#but for some reason this one was a bizarre combination of mix-ups on the shipping folks' end AND me just staring blankly at some numbers | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

olliedollie1204 · 3 years

Text

TSUS Day 7- Analoceit

Logan calls his roommates to a meeting.

Word Count: 2,454 words

Written for the Sanders Sides Unpopular Ships Challenge by @emy-loves-you

(AO3 Link)

Virgil shifted from one leg to another as he checked his phone for the third time in as many minutes. Janus was supposed to meet him here, but even in the five— six? Yeah, almost six— six years that they’d been roommates, he’d never gotten better at being places on time. Most of the time it was an intentional power move to assert dominance, but Virgil had told him once that he didn’t like it. Janus had never been intentionally late to meet him again.

On cue, the door swung open and Janus strode through, almost colliding with Virgil in the process. He stumbled clumsily, and on instinct Virgil caught him in his steadying grasp.

The two locked eyes, and after a moment Janus smirked.

“Hello, stranger.”

Virgil clicked his tongue in faux annoyance, but he couldn’t hide the earnestness behind his smile as the two of them righted themselves.

“Hey,” he replied. “Any idea what this is all about?”

“I assume he wants to practice his presentation again,” Janus commented idly, the two of them heading towards the private study room Logan had texted them to meet at.

“At the library, though? We never come here anymore.” That was true— while this library had been a hotspot for the three friends when they were undergrads, none of them had been in quite some time. Even Logan, who’d worked there from the time he was a teenager, hadn’t visited in years— it was much more convenient to do his research, studying, and grad work in the shared home office in the house they lived in together.

“Maybe he wants to use some of the projection equipment to rehearse or something,” Janus answered Virgil’s question. Virgil shook his head.

“I don’t even know why he gets so worried.”

Janus scoffed. “Glass houses.”

“I mean about presentations, Jan,” Virgil retorted. “Or like, school in general. He’s always incredible at...”

His voice trailed off; he’d been planning on ending that sentence with ‘school work’ or ‘graduate school’ or even ‘public speaking about niche ecological topics’, but he found he couldn’t find one in time. The words hung in the air.

A beat, and then Janus sighed with a smile in his voice. “Don’t I know it.”

The two looked at each other. The tips of their tongues were weighed down with words unsaid, and all too soon they reached the small study room Logan requested.

Janus was the first to break eye contact, rapping twice on the door before pushing it open.

“Knock knock!” he announced as he and Virgil entered. Just as expected, there was Logan at the back of the room, fiddling with the wall projector and a set of note cards. He looked up as the two entered, his face a bizarre combination of flushed and pale.

“Hello,” he said quickly before Virgil could ask if he was okay. “Please, take a seat.”

He gestured to the only two rolling chairs in the room. Virgil and Janus paused, side eyeing each other bemusedly, before taking a seat on the other side of the table.

“I do hope this was worth the bus fare,” Janus said lightly. His comment seemed to hit Logan, who flinched minutely before smoothing his face into a neutral expression.

“I wanted to speak with the two of you about something,” Logan continued, voice uncharacteristically tight, “and I thought it best to bring it up in a neutral, public environment should either of you want to leave.”

That… was not what either man expected. Janus kept his eyes trained on Logan’s face; next to him, Virgil subconsciously began bouncing his leg.

“Um,” he said. “Okay?”

Logan nodded. “Right.” He nodded again. “Well.”

Then he blinked, and leaning forward slightly, he murmured, “I need one of you to ask me why I invited you here.”

The tension broke a little, and Virgil huffed a quiet laugh that made Logan’s stance soften.

“Why did you invite us here, Logan?” Janus asked obligingly. Logan shook his head a bit and took a deep breath before looking down at his notecards.

“I invited you both here because this library has a lot of significance to me,” he read, eyes glued to the paper. “This is where I spent the majority of my undergraduate years, studying and working and passing the time with no real connections to the world around me. And… and this is where I first met the two of you.”

He looked up briefly, steeling himself, before turning his body toward Janus as he continued to read. “Janus, you were in the computer lab, swearing at a printer for taking too long to print your midterm.”

The man in question smirked at the memory. “I had a class in 15 minutes. Those things smell fear, you know.”

Logan turned his body toward Virgil, although his eyes remained trained on his note card. “And Virgil, you knocked over a book display I’d put up and pretended to only know French when I came up to help you.”

“I panicked!” Virgil squeaked in defense.

“And both of you came back the next week to work on a class project together,” Logan said with a significant air in his voice. His eyes flicked up again; unbeknownst to each other, both Virgil and Janus gave him matching encouraging smiles.

Logan felt the tension drain slightly from his body, and he couldn’t help but smile back as he continued, “For no reason at all, you two wandered back into this library— and back into my life— time and time again. We were strangers, then acquaintances, classmates, roommates. Friends.”

He paused, then, quieter: “Best friends.”

The silence only lasted a moment, but it was thick, heavy with meaning and intention. Neither Janus nor Virgil could even find it in themselves to make a snarky remark. By now Virgil’s leg had stopped bouncing, and he was watching Logan with an unconscious intensity. Conversely, it was now Janus’ turn to fidget in his seat, the growing sincerity in Logan’s voice making him clench the hem of his jacket between his fingers.

“I…” Logan started, looking between the two of them. He blinked and dropped his eyes back on his notecards.

“I… I am so grateful,” he said, “and so lucky to call you two my friends. You are the best friends, and the best people, I have ever known. And with this in mind, I was—”

He flipped to a new card, but his hands were shaking: he fumbled, and despite his best efforts the entire stack of notecards all went cascading from his hands to the floor.

“Oh, shit!” Virgil said reflexively, leaning forward in his chair in a feeble attempt to catch them. Janus was already on his feet.

“Allow me,” he said loudly, dropping to his knees to crawl under the table.

Logan’s eyes bulged. “No! No, Janus, wait—”

He, too, dropped to the floor, scrambling to pick up the cards closest to him. Janus knelt across from him, attempting to collect the cards on his side in a much calmer manner.

Above the table, Virgil swore again as he shimmied awkwardly from his seat to join them on the carpeted floor. “Jesus Christ, Lo, how many cards did you— ow! Fuck!”

“Are you okay?” Janus asked, twisting around in the small space to look at him.

“Yeah, fine, fuck, I just hit my head on the table—”

Logan’s face was an amusing mix of highly concerned and completely mortified. “Oh my God, Virgil, I’m sorry, let me help you—”

He shifted forward, but Virgil reared back on instinct, hitting the back of his head against the rolling chair. “Shit!

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

“Wait, wait, who’s on my jacket?” Janus said, yanking fruitlessly at the billowy fabric that was much better suited for walking in the brisk winter weather than crowding under a tiny table.

“I— I don’t know, I don’t know,” Logan babbled.

“Well, someone’s on my jacket, so get off!”

“Um. Lo?”

Logan looked over Janus’ head, and his stomach flipped as he realized that Virgil had successfully picked up one of the stray cards from the floor, and was reading it.

“Virgil, please,” he pleaded. “Please, just let me explain—”

“Seriously, whoever it is, move your hand off of my jacket, because I can’t move—”

Virgil lifted his hand, and Janus suddenly flopped forward at the lack of resistance, face planting directly into Logan’s chest.

“Janus!” Logan yelped. “Are you okay?”

The man in question spluttered, shoving himself away from Logan’s chest (and trying his hardest not to flush when he realized he’d placed his hands directly on Logan’s pecs to do so).

“That’s it!” he announced sharply. “Time out!”

Everyone stopped moving. Virgil on one side. Logan on the other. Janus stuck between them.

He exhaled, hard. “Okay. Take a deep breath.”

The other two followed his instructions on instinct. None of them counted aloud, but all three of them seemed to follow the same loose pattern of 4 seconds in, 7 seconds holding, and 8 seconds release.

“Okay,” Janus said when they were finished. “Let’s— let’s lie on the floor.”

If the energy weren’t so fucking weird at this moment, Janus would’ve laughed the baffled looks on the others’ faces. Instead he allowed himself to flop to the ground and clumsily roll onto his back. He folded his hands across his stomach and looked up at the others.

“Are you coming?”

Virgil and Logan shared a look. After a few seconds, they joined him. Virgil kicked one of the rolling chairs away to make room for his legs, while Logan tried to push as many of the cards to the side as possible.

Finally they were in place: just three grown men, chilling on the floor of a library study room, staring up at the dirty bottom of the table above them.

“...Reminds me of junior finals week,” Virgil commented idly. Janus snorted, and even Logan managed to give a shaky laugh.

“You spilled coffee on my lab results,” he remembered. “I cried.”

Virgil looked sheepish. “So did I.”

“I didn’t,” Janus reminded them. Logan laughed again, a little louder.

“No. You just emailed my professor on my behalf, told them I had mono, and asked for a week long extension.”

“Well, it worked, didn’t it?”

Virgil giggled loudly, not even bothering to hide the sound. “I forgot about that.”

“I didn’t,” Logan said softly. His words brought the other two into relative silence as well.

Then Virgil passed the note card to Logan. He took it, squinting to read its now slightly smudged writing, before his face went pale again.

“You read it,” he said. It wasn’t a question, but Virgil nodded.

After a few moments, Janus added, “Well, I didn’t, so…” His voice was jokingly impatient, but both Virgil and Logan could recognize the genuine curiosity in his eyes.

Eventually Logan sighed and passed the card to him. Janus held it close to his face to read it in the table’s dim shadow.

“Resources for telling friends and family about… about…”

He squinted for a moment more. “I’m so sorry, does that say ‘parallelogram replenishment’?”

Logan scoffed and reached over to whap his chest. “It says ‘polyamorous relationship’, you bastard, and I know you could read that.”

“Oh, could I now?” Janus replied lightly. He crumpled the note card and tossed it somewhere toward their feet. “Darn these old eyes of mine.”

Virgil snickered softly, then again. Logan sighed and bit his lip. Janus coughed.

And then the three of them burst into laughter— deep, loud, laughter, the kind that they couldn’t stop even if they’d wanted to. Logan rolled on his side as much as he could to face away from the others, Janus covered his face with both of his hands, and Virgil yanked the collar of his shirt over his mouth as if that could silence it.

It was honestly a blessing no one looked into the room; between the notecards all over the floor, the legs sticking out from underneath the table, and the near-screams of laughter seemingly coming from nowhere, it would probably be a surprising scene. Not that they’d care in the slightest.

After some indeterminate amount of time, the laughter tapered off. They weren’t sure exactly when or how it happened, but by the time they were silent again, Logan and Virgil were both lying on their sides facing inward. Janus had both arms out, and the two of them were using his upper arms as pillows.

“Logan,” Janus said softly. Logan looked up at his somber expression.

“Yes?”

Slowly, Janus let his eyes roam from Logan’s eyes to mouth and eyes again. Then he smirked.

“How many note cards were in your stack?”

Logan blinked. His face flushed immediately, especially when he saw Virgil lift his head to smirk at him as well.

“I— I don’t know the exact number.”

“Oh, well, that already means it’s in the high double digits,” Janus confirmed.

“And the projector, Lo?” Virgil asked with far too much glee in his voice. “Please tell me you had a powerpoint prepared.”

“With APA citations, I should hope.”

“Oh, yeah, of course, you gotta cite your sources, L.”

“And please, please tell me that you prepared a study guide for the readings you assigned us about healthy modern polyamory. Wouldn’t want to fail the quiz you’re inevitably giving us when we get home—”

“Enough,” Logan insisted, or maybe begged; it was hard to tell since he’d moved closer to hide his face in Janus’ shoulder. “Please do not mock me now. My heart can’t take anymore stress.”

Janus quirked his head. “What about this was stressful?”

Virgil giggled again, shoving his face into his hand to keep his laughter from building. When he pulled his hand away, there was a moment of hesitation in his eyes before he reached across Janus’ chest to take Logan’s hand.

Logan looked at Virgil’s fingers intertwined with his like he didn’t quite know what to do with them. Then, looking between Virgil’s eyes to Janus’, he slowly lowered their combined grip until their hands were laying in the middle of Janus’ chest.

Virgil and Janus both flushed, eyes darting towards each other and away again. Logan squeezed Virgil’s fingers, Virgil nuzzled into Janus’ neck, and Janus released a slow, shaky breath that seemed to remove some weight off of his shoulders.

“How long until they kick us out?” he joked weakly.

“I don’t care,” Logan and Virgil said in unison. They blinked, and the three devolved into quiet snickers once more, holding each other close.

For the rest of the afternoon, and the evening, and their lives, they did not let go.

#sanders sides #sanders sides fic #tsus challenge #analoceit #virgil sanders #janus sanders #logan sanders #my writing #my posts #anyways. this was so much longer than i'd anticipated ajshdsjk #and i LOVE it pls read it it's my fave

85 notes · View notes

readyplayerhobi · 4 years

Text

Favourite Fics of 2019

So...I thought that I’d give you all a list of my favourite fanfic’s that I read in 2019! I’ll include the description that was given by the author and then give a brief commentary of my own! Please make sure to not only read the fic, but give it a like and reblog! Give it some of your own comments and too, and follow/tell the author!!

Authors - I’ve got some authors repeated so you might have more than one fic here!

Readers - ...there’s a lot of fics here lol

Welcome To The Underworld by @spookitokki

; Demon/Radio Show Host!Jungkook x Human!Reader

; Synopsis: In a dark little second-hand shop downtown, stuffed in an alleyway you only stumbled into because you were lost, you found a charming antique radio. When you turned it on, it began to play what would become your favorite radio show, “Welcome to the Underworld”

; My Thoughts: I rec’d this fic very recently but I still remember it well. Demon Jungkook is weirdly caring for her despite her being human and him being demon from the Underworld. The reader...well she has no sense of self-preservation honestly haha. I enjoyed everything about this; the smut, the world building, the characterisation and so much more!

Matters Of The Heart by @hobidreams

; Hoseok x Reader

; Synopsis: it seems not even the passage of half a decade can diminish the hold of Mr. Jung’s charms on your heart. but the rumors that welcome you home speak of his imminent marriage to an heiress, one who bests you in every infuriating, ‘ladylike’ fashion. just how, then, are you meant to interpret the undeniable sparks of desire in his eyes?

; My Thoughts: I maintain that I LOVE THIS FIC SO MUCH. I think it’s probably like...in my top list of fics all year. It’s just...amazing. The writing feels authentic to the era and the reader is a delightful rebel that we all love from Victorian eras after all. And of course...Mr Jung is just a ridiculously attractive man that I would like very much. Rain is apparently making a follow up drabble AND I AM EXCITED!

An Abundance of Scrunchies by @jhspetitegf

; Single Dad!Hoseok x Kindergarten Teacher!Reader

; Synopsis: ❝hoseok is a hot single dad and you’re the new kindergarten teacher that likes to piss him off❞

; My Thoughts: This series of drabbles has completely stolen my heart. Dae is adorable and the reader is delightful in how she loves her kids. And then there’s Hoseok, the grumpy businessman who’s incredibly rich yet adorably dotes on his daughter and doesn’t get mad at her. It’s just...fluffy and angsty softness. I love it so much, and the smut was...oof. I can’t wait to read more!

Polaris by @junghelioseok

; Hoseok x Reader

; Synopsis: somehow, someway, he always returns to you.

; My Thoughts: I MAINTAIN THAT I LOVE THIS FIC SO MUCH AHHH. It’s so unique and beautifully written, such a delight to read and I enjoy it every time I do. The mixing of the ages throughout the years and how Hoseok evidently has knowledge of their future together but doesn’t tell her. It’s so sweet and yet so organic how they come together. It could be weird and creepy given the difference in ages continuously but it’s not. He’s always a gentleman and it’s just...it’s just wonderful honestly.

Faded Love by @jamaisjoons

; Jimin x Reader

; Synopsis: he doesn’t need to say it. because you can feel your husband, park jimin, falling out of love with you.

; My Thoughts: Okay but like, I still feel the pain and sadness when I read this fic the first time :( the reader’s confusion and pain at being abandoned so thoughtlessly despite her efforts is so hard to read. I still hate Jimin for doing it, and I’m glad that he stopped and realised that he was making a mistake. But poor reader will never be able to fully trust him again and always be worried to some degree :(

Lost And Found 01: Tick Tock by @fortunexkookie

; Peter Pan!Hoseok x Captain Hook!Reader

; Synopsis: The only hope you had at ending your exile and earning your life back came in the form of an infuriating and uncatchable man: Hoseok. He seemed to love the endless game of cat-and-mouse you two played - so much, in fact, that you were unsure if you were the cat or the mouse. What he failed to realize was that there was a third player, and this one wasn’t after him. The Crocodile hunted you with an intensity that rivaled the way you chased Hoseok, but with one difference: the games he played were deadly.

; My Thoughts: Okay so like...a lot of my favourite fics ever this year have been Hoseok based. You’re not surprised, I know you’re not. But this fic is just...I cannot WAIT for the second and third parts of it. The world is so richly realised and the characters have such phenomenal characterisation and development in just this one chapter. It’s so...involving to read, you just get lost in it. It’s truly a beautiful work of art that I can’t wait to see how everything goes!

Jungle Park by @jimlingss

; Hoseok x Reader

; Synopsis: The equation is simple. Hoseok needs to hire someone. You need a job. Except like any actual equation, it’s not fucking simple at all! Not when you have to add the fact that he was forced to hire someone he doesn’t want in his office, he has little respect for your job in general, and oh yeah…once upon a time you might have—*CENSORED*.

; My Thoughts: I looooooved reading this fic. Jimlingsss is basically why I made Flower a once a week thing, because when I was reading Jungle Park, I was always SO EXCITED for Monday’s because it meant I got to read a new Jungle Park! It’s such a slow burn romance but it’s so delightful and rewarding watching this cold and moody lawyer warm up to his bright and bubbly HR person. And then you learn the backstory between them and...I just loved it all!

Magic and Mysteries by @jimlingss

; Jimin x Reader

; Synopsis: Everything’s okay….EVERYTHING’S OKAY, YOU’RE FINE. Look, you just have one tiny problem. It’s an itty-bitty issue. Not that big of a deal. So what if you don’t have a familiar and you’re about to take on the ENTIRE family business. Oh, you have a name to uphold? Everyone’s depending on you? Great. That’s just fantastic. But it’s fine. You’ll get your familiar and you’ll run the best damn potion shop the world has ever seen. Everything will be fine, right?

; My Thoughts: Again, another Jimlingsss story but honestly, they’re always golden. I particularly remember this fic because I read it when I was in Korea. It’s so delightful and fun, reminding me a lot of Kiki’s Delivery Service. Jimin is a little rascal but I love that he teases her because he genuinely cares. It’s all just a truly wonderful fic and story put together in one delightful package.

Love, Guaranteed by @gukyi

; Taehyung x Reader

; Synopsis: with the celestial ball quickly approaching, kim taehyung is horrified to find out that you, his best friend, are dateless. to remedy this, he initiates The Match Project, a matchmaking service designed to find the most optimal date. to you, it’s an opportunity to meet someone else so you can stop pining after your clueless best friend. to him, it’s an opportunity to finally, once and for all, tell you how he feels.

; My Thoughts: I do quite enjoy reading Hogwarts fics, and I particularly enjoying reading Hogwarts fics with BTS as students as long as there’s no smut in it. Gukyi’s Hogwarts series was such a delight to read and I remember reading this fic with a smile on my face. Wanting to scream at reader because POOR TAEHYUNG OBVIOUSLY LOVES YOU. Poor guy trying so hard despite everything :(

Lovers’ Fuck Rule by @prolixitae

; Jungkook x Reader x Hoseok

; Synopsis: jungkook is still new to your established relationship with hoseok, which means he needs a little help feeling competent sometimes. especially when it comes to sex. alternatively, the span of a poly relationship over inaccurate amounts of fucking.

; My Thoughts: Okay look, I don’t do shipping or anything but Junghope is one of the best friendships/combinations there is. And this fic encapsulates why. Jungkook is so nervous with her whereas Hoseok is just...so unbelievably calm and dominant about it all. He knows exactly what gets his girl off and it’s sweet how amused he is by Jungkook. You can feel the slight insecurity almost off Jungkook because Hoseok has been with her for years but you can also feel the genuine love the reader has for him, along with the friendship Hoseok obviously has too. I really enjoyed it all!

Get Wet by @prolixitae

; Hoseok x Reader

; Synopsis: sitting in on your boyfriend’s dance practice is probably your biggest kink. it’s also the reason you asked to be so shamelessly fucked in the locker rooms of his dance studio, in spite of the pending consequences. note: this is not an idol-verse fic

; My Thoughts: You know I love Hoseok, and this smut was just...oh my god wow. Bizarrely, I explicitly remember reading it while in the cinema waiting for a film to start haha. TNS Hoseok is amazing though and I really love him. In this fic he’s even more amazing though and I just...god I want him so badly. Urgh, 10/10

Eating For Two by @park-moomin

; Hoseok x Reader

; Synopsis: He’ll have a Large

; My Thoughts: ARGH GOD I REMEMBER READING THIS. URGH, what is it about Hoseok that makes the idea of oral sex with him just so...amazing? Actually just any sex. Any at all. I love the idea of him being so...eager and desperate to go down on his girl, particularly when she’s pregnant so that she can still get some pleasure and fun out of it. Also, him cumming in his pants is just...the cherry on top haha

The Devil In His Details by @park-moomin

; Jimin x Reader

; Synopsis: Evil comes in many forms. In this instance, it's a 5'8" pretty-boy with an even prettier dick. And you're the form you want him to come in.

; My Thoughts: Lawd, I remember this being one of the hottest smut’s I’ve read in a while and I still stand by that statement. It does make me laugh that this was supposed to be a 1k drabble cos...girl...this length reminds me of me haha. Still, I think Jimin got the blowjob of his life...probably every man’s life here. Well done Jimin, go back for more.

Hot Rod by @kinktae

; Greaser!Hoseok x Reader

; Synopsis: a 1950′s inspired fic where greaser hoseok can’t keep his eyes, or hands, off the new waitress at his and his boys’ favorite diner.

; My Thoughts: The whole Rewind series that Rose has been doing but you all know I’m a Hoseok hoe and HOOOOO BOOOOOY GREASER HOSEOK IS SOMETHING ELSE. Everything about this fic was just...wonderful and it felt delightfully 1950s. The lingo and outfits, the cars and everything. It was hot and Hoseok deserves everything. I still kinda hope there’ll be a drabble or something in the future but either way, read this as it’s soooo good!

The Boyfriend Concept by @kpopfanfictrash

; Pornstar!Jimin x Reader

; Synopsis: Win a Date with a Porn Star! You saw the sign when you walked in, of course, but you had no idea your friend dropped your name into the raffle. Fast-forward to later that day, when you actually win. You are horrified, of course, with no intention of accepting and setting yourself up for embarrassment. But then you meet Jimin, and decide this might be worth a shot.

; My Thoughts: Shanna always writes some of the best fics on tumblr and this is definitely one of them. You’d think with it being a ‘win a date with a pornstar fic’ that he’d be a little weird or something about it (there’s nothing wrong with pornstars but you can imagine it’d be odd) but Jimin is just...so sweet and kind and polite! He’s just...the perfect boyfriend honestly. It just so happens he does porn too...I honestly loved this so much!

Beneath The Boughs by @gimmesumsuga

; Dryad!Namjoon x Reader

; Synopsis: For almost as long as you can remember, the tree stood opposite your apartment has been a part of your life. Countless memories have been made under the shade of its supple branches, but when its existence comes under threat, you soon discover that your favourite tree is more special to you than you ever could’ve known.

; My Thoughts: I still maintain that this fic is just basically Steph gushing about her love for Namjoon all over the page. It’s just...so sweet and soft. Namjoon makes the perfect dryad and I can easily imagine him being one. He’s such a delightful character who you just want to protect and teach about the world because he has that kind of delightful innoncence. I loved it so much!

Sweeter Than Sweet by @gimmesumsuga

; OT7 X Reader

; Synopsis: You never would have expected someone like Park Jimin to notice you. As handsome and beguiling as he is deadly, you’re enthralled from the very moment you meet. Addicted to his kiss and his bite, Jimin opens up your eyes to a whole new world of love, lust and seduction.

; My Thoughts: This is like...the OG OT7 fic. The one that EVERYONE should read. It’s so close to finishing and I’m kind of mind boggled that it’s going to finish. It’s just...perfection. Jimin is delightful and Yoongi is sweet, it’s just so perfect, I love it all. Namjoon is still a dick, sorry Steph. I also maintain that I’m secretly marrying Hoseok. Everyone go read it and strap yourselves in for a long ride!

Bump In The Night by @fortunexkookie

; Hoseok x Reader

; Synopsis: You’d spent countless nights terrified of the beast that lurked in the shadows, but as it would turn out, the monster haunting your home wasn’t a monster all. He was just a boy, and the only crime he’d ever committed was daring to love a girl from a different world.

; My Thoughts: Arrrrghhhhonaeouthnoetahnouenth this fic is just....perfect. I love it SO MUCH. Hoseok is a genuine monster in this, not just someone who thinks he is. He looks like a monster. But he’s a monster who gets a best friend in the reader and who slowly falls in love with her. I SWEAR MY HEART DIED WHEN THE THING HAPPENED :( Poor Hoseok, my sweet boy. But then...the end! And I was like ‘waaah’ I mean, I don’t know how she’s gonna live there but...I have hope for this odd couple because their love survived a lot <333

One Thing Right by @hobios

; Jungkook x Reader

; Synopsis: “i’ve been wrong about a million times, but i’ve got one thing right.”

or, desperate to get your ailing mother into the best care possible, you ask your childhood friend turned enemy to marry you for his health insurance benefits. the only problem is it’s illegal. and he’s the sheriff. and you swore to hate him since the day he broke your best friend’s heart.

; My Thoughts: Ahh...this is such a well written fic and I enjoy it so much. Jungkook has such good characterisation in it and you can feel that the readers heart is in the right place! I really like it and it reads so well, like it actually reads like a legitimate novel tbh!

Wall To Wall by @winetae

; Pornstar!Hoseok x Pornstar!Reader

; Synopsis: Temporary popularity is the biggest threat to your career right now. Without a solid core fan base you’re doomed to be forgotten. If not now, then in a month or two, and if not then, surely by the end of the year. That’s how quickly the adult film industry cycles through their actors, especially when you’re a woman. Your agent comes forward with a proposition to help put you back on the map.

; My Thoughts: Okay look...this fic is just great. I’m eagerly anticipating the second part because the first was just written so well. It’s so unique in that the readers already has a boyfriend, Jimin, who is not only okay with her being a pornstar but is the one who films her! But then you’ve got Hoseok, the new guy on the block who’s ridiculously good. The sex is just...it feels so realistic and like it’s two people in a relationship having sex and not just being filmed on camera. God I want them together lol

Club Zombie by @floralseokjin

; Seokjin x Reader

; Synopsis: In a world overrun by zombies, you’d think everyone was a goner, but the reality is much different. A steady diet of brains lets a zombie exist as a fully functioning human. Just ignore the part where they’re technically dead… In fact, these days, the amount of zombies outweigh the humans. A lot jump at the chance to be turned. Beg for it.

Kim Seokjin controls the underground of Seoul. No one would dare cross him. That’s how most of the world goes these days. You wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of a zombie now, would you? However, you don’t quite see it like that. Spending most nights dancing at the club he owns, you catch his eye. It’s never the wrong side if you’re underneath him, right…?

; My Thoughts: Look...I still can’t believe I read a fic with zombie sex and that I actively WANTED to read a fic with zombie sex lol. But disregarding that, it’s still phenomenally written and the world is built up so well! I loved reading this and it didn’t feel as long as it’s word count. The characters were interesting with little tidbits being thrown out there that made you a little more interested in their history.

Defining Heaven by @akinnie75

; Hoseok x Reader

; Synopsis: “If I try to fly, will I make it to heaven, or will I fall straight down? But what exactly is heaven?” It’s a question that’s been in Hoseok’s mind a lot after cutting ties with his parents and ending his relationship with his ex-girlfriend. Dreaming is his fear, but you tell him that it’s not as scary as he thinks it is. Even in the depths of his own despair, you reach your hand out, but will he take it?

; My Thoughts: At this point, I think I just love anything by this author. But this fic was so...real and beautiful. The connection between two people who want more from life and deserve from life, who are both stuck. Hoseok’s story is heart breaking and getting to see him slowly come to life and learn to care for himself again was beautiful, while seeing the reader getting to care for herself by caring for him was just beautiful as well.

Florescence by @jincherie

; Hybrid!Taehyung x Reader x Hybrid!Seokjin

; Synopsis: Okay, so maybe you’re lonely, and maybe there is something missing in your life, a void that you maybe want to fill with a companion that may or may not be of human origin… You’re perfectly content not doing anything about it though, until your best friend calls you in desperate need for your help and you suddenly end up coming home with not one, but two hybrids that may or may not have been on the way to the chopping block had you not taken them in. They’re more than a little rough around the edges, and the situation is less than ideal but… maybe the best things don’t always come in perfect, shiny packages. Maybe they just need a little time to bloom.

; My Thoughts: I love this story so much :333 it’s such an interesting twist on hybrid’s in that there are ones who get discarded because they’re ‘defective’. It’s horrible to think about and I just want to love both of them. Jin is so...sweet and he tries so hard, being the one to put himself out there with the reader because Taehyung is just a sweet and shy bub. Seeing them come to life slowly is so rewarding!

Moon Magic by @jincherie

; Merman!Hoseok x Reader

; Synopsis: You’ve never paid much mind to the moon, but you quickly learn that even though you’ve never really thought of the her, she has always watched over you. What better to heal an grieving heart, than the luminous, rippling magic of the moon? And maybe a merman, or two. You know, for good measure.

; My Thoughts: I LOVE THIS FIC SO MUCH AND I KNOW THAT YOU WROTE FOR ME AND I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT I STILL LOVE IT. Hoseok is such a sweetheart and it’s adorable that you can see he’s falling in love much faster than she’s falling in love with him :333 the world is so realised, even though it’s just an island and everything is just...so perfect!

We Float by @lamourche

; Massage Therapist!Hoseok x Reader

; Synopsis: Might as well get this over with. You sigh and raise your hand to knock, steeling yourself for patchouli and shell necklaces. The door opens. A face peers out at you. There’s no beard, no long shaggy hair. For a moment, you wish he did walk around shirtless. He’s handsome. He’s taller than you, with brown hair that almost falls into his eyes and undercut on the sides. Warm brown eyes and a cute nose. It’s fucking cute his nose. He’s wearing cargo shorts, a Hawaiian shirt and white crocs. Well, that’s better. He’s still handsome and his kind eyes make you want to confess some prior sin, but it’s easy to scowl at a guy in white crocs.

; My Thoughts: This is still such a wonderful and beautiful fic. Hoseok’s agoraphobia is dealt with tactfully and he’s not magically cured by the end, but it’s so lovely to see that he’s willing to try and combat it a little more because he loves her. And she loves him, accepting him as he is and not pushing for more than he’s willing to give!

Tip 143 by @minflix

; Hoseok x Reader

; Synopsis: Even though he is everything you find attractive in a man, your friend and co-worker Jung Hoseok is just exactly that - a friend and co-worker. For some reason, you have never found yourself attracted to him even though all the girls and guys around you go absolutely crazy for him.But that all changes for you one night while scrolling through Heart2Heart, a sex live cam website…

; My Thoughts: AHHHHHH I LOVE IT SO MUCHHHHH. THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE HOSEOK FICS ON THIS WHOLE SITE. It’s so wonderfully written and I adore reading it, even re-reading it. Hoseok is so funny and just...so light hearted. He’s not hugely bothered about anything and the way he goes along wtih the reader and even helps her to film her videos, even going so far as to...well going for her ;). And yet they both just think that they’re friends when nope, you’re idiots because you LOVE EACH OTHER. I genuinely love it so much, always a favourite and will remain close to my heart <333

See Both Sides Like Chanel by @minflix

; Namjoon x Reader x Hoseok

; Synopsis: You, Namjoon, and Hoseok are inseparable. Three best friends that grew up together since you were all in diapers.But lately, Namjoon has been drifting away…

So on his birthday, you and Hoseok remind him just how inseparable the three of you really are.

; My Thoughts: This couple...is perfect. I love them so much, they’re so well suited to each other. Rich brats who despite being rich and snobby, all genuinely love each other so much. Poor Namjoon when he felt like he’d been left out. <333 it’s okay Joonie, they both love you. I read this while I was in Korea and it just...made an impact. I want them all to live happily ever after with each other x-x

Euphoria by @btssavedmylifeblr

; Jungkook x Reader

; Synopsis: At the end of your life, you are given one day to live again with the man you loved. A lifetime’s love story told in a single day.

; My Thoughts: THIS IS THE SADDEST YET SWEETEST FIC EVER. Oh my god, it’s just...it’s so unbelievably bittersweet. Their love for each other and how she KNOWS that she’s dying and she’ll never see him again. How much she throws herself into the day with him and how much he clearly loves her. She knows they have their whole life set out for them and it’s just...wonderful...honestly.

Off The Deep End by @boymeetsweevil

; Merman!Yoongi x Reader

; Synopsis: Your new mermaid friend, Yoongi, helps you navigate the treacherous waters of love, sex, and National Geographic.

; My Thoughts: Ngl, the main thing I remember from this? It’s beautifully written and also fish dick lmao. But seriously, it’s a great fic to read and watching Yoongi get to experience the human world is a delight. It’s very unique in how it’s written and the biology and culture of merfolk. A definite recommendation for everyone!

#fic recs #fic recommendations #readyplayerhobi's fic recs #2019 fic recs

1K notes · View notes

huntertales · 4 years

Text

Part Two: Who’s A Good Boy? (Dog Dean Afternoon S09E05)

Episode Summary: While investigating two bizarre murders, Y/N and the boys realize there is an eyewitness to both gruesome deaths–a German Shepard. Anxious to find out what monsters they are dealing with, the three look up a spell that can help communicate with the dog. When Dean decides to be the one to perform the spell, he quickly realizes it comes with side effects no one saw coming. Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader Word Count: 5,741.

Previous Part | Supernatural Rewrite Masterlist

By the next morning you and the boys could add another body to the list. A young man was murdered late into the evening, at an animal shelter of all places. You had a feeling it wasn't a coincidence from the one you were looking into. Both of them dealt with animals in the location of where they were killed, but the difference between the two was how it was done. Max had his body contorted in a violent manner, the newest victim's body was covered in his own blood after being clawed to death. You took one more good observation before the body bag was zipped up and the coroner pushed him out to the van, where the man would be shipped off to the morgue.

“Claw marks?” Dean noted the different cause of death.

"Yeah. The cops said all the cats went missing." Sam added on to the weird factor of the case. You didn't understand why someone would go through all the trouble to steal all the felines from the shelter only to leave the rest of the animals. You highly doubted there was a crazy cat lady/animal lover behind both of these murders.

You passed by the dog kennels as you and the boys made your way through the shelter, all abandoned for one reason of another and in need of adoption. All their little faces and adorable eyes made your heart melt. What you wouldn't do to be able to give them all a good permanent home. "Right, so," You focused your attention back onto the conversation. "Yesterday we're dealing with some sort of snake monster. Today it's a killer kitty. Makes sense."

"Hey." Dean stopped at a particular cage when he spotted a German Shepard that he swore he saw before. "Why does that mutt look familiar?"

You reached out to grab the clipboard and glanced at the dog's information to see what his name was. Dean was right. You had seen him yesterday. "That was the taxidermist's dog."

"So, he's been at both crime scenes?" Dean found all of this to be more than just a simple coincidence. You merely shrugged your shoulders, Sam nodded at the similarities. "Maybe he’s a suspect. You know, may—" He stopped for a moment when he saw an officer passed by before continuing when the man was out of earshot, continuing on with his theory to who might be to blame for this. The dog sitting inside the kennel. "Could be a skinwalker, maybe a shapeshifter."

You stared at the German Shepherd, who merely sat there with his tongue wagging out, the sight alone made you smile from how innocent he looked. "Doesn't look like a monster to me." You crouched down so you were at level with the dog and stuck your fingers through the fencing, letting the Colonel move forward and sniff your skin to get your smell. When he felt comfortable enough you scratched under his chin. "More like a handsome boy."

"One way to find out." Dean took out a silver dollar from his pocket and sank down to the ground next to you. "Come here, boy. Hey. This isn't gonna hurt at all. Unless it hurts"

Dean rubbed the coin behind one of the Colonel's ears, and like you suspected, nothing out of the ordinary happened. "Huh. Guess we can rule out killer." You said. You scratched one of the dog's ears, smiling in delight from how he reacted. "Isn't that right, boy?"

You pulled your hand out of the cage and pushed yourself up to your feet right when the Colonel changed his tune. You watched as he went from a content dog to barking at the stranger who approached from behind. You looked over your shoulder to see that it was just the sheriff. For some reason the Colonel did not like him.

"Do you agents need any further assistance?" He asked. You noticed right as the sheriff took off his hat the barking stopped. You didn't think much of it. You presumed the Colonel who the stranger was and stopped.

"Officer, I think we're okay." Sam said. "Thanks."

“All right, well,” The sheriff nodded. “let me know.”

You noticed right when he put his hat back on the Colonel started barking again. Dean picked up the observation as well. He pushed himself back up to his feet and stopped the sheriff from going anywhere, needing to test a possible theory from asking a strange favor from the man. “Officer. Excuse me, can I borrow your hat?”

The sheriff willingly handed over his hat. You watched as Dean turned over to the kennel and merely placing the hat over his head caused the Colonel to erupt into barking again. Right as he took it off, the barking stopped. You crossed your arms over your chest and looked over at the boys, each of you seeming to have the same idea. You heard the sheriff make a remark about the kind of trouble the dog was going to have getting adopted before being on his way. It was something more. You turned your attention back to the German Shepard as he continued barking before the man was gone.

“Okay, so, the Colonel’s not a suspect.” Sam said, noticing himself about the strange reaction.

“Yeah, but he’s a witness.” Dean mumbled. “Hey, boy. You speak sign language?”

“That’s monkeys.” Sam corrected his brother on the animals he was thinking about. “You know what? This is gonna sound crazy. I read this book about this guy who tried to teach his dog to speak after it witnessed a murder.”

“And it worked?” You couldn’t help yourself but ask out of curiosity to see if it was a success, despite how you chuckled at the bizarre idea. Sam shook his head. “But he wrote a book about it?”

“Yeah, well, he doesn’t have what we have.” Sam said. He pulled out his phone and pulled up the number of someone who was able to help you. You had a feeling you knew where this was going. “Kevin. Hey, it’s me. How do we speak to a dog?”

+ + +

To say you were excited about spending the afternoon with the German Shepard was an understatement. You ignored Dean’s annoyed stares and remarks from having the dog ride in the backseat with you and the chance of getting the interior ruined. You needed the Colonel in order to figure out who killed his owner. And he was on his best behavior. You sat on the floor of the motel while Sam gathered all the supplies you would need to make the spell in order to speak to the dog.

"You are just so handsome." You cooed at the German Shepherd, petting him and scratching behind his ear when you found a spot he liked the most. "I think this might be my favorite hunt we've ever done. A cute face like yours will get adopted in no time. Who's a good boy? It's you. Yes, you are."

"Don't get too attached to the mutt. We're not keeping him." Dean reminded you. He didn't understand why you were gushing over the dog. It wasn't like you were going to be able to keep him. He wasn't a personal fan of dogs. Didn't understand what the big hype was about. They bark at the smallest things, not to mention how they liked to shed everywhere. It was like having a child covered in fur. "We're doing the spell, figuring out who killed his owner and it's back to the pound."

"I know that. But it's not everyday we get to work with such a pretty dog. German Shepherds have always been my favorite. I wanted one as a kid. But my mom was allergic." You explained to the older Winchester why you were attached to the Colonel. You smiled and continued speaking to the dog in the kind of childlike voice Dean always found irritating. You praised the mutt for doing nothing but sitting there. Despite how this annoyed him with everyone else, he had to admit he liked seeing you so happy. It’d been a while since he got to see how your face lit up and with a genuine smile. You seemed to notice the older man’s pessimistic behavior. "He's a grump. Dean doesn't like dogs. But how can you not love such a cute face?"

You softly patted the Colonel one last time before you got back up from the ground when the door to the room opened, revealing Sam with all the ingredients you would need for the spell. You made your way over to the table to get started. However you felt a nudge on your knee, distracting you from participating. A smile crept on your lips when you saw the Colonel was back at your side. He rested his head on your lap and stared at you with those puppy dog eyes. You playfully rolled your eyes before you went on petting him, listening as Sam got started.

“An inuit spell?” You asked.

“Yeah.” Sam said. You watched as he reached for another ingredient and mixed it into the plastic bowl he found in the motel that was supposed to be used for ice. “Who knew the Men of Letters had its own Eskimo section?”

“I swear, you discover something new in that place.” You mumbled to yourself. “And it’s supposed to let us communicate with the Colonel?”

“Yeah, well, that’s the plan.” Sam answered. He reached out and plucked a hair off the Colonel’s backside, the strange disruption from you scratching his head made the dog lift its head up from your lap to see what the younger man was doing. Sam dropped the hair into the bowl and stirred it into the mixture to make sure it was all combined together. “Kevin said it’s like a sort of human/animal mind meld.”

“Meaning?” Dean questioned his brother, wondering about the simplified version of the spell.

“If it works,” Sam explained to his brother as he poured a vial looking brown liquid into a clean cup. Your face scrunched up slightly from realizing that you were going to have to drink that for the chance to communicate with the Colonel someway. “we should be able to read the Colonel’s thoughts.”

“All right, I’ll do it.” The older Winchester declared, snatching the cup off the table before either you or his brother could jump on the opportunity. You let out a loud scoff from the move that he pulled, prompting you to give him a look to explain himself of why he wanted to do this.“You got enough on your plate, sweetheart.”

“Like, what?” You questioned him in a frustrated tone of voice.

"Uh, like...you're tired." Dean sniffed the drink before giving a bogus response. You quietly laughed from the answer even you knew was crap. You weren't tired. Sure, you weren't back to yourself one hundred percent, but you didn't understand why you couldn't do the spell. "You're on the mend. Okay? Plus, Sammy's got a sensitive stomach. Last thing we need is him chucking this stuff up. Huh?"

“You hate dogs.” You pointed out to him.

“No, I don’t.” Dean chuckled off the accusation. The Colonel turned his head and let out a quiet noise that sounded like a bark. You quietly laughed. Guess the dog disagreed. Dean rolled his eyes from the petty argument. He turned his attention to the drink that he had to unfortunately swallow. He had his fair share of weird food and drinks over the years, the stuff should have gone down easy. “Doesn’t look so bad.” Dean drank the entire thing like it was a shot. He let out a sigh from the aftertaste that lingered. “I was wrong.”

“You wanted to do it…” You muttered under your breath.

“Come on.” Dean waved a hand for his brother to fork over the words he needed to say to make the spell complete. He coughed a few times from the way the drink snuck up on him as it settled into his stomach with consequences. He managed to chant a few lines without barfing up the ingredients. You examined the Colonel to see if anything might happen. The dog continued to rest at your feet. “All right. Let’s get this party started. Tell me everything you know.” The Colonel responded by letting out a yawn. “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” Dean amused himself with a corny joke as he let out a quiet chuckle. You and his brother didn’t think it was funny. “Tough crowd.”

The Colonel threw the man a bone when he lifted his head up and let out an unexpected bark. You raised your brow slightly and looked over at Dean, hoping somehow it was the dog’s way of communicating. Dean merely shook his head. You let out a quiet sigh from how the spell failed. Well, it was worth a shot.

+ + +

A little while later you and the boys settled down for a quick lunch as you discussed the next possible course of action. You weren't hungry as you thought you were. Every once in a while you ripped off a piece of your hamburger and fed it to the Colonel when the boys weren't looking. You felt like a kid feeding their unwanted vegetables to the family pet so you could be excused from dinner. He kept staring at you with those puppy dog eyes. You couldn't resist just giving him a treat. You’d find something else to snack on later like you normally did while you completed some more research.

“So, call Kevin.” Dean said. “Spell tasted like ass and it was a bust.”

“At least it didn’t affect your appetite.” You noted. “Geez. I’ve never seen you eat like that before. Take it slower next time. You’re not that young anymore.”

Dean rolled his eyes from your remark about his eating habits. He opened his mouth to try and excuse the reason for his ravenous appetite, but someone cut him off. “Change the station.” Dean heard a male voice come out of thin air. He turned his head head to the dog sitting next to him when he realized it wasn’t Sam complaining of the station he turned on the radio. The Colonel continued as he was while Dean observed him for any kind of change in behavior, his mouth hung open with a little bit of drool escaping his mouth. Dean heard the request again. “Change the station.”

“What?” Dean asked the dog for some kind of clarification. He wasn’t exactly sure how the spell might work if it actually did. Sam repeated after his brother, not sure himself of what was going on. When the older man did, he was quick to hush the both of you from trying to say anything else. The Colonel must’ve been speaking to the man telepathically. “You—shut up. It’s working!”

“It—go!” You hissed at the man.

“Say that again.” Dean told the dog.

“You call this classic rock? Next thing you know, they’ll be playing Styx.” The Colonel had an opinion on Dean’s music taste of all things. To say Dean was oddly offended would have been an understatement. One thing was for sure, he didn’t stand for something trashing his impeccable music taste. Not even a dog. “And Dennis DeYoung? A punk.”

“Dennis DeYoung’s not a punk.” Dean argued with the canine. “He’s Mr. Roboto, bitch.”

“Why are you arguing with the dog about Styx?” You asked him, becoming confused yourself at the one-sided conversation you were only able to hear.

Dean realized that you and Sam couldn’t hear the Colonel’s thoughts like he could. The man was having a full conversation with the mutt. “Wh—uh, yeah. Um, hey, boy.” Dean veered the conversation to the reason why he did the spell in the first place. “What were you trying to tell us about the cowboy hat?”

“The douche wheel who killed my best friend was wearing a cowboy hat.” The Colonel said. Dean wondered about the kid who was working at the shelter the night he was murdered. He was communicating with a dog. The man wasn’t sure if this was the weirdest thing he had ever done for a hunt. It was well up there. “Yep. Same guy killed both.”

“Ask about the cats.” Sam said, throwing his dirty rolled up napkins into the trash.

“Yeah, uh—” Dean was about to do that. But for some reason he was distracted by the ball Sam had thrown. He was overwhelmed with the urge to grab it from the trash can and placed it on the table. “And what about the cats?”

Sam picked up the napkin his brother fetched, unsure of why the man did it in the first place. “I don’t want this.”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t see much.” The Colonel said. Sam rolled up the napkin even more and tossed it once again into the trash hoping where it would stay there. “I didn’t exactly have the best view in the orphanage. Oh, but I could smell him. Guy reeked of red meat, dishwashing detergent and Tiger Balm.”

“So what’s he saying?” You asked the older man.

“Uh, that the—” Dean once again automatically reached for the napkin when he saw it be thrown across the table and into the trash. He tossed it back down on the table to Sam and went on with what he learned from the Colonel. “The guy smelled like ground chuck, and soap suds and old-lady cream.”

“Dean, what are you doing?” Sam asked. Once again he picked up the napkin he tried to discard twice now, only to fail after his brother picked it up like it was some kind of ball.

You noticed Dean was scratching behind his ear without much thought, like it was second nature. He shrugged his shoulders at his own behavior. “I don’t know.” He said. It seemed he wasn’t even aware of his strange actions that weren’t like him. The Colonel found it amusing when he titled his head and started laughing. Dean didn’t find it the least bit funny. “Oh, what are you laughing at?”

The Colonel was about to break the news to the man, until his ears picked up something that sounded like a car door sliding shut. He knew that noise. Suddenly he started barking like how he had at the shelter. Instead this time it was for an enemy all dogs shared. The expression that crossed Dean’s face was laser focused. He had the overwhelming urge to jump out of his seat and head straight to the window, and that’s exactly what he did. You felt your mouth part open in complete shock as the Colonel joined him, the dog jumped onto his hind legs as he peeked through the curtains to spot the mailman. Dean started banging his hand against the window as the Colonel continued barking upscenely, both trying to appear threatening to the stranger.

“Hey! Hey, hey! Yeah!” Dean shouted at the mailman just trying to do his job, only to be stopped by a grown man who was desperately trying to get his attention. For some reason the man pointed a finger at the stranger and shouted words at him, like he was trying to get his attention and seem threatening. “You! You!” The Colonel continued to bark as Dean did the same with his own words. “Hey, hey! You! You! You!”

Dean repeated after himself several more times until he saw the mailman go on his way, brushing off the man’s odd behavior. He felt himself let out a growl in frustration. “Hey! Stop that!” You were giving the command to the Colonel in an attempt to get him to try and behave, little did you think it would have the same effect on Dean. “Come on. Sit down.”

The Colonel did as he was told. He stopped barking and made his way back over to you where he dropped down to your feet. Dean followed just a second after. You smiled at how well the Colonel followed commands, it earned him another scratch under the chin you noticed how much he enjoyed. Dean found himself growing annoyed from the thought he was able to hear about how the Colonel could get used to this kind of treatment from you.

“Hey, hey. Don’t get cozy, pal.” Dean grumbled to the dog. “She’s my female, not yours.”

You suddenly stopped what you were doing at the words that came out of Dean's mouth. You turned your head to "I’m your what?" You asked, not sure if you should be weirded out or start laughing. It took you a second to realize what was going on when you saw Dean scratching behind his ear. Playing fetch. Barking at the mailman. You felt your lips stretch into an amused smile. “I think the spell worked. In fact, I think it worked a little too well.”

“What?” Dean asked.

“I think…you might be a dog.” Sam broke the news to his brother, trying his hardest not to laugh himself at the irony of the situation. The older Winchester was slowly becoming something he hated. Dean didn’t understand what the both of you were trying to get at, despite seeing the evidence. “You’re scratching your head. You’re barking at the mailman. You’re playing fetch.”

Dean opened his mouth and tried to deny the claim that sounded absurd to him. However the man was faced with the reality of the situation when Sam threw the napkin into the trash and for the third time Dean tried to grab it. He managed to stop himself when he realized what he was about to do. The urge to continue playing this game was strong, but Dean managed to refrain himself. He found himself letting out a low whimper. He wasn’t sure if it was because he couldn’t play, or it was the fact that he had the urges of a canine.

“Ruh-roh.”

+ + +

You had to admit at first you found Dean acting like a dog a bit funny. From playing fetch with his brother by accident to him subconsciously scratch behind his ear when neither you or Sam were paying much attention. It stopped being funny when he started getting clingy. Dean wasn’t much of an affectionate person on the surface. His actions spoke louder than his words. And his actions were showing you that he didn’t want to leave your side. You had to push him away several times when he was overwhelmed with the urge to sniff you like a bloodhound. He complimented you by saying that you smelled nice—like fresh fruit from your shampoo you used this morning, the hamburger you had for lunch, and chocolate from the bar you snuck in your bag. You could have done without knowing what you reeked of.

What pushed you over the edge was when he tried sitting in your lap after moving from the table to the edge of the motel bed. He needed to follow you wherever you went. He claimed it was an accident. You were about to yell at him to stay away from you, but the look in his eye—that stupid puppy dog pout, made you roll your eyes in frustration and compromise with the man. He was sitting right next to you with your shoulders bumping against one another. You swore he chuckled to himself when you gave him and whispered a thank you to the damn dog. You swore the Colonel taught him a trick on ways to get you to do what he wanted with a simple look. You refrained from making any remarks when you broke off a piece of chocolate and shoved a piece into your mouth.

“Yeah. No, that—okay. Alright. Thanks.” Sam finished his call up with Kevin after trying to find more out about the consequences of the spell his brother willingly decided to drink without thinking twice. You looked over at the man when you heard him end the conversation. “So, apparently, the inuit spell has some side effects.”

“Oh, well, that would have been nice to know before I downed it!” Dean grumbled in frustration at the situation at hand. “What kind of side effects?”

“When you mind meld with an animal, it’s…possible to start exhibiting some of its behavior.” Sam explained to his brother the bad news.

Dean turned his gaze over to the Colonel who sat right across from you, as if he had any answers that might help stiffen the blow of what the older Winchester put himself through. “Don’t look at me, hoss.” The dog said. “It ain’t my fault.”

“Well, how long am I gonna have the urge to…” Dean didn’t want to say it out loud, afraid how you and his brother were going to react. The Colonel didn’t miss a beat when he said exactly what the man was thinking. Dean chuckled in nervousness at hearing it out loud. He shook his head. “Oh, whoa. Hey. I don’t have the urge to sniff butts.”

“Yet.” The Colonel warned.

You nearly choked on the piece of candy you accidentally decided to swallow right when Dean decided to say the inappropriate sentence out loud. “What?” You didn’t know why you sounded so surprised from hearing the behavior. Dogs were notorious for their odd behavior when it came to their other fellow species. You slid down the bed to give the both of you a few inches apart, never breaking eye contact with him. “Do you really have the—”

“No!” Dean shouted. He was suddenly filled with embarrassment from the question you asked him. “Come on!”

“Well, Kevin doesn’t know how long it’ll last. It’s not like it’s an exact science, you know?” Sam gave his brother more bad news. Dean reached out and ripped the candybar out of your hands. He needed a little pick-me-up for the situation he was in. “But hopefully, when the spell wears off, so will the side effects.”

“I wouldn’t eat that if I were you.” The Colonel warned him from doing something stupid. Dean froze in his spot with a piece of chocolate hanging between his lips, not seeming to understand what the big deal was. "Chocolate? Seriously."

Dean let the piece of candy fall out from his mouth and drop back down to his lap before he could pull a stupid move. You shook your head and ripped the chocolate bar out from his hands. The three of you needed to figure out who was behind the cat-nappings and the two murders. You folded the candybar back up and threw it back into your bag for later. You got up from the bed and tried to get your jacket that was hanging off the back of the chair. All you could manage was taking a step before you were crashing into Dean. You let out a frustrated sigh when he was continuing the habit of following you.

“Good thing you’re cute.” You mumbled to him. You had to excuse his behavior from the way Dean was acting. He couldn’t help himself. But there was one line you didn’t want to cross. “If you start humping my leg, I’ll put you down myself.”

Dean swallowed and nodded his head in agreement. You clipped on the Colonel’s leash and followed behind the boys as all of you made your way out into the motel parking lot. Your time with the dog was nearing the end. But you had a possible theory that if Dean was acting like a canine, maybe he could communicate with others. There were several animals at the shelter who witnessed the crime. It was worth a shot. You had no possible leads other than the killer liked to wear a cowboy hat.

“Where are we headed?” The Colonel asked out of curiosity.

“Back to the shelter.” Dean informed him.

“To sniff out more clues,” The dog wondered. “maybe dig up something we missed?”

“All right, one more doggy pun out of you, and I’m gonna have your nuts clipped.” Dean warned the dog of a punishment.

“I hate to break it to you, hoss.” The Colonel broke the news to Dean about the operation his owner had done when he was still a mere puppy. “My sacks’ emptier than Santa’s after Christmas.”

As if today couldn’t get any worse Dean watched as the Impala’s windshield became dirty from a white blob that fell out from the sky. Some bird just pooped on his ride. And he cleaned Baby right before the hunt. “Aw, are you kidding me?” He grumbled. Dean looked to see it was a pigeon who was to blame. It sat on top of a street lamp with perfect range to drop another load on the Impala. “Hey, dick move, pigeon!”

“Screw you, asshat.”

“Did—” Dean thought he was only able to communicate with the Colonel. It came as a shock when the pigeon talked back to him. You and Sam were finding all of this amusing from an outsider’s perspective, having no clue the discovery Dean made. He looked down at the Colonel for some kind of answers. “Wait a minute. Can I hear all animals?”

“Yep. Animals have a universal language—like esperanto.” He said. “But this one actually caught on.”

“And I’m just getting started, too.” The pigeon said. “Brewing a real big one. Ha! Bet your ride’s gonna look sweet in white.”

“What’s he saying?” You asked, looking up at the pigeon.

“You—he’s being a douchebag!” Dean shouted in annoyance.

“Who are you calling ‘douchebag,’ douchebag?” The pigeon mocked back at the man.

“Oh, shut it, you winged rat!” The older Winchester yelled.

“Hey. Calm down.” You whispered to him, chuckling nervously to yourself when you saw a few people notice the strange behavior Dean was showing. It appeared to be the man was having a one-sided conversation with the pigeon that couldn’t talk back. “Just get in the car.”

“Ha, ha. That’s right, Sally.” The pigeon taunted, thinking he won the fight against the human with the last word. “Go cry to Mama.”

“Oh, that’s it, you son of a bitch!”

Dean whipped out his gun and pointed it up at the bird, ready to shoot the damn thing out of the sky. Before he could do something stupid and get all of you arrested, you managed to grab him by the arm and pinned it back down to his side. "That's enough!" You hissed at him. "Stop acting like a damn fool and get your ass in the car!"

You shoved him towards the backseat where you put the Colonel in as Sam awkwardly waved at a few bystanders who witnessed the whole ordeal. You rolled your eyes in frustration and got into the passenger side, letting Dean’s punishment be to sit with the dog since he wanted to act like one.

+ + +

The ride to the shelter was an interesting one at that. Dean insisted on having all the windows rolled down to let in some fresh air. However you noticed it for another reason when both Dean and the Colonel stuck their heads out to enjoy the breeze. You tried your hardest to stifle a laugh you felt coming on from seeing the joy on Dean's face of feeling the breeze against his face that caused an adorable grin. When you got to the shelter and the Impala came to a stop, Dean immediately broke out of his behavior when he figured out what he was doing.

“I think it’s probably best to just leave the Colonel in the car.” Sam suggested to his brother when he circled around and tried opening up the backseat door to let the dog out. Dean had a shift in behavior, as if he was taken back at the mere idea of letting poor Colonel be all on his own. “Well, all the windows are open.”

“You think we like that?” Dean asked him. You furrowed your brow slightly when you caught him using a plural noun from what he was talking about. “You think because the windows are open that that’s some sort of treat, huh? No, the dog’s coming in.”

You and Sam shared a look from the even more strange behavior Dean was exhibiting. The Colonel respected the hunter for understanding the desire to not be stuck in the car while humans did chores. They liked to go wherever their best friends went. Dean petted the canine before letting him out of the car to join the rest of you. You rolled your eyes and went on your way to the shelter. Dean followed behind with the Colonel right by his side like how he argued to have. The man found himself stopping when he caught sight of a view he couldn’t turn away from. You turned your head to see that Dean stopped for some reason with his gaze upon something that caused a glint in his eyes you weren’t all too happy with. You’ve seen it before when he caught sight of a pretty face that wasn’t yours before the both of you got together. You followed his gaze until you saw what he was staring at. You let out a heavy sigh from how weird this was getting.

Dean and the Colonel gawked at a poodle tied up across the street to a bike rack. She was a pretty dog from how well groomed she was and her pink accessories her owner dolled her up with. Both dogs were infatuated with the bitch.

“Dean!” You hissed at the man, forcing him back into reality. He stopped ogling at the poodle and looked over to you to see that you weren’t the least bit amused. You crossed your arms over your chest and raised your brow, not sure if you wanted an explanation for all of this. You chalked it up to the spell that was changing his inhibitions. "You know, I'm not opposed to getting your balls clipped.”

Dean understood the underlying threat you were hinting at without needing to hear more from you. He followed right behind you with the Colonel right by his side. All of you headed into the shelter in some kind of hope Dean might be able to use this spell for good and figure out who the man was in the cowboy hat.

[Next Part]

Rewrite Taglist:

@deansquirreljerkwinchester // @everything-i-tried-was-taken // @starswirlblitz // @supernaturalismydrug // @we-are-band-sexuals // @angiewinchestercas // @kaylinfayezink // @owhatshername1 // @kgbrenner // @cleo-is-my-doggy // @eeyore1988 // @dakota-dream // @lilylovelyxo // @timetravelingginger // @holahellohialoha // @quicksilver123456 // @natashacamillas //@lexi-anastasia //@kaylinfayezink // @deanwnchstr @albot-eh // @rashinyx2002 // @shellybeans // @icantfindacreativeurl // @becs-bunker // @oreosatmidnight // @bands-and-shietz // @fabulousmustachesonapolarbear // @clarewinchester // @releasethekracko // @alex-zeppelin // @mega-mrs-dean-winchester // @theskytraveler // @notmoose94 //@assassinofmasyaf // @caswinchester2000 // @savannah-m-99 // @sunlight-dean // @strayrosesbloom // @that-slytherin-over-there // @1000roughdrafts // @its-medeanwinchester // @simplyhemmings // @dream-believe-and-love

Message me if you would like to be added!

55 notes · View notes

anothertroy · 3 years

Note

Have you read the TRC sequels? I remember you posting a lot about The Raven Cycle back in the day.

oof. hi anon, are you my lovely TRC anon of old? it’s possible I had more than one of those, to be fair, on account of anonymousness :x but if you are, hi! you are still one of the best things about the very weird experience of being in that fandom. we were in fact talking about these sequels just the other day, and the short answer is that no, I haven’t read them and I am probably unlikely to ever read them. I will put the long answer under a cut where if you want to you can read my whole feelings about this thing. they are not happy feelings :|

it’s a shame. once upon a time I would have been so lightning strike excited to know that these books were going to have sequels. more time spent with some characters I’d come to love like family! who doesn’t want that? but that seems like such a long, long time ago now. I don’t think I’ve ever endured a combination of betrayal by creator + betrayal by fandom to anywhere near the same extent as this horrible, surreal mess.

I read the first three books of TRC feeling like I was being put through something like cleansing fire, like, I don’t think I’d felt this ~seen~ and ~understood~ by a book series in years - not just the people in the books but also the way they were written, thought processes I recognised and figured almost nobody else understood, ways of talking about trauma and generally being fucked up that were more familiar to me than media usually manages at all, etc etc. these beautiful children came to live with me and I sent messages to The Author saying how amazing I thought x or y thing in the books was, and she sent me messages back and I was like, this is THE BEST

but like. I can’t begin to explain how brutal and demoralising I was also finding the fandom at the same time. every time I went in anyone’s tag, there would be stuff glorifying Kavinsky as some sort of misunderstood badass gay representation or ship mixes with him in them or graphics about his bad boy good looks or whatever the christ fuck, as well as the people complaining that Adam was ‘a bad bisexual because Reasons’, which was a whole different alley of despair down which I wandered in bewildered alarm. I still have waking nightmares about some of the fic people wrote about Kavinsky, particularly the ones where Adam slept with him because...??? because he was poor and was being paid to? because he was poor and that meant he didn’t have standards? because he was poor and somehow thus Kavinsky was meant to understand him better than anyone else did????? and also, more than any others, the fic where Kavinsky sexually assaulted Gansey in a bathroom at Aglionby. like I literally think about that fic once a month and cry because it was so fucking horrible and I was seeing shit like this every. single. day and I had to unfollow SO MANY PEOPLE

because every time I thought I was safe following someone and they were all ‘OT5! yay!’ then suddenly a graphic would pop up or a fanmix and they’d start being like, well, he was a poor misunderstood soul who didn’t mean to hurt anyone and he had a bad childhood and so deserves redemption anyway here’s my AU where he comes back from the dead or never died so he can have a cute gay relationship with [it literally doesn’t matter who because every single possibility is BAD. BAD. BAD BAD BAD. DON’T DATE A RAPIST!!! don’t date somebody who literally created you as an empty sex doll I’m gonna blow a fucking gasket just thinking about this christ almighty]

so, like, that was happening, and for a while it felt like The Author was in the same position about all that as I was, just being like, nope, he’s evil. nope, he’s dead. nope, you’re all wrong. nope, Adam is a real teenager just figuring out his sexuality and he doesn’t need all your weird labels and feelings pasted onto him. and that was bearable. but then things started to get weird with her, too. idk if you remember that whole absolutely bizarre thing where she was like, it’s gross and disturbing to me if you write about these characters being in physical relationships because they’re teenagers and my books are for teenagers and teens doing Things with each other is gross and bad??? because that was. a trip. and also a bad sign.

and idk what happened man but the fourth book, which I have still actually not personally read on account of wanting to spare myself the actual misery of dragging my way through it, is just like...How Can I Ruin Everything I Have Created. like How Can I Tell My Fans I Hate Them, Specifically. How Can I Finish This Series That Means A Lot To People By Destroying Everything They Loved. I could get into all the things I find actively despicable about it but that’s probably not worth doing here right now, the point is, I hate and hurt over every decision she made about what to do with everyone. about everything.

so reading the sequels was probably never gonna happen anyway but when it came up in conversation the other week I went to read the plot of the first one out of morbid curiosity and I was just like...so upset and so angry just reading the plot that I def do not want to put myself, or these beautiful kids who still live with me, through a single page of it. we have our own sequel, where they’re just living their lives and doing the best they can to figure out where to go from here, and sometimes Ronan makes dinner for me and Adam helps me clean the bathroom and Gansey cries at nature documentaries. I like our party better.

#Anonymous

2 notes · View notes

siverwrites · 4 years

Text

Press Start Letter

AO3: Siver

There are some pretty big groups here, so there’s just a mix of things I like and prompts if you want them. As long as the DNWs are avoided it’s all good. Really can’t go wrong taking anything from my Likes list. A lot of found family vibes happening in this batch so anything in that vein in particular is great.

All requests are for fic or art. Art: Interactions of some sort: emoting at each other, talking, sharing some activity, taking a walk, hugs are always welcome, soft things, whatever suits the pair/group

Likes: fluff, hurt/comfort, comfort, missing scenes, friendships, long-term friendships, close relationships of any sort whether romantic or platonic, familial bonds, found family, sickfic, AUs, fandom crossovers or fusions, angst with a happy end, bonding, cuddling/hugs/holding, banter, mutual care and support, emotional bonding, loyalty, pre-canon, post-canon, reuniting, slice of life

DNW: NSFW, non-con, dub-con, underage relationships, unrequested ships, infidelity, virus things

Thank you!

Ghost Trick

Group: Alma/Cabanela Group: Alma/Jowd Group: Alma/Jowd & Cabanela Group: Alma/Jowd/Cabanela Group: Cabanela/Jowd Group: Cabanela & Pigeon Man Alma Cabanela Jowd Missile Sissel Group: Emma & Pigeon Man: What even happens here? Just such a bizarre and unexpected combo it had to happen.

I love this game, its characters and pretty much everything about it, so whatever you want to do will be great I am sure. New timeline mysteries and dealing with missing memories are always welcome where it makes sense. Alternate timelines and what-ifs are cool to explore. Fluff, comfort, family found or otherwise and friendships are always a go. Sissel and Missile involvements and tricks are always good. Any combination of these characters is more than welcome too!

I only request that for various configurations of Alma, Jowd and Cabanela there is no infidelity. If it’s Cabanela/Jowd or Cabanela/Alma please let the third party be absent for whatever reason or dead... if a Cabanela/Jowd situation in game or a no reset timeline. But Alma’s absence should still be felt. Otherwise I love the trio so much and always love to see more.

Trails in the Sky

Group: Cassius Bright & Estelle Bright & Joshua Bright & Renne Bright: Family family family! Renne adjusting to a new life with them .

Group: Celeste D. Auslese & Renne Hayworth: What might they discuss in the Hermit’s Garden? What might Renne have to ask her?

Group: Estelle Bright & Kloe Rinz | Klaudia von Auslese & Tita Russell: Sisters and best friend time!

Group: Julia Schwarz & Kloe Rinz | Klaudia von Auslese: Mooore sister times

Group: Kloe Rinz & Celeste D. Auslese: Her ancestor... Kloe must have so many questions...

Group: Kloe Rinz | Klaudia von Auslese & Olivier Lenheim | Olivert Reise Arnor: Royals unite! They have a good allyship now going now it’d be cool to see them interact more

Group: Mayor Maybelle/Lila: they’re just sweet okay. Let Maybelle rest. Lila, also rest. Go on a vacation you two

Group: Olivier Lenheim | Olivert Reise Arnor & Mueller Vander: Exasperated but oh so caring Mueller always...

Group: Olivier Lenheim/Mueller Vander: Same as above but more romantic

Group: Ries Argent/Kevin Graham: Affectionate exasperation

Olivier Lenheim | Olivert Reise Arnor: Just. Olivier.

Missing scenes, scene extensions, travel along the roads, airship travel times, etc. Post Sky also welcome and at some points necessary. Ample opportunity for anything in the Garden in 3rd. I love these characters, their world, and their relationships.

Trails from Zero/Trails to Azure

Alex Dudley Elie MacDowell KeA Lloyd Bannings Randy Orlando Sergei Lou Tio Plato Zeit Group: Rixia Mao/Ilya Platiere Group: Sonya Baelz & Sergei Lou

These games hit my found family buttons hard. Anything portraying some kind of familial relationship among these characters is awesome. I love our SSS family (Dudley included, you’re an honorary part too, just the way it is). Any combination of these characters is more than welcome!

KeA winning Dudley over because no one can resist her? Always down for KeA and “Uncle” Sergei too. Randy and Tio sibling like times? An outing for our core four, Lloyd, Elie, Tio and Randy, possibly dragging Sergei with for a change? Dudley and Lloyd connecting over something whether the past with Guy or something else entirely? Zeit in any capacity is a very good boy. Sky’s the limit.

Please no shipping aside from the Rixia/Ilya.

Dragon Quest XI

While I wish there were a few more dynamics among the party outside of certain pairs I do love what there is and down for more.

I’d be interested in seeing more Jade and Rab grandfather adopted granddaughter moments. Could be something during the journey or something before they joined the party. Or something after it’s all over. Jade can return to her father in Heliodor but that’s a bond that won’t break.

Any kind of sister time for Serena and Veronica at any time. Can go angsty given Veronica’s situation as well.

I didn’t give Dave a lot of attention until playing the definitive edition and I loved how he was there for Sylv and was able to snap him out of his gloom. More interactions and them supporting each other would be great. Anything during the parade gathering is also great, or Dave’s search for him and Sylv’s recovery.

I love Hendrik and Sylvando’s dynamic. They have that shared history but they’re so different and Hendrik’s reactions are always a joy. But what are some other ways they can support each other?

Game did Jade dirty. Let her shine. Maybe overly ambitious but an AU where she kicks Booga’s ass and liberates Octagonia herself would be cool and she can look after it in a similar fashion to the Last Bastion. But overall anyway, just some attention for Jade.

Just. Sylvando. I love him. Sylv being Sylv can’t go wrong.

Bug Fables

Group: Elizant II & Leif Group: Kabbu & Vi & Leif Group: Prof. Honeycomb & Doctor H.B. Kabbu Leif Vi

My new love and I love the group dynamics! Party fun times while they’re travelling would be good. Really interested in more with Leif’s situation because that is a Lot and open to more introspection and dealing--Kabbu support go? Attempted Vi support go?

There’s also an interesting connection between Elizant II and Leif I’d be interested in seeing more. Leif’s out of time but holds memories of Elizant I. Elizant II is a more direct connection he’s otherwise lacking and it’s nice to see how his opinion of her shifts and grows.

Professor Honeycomb and Doctor H.B.: older cranky lady bees in science! I have no specific ideas, but exploring more of their rivalry would be fun. Hawk and long-suffering Crow involvement are A-okay too.

Final Fantasy VI

Cyan Celes Group: Edgar Roni Figaro & Macías "Mash" Rene Figaro | Sabin Rene Figaro Relm Arrowny

Any combination of any of these tags. Any kind of characters interaction among the party is great. Celes and Relm. Attempted reconciliation between Celes and Cyan. Edgar and Sabin having some sort of interaction with the spunky Relm--she probably trolling them in some way no doubt. Or perhaps something sweeter. Etc

Edgar & Sabin: Moments visiting Figaro during their journey. Or post-game trying to bond again and get to know each other after Sabin’s long absence without doom hanging over their heads. Something to do with or some fallout from the whole Gerad situation?

Celes: Her thoughts on having to sing at the opera? Or what she might be doing post-game. More exploration of her thoughts and feelings after she wakes up on the island? So much room for more expansion on Celes moments. Travelling with Sabin after finding him in the World of Ruin?

Relm: Lean on the magic of her paintings? Or post-game Relm dealing with the loss her powers and/or just trying to live normally again after all that?

Mutazione

Group: Bopek & Jell-A Group: Dennis & Nonno Group: Kai & Karoo Group: Kai & Semenya Group: Miu & Yoké Group: Nonno & Spike Group: Spike/Claire Group: Yoké & Claire Group: Yoké & Karoo Miu Yoké

I don’t have any specific ideas for Mutazione but all these groups are cool. I enjoyed playing this game so much I’d love to dive back into this world. Leaning hard on its warmth, care and found family is most welcome. And plants! And music! I’m particularly fond of Yoké, but as said these are all great pairs and characters.

Pyre

Group: Volfred Sandalwood & Ti'zo Group: Volfred Sandalwood/Tariq | The Lone Minstrel Volfred Sandalwood Ti’Zo

Found family joys. Daily activities while they travel? Wagon shenanigans. Post Peaceful revolution activities? Any combo here is great. Soft moments in configurations of Volfred, Tariq and Oralech, pre, post or in-game. Snakes doing snake things. Imps doing imp things.

Volfred Sandalwood & Ti'zo: Tree and Imp, Tree and Imp! And who knew each other before so something relating to that would be cool. But honestly tree and imp...

Volfred Sandalwood/Tariq | The Lone Minstrel: Something gentle for the tree and the moon who somehow fell for him, any time period

#press start #press start 2020 #press start letter #letter

3 notes · View notes

arcticdementor · 4 years

Link

My take on modern Star Trek compared to the old:

Star Trek very much embodied what liberal American white males of the 1980s and 1990s thought the future would (or should) look like: secular, sexually liberated, humanistic, meritocratic, equitable, and technological – a man’s world, basically. In this world, religion plays practically no role in public life. Problems are solved with diplomacy instead of violence. Money doesn’t exist, so there is no capitalism, greed, or want. People spend their lives bettering humanity and doing other such noble things like negotiating peace with aliens or exploring the universe in one of Starfleet’s advanced starships, each equipped with a plethora of miraculous technologies. In their leisure time, the crews of these starships visit a holographic room, the holodeck, which can conjure any fantasy into a photorealistic facsimile of the real thing.

Probably the only place in the Western world where this mentality can still be found is California’s Silicon Valley. As in the fictional world of Star Trek, men do most of the work; they advance through meritocracy; and there is something akin to a fraternal culture, irrespective of the prevailing progressive ideology. Silicon Valley is also still largely free of the odious diversity requirements imposed on the rest of society.

…

The high point of the franchise, The Next Generation, featured a mostly white liberal cast and various things white liberals liked at the time – sex appeal, food, pseudointellectualism (although handled capably by talented male writers), cutting edge tech, meritocracy, optimism, exploration, and the white man’s moralism.

Starfleet, the Federation’s military and scientific branch, was a rigorous meritocracy, just as Silicon Valley is today. Members were admitted only through a combination of senior officer recommendations, high scholastic achievement, and phenomenally high standardized test scores. Character was also paramount. Crew evaluations feature prominently in several episodes of TNG, and it was made clear to underperforming members that the starship Enterprise cuts a standard above the rest; perform or hit the road.

In the diverse world of Star Trek, the white writers imagined meritocracy would ensure whites like themselves would still have a position at the top of society (just as in Hollywood then and Silicon Valley now) despite soon becoming a minority in real life America. You’ll notice progressive humans are at the center of the Federation in Star Trek despite being a small minority in that fictional universe as well. That’s by design, conscious or not.

…

In the TNG episode The Drumhead, Picard faces down a witch hunting admiral — a woman, no less. The plot revolves around an incident that occurred on the starship Enterprise. Sabotage is suspected, and the situation is tense. The initial evidence points to a low ranking crewman who is later discovered to be of mixed race, one-quarter of the Federation’s most feared enemy. This all but convicts him in the eyes of the admiral’s tribunal. The admiral mercilessly presses her case, threatening to destroy anyone who gets in her way. She’s meant to be a caricature of conservative jingoists of the era – always scared of the Russians, racist against minorities, emotional. In Hollywood’s view of history, those were the people behind the McCarthy hearings, which this episode obviously pulls from.

…

Toward the end of the episode, Captain Picard confronts his antagonist and gives a fine speech about principle, temperament, and morality in the process. The admiral is defeated when a fellow admiral, a black male character, stands up and walks out in disgust at her actions.

This is one of the reasons why fans liked the character of Jean-Luc Picard: he was a decent, honorable man despite not being perfect himself. He had a code he lived by, and he led by example. Men like that sort of thing. Star Trek Picard, in contrast, portrays him as a bumbling moron who is always wrong and continually berated by female underlings. His view of the world is portrayed as naive or just wrong, requiring strong SJW women to take it to the enemy themselves, often employing violence – including rank murder and sadistic violence.

In another episode of TNG, white male commander Riker stands up to his white male superior — an admiral — who wishes to break the terms of a peace treaty to gain a military edge over a mortal enemy. Riker prevents him from doing so and exposes the dastardly plot. Moral of the story: principle trumps Machiavellianism.

Star Trek was very much a pre-Millennial liberal morality play whereby inspired characters (mostly white) would often stand up to authority figures (mostly white) in order to promote a general moral code — a greater authority — among fellow whites.

Consider some of the following things about Star Trek: The Next Generation and ask yourself if any of this would be allowed on television today without controversy.

…

The diverse new cast of Discovery and Picard mostly excludes white males. The only principle white men who did not appear in make-up during Discovery’s first season were either villains or openly gay. The show’s lead is a black woman who’s the best at everything, acts bizarrely hostile towards the crew and later berates the male commanding officer, captain Pike – introduced in season 2. There’s also an assortment of other female archetypes more typically seen in network television crime dramas – the dorky female comic relief, the bestest ever leader, the tech guru.

Star Trek: Picard’s white male actors, aside from TNG cameos, are mostly villains when they appear at all. Picard himself is a senile old man who contributes essentially nothing to the show. He is used as the butt of criticism from the cast. It’s clear the writers are using him as a canvas to paint their grievances with the real world. Picard — white male America — stands in the new boss’s empowered way. He lives in luxury as minority characters live in poverty. The (white) institutions he represents are all corrupt and racist. To rectify this injustice, the diverse cast must defy Star Trek convention – up to and including committing acts of cold-blooded murder (even villains don’t deserve that).

The new shows also – bizarrely — feature a dearth of straight black male actors. TNG had two; Voyager had one; DS9 had several, including a masculine male captain. The feminists who write this newer junk must feel threatened by their masculinity, a common phenomenon in modern Hollywood movies, comic books, and in network television: black men are usually removed (Star Trek), made gay (Marvel’s New Warriors), or turned into female servants (Samuel L. Jackson in Captain Marvel – a pet to Brie Larson). So, they’ve almost entirely been excised as primary leads in the new shows. The mostly unaccomplished female writers of Discovery even reported the more accomplished (read: threatening) black male writer, Walter Mosley, to Human Resources for uttering a racial epithet (in context with writing about racism), causing him to quit the show in disgust.

Author Walter Mosley Quits ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ After Using N-Word in Writers Room

Discovery and Picard are both written by a crowd that obviously hates the demographic they are writing for, so they pepper many of the episodes with things they know that demographic will take as insults – female characters insulting male characters, underhanded jokes about masculinity or mansplaining, obnoxious female leads, incompetent white male characters who need female instruction, excessive melodrama, denigration of lore. It’s patently obvious. They aren’t even being subtle about it.

…

Fundamentally, these new shows struggle because they are written by people wholly unlike the target audience, so they are not able to appeal to them (the same is true of other ruined male franchises like Star Wars – but I’ll save that for another time). These new shows aren’t for the old audience. The new — diverse — show runners have made that clear. Star Trek now serves as a vehicle for airing out racial and gender grievances against the perceived white male audience. It’s akin to planting your tribe’s flag on another tribe’s territory. The aggrieved gets a rush from being able to rub their enemy’s face in their loss. It’s intentional.

…

Regardless, the primary audience for a show like this is heterosexual men, disproportionately white … And when minority male characters appear, they’re not supposed to be losers upstaged by their sassy, disrespectful and arrogant female subordinates. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the black male captain put his hothead female executive officer in her place more than once. In the new Treks, men are continually insulted, often for no good reason, by female crew members.

What do men like in Star Trek?

Men like technology. So, the writers of Picard introduced a magic wand to the newest iteration.

…

Men like adventure, not melodrama. So, obviously the female writers feature an inordinate number of episodes of characters crying.

…

Most of the adventure element prominent in previous shows is absent or poorly constructed in the newer ones … or ripped off from other properties, including video games. Paramount was being sued a while back for copyright infringement.

…

Men also like ship design, which was a major component of the old shows. They provided countless hours of free fan promotion across message boards and websites, they were cool locations for new episodes, and they inspired fan movies. So, obviously that had to be sidelined in the new shows. The ships, once iconic and profitable selling toy items, are now generic CGI models – totally uninspired trash hastily put together as an afterthought. The new shows can’t sell the merchandise, so the retailers have refused to license much of it.

Another thing men like? Group service – following rules, meritocracy, sacrifice for the tribe, defending territory (even the non-violent philosophical variety), that kind of thing. Well, that’s almost totally absent in Discovery and Picard. The once-honorable and meritocratic military-like Federation is portrayed as corrupt and unequal; the black female lead of Picard berates Jean-Luc in one episode for living “in his fine chateau” while she lived in poverty – again, a totally antithetical concept to the old shows.

…

The whole Federation is a dystopia with criminals and drugs and injustice all about.

Various Federation admirals in the new movies and television shows are belligerent, short-sighted, and rude; one is an outright war criminal. TNG featured at least two episodes with corrupt Federation admirals, but our show’s male heroes put them in their place by the end of the episode. Even the female captain Kathryn Janeway did this once in Voyager. Not true of these newer shows, though. Admirals berate the male characters, then go away – never to be redeemed or brought to justice.

Many of the characters in the new shows act entirely unprofessional towards each other. They are sometimes even cruel or sadistic. The female captain of one Discoveryshort Trek allowed a bumbling white male crewman (whom the female writers mocked the entire episode) to die horribly and then simply shrugged it off when asked about it, “he was an idiot” (implication: he deserved to die because he was annoying her).

…

The biggest supporters of these new incarnations, not surprisingly, are the show’s American writers – along with a few “critics”. These people lack any loyalty to a higher cause (other than themselves), are nihilistic, are sadistic, enjoy berating “the other” (men, whites, themselves even), and have practically no respect for anything they aren’t personally invested with. In other words, they are thoroughly Americanized losers.

There would be a college thesis in that observation if we lived in a better timeline. In this one, the world where the bad guys won, you are stuck reading it in a random internet comment.

I think that observation explains much of what is wrong with modern culture: the past, in many ways, was better than the present and probably will end up being better than the near future. That’s intolerable to a lot of political extremists, the very people who put us in this position in the first place. So, the past has to be destroyed; it serves as a foil to the current reigning madness. “Let the past die, kill it if you have to.” That’s why pop culture had to be denigrated. That’s why Star Trek is trash nowadays.

When conquering armies of the ancient world subdued an enemy, they often defaced the conquered tribe’s symbols – destroyed the statues, burned the temples, desecrated anything sacred; both Muslim and Christian conquerors were famous for this. Same thing here. The new regime is burning the cultural bridges so you can’t go back to the better world left behind, the one not ruled by them.

…

Although, in fairness to the ladies, it’s mostly men like Alex Kurtzman who have ruined the new shows. The guy once stated in an interview that he has a problem writing male characters. Hollywood: let’s hire that guy for Star Trek!

#unz.com #star trek #read the whole thing

2 notes · View notes

twitchesandstitches · 5 years

Text

Crossthicc Fashions and Philosophies: Endowed Fleet, the Big Cyber-Barbarians and Punks

Had a bit of eureka moment a while ago regarding the fashions in Crossthicc, and I've had some ideas on the Endowed Fleet’s look. While im mulling over outfit fashions and cultural reasonings for some of the other factions, have my thoughts on it

My idea for their overall look?

In brief, their overall outfit style can be summarized as techno-barbarians with lots of furs and leathers, a fondness for longcoats and cloaks or capes, supplemented with scraps of worn out clothing from whatever they could scrounge up for that perfect punky look, and a lot of honor trophies from beaten monsters (or rarely, sapient foes that REALLY deserved it). And over all that, a mish-mash of different gear, personal computers, job-specific equipment, and body-enhancing devices that make them look like clunky cyborgs!

And all of that as an outgrowth of cultural attitudes towards recycling and salvaging as a spiritual duty to the animistic eco-systems of technological devices and created things that pervades much of their design sensibilities and outlooks.

In more detail? Okay then:

At their core, the Fleet’s beginnings were a mix of scavenger punks who assemble whatever they can find into a messy combination, and futuristic techno-barbarians, at least aesthetically. This holds true, and the look of techno-barbarians is CRUCIAL; i’m considering that the vast majority of their clothing is leather harvested from monsters and space leviathans they hunt while on the move, furs, and similar things. Carved bone is common for hard/solid parts of outfits or parts that require rigidity (supports for hyper gravid bellies or such?). softer furs used in a similar way to fish nets or very flexible outfits, or they farm giant spiders to make special silk in the same way.

Body part trophies may feature prominently in their outfits as medals, and honor markings; massive bones made all shiny or a monster’s skull for a shoulder pad; decorated warriors often look like something out of Monster Hunter. The body parts and heads of sophonts CAN be used in this way. Neo-Simfurian fleet members often have the skulls of many enemies worn on spikes as honorable trophies and implied threats. These trophies are treated well, often heavily carved and metal-plated, sometimes magically altered to recite the tale of their own defeats.

Teeth and bone materials are VERY commonly used as decoration; at the least they feature heavily in their outfits, dangling from necklaces, bracelets or implanted directly into the wearer’s skin, like with nose rings and studs.

Complicated gear is universal! Big, BIG guns and powerful melee weapons, personal computers and alchemizers worn on their arms as pseudo-shields, all manner of gadgets from jet-boots to multi purpose goggles, all incorporated into their outfits. It’s not uncommon for these outfits of leathers and fur-cloaks to have such powerful servo-motors and muscle-cables in them, or salvaged chunks of exosuits for limbs, that they count as low-grade power armor. (The idea of so much technology, gear and gadgetry on them that they can be mistaken for cyborgs - assuming they already aren’t - is a KEY part of their look.)

One wouldn’t think that leathers, furs and bones would make for poor armor or clothing in this setting, but two counter points. One, they are the most prolific self-augmented people around, and just LOVE huge bulky armor, mechs and powered armor, though all of the above are often decorated in the ‘waste nothing of your foe’ trophy adornment. Common to see warsuits with bone-plated bits, carved to tell a tale of heroic victory!

More importantly, from a materials perspective, the Fleet early on mastered the means of reinforced organic stuff (leathers, hides, bones and so on) via the use of secret chemical recipes that make them far stronger and about as useful as metal in terms of protectiveness; at the very least they serve as capable body armor, even with the more fearsome kinds of personal weaponry around. Leather that can take bullets, bones that work as well as plasteel for weapon construction, and of course, reinforcing those materials to support their hyper engorged figures and not burst from the strain of their powerful bodies. This process is efficient, but it's not very fast, so the tradition of salvaging clothes from whatever was available began there, patching up gaps and making do.

Weaving all those trophies into hair, along with ritually important hair styles of great complexity, is very common. The stereotype of a warrior MILF is a massive beast of a woman, usually a cyborg just THIS side of being fully robotic, with her gigantic hair worn in heavy braids and hundreds of trophy bones weaved into her hair. Sometimes, a necklace of skulls.

Tattooing, body paint and similar things are ubiquitous, though the individual traditions vary hugely from ship to ship, world to world, and then specific styles and fashions are exclusive to individual clans OF those ships and worlds. Tattooing and body paint follow their own complex rules and traditions, and are culturally important; you do NOT steal the designs of a clan you don’t belong to, as wearing them implies you have been accepted into their family and stand with them. Since most Fleetfolk belong to many clans at once, their tattoos can blend and create very striking designs. These patterns are also incorporated into ship paint jobs, and the resulting designs indicate which clan sponsors or ideologically dominates that particular ship.

A note on that point. While the Fleet is explicitly a Paragon-allied one, they’re not necessarily easy to get along with, and the ten-thousandfold clans don’t really institute dogma. The Fleet is fiercely individualistic. Nevertheless, each clan does dominate a broad mindset, because they’re not biological families: you ask to join a clan, or you’re sponsored, and if you pass the trails, you’re in. it’s a complicated and involved process, though, and you don’t really care to do this if you don’t already share a viewpoint with them. This means that ships with particular clan affiliations have different attitudes: clan Terror Beasts of Neo-Simfur was founded by the Dinobots and thus are significantly more warlike and inclined to intervening than, say, clan Crystal Star, founded by Rose Quartz’s family, who take a more patient and isolationist approach to problems that aren’t their fault in some way. And they can serve on the same ships! Inter-clan politics can get… Interesting.

(Do the different clans fight? Oh yes. Absolutely! But not to the extremes of total war; killing is absolutely forbidden, but conflicts happen all the time and are even encouraged, because they’re entertaining. IT gets worked out in honor duels, giant robot fights, and competitive epic quests. Usually all televised!)

Now you might as, where did this idea of emphasizing trophy stuff COME from?

Well, the Endowed Fleet, as a whole, has a strong tradition of regarding the idea of technology and use as a sacred thing; they believe all things have a spirit, and that technological devices, tools and anything sufficiently complicated MUST be its own spiritual ecosystem. Consequently, animistic ideas influence their multitude of religions, and gear is taken highly seriously; engineers have great influence and status, regarded almost as midwives, and recycling is a sacred duty. The machine must live, and continue to prosper, and to simply toss it away is unnthinkably cruel.

This spiritual outlook towards recycling, salvage and doing honor to the spirit of their equipment is one reason behind their emphasis on making clothes out of monster bits. It’s wrong to kill something and just leave it, and this applies to honored enemies, not just monsters. Honored enemy is a bit complex; they don’t take trophies from EVERYONE they kill, but its subject to personal interpretation. Some might take a trophy from a truly evil foe who they were glad to kill: they gain honor from killing them. Others take trophies only from foes that they felt were honorable, and it was a shame to kill them; they take trophies as a way of honoring this foe, and it is felt that as the warrior does battle and accumulates worth, their foes in some way are redeemed by being part of their legend.

Sometimes similar might apply to either creating personal weaponry or decorations for vehicles; you can’t really turn a spine into a hat (without the right body shape, anyway), but you can use it to build a sword or staff, grind down to make bone dust that becomes part of an alloy, or gird a motorcycle with. Battlewagon grills with old bones are common, usually after beating a foe by running them over REALLY hard.

Also note that the Fleet typically hunts giant monsters of kaiju-size… that are kaijus to giantess ladies that can vary from 20 to 100 feet on average. Many of the beasts they hunt, like old school whalers, are gigantic asteroid-sized monsters many miles across. They hunt them for meat and as rites of passage, so they’re not lacking for materials.

They supplement this kind of clothing by salvaging clothes nobody else wants; dumpster diving is routine for them while on fleet adventure, and they imagine themselves really good at salvaging clothes and adjusting them to fit another crewmate, no matter their body shape. The resulting outfits can be hugely diverse, sometimes a bit silly, and often just plain bizarre. It’s a little bit punk, a hint of pretty much any subversive counterculture fashion you can name, and mostly looks like they were hit by a tornado that stopped at a bargain basement donation store first. (These outfits also tend to have fashion attributes similar to Kingdom Hearts designs; lots of zippers, belts, and so on.)

Finally, it goes without saying that piercings like rings, studs, bars and similar things are very common, and usually done to extremes. They’re not a subtle bunch and they do everything to ridiculous lengths. It’s best for them not to get too close to magnets or risk serious injuries, maybe losing their ears.

#/#//#///#////#/////#crossthicc AU #twitchy ideas #endowed fleet #queued

4 notes · View notes

idealisticrealism · 6 years

Text

Blindspot 4x03

Had a busy Halloween week (my first ever!) so I’m extra late today. Also changed my format slightly bc what is consistency?

Reade-- What is there to say, other than he looks super cute covered in paint? It’s kinda weird that the usual ‘main team’ has barely been seen this whole ep-- and even then, mostly only through brief video calls or over the comms. And Reade wasn’t even heard from at all during the actual bomb disarming. Honestly though…. I’m kinda down with that. As much as I love the others, we all know Rich and Patterson are my Dream Team lol

Zapata-- yep there’s Zapata, jogging slowly away from her problems as usual lol. Seriously though what is she doing being apprenticed to a literal evil witch EXPLAIN GERO. Ugh I feel so bad for her but a little bit ‘serves you right’ at the same time. Though lbr I just want her to come homeeeee

Weller-- I feel like this dude has been on the edge of tears for like a year. Poor guy. But omg does he make a cuuuute Jackson Pollock lol. I love him being all serious and sarcastic towards Madeline while literally covered in paint and feathers. I feel like the real mystery of this ep is HOW DOES IT MAKE HIM HOTTER. Someone please explain. Also oooh he cannot be happy about being stuck in the station while ‘Jane’ is zooming away on a doomed train. ALSO SPEAKING OF WHICH, dude the bomb is on one of the lines past the apartment I lived in back in September. I got off at that station multiple times aaaahhhhhh this is so cool. Ugh now he’s back at the apartment crying over Jane again ahah. Seems like all the poor dude does these days is hug her and cry. But wait, maybe not! Ooooh he followed her and he has got his suspicion on. THERE’S the badass agent we’ve been missing!

Remi-- I feel like she actually feels a tiny bit bad that she made Weller cry?? Lol girl’s supposed to be killing him and she has a hard time even seeing him cry. Lbr she’s gonna fall for him despite herself, his mix of badass agent and suburban dad is apparently just irresistible to any iteration of her being lol. Tbh I loved the sequence of her disarming the bomb over the comms-- in most eps we would be with her and Weller and Reade out in the field and only hearing the home team over the comms, I loved seeing this turnabout. Also ugh she nearly lashes out at Weller when he lifts her hand bc she’s such an abused little puppy that she doesn’t know anything but coldness or punishment and I think she was startled and secretly pleased to be greeted with cheers and hailed as a hero. Ugh Remi honey you’re gonna grow to love it here. “... right under our noses, putting on a friendly face, pretending to be the hero” I guess she’s seeing some similarities between herself and Madeline lol. And then oooh on the couch, Roman’s like the devil on the shoulder trying to pull her back into the deep shadows of the dark side and then Weller appears and shines all his love and support all over her and Roman disappears for a moment. I see what you’re doing here Gero…. Also lol Remi must be surprised at how easily she can make Weller cry haha

Patterson-- okay firstly, how dare some guy make out with my baby and not know her name. Also, I just have mixed feelings about the making out in general but I am all about supporting my precious queen. THen I was like ‘pfft she won’t say her name’ and then SHE SAID HER NAME AND I SCREAMED and then it hit me that she was almost definitely undercover and I was like ‘oh a fake name of course, shit Gero you got me well done’ and then turns out it wasn’t an op but a whole different kind of ‘undercovers’ hahahahaha. Well good on you girl I support you and all your choices. BUT WAS IT A FAKE NAME OR NO??? Omg okay yes it was, thanks for the heart attack Gero. Is anyone else having early Grey’s Anatomy flashbacks rn lol or is that just me haha. Also flustered Patterson is the most adorable Patterson, fight me on it.Ugh poor girl cannot seem to catch a break this ep and you KNOW Rich is deliberately playing with her lol. But also I mean c’mon writers, Patterson is a professional agent, I can see her being flustered to start but let’s not act like she wouldn’t suck it up and focus on her job pretty quick. Also omg *dead serious voice* “I can already tell you, that I’m gonna scoff” is one of the best lines of the episode and probably the entire show lol. “Okay get to the part where you solved it. Oh my god I just sounded like Weller” hahaha well he is your big bro, so makes sense you’d pick up a few traits lol. Great throwback to the ‘where math is done’ line too writers, nice work. Also wow the way she just went toe-to-toe with Weitz… why do I ship it a tiny bit lol?? And I also kinda ship her with Lincoln. Get it, girl!

Rich-- how was him being like ‘Hey guys here’s the terrorist’s address okay be careful bye’ one of the funniest things he’s ever done??? I stg whoever writes Rich needs to be my new best friend. Though tbh he does actually seem almost a touch subdued in this first scene, without that usual devilish gleam in his eyes… maybe he’s trying to show he can be both useful AND mature so they don’t actually decide to replace him with Boston haha. “I didn’t say magic, I’m not seven, I said magical cures’ hahahaha my baby. And he’s so excited to brief the recruits ugh. And then omg “sounds like the greatest takedown in FBI history I’m so sorry I missed it” aren’t we all, buddy lol. Also ugh him and his little recruit ducklings LET ME DIE. “There’s a bomber! Who bombs!” literally if someone who had Rich’s sense of humour and talked like he talks were to appear in my life I would marry them on the spot. “He’s probably an angry man with a victim complex, that’s a dangerous combination” OKAY EVERYONE LET’S FACE IT THE BOMBER GUYS CAN GO HOME BECAUSE RICH JUST DROPPED THE BIGGEST BOMB OF THE EPISODE RIGHT THERE. “Oh yeah, would an unprofessional do something like this??” The answer is yes and also marry me. And ugh he says his main reason for going after the book of secrets is because Jane is dying ughhhhh he is too good for this worldddd. Also wtf was that weird cackle when describing Roman that was hilarious. “It’s been very evident all day. Also I am like a sex-narc and you are terrible at lying” EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS MAN AND THIS FRIENDSHIP IS THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD. “It’s very unprofessional, I think that’s what thrills me the most actually” hahahahaha. “This is my smug face, I save it for special occasions” hahahaaha c’mon no he does not, that’s just his normal face but THIS is why I felt he seemed more serious than usual, it was so his face could be extra smug later hahahaha. And the victory dance??? “You and me, Ride or Die”?? Let’s be real I am SO ride or die for these two there is literally nothing more important than this friendship aaaaaaaahhhhhh

Weitz-- I love this sleazy bastard and his weird love/hate feelings towards Zapata and his semi-corrupt work ethic lol. Also omg yasss he told them all about Zapata leaking info to Carter! I wondered if that would ever come out. And omg he’s Patterson’s hookup’s uncle THIS EP IS RIDICULOUS AND I LOVE IT. Also oh no “What am I saying, special treatment’s fine” was hilarious, like uh oh no way am I starting to love Weitz??? I am having feelings about a Patterson/Rich/Weitz dream team haha. “Might be our only shot at [Madeline], so it is unfortunate that you look like that” how does this show do so many characters with their own distinctive styles of sass I love it so much. Also, show of hands, who thinks this guy is on some kind of uppers because honestly at this stage I’m convinced haha. He’s especially nuts when he comes in to give Patterson the special computer-- which I’m sure that a) she already would have had one of, and b) someone in his postion would have just had someone deliver for him. Although it does seem like he makes any excuse to come hang out and be bizarre. He’s the boss I wish I had lol. Especially if I happened to be related to him bc wow there is some unabashed nepotism happening right here haha. Oh dear he seems to be coming down off his high right now and is getting grumpy. Better call his assistant to bring his next hit lol. Also “CAN YOU JUST CHECK HIS WORK PLEASE” clearly withdrawing-Weitz has no time for workplace flirting hahahaha. And ugh then Patterson stands up to him and he listens to her and holy shit that was a big amount of trust, if they were wrong the whole city is gonna turn on him for letting so many more people die than was necessary. Looks like he doesn’t just always do what protects his own ass??

Afreen-- you are a queen and I love you

#Blindspot #Blindspot recap #I actually LOVED this episode ughhhh #Give me all the Rich and Patterson #And Weitz #I love my sassy assholes so muchhhh

24 notes · View notes

theliterateape · 3 years

Text

I Can't Drive 55 | Lessons Learned in the 55th Year

By Don Hall

In my thirty-second year I felt incredibly sorry for myself. I was getting my first divorce, was living in a one-room studio in Uptown, my theater company was imploding over ego-driven bullshit. I drank myself into a state of suicidal yearning. It was a rough year.

I called my mom. Mom is that voice of reason in good and bad times.

"This has been a really shitty year. Maybe I should move back to Kansas."

"How old are you?"

"Thirty-two."

"And in thirty-two years you've lived on the planet, how many of those years were bad?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Really bad? Two. No three. Three years. Why?"

"Well, three out of thirty-two is a pretty solid track record. Seems to me that you weathered those other bad years and had good years to spare. Maybe you decide to quit wallowing in how bad this year has been and get to work on next year because based on your experience you probably have another cluster of good years in store."

Some have the Dali Lama. Others have a priest or a shelf of self-help books. I have my mom.

My fifty-fifth year (or the specter of 2020) was a rough year for so many people in the world it's almost a joke. The whole year has been covered in shit—from the campaign to unseat the least capable and most destructive president in my lifetime to three months in a pandemic shutting down the planet and economic hardship most of us have only read about in Steinbeck novels—2020 looks like the toilet bowl moments after a morning constitutional from a night of White Castle and rum.

Sure, the act of comparing one's life with those around is a narcissistic self-loathing experiment best suited for recently jilted lesbians and Instagram junkies, but while the entire world has been burning down in both literal and figurative ways, fifty-five has been a damn good year for me.

In January, I was well into my year and a half managing a casino on the corner of I-15 and Tropicana. I had done my due diligence in training and had hit the sweet spot of knowing enough about the business to be an effective leader on the floor. I knew my high rollers and had figured out the best approach to dealing with the meth-addicts and prostitutes. I could fix 90 percent of the machines and could process a jackpot inside of four minutes consistently.

Then came the pandemic and the economic shutdown of Las Vegas in March. Most were laid off and in free fall but I had stumbled into working for one of two gambling corporations in Nevada that committed to keeping the payroll rolling despite losing millions per day.

The three months of closure saw me coming in to work every day, cleaning the bar and the machines, and hanging out to make sure no one ransacked the place while it was closed. I did a lot of writing in my office during that time.

In terms of personal tragedy, my nineteen year old nephew overdosed in a parking lot in April and, virus be damned, Dana and I flew out the next day to help my sister.

We re-opened the casino in June.

Seven months of balancing life in a pandemic with idiots motivated to gamble, arguing with people about the necessity to wear masks, and submitting essays to everyone. Getting paid to write (even in small increments) was a genuine drug.

Over the summer both Dana and I were asked to write for an anthology of essays. Las Vegas writers writing about Las Vegas. It was a boost, man. Don't get me wrong, the casino gig was solid and, for the most part, enjoyable. Getting paid to write words and sentences was fucking delicious.

The book came out in October launched with a Zoomesque gathering.

The casino gig, while solid and simple, was becoming dull. Rote. Combining the fact that my best (and meager) talents were not usable during a pandemic in a struggling casino, I told my General Manager that I needed more money for such routine grind and that I’d start looking aggressively for something more in tune with my skills that also paid a bit more on my year-and-a-half mark.

Six days after I started the search, I was hired by a Denver-based firm as a Senior Copywriter.

Turns out I’m pretty good at it. Getting a salary for writing words and sentences is sweet and working from home as the pandemic continues to rage on is smart and comfortable. No longer a slave to the swings shift, my schedule is my own.

I can, for the first time in my life when asked what I do for a living, answer “I am a writer.” In a career path marked by ten year gigs followed by "gotta pay the bills" gigs, it looks like Casino Manager is the latter and "Writer" is the former. Now it’s time to write some books, yeah?

It’s been a year, my friends.

Here are the lessons that landed in my 55th annum.

Always Leave ‘Em Wanting More

Over the course of my bizarre career as a “Writer. Teacher. Storyteller. Consultant.” to refer to my donhall.vegas website, I’ve had a tendency to overstay my welcome.

Instead of leaving circumstances on good terms, by the time I was ready to go, I was all Fuck these people! What a bunch of dickseeds! and at least a few of the people were Fuck him! What a dickseed!

I stayed one year longer than I should have as a public school teacher. I stayed at least a year too long in my second marriage and, despite some incredible shows toward the end of the WNEP Theater years, I stayed too long with that company. I should’ve left WBEZ at least a year earlier and I waited until things got weird in the storytelling scene before leaving Chicago.

With the casino, I left long before things become too rote or sour. I found the new gig, jumped on it, and was told if it didn’t work out, I always had a place to land. That I was a part of the Station Casinos “family.” My staff bought me booze and when I swung by just to see them, they are happy to be seen.

Hell, the GM even gave me one of the chairs from the Craps Table for my home office!

As I get older, recognizing the signs that perhaps it’s time to go is an essential skill. At fifty-five, maybe I’m finally into that.

Family is Always More Important Than Work

Last year, working the first 24/7/365 job in my life, I was told I had to work on Christmas. It was the first Christmas in decades I hadn’t spent with my family in Kansas. It wasn’t bad—Joe flew in from Chicago, he took Dana and I to see Penn Gillette at Rio, Kelli joined Dana and Joe on the casino floor while I worked.

This year, especially after the death of my nephew, it became obvious that family had to come first. Months before I landed the writing gig, I let my GM know I was taking the week of Christmas off, COVID be damned. I was clear that if the company couldn’t pay me for the time off I understood and if I was to be let go because of it, then that was fine, too.

The casino was incredibly cool about the request that wasn’t really a request. In fact, even though I gave my two week’s notice before the Christmas vacation pay would kick in, my GM allowed me to be paid for it anyway (see that first lesson again).

It was in every possible way the correct call. My sister needed me. I needed my mom and dad. We got to reconnect with a cousin I hadn’t seen in years. Turns out she’s a professional copywriter in Austin, TX. It was a soul-filling holiday and I’ll never miss Christmas in Kansas again.

It’s Pointless to Argue with Zealots

Maybe it’s in part due to my new-found desert surroundings or my distance from the increasingly Woke Chicago Arts scene but this last year of Trump and the ridiculous nature of angrier social media has pushed me closer to Left Center than Full-On Progressive.

As a younger man I decided that religion was simply not for me. Too emotionally charged without a sense of rationality. At the distance Nevada gives me I can see how irrational both the Extreme Right—the overtly white nationalist taint with the individualism bordering on sociopathy—and the Progressive Left—the quasi-religious circular logic of white privilege, erasure of women as a category, and focus on tribalism over all—have become. Or maybe they were always this way and it took some time away from a major urban center to see it.

Whichever the case, arguing with either side has become synonymous with filing my teeth with a dremel. Besides being as productive as screaming into an Amazon Box, taping it up, and shipping it to Congress, it’s fucking annoying.

If there is a resolution I’m attempting to adopt in the latter half of my fifties, it is this: find common ground with everyone and if I encounter someone so far into conspiracy territory that I cannot, walk away and don’t look back.

Social Media Enables the Very Worst in Us (and Me)

I can’t remember if I shed myself of Faceborg, Twitter, Instagram, and the host of social media this or last year but I’ve spent most (if not all) of my fifty-fifth year absent the noise and it was an excellent decision.

Mobs of imbeciles canceling professors, trolling J.K. Rowling, threatening violence to strangers, and organizing a breach of the Capitol all using tools for communication that should be extraordinary made me hate people I had never met. This cannot be a good ‘chicken soup for the soul’ arena to spend time in.

I’ll admit that I do feel left out of the mix some yet I’m happier for it. I jumped back recently with a new LinkedIn account (which is sortof like social media but with jobs) and the only good thing about that has been being able to message with Rob Kozlowski.

I’m a Social Distancing Jedi

Five years ago, Dana threw me a birthday party and there was a room full of friends in attendance. This year, I’ll be lucky if even Dana remembers my birthday.

The culling effect of both getting rid of social media and the pandemic has been like a hoarder finally ridding himself of boxes of empty Altoid tins and those square plastic bread ties. Always a bit of a misanthrope, this year has cleared out so much noise and my new gig at home has me isolated from the wash of the unwashed.

Turns out I’m good with this. My interactions with people are more intentional rather than surface level and while life has made me more cautious when it comes to whom I genuinely trust, those whom I do choose teach me things I wouldn’t know and enrich my dwindling time on the planet.

Your Reality is Dictated by Your Optimism

Optimism isn’t merely hope. It isn’t happiness or a cheery disposition.

Optimism is an act of resilience against the brutal harshness of living the existential crisis.

It’s darkest just before the dawn implies that there will be a dawn. What if there won’t be? What if it’s just more darkness? If the implacable timpani of human greed, a self correcting planetary environment, and the algorithm that defines our modern interaction has no end, should that result in giving in to the despair?

As optimism is a breeze when things are going your way, despair is the path of least resistance when things turn to shit. Seeing through the mist at a better future takes effort and commitment like a solid marriage or a massive novel you’ve committed to writing. It’s a project to be managed not a feeling to languish within.

One cannot truly call himself an optimist who refuses to see the horror. Pretending that people are essentially kind and generous is stuffing the ostrich head in the sand. People are apes with higher brain functions and follow the rules of the jungle. Tribalism, essentialism, war for resources, the history of brutality of all humanity goes far beyond Hannah Jones 1619 Project. Taken in whole, we aren’t a very enlightened and forgiving species.

Further, optimism is an individual choice. It’s not something that can be enforced but it is something that can be inspired. The American Experiment, despite its many missteps and flaws, is grounded in a belief that humans can govern themselves justly and effectively. Given the larger picture, belief in democracy is only slightly more delusional than the guy playing slots so he can pay his rent. The odds are astronomically against success and yet the choice to persevere is made.

When you see someone who has one of those death camp tattoos on their arm you are witnessing a genuine, tried and true, bona fide optimist.

Optimism is hardest when things turn to shit but it is then when it is most necessary.

Becoming Antique is a Journey

For the first time I see that more of my life has been lived than I have left to live.

I recognize that I wish I could give the years I have left to my nephew because I have done a lot in my five and a half decades and he didn't get the chance. I wonder, absent the obsessive drive to achieve I had in my younger days, what I have to offer in the next ten years? What value does my existence provide to others and how do I manifest that value in pragmatic terms?

Like an old car or a pair of worn-out shoes, we all must acknowledge a certain sense of obsolescence. The pandemic has up-ended so many of the fictions we lived with up until this point and finding North on the compass is a challenge these days. Becoming irrelevant is like that boiling frog—slowly and without even recognizing the boil—we all find ourselves as vintage.

Perhaps that's what I've become. Not the rusted Coca Cola sign in the corner but the "like new" vinyl Def Leppard album with slightly tattered and stained liner notes.

In my next ten years (if I have that much time in store or more) I'd like to read more. Write a lot more. Listen to more live music. Be a better husband. Become that cool old man on the block with good advise and a snort of rye in case it's a little chilly. Christ, I already smoke a pipe.

There is so much more to learn that, in order to avoid feeling useless, I need to learn more.

In a Pandemic, Look For the Simple Things to Keep You Sane

A really well-made sandwich

A cold beer in 115˚ weather

A road trip with your Soul Mate

A book by a new author

A slideshow of you and your Soul Mate doing things together

A long walk

Recognizing that you have a Soul Mate

Sometimes I wonder if there’s anything else. I wonder if I’d miss anything important if I simply ceased to breathe on the couch I bought back in Chicago as it sits in Nevada.

In those moments of melodramatic existentialism, I remind myself that the experience of living is this annual letter to you. A summation of the things I’ve learned and the life I’ve lived.

If I had finished this race last year, my mettle wouldn’t have been tested by a pandemic. I wouldn't have found my sister again. I wouldn’t have seen Trump slink away to Florida. I wouldn’t be sitting in a Craps Chair in a home office of my design.

I wouldn’t have learned anything at all (you know, because dead people stop moving forward).

Here’s to another year and what adventures I will have!

#Fifty-Fifth Birthday #Birthday Lessons

0 notes

missredbean · 7 years

Text

FANFIC: LORD ZARKON IS NEVER READY (7) - Welcoming S2 Special

Here's another special edition for welcoming season 2!

Or rather, I'm trying to find an excuse to write in Sendak's point of view. For some reason, I like to bully him.

And yes, this is Kogane family sick-fic.

Hunk will FINALLY come next chapter! Stay tuned for it!

Summary: Despite the peace in the universe, Zarkon is famous for his fighting prowess and readiness to face his opponents. But when it comes to Keith, he is never ready.

An AU where the Voltron universe is a peaceful universe, Zarkon is the Black Paladin he was supposed to be and the only things he hate with passion are Coran’s goo and a boy named Takashi Shirogane.

***Inspired by @inariazuha’s baby Keith pictures.

***Thank you for the permission to credit!

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Holiday Special, Part 6

Chapter summary: Keith got sick and had to go to Earth for his treatment. Guess who accompanied him.

Welcoming S2 special: Sendak is Never Prepared - Part 1

Keith was sick.

So here Sendak was, taxiing Thace and Keith to Earth. Apparently, the symptoms was of a common sickness in that little blue planet, but a first for a Galra. Naturally, Haggar had no knowledge on how to treat it and it is not advisable to use Altean medical pods on creatures with three race blood combined, so Thace had no choice to go to Earth for treatment. Not that it’s a bad move. Keith’s Altean grandmother was a doctor, whose previous job involved patching space travelers who caught bizarre ailments from their adventurous visits. Now she lived peacefully in retirement, but occasionally got visitors who needed for her expertise. And if the mentioned experience wasn't enough, she had years of taking care human-Altean mix in her portfolio.

Now, Sendak had no problem playing driver for Thace and Keith, despite the heap of troubles the kid landed him. He had a lot of problems with the others. Don’t get him wrong; he understood Coran was here for interacting with humans in case of emergencies. (Zarkon didn’t allow Alfor or Green Paladin to come with them because there was no room for slack with Voltron Alliance Celebration so close.) What Sendak didn’t understand was why they brought the kids too. Kids, as in, Allura and her new playmate, Shay.

“Then, Keith just threw that white, cold thing to me! I knew he just wanted to play, but a warning would have been nice!”

“Orange mustache,” Sendak stage whispered to Coran as Shay replied to Allura. “Why are we bringing them again?”

Coran twisted his mustache as he replied, “Knowing mixed race medical treatment is a good learning experience for the princess and her friend—not my words by the way.”

Sendak narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “Don’t tell me you totally buy that excuse.”

Coran had the decency to look uncomfortable. “Well…”

At this point, Allura decided to join the conversation.

“Don’t worry, uncle big ears! We will keep quiet and out of the way!”

Sendak decided to let the ear comment slide this time. “It’s Lieutenant Sendak, princess. I’m not old enough to be uncle. Back to the topic, I think it is unwise for the daughter of blue paladin and the future red paladin to be in the same ship. What if something happens to you two?”

Right after saying that, his own brain answered it.

It’s my head that will fly.

Yes, Sendak was treating this ‘cabby mission’ as an S-class mission. If something happened to both of them, forget about premature end of career; he’d have two most powerful people in the universe breathing down his neck. Future commander of Galra army or not, he had the right to be worried, especially with that beach incident still fresh in his mind.

“But the risk is too small and the benefit is much bigger. As the future queen of Altea and inheritor of the Castle of Lions, I have to know what my Paladins need and know the people who can provide it.”

Sendak held back a groan. F*cking daughter of Altean politician.

At the corner of the cockpit, near to Thace who was fussing over feverish Keith, mini-Red lazily yawned and curled on the floor. Nobody ever notice the hidden camera beneath his eyes.

Others by MissRedBean

ORIGINAL - FOR YOU I CALL Summary: After three years of hiding and recovering from a traumatic experience, Argent Cross' life finally starts heading for the better—only to have it turned upside down in one night. He wakes up ten years older, without a clear memory of what happened in between, in a warring country that sees him as their enemy's spawn. Prologue Episode 1: Arachnids Part 1 (Chapter 1 & 2, Chapter 3 & 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7)

FANFIC - FUNDAMENTALS OF MUSCLE DRAWING Summary: Keith and Lance were Altea Studio’s lead animators. However, they have one fatal flaw: the lack of proper anatomy knowledge. So Allura sent the two to learn under the great master, Shirogane Takashi. Keith and Lance went, grumbling and protesting, never knowing what awaited them in the humble looking art school. [Oneshot] (https://missredbean.tumblr.com/post/156193783124/fanfic-fundamentals-of-muscle-drawing)

FANFIC: LORD ZARKON IS NEVER READY Summary: Despite the peace in the universe, Zarkon is famous for his fighting prowess and readiness to face his opponents. But when it comes to Keith, he is never ready. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Holiday Special, Part 6 Part 7

#LiNR #voltron #sick baby Keith #uncle Sendak is sending him to doctor

21 notes · View notes

skqq-net · 5 years

Text

Best WordPress Alternatives – Which One Should You Pick?

Serving round 34% of the purchase’s internet sites, wordpress is by far the dominant drive of the CMS and net increase constructing industrial. Basically, the agency furthermore does net hosting too, permitting you to assemble, put together and host your dwelling all in a single place.

Alternatively, upright as a result of nearly a Third of the purchase loves it, that will not primarily indicate it is miles the lawful resolution in your net increase.

There are fairly a little bit of that you may be able to deem decisions available on the market, regardless that, and a few of them even swimsuit certain internet sites larger than wordpress does. You could have upright received to know the place to gaze.

Fortunately, I’ve achieved the taking a peep (and heaps testing) to assemble some gargantuan dwelling builders and platforms.

Listed here are the 5 best wordpress that you may be able to deem decisions lawful now:

wix – Most interesting completely different to wordpress

SITE123 – Excellent wordpress completely different

Squarespace – Very most attention-grabbing wordpress completely different

shopify – Most traditional eCommerce supplier

Joomla – Extraordinarily efficient CMS with third-celebration extensions

1. wix

Tag: $0.00 – $35.00

Suggested for: of us which might be looking for a really simple and responsive builder

First up, it is wix – an completely different equal to wordpress in that it presents a gargantuan completely different of templates and it has an enormous app market to abet increase the efficiency of your net increase.

There are some foremost variations too, the foremost and perchance important of all of them is that wix internet sites are bizarre to wix hosting, i.e it is advisable now not switch your wix net increase to a particular hosting supplier.

On the diversified hand, a key apparent incompatibility is that wix is steadily unheard of additional customizable for novices who do not know simple strategies to edit code, because of its individual-generous recede-and-fall efficiency and take care of ease of train.

It even boasts the ‘wix ADI’ function, which nearly builds an online increase for you – presuming you current it with the foremost information it requires.

This can doable neatly be actually one among many good methods to selection an easy net increase that peaceful appears to be like the fraction.

So, within the occasion you are looking for wordpress that you may be able to deem decisions, I am guessing you expertise a weblog put up or two. Correctly, you are in ideally suited fortune, as wix has a gargantuan working a weblog platform with AMPle facets to assist watch over a successful weblog.

On one different present: wix presents cellphone improve, whereas wordpress would not.

wix Pricing Construction Is not at all times for Every particular person

By way of pricing, there may very well be one gargantuan downfall within the eyes of many customers: wix would not allow you to make use of a customized area until you pay for the $5.00/month tools, and even whereas you dwell, you might be peaceful confronted with wix labeled adverts being plastered all of the design via your net increase. You may have to pay $11/month to free your self of the wix labeled adverts.

This actually isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, as some will argue that wordpress.org may presumably additionally furthermore be used totally free and likewise it is advisable presumably earn genuine hosting to go with it for now not as much as $5/month. Alternatively, it is actually the convenience of train and luxurious wix selection that you just’re paying for proper right here. All of it will depend on your occupy dispute and perchance your style in selection too.

These are the facets that wix makes train of to elaborate its pricing:

App Market – Dwelling to 1000’s of net increase boosting apps

wix Shops – Create vivid on-line stores

wix Code – Presents you total ingenious freedom over the form of your net increase

wix Events – With out problems get booked in your services and level to a calendar of your occasions

wix Editor – Drag and fall function and over 500 templates

And to be attractive, there may very well be a free model available on the market so that you can confirm out out sooner than you pay for one thing else. This model, it is advisable get a unprecedented certain perception of whether or not or now not you assemble it over wordpress.

To dwell: When you’re looking for as easy of an expertise as that you may be able to deem whereas peaceful reaching an magnificent carried out dwelling, I might extraordinarily indicate taking wix for a check out crawl.

Execs

Drag and fall editor

500 templates to protect from

Beautiful working a weblog function

Free perception available on the market

Limitless file dimension and velocity

Cons

Not as versatile as wordpress as a result of it is now not beginning up supply

Prices beginning up up from $11/month to have an ad-free net increase

Your net increase will doable be bizarre to wix hosting

2. SITE123

Tag: $0.00 – $15.48

Suggested for: of us which might be looking for a unprecedented simpler wordpress completely different

SITE123 targets to carry the best particular person expertise and it actually achieves that. Or not it’s that you may be able to deem to selection an online increase with this dwelling builder in now not as much as a day. Decrease than an hour to be applicable.

And it is now not stripped of efficiency – each dozens of constructed-in facets and third-celebration integrations are included – upright just like the train of wordpress.

However then as soon as extra, the incompatibility comes when evaluating the convenience of train. Whereas wordpress does require a total bunch recordsdata of the platform and even some coding skills – it is completely reverse with SITE123.

The platform is based on dozens of templates for various industries. Alternatively, you may be prepared to mix and match certain important facets visually to selection a selected gaze.

And a total bunch additional instruments are included too – you get get correct of entry to to free picture and icon galleries, tag builder, app integrations and additional.

The favorable fonts and coloration palettes are available on the market as neatly. Bettering is seen – you may be able to gaze each commerce that you just maintain stay.

Or not it’s simple to dwell the the identical efficiency as with wordpress. For exAMPle, eCommerce integration is upright one click on on away and there at the moment are not any fee prices.

Working a weblog facets are extraordinarily efficient as neatly – you may be prepared to mix RSS feeds, schedule posts, train the commenting machine, and additional.

And the pricing for the entire facets is surprisingly cheap.

SITE123 has a free perception however upright like all free hosting, it has reasonably heaps of limits – no customized area, restricted bandwidth and disk place, labeled adverts, and additional.

So the top cost plans vary from $6.48 to $17.28/month and reasonably heaps of facets are included. That could be a free area, area privateness, SSL certificates, Cloud hosting, and unprecedented unheard of additional.

So combining the pricing with the entire pinnacle cost facets makes SITE123 actually one among many simplest wordpress that you may be able to deem decisions. Or the best one – lastly.

Execs

Intuitive and individual-generous

Dozens of responsive templates

Immense third-celebration integrations

eCommerce is commission-free

24/7 buyer improve

Cons

Not as versatile as wordpress

Free perception is awfully limiting

3. Squarespace

Tag: $12.00 – $37.00

Suggested for: of us which might be looking for an unprecedented completely different of irregular templates

The primary focus of Squarespace is its completely different of swish and customary templates, and it is people who maintain it a gargantuan completely different to wordpress.

The completely different of templates is distinctive, and with tag plans beginning up at $12.00 per thirty days, that is by far the most price-effective design to dwell an online increase that appears desire it tag a thousand {dollars}. What’s additional, it requires little technical recordsdata and capability.

Not like wordpress which is beginning up supply and has never-ending customization options, Squarespace is reasonably easy on this division. It makes train of a recede-and-fall editor to selection pages, posts, and tweak the entire gaze of your net increase.

There are reasonably reasonably heaps of spectacular facets for on-line stores too.

It has an note-catching product catalog with no prohibit on the quantity of merchandise.

You would presumably presumably additionally furthermore embed merchandise into weblog posts, and with deserted checkout restoration – ship e mail reminders for patrons to total the checkout.

And that’s the rationalization now not all, there are tonnes additional facets together with:

Extraordinarily efficient integrations together with Adobe Ingenious Suite and google Drive

Reliable uptime and reliability

Free, limitless hosting with no cap on storage or bandwidth

SSL certificates included

Similar tag renewal prices

Throughout the pricing division, Squarespace falls within the wait on of considerably because of its increased-priced starter perception at $12.00 per thirty days. However to assemble pleasure within the on-line retailer facets, you possibly can wish to improve your legend additional to the Frequent perception priced at $26.00 per thirty days.

Execs

All-in-one platform

Drag and fall builder

Swish and customary templates

Free perception available on the market

Limitless file dimension and velocity

Cons

Exiguous customization options

Elevated priced starter perception

4. shopify

Tag: $29.00 – $299.00

Suggested for: favorable on-line stores.

shopify is probably the most customary eCommerce CMS supplier available on the market, and offers you the entire foremost instruments to living-up and promote. So, within the occasion you are looking for a wordpress (with its WooCommerce plugin) completely different that has a gargantuan working a weblog platform, a mobile app, and a web based fully net increase builder with a distinct of note-catching templates – meet shopify.

The very very first thing to present is the incompatibility in tag, as a result of it is reasonably mountainous. Doubtlessly probably the most price-effective shopify tools is $29.00 per thirty days, which is an environment friendly bit greater than, as an illustration, a wordpress hosting tools with bluehost that begins at $6.95 per thirty days. So, for customers who determine a less expensive completely different to wordpress, that is foremost to present.

On the shape entrance, shopify is spectacular too. There are over 100 templates to protect from, and it makes train of HTML and CSS to totally customise the appears to be like of your net increase.

There may very well be furthermore a chunky working a weblog platform with aesthetic range and depth. It allows you to categorize articles, selection lookbooks, abet dialogue and additional.

And as for the purchase internet hosting aspect of issues, shopify ensures 99.98% uptime and 24/7 monitoring. As neatly as this, you may be able to request speedy upgrades and limitless bandwidth.

And order it or now not, there are even additional facets together with:

Over 80 cost gateways from bitcoin to paypal to iDeal

google Analytics integration

A mobile app that may routinely synch your recordsdata

Deserted checkout restoration

Drag and fall retailer builder

24/7 e mail, stay chat, and cellphone improve

From left to lawful – Frequent ($29.00), shopify ($79.00), Developed ($299.00)

Deciding on the shopify tools which best suits your industrial is set by the size at which it operates.

Execs

Web-based fully net increase builder

24/7 buyer improve

shopify cellular-app

Cons

Elevated in tag than wordpress (WooCommerce)

Fewer templates

5. Joomla

Tag: $0.00 (prime cost themes and extensions are paid)

Suggested for: a one who wants a extraordinarily efficient CMS wordpress completely different.

Joomla is the 2nd most traditional CMS within the market – within the wait on of wordpress. It actually creates internet sites like wordpress and is awfully equal to wordpress – they’re each beginning up supply, free to make train of, and multi-motive. However the similarities do not dwell there, as you are about to overview.

The very very first thing to stare upon is the Joomla selection options, and since it is miles a CMS they’re actually reasonably respectable. An enormous completely different of templates is a lawful beginning up level for constructing your net increase (deem them as a result of the spine). And the system, modules (widgets), and plugins abet to carry up the increase materials of your net increase.

By way of complexity and ease of train, Joomla is additional beginner-generous than wordpress.

The set up process is reasonably simple, and most hosting suppliers present one-click on installs for Joomla too.

It offers you a graphic interface, the place you may be able to with out misfortune add or put together articles, commerce settings, add extensions and so forth.

And what’s additional, it presents one-click on updates too.

Price And Expenses

When you gaze on the prices and prices of Joomla! when put subsequent with wordpress, there are each similarities and variations. The instrument itself is free, however the related cost supplies up whereas you bewitch issues like prime cost themes and extensions.

Alternatively, as a result of Joomla is additional advanced, besides you are expert, you are greater than doable going to need favorable abet to assemble an online increase.

However for now, let’s assemble a peep at among the many diversified facets that Joomla! has to produce:

net increase positioning instruments constructed and prepared lawful out of the sphere

Free eternally beginning up supply instrument

Neighborhood improve machine and huge documentation

Extraordinarily versatile and will presumably even be used for practically any form of net increase

Numerous facets for creating an magnificent weblog

Joomla Safety Strike Crew

Basic, Joomla presents an unprecedented quantity of out the sphere efficiency. And what’s additional, with its favorable hosting supplier SiteGround, hosting costs beginning up up at upright $3.95 per thirty days.

Execs

Beginning up supply instrument

Extraordinarily efficient CMS platform

Intention is free to make train of

Cons

No stay chat improve

Steeper studying curve than most net increase builders

So, Which Is The Most interesting wordpress Different?

Correctly, that in precise truth is set by the form of net increase you will wish to selection, and for certain – your price range. The overall suppliers talked about on this article present irregular facets that may swimsuit certain people and internet sites.

To abet additional your resolution, regardless that, I in precise truth have decided to carry a listing of who ‘I belief’ each of them suits among the many best.

wix – Most superior for inexperienced customers who determine a gargantuan completely different of normal and favorable templates.

SITE123 – Doubtlessly probably the most attention-grabbing completely different to wordpress within the occasion you are looking for an cheap and easy to make train of dwelling builder.

Squarespace – Doubtlessly probably the most attention-grabbing determine within the occasion you will wish to have probably the most advanced template designs.

shopify – Immense WooCommerce completely different for constructing favorable on-line stores.

Joomla – A gargantuan CMS wordpress completely different for creating advanced internet sites.

Joomla is probably the most like-for-like supplier to wordpress, and makes for a gargantuan completely different for anyone who must selection advanced internet sites and needs the quantity of 1000’s of extensions. On the diversified hand, wix, SITE123, and Sqarespace are good for creating favorable internet sites with minimal effort. This leaves shopify – which is ideally suited for selling on-line.

How Did I Check out These wordpress Opponents?

Forward of this overview, I purchased each of the suppliers and applied a sequence of exams. My exams included issues like ease-of-exercise, reliability, facets, and helpfulness of purchaser improve. The outcomes of those exams proved these 4 options to be the very best wordpress that you may be able to deem decisions.

Alternatively, dwell you deem I ignored out on a really important supplier you deem is larger than wordpress? If that’s the case, actually be at liberty to go away your suggestions within the remark subject under!

The put up Most interesting wordpress Picks – Which One Should peaceful You Shield? regarded first on Web Web internet hosting Evaluations by True Prospects and Web Web internet hosting Consultants.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2rr0K8W via IFTTT

#WordPress

0 notes

roberttbertton · 6 years

Text

The smartphone arms race isn’t always pretty. The knock-down, drag-out fight between Apple and Samsung in particular has given rise to some nasty lawsuits and wincing commercials year in and out as the two companies invest millions in outdoing one another.

But Google is playing another game entirely. The company has never really been concerned with battling it out over flashy designs and specs. It’s really exactly the sort of approach you’d expect from a software-first company. I won’t go so far as to suggest that the Pixel 3 is a utilitarian phone, but it’s safe to say that the hardware exists in service of the company’s software innovations.

If it were like other companies, last week’s hardware event would have been an opportunity for Google to bask in processor speed and pixel density. Instead, it blew through such things. It was a strange spectacle to behold, really, as someone who’s been through a million of these things. The company more or less announced all of the products at once and moved onto more important topics like algorithms and machine learning.

For many intents and purposes, Google’s approach to smartphones is a breath of fresh air. From a more practical standpoint, the company’s path often means less radical hardware upgrades, year over year. If you’re wondering whether to upgrade from the the Pixel 2, the simple answer is: no, what are you, made out of money? But here’s Taylor’s slightly more nuanced approach to the question, if that’s your thing.

The fact is that Google has always been less interested than Apple or Samsung in keeping you beholden to the constant upgrade cycle. In fact, a number of the new photo features introduced this round will also be making their way onto older models, when possible. That’s not a promise all of the competition is willing to make.

The bottom line for products like the Pixel 3, Pixel Slate and Home Hub is that Google is intent on delivering the best hardware showcase for what it’s been working on over on the software side. That we happen to get one of the best Android smartphones out of the deal is a happy side effect.

Top level, here are the key hardware changes from the last version:

Bigger screen: This the single largest hardware change, so to speak. The Pixel 3 bumps up from five inches to 5.5 inches, while the XL moves up in the world from six to 6.3. Both a pretty sizable upgrade, all told.

Dual front-facing cameras: Seemingly a bit of a head scratcher, given that the back of the device sticks to one. More on that below.

Wireless charging: Better late than never, right?

We walked away from the Google event with both handsets in a branded tote bag that also included the new Pixel Stand. It’s clear that the company was looking to outfit reviewers with the best experience possible. As someone who cycles through a lot of phones for work, I’ve found myself gravitating toward larger phones.

With that in mind, most of the rest of this piece pertains to my experiences with the Pixel 3 XL. That said, Anthony kindly agreed to take the Pixel 3 out on the town for a photo safari, so the imaging samples in this review are taken from both handsets. Spec-wise, the two products are quite similar, beyond the standard array of things that come with a larger phone: screen, battery, et al.

There’s a sentiment you’ll read a lot when it comes to large flagships — that the company has done a good job keeping the footprint small, in spite of the massive screen size. Indeed, a lot of progress has been made on this front in recent generations, between thinner bodies and the rapid extinction of the bezel. That said, the Pixel 3 XL is a big phone by just about any measure.

Sure, Apple came from behind, only to rocket to the top of display sizes with the 6.5-inch XS Max. But the 6.3-inch XL isn’t far behind. It’s also a few fractions of a millimeter thicker than Apple’s massive handset at 7.9mm — though it still has nothing on the Note 9’s 8.8mm. Either way, the thing isn’t for the small of hand or limited in pocket space — and one-handed use probably isn’t in the cards if you’re not a professional basketball player.

Not much has changed aesthetically changed since the 2. And, indeed, the Pixel’s design language has become iconic in its own way, from the brightly colored power button to the dual-surface rear. The plasticky version found on prior generations has been replaced with a double glass surface — shiny up top and matte on the bottom.

It’s a subtle contrast and should help avoid slippage for those souls brave enough to go without a case. This last bit is a very real issue I’ve run into switching between the iPhone XS and Note 9, of late. Those shiny backs will slip right out of your hand if you’re not paying attention.

Up front, you’ll find that word of the Pixel 3 XL’s notch was, in fact, not exaggerated. It’s the stuff of legend. Turns out this is because of those dual front-facing cameras. Google is really committed to helping users up their selfie game here. At least that’s the immediate impact of that decision.

Dual cameras could have other benefits down the road, including depth sensing for things like augmented reality and, perhaps, face unlock. For now, however, it means taking pictures of yourself and friends at a semi-pro level.

The notch, it turns out, is a key design distinction between the 3 and 3 XL. The reasoning is — as with the rest of what Google’s hardware team did here — a pragmatic one. “With the small one,” VP of Product Management Brian Rakowski told me in an interview last week, “it turns out the space is just too small when you put the wide-angle lens in. It’s a narrower phone, so you have room for an icon or two, whereas on the bigger phone everything you need for the status icons is up there, and it’s a very good use of the space.”

In spite of its software embrace with Android Pie, Google is neither definitively pro or anti-notch. The company is, simply put, notch agnostic. If, however, you have a problem with that admittedly unsightly cutout, there’s a fix for that. Active Edge is back. It’s a feature that’s grown on me a bit since HTC introduced it as Edge Sense back on the U11 in May of last year. With a pinch of the phone’s frame, you can fire up Assistant. It’s one of several ways to invoke Google’s AI, but it definitely beats Samsung’s longtime insistence on including a devoted Bixby button. And besides, Google Assistant is actually, you know, useful.

Google’s generally done a good job listening to user feedback with its software features, and nowhere is that better represented than with the Adaptive mode for its screen color profiles. Last year’s Natural mode was met with some fairly widespread negative feedback for the effect in had in “muddying” the colors — most notably the reds, which ended up somewhere between blood-red and brown.

It was one of those things the company insisted was good for you, but ultimately user irritation won the day. Adaptive splits the difference, saturating colors for things like your Gmail icon, while keeping it in check for things like skin tone. It’s a pretty happy medium, all told, but if you’re not into it, you can always adjust things in settings.

The headphone jack is, of course, still gone. Google drew a line in the sand last year, after making a show keeping it on-board with the first generation. There’s a bit of a mea culpa here, however, in the form of souped up earbuds included in-box. The headphones are very clearly inspired by last year’s Pixel Buds.

That, much like the accessories themselves, is a bit of a mixed bag. The biggest upshot here is that the things plug directly into the USB-C port at the bottom. Sure the box still includes a headphone jack to USB adapter, but including headphones with a standard jack with a phone that doesn’t natively support the tech is downright bizarre.

The looping up top is a nice way to keep the buds in your ears without those bizarrely sharp fins that so many headphone makers rely on. I took the headphones for a run this morning and they didn’t fall out once.

The headphones also offer a number of the Pixel Buds’ software features free of charge, including easy access to Google Assistant and real-time translations through the Google Translate app.

The downside, on the other hand, is a major one. Even as far as free in-box headphones go, the Pixel USB-C earbuds are uncomfortable. This, I will be the first to admit, is a wholly subjective thing and highly dependent on the size and shape of our earholes. But man, the thing hurt to put in and take out, outdoing Apple’s last generation free buds for discomfort levels.

This is a space where companies can learn a lot from Samsung. The earbuds that ship with the Galaxy S9 and Note 9 are fantastic. I’m actually using them right now, plugged into my MacBook, in spite of not having a Samsung device anywhere near my person.

That said, the on-board sound has been improved, courtesy of the addition of front-facing speakers.

Interestingly, battery capacity has been increased for the Pixel 3 (from 2,700 to 2,915mAh), but not the Pixel 3 XL — in fact, it’s actually gone down slightly (from 3,520 to 3,430). That’s no doubt part of why the company was a bit cagey about this particular spec, only really mentioning battery as it pertains to the new charging tech.

As the company told me at the event, the ultimate goal is making sure battery life either stays constant or improves, courtesy of a combination of hardware and software. Battery was a focus for Android Pie, which should help offset some of the mAh loss on the XL. In my own testing, I was able to get just over a full day with standard usage — around 27 hours, all told. Not immaculate, but not bad.

Running the battery down did, however, give me occasion to appreciate the estimates that kick in when you’re critically low on juice. Android estimates when it thinks you’ll be completely SOL, shifting expectations as you change your usage. It’s either a lifesaver or source of anxiety depending on how you absorb such information.

The Pixel Stand, meanwhile, is a smart little accessory. At $79, it’s one I’d consider strongly if picking up the handset. Granted, it lacks the ambition of Apple’s three-product-charging AirPower, but among its other clear advantages is the fact I’ve held it in my hand and can confirm it’s a real thing that actually exists. The accessory takes advantage of that glass back to charge wirelessly via the Qi standard.

The stand is soft and silicon and fairly minimalist, designed to go unseen when not in use. When it is, however, it transforms the Pixel into a makeshift Home Hub, serving up Google Photos and bringing a visual component to Assistant. It’s a clever take of the charging stand — and hopefully a good enough excuse to stop you from falling asleep with your phone every night.

Okay, okay — it’s time to talk about the camera. We’ve got one of our reviewers doing a really in-depth testing on the Pixel camera, which you’ll be able to read as a standalone in the near future. For now, a couple of quick things to note.

The camera situation is a bit counterintuitive. There’s a second front-facing camera, while the back of the device bucks the industry standard of moving to two — or even three — lenses.

Rakowski again, “We look at all of the different configurations we can get. If we would have added another lens, it would have given us no benefit over what we get with one really good lens.”

That means, like the latest iPhone, the upgrades here are more software than hardware. If anyone gets the benefit of the doubt on that front, it’s Google. The company’s been making great strides in imaging, courtesy of silicon and machine learning, all of which were well demonstrated on the Pixel 2.

The Pixel 3 continues that grand tradition with some really impressive strides. Best of all, unlike many of the camera software tricks introduced by competitors in recent years, many of these additions are majorly useful day to day applications.

The camera software has HDR+ on by default — a smart move on Google’s part. While many users will buy the new Pixel based on photo performance, an even larger percentage of owners are unfamiliar with photog terms like HDR. I speak from experience, having personally enabled the feature on many friends’ phones.

In Google’s application, the feature snaps eight frames more or less instantly, digitally stitching them together in a matter than impressively captures uneven light settings in a single frame. In fact, this kind of burst shooting is the key to many of the Pixel 3’s best features.

Take Top Shot. The feature utilizes the many frames taken when making a Motion Photo. Once the shot is taken, swipe up and you can scroll through the images on a timeline to pick the frame you want. Generally, the AI does a solid job picking the ideal image, but the ability to customize (assuming users can locate the feature) is certainly welcome.

That customization carries over into features like Portrait Mode. The Pixel has long done a solid job with the feature in spite of not having a full two cameras for depth sensing. Instead, the phone uses a dual lens to approximate a depth map. And while camera suppliers would no doubt argue the benefit of including a full second or third camera, it’s hard to quibble with the results here. Once a shot is taken, you can manually adjust the blurred-out bokeh effect behind the subject.

[Standard v Super Res Zoom]

Super Res Zoom also stitches together pieces of a photo to offer up a zoomed-in version. Here the tech actually builds upon your own shaky hands, using algorithmic tech to fill in the holes. It’s still no match for the optical zoom of telephotos like the one found on the new iPhone, but it definitely improves upon stand zoom.

[Left: iPhone XS, Right, Google Pixel 3 XL]

Night Sight, meanwhile, uses multiple shots to improve the color on low-light shots. It’s a clever workaround for a lack of dual-apertures, doing a fine job of brightening up photos. That said, there’s still noticeable noise on photos shot in dark settings.

More camera features worth noting:

Playground is a fun one-stop shop for augmented reality stickers. There are Star Wars and Avengers in there, among others. This is Google’s fun addition to the camera software. There are no Animojis or AR Emojis here, thanks to the lack of face detection, but it’s a fun glimpse at the future of in-camera AR.

Lots of additional selfie options. The dual front-facing cameras means wide-angle selfies, for cramming in a larger group. The camera software, meanwhile, corrects the standard fish-eye lens distortion.

Photobooth mode, meanwhile, will snap a shot when you smile.

Lens continues to impress. Check out the above shot of the thank you page from Adrian Tomine’s Killing and Day, which pops up faces and bios for those fellow authors mentioned.

A Google exec recently told me that price wasn’t really a factor when building hardware. In all things, however, the company is pragmatic. Google’s move away from the ongoing spec wars means the company isn’t chasing premium hardware for the sake of itself. That ultimately benefits the user from a pricing perspective.

Google doesn’t lead with the fact that the Pixel 3 starts at $799, but in a world full of flagships that start at $200 more, maybe it should. Sure, it’s not exactly cheap, but these days, it feels like a downright steal for a top-tier flagship.

Like its predecessor, the Pixel 3 isn’t about flash. It is, however, another solid showcase for Google’s impressive innovations.

Source TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2OrjFuY

Google Pixel 3 XL review – BerTTon The smartphone arms race isn’t always pretty. The knock-down, drag-out fight between Apple and Samsung in particular has given rise to some nasty lawsuits and wincing commercials year in and out as the two companies invest millions in outdoing one another.

#AI #news #tech #TechCrunch #technologies

0 notes

fmservers · 6 years

Text

Google Pixel 3 XL review

Top level, here are the key hardware changes from the last version:

Dual front-facing cameras: Seemingly a bit of a head scratcher, given that the back of the device sticks to one. More on that below.

Wireless charging: Better late than never, right?

The headphones also offer a number of the Pixel Buds’ software features free of charge, including easy access to Google Assistant and real-time translations through the Google Translate app.

That said, the on-board sound has been improved, courtesy of the addition of front-facing speakers.

The camera situation is a bit counterintuitive. There’s a second front-facing camera, while the back of the device bucks the industry standard of moving to two — or even three — lenses.

Rakowski again, “We look at all of the different configurations we can get. If we would have added another lens, it would have given us no benefit over what we get with one really good lens.”

[Standard v Super Res Zoom]

[Left: iPhone XS, Right, Google Pixel 3 XL]

More camera features worth noting:

Photobooth mode, meanwhile, will snap a shot when you smile.

Lens continues to impress. Check out the above shot of the thank you page from Adrian Tomine’s Killing and Day, which pops up faces and bios for those fellow authors mentioned.

[gallery ids="1732467,1732468,1732469,1732470,1732471,1732472,1732473,1732474,1732475,1732459,1732476,1732477,1732478,1732479,1732480"]

Like its predecessor, the Pixel 3 isn’t about flash. It is, however, another solid showcase for Google’s impressive innovations.

Via Brian Heater https://techcrunch.com

#TechCrunch

0 notes

deepfinds-blog · 6 years

Text

Top level, here are the key hardware changes from the last version:

Dual front-facing cameras: Seemingly a bit of a head scratcher, given that the back of the device sticks to one. More on that below.

Wireless charging: Better late than never, right?

The headphones also offer a number of the Pixel Buds’ software features free of charge, including easy access to Google Assistant and real-time translations through the Google Translate app.

That said, the on-board sound has been improved, courtesy of the addition of front-facing speakers.

The camera situation is a bit counterintuitive. There’s a second front-facing camera, while the back of the device bucks the industry standard of moving to two — or even three — lenses.

Rakowski again, “We look at all of the different configurations we can get. If we would have added another lens, it would have given us no benefit over what we get with one really good lens.”

[Standard v Super Res Zoom]

[Left: iPhone XS, Right, Google Pixel 3 XL]

More camera features worth noting:

Photobooth mode, meanwhile, will snap a shot when you smile.

Lens continues to impress. Check out the above shot of the thank you page from Adrian Tomine’s Killing and Day, which pops up faces and bios for those fellow authors mentioned.

Like its predecessor, the Pixel 3 isn’t about flash. It is, however, another solid showcase for Google’s impressive innovations.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Google Pixel 3 XL review The smartphone arms race isn’t always pretty. The knock-down, drag-out fight between Apple and Samsung in particular has given rise to some nasty lawsuits and wincing commercials year in and out as the two companies invest millions in outdoing one another.

#Google #Pixel #review #XL

0 notes

khanimatedadaptationau · 6 years

Text

Season 1: Episode 1: Destiny Islands

Okay, so this pilot episode is kinda bizarre. It uses the good old “Simple and Clean, Planit B Mix” as the theme song piece, and from the looks of things Chernabog is gonna show up at some point. Although as someone who’s played the games it is severely spoilerous, even showing Sora and Riku fighting, with the latter wearing his dark-mode outfit, which makes the mystery of what happens to him considerably less tense.

Ahem, on to the episode itself, it opens with Sora in the Dive to the Heart sequence, granted it’s even more bizarre since it skips over all the tutorial stuff from the game and keeps all the criptic language, with the white text warning Sora that darkness is approaching, that the day he will open the door is both very near and far off, and that the closer to the light he gets the greater his shadow becomes. And oh yeah, instead of fighting the Darkside, he simply dodges one punch from it and sinks into the resulting pool of darkness, at which point he awakens only to get jumpscared by Kairi.

Anyway, this is kinda dull since it’s pretty much word for word from the game, except they shook the screen and added a cartoon sound-affect over the scene where Riku tosses that log onto Sora.

After that though, things get pretty amusing, especially since Sora is very quickly distracted by everyone-else’s antics, getting into a sparring match with Tidus for the blanket they need to use for the sail. Of course, the match is less of a battle and more of a game to see who can disarm the other first.

Sora wins, and Tidus very quickly hits the Riku button, mentioning how Kairi can always count on him. I like how Sora just pauses right there, right before we cut to Riku, who has the other two logs that the player had to collect in the game, while Kairi has the rope. So him saying he had to do all the work really makes sense in this continuity. And then there’s how Sora runs up and immediately challenges Riku. And that smirk on Riku’s face, it helps set up how confident he is while also making the viewer really route for Sora. Then there’s Wakka’s role here, serving as a referee of sorts and setting the ground-rules: first one to knock the other off the island with the bent tree and into the water wins. And the battle between Sora and Riku really is quite the sight to see, whereas Sora’s giving it his all, Riku’s spending most of the battle on the defensive, dodging out of the way of Sora’s strikes, blocking what few would hit, and then stepping behind and pushing him off the edge and into the water with very little effort. And he goes right back to bringing the supplies back without breaking a sweat, even chatting with Kairi while she seems suitably impressed. Plus, the sight of a disgruntled Sora covered in seaweed is hilarious in and of itself.

After this we get the scene of the three watching the sunset, with Riku crediting Kairi with giving him the idea to try and escape Destiny Islands. That and teasing Sora with the Paopu, expositing about it’s rumored power.

Meanwhile, in Disney Castle Donald sees the King’s Letter and wakes Goofy up by zapping him with Lightning, except this time it’s “Cartoon X-Ray Lightning”, so more cartoon hi-jinx. Other than that it’s more or less exactly like the game, so let’s move on.

After a commercial break, we get Day 2 of Destiny Islands, with Selphie again expositing about the legendary power of the Paopu fruit. Then we get the race between Sora and Riku to decide who gets to name the raft and who gets to be captain, with Riku again throwing in that bit about “Winner gets to share a Paopu with Kairi” to get under Sora’s skin. And it is incredibly clear that Sora is very much against betting Kairi on a race. He still loses, but Riku very quickly brushes it off as a joke upon seeing how upset Sora is. And this does an excellent job of setting up another difference between Sora and Riku, Sora respects Kairi, while Riku doesn’t seem to.

After that, Kairi sends Sora to collect mushrooms, decides to get water herself (since whenever she sends one of the boys to do it they get water from the sea), and Riku to go and collect everything else, which helps set up why Sora hasn’t admitted his feelings to Kairi yet: he thinks she trusts Riku more than she trusts him.

When he goes to the Secret Place to collect mushrooms (after telling Wakka and Tidus to buzz off), he pauses by the drawings he and Kairi doodled of eachother, and decides to add the Paopu to the drawing. When the robed figure (now voiced by Richard Epcar) pops in, Sora tries to cover it up while his face turns red, and other than that his conversation with the robed figure is pretty much the same as in the game, except, much like in the Manga, Kairi waltzes in and gets hastily pushed out right after he leaves. The conversation between Sora and Kairi, and the scene where Kairi works on the Oathkeeper charm are combined into one scene.

Then we cut back to Disney Castle, where Mickey’s letter is actually narrated by Mickey Mouse, and other than that it’s pretty much the same as in the game, with Minnie introducing Donald and Goofy to Jiminy, and Donald asking Daisy to keep care of the Queen. Then there’s the virtually unchanged Gummi Ship scene, and we cut back to Destiny Islands, where Sora hurries over to the Play Island, misses Dinner, and gets jumped by the Heartless. Oh yeah, we also get to see some Neoshadows attack a guy right as he tries to get into his house, complete with his outstretched hand fading away as he screams.

Sora is, naturally, very concerned when his sword goes right through the Shadows who attack him on the beach, but then he spots Riku and immediately decides to tough it out and avoid them to try and get to him before the Heartless do.

Riku’s scene is virtually unchanged, accept after the screen fades to black, the flash of light is changed. The light flies in from the upper left corner, bounces off of the point where Riku would be, flies to where Sora should be, then covers the entire screen. Then Sora gets up, with the Keyblade in his hands, and turns the tables on the Heartless and fight his way to the Secret Place to protect Kairi. But then the door flies open and blasts a sickly Kairi (who looks incredibly pale and even has bags under her eyes) directly into Sora.

Then there’s the battle with the Darkside. The resulting battle is horribly skewed against Sora, with the Darkside keeping the upper hand, summoning Shadows to fight Sora, up until Sora scales up the Darkside’s arm and hits it in the head. The Darkside replies by grabbing Sora with it’s other hand and slamming him into the ground. At that point, the wind picks up, the little patch of land starts to crumble, and the Darkside gets sucked up into the vortex as Sora hangs on to the plank of wood for dear life, only to get sucked near the black hole and gets flung into space. Cue commercial!

The scene where Donald and Goofy land in Traverse Town and split off from Pluto is pretty much unchanged, up until Sora arrives at Cid’s shop. Cid still offers to let Sora stay with him if he can’t find his friends, but Sora heads out regardless. And then we get Cid talking to a shadowy figure.

The scene where the Heartless steal the mans heart is a tad bit more violent, as we get to see the soldier tear it from the man’s chest. There’s no blood, obviously, but it’s considerably more brutal. The Keyblade reappears in Sora’s hands right as the Heartless turn their sights on him. Sora’s instinct isn’t to fight, he tries to run back into the first district only for more Heartless to pop in behind him. Sora then makes a mad dash for the hotel, slashing through any Heartless who get in his way, until he finally reaches the hotel, at which point Donald and Goofy enter the second district.

Sora continues to battle the Heartless inside the hotel, and bursts straight throw the other entrance right by the cash register (with the guy behind the desk actually screaming when the Heartless pop up, with his silhouette diving out of sight), and Sora takes out about a fourth of them. The Heartless force Sora out, then disappear, right as Donald and Goofy pop in.

Sora continues his fight with the Heartless, taking a few out, and reaching the Gizmo Shop, at which point Donald and Goofy leave the hotel.

Sora continues to fight them through the still running gizmo shop, and actual takes out a Soldier by knocking it into the gears, and cuts a Shadow in two, and leaves right as Donald and Goofy get in.

When Sora exits, he takes out all the Heartless but one, which then dives under the door to the Dalmatian house. Sora gives chase, and Donald and Goofy leave the Gizmo Shop.

Sora then treads carefully around the puppies, who keep trying to go after him, and there’s a really comedic moment where the Shadow emerges from the ground to attack a puppy, only to pause when it sees Sora glaring at it while Pongo and Peridita growl at it, then sink right back into the ground and scurry off. Sora then chases it out the back door and into the Third District, where he finishes it off, just in time to be confronted by Leon. He gives the same speech he did in the game, and the two clash, with Sora doing pretty well until Leon blasts him with a fireball, at which point the boy gets sent flying into a wall and falls to the ground, unconscious. Yuffie arrives and teases Leon, who says things are worse than expected, and we cut back to Donald and Goofy, with the former getting startled by Aerith. Meanwhile, Riku wakes up, and is found by Maleficent after calling for Sora and Kairi (actually voiced in this continuity). Cue commercial.

When we get back from the commercial, Sora’s waking up, and mistakes Yuffie for Kairi. And the exchange is pretty much identical to how it was in the games, just better animated (the fact that the animation is pretty similar to the animation from Avatar might be part of the reason). Granted, they actually have Ansem’s first report, narrated by Corey Burton, which is always a plus. After that’s all sorted out, a Soldier Attacks, and Sora and Leon head out to fight the Heartless. And the following action scene is pretty cool as Sora once again fights through the Second District, but this time he’s carving a path through the Heartless alongside Leon and Yuffie, until they both get held off by a larger group of Heartless right as Sora enters the Third District.

Sora doesn’t realize that he’s been separated from the group until he’s surrounded by Heartless, at which point he looks significantly less brave. This is followed by a gag lifted straight from the games, with the Heartless blasting Donald and Goofy clear off the building and right onto Sora, actually startling the Heartless that were closing in on him. Right as they get up, the Heartless pounce, and suddenly, Donald and Goofy are awesome. Goofy bashes a Heartless into the air and Sora takes it down. Donald heals Sora, as well as blasts Heartless with fire and lightning. Once they all go down, the Guard Armor crashes in. Sora, Donald, and Goofy take out the Hammer Legs and Gauntlets, with them shattering, and then Sora takes it out by knocking the helmet into the torso, and slicing through both, and then the Guard Armor explodes and releases it’s heart, right as Leon and Yuffie arrive, with Yuffie remarking that it looks like they don’t have anything to worry about.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy officially introduce each other, and Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid give them supplies for their journey, while Jiminy Cricket vows to record all of it in his Journal. Meanwhile, Maleficent and her cabal of villains take a look at them, and Maleficent decides that they should stick around and watch for now.

Cue credits.

#kh animated adaptation au #season 1 #kh1

0 notes