a red tie to match yours! That would be so adorable,” Her smooth voice teased.

“With all this talk about Steve I’m starting to think you’re the one with a crush on him,” 

The redhead giggled. “I have my own tall glass of super solider, sweetheart. I can barely handle Barnes. Blondie is all yours,” She commented while resting her hands. “All done. Go look in the mirror, let me know what you think. Hopefully you love it because Tony wants us downstairs in 10.” 

You stand up, heading to the bathroom that is conjoined with your bedroom. “What is Bucky anyways?” Tony instructed everyone to not share their roles. Some people respecting the request. Those were the party poopers. Known as Sam, Steve, Pepper, and Wanda. 

“He’s a speakeasy owner. Tony put him in a sexy stripey suit,”

You twirl in the mirror, admiring Natasha’s work. “Well Miss Jazz Singer, I guess we better get downstairs so I can see this suit for myself,” The two of you linked arms, leaving your room in it’s modern day glory and stepping into the elevator. Now? You’re no longer in modern times. You’re in the roaring 20’s! A few of the Avengers teased Tony for his commitment and dedication to the theme. You appreciated it. Sure, it was cheesy. Good thing you like cheese. 

The main area of the compound was decked out. Sitting on an ivory colored table next to the bar was a gigantic champagne tower. It was nearly taller than Bucky and Steve stacked on top of each other. Gold and black were scattered around the large room, black chairs with gold cushions; golden bartop decorated with black roses. You make a mental note to ask Tony where on Earth he found black roses. Wanda was sitting at the bar with Bruce. The Sokovian was wearing a knee-length flapper dress. It was purple with small silver details scattered throughout the fabric. She also sported a pair of small black pumps and black fishnets. Overall, she looked good. Bruce had a simple white undershirt, which was stained. Suspenders accompanied the shirt, holding up his army green trousers. 

“Well hello gorgeous,” You shouted, walking towards Wanda. Her attention switched from the martini glass in front of her to you. Her eyes glowed and a smile struck her face. Bruce turned around too, looking you up and down with wide eyes. 

“Says you! You look gorgeous, what are you? A model? Because you look like one!” Wanda laughed as she spun around on the bar stool. 

You smiled, seating yourself at the open stool next to Bruce. “As Tony put it, I’m a ‘hollywood bombshell’,” You used hand quotes to emphasize the exact role you were given. “Tony made me look like a million bucks, I’ll give him that. 

You felt a hand on the back of your shoulder from behind the bar. “Ladies, ladies, I know we’re not straying away from our roles; are we?” Tony’s familiar playful tone spoke over the suddenly loud 1920’s music. You winced, realizing that was the task you were given. Simply follow your role. Do some improv. Have some fun!

“Of course not, Mr. Stark,” Bruce spoke up. Now that you were closer to him, you noticed more of his outfit. The weird stains on his tee shirt were oil stains. He was a mechanic. Wanda was a flapper. What the hell was Tony?

“That’s President Stark to you, commoner,” That answered your question right there. You laughed, excusing yourself from the bar. The room had filled up, many of the Avengers staff joined the team for these parties. The medical staff from the medical wing were here, as well as the secrataries Tony hired to answer PR emails. 

As you scanned the room, you saw Natasha and Bucky tucked away in a dark corner. As Natasha promised, Bucky was wearing a brown suit with thin white vertical stripes. His long hair was gelled back, the white lights from the ceiling comically shining off of it. Scott was sitting with Cassie and Morgan, who were also dressed up. They were playing dolls, the only modern-ish looking things around the room. On the couch, Steve and Sam were sitting and passionately talking. Steve was waving his hands around while Sam laughed. However, Sam’s strong laughter stopped once he made eye contact with you. Taking it as a cue, you strutted up to the men. 

“Hi boys,” You winked. 

Sam winked back, dramatically raising his eyebrow. “Hello there gorgeous,” He had a small business card poking out of his simple brown jacket pocked. Gracefully, you bend down to retrieve a card. Sam Wilson, New York stock broker. How cute. 

“Stock broker,” You say flirtasiously.

“Model?” Sam questioned. 

“Actress,” Sam knodding approvingly, the corner of his lips lifting into a small charming smirk. 

Steve was uncharacteristically silent. Usually during these events, he was chatting someones ear off. He insisted he wasn’t the biggest fan of the parties; yet he thought it was only polite to try to enjoy himself when they happed. You’d be a liar if you said Steve didn’t look sexy. His plain black suit jacket hugged his biceps generously. The tight mathcing pants didn’t leave much to the imagination. Steve’s pink lips were set in an intimidating frown. Like hell you’d let that scare you.

“Mind if I sit, gentlemen?” You asked.

“Feel free,” Sam stated. 

Confidently, and before you could convince yourself otherwise, you plopped yourself into Steve’s lap. His face was etched with shock, but almost immediately fell back into his serious gaze. Sam nearly spit out the water he had been sipping on. Somehow, he stopped himself. 

“I hope I’m not interuptting any business,” You combed your fingers through Steve’s hair. Like Bucky’s it also had gel. Not nearly as much, though. A few strands sat on his forehead, framing his beautiful face. Gently, you tug and twist on a few of the strands. “I’d hate to find myself in the middle of an important conversation,” 

“Hardly,” Steve finally broke his silence. “We were just finishing up,” 

“And what do you do, Mr. Rogers?” You take your hand and rest it underneath his chin, lifting it up so he is looking up at you. His striking blue eyes locked with yours in an instant. 

He cleared his throat, “I run a few businesses,” His hand found the small of your back, thumb rubbing up and down the area gently.

“Define businesses. Mr. Banner down at the bar runs a car repair shop. Gorgeous Natasha over there is a jazz singer. Entertainment is big right now, I should know. Her date Mr. Barnes runs a speakeasy. Lots of sketchy characters there,”

“I’m very familiar with Mr. Barnes’ speakeasy,” Steve growled. His large hand came resting on your thigh. Agressively, he played with the flesh. Before you knew it, there were red marks where his hand had rested mere moments before. “I’m one of the sketchy characters you’re speakin’ about, sweets,”

Despite your characters confident facade, you struggled to keep up with it. Your overwhelming crush on Steve was making this interaction incredibly difficult. You could feel the raging heat on your cheeks. You couldn’t mistake the fluttery butterflies that occupied your stomach. Tony had been roaming around the party, waiting for people to break character. Like hell you were going to be caught. Who knows, maybe this could be your shot! Maybe this is the chance you’ve been waiting for to make a move on Steve. You’ve found yourself shy nearly every other opportunity you’ve gotten. Normally, you got cold feet and ran out of the room. The amount of times Natasha has had to cover for you is getting embarrassing.

“And sketchy you are. Those damn bars are illegal, now isn’t the time to be fumbling with the law,”

Steve chucked darkly, “Oh don’t act like you’re all pure and innocent. Hollywood runs rampit with anything illegal. Your folks love that stuff,” 

“My folks?” You urged him to continue. 

“You heard me the first time, doll. Nobody in that industry is the Virgin Mary. Everyone has that one thing they’d do anything for. Don’t villainize my peers because they like a taste of scotch every once in a while,”

“I’m not villainizing your peers because they like to get drunk on the weekend, Mr. Rogers,” You find your hand back in his blonde locks, twisting and tugging as you spoke. With this leverage, you pulled his hair to twist his head, exposing Steve’s ear. You decide to whisper, making the moment more intimate. “I’m villainizing you and your peers because you use illegal practices to keep yourself in business.

“You better chose your next few words very carefully, sweets,” 

Steve Rogers was a mafia man. Golden boy, America’s solider, was a crime lord. And right now? You don’t mind. 

“You’re gonna need to try harder than that if you want to shut me up,” The words spilled out of your mouth like milk out of a jug. The words were spoken as your confident, sexy actress character. Yet they hard truth to you. Not this false self someone else spun for you. Not the person gifted the silk red dress. You. You were speaking the truth you had held in for the longest time. The confession, though veiled by flirtatious banter, was transparent. 

And Steve Rogers did exactly that. He leaned forward into your lips. His hands found their place on your hips, as yours found a place in his hair. Passionately, he kissed you. His lips violated yours sinfully, in a way that Jeuss Christ himself would need to turn his back from. But you didn’t care. 

Breaking the kiss, Steve Rogers only said one thing.

“The only illegal things I’m doing tonight are the things I’m going to do to you,” 

And you’d be damned if you stopped him.

[daincrediblegg]

Could you rank your favorite Jack moments?

OK. I've put quite a lot of thought into it and I think I can give a solid list now- so here it goes.

Obviously top slot has and forever will go to that fucking "lose it" monologue in window of opportunity. Not only is it just easily the Most Iconic he's ever been but like??? I relate to that on a spiritual level. And I will for my whole life. Also probably the moment I realized exactly how much I loved him watching sg1 the very first time around like that scene has everything- confused teal'c, a ketchup and mustard smiley face on a plate, various ways of saying "I'm going fucking insane". 15/10

Second up for me is probably when Jack talks Daniel down from his little sarcophagus withdrawal rampage. I know I've talked about this before (HERE) but when he says "I know what it's like" and takes the gun from him and hugs him my poor little heart crumbles into a thousand pieces because???? boy just said empathy and hugs are the best medicine and he's right and he didn't flinch to do it and I'm so proud of him ok???

I love a lot of shit from the episode Divide and Conquer, but I think my top two are these: 1) "Carter's brain is worth more than mine" O'Neill giving her that LOOK in the hallway??? BOY ARE YOU OK??? and 2) that resounding fucking "NO". Jack O'Neill has emoted strongly several times. But nothing quite like that. In fact that "No" for me rivals a lot of other "No"s in other works of fiction. Best "No" Award goes to my favorite dilf.

This is sort of a combo Jack and Teal'c moment but I go absolutely ape shit every time in Children of the Gods when Jack says "I can save these people! Help me!" and Teal'c says "Many have said that, but you're the first I believe could do it!". Name a better turncoat moment in all of fiction I'll wait. Top 10 Anime Friendships.

Also I think Learning Curve may be my favorite Dad Mode O'Neill episode. Dude really gets so close to a court marshall just so this one kid can have a normal childhood and won't have her agency taken away and it's so fucking cute and important to me. Of all the children he should've personally adopted after a mission she's number 1 for me and the art class is so cute and I'll bet you he has that painting she did framed somewhere in his house and oh no y'all I'm so fuckin emotional!!!!! Also we get the prima line "Dogs are my favorite people" from that episode and I relate to that.

Bonus small moment: when Jack gets ancient knowledge downloaded into his brain a second time and Teal'c is damn near in tears worried about whether he's gonna be all right and Jack can't understand him at that point BUT TOUCHES HIS FACE!!!!! toxic masculinity who???? he don't know her!!!!!!

(THIS POST IS NOW FINISHED GO WITH JACK)

[borom1r]

✋🎉 👔 🌸 😳 for Lawrence and Eric out of those f/o picture asks? :3c (I'm sorry you're having a rough day,, I hope you feel a bit better soon 💚)

ooughjf thanks dude.. i have a vet appt saturday morning but im still. worried abt my cat 😞

n ee wayz sjjdf.... going back thru saw iv got me thinking again (like always) abt how the context of "I'm not the one you gotta worry about" changes if Art is a disciple. thinking about what in the hell he means. thinking abt his apparent surprise at the sight of the ice blocks when HE armed them + what wouldve happened if he just. didnt.

also thinking abt John's "your partner is going to kill an innocent man" line and what if it wasn't Jeff. obviously it was SUPPOSED to be but what if Strahm had trusted his gut n followed Rigg. what if, instead of shooting Jeff, Strahm shoots Rigg before he can open the door because in Strahm's eyes Rigg is already recruited and he can't let Rigg keep going, look at the trail of death he's left behind. Jeff lives, Corbett doesn't lose her father, Strahm never gets stuck in the water cube and Eric and Art live. hmm.... hm.

i also just cant get over the fact Hoffman collared and gagged himself JUST to be a whore. WHEN has John gagged someone EXCEPT for Art, which was specifically suited to the purpose of the trap, or Addy + Allen (which also served the purpose of leaving William alone w/ his thoughts). he makes me insane never once before have i felt the urge to throw rotten tomatoes at a person but he makes me want to. like a cartoon heckler, but im just yelling "WHORE! SLUT!" and trying my damnedest to nail him with a disgusting squishy vegetable

anyways @ that anon who asked me why i hate Spiral. another part of why i hate it is bc IV is SO so good. DLB... i am disappointed </3

Eric time tho!

🤚 Post a screenshot of your f/o’s hand(s)!

hey so while i was looking for pics of Eric's hands n i eventually settled on this one bc i love the way his hand curves around the gun n i love the tenderness of Art's touch. do you ever think about how much fresh blood is caked around his nails? (you can see it in his first scene in IV; 29:14 for anyone really curious) — fresh enough that it hasn't cracked n flaked off, all the way up to his first knuckles. i am thinking about that. i am thinking abt what he was scratching at so hard tht he can still have his nails but have so much fucking blood on his fingers (its his rashes speaking as someone w/ dermatillomania it was his rashes. it breaks my heart. bc ill do it idly but to have THAT level of blood, it comes from a source of distress. he probably dug deep enough to leave permanent scars)

🎉 Post a screenshot of your f/o where they’re smiling/laughing/having a good time.

👔 Post a screenshot of your f/o in a different outfit than usual.

🌸 Post a screenshot of your f/o looking cute.

(yea yea ik but tummy!!)

😳 Post a screenshot of your f/o that flusters you.

i cant get a good photo of this scene but uh. uhhh. i will... admit hearing him yell "YOU'RE NOT JIGSAW BITCH!!" makes me go ape shitt. i want to fuck him so bad in this scene it does, in fact, make me look stupid.

ok now!! Lawrence!!

🤚 Post a screenshot of your f/o’s hand(s)!

his hands make that cellphone look sooooo tiny i-

🎉 Post a screenshot of your f/o where they’re smiling/laughing/having a good time.

he is such a good dad i love him sm i do i love him. thts my husband<3

👔 Post a screenshot of your f/o in a different outfit than usual.

🌸 Post a screenshot of your f/o looking cute.

hey look tummy... do u guys. see a pattern sdjkfhskjdjk

😳 Post a screenshot of your f/o that flusters you.

[tsuzuruchipalace]

I love Obey Me, but unless I’m playing the events super wrong, I have to say I really dislike its events’ point/reward system.

There’s no way for f2p players to rank even remotely close to the top half tiers. In the latest event, to get the ranked memory SSR, which is the “easiest” non-SR you can get, you have to be one of top 1500 people out of over 167,000 players. Which sucks because that’s somewhere between 0.0075% to 0.009% of all players (my assumption is that they are about 200,000 who have played the event to get at least 1 point). And SRs are useless by Lesson 12? 10?, give or take. So it’s essentially not giving us anything.

I did the math for my specific cards this event, and if I played as much as the event allows me per day (entirely f2p without using demon points to redo battles because I need to save them for nightmares), I would still end up in the sub-6000th place, which is the 4th tier from the bottom and 10th from the top. And that’s not even accounting for the ranked memory and demon URs that are much harder to receive. (which are, respectively, about twice and three times as much points)

Other than getting the cheat cards from the Event Nightmare, I don’t see how I can get better at events without using demon points (and at that point, I think it’s no longer casual play). And the cheat cards barely help imo. In most other gacha games I’ve played, I feel like ranking improved as long as you constantly play the game, due to upgrading cards/getting better cards/actively playing the event more/learning how to optimize the game better, before it plateaus. However, insanely strong cards do not help you in the events. After you beat all the lessons, it doesn’t matter how strong your cards are since it just matters how much you can replay the levels.

Since I’ve started playing this game, I’ve been constantly ranking in the 2nd tier from the bottom, because every time I try to rank, I start out playing a lot, then slowing down exponentially when I calculate that it’s literally impossible for me to get certain cards. It’s super disheartening. I was so pumped when Satan’s birthday event came out that I tried my strategy of playing as much as I could per day. Then when I calculated that it was literally impossible for me to get his UR, I got super disappointed and stopped trying.

I also dislike how the pop quiz awards work. Once again, if I grinded as much as I could without using points (since I have a lot of AP saved up), I could get the demon SSR, but it would take multiple trips to Lonely Devil to even think about getting the memory SSR, the memory UR, and the demon UR. And it takes a while for events to show up on Lonely Devil, if they ever come back at all.

I get that Obey Me is mostly trying to make money. So they want you to shell out money so you can buy vouchers and points to get good cards for events and the main story, but I wish it was a least a little less p2w in the event so that it’s more enjoyable for casual players. I’m grateful for the UR chance boost from the anniversary, at least. That was a very nice update. Since it’s a gacha game, I didn’t expect them to be nice about that. I’ve played so many gacha games that I don’t mind low UR/SSR rates. I’m used to it. It’s mostly just the event rewards system and the difficulty curve I don’t enjoy.

If there’s something I’m missing about the meta of Obey Me!, feel free to object to my rant. Because I feel like I’m doing something wrong to be this bad at events. Or am I right about it being a p2w thing?

[softestgentlest]

Lily & Harry - high school fanfic

Harry Styles.

Harry fucking Styles.

An egotistical, quick witted asshole with a silver tongue and easy charisma.

He's also irritatingly privileged; not only is he filthy fucking rich, but he's also extraordinarily intelligent, and to top it all off, positively, mercilessly, despicably gorgeous. As if he wasn't already dealt the winning hand, his otherworldly physical attractiveness afforded him the freedom to do whatever the hell he pleased, whenever, and wherever he wanted to do it.

And, of course, in some cruel twist of fate, he most often chose to utilize his influence by victimizing me: Lillian Mercier, a quiet, harmless junior, whose sole desire is to graduate ASAP, so I can move onto Cambridge University by the Fall of next year.

I'm on track to receive my diploma a year early, according to my guidance counselor, but I've got to keep my GPA above a 3.8 at least, if I have any hope of getting admitted into my uni of choice.

My mind is humming, sifting through upcoming exams, assignments, papers that need writing, and a number of other priorities as I open up my locker.

I'm just pulling out my SAT prep book, when a series of excited murmurs echo through the crowded hallway. A girl a few feet away turns, whispering to her friend, "I think my ovaries just exploded, dude. Look at Harry's haircut."

I roll my eyes, swapping the prep book with the AP English text that's currently weighing down my bag. I try to focus on my mental "to do" list, but I'm now annoyingly in-tune with the girl's conversation, unable to block them out.

"I know! How could he have gotten even hotter? And look at his outfit...like, he can literally make anything look good."

"Oh my goooodd dude, he's graduating this year. I honestly think I'll die, like, he's the only thing that makes this school tolerable."

"Shhhh, they're coming over here."

The girls go quiet, and I tense, keeping my eyes trained on the interior of my locker. Harry will be graduating at the end of the year, as he's a senior, and with that knowledge, I feel intensely relieved.

Even if I can't graduate early, he'll be gone, and I'll actually be able to enjoy my senior year.

A smile plays across my lips as I stretch to reach the top shelf of my locker, standing on my tippy toes. I'm 5'3, and these lockers were clearly built by men of average height, with little to no regard for high schoolers of smaller statures.

I know I threw some flash cards up there in the rush to make the bus yesterday, but even when I step up and onto the metal base of my assigned storage space, I still can't seem to-

I gasp, as I lose my footing and fall backwards. Luckily - or, maybe unluckily - my fall is broken by something solid. I hear a soft grunt, and large hands grip my waist, steadying me.

I pant, pressing a hand to my racing heart, when I feel something soft brush against the sensitive shell of my ear, "good morning to you too, clumsy."

I shiver, and pull away, immediately recognizing that deep, accented voice as it burns hotly into my skin.

Do not engage, I mentally remind myself, forcing my trembling hands to occupy themselves with the contents of my backpack.

He tssks, clicking his tongue, "Aren't you going to thank me?"

"Thanks." I concede through gritted teeth.

He chuckles, leaning too close for comfort once again, "it was my pleasure, Lillian." His voice drops an octave on the word 'pleasure,' giving it an unnecessarily sexual undertone, if only to get under my skin.

At the corner of my vision, I see his shadowed silhouette as he leans against the locker beside mine, tall and domineering as ever.

I ignore his presence, slowly zippering up my bag, and securing my lock, before reluctantly turning to face him.

The first thing I notice is the lack of hair. What had once been long, lustrous, chocolaty curls, is now shortened gossamer strands of hair falling over his forehead in a provocative, untidy tumble. The new cut exposes his defined jawline, and those sharp, light catching cheekbones.

As usual, he's dressed to the nines, somehow managing to make his unexpected attire look effortlessly appealing. Today, he's clad in a strange mix of professional, and bohemian pieces: a blue and white checkered wool jacket, a dark pinstriped suit, a red beaded necklace. He's got on bright pink socks, and white loafers, and his signature assortment of rings.

I clear my throat when he catches me checking him out, "Harry, I didn't know you could sew."

He looks perplexed, considering my assumption with furrowed brows, "I can't."

"Oh, then I suppose it was your mother who made that jacket from one of her tablecloths?"

He tilts his head to one side, and runs his fingers roughly through his freshly cut curls, "this," he snarks, smoothing his hands down the woolen fabric, "is a $2,000 jacket, love."

I roll my eyes, hitching my bag over my shoulder, and turn to walk away, only to come face to face with Mitch and Nick, two of Harry's equally asinine friends.

"Excuse me." I prompt. The two boys ignore me, smirking over my head at their scumbag leader.

I huff, turning back around, knowing full well that they aren't going to do anything unless he commands it. "I don't have time for this, Harry." I cross my arms, pursing my lips in annoyance, "I'm gonna be late to class, and so are you."

His mouth curves dangerously, drawing my attention to the pillow-soft push of his lips. "And we wouldn't want that, now would we, Lillian?" he pronounces my name so that it drips from his shapely lips leisurely, provocatively. "What with your big plans to graduate early."

Immediately, I recoil, meeting his expectant stare with wide eyes, "H-how...?"

"Oh, you thought I wouldn't find out?" He pushes off the lockers, Stepping closer, "did you know that you're GPA is just .01 points less than mine?" His voice is honeyed, sickeningly sweet - it sets off warning bells in my head.

I swallow nervously, taking a small step backwards, "I don't see what that has to do with my plan-"

"Oh, but it has everything to do with your plans." Again, he advances, but this time I hold my ground, tilting my head to meet his stare, "you see, we weren't competing before...not really. But, if you graduate ahead of your class and maintain that same GPA, well...Cambridge won't even look at me, regardless of my achievements, because you'll have the edge."

I blink, processing his words, "You want to go to Cambridge...?"

He quirks a dark brow, the corner of his mouth twitching in amusement.

I'm dumbfounded, "But...but I-you...but-that's just ridiculous!" I nearly stomp my foot at the sheer absurdity of the notion, but opt to clench my fists at my sides instead.

He looks utterly amused, and leans a bit closer, a challenge in his eyes: "is that right?"

"Why would you want to go to Cambridge?!" I note how whiny my voice sounds, but I'm too distressed to care.

He's full on grinning now, his emerald eyes dancing with glee. "wouldn't you like to know" He purrs in that slow, sexy drawl, his voice dropping so low that it can only be heard by the two of us.

It is then that the bell rings, shrill and disruptive, tearing me from his trance-like stare.

I realize how close we've gotten, our faces perhaps six inches apart. I can feel the warmth of his body radiating off of him and wrapping around me. Before I can stop myself, I inhale his intoxicating scent: spicy and earthy and masculine, like cigarettes and pine and the leather spines of old books.

For a fraction of a second, my eyes slip shut...he smells so damn good.

Then, just as quickly, I blink, and step back, my heart racing in my chest. I did NOT just...

He straightens, raking his eyes over my trembling frame with an air of affected smugness. Silently, he steps the side, watching me as I collect myself, an embarrassing blush infusing my cheeks.

Slowly, I move down the hallway towards my class, uncharacteristically unconcerned with the possibility of being marked tardy. I can tell that he's following, as students all around turn to stare behind me. We're in the same English class.

My brain seems to have gone into overdrive, conjuring up insane reasons for why I'd smelled him and liked it enough to consider doing it again. Impossible. Harry's a prick. The bane of my existence. Sure, he's wildly attractive, but never have I ever been even remotely interested in him...sexually. So what the hell was that?

Why am I all hot and blushing and trembly? Why?! Especially after he'd dropped the Cambridge bomb! I mean, really? Of all the schools for him to choose, it had to be my dream school. And of the thousands of people I'll be competing with to be admitted, it just had to be him.

Harry's one of the smartest people I've ever met, and he's got the resources and connections to get into any school he wants. The chances of two kids from the same high school getting into Cambridge are absolutely zero, and whether I graduate early or not, Harry's a shoe in for a spot there - he's the ideal student: rich and intelligent and driven, with a shit ton of community service and extracurriculars under his belt, and with a number of published poems and short stories.

He'll take my spot there just by aiming his perfect white grin in the right direction. And if we were both admitted, by some miracle, that would be even worse! 6 more years with him?! I'd die. I couldn't take it. I'd-

"Ah!" I gasp, colliding with a tall boy for the second time today. My books fly out of my arms again, and I fall flat in my ass with a soft yelp of pain.

"Woah! Are you ok?" A voice asks, and I glance up to find a familiar blonde boy looking down at me.

"Um, y-yeah." I say, quickly moving to stand up. Like a gentleman, he reaches down, offering me a hand, and I take it, allowing him to pull me gently to my feet. "Uh, sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention..." I smile sheepishly,

"Oh, no, it's totally fine." He grins back, then kneels down to pick up my books. "As long as your ok."

"Really, I'm fine." I giggle, kneeling down to help. "Your Neil, right? I think we have psych together?"

He hands me my things, standing up, "close! It's Niall, and yeah, 6th period right?"

I nod, "Niall. Yeah, I'm Lily. I'm the one always shouting out the answers and then getting yelled at." I giggle nervously, feeling a little self conscious around this boy with pretty blue eyes and a kind smile.

He laughs, "well, I'm definitely not one to shout out answers. I'm terrible at Psych." He gestures for me to walk with him, and I do, "I'll walk you to your class, just to make sure your alright."

I roll my eyes playfully, but follow, "I already ran into you. Don't let me be the reason that your late to class too."

I lead the way to the English wing, and we joke lightly about our Psych teacher, Mrs. Campbell. By the time we've arrived, the bell has rung, and I know that he's going to be late because of me, but he doesn't seem to care.

"Hey," he calls out, just as I'm about to open the door to my classroom, "maybe you could tutor me sometime? In Psych? You always seem to be yelling the right answers, and I could really use the help..." he rubs the back of his neck nervously, and I can't help but smile at how cute he looks.

"It's the least I can do after running into you." I say, "let's talk in class later?"

"Yeah, sure!" He backs down the hallway, "I'll see you then, Lily!"

When I enter the classroom, there's still a smile on my face, and I quietly make my way to an empty seat in the back. My teacher, Mr. Gray, shoots me an inquisitive look, since I'm not one to show up late to my favorite class, but he doesn't call me out on it.

"Alright guys," he says, "while I was reading you essay submissions from last week, I noticed quite a few spelling errors, so I thought we might have a little bit of a...spelling bee today, just to see where we all stand when it comes to commonly misspelled words." The class groaned collectively, and he laughed, "nothing to worry about. This won't count for a grade, I just want a chance to see where everyone stands. It'll be fun!"

Mr. Gray proceeded to split the class into two groups, and two at a time, he called students up to the board, and in tournament fashion, the winner played the winner from the opposite team. I could tell that he was saving certain students for the end, since they would likely beat out all the competition, thereby depriving their teammates of turns. By the time it got to me, only a few students were left on the opposing team.

"Ok, Kim," he called to my competitor, "your word is Accidentally" Kim correctly spelled two words, and then swapped out with another teammate, Jamie, who only beat me on one word.

"Alright, this is it, guys. Last two. Harry, join Lily up front."

Immediately, my eyes found him, just as the rest of the class turned to watch him rising from his seat. He took a step towards me. Then another. I sort of shivered, watching him move, observing his long legs, slowly closing the space between us with their every measured step. There's something almost feline about it - the way he moves - very masculine...and very...sexual, if that makes any sense at all.

I averted my eyes as he took up the space beside me. Again, the drowsy scent of books and pine with undertones of coffee and tobacco invaded my senses, and I felt my knees threatening to buckle.

"Harry, your word is 'allegiance'"

I felt him smiling, tasted his smooth baritone, skating hotly down my spine: "A-L-L-E-G-I-A-N-C-E. Allegiance."

"Lily, controversy."

I spelled it correctly and held my breath, gazing stubbornly straight ahead.

"Harry, 'immediately.'" He did the same.

"perseverance"

"Accommodate"

"I-N-T-E-L-L-I-G-E-N-C-E, Intelligence." I glanced over at Harry, noting the look of intense boredom on his face as he stared off into the distance. Clearly, this was too easy for both of us.

"Too easy is it, Lillian?"

"Uh, w-what?" I snapped out of my reverie, glancing at Mr. Gray, who looked rather amused.

"If you think it's too easy, we can really put you two to the test. What do you think class?" Mr. Gray looked around, and the class erupted into excited giggles and shouts.

Realizing my mistake, I felt my cheeks flush hot with embarrassment, "oh I-I didn't m-mean to say that um...out loud sir..."

The damage had already been done. Mr. Gray grinned, clearly excited to have piqued the class's interest, "alright then, let's try....sacrilegious."

Harry, looking rather more alert than he had before, turned to look at me, holding my stare even as each honeyed letter fell from his lips "S-A-C-R-I-L-E-G-I-O-U-S" the flecks of gold in his eyes danced, embers crackling, glittering.

"Conscientious, Lily."

"Oh, um..." I quickly averted my gaze, glancing nervously at my trembling fingers, "C-O-N..." my heart wobbled in my chest. What's comes next? "...S-C-I-E-N-T-I-O-U-S, Conscientious." I want this to be over...

Harry chuckled beside me, low and slow. I felt his eyes on me. "bureaucratic." He spelled, quick as a whip, and all eyes were back on me.

"Bourgeoisie." Amidst the nerves and exhaustion, my stubbornness gave way to another correct answer. I won't lose to him. Not this, not Cambridge.

He managed "clairvoyant," "coalescence," and "kaleidoscope." I got through "lachrymose," "mnemonic," and "pharmaceutical," and then, finally, he messed up.

I heard it in his voice first, knew before it happened that I had won. Mr. Gray - once again proving himself to be my favorite teacher- threw "triskaidekaphobia" at Harry, and we both froze.

"T-R-I-S-K....A-D-E-K-A-P-H-O-B-I-A." Harry murmured uncertainly, sounding just as breathless as I felt. The class had gone silent, and I could hear my heart racing.

"Incorrect." Mr. Gray uttered, but before the class could erupt into cheers, he continued, "let me just say, Harry, Lily, that was extraordinary. Really, very good show." He slowly began to clap, and our classmates followed suit, whooping and jeering at Harry good-naturedly.

I turned to glance at him then, not feeling very excited about having won. I couldn't help the little gasp that escaped my throat when I saw his face. He had curved his mouth into a grin, ran a hand through his hair boyishly, a calculated carelessness slackening his features - but I saw it in the way his lips twitched, in the way his eyes glossed over and darkened to muted jade.

He's upset. I realized, moving closer without really thinking about it. He's really, really upset.

"H-Harry?" I heard myself whisper, voice trembling. Everyone had, by now, moved into their own little groups, all talking animatedly about the results of our little duel, so they weren't really paying us any mind.

His smile faltered - just for a moment - "good game." He husked, his voice raw. He held out a hand, quirking a brow, watching me with those expectant eyes.

It was then, in that moment, that I realized, very suddenly, that Harry is...beautiful. Like, proper beautiful, like earth shatteringly, mind numbingly gorgeous.

The realization hit me with such immense force that I had to grab his outstretched hand to keep from crumbling to the ground. "O-oh." My mouth parts on the startled little noise, and suddenly I'm very aware of the gentle press of his cold rings against my fingers, his large hand claiming mine, the muscles in his forearm flexing as he holds me. "Uh-huh." My response catches in my throat and comes out sounding like a strangled hiccup.

Quickly, I pull away, stumbling back a few steps, I tear my eyes from his face, flailing my hands around like a monkey.

What the fuck?

•••••••••

LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT A PART 2 💛

[flyingstar360]

Let It Go- Julie and the Phantoms Fanfic

So, I haven’t written a fanfiction in almost seven years. And now this stinking teeny-bopper Netflix show has me so hooked, I couldn’t stop thinking about this all day. So here’s a little unedited drabble I thought up after realizing the guys have been dead for 25 years... and would most likely not prioritize watching princess movies. So they’ve never seen Frozen. Or heard Let It Go.

Let It Go

Julie Molina loved movies.

Everyone knew she loved music, of course. But people often forgot that a really good movie has a really good score. That was one of the things her mother had taught her- music shares emotions, tells a story, connects people, no matter the setting- Rock Concerts, pianos in a theater, or orchestrations swelling though speakers scattered around the studio.

Much like the way the latest Star Wars movie was sounding right now.

She’d tried to ignore it. After all, the guys of Sunset Curve had been dead and missed out of twenty-five years of stuff.

 Plus, to a group of seventeen year old boys, the fact that Star Wars had come back not once, but twice, and killed Han Solo, and introduced Jar Jar Binks… well, it was a lot. And so she was trying to be understanding about why Alex and Reggie were sprawled around the television with her DisneyPlus account pulled up, critiquing Kylo Ren and Rey slashing at each other with lightsabers in the rain. But she had a headache, probably from the calculus homework she’d been working on for what felt like a lifetime.

“…He’s a Darth Vader rip-off. Basically, they took the awesomeness of Darth Vader and his shiny helmet and tried to stick it on this whiny kid-” Reggie was complaining again as Alex nodded. Even annoyed, Julie couldn’t help but smile at them. She knew them well enough now to know that Alex was one hundred percent not listening.

“Alex.” She called his name, watching as he chewed on his lower lip, lost in thought. “Hey. Alex? Alex!”

He shot up from where he was lounging on the floor, blonde hair falling in his eyes. “Huh? What? Sorry. What’s going on?”

“Are you okay? You seem- well, maybe more anxious then normal.” Julie asked.

Reggie chimed in. “Yeah man, I’m not even sure you’re watching this.”

Alex shook his head. “I’m sorry, guys. I was just thinking about something I said to Willie. It was probably the wrong thing. And now he thinks I’m even more of a loser. And that’s impressive considered I died because of a bad hot dog.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.” Reggie said, trying to lay a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder. “And if it was, you can always just blame it on like, death brain, or something.” Alex rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, it couldn’t have been that bad.” Julie smiled at the drummer, who was overthinking his interesting little relationship with the ghostly skateboarder. “And if it was, just be cool and move on. You know? Like Queen Elsa, just let it go.” She wiggled a little dance and giggled at her bad joke. She and her mom loved making Frozen related puns. Mostly because Carlos had been obsessed when the first movie came out and the music drove her dad insane. She hadn’t gotten the guts up to sit through the original, or watch Frozen 2. 

“Who’s Queen Elsa?” Alex asked. That stopped Julie in her tracks. 

“Oh my god.” She gasped. “You’ve been dead for twenty-five years.”

“We know. Alex cried that whole time.” Reggie said.

“Reggie. Seriously, it didn’t feel like twenty-five years, so like don’t-“

“Ap-pa-pa” Julie held up her hands to stop the guys from going off on a tangent. “You’ve been dead for twenty-five years. You’ve never seen Frozen.”

Reggie looked confused. “I mean, we seemed frozen for the twenty-five years- Hey! I was watching that!”

Julie plopped herself down on the sofa, clicking the remote to the main page. “Not anymore, you’re not. We’re watching Frozen. Right now.”

“Is this a princess movie? Cause I love The Little Mermaid as much as the next guy, but I’m not sure-“

Julie cut Alex off with a wave of her hand.

“Trust me. This is not an ordinary Disney princess movie. You’ve missed a lot, boys.” The title page popped up, and Julie hit play, as the image of Elsa and Anna faded into the Walt Disney Castle logo with Norwegian rhythmic vocalization echoing in the background, the film began. As soon as the music started, both boys’ eyes were glued to the screen. And by the time the ice harvesters and baby Kristoff and Sven appeared, she knew they were hooked.

Julie had seen this movie hundreds of times. But watching Alex and Reggie’s faces as they saw it for the first time was probably going to be her favorite time watching it.

                                                             ~

“The sky’s awake. So I’m awake” Anna flopped over her sister dramatically. Reggie’s eyes were wide. He was definitely an Anna.

“Did she die?” He gasped as Anna got hit by Elsa’s ice beams. They rushed her to the trolls. “TALKING ROCKS.”

Alex watched silently as Elsa locked herself away from the world.

                                                             ~

“This is how I feel like when Rey doesn’t answer me.” Reggie mumbled during “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?”.

Julie looked over. “Why would my dad answer you?”

“Ummm, you see- oh see, that’s a better death than hot dogs!” Julie looked back at the screen, to see Anna sitting back to the door for the funeral. For a second her breath caught in her throat. But it didn’t hurt as much as she thought it would. And by the time Anna showed up on screen waking up a mess, Julie actually giggled along with the guys.

                                                                 ~

When the screen turned to the mountain top, and the first notes of “Let It Go” started, the guys’ eyes were the size of dinner plates. Watching Elsa’s transformation, seeing her take control of her power- Julie felt like for the first time, she understood why people look at the band like they’re some kind of hero. The power in the music convinces the audience that Julie and the guys have it all together- even when everything else in their lives or after lives- seemed to be going wrong. Just like Elsa, being a boss while having accidentally started eternal winter.

                                                               ~

Luke poofed into the studio a while later, surprised to find Julie sitting at the piano, playing as Alex and Reggie had shirts tied around their necks like capes and the three of them screaming “Let It Go” at the top of their lungs.

“What the heck did I miss?”

[kittenfemme27]

Magrunner: Dark Pulse

"That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die." 

That’s the often misquoted line written by H.P. Lovecraft and spoken by his fictional “mad poet” Abdul Ahazred in “The Call of Cthulhu”, a short story written by the very same author. It’s meant to symbolize the same thing that almost all of Lovecraft’s work was meant to symbolize: That there are things that view us the same way we’d view a simple speck of dust, or an ant. As so tiny and insignificant that we’re practically unnoticed in the eyes of this massive and overwhelming force. Lovecraft had an intense fear and at the same time an intense fascination with the idea of being insignificant, of being forgotten and unworthy, of being completely and utterly impotent in the face of power that was greater than himself. Every “Old God” that he wrote about is so far reaching above humanity and so incomprehensible that even the act of knowing of their existence was incomprehensible for the human mind, and would oft drive those with that forbidden knowledge to complete and utter insanity. This isn’t really a disputed interpretation of Lovecraft's work, it's barely an interpretation at all. It’s considered a simple set of facts of the universe that he created.

So imagine my surprise when I started playing “Magrunner: Dark Pulse”, a fairly mundane and simple futuristic sci-fi puzzle game marketed to have a “Lovecraftian Twist” and the final nine levels have good ol’ Cthulhu himself checking in on me from the skies above, literally one hundred thousand times my size, and simply observing me like I’m his personal favourite little human. As he communicates with me and makes it clear that I am in-fact, his personal favourite little human and he just can’t wait for me to ascend to his level. As far as a piece of lovecraftian work goes, this game was a doozy. But we’ll get back to that. Before we even get there, I’d first like to talk about the game itself.

Gameplay:

Magrunner is a first person physics based puzzle game featuring magnetism as its element in which you interact with the puzzles in each room. Your goal in each puzzle room is to use various platforms, blocks, and other bits of very clearly marked tech in each room that may be magnetized with either a positive polarity or a negative polarity, and combine that with the physics of the Unreal 3 engine to solve challenges and make it to the next room. To be blunt, the game is squarely a Portal rip-off from its design ideals. Your makeshift magnet glove-gun hybrid can fire 2 colors, one being a negative polarity and one being a positive. Like-colors are attracted to themselves, whereas opposite colors reflect each other. The idea of using magnets in a physics based first person puzzler isn’t an awful one, and neither is the fact it clearly wants to ape Portal’s ideas. Where it fails, unfortunately, is execution. The physics aren’t up to snuff with what you do most of the time and it leads a lot of the puzzles to be confusing or simply frustrating, as even when you know what you’re doing you still have to rely on the physics system of the engine to cooperate with you. Early on, you are tasked with getting 4 small magnetizable cubes together to form into a large one. What this actually has you end up doing is fighting with the cubes and the level as they fling themselves wildly off of each other and into unreachable parts of the level itself. The entire game functions this way and it really removes any sense of challenge or control you have over each puzzle, often feeling like you lucked your way into a solution rather than figured out the puzzle yourself in any meaningful way.

Buggy physics in the Unreal engine are not the developers fault entirely though, the game is an indie project that was kickstarted and for that alone i’m willing to give them a pass on engine problems that they likely did not have the programmers to fix. But, unfortunately, I can’t give a pass on the game failing to iteratively teach you how the mechanics work level by level. Whenever you magnetize an object, it creates a field, and you can see this field thankfully by pressing a key. Anything in that field will automatically interact with anything else that is magnetized in it. In general, these fields are wildly inconsistent in how they operate. Usually, they’re spheres centered around the magnetized object and cause objects within the sphere to either attract or repel. On occasion though you’ll find pads that create a cone of magnetism going the direction that it faces, up to what is an arbitrary height. Later on, you’re given the ability to place your own fields on any flat surface, allowing the levels to become more bare-bones as you have to create the magnetism points yourself. All of this combined means that  If you learn that something works in a previous level, there is no guarantee that it will work in the next level the exact same way. Experimentation in this game is often fraught with a frustrating sigh of not knowing if the game intended for something to work that way, or if you just broke the physics again. Don’t even get me started on the fact there are multiple combat sections inside a puzzle game, ugh.

Art & Sound:

Magrunners similarities to Portal do not end with the gameplay and design, however. Aesthetically, the first and second half of the three act game are ripped directly from Portal and Portal 2. The first half of the game features sleek interiors inside of a testing facility for yourself and other “Magrunners” where everything is cleanly lit, sparse on color and detail, as space-age and sci-fi as you could imagine. These first set of aperture inspired levels lack any sort of hard edge or detail, with every single element in the room being curved and well lit and as minimalist as possible. The second half of the game takes places in facilities “underneath” the one you were in prior and are dilapidated grey and brown ruins of previous testing facilities, complete with all the same tools and magnetizable pads and tech that you had seen previously but this time a much older and “70’s” style of sci-fi aesthetic, but covered in grime and dirt and dust from the years of abandonment and rot. I cannot understate how unsubtle this is. The first third of the game is Aperture Science bonafide and part right after is Old Aperture from Portal 2. Magrunner’s aesthetic inspirations are worn very clearly on their sleeve, and it makes the game feel very boring and bland by comparison. It’s impossible to play Magrunner: Dark Pulse and not feel as though it was simply a junior developer exclaiming: “What if Portal/Portal 2, but Magnets?!” while the rest of the developers collectively lose their minds from excitement.

The music of the game was provided, as far as i can tell by the credits, by Incomptech AKA Kevin Macleod. A musician known for releasing thousands of free songs for use in any creative project. This isn’t, by default, a bad thing. Most of the music was not things I had heard from his library before and thus I didn’t immediately twig that it was his library, but unfortunately the music selection isn’t enough. As in, there are not enough tracks to fit the game. There are 39 levels in total and each level features a music track, but often and especially in the later parts, the music tracks are entirely re-used. This is most apparent when one of the tracks is a rising piercing noise, like the type you’d hear in a horror movie right before the slasher stabs into someone, but it never ends or pays off. It just loops upon itself and becomes this droning nightmare of a track for however long the physics force you to stay in a level. I counted 6 times this happened and each time it was so loud and obnoxious and frustrating that I had to simply turn off the game audio to be able to bare the level at all. 

None of the other sound effects are worth writing home about, either, unfortunately. In something like Portal, there are pretty iconic sounds within its soundscape. The sound of the portal gun firing and portals being created, the soft and child-like speech of the turrets, the chiding and derogatory AI voice of GLaDOS, yet Dark Pulse lacks anything even half as memorable. Aside from the repetitive music, you are only given small bits of dialogue between each level and that’s really it. There’s a lot of character they could have created here, for example: When you gain the ability to create your own magnetic fields at will, the center of them is a dog-robot that your player character created in his spare time as a child. Creating one of these points could’ve been met with an adorable puppy squeak or bark, anything like that. Your character or the various ones that speak to you could’ve chimed in at any point in levels outside of the beginning or end of them, and yet they do not. It’s a big missed opportunity.

Story:

Speaking of characters, whew boy, are there a lot of them

Magrunner takes place in the distant future where a corporation that is effectively Facebook has taken over the planet by connecting every single person to its service essentially from birth and making it as essential to daily life as possible. Because of this, this corporation has become the de-facto richest company in the world. Its founder, Xander Gruckzeber, whose last name is literally an anagram of Zuckerberg, has started a contest in which 7 contestants can compete to become “Magrunners” and take a trip to outer space in a ship that is being powered on experimental magnetic based technology. The contest involves each contestant going through a series of puzzles that prove their aptitude with the magnetic tech that Xander’s company has developed. 

Your character, an orphan named Dax C. Ward, is the only one of the 7 contestants that does not have a corporate sponsor. Instead, he’s a boy genius who built his own robotic puppy at age 10 and at age 21 built his own magnetic glove that interacts with the magnetic technology and allows him to compete. Ever the underdog, you’re helped along by your adoptive uncle Gamaji who himself is a six-armed mutant and an outcast among humanity for it.

Sound a little on the nose? Like it may be lacking subtlety in any form? Yeah, the entire game is like that. From Xander’s last name anagram to the fact that your own character’s name is itself a reference to “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” which was a short horror novel written by Lovecraft, the game never really had a chance at subtlety in the first place. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, mind you, but in between the re-hashed artstyle and the immediate and obvious references, and the fact that It tries to throw a very by the numbers cyber punk aesthetic ripped straight out of Blade Runner at you in an opening cutscene that it immediately abandons afterwards. It all just feels tired from the moment you hit New Game and incredibly confused about its own direction. It can’t decide if it’s a Lovecraftian setting, a Sci-fi setting, if it’s trying to say something about Facebook or if it's just going to be Portal: The Magnetic Spin-off.

As the game progresses and Act 1 ends, you find the corpse of another Magrunner being eaten by an anthropomorphic fish person. You are then told by Gamaji that he’s going to help you escape the facility, but this will require you to go through the older parts of the facility as he slowly hacks into the mainframe and tries to get you out via service elevators. Inside these older puzzle rooms are repeated writings on the wall, ravings of someone gone mad with the knowledge of the Old Ones, and giant sculptures depicting various Cthulhu-esque monsters. This would be bad and scary enough on its own, but Gamaji is quick to let you know that portals to some unknown dimension and fish monsters are being spotted in cities all over the world causing havoc and terror. 

About halfway through Act 2, Gamaji drops the bombshell on Dax that his parents didn’t actually die in a car crash like he’s told him all his life, but that they were Old God worshipping cultists and that Dax’s birth in and of itself may somehow be related to that cult and its actions. This tracks, then, because Dax continually receives strange visions in the form of uncovered memories of “The Seven” attempting some ritual to seal off some force from beyond. Act 2 ends with the revelation that Xanders assistant, Kram, is actually behind all the ritual sacrifice and is attempting to summon Cthulhu himself to our world from the Great Beyond. So far, Act 1 and 2 have been rather cliche but haven’t been anything i’d call unremarkable or strange in a Lovecraftian inspired story.

And then Act 3 happens.

Act 3 sees you flung into the far reaches of Actually Literally Space, with various bits of the test chambers around that you must use to get to portals that are marked by a cute little icon of Cthulhu himself that transport you further into space and to the next level. You can quite literally see our pale blue dot to your side if you look, including a gigantic eldritch device that seems to be either siphoning souls to it, or depositing monsters onto the planet. The fact you can breathe in space is just handwaved as “Something Kram must be doing.” and is never brought up again. What really struck me more than anything in these levels, though, is that Cthulhu himself literally appears before you every 2 minutes in each level and simply watches you while repeating “Cthulhu... Fhtagn... R'lyeh...” over and over and over. This was the moment the game honestly lost any credibility from me. Simply seeing a statue in Act 2 caused Dax to go into a screaming panic as he was able to perceive how a human may be turned into a fish person. But seeing the literal Old God himself doesn’t bother him? And why is Cthulhu so interested in you in the first place? Unfortunately, we get an answer to both of those questions and it might be the most insane thing i’ve ever seen in a piece of Lovecraft inspired media.

Dax, somehow through the work of the cult that his parents were part of, is the chosen one. Cthulhu not only cares about him and wants to see him succeed, but even helps him to literally ascend and become an Old God himself. But not, of course, before letting Dax have a heart to heart with Gamaji wherein he tells him that he has seen through Cthulhu’s eyes himself and must now ascend, as he has no other option. Because Cthulhu is a big softie on adoptive relationships, I guess. The game’s final level has you face off against Kram in a boss battle where you fling explosive cubes at each other and attempt to destroy the esoteric relay connected to Earth. During their fight, Dax taunts Kram who tells him that what he is doing is the will of his Master, Cthulhu, and Dax knowingly retorts that what Kram is doing is “Not what He wants.” As if he has a direct line into the Old Gods mind itself. 

I cannot overstate how much of an absolute failure of the mythos itself that this entire story arc is. The Lovecraft mythos was not, and never has been, made for “Chosen One” stories. If you survive an encounter in the first place, you’re often left with horrible scars that never truly leave you because Cthulhu and the Old Gods are in some ways meant to be representative of trauma and a fear of your own trauma. Making Dax suddenly an Old One and a special Chosen One is a complete and utter failure on a scale I've never, ever seen before. It’s been days and I'm honestly still reeling from the fact that was a design decision someone agreed on.

Conclusion:

Magrunner: Dark Pulse is a confusing and often frustrating game with a story that utterly fails its mythos and setting in just about every way possible. But I don’t want to pretend that I didn’t have any fun playing it. I did, and it’s not the worst game I've ever played. It’s not even so much a “so bad it’s good” game, but it’s more of an indie game that clearly tried its hardest and for that I can’t fault it. It’s developers clearly love the Cthulhu and Lovecraftian mythos and really, really, really loved the Portal series and wanted to combine those things into their own spin on it and in that respect, it’s competent enough that I could recommend it to someone who really enjoys those sort of puzzle platformer based games. But... man. That ending. Yikes. 

[realtalk-tj]

I'm not sure if I want to do either the neuro lab or the biotech lab senior year (I'm deciding between doing neuro/dna1 or dna1/dna2 next year). what are the pros/cons of doing each lab/course?

Response from Flitwick: 

Sorry for being SUPER late to this! I’ve never taken either of these courses, but Narcissa sure has! Here’s a slightly edited version of my messages w/ her re: this question: 

Neuro: 

Narcissa: Neuro is a discussion-based class - you go through articles each class and one person leads the discussion and you’re graded on how much you participate (you need to contribute like a minimum of 2-3 times per primary article and then also contribute during secondary and review article discussions). Discussions are like generally 1-2 primary articles and a review and a secondary. Generally, after a few article discussions you get a good idea of how to read 12-page scientific articles in like not a lot of time. They look kind of scary when you first look at them but neuro teaches you the patterns and structure in each one since you just keep reading them and then eventually it’s easier to read them. In that vein, you have 4 reading tests which are like (20min to read a scientific article and take notes on it -> take another 20 minutes to write answers to questions that Locklear gives out). These tests are REALLY difficult - scores are usually like 4-8 out of 20 so she curves a lot but like you’ll get better and since it’s curved it’s not that bad. There are a couple of other project things and it ends in a presentation of your proposal for the neuro lab (you don’t actually have to use this proposal in the lab though a lot of people did not). 

Flitwick: for the tests (because I feel like this will be asked by someone eventually) - do you just have to be good at reading? do you just know what parts she wants? 

Narcissa: nope you can’t study for them - it’s just knowing how to read the articles and get the information from them. She wants the entire paper - there’s no real pattern. You’ll know she’ll ask about certain sections, but it’s insanely detail-oriented and like a lot of the time you’ll have the right answer but you miss some detail and you get points off. 

tl;dr: neuro is discussions and the main skill you get from it is the ability to distill information from and actually understand complicated scientific articles. Also, they’re all about neuro, so you get a lot of experience with neuroscience research. I liked the class! 

As for like applicability to the lab, I guess it’s helpful (also required for the neuro lab) but like you can def take as a co-req if they let you bc like you can do projects in the neuro lab without relying too much on info you learned in neuro. It’s like not too hard but like definitely work - mostly different kinds of work than other bio classes though. 

DNA 1: 

Narcissa: Dna is basically like AP bio - like more traditional because you have a textbook and you take notes on and read chapters and then have a quiz on a test on the chapter. In addition to that, you have like presentations for each chapter generally, and sometimes some sort of other activity and then a lot of labs and then an arabidopsis project that your whole class does. So DNA is AP bio but with different and more lab research/DNA science-focused chapters + labs. 

The labs are like actual lab work - I’d imagine it’s really helpful for the biotech lab and it also could be helpful for the neuro lab if you’re doing like a cell culture project like I am. You def don’t need it though - like I took DNA last semester because of scheduling constraints and I could do my project in the neuro lab without a background of taking DNA 1 (although I did intern at labs over the summer) but yeah even then you don’t need to take it for the neuro lab. It’s just that you have more experience pipetting I guess? 

(Disclaimer from Flitwick: I don’t think Narcissa has actually taken DNA 2, so maybe the experience is different/more useful? //shrug

Also, this doesn’t quite answer the questions regarding the labs but I’d say definitely do your own research/Googling! These fields definitely attack very different tasks and maybe as you read the literature you’ll begin to prefer one over the other...)

Okay, that was a lot but I hope that helps!

[smokeybrand]

The Fif

When i was in the fifth grade, i went to a really, really, poor school. We had moved to an even worse neighborhood and the education level of these kids was insane. It took about a week before the teacher stopped giving me grades. Our first test was on math i had mastered way back in the 3rd grade so i go every question correct as well as the extra credit. My one grade ruined the curve and flunked everyone else in the class. I think i ended up with 120 percent and the next highest percentage was 73. That’s where the curve started before i got there. 73. It was incredibly disheartening because these kids weren’t stupid, they just didn’t have the told to be more than they were. Hell, the teacher even cared. He tried incredibly hard but the materials he had were just awful. I lost an entire year of school because i moved to an impoverished neighborhood and, looking back, that’s insane to me. Living in that world, in that neighborhood, it was a literal Prep-to-prison pipeline.

When i got to junior high, i went to one of the better middle schools in the area. For a year. After that disastrous fifth grade year, we moved back to my old home and i finished elementary where i started. I was able to get materials that actually challenged me and kind of f*cked up our standard test scores. There was five or six of us who through the curve so the school ended up getting a ton of extra grant money. Because of that, my principal wrote me a brilliant recommendation to the better school. We met with that principal, my mother and i, and i took a quick test that proved my intelligence. They enrolled me that day. I pick my courses and forget about it until my first day of school. I show up to get my schedule and, surprise-surprise, i’m in none of the classes i selected. First class i go to, my history class, i recognize three people from that fifth grade class. What the f*ck?

Apparently, because i wasn’t from the affluent zip code that the school resided within, i was lumped in with the kids who got bused in from the terrible neighborhood i used to live in. F*ck my recommendation. F*ck the fact i hadn’t lived in that zip code for a full year. F*ck the fact that i studied college level material for fun in my personal time. F*ck the fact that we had met with the principal and i had proven how bright i was. Nope, i came from a zip code that didn’t line up with the rich neighborhood demographic so i was banished to oblivion because of it. I spent that year effortless completing assignments and acting out because of boredom. I went into that school trending AP courses and left so disillusioned with organized education overall. I never shook that sense of disenfranchisement and just kind of coasted until i graduated high school. It’s wild looking back. I could have been a theoretical physicist, i still kind of do that math for fun, but instead, i worked a ton of mediocre gigs until i almost died. All because school exposed itself to me too early.

School is not a place for smart people.

[vanaera]

Unread Messages

15. Things you said with too many miles between us (online friend!namjoon + idol!you)

Summary | In which Namjoon has beaten stress, pressure, and also time differences with you by his side but he has yet to beat to know that whom he's talking to through the screen of his phone is the same person he fawns on TV screens along with millions of other people.

Genre | Fluff + Super slight angst

Wordcount | 3, 193

Sequel : Missed Calls

     Light suddenly illuminates the pitch black room and it shines against every curve and ridge of Namjoon's face, pricking his eyes to open as he blindly reaches for his glasses.

    Once finding his bedroom clear through the lenses, he grabs his phone which alerted him of a new notification.

1 New Message!

SunnyY/N 1:32 AM

Hi! I just finished watching Predestination and holy shit how dare you rec me something so mindfucking??!!

    Namjoon types lethargically with a smile hanging on his lips.

MonJoon 1:33 AM

Glad you found the movie compelling though it's 1:33 AM here in the fucking morning, I've got AP exams later, and you woke me up just to say that?

SunnyY/N 1:33 AM

I'm sorry oh my gosh I thought you were awake! God, I didn't think of the time difference! Okay okay, go to sleep now.

MonJoon 1:33 AM

It's alright, I’m having trouble sleeping lately anyway. Where are you currently?

SunnyY/N 1:33 AM

I'm in Italy now though I haven't find anytime yet to travel around :((( Anyhow, go to sleep now! You need that sleep to defeat those tests later!

    Namjoon raises his brow. It must be nice to travel around different parts of the world because of your parent's work. The constant jetlags may be troublesome but he'd rather have that than take on a pile of homeworks and exams he doesn't even need for his major.

MonJoon 1:34 AM

Okay, stay safe there. Good nytie night!

SunnyY/N 1:35 AM

Nyt Nyt!!! :DDD

    Around six o'clock, Namjoon wakes up to the blaring noise of his alarm clock and another notification.

SunnyY/N 6:01 AM

I hope you have a nice day and good luck on your exams! Fighting!!!! 🙆🙆🙆 ( P.S. : I computed the time difference, credits to Mr. Google and I figured you'll be awake now :)))) )

    A grin spreads on Namjoon's face as he ruffles his bed hair and heads to his bathroom. He's got enough of good luck now to tackle on anything that will get on his nerves.

    The day passes and so do his three exams with Namjoon fortunately being still alive. He feels he should ask you to wish him luck everyday because God knows how his luck hasn't worn off yet today. And just like every hard work he gets done, he thinks his reward just came with a "ding!" and a Twitter update.

Y/N Official™ 7:20 PM

Y/N models new collection of Flyday "Missantrophies"!

    Namjoon has never tapped so fast in his life only to see pure beauty before him. Y/N wore frilly dresses painted with classical paintings his art major friend, Jeongguk, studies that made her look like an artwork instead while she daintily posed around some museum in Rome he knows he'll never have a chance to go to anytime soon. The pictures were breathtaking but what made his heart almost combust was the behind the scene shoots with her barely there make-up and a bright grin on her tired form as she hugs a huge teddy bear by her side.

    Too cute, too cute, too cute, gosh Namjoon wants to know how to become that teddybear now.

    Namjoon taps on the Send Me icon and immediately taps the image with your username.

MonJoon 7:20 PM

HAVE YOU SEEN THE RECENT FLYDAY PHOTOSHOOT???!!! Y/N LITERALLY LOOKS LIKE ART

- see 10 photos

SunnyY/N 7:21 AM

Yes hoe, but look at this babe

-see 1 photo

    Namjoon opens the pic to see Y/N lazily looking at her self-camera with tired eyes and bare face that looks like the meme "I don't fucking care anymore". He laughs with his heart squeezing with affection. He's always a sucker for pictures of Y/N looking like everyday college students. But wait -

MonJoon 7:22 PM

She looks so cute!!!! Btw how did you get this pic???? I haven't seen it on her social media accounts yet. Tell me how??????

SunnyY/N 7:22 PM

I have my ways 😏😏😏 Let's just say I'm really resourceful :DDD

MonJoon 7:23 PM

Meanie

"You're chatting with your online girlfriend again?"

    Namjoon raises his head to be met with his roommate (and friend, though he wants to regret such title sometimes) Seokjin's teasing smirk accompanied by a click of the door. He just came home and the first thing he does is suggest that out-of-nowhere-conclusion he kept bringing up. "Uhh yes, online girl-space-friend, not girlfriend," he corrects before he lets his fingers fly across the screen of his phone.

MonJoon 7:30 PM

How are things going around you by the way? Just finished this hellday and I wanna say I think I passed them but I think I'm gonna jinx myself so I'd rather not.

SunnyY/N 7:31 PM

You're not gonna jinx yourself! Just think positive! I know you're smart 😎😎😎 so of course you're gonna pass!!! I'm okay though I'm deadly tired. Been through another flight and now I'm in Sweden.

MonJoon 7:32 PM

So soon?! You're in Italy just like a few hours ago and you haven't traveled around yet!!!! You're missing opportunities, hoe!!

    Namjoon thinks you're hella insane going from one country to another without even staying for a while to travel.

SunnyY/N 7:32 PM

I'm really sad too 😥😥😥 but can't blame my parents for deciding to go from one country to another. Oh I got drunk earlier and fortunately I didn't accidentally open another account in some social media platform. I've already got too many shits, don't need to let the whole world know I'm such an embarrassing person ahahahha

    Namjoon chuckles and he could hear Seokjin yell "There you go again laughing like a lovesick fool. Stop denying she's so your online girlfriend!" over the kitchen but he didn't mind that at all when he remembers the first time he knew you was through the same odd antic you do when you're drunk.

    It was two years ago around some November midnight when Aym a BaBe suddenly messaged him on Send Me with "I'm really sad, can i take up this space for a while?"

    Namjoon was used to receiving shady or nonsense flirty messages from questionable usernames, not to say he automatically deletes messages from people he have never heard of at all. But that night was an exception since it was also the first time he saw someone's pain without even looking at their face.

    Just like what you said, you then filled up the convo space with "I'm just really sad right now" and "I can't even let out my true feelings at all to the people around me," and lastly how you admired his courage for posting the only post that got over 100 notes in his entire Tumblr life defending female solo artist Y/N.

     Y/N, the apple of Namjoon's eyes and his wife-to-be in his own dreamlamd started from scratch and slowly built her career in the music industry with her navy blue guitar and songs about broken glasses and misplaced loves. Namjoon thinks she could have already taken over the world with her now inactive small Youtube account Y/N sings with her original songs about sex, love, and drugs - things usually sung by men artists and topics that were avoided by females in fear of being silenced and judged by a misogynist world.

    Though her fame only started with break up songs as she delved into TV and radio shows that prevented her from trying bold moves such as her compositions in her Youtube career, Y/N still writes and sings her heart out and Namjoon cheered for her continuous success.

    Around one year later, her upbeat breakup single Go F*ck Yourself gained worldwide popularity that made her voice be known on all ears. That's why yesterday, when news broke out about Y/N's new album No More You was about the trifecta that killed every other female artists' career in such a traditional industry, all hell broke lose over the net.

    A couple of  "You're promoting bad things with your song," "You're trying too hard,"  and unnecessarily mean "You're so ugly, try getting a plastic surgery maybe you'll be more tolerable in every viewer's eyes," Namjoon just have to type down a massive text post about such cyber harassment and downright misogyny and inhumane comments against a person who wanted to convey the reality of other people now that her voice can be heard by all over the world.

    You suddenly appeared then with a weird username in that one'o clock haze. Namjoon let you rant out your complaints on the convo space, read each message you sent without replying because not everyone needs advice, just someone who can listen to them. When Namjoon checks his inbox some day later, he found that you changed your username to SunnyY/N like every other fan who uses their idol's name on their username but there's something about yours that drove him to know you more. Maybe it's because he wouldn't associate 'sunny' to Y/N unless she's smiling so wide - he wasn't really sure. And just like that, he formed a stable communication with someone he calls "Sun" whose face he hasn't seen yet over a two year course of friendship that is still staying strong now.

MonJoon 7:35 PM

Good for you that you didn't start up another account. Why are you drunk anyway?

SunnyY/N 7:38 PM

Nothing, just sad. Not a big deal. It's 1 AM here btw, I gotta go. Nytie nyt!

    Namjoon can sense you didn't want to talk about it so he sends his good nights too before going to the table for dinner. After getting his homeworks done, he counts time differences and sets another alarm aside from his morning call.

    Around seven, you wake up with the hundredth notification on your phone but the latest one is what only mattered.

MonJoon 7:01 AM

Good morning! I hope you have a great day. Stay safe, hoe :)

 //

      In the middle of writing an essay about the fundamentals of quantum physics, Namjoon's My Only Friend ringtone makes the man jump on his seat, pen almost flying from his grasp. In his defense, Y/N's MOF is the best of her recent album, Friends & Foes, and it's made him feel so much anyway-

    Namjoon swipes the green button. "What is it, Jimin?"

    "Hey have you seen the announcement of Y/N's concert tour?" Jimin rattles, "Man, the ticket prices are up and I swear to God I have to sell at least one kidney to get the VIP seats and -"

    Jimin's rambling turns into white noise as Namjoon hesitates. He's in the middle of doing tons of essays and shit, he's gonna get distracted again with Y/N's face. He already promised himself to tone down his “stanning” a little and just - fuck it. His hands are already pounding against his keyboard, the tab he opened for his references already in the back of his mind as he clicks the news of your new concert. When it comes to Y/N, he easily pushes away his priorities and God, it's just so stupid but still -

Y/N Official™ 10:50 PM

Y/N Sun + Moon Tour ticket prices are up! Concert dates in other countries will be further announced.

    Namjoon scrolls down and sees listings of dates in California, New York, Los Angeles, yadah yadah, Italy, and Sweden - wait.

    He mumbles a "Gonna get back to you Chim, I'm busy right now" through the phone, ends the call, and goes to Send Me to tap your icon.

1 Unread Message!

    Oh right, he hasn't opened Send Me the past few days because he and Seokjin forgot to pay their net bills. Shocks, you must have been pissed off he hadn't replied you yet.

    However, he didn't expect to read something aside from your memes or your whereabouts and concern for his.

SunnyY/N 1:20 AM

Hi Joon, I'm gonna be inactive for a while but I think i can send a few somethings whenever I can. Just send me anything you want, complain about school and friends, fanboy over Y/N or whatever, I'm gonna reply to that once I can. Hope you have a wonderful day! :DDD

MonJoon 11:00 PM

Hi Sun, sorry I only read your message now. Jin and i forgot to pay bills on time again so yeah. Btw, Y/N's gonna go there in Sweden on July 5 and I hope you can come there! Send me pics if you can! Stay safe hoe and enjoy travelling around!

    Namjoon closes his phone as well as his previous tabs aside from his references and leans on his chair. When you've both started opening up to each other online, you mentioned that once a year you're gonna be hella busy with your folks to the point you barely have time for goofing around the net. It sounded weird but he didn't question you about it and typed "gotta detach yourself away from your phone somehow someday. I’m like that too when finals come hahahahha.", afraid he'll sound prying. 

    After two years of hanging around and being fond of you, he can't help but be constantly curious of what you're actually doing. You're born in the same year as him (though you're only two months older than him) and you've been travelling around the world with your parents while Namjoon's stuck in college with a Philosophy degree and hating every other subject that has nothing to do with making music. You're sick rich and you have your own studio at home (you showed him a pic) because technically you enjoy music too while he's almost dying with the constant tutoring sessions he have with other kids just so he can save up for his Mon Studio-to-be.

    He wonders how he can connect with you so well when you've never had a common ground in your lives aside from liking music and also Y/N. What it would be like if you are a normal college student like him? Are you really small like you say? What will you probably major in? You'll pass out if you had the same schedule as him, Namjoon snorts. He'll probably be that friend who'll constantly check up on you, and you'll probably smile so wide, and maybe your eyes would turn into tiny curves like crescent moons. You haven't sent him a selca yet but he thinks you'll be pretty.

    Namjoon sighs. He wants to meet you so badly.

 //

      September comes and Namjoon counted 23 small candles his friends stuck in the cake Seokjin made. His friends told him to make a wish first but he didn't really have anything that came to his mind. Yeah, maybe he wishes for everyone's health and happiness - he could do with that, and then he blows the candles along with the worries of the past year.

    When the party died down and Yoongi and the rest of the squad bid them goodbyes, Namjoon finds himself slumped against his chair, tired of cleaning all the confetti from party poppers and the piñata Hoseok brought from god knows where.

    He opens his phone and scrolls through his Twitter feed for any updates on Y/N's tour and just then a Send Me notif pops out and he smiles. He never managed to beat through coincidence to be online the same time as you do so he settled for unread messages and leaving messages for the past month as well as sending each other pictures of what you've been doing at the meantime. These kept a smile on his face but he knew right then it would never beat the grin he has now he's got to finally talk with you again.

SunnyY/N 1:01 AM

Happy Birthday, Joon! 😆😆😄

🍕🍕🍕🍟🍟🍟🍔🍔🍔🍲🍲🍲🎂🎂🎂🍰🍰🍰🍦🍦🍦🍫🍫🍫

Hope you ate a lot!

MonJoon 1:01 AM

Thanks! and yes i ate a lot! Seokjin's food is ever 👌👌👌 And oh my god, you're finally online! I miss my hoe!

SunnyY/N 1:02 AM

Yes, some things came up but i'm gonna be fine now. Hey, I'm coming back home in Korea this September and holy gosh Y/N will also hold her concert the same month here! Go come, I will be there and we can finally meet up!!! (I won't be free until after the 26th anyway and i want to meet you so bad now that we're gonna be in the same country!!!!)

    Namjoon's heart thunders. You've never suggested a meet-up before since you told him six months ago you're not yet okay showing yourself to him when it happened that you stayed in Korea and he requested to meet you. However, the small pain in his heart whenever he has to type this cannot be drowned by its overwhelmingly rapid beating.

MonJoon 1:03 AM

Sadly I can't :(

SunnyY/N:1:03 AM

Hey why? I can buy you the VIP tickets if you're feeling a little burdened with the price. I just want to have my main hoe with me

MonJoon 1:03 AM

Thanks for the offer but my finals just have to be scheduled the same day as her concert and guhhh, I don't even want you to spend so much on me. But god, you don't know how happy you made me when you finally agreed to meet up; I just wanna hug you irl!!!! I'm so excited to finally see you, This must be the best birthday present anyone has gave me, hoe!

SunnyY/N 1:04 AM

But I can't wait that long, what if I say I want to meet you now?

    What?

SunnyY/N is requesting for a video call. Accept? Decline?

    Namjoon's brows furrow; you told him before you don't want video calls and now you're doing this? It's confusing but Namjoon clicks on Accept anyway because he doesn't have it in his heart to decline your requests.

    The image of a room and a yellow-hoodied-figure fills his screen. Namjoon can see a bottle on the far corner of your room and before he can scold you for drinking your problems away, a very familiar voice fills his ears and makes him stuck frozen in his chair.

    "I've been feeling sad lately and I tried to get off my phone for the past months but I can't do that now," you sniff, "It's your birthday, I have to greet you. And I know sober me won't do that so I got drunk just to have enough liquid courage to wish you a happy birthday and that I want to meet you."

    Namjoon blinks his eyes twice, this must be a fucking dream - why is he seeing Y/N's bare face and hearing her voice live what - how could you be-

    "By the way, I wrote MOF while  thinking about you," you wipe  the tears forming on your waterline,  "I'm shit right now, but I don't care. I'm saying stuff I'll not remember so you have to remind me okay? I'm gonna end the call now. It's a stupid reason - I just wanna see you."

    Before you tap the red button Namjoon could hear you mutter, "I didn't imagine you'll be this fucking handsome God, I should have fixed myself."

    The screen goes back to the convo space with you now offline and Namjoon can't feel his heart.

    What the fuck, you're Y/N?!

A/N | Hi anon! I combined your requests into #15. Hope you like it! Sorry for the long wait! BTW, Send Me is a social media platform I made up and so is the brand Flyday!

09.07.2018 : Update! This will become another drabble series of mine so expect more dynamics and shenanigans of fan!namjoon and idol!you :D

All Rights Reserved © Vanaera. No reposts, modifications, and translations of content is allowed without direct permission.

[cardboardedison]

Meaningful Decisions: Benoit Turpin on Design Choices in Welcome To...

In our Meaningful Decisions series, we ask designers about the design choices they made while creating their games, and what lessons other designers can take away from those decisions.

In this edition, we talk with Benoit Turpin, the designer of Welcome To…, about roll-and-write games, randomness and control, low-interaction designs, game rhythms, and more.

Welcome To... is often grouped together with roll-and-write games despite the fact that it doesn't have any dice. Instead, the game uses a deck of cards to control the random output from which players select their actions each round. Was this core system always the same, or did it change during development?

Actually, not at all. The core system was originally dice-based. You had three custom D8 dice with a color and a number on each side. You rolled the three dice and then combined them two-by-two, numerically and chromatically. For example, you would get a 2 blue and a 3 yellow, and that would make a 5 green. So you had, in the end, three combinations with numbers ranging 1 to 16 and six different colors corresponding to the six effects. That was the system I came up with, with the express desire to make a game system as pure and elegant as can be. Three dice and nothing more; but lots of possibilities. So at its core, Welcome to... is definitely a roll-and-write.

However, during the development phase, two things came up: One, the game length was too long. Around 40 to 45 minutes a game. And a good chunk of the game was dedicated to figuring out the three combinations each turn (six mathematical operations every time). And one of our playtesters (a local store owner) felt that the game was not a dice game in the sense that the player rolling the dice had no benefit compared to the other players. He was just “the Randomizer” (a cool title but still...).

So we went on looking for a better way to randomize the results (after a brief but painful phase where I had to say goodbye to the basic principle of my game--a necessary evil and a good lesson for a new game designer like me, but ouch...). The first goal was to replicate purely the dice roll without any dice. And we tried many things, from tokens pulled out of a bag, tokens dropped on a board, and many variations of card dealing. It was not easy to replicate the breadth of possible combinations without having an insane amount of components or a very clunky interface. But when we tried the card system present in the final game, we knew we had found the solution. Having the combination created by pairing the different sides of the cards allowed both the replication of the dice randomizer to a T, and got rid of the lengthy math phase. Suddenly, the game was 15-20 minutes shorter.

And from there, new options came: altering the gaussian bell curve to better fit the flow of the game; adding the effect on the top part of the number side to give player a bit more info to make their decision; and also, quite naturally, give the players a sense of control to the randomness. So, even though this “better control of the randomness” is often hailed by reviewers as a key part of the game system, it is just a byproduct of a completely different game design issue… And from my perspective, controlling randomness is important but not always a good thing...

Are there things that designers of roll-and-write games (or flip-and-fill games, as Welcome To… has been called) can or should do to mitigate randomness and give players more predictability or control?

In a roll-and-write, randomness is structurally a factor players have to take into account. Sure, there is a wide range of randomness from Yahtzee to La Granja: No Siesta, but if there is no randomness, then it is not a roll-and-write. It becomes a very different type of game, more akin to worker placement or action selection than R&W. So mitigating randomness should not be the ultimate goal when designing a R&W. For example, in Welcome To..., players can know the distribution of the cards, and can do a bit of card counting, but we limited this control by allowing at least one reshuffle of the deck during a game. Why? Because if players had access to complete information, then AP (analysis paralysis) could set in, and the game would just be a solvable, dry math problem. And that’s no fun… (at least for me).

So “things designers can or should do to mitigate randomness” are two very different questions...

Should they do it depends on the kind of experience they want to create. For example, Avenue has more randomness than Welcome To... and it gives a very different feeling: more highs and more lows because players are less in control, so they enjoy more having a break (feeling lucky is feeling good) and whine more (or is it just me?) when the fourth golden card comes too soon. And it is not a problem at all. It makes the game more accessible thanks to the lack of mitigating mechanics. It also can make games meaner, in Qwinto most notably. In Qwinto, the design is so sparse that there is very little luck-mitigating elements. And it can feel brutal sometimes. But this feeling is also explained by the type of randomness involved in these games.

Qwinto and Welcome To... share some similarities (most notably the three lines of ascending numbers) but the type of randomness in these games are very different. Qwinto has what is called output randomness: players make a decision (roll one, two or three dice) and then the die roll gives a random result and players have to deal with it. The designer mitigated the randomness using two tactics: First, by allowing the players to choose which die to roll, he gave the players control of the bet they were making. And then, the players can reroll if the result isn’t satisfying. But as you made your decision beforehand, the stakes are very high with each roll.

In Welcome To..., there is rather input randomness: players are randomly dealt three choices beforehand, and then they decide what to do with it. This type of randomness gives the player a bigger sense of control (it’s the same one you get in euro-style games; whereas output randomness is more akin to “ameritrash”). You pretty much always have the opportunity to adjust your strategy to the random result, and you get a feeling of “building something” more coherent. But at the same time, you won’t quite get the thrill of rolling the perfect number after sticking to your bet. You do get a bit of it, bingo-style, waiting for the 10-pool you so desperately need, but the stakes are lower.

So “should” is very much a design philosophy, and many great games went opposite routes on that.

As for “can,” designers have a very large panel of options. The most frequent design strategies are allowing the players to re-roll, allowing some players (usually the passive players in R&W) to refuse using the results; and giving several options to pick from the random result: In Ganz schön clever, for example, as the active player, you get to reroll and pick from several dice.

Designers can also use modifiers, powers that allow the player to manipulate the result of the die roll (+1 to a die, turning a die on its opposite side, etc.). For cards, Welcome To... uses a system where players know the effects of the next turn, but not the numbers, so that they can form a bet, akin to the dice selection in Qwinto. In Roll to the Top!, the designer used another system where players can adjust the random factor of the die by picking a different die, from a D4 to a D20, forcing the players to choose between safety and potential high rewards, which is pretty smart.

But personally, one of the best ways to mitigate the randomness is not by controlling the die roll or card flip, but rather by giving the players decisions to make after the random result. What I mean is that if the only thing to mitigate the luck you have is to act on the die roll, you will feel pretty helpless once you used all your tricks (rerolls, modifiers, etc.) if you have only one place to put your result in. Just imagine playing Qwixx by rolling one white die and one colored die (that you chose). You would feel very dependent to the randomness. As soon as you give players options on the result (which dice to use in Qwixx, which line to write your number in Qwinto, which route you connect in Avenue), then not only do you mitigate the luck, but you give the players a feeling of control over their game. And the best games are those where this decision is crucial because whatever you do, you always give something up in the process.

There are various ways to score points in Welcome To..., which allows players to pursue a variety of strategies. At the same time, each score track is capped at a certain number, which usually forces players to diversify at least somewhat. How did you settle on this approach?

Even though all score tracks are capped in Welcome To... the way they are capped is different. The goal of this is to give the game different rhythms. Parks have a very low cap, meaning you can get a feeling of achievement during the game, giving it a rhythm of small victories after another. Pools, on the other hand, have a very high cap: You aim for the target and fail most of the time, until that one epic moment when you finally get all the stars aligned and complete all the pools. It gives a different feeling for the player. Temp workers have a very high cap as well, so that you wouldn’t focus on it but rather on the race with the others. As for the real-estate agency, the rather low cap was made to avoid creating too big of a discrepancy between players not using the real estate and players using it. It was for balance purposes only. As for the Bis, I’ll get to it later on.

The way we settled on this approach was intense playtesting, trying all strategies to balance the game while aiming for different feelings corresponding to the different strategies. And the last phase of the development--with the graphic designer--helped us also define the structure of the score tracks. We needed something simple and common to all score tracks to make it easy for the players to follow their progress. The way Anne Heidsieck implemented that with the effect always being “crossing off the topmost available box” and the result always being “the topmost non-crossed box” was amazing but not compatible with other ways we explored without any cap. So it took the whole development for us to reach this final state.

How much leeway should designers give players for certain kinds of experiences? Are there times when giving players more or less freedom to pursue one strategy single-mindedly is appropriate?

All depends on the amount of leeway a designer wants to give the players… Giving a lot of freedom to players is a great but risky approach because if you remove any incentive to “play well,” you run the risk of having players playing very poorly and blaming the game for it, or feeling very bad.

For example, in Avenue, you are free to do pretty much what you want with each card. That can lead to very wide scoring differences (from -10 to 120 in the same game at my house) which can be frustrating but also exhilarating for players scoring very high, because they feel they earned it completely.

Usually, you need some kind of control over which strategy the players will use or you risk having a flaw in your game design.

For example, in Qwixx, you cannot end a line without having five numbers crossed previously, to avoid rushing. In Avenue, you have the “-5 if you don’t score more than the previous village.” In Twenty-One, you must cross off the numbers from the left to avoid players biding their time. In Ganz schön clever, the designer used different caps for the scoring tracks to give leeway to the players. They can play purple and orange as much as they want, while the others are more constrained. But he used the foxes to balance out that leeway (to paraphrase the rugby quote, “no fox, no win”).

I don’t pretend to know all the designers’ intent, but from an outside perspective, giving a sense of freedom to the players is probably better than giving them actual freedom (but don’t put that out of gaming context... it sounds awful).

The box for Welcome To... says 1 to 100 players can play at a time, but theoretically any number of players can play at once if they all have a play sheet. This makes the game a relatively low-interaction affair. Was this always your intention?

The very first iteration of Welcome To… was much more “take that-ish” than the final game, but this high interaction brought so many problems that it got cut off progressively during playtesting. At first, players could lock out other players from certain estates, or lower the value of their estates. But that created timing issues in a simultaneous game and could not be properly scaled for a large number of players. It was also some of the most hated parts of the prototypes during playtesting.

It is very difficult to have high interaction in a roll-and-write due to its indelible nature (at least until now) and its tendency toward simultaneous play. And we felt it was not a needed feature in the game.

Not all games need high interaction between players, and there are many advantages to low (but not altogether absent) interaction. As soon as we settled on this gameplay, we tried to remove any hurdle to higher numbers of players, especially around balancing issues. For example, we made the City Plans scalable to any count by allowing all other players to score the lower value of the card. Being first still mattered, but then everyone could still play.

What can designers of low-interaction games do to make their game accessible to a wider range of player counts?

Well, should they? Sure, it is always great to put on the box “1 to 100 players” as it is a good marketing tool, but using such a scale is very rare and probably not very interesting. And games such as Ganz schön clever did not need any of that to succeed: It doesn’t scale very well, especially at four players, but no one cares because it is such an amazing one- and two-player game. Players (and publishers) tend to want everything: a 1-100 player game with high interaction, fast-paced but strategic, deep but fun, thematic but thinky... But I believe a game should fit a specific niche rather than aim at the impossible and remove what makes it unique.

That said (sorry for the rant), if designers want to make games accessible to a wider range of player counts, there are a few things they can do. First, they have to look at it from a component perspective. To have a higher count, you need to take into account the need for each player to have all that they need. Roll-and-writes are structurally pretty good at this because you can put all a player needs on the sheet, without any need for multiple copies of tokens. Other designs need to find a way to minimize component gloat.

One way is to adapt your gameplay to fit that structure: You cannot have any mechanism that requires players to grab central tokens. You cannot have a “complete race,” with every position mattering. You cannot have limited action spots for a turn. Working on the sequel to Welcome To… with the express goal of making it also 1-100 players, I felt a bit limited in my scope of mechanics when I wanted to interject some interaction. I had to rely on a few that scaled well: majority, semi-racing (first gets better, rest gets a little).

You can also stick to “non-interacting mechanics,” with which you’ll have greater freedom. In games like Qwixx or Noch mal!, all passive players can pick from the “remains” of the active players. You can also have games where everyone use the same random result: Criss Cross, Knister or Avenue, for example; the variability coming from the individual positioning. From that initial stance, then designers can go to any mechanics that don’t affect other players (route building, hand management, etc.)

But at some point you must also consider simultaneous play (or semi-simultaneous with passive players still engaged on the active player’s turn). You probably will have to turn away from turn-based, drafting mechanics because variability in game length can be a dealbreaker if you want to increase player count.

The Bis action allows players to advance more quickly toward completion of a goal card, but at a penalty. How did this action come about?

It started as an action that let players write the card number next to a previously written identical number: You have a 7/Bis card and if there is a 7 somewhere, you can place another 7 next to it. It was meant as a tool for players to soften the harshness of the draw and erase some of their missteps. But it was very random depending on your game state and not that effective. Then we switched to “you place a 7 and then you can place another 7 next to it.” But it was clunky and also too luck-based. So we went to the actual Bis action: You can place a 7, and then anywhere on the board, you can write the same number next to a previously written number.

Bear in mind that it was developed before the City Plans/goal cards. So it was useful for players to get themselves out of a tight spot and finish a housing estate. It became much more powerful with the goal cards as it was also a way to race these. So we had to come up with a penalty. And there came into play psychological balance... We first gave a fixed penalty for each Bis. And it was statistically pretty balanced. But players refused to use the Bis action, seeing it as too costly (which it wasn’t). It was left unused, except by experienced playtesters who would crush the others by rushing Bis. By switching to a more progressive penalty, we almost completely erased that psychological barrier, and people started using it way more, even though it is statistically costlier today.

Are there things you learned from developing the Bis action that would help other designers who want to allow players to take risks in pursuit of a goal?

The most important thing is to make sure there is a real risk. If the action is just an alternate way of progressing through the game at a faster pace for a cost, there is a chance that some players will be able to math out the equation and find the exact amount of Bis that should be used. In Welcome To..., you are not guaranteed that your bet will pay off. If you fail to get goal cards or finish up housing estate even though you used Bis, because other players played differently, then it was not a worthy strategy. And that is important.

Another thing, as I mentioned before, is psychological balance. If your gain-to-risk ratio is perfect but players feel that it’s too good or too hard, then you have a design problem. And it happens in great games. And you can’t math-talk your way out of it. Players’ perception always wins, even when they’re wrong. And it is hard to make sure both mathematical balance and psychological balance are fine.

Finally, this action revealed an unexpected boon: It speeds up the game by cutting 2-3 turns. And in this day and age of impatient gamers, that is pretty interesting (and it led to a fun new action in the sequel). It turned out well for us, but I think it is important to look further than your expected target when introducing a new action like that because it can lead to unexpected results, both ways.

Cardboard Edison is supported by our patrons on Patreon.

ADVISERS: Rob Greanias, Peter C. Hayward, Aaron Vanderbeek SENIOR INVENTORS: Steven Cole (Escape Velocity Games), John du Bois, Chris and Kathy Keane (The Drs. Keane), Joshua J. Mills, Marcel Perro, Behrooz Shahriari, Shoot Again Games JUNIOR INVENTORS: Ryan Abrams, Joshua Buergel, Luis Lara, Neil Roberts, Jay Treat ASSOCIATES: Dark Forest Project, Stephen B. Davies, Adrienne Ezell, Marcus Howell, Thiago Jabuonski, Doug Levandowski, Nathan Miller, Mike Sette, S GO Explore, Matt Wolfe APPRENTICES: Cardboard Fortress Games, Kiva Fecteau, Guz Forster, Scott Gottreu, Aaron Lim, Scott Martel Jr., James Meyers, The Nerd Nighters, Matthew Nguyen, Marcus Ross, Rosco Schock, VickieGames, Lock Watson, White Wizard Games

[eva-420]

wow is just absolute piss though. like i took a few weeks off so even if i were to log in, get insanely lucky with drops, and get a like 360 azerite piece it would be a downgrade because i dont even have the ap to use the traits

at least if you fell behind the curve in legion you didnt regress. also speaking of battle for azeroth just feels like more of legion honestly, even the new like. faction combat world event is just invasions again- four special flavor world quests, teleport to a ship, kill a boss

[snowyseahorse]

All of them

why do you do this to me

flower crown: when did you last sing to yourself?

Are We There Yet by Timeflies and Chase Rice

fairy lights: if a crystal ball could tell you the truth about anything, what would you want to know?

Where to find Better People

daisies: what is the greatest accomplishment of your life?

Pulling myself out of my worst emotional/mental state like a year ago and evolving because of it (and I guess my grades too lol I have a 4.0 and I’m taking 4 AP tests monday-wednesday)

1975: what is the first happy memory that comes to mind, recent or otherwise?

Dancing in my room and Feeling Good

matte: if you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living?

I’d tell the truth more and tell people I love them and take easy classes because What’s The Point and make out with more people (I haven’t made out with anyone in like 6 months I’m sad) and get my driver’s license and cry more

black nail polish: do you have a bucket list? if so, what are the top three things?

I don’t! I just want to be happy. Nothing else matters.

pantone: describe a person close to your life in detail.

Jeremy @diediedie000000000000000000000 is my closest friend right now and he’s fantastic. He has the most confusing eating habits and I don’t even try to understand them; he’ll eat like 3 servings worth of pastries and beef jerkey and sunflower seeds and 5 thin mints for breakfast. His metabolism is golden too, so he eats so much but has no body weight or fat. His hair is black and long enough to run my fingers through, which always messes it up. (but he says he enjoys it so it’s all good) He likes the aesthetic when it’s wet and all over the place, but doesn’t like actually having wet hair. His skin is perfect too and he has cute little freckles below his eyes that make him look like a literal angel. He doesn’t like drawing attention to himself but is a sluT for attention from his friends, so when I randomly take pictures of him he looks so bashful and pleased and adorable and tries so hard not to smile. On FaceTime sometimes he’ll just straight-up ask for attention and I turn off my laptop and we both lay down on our beds and make noises at each other. It’s so hard to believe that he used to ignore me in the hallways because he’s shy. I’d pass him and call his name or touch his shoulders and he wouldn’t even make eye contact. He also lied and said that he doesn’t like cuddles, and now he’s one of the most physically affectionate people I’ve ever met. (he also said that he didn’t like to say “I love you” to his friends and guess what else changed) Even at school he’ll get really close and just touch my leg or my side. (our computer graphics 2 class probably all thinks we’re dating) He does this cute thing where if I pet his nose he like leans his head into my hand like a cat and my brain is just like oh my gosh protect this human. He has a lot of cute mannerisms too. When I’m on the call and he has to put his phone down he makes the same little face that he uses for literally every snapchat he sends, with his lips pressed together and his eyebrows raised. If he’s explaining something really intensely he will sometimes curve his fingers like he’s holding two tennis balls and tense up his entire body. He’s an enneagram 4, which basically means that he gets high off of being special, and we use it as a meme when we’re talking about him. Whenever I do something weird I ask him if it “satisfies his ennegram 4” and he replies that it does. He also likes doing things that make him feel closer to someone, I guess because it reaffirms his importance and reliance. Wearing no makeup or having messy hair or singing in front of him are things he really appreciates(I’ve done all three). I’m painting him as really soft and pure but he also can be quick to retaliate (”if someone starts something, you can be sure I’ll finish it”) or become defensive if he considers himself provoked. He doesn’t like having people dislike him though, and is really proud of not hating anyone or having any real enemies. His memory is terrible, especially at night, and honestly it’s a miracle if he remembers anything that happens past 9pm. Even his short term memory after dark is pitiful. There was one night where I tested him and told him to remember a song, and 10 minutes later when I asked he has no idea what I was talking about. I’d ask him to corroborate the story but there’s no chance that he remembers. The lack of memory makes him really doubtful of facts too. My favorite test is to ask “Jeremy, did I grow up in a fjord?” (I didn’t) and he usually starts with “no”, but if after he answers I don’t say anything, he always changes to “yes?” and prompts my “JeremY, this literally happens every time. You KNOW that I didn’t, and just because I stay silent doesn’t mean that you’re wrong.” Am I a bad person? He really just needs to be protected; I’m so worried that one day he’ll literally sell his soul or do drugs or blow all of his money and just think nothing of it. I would never trust Jeremy with finances. He’s an impulse buyer, and sometimes also gives people way too much money to eat spicy food or something else unpleasant; it drives me insane because I despisE spending money. Video games are another one of his vices. He’s amazing at every game he plays. It’s really just excessive at this point. Pokemon is his childhood and he destroys me on Pokemon Showdown constantly. (I’ve never played a proper pokemon game) He got me into PS, eating in my room, and RWBY, and I introduced him to Be More Chill and Heathers and Hamilton. He can sing really well, which is only further proof that he’s actually an angel. I feel like we have a pretty good balance as friends. He tackles his emotions head-on while I avoid them at all costs. He like to be able to rely on other people and I only want to rely on myself. He only owns one pair of shoes (by choicE) and I love feeling pretty by wearing makeup and outfits I like. He keeps his family out of his social life and I tell mine everything. He’s a wonderful friend and I don’t deserve him at all but I try my best to.

moodboard: do you feel you had a happy childhood?

Yes! My family is wonderful so I got lucky.

stars: when did you last cry in front of another person?

I don’t know. I usually don’t. It was probably Jeremy though.

plants: pick a person to stargaze with you and explain why you picked them.

Jeremy,,,,,, because he’s my closest friend.

converse: would you ever have a deep conversation with a stranger and open up to them?

To an extent. It depends on who they are.

lace: when was your last 3am conversation with someone, and who were they to you?

I haven’t stayed up until 3am probably since I was dating my ex boyfriend, so him.

handwriting: if you were about to die, and you could only say one more sentence to one person, what would you say and to whom?

Probably tell my mom that I love and appreciate her.

cactus: what is your opinion on brown eyes?

They wonderful and u n i q u e

sunrise: pick a quote and describe what it means to you personally.

“It is a dangerous thing to unbelieve something only because it frightens you“ - Cheshire Cat in the book “Heartless“ (I just really like it because it’s so consistent with truth and fighting against oneself)

oil paints: what would you title the autobiography of your life so far?

I don’t know, maybe something about evolving and getting through thing and becoming better. Maybe “Better” because it also aligns with the OneRepublic song

overalls: what would you do with one billion dollars?

I hate spending money, I’d probably just hold onto it forever

combat boots: are you a very forgiving person? do you like being this way?

I used to be more so, but life isn’t as black and white as it used to be. 

winged eyeliner: write a hundred word letter to your twelve year old self.

Literally 12 year old me was doing fine. She doesn’t need a letter. 14 year old me maybe did.

pastel: would you describe yourself as more punk or pastel?

pastel

tattoos: how do you feel about tattoos and piercings? explain.

I don’t think I’ll get any more piercing than the ones in my ears now because earrings irritate my ears and it just wouldn’t be worth it. I like the look of tattoos that are slightly darker than the skin, and are on the person’s hands or waist, but I probably won’t get any. I don’t know. People can do whatever they want with their bodies.

piercings: do you wear a lot of makeup? why/why not?

Foundation, eyeliner, mascara, concealer, some highlighter. I just like the look of it.

bands: talk about a song/band/lyric that has affected your life in some way. 

I don’t know, but TOP is always a good choice for this. I made my Depression Castle in minecraft listening to them.

messy bun: the world is listening. pick one sentence you would tell them.

I believe in you

cry baby: list the concerts you have been to and talk about how they make you feel.

The only one that made me feel anything was when I saw OneRepublic with my ex boyfriend. He started talking about depression and my hearT.

grunge: who in the world would you most like to receive a letter from and what would you want it to say?

I’ve talked about the first person I was in love with, and I’d probably want the letter to be from her because we don’t talk that much now. We’re going to prom in the same group and she’s going to be so gorgeous and I’m going to gravitate to her like I always do and I don’t know. I just want to know that she doesn’t hate me.

space: do you have a desk/workspace and how is it organised/not organised?

Yes! I’m sentimental as hec and so I have pieces of paper from my friends and small things and sticky notes all over the back. (actually I calligraphied “Riley” and “Katherine” onto sticky notes a while ago to put there because I don’t have anything physical to remind me of you two)

white bed sheets: what is your night time routine?

Call Jeremy, brush my teeth, floss, I’m probably already in pajamas, take my makeup off, unmake my bed, take my bra off, get into bed, say goodnight, sleeP

old books: what’s one thing you don’t want your parents to know?

That I masturbate………. My mom was talking once about how I might not orgasm until I’m in my 20s and that’s ok, and I just kind of laughed. It would probably be fine if I told her but ya know

beaches: if you had to dye your hair how would you dye/style it and why?

I just redyed it pink today!

eyes: pick five people to go on an excursion with you. who would you pick and where would you go/what would you do?

Jeremy, Marissa(she doesn’t have a tumblr), @parksandrecmeup, @sparklygemsuniverse, and @internet-pringle and honestly I’d go anywhere with them

11:11: name three wishes and why you wish for them.

Happiness (it’s what I always wish for at 11:11)

That my future will be wonderful

That the world will improve

painting: what is the best halloween costume you have ever put together? if none, make one up.

When I was smol my mom sewed this thick piece of fabric together and we painted and stick feathers to a mask so that I could be Hedwig from Harry Potter. I was so warmmmmmm

lightning: what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done while drunk or high?

Never been either because I’m boring

thunder: what’s one thing you would never do for one million dollars?

Kill someone

storms: you on only listen to one song for the rest of your life, or only see one person for the rest of your life. which and why?

Song, because I can still go about my normal life and interact with society

love: have you ever fallen in love? describe what it feels like to realise you’re in love.

Twice! The second time was better and softer. I was always smiling and happy, and texted him 24/7. My heart felt like it glowed.

clouds: if you’re a boy, would you ever rock black nail polish? if you’re a girl, would you ever rock really really short hair?

Nah. I like my hair

coffee: what’s your starbucks order, and who would you trust to order for you, if anyone?

Hot chocolate because I Avoid starbucks, and anyone can order for me tbh

marble: what is the most important thing to you in your life right now?

Myself *sunglasses emoji* (I’d say Jeremy but like he doesn’t need my help, my main goal is helping myself)

[politicalstash]

Members if campground dvd selection on one shelf lol

Movies 3 pack- Dodgeball, Me,Myself and Irene, There's Something About Mary 4 pack- Mo'Nique I Coulda Been Your Cellmate, Katt Williams 9 Lives, Bruce Almighty Losin It, Tony Roberts Wired 5 pack- Edge of Darkness, Conspiracy Theory, We Were Soliders, Payback 4 pack- Robocop, The Terminator, Red Dawn, Road House. 4 pack- Miami Vice, Jarhead, The Kingdom, Ray 4 pack- Casino, Carlito's Way, Mobsters, Carlito's Way Rise to Power 4 pack- GoodFellas, The Departed, The Aviator, Mean Streets 3 pack- BraveHeart, Gladiator, Hercules 8 pack- Knockout, Valley of Angels, Bloodrayne, Lords of the Street, American Breakdown, Garrison, Extracted, After The Dark 8 pack- The Code, On The Edge, Dead Heist, King Of The Adventure, Way of War, Sacrifice, Elephant White, Act of Vengeance 4 pack- Office Space, Mrs. Doubtfire, My Cousin Vinny, Super Troopers, 4 pack- Midnight Cowboy, The Usual Suspects, Thelma and Louise, Platoon 3 pack- Patriot Games, Eagle Eye, Echelon Conspiracy 4 pack- The A-Team, A Good Day To Die Hard, Unstoppable, Man on Fire 4 pack- Trouble with the Curve, Gran Torino, J. Edgar, Invictus 2 pack- Little Man, White Chicks 4 pack- Which Way Is Up, Brewster's Millions, Carwash, Bustin' Loose 4 pack- Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty, Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison 2 pack- The Outlaw Josey Wales, Pale Rider 5 pack- Trading Places, Dream Girls, 48 HRS, The Golden Child, Another 48 HRS 3 pack- Juno, Napoleon Dynamite, Little Miss Sunshine 3 pack- Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Austin Powers In GoldMember 3 pack- Revenge Of The Nerds, Revenge Of The Nerds ll, Revenge Of The Nerds lll 3 pack- Legion, Priest, Gabriel 3 pack- Animal House, Dazed And Confused, Fast Times At Ridgemont High 4 pack- Me, Myself, And Irene, Super Troopers, The Girl Next Door, Grandma's Boy 2 pack- P.S. I Love You, The Lake House 2 pack- Kevin Hart Laugh At My Pain, Kevin Hart Seriously Funny 4 pack- Act of Valor, Limitless, Machine Gun Preacher, Paranoia 3 pack- Gamer, The Next Three Days, Setup Forest Gump Special Collector's Edition Pablo Escobar The ATV Movie Destroyer Librium World Surf Inspiration 3x Hypnotic Ocean Journey Accepted Ace Ventura Pet Detective Ace Ventura When Nature Calls Anger Management Alex Cross All About Steve Gabriel Iglesias Aloha Fluffy Anchorman Aviator Alien Outpost 2x A Knights Tale American Hustle Armageddon Armored The A Team Alice in Wonderland Avengers AVP Alien vs. Predators AVP Requiem Bad Boys Bad Teacher Barber Shop 2: Back in Business Batman Begins Battleship Beastly Because I Said So Bedtime Stories Benchwarmers 3 pack- Beverly Hills Cop, Beverly Hills Cop ll, Beverly Hills Cop lll The Big Lebowski Collector's Edition Big Top Pee Wee Biker Boys Bill Cosby... Far from finished Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure Little Black Book 4 pack- Blade, Blade ll, Blade: Trinity, Blade: House of Chthon Blades of Glory The Blind Side Blow Bowfinger Blue Collar Comedy Tour The Body Guard The Boondock Saints ll: Saints All Day The Bounty Hunter The Bourne Supremacy The Bourne Ultimatum Boys Don't Cry Braveheart Brian Regan Standing Up Bad Words Brother Grimm Bride Wars Bruce Almighty Blast The Bucket List Camp Rock 2 Captain America: The Winter Solider Captain America: The First Avenger Cars 3x Click 3x Chuck and Larry Center Stage Charlotte's Web Coach Carter Cliffhanger Cold Mountain Collateral Con Air Casper Catch and Release The Condemned Coraline Couples Retreat Cowboys and Aliens Coyote Ugly Crank Chicken Little Crank 2: High Voltage Crazy Beautiful The Crucible Dance Flick Dane Cook Vicious Circle The Dark Knight Rises Dark Shadows Platinum Comedy Series Dave Chappelle Dawn Of The Dead Dear John Death Race 3: Inferno Death Race 2 Definitely, Maybe Descent 2 The Dilemma Dirty Dancing Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights Django Unchained Dolphin Tale Doom Doomsday The Davinci Dead in Tombstone Dodgeball Domino Due Date Double Jeopardy DrillBit Taylor Finding Dory Drumline End Of Days The Dukes of Hazzard Easy A Envy Eragon Escape Eternal Sunshine Everybody's Fine The Expendables The Expendables 2 Facing the Giants The Family 2x Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer Fight Club Fire With Fire 50 First Dates 2 pack- Footloose, Flash Dance Forrest Gump Free Willy Freedom Writers Friday the 13th From Hell 2x Four Brothers Four Christmases Fun With Dick And Jane Gabriel Iglesias Stand-Up Revolution Green Lantern The Gambler George Carlin: It's Bad For Ya And Life Is Worth Losin Get Hard Grease: Rockin Rydell Edition Get Rich or Die Tryin' Ghost Ghostbusters Ghosts of Girlfriends Past Ghost Rider 2x G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra G.I. Joe: Retaliation Gladiator GoodFellas 13 Going On 30 Goldmember A Good Day To Die Hard The Goonies 3x The Green Mile Gridiron Gang How The Grinch Stole Christmas Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn 2x Hancock The Hangover The Hangover Part ll Hansel and Gretel Harold and Kumar: Go To White Castle Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets The Heat Hellboy Hellboy ll: The Golden Army Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy High School Musical 2 High School Musical 3 3x Hitch Hitman Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay Part 1 2x The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Hulk The Incredible Hulk The Hurt Locker Identity Thief The Illusionist Immortals Inception Independence Day Inglorious Basterds Insurgent The Internship Into The Blue Invincible Idle Hands I, Robot Iron Man The Island Jack Frost Jack Reacher Jeff Dunham Spark Of Insanity Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special Jeff Dunham Minding The Monsters Jennifer's Body Johnson Family Vacation Joyful Noise Jumper Just Go With It Just Married Just Like Heaven From Justin To Kelly Katt Williams: Pimpadelic Killer Eliter Killers 2x King Kong Kingsman: The Secret Service Kingdom of Heaven Knockaround Guys Kung Fu Hustle Kiss The Girls Kung Fu Panda Ladies 49 Land Of The Dead The Last Castle The Last Dragon The Last Stand Looper Legally Blonde 2 Lemony Snicket's: A Series Of Unfortunate Events Let's Go To Prison Liar Liar The League of Extraordinary Gentleman Life Of Pi The Longest Yard Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers 2x Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring Lost In Space 2x Man On Fire Madea's Big Happy Family Madea's Witness Protection Madea Goes To Jail Madea's Family Reunion 3x Matrix Reloaded Maggie The Magnificent 7 Martian Child Max Mad Max Major Payne 2 pack- MIB, MIB II Mario Bros MIB Michael Clayton Michael Jackson: History: The King Of Pop Mr Deeds Mask Meet The Fockers Meet The Parents Men Of Honor Michael Jackson Number Ones Michael Jackson Mr 3000 Mrs Doubtfire Miss Congeniality Mortdecai Monster Monster's Bail Monster-In-Law The Monuments Men 2 pack- Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat Annihilation My Super Ex Girlfriend Napoleon Dynamite National Treasure Neighbors 2x Never Back Down My Baby's Daddy Never Been Kissed The Nice Guy Night At The Museum: Secret of The Tomb Night at the Museum Margaret Cho: Notorious C.H.O The Notebook The Nut Job O'Brother, Where Art Thou? Non-Stop Ocean's Twelve Ocean's Thirteen Kill Bill Old Dogs Open Range Pacific Rim Vin Diesel the Pacifier Paddington Padre Kino: The Legend of the Black Priest Parker The Patriot Poltergeist Peter Pan The Phantom of the Opera Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest Point Break Practical Magic Predators Premium Rush Premonition Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Princess Bride The Proposal Pearl Harbor P.S. I Love You Pulp Fiction Mo'Nique Phat Girlz 2 pack- The Purge, The Purge: Anarchy The Pursuit of Happyness Real Steel Redline Rush Hour 2 Red 2 Remember the Titans 3 pack- Pitch Black, The Chronicles Of Riddick, The Chronicles Of Riddick: Dark Fury Rise of the Planet of the Apes Robin Hood Prince of Thieves The Rock Rocky ll Rocky Balboa Ron White A Little Unprofessional The Rookie Rounders The Rum Diary Saving Private Ryan Sabotage 2x The Sandlot School of Rock The Shawshank Redemption Snitch Scott Pilgrim Silent House Shaun of the Dead Sherlock Holmes She's the Man Step Up Revolution Snow White and The Huntsman The Social Network She's all that Soul plane Scooby Doo Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed Shallow Hall Son in Law Song One Sorority Row Spider-Man 2x Spider-Man 2 3x Spider-Man 3 Space Jam Spy Stand and Deliver Starship Troopers Star Wars: The Force Awakens Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Star Wars: Attack of the Clones Stuck on You Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street Taken Taken 2 Taken 3 This is 40 The Ringer The Croods Thor Tomb Raider The Time Machine The Time Traveler's Wife Toneloc T.V. 2 Tombstone Total Recall The Exorcist Trading Places Training Day Transformers Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Transformers: Dark of the Moon The Bucket List The Eye Transformers Beginners Troy Directors Cut Two for the Money The Man From U.N.C.L.E True Grit UFC: Best of 2012 Unforgiven Unknown Uptown Girls Unfinished Business Van Helsing The Vow Warm Bodies The Wedding Date The Wedding Planner The Wedding Singer A Walk to Remember Walking Tall Wanted The Waterboy War Dogs We Bought a Zoo Where the Wild Things Are Kevin Hart What Now While You Were Sleeping White Chicks The Whole Nine Yards Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit Wild Card Wild Hogs Wings of Life The World's End World War ll X-Men Origins: Wolverine The Last Stand 40 Year Old Virgin Zombieland Zookeeper Zoolander 2 Guns 8 Mile

[thehipsterzombiejointexperience]

#Repost @therock ・・・ Day 1. Kicking off production. #RAMPAGE. In our story we have three animals (gorilla, crocodile and a wolf) who fall victim to evil genetic editing, rapidly changing every strand of their DNA so they grow, evolve and mutate. Everything becomes amplified.. their size, strength, speed, agility.. and violent aggression. One of the animals infected - a rare Albino gorilla named, George, is my best friend. George, is played by 6'9 @tallie7487, (Jason Liles, pictured here). Jason has been studying gorillas for months now preparing for this motion capture role. Gorilla movements, body language, and all emotions - joy, pain, sadness, love, aggression etc. It's insane when you get around this man and how he's able to brilliantly embody a gorilla. This is the most fascinating advanced VFX/motion cap process I've ever worked with in my career. Incredible learning curve for me. We have the best mo-cap team in the world (WETA Digital) working on our gigantic RAMPAGE MONSTERS and you'll get a taste of this new technology in the upcoming WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES as well as James Cameron's AVATARS. With all the cool advanced technology in our movie, the #1 thing you're gonna experience when you watch it, is FUN. Because when my best friend, George no happy, then me no happy. And when me no happy.. bad people become our lunch. #Day1 #KickingOffProduction #RAMPAGE🦍