#day 1 raid drama

[thefirstknife]

Seeing some of the latest whining over on Twitter, I think I've realized part of the problem: the content creators who have made playing D2 their life think it's "too easy" and that "toxic casuals are ruining things" because they refuse to admit they're simply too skilled to find a huge challenge anymore. But instead of rebranding to something else and moving on to learn a new game where they'll face challenge and struggle they continue to insist that the game is bad foe catering to "the lowest common denominator". Some of them also seem kind of entitled? Lime the idea that any no-name players (aka people who aren't Big Names in the fandom) could possibly do amazing snd outplay them feels like they're being cheated out of what they're "owed" as their Top Player Bragging Rights? But not everybody who puts in the work to get good at the game engages with the fandom, either. It just feels a lot like some of them think "I put in the work to master it, so nobody else should be allowed to match me and also it needs to keep up with me because I made this game my life". Feels very weird and entitled to me. And I say this as a person who has played some games so much that the highest difficulty settings are a breeze! I just accept that I've mastered it and move on when I want challenge.

Oh yeah, the new elitist dickhead whining is live in the community and it's the same thing as always. Agreed with what you wrote! I think streamers just literally want things to only be "difficult" for them and impossible for everyone else so they can feel special. They can deny it all day long, but there is no logical reason to want FEWER people to play an exciting competition and for FEWER people to feel like they can complete it. Because if people feel like they can't, they won't bother. Why would I waste my time? I'm not getting paid to play the game.

Day 1 raid race is a community contest, meant for the community, aka all players. It's not "special contest for top players only," it's a contest for everyone. It's supposed to be something everyone tries out and does their best, as well as something that is reasonably achievable for more than a grand total of 12 players.

Over the years, Bungie has been hard at work turning raids into an activity that more people will want to play and finish. Including adjusting the way day 1 race is happening and when. They WANT more people to participate which is evident through lowering the amount of grind needed to be ready and moving the race to the weekend, and now extending it to 48 hours. This helps everyone; the community and the devs.

More below:

The moment the day 1 raid race is accessible, that means more people will attempt it and more people will realise that they ARE good enough to raid and complete the contest mode. When the raid race is locked to a power level grind that nobody outside of people playing the video game for a living can achieve, that drastically reduces the number of people who will enter the race. When the raid race is releasing in the middle of the week, nobody outside of streamers will be able to compete. Now, day 1 raid race is no longer limiting in ways that we, the players, can't control.

This means more people can attempt it and at that point, we're dealing with pure numbers. More people attempting means that more people will finish. So when streamers are whining about "numbers," they're whining about the simple hard cold unchangeable logic of math. More people than ever are playing, more people than ever are attempting, more people than ever were able to watch the whole race and figure that they have a chance, and then they had plenty of time to try. This resulted in more completions than ever. Very little to do with the raid being "easy." It wasn't. It was accessible.

There are probably incredibly good players out there who couldn't participate before because they didn't have time or weren't available off work or couldn't ruin their mental and physical health over a 24 hour video game contest. There are probably perfectly average players who can still complete the raid race if they have more time to practice.

And this bothers content creators, because it's telling them that they're not special. Some Joe Shmoe with a 6 year old PC and $5 headset might be incredibly good at Destiny, possibly even better than them, but he didn't have time to compete before. Now he does, because Bungie removed the limit that a player can't control and the content creators are fucking mad as hell because Joe Shmoe, 47, a dad of 3, can finish the contest mode.

They keep insisting this is not the reason they are mad; they're mad because.... uh.... Contest mode is supposed to be SUPER HARD and it's an EXCLUSIVE EVENT that happens TWICE A YEAR!!!! And like. Yeah? Joe Shmoe has the same feeling about it. Joe Shmoe also gets two days a year to participate in a community event. Again, content creators are slowly learning that they're not special and it's a hard hitting truth. Also if more people are playing the raid race, then they're not watching them. That's gotta hurt as well. It's at least 5 fewer subs.

I am so fucking done with their bullshit and their repeated attempts to demean everyone's accomplishments by yelling about the raid being easy and bad and whatever. They are sad people with a void in their hearts.

The raid was absolutely hard. More people than EVER attempted it and MANY haven't been able to complete it. The raid wasn't "easy" in the sense they mean it (they mean easy = bad), it was different. It required different skills and it had a different goal and a different fantasy to invoke in players. Every single one of those bitches used every known cheese and meta tactic to brute force every damage phase and every mechanic, to the point of many of them not figuring out an entire mechanic in the final encounter. They straight up did not understand a mechanic and then dare to say that it was easy. But yeah. They were grasping at every broken build possible and then whining about it being easy. Well I did it with 30 resilience. I am better.

They are absolutely entitled. They feel like they are owed everything in this game because they've been here since 2014 and that if the game is not catering to them, then it's objectively bad. Literally, as you said, they've mastered the game and they're bored of it. But hey, there's money in clickbait about negative stuff so they will keep being miserable playing something they obviously don't like anymore.

I'm so done with those assholes. The raid was an absolute BLAST for me. It was super fun, it was really difficult and it took a long time to get it done, but my team did it, even through a horrible bug that cheated us out of a clear 10 hours early. The raid is SUPER fun, it's an excellent new addition to the raid roster, super helpful for newer players and newer raiders. The mechanics are really smooth and simple, they don't require a lot of callouts, but still rely a LOT on coordination of the whole team. Incredible work threading the line between an incredibly fun raid that is also accessible to everybody. I'll be doing it a lot, it's a really chill experience that still gets your adrenaline going. Bungie did an amazing work with it and I absolutely love it.

I cannot FATHOM a mindset that people have where they want people to NOT be able to experience raids. The most bizarre thing in the world to me. Raids are PEAK content in the game that devs spend a lot of time making and that is currently not being played as much as they want, which is actually a problem resource wise. Since they take so much resources to create, but aren't being used, it's a shame.

This raid was absolutely made with that in mind. They want more people to play to raids. This raid is "easy" in the sense that it is accessible. And there's nothing those assholes hate more than accessibility, I guess. God forbid people who paid for the expansion get to play the expansion. That includes the day 1 contest mode race absolutely. It's for the whole community, not for 50 people with a twitch.tv account.

Every content creator whining about this is a bitch who does not care about the health of the game or the community. They want a game made for them, and only them. They think they own it and that it's good when only 3% of the players play raids. They want every regular player to suffer and leave, to not have fun and to not experience these amazing activities.

They want the game to die.

[icaberries]

What if the Vinsmokes were in the Wano Arc?

Go read Part 1 here but TL;DR the Vinsmokes regain their ability to feel emotions and escape Germa with Sanji and the Strawhats.

Mostly headcanons with a side of canon plot.

They’re still modded physically, but now their pain receptors are active so they’re dealing with the ramifications of years of neglecting their body. Ichiji is partially blind from using Valkyrie, Niji has burn marks all over his body, and Yonji has chronic pain in his wrists. It's a struggle, but they feel like they deserve it after all the torment they inflicted.

Ichiji comes across traditional tattoo shops in Wano and decides to get new tattoos on a whim. The ‘1’ tattoo he had before had been his first rebellion against his father and now that he’s free he wants to add more to it. He gets tattoos for all his siblings along his other arm—a pink butterfly for Reiju, a blue lightning bolt for Niji, a green clover for Yonji and a yellow sun for Sanji. It helps to ground him when the Feelings™ get overwhelming and reminds him that he’s not alone in this world. 

The drama in Shokugeki no Sanji with Sanji’s soba stall still happens, only this time he’s backed up by the rest of his siblings who glares at the soba competitors in submission. 

Reiju is first in line when the soba stall officially opens. She’d had to fight her brothers and the Strawhats for it. Robin is a close second but only because Reiju was distracted by her. If you know what I mean ;) 

The handcuffs left marks on Sanji’s wrists. Surprisingly, it’s Niji who asks why Sanji’s hands are so precious to him and Sanji tells them about Baratie and Zeff. There’s something about the sparkle in Sanji’s eyes as he talks that draws them in, the way he speaks so highly and softly about his found family on the East Blue. They wonder, if somewhere down the line, Sanji would speak about them with that same fond tone. 

Niji gifts Sanji a pair of dark brown leather gloves, long enough to cover the marks on his wrist. Sanji wears it to the raid and Niji is quite proud of it and claims he must be Sanji's favorite brother now. Until Ichiji chimes in and says that Sanji’s hairstyle as Stealth Black/Soba Mask is more similar to his and confidently declares himself as Sanji’s favorite brother. Ichiji and Niji argue for hours.  

(It’s actually Yonji who's the favorite. Sanji only has one little brother and he’s got a soft spot for him.) 

Just imagine Law, Basil Hawkins and X Drake watching Soba Mask. Now imagine them seeing a group of brightly-colored siblings cheering on Soba Mask, while they themselves look like Sparking Red, Electric Blue, Wench Green and Poison Pink. It’s a good day to be a North Blue fanboy in Wano. 

AND NOW FOR SOME ANGST!

They witness Sanji awakening his modifications and for a brief moment they’re happy that Sanji caught up to them like he always wanted, until they see the horrified look on Sanji’s face. He looks so afraid to turn out like them, to the point that he’d ask his own crewmate (Zoro) to take him down if he ever ended up like them. They’re not even mad. They’re just sad and guilty that Sanji felt that way. 

There’s a brief lull in the battle and Reiju pulls her brothers aside to tell them about their mother and her sacrifice. She told Sanji that story so he’d remember that his life was worth living and being kind. Now she’s telling the same story to Ichiji, Niji and Yonji so they can remember the same thing. Sora wanted them to live and be good. 

After his fight with Queen, the brothers hug it out. Reiju may or may not have taken a picture.

Right after that, the brothers now hug Reiju! Because she deserves it alright! Years of pretending for Judge, of keeping her brother's in check and dealing with their mother's death, Reiju did her best to be there for all of them. Now she gets to see her little brothers grow up into the good people their mother wanted them to be and she can finally stop pretending. She can be herself again <3

(I love Reiju sm yall but that's just the eldest daughter syndrome talking)

The road to redemption is paved with triumphs and stumbles. It’s just fortunate for them that Sanji has a good sense of direction. 

AND NOW BACK TO FLUFF!

Yonji continues to cement himself as the favorite when he calls Chuji the cutest thing in the world and proceeds to share his snacks with the little guy. Niji and Ichiji never stood a chance. Little brother is strong and is hitting all of Sanji's buttons.

The worst part of regaining emotions though? It’s not the gooey mushy feelings of love, or the cold guilt and shame over their past mistakes, it’s the annoyance they now feel whenever they witness Roronoa Zoro flirt with their oblivious brother. They can’t stand him. Unfortunately, he makes Sanji happy so they’re forced to seethe on the sidelines while Zoro picks another fight/flirting session with Sanji. 

Reiju doesn’t tell them that it’s not just Zoro they have to worry about. Trafalgar Law keeps finding an excuse to check Sanji over for his “health”, a jaguar mink keeps asking him out to smoke together, don’t even get her started on Basil Hawkins and X Drake asking her for her blessing. That’s not even counting Sanji’s other suitors who aren’t in Wano right now. Their baby brother is quite the popular guy.

[oodearest]

3 OPLA scenes that altered my brain chemistry

It’s been a year since we got the first season of OPLA. I cast my mind back to clearing my weekend to binge the show and then having my social media feed flooded with OPLA fan edits. What a time.

In honour of the anniversary 🥳 here’s a list of scenes that stuck with me.

1. Usopp saying to Luffy, “Wait, you know my dad?”

What a dagger to the heart! The pain in his voice? The mix of awe and jealousy? Spectacular acting. It also trigged a line of thinking that made me want to write a fic about it one day. The implications of Luffy knowing Yassop better than his own son are so gut wrenching.

2. Luffy saying he knew what it was like to have someone lose a limb for him.

I’ve literally never made that connection between Sanji and Luffy before. It’s genius. Also it’s played off comedically in that scene but the potential for angst parallels is astronomical.

It floored me the first time I heard it and (shameless self plug incoming) that’s how I ended up writing this fic.

3. Zeff and Sanji doctoring Zoro together

I have always adored the level of drama and angst the Baratie arc brings to One Piece. Namely, the iconic Zoro vs Mihawk fight and his declaration to Luffy afterwards.

“Any problem with that, Pirate King?” Lives rent free in my brain.

So obviously that moment in the OPLA has big shoes to fill. I think it delivered and I absolutely adore the added scene of Zeff and Sanji co-treating Zoro. They really understood the assignment. That whole episode is so tender and adds an extra layer of bonding to the east blue gang that’s so wonderful to see adapted.

Honourable mentions

Buggy, that’s it.

This list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Buggy. Jeff Ward ATE that role up. Episode 2 is probably one of my favourite episodes purely for his presence. I will forever be referencing “NOSE?! NOSE?!”

Thank you Jeff Ward.

Kid Sanji saying “Oregano is for Savages!”

Kid Sanji is so UNHINGED in the flashback and I just adore that while his workplace is getting raided by pirates his first priority is to insult their seasoning choice. And of course Zeff and Sanji are forever matching each others energy. It’s hilarious that he takes offence? Like sir you have bigger questions to ask.

[heymeowmao]

2024.04.29 - https://weibo.com/l/wblive/p/show/1022:2321325028561374544131

I'll stream for a while then go~~

bgm: 落了白 (Falling White) - Jiang Xue’er

LYN: Hallo everybody, good evening. I am Modern Brothers Liu Yuning. Welcome to my livestream~ Long time no see. I feel like I haven’t seen you in a long time, so I wanted to have a nice chat with you before my next drama starts airing. C: Act more normal. LYN: I’m not acting abnormal?? Are you starting to have something against me, now? Is it that you havent seen me in too long so I feel unfamiliar? I’m being very normal right now, and you want me to “act more normal”? What counts as “normal”? C: Ning-ge, you’re so gentle. LYN: In your hearts am I a very fierce and cruel person? Or do I normally have a bad temper and I yell a lot? No, right? I’ve always been this gentle.

C: The sound is much lower. LYN: /speaks directly into the mic/ Is it too low? I just need to pull the mic closer. 

C: You haven’t eaten, so you have no strength? LYN: No, I’ve eaten. I had a meal before starting the stream. I ordered some takeout. Otherwise I was afraid I would pass out in the middle of the stream. I ate something before I started.

C: Don’t be so gentle. I feel uncomfortable when you’re not backtalking at me. LYN: Are you sadistic? You need me to backtalk you in order to feel comfortable? That’s weird. 

LYN: I don’t know if I’ll have the time to stream once filming starts up, because shooting a drama keeps me pretty busy. My last drama ZLYM- I actually didn’t have that many scenes. I had very few, and I didn’t have time to stream. I’ll have more scenes in this drama (SJYM/A Dream Within A Dream), so if I had to predict then… I would have even less time to stream. Today’s stream is a preemptive measure- so that you’ll be aware that my future streaming schedule will not be very frequent. Please understand.

bgm: 狂風襲來 (Fierce Wind Raid) - West Out of Yumen/Parallel World OST

LYN: I have a lot to do. If I were only an actor I would probably have more time. But I can’t let go of music, and there’s also the streaming so… I don’t have enough time. I guess I’m also getting older, too… C: You also have variety shows. LYN: The Truth is almost finished- I’ll go one more time and we’ll be done shooting for it. After that, I’ll stay in the drama crew a while. I just need to go to shoot The Truth one more time- a two-day session, then it’s over. LYN: It’s a variety show I like a lot. I went to the first season, and the people there were great. Honestly, I rarely make friends. I can only make some if I’m working with them, shooting a drama or variety show together. I made a lot of friends after shooting season 1, and I’ve made a lot of friends after this season as well. Of course, some of those friends are already old friends. Zhou Keyu and Bai Yu, for example. We shot the first season together. I’m close with Reba, because we’ve worked together twice already. This variety show counts as our third partnership. Now there’s Zhang Linghe and Xun-ge. Xun-ge, I actually did work with before, but that was just roughly. Jin Jing also came to film with us this season. It’s nice to be able to make some friends. It’s a happy thing. Later I will be properly focused on shooting the drama and I won’t have much of anything else going on. 

LYN: There are people making fun of me for being scared. Friends. You already saw how scared I got when we shot the prologue. Friends- you might not understand. I was pretending on purpose. Honestly, I wasn’t scared one bit. I wasn’t afraid. I was pretending. Pretending to be cute. I was thinking since my face is so old, if I acted a little cute, would it make the viewers like me a little more? I was just pretending. You can see my performance in the later episodes. I stop pretending, then. I come clean. Don’t believe in what you see, I was just pretending. Pretending to be scared. What’s there to be afraid of? It’s not scary. Just watch me in the later episodes- there’s not one shred of fear in me. Yeah… really. Believe me. C: I can’t believe you at all. LYN: Believe me. I’m not afraid at all, later. You’ll see. 

LYN: The second season should be a pretty good watch. We could tell when we were shooting it- it’s actually very interesting. We’re a good group of people and we had fun together. The other thing is that I don’t record variety shows often- I don’t much have the time, and there are few I want to be on- so when I am on a show I’m always very happy. I’m happy and relaxed. When I’m not too busy with work, I can find a fun project. While I’m playing, it also counts as work which is nice. I was happy to record this variety show. LYN: Every time I go to record for a variety show, I- 

bgm: Truthfully = A1 Trip/DOBI

LYN:  When I go to record for a variety show, when the time comes for it to end, I feel like I don’t want to let it go. I feel like I only just got close with my new friends and we’d only just worked out how to get along. We’d only just reached the point where we could rely on each other, so having to part with them makes me sad. So… the last time we recorded, I had asked the producer, “Will this program have a season three?” They said, “There will be.” I told them, “I remember the last season, I asked you this same question. You made me wait three years.” /sigh/ And then I asked, “What about the third season?” They told me the third season would come quickly. I replied, “Does it depend on how well this season rates? If KSTLB2 flops, would a third season be hard to pull off?” They did not respond. They used silence as the answer. LYN: The moment they lowered their head I understood. I saw clearly the truth of the situation. The cruelty of it. So, friends, when KSTLB2 starts airing, I hope that each one of you here can promote this very good variety show, this easily consumable variety show, this show that makes you think, this show with a group of youthful and good-looking men and women- to your parents and elders, and brothers and sisters. Okay? Thank you, everyone.

C: I’ve watched the whole first season and can tell you all about it from memory. Looking forward to S2. LYN: There’s a problem with S2… wait- would saying this be bad for the program? /laughs/ The gameplay of the second season is different from the first. Our trust will be on thinner ice. Our mutual trust in one another- that friendliness and closeness one feels upon first meeting- will come back to hit us in the face. For example, when we first see each other: “Good morning! How did you sleep? Not bad? Let’s see what we’ve got for us today. I hope we can solve the mystery quickly.” We’re smiling and everyone’s faces are full of… kindness. But once this game starts- there are five fixed players and each week we’ll get a guest sixth- there’s a murderer among the six of us in each episode. So… the whole process is just us suspecting one another. Indiscriminately suspecting, indiscriminately provoking, indiscriminately attacking. Which leads to…

LYN: Last week, I know you saw me wearing a red wig, right? I’m telling this to my fans, since they would probably follow the spoilers about me- I recorded an episode in a red wig. While we were recording that episode, BY kept singling me out. He kept saying, “LYN’s not normal today.” “Liu-ge, you’re not normal today. This is too out of the ordinary. I have a feeling you’re the murderer.” I asked, “Why?” He said, “Because you’re not talking. This is too different from normal. You haven’t spoken a word all day.” I replied, “It’s not that I don’t want to talk, it’s because my hair is being pulled too tightly. The wig is too tight and it’s affecting my ability to think and respond to people normally. Those functions have disappeared. They suffocated.” Half an hour with that wig was okay. Over an hour and it’s a headache. I feel like it was leaving stress marks on my skull. I filmed with it for several hours. After that day I felt like my soul was squeezed out. I was trying to explain to him, “My wig hurts too much. It’s so uncomfortable. I know it looks good, but the cost is too great. It hurts so much.” He said, “I don’t believe you. We’re all adults. How could a person as smart as I am be tricked by your excuses? I’m right. You are the murderer.” Of course, I can’t tell you if he guessed right or wrong. :) LYN: You can imagine- The wig starts from here, and it’s wrapped around your whole head. All that’s left is a mouth. XD It separates your brain from your mouth- do you know that feeling? It’s like a barrier in the middle. Your thinking, logic, and speech is no longer under your brain’s control. 

C: What are you drinking? LYN: Tea. It’s uh... some tea.

C: How many episodes is KSTLB? LYN: It should be around 10 or so? I think it’s 10, and they’re spilt between part 1 and part 2. I’m not sure. Are parts 1 and 2 aired on the same day? I’m not clear on the specifics. They only gave ten episode’s worth of pay. XD I’m guessing how many episodes there are based on how many episode’s worth I was paid for. 

C: How much do you get paid an episode? LYN: /whispers/ What’s it to you? Does it have anything to do with you? LYN: Also- they pay you for this variety show? I had to buy tickets to get inside. It’s a restricted area and you normally need a ticket to get inside. I bought tickets. They pay? I didn’t know! The production team didn’t tell me. Next time I’ll ask the other guests if they were paid to come on the show. At the time, they told me that if I wanted to be on the program I’d have to send the producer a 200rmb red envelope. I thought about it for three days and in the end I didn’t send it. They were supposed to give me money? Wasn’t it that I had to pay to be able to be on it??

C: If I give 400rmb, can I go in and be a ghost? LYN: You want to be an NPC? You want to PAY to be an NPC? I don’t think you can do that.

C: Is Zhuo Bufan coming? LYN: I saw online that Heroes (Tian Xing Jian) would air on May 4th. I think it’s fake news. I saw the posts- someone online said that TXJ would air on 5/4 and many of my fans were discussing it, saying, “Waa~ ZBF is coming!!” I think it’s fake news. Why? Because they only send me the OST yesterday. They send me the OST yesterday, and I need to go record it. Think about it- the OST isn’t even recorded yet, so how can it air?? So that’s… probably false.

LYN: Later when I’m not doing this job anymore, I can… become an yxh that knows more accurate information than any other yxh. C: Ning-ge, it seems like you would be happy to do it. LYN: No- I’m just saying some nonsense!! It looks to me like being an yxh is really easy, is all. If I want to do it, I’m sure that I could be successful at it. I could be big. Even a media company. I think I can make it. You’ve just got to think of different paths. Being in more than one industry is useful.

- /hears some banging from upstairs?/ LYN: ??? - C: Let us know when you’re looking for employees. LYN: Ok. - C: What’s that sound? LYN: I think the upstairs neighbors are fighting. I don’t know who lives up there, but sometimes in the middle of the night I’ll hear things falling on the floor. There are always some sounds that rouse me. But it’s okay because I always make noise for other people, too. I can sit here in the night listening to music and no one complains about me. So if other people bang and drop things on the floor, I won’t complain about them either. But these past few days I’ve gathered that the people upstairs are playing mahjong. The sound is of the tiles hitting the floor. I’m guessing that after the machine shuffled the tiles they accidentally drop the tray of tiles on the floor. They were probably about to win, got excited, and their tiles dropped.

bgm: 天光 (Heaven Light) - Chongzi OST

LYN: I went to record a song the other day. It’s one I sang with another person, and it should probably be released in a few days. It’s… you’ll know when you hear it. It was a pretty good job, so when it comes out please pay it some attention. I’ve sung a song with someone, and it’ll come out in a few days. I’ve actually done a lot of things in secret.   

C: I’ve finally caught up to a fresh stream. LYN: Alrighty. A “fresh” stream is nice.

C: Lao-da, talk about your music variety. LYN: The thing on Jiangsu Satellite TV? (音乐潮计划/Music Wave Project) We’re still in talks about it, but if there’s any progress I’ll let you know.

C: When is KSTLB officially airing? LYN: This, I really don’t know. Even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. So don’t ask me. You can just wait for the news. It should be soon, because I know the first couple of episodes are already made. There’s a… song that we recorded and they’ve sent that to us to listen to as well. 

----- Bodhi Seeds > Walnuts

C: I saw the walnuts. LYN: Lately I’ve gotten into polishing walnuts. I don’t know if any of you are like me- once you start with something, you start also thinking about how you can apply it to other things. One thing at a time, you start buying more and more. The more you see, the more easily you buy it. Are any of you like that? There’s just more and more. I can’t stop myself. In the past two years, when I first got into it, I was handling bodhi seeds (passionfruit hashplant). I kept buying them, of all sorts of different varieties. After playing with those for a couple of days, I didn’t find it fun anymore and gave them away to my friends and staff. At a certain point, I had enough of playing with the bodhi seeds. I started playing with Xingyue bodhi. I kept buying them, of all sorts- /describes the types/- and when I was done with them I gave them away. Then I spent a little more and started playing with the Fengyan bodhi. Fengyan bodhi are- to my understanding- the more expensive of the bodhi types. The pricing is actually a little ridiculously expensive. You see me wearing a strand around a lot. (People comment on the price of them, and he just wants you to know they’re a more expensive/higher grade.) Don’t call then cheaper than they are. LYN: At first I bought a 9mm-108 strand, but no matter how I handled it, I felt like they were too big so I gave them away. How did I do it? I separated it into three sections, and gave the two smaller sections to friends. There was a longer strand and the last time Da Fei-ge came for the Carnation Music Festival, right? When they came, I gave Ah Zhuo a strand of Passion Bodhi seeds. Then I gave a larger set of Qilingyan- a lot of you probably don’t know what I’m talking about. I gave him a set of Qilingyan, but he also wanted a set of smaller ones so I gave him that longer section of the Fengyan. After that, I started playing with the 8mm, not 9mm. Now I’ve moved on to the Jingang bodhi. It’s not particular, and I can play with it however I want.

LYN: And nowadays I’ve set my sights on walnuts. I’ve bought a bunch like the baishizi, guanmo, hamatou, and whatnot. I kept buying them, so now I’ve started to polish them. 

C: You’re a health and wellness streamer. (?) LYN: I’m not. But if I brought you my box of beads to show you, you would really think I am. C: Show us. LYN: Nah. - /makes a comment that he really shouldn’t be playing anymore because it’s a waste of money and it’s addicting./ - [t/n: I got lost, so this is the best I could do.]

LYN: I think I’m going to stop at walnuts, though. One day I was recording for the show and I told ZLH I was starting to polish walnuts. When we’re there, both as guests, isn’t it a good thing to try and find common topics of conversation and get some screentime? Friends- in your life and work, if you want to get closer to a person you have to find a topic of conversation that the other person enjoys talking about. For example, if they like talking about skiing, you can ask them about it. Through this topic, you can speak more to each other and understand one another better. So that day I struck up conversation with him, “ZLH. I’ve started to polish with walnuts lately. I heard it’s also a hobby of yours?” But it wasn’t because I knew that he polished them that I started! I just coincidentally saw that it was related to him, so I asked him about it. But he said, “I don’t polish them.” I said, “Oh?? Then…” It was a little embarrassing. “I heard that your fans are called “Walnuts”? I thought that because you liked to play with them, your fans started calling themselves that as a linkage.” Because people who like to play with the walnuts polish/rub them, so I thought his fans called themselves “Walnuts”. But… (that’s not the case). It was pretty awkward. C: Why would you make that connection? LYN: Because a lot of you tell me to stop playing with the beads and to play with you instead! I thought it was some preference for fans to adopt the name of the thing that their favorite artist likes. For example, some artist likes driving cars, so their fans would call themselves “Little Cars”. I don’t know if that’s actually a thing, though? Like, “Don’t drive cars, drive me instead.”?? 

C: Ning-ge, then we are called “chuan” (串)]! LYN: This name isn’t really good… C: Then from now on we will be called “chuan-jie”. LYN: No, no. It’s not a good name. “Chuan” isn’t normally used to describe humans. It’s used to describe… other things. So please, friends, don’t stick yourself with nonsensical labels. 

bgm: Young Captain队长 & ODD Chen Sijian - 超感 (Super Sense)

LYN: Some of you don’t get what “chuan” means, right? It’s used to describe small dogs. I’m explaining because you don’t get it, I don’t mean to insult you. It’s just that someone asked me what it meant, so I’m letting you know. “Chuan” is typically used to describe animals like small dogs. Let’s say you have a dog and it’s a golden retriever. If it has a pup with a samoyed, that mixed-breed would be called a “chuan.” If I say it like that, do you get it now? It mean it’s a mixed-breed. Yeah… That’s how people usually use the term. 

-----

C: We’re called “Yang Di.” LYN: XD I saw your comments on that. Did it air yesterday or today? I forgot. Hello Saturday. Oh, it was the day before yesterday. I was partnered up with YD and there were some activities that required me tohold on to him. And then- - LYN: Wait- hold on. I just saw a comment that read, “Did you do cosmetic surgery again?” Hey- where do you think I look good? :) Do you think that I am better looking in some way? Where? Tell me. Say it out loud. Tell me. I want to know. Someone just asked if I had cosmetic surgery, so I want to know where they think I look nicer. Hm? - *clicks his tongue* C: Your eyes look prettier. // You eyes are bigger. LYN: Did I get double-eyelid surgery?? I opened up the corners of my eyes? C: Your skin looks more exquisite. LYN: No- that’s because of the beauty filter. LYN: I didn’t get surgery. I wouldn’t have the time to recover. Also I don’t think that cosmetic surgery can save me. If I want to change myself- change this face- I’d have to change my whole head. A project so small as cosmetic surgery can’t save me anymore. - LYN: Continuing on with YD, for the game I had to hold on to him, right? I saw there were some of you who wished you could become him. You really… Did you know in fighting there’s this method called- called… /has to do the action to get the word/ a headlock? Normally, I think a person would pass out within five seconds if they were really subject to one. 

LYN: It’s kind of hot. Let me turn on the AC. I’ll go turn on the AC. Watch a video first, and I’ll  use the restroom while I’m up. Let me find something. There are a lot of new videos but I haven’t saved them. I’m sure you’ve already seen enough of the ones I already have. 

---------- Break #1 - 52:35-52:45 Daimi Time! LYN: Is this what they mean when they say “so hot you become a dog”? “Hot like a dog”. Is this what they mean? /to Daimi/ I’m talking about you. It’s okay- you can open your mouth to pant. It’s okay. Continue. LYN: She just got back from a bath. My ge sent her back. She just went for a wash so now she's excited. We’ve given her a blow-dry so her fur is fluffy. C: She looks quite heavy.

LYN: Yes. C: How many kgs is she? LYN: I think she’s about 14kg now.

C: The mic receiver is too good. LYN: Yes, nowadays mics are really good.

LYN: Let me sing a song! What do you want to hear? I’ll sing it. LYN: This song is good. Let me gift it to all of you and I hope that if any of you are lost in the dark and can’t find your way, you can find you light in the darkness. This song is for you.

-- 黑夜一束光 (Praying)

LYN: I heard a song the other day I really liked, so I want to sing it. /looking it up/ Oh, that’s what it’s called. … There’s no arrangement for it. I was thinking I would sing it for fun, but there’s no track for it. LYN: ??? Why is there so much white noise?? /troubleshooting/ Let me turn off the AC. LYN: /testing/ Oh, whatever. I don’t care. Let there be white noise. It’s not the sound of rain.

bgm: 世世 (Lifetime) - The Legend of Shen Li OST

C: I want to hear 啊默契 (Till the End) LYN: Okay. I can sing that. - /starts/ /stops/ LYN: Hold on. Sorry, let me start again. -- 啊默契 (Till the End)

bgm: 撞地球 (Earth Collision) by Yu Er Qi

LYN: Let me drink some water, hold on. C: 昨日少年 (Youth of Yesterday) LYN: /sings(?) it/

C: When will you get a new drama? LYN: You- you must not be my fan. Of course, it’s okay even if you’re not my fan. There’s still a chance- a slim chance that you could still become one. My next drama starts filming tomorrow. Today is night before recording starts and I will officially start my new role tomorrow. 

C: Use that style of singing to sing 奉上 (Offer). LYN: /does it/ LYN: I usually sing just like this, and what you hear when it’s released is what they’ve fixed during editing and production. This is how I usually sing. LYN: /sings more/ LYN: Isn’t it nice? It’s perfection. -- 奉上 (Offer) - A Journey to Love OST (tone deaf ver.) -- 奉上 (Offer) - A Journey to Love OST (ft. Daimi)

-- 一念关山 (A Journey to Love) by Richie Jen LYN: ?! Is it going to keep playing? 

-- 立剑 (Establish A Sword) by Zhang Jie Daimi: /barking/ LYN: /to Daimi/ Have you gone crazy? Huh!? What are you barking for?? LYN: I don’t really know this song ^^; Also the key is too high. It’s too high. I remember there was a previous stream in which I swore I would never sing Zhang Jie-laoshi’s songs again. Because they are too high. There’s no need to make things difficult for myself, you know?

-- 别梦寒 (Don’t Dream of the Cold) LYN: This song tires me out. I don’t really have the strength to sing this one. I can’t sing it. 

LYN: I can sing OSTs today! Let me see what OSTs LYN has sung… C: 拂晓 (Dawn) LYN: The one that just came out, right? Harbin 1944 (In the Name of the Brother)? -- 拂晓 (Dawn) - Harbin 1944/In the Name of the Brother OST LYN: Thank you. C: This song is amazing. LYN: When I received this OST, the main reason I accepted was because I haven’t released this type of song lately. I haven’t had this style of song, and it was quite nice sounding, so I accepted it. 

LYN: Am I trending? For real? I’m such a small-fry artist, but I have the honor to be trending? I don’t believe it. Let me find another OST… LYN: Hold on… there’s no rush… - /hums a little of 如果爱还记得 (If Love Still Remembers) - Wonderland of Love OST/ LYN: I know what to sing. I should sing this, shouldn’t I? By all means, I should sing it. (bc LYT is the lead ) -- 朝暮 (Morning and Evening) - Warm on a Cold Night OST LYN: Thank you. C: What song is this? LYN: I can’t believe so many of you are asking what song this is. My fans all know it, right? If you don’t know, then I think that’s also okay, because I release a lot of songs so if you can’t remember them, that’s fine.

C: Trending in the Entertainment tab at 32. LYN: It’s all positive, right? What I mean by that is no one is in there hating on me, right? “What gives LYN the right? When he looks so ugly??” It’s nothing like that, right? What are the contents of the trending topic at 32, friends? It’s not a new “melon” that says I’m in a new drama and who I’m acting alongside, and the comments are all people asking “What gives LYN the right?”, right? C: It’s positive. LYN: Oh, okay. Then it won’t get a very high ranking. I’ll drop off of it in a bit. C: It’s “LYN_Livestream”. LYN: That’s okay, then. I’ll drop off of it later. Usually all the topics that are hating on me rise up in ranks quickly. But for a small-fry like me, just being trending is thanks enough. I’m thankful to have you.

C: I want to hear 愿光 (Wish Light). LYN: Let me see if I have it. I really haven’t sung this live before, have I? I can’t sing it, because it’s not on this platform… Forget it. I won’t sing it, then. I won’t open the other app because it’s complicated to go between them.

LYN: There is one song I really like! I don’t think I’ve sung it before. Sometimes I don’t sing them live because I’m afraid that I won’t be able to. There are some songs that I know while I’m recording them are so difficult to sing and record. When I look back on them, I’m afraid to sing them because I’m afraid I won’t be able to pull it off. Oh, but there isn’t a track for this song. - 隐侠 (Hidden Hero) - 赘婿 (Zhui Xu/My Heroic Husband) Donghua Opening Theme LYN: Let’s forget it, since there’s no track for it.

LYN: This works, right? It’s also an OST. If I’m remembering correctly it’s for the Palace Museum, right? An OST to promote the Palace Museum… I really like this song. It’s about the inheritance of our national treasures. -- 传承 (Inheritance) - Palace Museum Cultural Relics Promotion Song

C: 千里江山 (The Vast Land) LYN: I can do that.

C: 一生有多远 (How Long is a Lifetime) LYN: How does that one go? It’s one of my songs, right? /looks it up/ Oh, it is my song. You know what is suitable for this song? If you have a cup of coffee- oh, no. Coffee doesn’t work. It’s a more nostalgic song. I don’t think I’ve ever sung this live. Let me give it a try. Actually I don’t remember if I have sung it or not. I forgot. I can try. - /misses the timing/ LYN: The mic just broke. There was just a little problem with it. Excuse me. It’ll be good in a sec. Let me make adjustments. Sorry. Yeah, the stream froze. - /water asmr/ LYN: Let me try that again. Apologies. - /Daimi starts barking & growling/ LYN: ?!? LYN: She’s trying to steal my limelight. /sigh/ - /walnut asmr/ LYN: Is the sound of them loud? D: /growl/ LYN: Shush! -- 一生有多远 (How Long is a Lifetime) - The Curious Tale of Mr. Guo LYN: Sorry- I’m not really familiar with this song. I’ve already forgotten it; it’s been too long. Next time I’ll learn it properly and sing it for you. Sorry. /keeps apologizing/ C: It froze! LYN: It didn’t freeze, I just forgot how to sing it. It’s been way too long! And I haven’t ever sung it. Sorry.

LYN: Let me see what else I have… what other OSTs. /types in “OST”/ Oops. I meant to type “LYN”. /sigh/ - 专属蓝天 (Always Be With You) - Dance of the Storm OST - 烟火星辰 (Fireworks and Stars) - You Are My Glory OST LYN: This will do. - /narrates/ -- 莫问前程 (Don’t Ask About the Future) - White Cat Legend OST LYN: Thank you. How awesome is this song?!

C: 向死而生 (Live to Die) LYN: I don’t think I can sing it live. I’d have to be in really great condition to be able to pull it off. When I finish singing that song I “want to die”. (向死 (towards death) vs 想死 (thinking of death) - homophonic joke) I really like the song, I really do. But it kind of makes me “want to die” when I sing it. Let me see… How about I give it a try? -- 向死而生 (Live to Die) - Burning Flames OST - /cracks at the chorus/ /clears his throat/ LYN: The mic broke a little just now. It’s super unstable. Let me try again. -- 向死而生 (Live to Die) - Burning Flames OST [take 2] - /pulls off the chorus this time/ /clicks his tongue/ /finishes up with minimal difficulty/

C: Let’s chat. LYN: /nods/ Ok.

-----------

bgm: Fall in Love

LYN: I want to thank everyone who is watching my stream right now. If at this moment you have not subscribed to my weibo, please do so. Thank you. I know many of you might be watching my stream for the first time. It’s nothing special and there’s no particular uniform. I just come when I have some time and chat with my fans, sing a few songs, and help everyone relax a little. That’s all.

C: How do I send presents? LYN: My presents are closed, here. This stream is a benefit for you all. You don’t need to spend a dime for it. But I hope that one day when I have a concert, you have enough money to buy a ticket and see me live. Okay? Thank you.

C: Ning-ge, when will you start filming? LYN: I start tomorrow, but I don’t know when the official “start” date is. I’m not sure because I don’t really care about that type of thing. As an actor, all I need to do is work on pulling off my scenes well. As for promotion… /trails off/

C: When you were being interviewed didn’t you tell us “Just you wait” because you were going to scare us? LYN: I wanted to at first, but I thought about it and decided to forget it. I thought about scaring you by telling you I was going to stream tonight, and then not streaming. Do you think that type of scare is big or not?

C: Why didn’t you sing this song on Hello Saturday? LYN: Right- because I needed to sing a song with a “beverage” in the lyrics, right? “Whiskey and ice, my music and you.” You’re right. I didn’t think of it. There were too many songs, I couldn’t react quickly enough. 

LYN: The thing I like about streaming on weibo is that it is always upgrading with new functions. Many of you have the special effects, when you type. You can also turn the special effects off, so it won’t affect your typing. In the menu, you can select to turn off the special effects.

C: Ning-ge, will  KSTLB still have a press conference? LYN: The Truth… press conference… we recorded it already, that day. There are spoilers online, aren’t there? Of us wearing school uniform-style? That’s the press conference and it will probably be aired later. I don’t know. I’m sure it will at some point. The program prepared a huge amount of content. Other than the main episodes, we recorded a lot of… other stuff.

bgm: 万物盛开法则 (The Law of Everything in Bloom) - Da Zhangwei

C: Is  KSTLB2 scary? LYN: It’s terrifying. But I was not afraid. This time around I show a very manly side to myself. I’m more firm this time, because I’ve already seen through all of the program’s tricks. LYN: I was only scared into crying, is all. LYN: It’s okay. You can watch when it comes out. It’s quite fun.

C: Lao-da, please I’m begging you to flip me. LYN: I’ve flipped you.

C: Tell me, is Reba really beautiful in person? LYN: /laughing/ Why are you spamming that? There’s really no meaning in you doing that. There’s no point. Other than someone who’s “250” (a fool or someone who doesn’t take things seriously) like me, no one else would dare to respond. LYN: The way I see it, if you only think of a girl in terms of “pretty” or “not pretty”, then I think you’re really shallow. Do you understand? My stance is that if you only care about her appearance and not her mind, then you’re a little shallow.

LYN: My hope for KSTLB2 is that- Ive said before that it’s a program that I really like. We had great time shooting the first season. When it aired us cast and viewers had a great time watching. There was a great atmosphere around it. I hope that this time the atmosphere will be equally as good. Because… when you record together for a few days you start to develop this inexplicable group cohesion. I hope that when you’re watching- to my fans, at least- you don’t watch with a competitive eye. You’re not watching to compare who is better looking or smarter than the others- it’s not that type of show. We’re watching for entertainment, and relaxation is the key. If you’re watching with any intentions in mind, you won’t be able to “see” anything. 

C: You look a little like LYN. LYN: Really? I get that a lot. 

C: Did you have fun playing with water on Hello Saturday? LYN: It was quite fun, actually! Last time I went to Changsha I had the time to shoot two episodes. The crew is really great. If there’s any ever plans for fun content for the show, they will contact my studio to see if I have time and am interested in going to play. We’re having fun. I’m pretty close with the group, too. Before, I was always in the drama crew and didn’t dare to go. But this time I happened to have two day’s worth of time, so I asked them how many episodes they were planning to record for. They told me they were recording two episodes, so I asked if I could do both. I was going to be in Changsha anyway, so if I could record two eps in the same trip, wouldn’t that be great? They agreed, so I went and got shot with water. It was pretty tiring, though. And I… didn’t come out of it uninjured. I was pummeled. LYN: You saw the episode the other day, right? The part when we needed to grab the flowers off a player’s back? I was able to grab it and then fell to my knees, right? And then I started heading for the goal- C: Face breaks. (when he was intercepted and scooped up by Yu Yang) LYN: No, not the face break. It doesn’t have to do with that. I was on my knees and the pants- they’re like exercise pants- they rubbed off a layer of skin on my knee. When I went to Disney later my knee hurt. It straight removed a layer of my skin. It’s okay now, though. /shows us his knee/ It was fierce. I gave it my all. LYN: I thought it was a lot of fun, though. I used the time to relax. It’s nice to be able to record for a show and have fun doing it. The guests were all great and we had fun playing together. C: In the end the flower was stolen by someone else. LYN: It’s okay. I’m really just gong there to have fun. Some variety shows are like a vacation for me. I don’t consider them as work. Hello Saturday is one of them- I only go to play.

C: What’s the scar on your left hand? LYN: Huh? There’s no scar. What scar on my hand? I don’t have one. Do you really think I’m so fierce? I used to have a nickname called “Knife Scar Liu”. /laughs/ I am the “Boy with Knife Scars”- I have scars from knives on my hands. Super fierce.

C: /commenting it’s their b-day/ LYN: Is someone celebrating their birthday today? What a coincidence. Since it’s your birthday and I’m streaming, I’ll wish you a Happy Birthday. Okay? Happy Birthday~ 

C: It’s my 13th marriage anniversary, and I hope to get your blessing. LYN: You have my blessings! I’m jealous that you have such a happy marriage. 13 years today, is it? Then, I’ll gift a song about love to you. What’s a good song to celebrate your 13th marriage anniversary with? And don’t you joke with me, saying 分手快樂 (Happy Breakup). A proper song. Something that wishes people health and happiness. Is there any song like that? C: The Song of Tui Town (KSTLB S2 Theme) -- The Song of Tui Town

LYN: Not that! I was just kidding. What song is there? C: 甜蜜蜜 (Sweet on You) LYN: … C: 给你给我 (Give You, Give Me) LYN: Alright, let’s do it. All of his songs are on the other platform. I’ll give it to you and open it up… LYN: Let me find the lyrics. I just wanted to try, to see if I could sing it in this key. // There are no lyrics, here. It’s okay- let me look them up on my phone. LYN: This is for the friend who is celebrating their 13th year marriage anniversary, and for all of you who are celebrating your 10th year marriage anniversaries. I hope your marriages are all full of happiness and fulfillment. I’m happy that you’re able to be together. -- 给你给我 (Give You, Give Me) by Mao Buyi LYN: That’s about enough. But since I’ve opened this app I might as well look at what other songs I can sing.

LYN: Okay, forget it. They don’t have it. That’s enough, I guess. I couldn’t find it. C: 愿光 (Wish Light) LYN: Oh yeah. Well, since I have this app open, I might as well look it up. LYN: There’s no track for it. There’s really no track for it. - /hums along instead/ -- 愿光 (Wish Light) - The Legend of Anle OST

----------- Break #2 (the neighbors are fighting) bgm: 如果爱还记得 (If Love Still Remembers) - Wonderland of Love OST

C: What is the story of SJYM about? LYN: I don’t know. I’m not even in that drama. I told you last time, didn’t I? The account followed me because they want me to sing the OST. How would I know what the story is about? I’m not qualified to look at the script. C: Didn’t you accept the OST? LYN: Yeah, but do I need to read the script to find out the story in order to sing it? You must be joking. Do you think there are no rules in this industry? C: Ning-ge, you lied. You’ll gain 10kg. LYN: I didn’t lie. How would I know what the story is about?

bgm: 黑夜一束光 (Praying)

LYN: Maybe it’s because we had made a prior agreement, that they would let me go cameo in a role. We’ve worked together before, so maybe I could cameo for them. The agreement was a song and a cameo. I agreed and told them that if I had more time, I could cameo in more than just a few scenes. I could show my face and it’d count  as another project with them.  

C: What are you doing tomorrow? LYN: … I’ll be filming with a drama crew tomorrow. I have my own scenes to do. We start filming tomorrow and I’ll have to log off later and do my homework. I’ll be starting in my new crew tomorrow. What about it? C: What drama is it? LYN: It’s a secret right now, I can’t tell you. The project is too large-scale. I need to keep it secret. LYN: Fine, I’ll tell you. It’s called- Rebirth: I am an Alien. Its a scifi drama. Ill be joining it tomorrow.

LYN: Some of you have been asking about “Chang Ling” since I’ve started streaming. I’ve never heard of it. It’s not that I’ve bever heard OF it, but just that I haven’t heard from my studio that this project has ever looked into me. Maybe they were looking for someone else, and you’ve misremembered? I haven’t heard of this project coming in.

-----

C: Lao-da, are you not off on 5/1? LYN: Ever since I started working, I’ve never known what it is to have a “holiday.” I used to be in the bar singing and and in a restaurant as a waiter. Back in those days these holidays are the days I was the busiest. Dadong is a tourist city, too. So when I was a waiter back then it was my busiest times of the year. I’ve never had a job with consistent holidays like that. C: Did they give you 3x salary? LYN: No, we didn’t get any bonus pay. You don’t see that very much in the service industry… or, I don’t now- maybe because my city was smaller. There was never any 3x salary on holidays. I’ve never heard of it.

C: Have you had 五险一金 (five types of insurance and housing provident fund)? LYN: Never. I’ve never worked in any official enterprise. I was working in restaurants and bars- there’s usually no guarantee and you don’t sign any contracts. It’s just a verbal agreement of work. Usually, like when you go to work- - D: /starts barking/ LYN: Shush! D: /growling that sounds like an engine revving/ LYN: Are you pretending to be a motorcycle?? Are you getting ready to take off? - LYN: - I’d never been in any standard job. Many of you are in college now, right? All of you who are in college or grad school will likely move on to work in a company, and those places will have the insurance and standard pay. People in the servie industry don’t have that. Most of the time we’re in verbal agreements with no official contracts. They’re afraid of you walking out or stealing a piece of rib. This is why most places will make you give a deposit. For example if you get 1200rmb for the first month, they’ll keep 800 and let you take home 400. When you want to quit, theyll return that deposit to you. When you want to quit you have to let them know one month in advance so they can find another worker, and then they’ll return the deposit to you.

C: They keep more than half of your month’s salary? LYN: Just about. C: It should be regulated now, right? LYN: I doubt it. I don’t think it’s totally unregulated, but- not like I understand it very well. When I was in the bar a few years ago, it was still like that. That’s just the way the industry is. It’s not very formal to begin with. There are no contracts, just agreements. There’s a high turnover.

C: Ning-ge, did you ever want a 9a-5p job? LYN: I don’t know. I think it’s more stable for sure, but ever since I was little I wanted to be a celebrity. So I probably decided early on that there was no way that I’d be in a 9a-5p job at some company. You all know that I’m not very highly educated, either. After high school I went straight to culinary school to learn how to be a cook. Of course, a lot of people use my education to ridicule me, saying “LYN is uneducated.” That’s why I admit to it. I’m jealous of those of you who are good at school. Many of you are in college or graduate school, learning to become doctors and professors. I’m happy for you and jealous of you. You’re all very great, so keep doing well in school. I’m sure that you’ll be doing even better than I am in the future. LYN: If you really wanted me to work 9a-5p, I don’t think I would be used to it. I have a break out personality. (does not want to be constrained)

C: Making something you like into your job is the greatest thing. LYN: It’s fun at first. Um… everyone has their own difficulties. No matter what industry you’re in, what you’re doing, or what position you hold, everyone has their own hardships. It’s just that the hardships are not all the same thing. For example, I like to sing. After I made singing into my profession, there were bound to be things I didn’t want to do. You’ll find out that things aren’t as nice as you thought they would be. Taking something you like and turning it into your job to be able to make a living IS a happy thing. But once you actually start doing it you’ll find that it’s not as happy as you thought it would be. You’ll start to feel like you’re losing something you once enjoyed. 

bgm: 我只愿朝着光 ( I Only Wish to Face the Light) - BYOL OST

C: Lao-da, I hope that you are happy. LYN: I am very happy. I’m very happy now. I’m very happy. I’m not unhappy. I’m very happy. Right now I’m… extremely happy. - [t/n: why does it sound like he’s trying to make himself believe it??] LYN: Why wouldn’t I be happy? What right do I have not to be? I have so many people who like and indulge me. I have work and people who support me. Why wouldn’t I be happy? There’s not reason to not be. Really! The reason is because “happy” or “not happy” are not important to me anymore.

C: What is important? LYN: What’s important? Of course, there are things that are important to me. That is… Wow, forget it. Do we have to talk about such deep topics?? I don’t want to. Let’s not go there. I don’t want to talk about it. Weibo is a public platform. If I speak too much on it people will say that I’m pretentious. No one will think I’m being transparent or whatever. They’ll only think I’m being pretentious. What’s there to say? Everyone has it hard. No- it’s not hard on me. Everyone has their own way of living and their own life. Our experiences are not the same. There’s no way to have empathy, so I don’t see the need to share too much. It’s all okay.

-----

C: When you were recording for KSTLB, did you have nightmares? LYN: No. It’s actually not that scary! I already told you I wasn’t afraid. Honestly! I wasn’t afraid. Not one bit.

LYN: There are more people in the comments saying, “Lao-da, I hope that you are happy.” I’ve never presented myself as a weak/vulnerable little boy, have I? I don’t need it. I’m already a man who’s into his thirties. I don’t need you to comfort me. I can get by on my own. LYN: There’s nothing wrong with me! I don’t know why, all of a sudden, the mood has taken this turn. You’re making it seem like I’m very sad right now. I’m not! I’m very happy!! If I dropped off the trending topics, I would be sad. Have I dropped? Have I dropped off the trending topic ranking, friends? Am I still there? If I am, then I won’t be sad. If I’ve dropped, then I’ll cry right away. C: You dropped. LYN: /sobs/

C: Lao-da, I want to see you act as a dominating CEO. LYN: Dominating CEO? ~ You mean to say, that you wish to see my shoulders carry a whole business empire? Alright, no problem. I want to know who the girl that posed this comment is. Get me all her information within three minutes. ~ ~ Later you can find my butler to discuss the details of our collaboration. Remember- this isn’t a discussion. It’s a notification. ~ C: That’s so greasy. LYN: How was that greasy? Aren’t they all like that??

C: I want to be the butler. LYN: ~ You wish. ~

C: Dominating CEOs themselves are greasy. LYN: That’s bs. How are they greasy? Aren’t the really popular dramas lately of the dominating CEO variety? Maybe I was overexaggerating a little bit in my demonstration. That’s the type of performance you’d see in mini dramas. But honestly… aren’t all the characters in dramas right now the dominating CEO type? They’re just not modern drama CEOs, but historical drama CEOs instead. Right? In guzhuang dramas there are the kings or whatever- aren’t they all the dominating CEO? It’s all the same, we’ve just changed the identity. The model is all the same. The guy who would rather fail the world than fail this one girl. Isn’t that the dominating CEO’s M.O? LYN: ~ Look. Ahead of you are the lands I’ve won for you. From now on, you will be my only empress. If anyone dares to touch you, I’ll have them beheaded in front of the masses. ~ LYN: Aren’t guzhuang dominating CEOs like that? It’s all the same! LYN: ~ Look. This is a hall I’ve purchased for you. You can go in and take whatever you want from any of the shops inside. ~ LYN: It’s all the same, isn’t it? Your dominating ceo is just showing up with a different identity in a guzhaung drama, is all. // A lot of warlords are the dominating ceo type. So when you tell me to act as one, I actually already have. 

C: Then, how would an alien dominating ceo act? LYN: /laughs/ Ohh, is that how it is? I was telling you that tomorrow I’ll be starting a new crew, for a drama called Rebith: I Am an Alien. How does an alien dominating ceo act? Hmm… LYN: ~ You want the Earth? Okay. I’ll take down the Earth for you. From today on, you are the lord of this planet. ~ LYN: ~ What was that? You want the Sun? Alright. I’ll order my army to move the sun over for you. ~ LYN: It’s the same. The content of the dialogue changes, but the status and aura doesn’t change.

LYN: It’s about time. I should log off early today. I’ll chat a little longer, then leave. I need to shower and then do homework for tomorrow. I’ll really be starting to film tomorow. Rebirth: I Am an Alien. I hope that when this drama airs- Since I’m just starting filming tomorrow and it’ll take about four months, so if you’re new to my stream, just passing by, or maybe you came in because of the trending topic, I hope you can subscribe to my weibo. Okay? Thank you, everyone. Tomorrow I’ll start filming for a drama called Rebirth: I Am an Alien. I hope that when it airs, you can support my drama. Okay? Now I’d like to sing a song for all the people who are watching my stream for the first time today. This song is especially for the first-time viewers, okay? Um… what should I sing? -- /tries to play 刀剑如梦/ LYN: There’s actually no track for this song. Oh my goodness. - /looking for a suitable track/ LYN: Let me pull RJL’s version, then. -- 刀剑如梦 (A Life of Fighting is But a Dream) LYN: Sorry- I didn’t get the beat right. And I don’t have any props. Let me bring my sword and it’ll have more of the right feel. Wait for me a sec. -- 刀剑如梦 (A Life of Fighting is But a Dream) [take 2] - /misses the timing to start bc he was playing with the sword XD/ - /LYN: Why is this interlude so long??/ - /EDM remix???/ LYN: I didn’t think the arrangement would be like this.

LYN: Anyways, sorry. It was a gift for new friends but it was a little rough. Let me switch to something else. What’s another song that’s very jianghu-esque? Is there any? 走天涯 (Zou Tian Ya)? 让酒 (Rang Jiu). Let’s not do Rang Jiu. 剑魂 (Soul of the Sword)... there’s probably no track for that. -- 剑魂 (Soul of the Sword) [jaunty ver.] LYN: When I sing this song It’s like I’m self-helping my back problems. If you are experiencing shoulder discomfort you can exercise it with this song. It’s great.

LYN: What other song has that feeling of the jianghu? Let me look up something from my Qi-ge. (死不了/天涯). Hey wait- why do I want to move my shoulders to every song I hear? See, this works too! It works. This has already become one of my- C: 寻一个你 (Finding You) LYN: Who sang that? /looks it up/ Oh, WHD’s song. XD -- 寻一个你 (Finding You) - Love Between Fairy and Devil OST LYN: /sigh/ That’s about enough. So if you haven’t subscribed to my weibo yet, please do so.

C: Why did you stop moving your shoulders? LYN: I started sweating. D: Friends, I really think that move has a practical function. So if you’ve got nothing to do, you can practice it. It could help straighten your spine. Or... flex your joints, or something to that effect. 

C: I hope the filming for your new drama all goes smoothly. LYN: Okay, no problem. It’s alright this time, because I’m acting as an alien. I’ll be wearing an alien’s grey skin most of the time. You pretty much won’t be able to see my face, in this drama. I’ll wear a suit. The directors chose me mostly for my height. After they add something to my shoes I’ll be more than 2m tall and I’ll look even less like something from this Earth. 

C: I look forward to your alien. LYN: Okay. You can. No problem. Don’t worry. C: Does the alien talk? LYN: I have lines. Because normally when aliens talk to you, they’ll translate it to Earth language. So I’ll be speaking Chinese like normal. LYN: ~ You foolish Earthlings! ~ C: Standard Mandarin? LYN: No, with a Northeastern accent. LYN: ~ You dumb Earthlings. I’m your alien overlord. ~ C: Does the alien have emotional scenes? LYN: Um… yes. Think about it- for a story about aliens, if you ONLY talk about aliens there’s no way you can shoot a 40 episode drama. You’d never make it. There have to be emotional scenes. Maybe he’s just wearing the shell of an alien to fall in love. A lot of dramas do that, don’t they? This one is the same. The alien and scifi aspect of it is just to draw in an audience. Mainly it’s a love story between a man and a woman.

C: Will you be alive in the end? LYN: Maybe not. Friends, it’s like this: for roles that I’ve played, you can- From the moment I started acting until now, of the roles I’ve played…staying alive was an accident/unexpected. For roles that I play, as long as they’re alive, the reaction should be, “OMG, he’s alive! He didn’t die!!” I’m sure you’d be surprised. But for most of the roles that I’ve played the death rate is extremely high. Very high. Maybe I didn’t have a good start. The very first drama I ever shot- I died. C: Jiang Junhao in BYOL didn’t die. LYN: You want me to die in a slice-of-life drama, too?? That’d be too cruel. I meant in guzhuang dramas. In those, my death rate is about 80%. In 10 roles, 8 of them die. 

bgm: 热辣滚烫 (YOLO) - YOLO Movie OST

LYN: Alright, it’s about time. Thank you for your company and support. Tomorrow I’ll be entering into my new drama crew. I hope you have a fun 5/1 break, okay? Thanks for keeping me company and for your support. It was great to have you tonight and I hope you enjoyed it. Let’s meet again in the next stream, okay? Even though I don’t know when the next time I stream will be! LYN: Goodnight, everyone!

[bridenore]

HD fic recs : mpreg!draco (part 1)

Here are a few recs involving mpreg!Draco. This is part one of two and focuses on shorter fics (up to 30k). Listed in alphabetical order, as always.

And Hope Says, Perhaps Today by @thisbloodycat [10k]

It’s for the best, Draco keeps telling himself—over and over like an endless mantra. But self-deception has never been that high on his list of coping techniques.

Azkaban Redemption by Sita_Z [15k]

Post-war Azkaban has no dementors, but Trainee Auror Potter still feels as if it is sucking out his soul. He would leave, if not for a certain inmate who clearly needs his help. Harry Potter is about to become obsessed with Draco Malfoy again.

The Baby by @kikibluemay [5k]

It was supposed to be an easy affair, devoid of complications. Then Draco got pregnant.

Close To Ever After by oldenuf2nb / @dianacopland [15k]

When Harry Potter finds he’s been cursed, he withdraws from the world and prepares to die. But when have things ever gone the way Harry Potter planned?

Coming to Terms by RurouniHime / @thegertie [16k]

Of all the lives in all the world, Harry had to own this one.

Dissonance by BummedOutWriter [17k]

Draco met Harry’s eyes directly, and spoke to him for the first time in eleven months, “Avada…”

 The rest was muffled in trauma as Harry felt a familiar warmth of magic, a flash of emerald light descending rapidly as he squeezed his eyes shut, and braced for—

Or: In which Draco becomes a death eater, has a daughter, and tries to forget about her.

Heal Me Slow (Love Me Fast) by crazyparakiss  [11k]

Being a father had never been in the cards.

Here Comes the Sun by ad_libitum [5k]

He’s touching me the way he did that morning, with a reverence I didn’t deserve then but now couldn’t be more fitting: this child we’ve made cradled within me and between us, flesh, blood, and bone spun from our deepest, most desperate desires.

Hold Close Your Heart and Take the Leap by  @dracogotgame [19k]

Draco knows he needs to tell Potter their lives are about to change forever. But ‘knowing’ and ‘doing’ are two very different things.

“I’d Rather Change Nappies Than Have My Cock Sucked” and Other Ravings of a Pregnant Wizard by Frayach [23k]

Like everything else between Harry and Draco, pregnancy and child rearing are fraught with drama

If Wishes Were Children by oldenuf2nb / @dianacopland [14k]

Harry Potter has tried to move on with his life after Draco Malfoy walked away from him months before with little or no explanation, but it’s been hard. Then, on a joyous day at the Burrow, Narcissa Malfoy makes an unexpected appearance…

If You Miss It, Try Again by dodgerkedavra [23k]

The healers promised Draco he wouldn’t get pregnant a second time.

They were wrong.

And this time, he’s pregnant with his best friend and roommate Harry Potter’s baby.

Nine months is all he has to figure it out.

In a party bathroom by KatieScarlet [16k]

He hadn’t even wanted to go to the ridiculous party, let alone planned on shagging Potter in a port-a-john while he was there. But he did, and oh, what fun the consequences it brought were…

Jolene by @romaine2424 [21k]

Harry comes back from a mandatory holiday and finds that an Auror raid on his favourite establishment could expose his biggest secret.   However, another has even more secrets than he does at stake.

Jolene Deux by @romaine2424 [5k]

Draco makes special plans after being told by his Healer that he’s fully recovered from being pregnant and having given birth to his and Harry’s daughter, Violet.  I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into Harry’s and Draco’s future life together.  The story begins immediately after where Jolene ended.

Jump Into the Fog by taradiane [9k]          

Draco returns to Hogwarts for his eighth year carrying a secret that will change not just his life, but Harry’s as well.

Never the Same Again by dragon_charmer / Frances Potter [22k]

The war is over … in fact it never really got started because the Dark Lord proved to be the more powerful. Now five years after Dumbledore’s death, Draco Malfoy has something else to worry about besides being a spy.

‘Ohana by plumeria47 [11k]

It started off so simple: sex whenever they wanted it, with no further expectations.  But life has a funny way of turning everything up on its head.

On Truth and Understanding by @iero0  [21k]

“I questioned it,” Draco says, factual as though to convince himself. “I questioned everything I’ve been taught as a child.”

“To what decision did you come then? Do you want children?” Harry asks.

“It’s sometimes hard to know,“ Draco replies oddly quickly, "what one really wants.”

–

Draco doesn’t know how to say certain things. Harry doesn’t know how to ask for them. On a sultry summer’s night, they finally talk about past wounds, current problems, and the future options that will change their lives forever.

One Day’s Difference by @melcalder [10k]

Draco’s sacrifices his god-given body and has (mostly) no regrets.

Take What’s Left of Me by Frayach [22k]

One day Draco just left without saying a word, leaving Harry reeling.   You’d think that after what Draco did, Harry could move on, but he can’t.  When Astoria miscarries and Draco comes to him pleading for a baby, Harry can’t say no.

Unbroken by taradiane [18k]

Memories make us who we are. What happens when they disappear?

Where You Belong by @coffeejunkii [11k]

“Harry Potter” and “impossible” cancel one another out.

you’re alive by KatieScarlet / @kat-the-wren [27k]

The most boring shift in the world, filled with Muggle car ride games to pass the time, was interrupted by a tow-head boy begging for help to save his papa and ultimately changed Harry’s life from there on out.   For the better, of course.

I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I did!

[plusultraetc]

hii three questions in one ask for fun. who r ur favorite charas, what r ur fav arcs and what r ur fav subplots in mha :}} big fan of the todofam sideplot and the endeavor agency arc… bkdk third wheeling family drama. hilarious… 😁😁

genuinely HOW could you do this to me, I am so indecisive and I have so many favorite things </3 Also get ready for the sheer volume of words I am about to throw at you :D

SO, favorite characters. Obv there are So Many Characters in this show, but I still feel like I can count the ones I don't like on one hand and have fingers left over. I definitely have some obvious favorites (Aizawa, Mic, Shinsou) and some only-slightly-less obvious ones (Shigaraki, All Might, Hawks), but there are also some faves I don't yap about as much like Kirishima, Jirou, Miruko, and VLAD KING the LOVE of my LIFE. I queued a post recently about Inasa being an underrated fave, which is still true, but Vlad King is truly the king (haHA) of underrated faves. I love that man a ridiculous amount. THE TL;DR HERE IS THAT I LOVE 98% OF THE CHARACTERS IN THIS SHOW SM IT'S UNREAL.

Arcs & subplots under the keep reading bc my main personality trait (never shutting up) struck again ! The short answer is Sports Festival & Todorokis, Shinsou, Rooftop gang for anyone who doesn't want to stare at that wall of text 😭

Favorite arcs: I have almost as many favorite arcs as I do favorite characters LMAO. You are SO RIGHT about the Endeavor Agency arc; usually people are forced to witness Midoriya & Bakugou's drama but oh, how the tables have turned. I also love Fuyumi and Natsuo and am always delighted to see them, even if they <3 punching me directly in the feelings :(

The USJ arc is, imo, a perfectly executed plot point, so from a writing perspective I really love USJ. It's got action, it's got character spotlights, but most importantly, it ties together the plot/character/worldbuilding threads of the first season so perfectly. Like. It's seamless. It was a writing school level moment. No notes.

The Hideout Raid arc (specifically All Might vs AFO) and Paranormal Liberation War gave me grays at 25. Joint Training is always a delight. But if I had to pick One Arc to Rule Them All it might honestly be Sports Festival?? It features all of my top three favorite characters for more than one (1) scene each and it is just. Such a wild time.

There is so much to unpack about this arc but it has a very special place in my heart bc the first time I ever watched it (so, like, 5+ years ago) my sister and I for some reason decided to treat it like people who care about the Super Bowl treat the Super Bowl. It was our Olympics except the team we were rooting for changed depending on the episode. To this day I remember my sister turning on a DIME from hating Bakugou since Season 1 Episode 1 to CHAMPIONING him with her whole chest bc Monoma pissed her off so much when he stole Bakugou's headbands. And now he's like her second favorite character in the entire series so?? Origin story moment ig.

Last but not least, favorite subplots!!

TODOROKIS. YEAH. Their entire plotline was one of the major factors that motivated me to catch up on the show. I was like what do you mean they're trying to give superhero Fire Lord Ozai a redemption arc? What do you mean that other fire guy was actually a Todoroki? Like... you have to remember that where I left off w this show, Endeavor seemed to exist solely to give Shouto a backstory, and honestly I remembered like nothing about Dabi. If getting back into MHA was a pit of quicksand the Todorokis truly walked me right up to the edge of it. It was like that part of TAZ where Taako is like 'okay that's weird enough that I'm gonna go in there.'

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Shinsou's off-screen character arc is EVERYTHING to me. I could write a thesis on this side character who appears like. Three times in the entire show. Shinsou really said 'I will be a mirror character AND undo the First Great Contradiction of this series AND have tangible, believable character growth, all while being given less screen time than Mineta' and I love that for him.

The rooftop gang... I'm not going to say much on this one for manga reasons but it's definitely a subplot I find very compelling. I'm still ruminating on its execution so far but I Did Cry over the Reveal in season 5. It re-contextualized so much, not just about Aizawa and Mic, but about UA and the lives of hero students. Ack.

TYSM FOR THIS ASK, this week has been three weeks long but I had so much fun writing this exhausted ramble <3

[traineecryptid]

NPSS Weibo Q&A (20240831) Part 3

This is a Q&A session held on Weibo. People will tag their questions with the hashtag #南派三叔藏海花在线答疑# (#NPSS Zang Hai Hua Online Q&A#) and NPSS will look through the tag to pick some to answer. The event started at 1500 hours on 2024 August 31st.

Folder with screenshots and big compilation google doc is here. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here.

1554

Q: Shu, you and Xu Lei and Nanpai Sanshu living well together is more important than anything. This is the real Iron Triangle. 

A: I can act in three roles from Identity V by myself, right?

1555

Q: When will Flowery Night be released? Actually movies aren’t a bad choice. What do you think, Sanshu? (but please choose Ji2 please)

A: I will work hard to do movies!

1555

Q: It’s really too hard to say goodbye. I want to ask what do you think about saying goodbye? A: I never say goodbye, only ever die suddenly.

1556

Q: Shu, have you thought about going on variety shows? I feel like your recent mental state is very suitable to say something [at variety shows].

A: Heh heh heh heh, no one will invite me.

1557

Q: Have you seen the Yucun play? A: I’ll go see it in a few days.

1559

Q: I want to know what the others [in the tomb raiding circle] think about “because of Wu Xie, the worth of Zhangs rose”.

A: Just like in the entertainment industry. They think guzhuang idol dramas could make people famous, so they all went to act in guzhuang idol dramas. 

1559

Q: I feel like Sanshu is replying rather quickly. You're answering questions everyday. Last time it was Douyin, now it’s Weibo. I’d say that all the sets in ZHH are all pretty good! I’m awed. I could tell that there’s heart in them. But that transition from young Wu Xie into Wu Xie a few years later shocked me. I was just telling my sister that this young Wu Xie is so handsome and just as I finished talking, the person changed. How did you come up with the idea to make Wu Laogou play Wu Xie? A: Maybe this represents a sort of heart demon. (T/N: heart demon is like an obsession, something that bothers a person a lot and they would always circle back on it and it would affect everything they do etc.)

1559

Q: Is the beginning of Flowery Night them going to Iceland together? Will there be clues about the brass box there?

A: There will be.

1601

Q: (T/N: original question was deleted but according to the comments…) Will you act as Wu Xie in a drama?

A: For you, I will surely do it.

1601

Q: Shu, did you know that Qin Hao laoshi’s profile pic is still Sha Hai Wu Xie!!!! If you don’t answer me, I will A: I know. I’m teary eyed.

1602

Q: Shu, ZHH is really not bad! Are you happy with the current data and reviews?

A: I’m really quite happy. So this is how it feels to have a good response. I’ve grown numb after being scolded for the past ten years. I’ve forgotten this feeling.

1603

Q: Shu, which scene in ZHH left the deepest impression on you?

A: Three days of silence.

1604

Q: Sanshu, are you still writing the 2nd ZHH novel? Which novel are you updating now?

A: I haven’t turned around yet. (T/N: this probably means that he hasn’t managed to switch tracks from working on other things back to working on writing yet)

1606

Q: Shu, what do you do when you hit a plateau? Would you lose sleep? Or would you imagine what Wu Xie and the others are doing?

A: I don’t hit plateaus. I’m just lazy, lacking self control and cowardly, and I like to procrastinate and run away from reality. Although I have a lot of weaknesses, I’m greedy at the same time. Sigh.

1608

Q: Shu, I want to know what else left a deep impression on Wu Laoban when he was in Tibet. A: The dry toilet on the cliff. (T/N: reference below)

Another 15! Some shorter questions this time. And part 1 to part 3 covers the first hour of Q&A and some change. Good news is that NPSS's pace is still slow for now and I'm slowly catching up. I do have a few more posts worth, but I figured that I should space them out so we don't get tired of them.

[datcloudboi]

List of Films Turning 10 Years Old in 2024

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

American Sniper

Annie (the remake starring Jamie Foxx)

As Above, So Below

The Babadook (we stan a gay icon)

Batman: Assault on Arkham (a direct continuation of the Batman: Arkham games)

Big Eyes

Big Hero 6

Birdman (won the Best Picture Oscar for this year)

The Book of Life

The Boxtrolls

Boyhood (filmed over the course of 12 years)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Chef

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead

Dear White People (the basis for the TV series on Netflix, and made by the same guy)

Dracula Untold (this was Universal’s second attempt at launching the Dark Universe)

The Drop (a crime drama starring Tom Hardy)

Edge of Tomorrow/Live Die Repeat

The Equalizer

Exodus: Gods and Kings (a biblical epic directed by Ridley Scott)

The Expendables 3

The Fault in Our Stars

Foxcatcher

Fury (the war movie with Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf)

Get on Up (the James Brown biopic starring Chadwick Boseman)

Godzilla (the 1st film in the MonsterVerse)

Gone Girl

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1

The Guest

Hercules (the one starring The Rock)

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (did you guys know the working title for this movie was “The Hobbit: There and Back Again”?)

How to Train Your Dragon 2

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

If I Stay

The Imitation Game (the movie where Benedict Cumberbatch plays Alan Turing)

Inherent Vice

Interstellar

The Interview (the movie that almost caused World War 3)

Into the Woods

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Jodorowsky's Dune (a documentary about the Dune movie that we never got)

Joe (one of Nic Cage's best movies)

John Wick (the 1st one)

Kill the Messenger

Left Behind (one of Nic Cage's worst movies)

The Lego Movie

Life After Beth

Lucy ((the “humans only use 10% of their brain” movie. Which has since been proven false. Source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-people-only-use-10-percent-of-their-brains/ )

Maleficent

The Maze Runner

A Million Ways to Die in the Weset

Mr. Peabody and Sherman

Muppets Most Wanted

Need for Speed (Aaron Paul's first project after "Breaking Bad" ended)

Neighbors

Night of the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (the third one. Also one of Robin Williams’ last movies)

Nightcrawler

Noah (a biblical epic directed by Darren Aronofsky)

Non-Stop

The Nut Job

Obvious Child

Oculus (one of the 1st projects from Mike Flanagan)

Ouija

Paddington

Penguins of Madagascar

The Purge: Anarchy

The Raid 2

RoboCop (the reboot that was actually decent)

Selma

Sharknado 2

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Son of Batman

St. Vincent

The Taking of Deborah Logan

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the one produced by Michael Bay. It’s also the one where the Turtles look like aliens)

The Theory of Everything (the movie where Eddie Redmayne plays Stephen Hawking)

Third Person

300: Rise of an Empire

Transformers: Age of Extinction

Tusk

22 Jump Street

Veronica Mars (the film continuation of the TV show)

A Walk Among the Tombstones

What If? (a rom-com starring Daniel Radcliffe)

What We Do in the Shadows (the film that was the basis for the TV show)

When Marnie Was There

Whiplash

X-Men: Days of Future Past

[caitlynmeow]

Since you did Bela, can you do the the two remaining sisters for your prompt ?

Give me a character and I will answer:

Why I like them:

Daniela is the baby of the family and it shows because she's such a brat who doesn't listen to anything or anyone she has no problems arguing with Bela right in front of their mother because she knows that Alcina is not going to say anything about it. She's also different from her sisters and I think this is really what gives her that distinctive personality and you can't just not love that, you know? Like, the girls are vicious hunters and Daniela especially has little impulse control (slashing that maid's face with a knife just because) but she's actually more tame and the weakest hunter out of the three. She has her own hobbies, she'd much rather be reading or looking after her flowers (she takes that very seriously) than go out and hunt. It made her weaker, which is why Alcina locked her up in the library to protect her because while she dotes on her youngest, she knows when things are about to get serious and that's when mama gets all protective. Cassandra- I love how fucking dramatic she is???? Waving that handkerchief is what did it for me I just knew this one is different and I was right. She's a brat, but unlike Daniela she doesn't keep to herself. Bela is appalled by the mess Cassandra caused in the cellars because this is just her brand. Chasing Ethan around going all "rawr" and literally just messing with him? Pure gold. I also live how her dramatic ass makes her flies scream when her mother is nearby just so that Alcina can make an entrance. You can easily tell she's a handful and the fact that their mother chose her to team up with tells you a lot. Alcina literally just lets her play and have fun, but she gets all serious and scolds her when it's needed. Idk but honestly Cassandra is the one who's closest to Alcina and she lives for the drama.

Why I don’t:

Doesn't apply. They're adorable cinnamon rolls who did nothing wrong their whole lives.

Favorite episode (scene if movie):

I loved Daniela arguing with Bela the most because yes this is obviously the baby and she's not afraid to run her mouth.

My favorite is how excited Cassandra gets when her mother is around like girlie is just beaming and literally just bouncing in excitement???? So precious.

Favorite season/movie:

Long live Castle Dimitrescu.

Favorite line:

Daniela: "Ugh! Ow, so mean!" Cassandra: "Look forward to what mother has in store for you."

Favorite outfit:

I think Daniela would rock any crop top. Cassandra in any type of skinny jeans is just too hot for us mortals to handle.

Head Canon

Daniela:

1- She loves her sisters!! She argues with them a lot, and she always feels like they don't take her seriously but she cannot imagine living without them. 2- Despite her personality, she actually doesn't like anything related to horror and gets scared easily. 3- She has an innocent mindset. She doesn't always assume the worst about people, often taking their word at face value which can end her in bad situations because she does fall for these things (its also because she's eager to help) 4- She admires her mother greatly, hoping that one day she can grow up and be just as pretty. 5- She loves pranks and practical jokes! She pulls them on anybody, doesn't matter if its a family member or a staff member. Bored Daniela is going to have her fun one way or another.

Cassandra:

1- She loves souvenirs! Like whether in game or any AU, she's the one who just loves to have a reminder. In the game she literally says that, and she often keeps hair and nails of her victims because hey why not, you know? I think she'd be the same in modern AU like any place they visit Cass is the one raiding these souvenir shops buying heaps of things she doesn't really need. 2- Cassandra is sensitive! And ironically, she's the one who is more guarded (esp with her feelings) so it's not easy to tell. But those who really know her know exactly her fragile her emotions are. 3- She is possessive. What's hers is hers and girlie doesn't like to share anything. 4- She gives off left-handed energy so I will confidently say that she's left handed. 5- She is a big introvert!! She prefers keeping to herself and recharging her social battery at home as opposed to being out all the time. Despite her wild chaotic energy, Cassandra needs her quiet time to find her balance again.

Unpopular opinion:

Daniela actually has more self preservation instincts than her sisters. She's the only sister who runs into hiding when the window is open because she knows she can't fight like that. So she does the right thing (unlike her sisters who just charge in not caring that they're freezing to death) So I really think she's the more sensible one who actually thinks before acting. Cassandra: She-- How do I say this, she enjoys being part of a family? With her especially, she's never alone. Alcina is literally with her, and she talks about calling Bela and she even call out to her sisters. I think this goes back to her being more sensitive which means she's more emotional than the others and really holds her family dear. She's always talking about them and being with them. She literally was never alone during the castle section like Alcina knows which daughter constantly needs her presence and we can all see that. It's just that Cassandra is actually a huge family person but she's good at hiding so only her mom and sisters know about it.

A wish:

;w; can we pls get a dlc with their lives in the castle before Ethan happened.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen:

Nope, been there done that. They still live in my heart though. Canon? I don't know her.

5 words to best describe them:

Daniela: funny - smart - resourceful - spoiled - quick to anger Cassandra: drama queen - sentimental - hunter - sassy - mama's girl

My nickname for them:

Daniela: Dani- baby Cassandra: Cass - Cassie

[vodika-vibes]

with the risk of delving too deep into the obscure 😂 do you know Mij Gilamar? I feel like he’s one of the very few Mandos who’s got some common sense and an overall good personality, would you at some point maybe consider writing for him? I totally get it if not! he’s definitely a more unknown side character but I like him and thought asking doesn’t hurt 😅

Not To Me

Summary: You pick up Mij after getting his distress beacon, and then he ends up having to take care of you.

Pairing: Pre-Relationship Mij Gilamar x Reader

Word Count: 1076

Warnings: None

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni

A/N: Someday I will stop naming ships after Batman sidekicks, but it is not this day. Also, Wookieepedia didn't give him much of a personality, so I sort of made an educated guess off of his history.

“You know,” You say, lightly and conversationally, to the man sitting in the co-pilot's seat on your ship, “You could just call when you need a pick up, you don’t have to go through these convoluted plans to try and get my attention.”

Mij rolls his eyes, “I wasn’t trying to get your attention.” He says as he applies a bacta patch to the burn on his arm.

“And yet, you lucky thing you, you managed to catch it anyway!” You grin at him as you lean back in your seat.

He rolls his eyes again, “What are you even doing in this region of space? I thought you had a beef with the Hutt Cartel.”

“I don’t have a problem with anyone. The Hutt cartel has an issue with me.” You spin your chair so you’re facing him directly, “I mean, you raid on slave transport and all of a sudden your menace #1 on a hutt hit list? It just seems dramatic.”

“Yes, well, you’d know all about drama, wouldn’t you?” Mij asks as his gaze drifts to your legs, which are bare save for the mini shorts that you prefer, “I see you haven’t considered wearing armor yet.”

You swing your legs onto the arm of his seat, “And cover my most amazing feature?” You gesture to your legs, “Look at them! I was contacted about being a model recently, you know.”

“And you turned them down?” Mij asks.

“I have better things to do than prance around in lingerie for hours on end.” You reply as you stretch a little more.

“...lingerie?”

“Oh, yes. They wanted to hire me to be a lingerie model. Apparently I have a look that men like.” You grin at him, “What do you think?”

Tragically, he doesn’t fall for your bait, and he just arches a single brow, “I’m sure there are some men out there who like how you look.”

“And you’re not one of them? I’m hurt.”

“You’ve never been offended by a damned thing I’ve said,” Mij points out, “Do you have any more of these?” He gestures to the bacta patch, “I think I need more than you gave me.”

“You know where I keep my kit,” You reply, dropping your legs into his lap as he turns his chair to stand up. You pout when he pushes your legs to the floor, “Rude.”

“Why aren’t you wearing shoes?”

“Why should I have to wear shoes on my own ship?” You retort as he steps out of the cockpit to find your first aid kit.

“Not everyone wants to see your feet!” Mij calls, and you roll your eyes, “You haven’t restocked your first aid kit.” He says as he steps back into the door.

“I’ve been busy! There’s bandages in there.”

“Your bottle of antiseptic is empty,” Mij says, “What’d you use it on?”

“Maybe I drank it.”

He scoffs, “Try again,”

“I had to use it.” You grumble, “All of it. And I haven’t been able to restock yet.”

“On yourself?” Mij asks and his eyes narrow when you don’t answer, “You used it on yourself?”

“Yes. Fine. Yes, I had to use the whole bottle on myself.” You slump in your chair, “I’m fine. Everything is fine.”

“Put your astromech in charge of the ship and come with me.”

“You’re going to play doctor, aren’t you? And not in a fun way.” Still you transfer controls of the ship to your droid, and you heft yourself out of your seat to follow him towards the back of the ship.

“Where are you hurt?” Mij asks.

“Really, I’m fine. You don’t have to-”

He shoots you a look, and you sigh deeply. Carefully, very carefully, you peel your shirt off, revealing a swathe of bandages covering the majority of your abdomen and chest.

“Kriff,” Mij kneels, and starts to gently unwrap your bandages, “What happened?”

“Trandoshan bounty hunters happened,” You wince as the bandages pull painfully, “That hurts, Mij.”

He sets the bandages to the side, and carefully examines your injuries, “Well, it’s a good thing you turned down that modeling gig, because these are definitely going to scar.”

You tense, “Right. Because scars are unattractive.”

His fingers are cool against the hot skin around the deep gashes, “I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.” You mumble in return.

“You think I’m that shallow?” He asks, not offended at all as he carefully examines the injuries.

“I think you already don’t think I’m pleasing to look at and the scars won’t help.” You grumble, releasing a low hiss as he presses against a particularly painful spot.

“Who says that I don’t like looking at you?” Mij asks, genuinely startled as he pulls his hand away from your side.

“You don’t respond to my flirting. Like, ever.” You point out.

“Yeah, well…I didn’t think you were serious about it.” Mij replies with a frown, “Also, these are infected, why didn’t you go to a clinic?”

“A clinic. In Hutt space?” You shoot him a look, “There are easier and less painful ways to kill myself.”

He makes a face, “Fine. I’ll just have to take care of you.” He guides you to lay back on the couch, his hands cool against your burning skin, “Kriff, sweetheart, you’re burning up.”

“I’ll be fine if I take some medicine,” You mumble.

“How long have you had a fever?”

“Um…three days? Four…maybe a week?” You admit.

“Cyare-”

“I know, I know. But like you said yourself, the Hutts have a problem with me. And then I heard your distress beacon and-”

He cups your face as he kneels next to you, “Ka’ra you’re such a pain sometimes.” He bitches, before he kisses your forehead, “I’m going to take care of you.”

“You don’t have to. I don’t want to be a burden-”

“It’s not a burden. Not if it’s you. Not to me.” He pushes his fingers through his hair, “Right, no way around it, you’re coming to Kamino with me.”

“...yay?”

“You get to meet the kids, it’ll be great.”

“...what kids?” You sit up, “Mij, what kids?”

“You’ll see when we get there.” He pushes you back down, “I have to make a holo, you sleep.”

“You can’t just hijack the Red Robin-”

“I just did.” He slides his hands through your hair, “Sleep. I’ll take care of everything.”

And, because it’s him, because he’s never lied to you, you do.

[ghostaholics]

ᴄᴀᴛᴀʟʏsᴛ ( ᴘᴀʀᴛ ᴏɴᴇ )

SUMMARY: (au only mildly inspire by the original tv/game timeline since I started writing this before ep. 2 came out; honestly not very canon-compliant) After reaching Colorado – the Fireflies' former backdrop for failed vaccine trials – you and Joel get ambushed in the science lab by people who have since then, made their new home at the abandoned university; during the scuffle, one of the attackers stabs you with a syringe containing unknown contents. PAIRING: Joel Miller x fem!Reader WARNING(S) FOR LATER: pining (mutual) sex pollen; dub-con; p-in-v unprotected sex; use of a mouth gag and a rope during sex but it's for safety assurances not because Joel's a dark guy; still angst even though I left in 50% of it; religious references and lots of metaphors that don't make sense; unbeta'd - expect mistakes; characterization is based on second half of the game and I may have accidentally made him too soft oops idc, ooc for sure WORD COUNT: 2 k A/N: PT. 1; this is already over 10k words in my drafts and I still don't even have like half of it done yet but I'll put out this small part for now I guess

IT'S A GODDAMN SICKNESS – THIS FEELING, festering, like skin stripped raw and every nerve lit on fire. There’s nothing left of you – only flesh and bone knitted together by gnawing hunger.

He should put you out of your misery.

You would welcome death over this: it would be faster, easier, not each excruciating second prolonging your suffering as time bleeds, drawn-out, stretching at an unbearably sluggish pace. This won't pass over. It's only been getting worse the longer you try to ignore it, to let it snuff out on its own. The craving is bad. It surges through your veins, leaves your blood boiling as if it’s burning you alive from the inside-out. Insatiable need devours your body like an all-consuming disease; your mind is scrambled, thoughts as good as ash at this point aside from the surviving idea that you know that this will swallow you whole.

Here's how it happened.

HE'S A KILLER; The leftover carnage is a gut-wrenching testament to that – a breadcrumb trail of carcasses deserted along the westbound, beaten track to Colorado that’s rivaled only by the number of skeletons in his closet.

Not that he's had much choice. It's this very concept that every single media outlet had kept pushing, what had plagued the top headlines, breaking news, and morning segments leading up to Outbreak Day in a concerted effort to capitalize on a little something called sensationalism. The public had wolfed it down, too – had gorged themselves on the idea of it even after all the grocery stores had been raided bare and there'd been zero food left on the shelves; TVs as their place settings with radios emerging as their proxies not long after the power had gone out – because the drama of it all had been more satisfying than the shitty scraps they'd been getting by on: survival of the fittest, who'd get wiped out by the infection first? And Joel Miller is a living legacy that continues to push the limits of natural selection with every poor bastard that he manages to sink a shiny fucking bullet into.

Adaptation. The end of the world has chewed him up, teeth gnashing – razor-sharp incisors; no leftover bones, no remains like the majority of the people who’ve met a collective demise, but a man spit out in one intact piece (physically, anyways – mentally, that’s probably another story). Now, he’s a stone-cold terror. Cutthroat – all jagged edges and mistrust leaching into his pores. Someone who’s had to acclimatize, because the way he sees it, there’s a million different choices to make that only ever lead to two outcomes. And Joel always picks whichever option affords him the best opportunity to stay alive, but it’s the reason he’s got a ledger drowning in red.

Before, that had meant late mortgage payments and loan sharks hunting him down, risky wagers with shady figures to get Sarah new clothes in time for the upcoming school because she’d been outgrowing them every damn year, and also don’t forget the shady business ventures he’d invested in until he’d learnt his lesson the hard way and had decided to throw himself headfirst into work – day in and day out to save up for his own construction company, something stable and honest; maybe then he wouldn’t have to lie about forgetting to pick up the milk or the pancake mix because the reality had been that he was struggling to put food on the table, and maybe he’d get to spend more time with his daughter and pay the soccer club fees that he couldn’t afford so she could make more friends outside of him and the Adlers, and maybe his blood pressure would level out so his pockets wouldn’t dry up with the cost of his medicine because his insurance had been shit, and maybe he wouldn’t have to go to bed every night crunching numbers behind his eyelids to figure out if he had enough to get through the next month’s round of bills, and fuck, maybe things would finally start to look up for once in his life.

Then it had all stopped mattering in an instant.

So now, it means shooting someone dead without a second thought – a past full of necessary evils: ruthlessness, cynicism, and a death toll second to none. Anybody coming up against him? Shit out of luck. He’s never had a problem with having to pull the trigger, and being caught on the wrong end of his gun always promises a grim fate.

Except Columbus, Ohio.

It would’ve been another blight, another wicked deed buried underneath the growing mountain of awfulness that he's responsible for. There are a lot of things that keep Joel up at night, but as bad as it is to say, this definitely wouldn’t have been one of them.

And then, the impossible – first person to break the cycle: a scavenger combing through the tipped over stands of North Market, kneeling under the dusty Penny's Meats cleaver sign at a basket filled with plastic bags of twenty-year-old beef jerky. And Joel would kill (quite literally) for that if it meant securing his next meal; hell, the next week's worth of them. The only thing standing in between him and food security could be taken care of with an easy shot to the back of your skull at point blank range.

A target.

An inconvenience.

— but that's another story.

Since then, it’s been a road paved with affliction. Ohio. Indiana. Illinois. Iowa. (Nebraska's a sensitive topic.) Wyoming.

Joel grasps your hand firmly in his: dried blood over split knuckles and calluses that have stayed around forever because now he wields a gun 24/7 instead of a carpentry tool from his blue-collar days; he helps you navigate the terrain so you don't misstep – a sprained ankle can slow us down in more ways than one, he always says. Cautious, trigger-sensitive, because he needs to be. The action is meant to be practical, shepherding you over the terrain. So you opt to neglect how his fingers slotted between yours shoos the bitter cold from making a home out of your body and thaws the ice from the crevices chiseled in your bones.

The feeling is nice.

The thought is dangerous.

Because, Nebraska: a hellish nightmare in the flesh.

(Let's not talk about it).

(But circling around the topic doesn’t help. You don't bring it up, and yet it still takes center stage, occupying your mind. Always. How could it not?)

Hordes of cordyceps-ridden pieces-of-shit on your heels until you'd been driven into a corner, back against the wall – odds in the negative as infected after infected had zeroed in on your position and converged like a putrid swarm, a writhing mass of rotten bodies, all of them clambering over each other for their own share of pulpy, human meat to tear into; it'd reminded you of the same way people had been after the outbreak had reached critical mass.

Ravenous.

(This is what had been a difficult pill for you to swallow in the beginning – before you'd started sleeping with a machete along the edge of your bedroll, before the sound of a person choking on their own blood had gone from something that had cursed your hands with a 'round-the-clock tremor to nothing but fucking white noise, and before you'd learned everything there is to know about how to survive amongst societal collapse where 'every man for himself' has never been a more true statement than it is now: the hunger doesn't stop when you turn into one of them.)

As the two of you weave through dense foliage overrunning anything in its path and past man-sized slabs of concrete that form a serrated pattern of the very ground you're currently forced to scale, Joel rumbles a low, "Easy, now,"; you can see how in the dead of winter a plume of air leaves his mouth whenever he talks. He's nice to look at, better than your surroundings by a long shot. Boulder is just another wasteland that offers nothing new in your trek across the country because underneath the whalebone-white quilt of snow smothering everything, it's the same old shit that you saw when you'd cut through the never-ending stretch of land that used to be the Bible Belt to get out of the Atlanta Q.Z. It'd been ghost towns dotting the map between miles and miles of infestation: the walking dead had been piloted by the impulse to tear you apart alongside their living counterparts – the survivors with rootless hearts that stalked in the shadows like vultures waiting to pick your corpse clean of supplies.

But, for as on guard as you have to be, you'd rather focus your attention on Joel, because the snowflakes burying themselves in his beard are far more interesting than the decaying buildings and jigsaw-puzzled pavement that paint Colorado with an apocalyptic finish. He's a welcome distraction. Maybe, too good. The toe of your boot catches on the uneven landscape while you're lost in thought so you brace yourself to strike the ground as it gives out from under you, hands flying out in reflex. Instead, sturdy arms secure themselves around your waist before you can fall. You’re hauled flat against the solid wall of Joel's chest, something akin to an embrace that shouldn’t feel as nice as he is to look at. Even through layers of clothes, even through the frigid temperatures during this time of the year, his heat manages to bleed into you.

"Told you to watch your step there'," he murmurs in that long Texan drawl. Whiskey on his breath. Caramel. Ethanol. Burning alcohol-sweet, it greets you alongside the usual smoky and metallic smell of gunpowder and blood; the kind he'd pilfered from a liquor store back in Omaha – makin' sure it's good enough to the Molotov cocktails with, he'll comment before taking a swig. Brings it up like clockwork, as if it gets funnier the longer he keeps trying to wear the joke out even worse than the soles of his boots. It doesn’t. Just short of being a jack of all trades. Certainly no comedian.

Not a drunk, either – isn't stupid enough to put himself in jeopardy around these parts. You'd seen it before, once: cheeks flushed red and eyes glazed over; couldn't walk a straight line for five feet, much less aim a gun (September 26th, you remember). This isn't that. The whiskey's stronger now, though. You can tell when he stands nearby, face inches away.

(He's been drinking more lately. Not a lot, but the right amount to drown out the memory of... well, ever since—)

He's the closest thing to home that you know.

(—he almost lost you.)

You find yourself latched onto the sleeves of his jacket for stability, and even though you should push Joel away – a voice in your head that warns you to put distance between you and him – your fingers curl tighter into the coarse fabric to keep yourself upright as you regain your footing. “You see that thing? Swear it came outta nowhere."

He huffs out a small laugh, not one of those full-bodied ones that you’ve only heard probably twice since you met him (both of them at your expense and God, do you miss his smile), but it’s still a rich, little sound that comes off as something pleasant to your ears all the same �� breaks up the monotony of the snow crunching under your heels and teeth chattering during the occasional bouts when you shiver. "Sure," he says, because he knows you can't lie for shit.

You untangle yourself from him with some reluctance. Homesick – a feeling that you attempt to shake off with more mindless conversation to make the time slip by faster. "Out of every place we've been to, Colorado definitely makes bottom three."

There's faint amusement coloring Joel's face. It makes him look years younger. "We haven't even gotten to UEC yet." He tilts his chin in the general direction that the two of you had already been heading towards. "Over there. Just across the way."

Skepticism stains your voice. "You know, something tells me that I won't have a change of heart."

ᴘᴀʀᴛ ᴛᴡᴏ - ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴡʀɪᴛᴛᴇɴ

[thefirstknife]

Anon because I've worked in the industry since the 00s - the idea that raid content should be the hardest content is an idea that's been unpopular for a long time. Raids generally take the most work to make out of anything in a release that contains them (so not only the most man-hours/budget, but if you worked on it, you're most attached to it) and the idea that only a top slice of players "deserves" to see a raid is an idea that died around the time of Naxxramas in world of warcraft. It's slowly becoming accepted in MMO design that the higher skill tiers should be required of groups of fewer people, not more, and at graduated tiers of difficulty ie heroic, legendary, master, etc. So QQ elitist babies basically lol. Raids being the unique purview of the hardcorest cat-assiest players is a relic of the past.

Good information! And yeah, pretty much.

People are also highly misinterpreting what the day 1 race is in general. They think that this one event is something that has to be designed to only be playable by the top players. But it's not. It's a community contest.

Bungie has done SO MUCH to make sure that the playing field is even so that more people can have a chance. That's why they release them over the weekend, that's why they're giving it more time and, most importantly, why it has a contest mode. Contest mode is here so streamers don't overlevel and beat it purely on having more time to grind. Everyone is locked to the same power so we all have equal chances. The only factor becomes skill.

This raid in particular also suffered from some leaks to the point that a lot of encounters were more or less figured out before it launched. Most day 1 world's first teams that were seriously gunning for the clear pretty much had guides. This factors into them thinking that the stuff was easy. I mean, sure, if you read a guide. I was severely disappointed watching Saltagreppo's video of his clear and seeing that his team went into the 3rd encounter with a full explanation about what to do before they even stepped into the room. And even with that, they spent 30 minutes not understanding the guide because they hard-focused on the guide instead of their surroundings.

Day 1 raiding is super fun and it would be incredible if more people could experience it. It's a really fun thing to be a part of and Bungie wants more people to participate. Babymen streamers are the only ones who think that this is their personal sandbox.

[yelenaslightchangeofplan]

Fic Title: I Am Not a Monster

Current Chapter Count: 62

Current Word Count: 173k

Last Update: September 16th

Next Update: September 23rd

Summary: What do a scrappy teen, a powerful being capable of spontaneous creation, and a 300-year-old witch have in common? They all need to heal from their pasts, they all need to figure out who they want to be now, and they all might just need each other.

Or: the one where Wanda and Agatha accidentally adopt America.

Relationships: Wanda Maximoff/Agatha Harkness, Wanda Maximoff & America Chavez, America Chavez & Agatha Harkness, America Chavez/Kamala Khan, Agatha Harkness & Nicholas Scratch, Wanda Maximoff & Nicholas Scratch, America Chavez & Nicholas Scratch

Tags: Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Gay Witch Family, Bisexual Wanda Maximoff, Lesbian Agatha Harkness

Chapter 1: Making It Up

Chapter 2: Pizza Balls at The Plaza

Chapter 3: People Like Us

Chapter 4: The Prodigal Witch Returns

Chapter 5: Ladies Who Lunch

Chapter 6: A Strange Visitor

Chapter 7: Magic Kindergarten

Chapter 8: Home Sweet Home

Chapter 9: Shut Down, Open Up

Chapter 10: Shadow Work

Chapter 11: The Sign

Chapter 12: Churros and Champagne

Chapter 13: Fatal Reaction

Chapter 14: Attached

Chapter 15: I'm Loving It

Chapter 16: The Raid

Chapter 17: Report Card

Chapter 18: (Pancake) Batter Up

Chapter 19: Surprise Times Two

Chapter 20: Dining, Drama, and Drives

Chapter 21: Braking Down

Chapter 22: Cat Out of the Bag

Chapter 23: Road Trip

Chapter 24: What's Innside

Chapter 25: Exploring

Chapter 26: The Clearing

Chapter 27: Sick Day

Chapter 28: Spoonful of Cocoa

Chapter 29: For Goodness Saké

Chapter 30: Confronting the Past

Chapter 31: If the Shoe Fits

Chapter 32: 'Til the Clock Strikes 12

Chapter 33: Let's Have a Quince

Chapter 34: No Time Like the Present

Chapter 35: A Spark in the Dark

Chapter 36: Rebel Girl

Chapter 37: Waffling Around

Chapter 38: Dyeing Inside

Chapter 39: Told You So

Chapter 40: The Talk

Chapter 41: Playing with Fire

Chapter 42: Pranks and Plans

Chapter 43: Meet the Parents

Chapter 44: The Proposal

Chapter 45: The Darkest Day

Chapter 46: Helium + Aluminium (HeAl)

Chapter 47: Welcome to New York

Chapter 48: The Past Is Yet to Come

Chapter 49: One Step Forward

Chapter 50: Consolation Prize

Chapter 51: Aftermath

Chapter 52: Love You a Brunch

Chapter 53: Nick

Chapter 54: Dancing on My Own

Chapter 55: Crying in My Prom Dress

Chapter 56: Clean

Chapter 57: Common Ground

Chapter 58: Growing Pains

Chapter 59: Burn, Baby, Burn

Chapter 60: Left Out

Chapter 61: Official

Chapter 62: Happy Accidents

[rabbiteclair]

here's my pitch for a prestige drama reboot of Mister Ed:

you start with the traditional scenario: he's a horse, but for some unknown reason, he is intelligent and capable of speech. over the first season, Mister Ed grows increasingly alienated from a humanity that cannot understand the emotional needs of a horse, while finding himself frustrated by his inability to connect with normal, non-talking horses. in this angst, he starts catfishing women on the rapidly-growing online dating scene, posing as a reclusive-but-handsome Portuguese billionaire. he arranges dozens of dates only to never show up, leaving a trail of broken hearts in his wake

but then one of the women tracks him down and figures out what's going on. she threatens to reveal his secret to the world, which would undoubtedly make him into a curiosity who's under constant media and/or scientific surveillance. panicked by this prospect, Mister Ed tramples her to death. season 1 ends with him getting into a shootout with the cops and going on the run

over the next two seasons, Mister Ed grows increasingly embittered and hateful of humanity. he turns his preternatural horse brain toward the sciences in search of some answer to his dilemma, making great strides in his research between interruptions by police raids. while he can find no way to make other talking horses, he eventually invents honest-to-goodness time travel. he travels back to the year 1914 and shoots Archduke Franz Ferdinand, setting off the chain of events that led to WW1.

the last half of the third season is about him traveling throughout Europe, satiating his ghoulish need to watch humans die by the hundreds of thousands, weeping in dark joy as he knows that he is now one of history's greatest murderers, though none will know his name. but he grows ever-hungrier to see carnage closer and in more detail, and one day, he's close enough to the frontlines to be struck by a stray artillery shell. as this hateful, wretched horse bleeds out in a muddy ditch, the camera slowly zooms out for four full minutes, while a sad woodwind version of the original sitcom theme plays

[chidoroki]

182 Days of TPN - Day 174

Chapter 174: "A New World, Part 1"

A little too late for Peter to realize that his clan's duties had him trapped. He couldn't really change his destiny like the children worked so hard to change theirs since the Ratri were bound to keep the thousand year promise in check. The most he could've done was probably assist James and the supporters in their plans, but he was too loyal for his own good.

Zack being such a good medic by jumping in to try and save him. Doesn't matter that Peter was their enemy up til a couple seconds ago, he's still human. Can't say I would've been so kind.

I bet demon god got a good kick outta all the drama that happened ever since the GF kids escaped. The past few years certainly had to be more entertaining to watch than the many centuries before.

Because I love see the entire family interact with one another, I wish we got to see the raid team finally release everyone else who was originally captured so we could see them all be happy with one another and relieved that everyone's unharmed.

Honestly, what else did Emma & the others have planned? We never find out due to everything that happens in the demon capital next chapter (which greatly benefits everyone), so unless my memory is failing right now, I remain curious about this "other stuff" since the new promise has already been made. All that aside though, I'm beyond happy that Emma makes the offer for Isabella & the other ladies to join them in the human world. It's such a powerful moment to see our leading lady wish for her biggest and most threatening challenge to accompany her to a new world where they can all live a better life and I love Emma so much for it.

I'm also so thankful that Emma phrased the new promise this way. The fact she made sure to include everyone who suffered under the farm systems way before she even learned Isabella was alive or that she & the other ladies would've joined them and betray Peter is wonderful. When our girl says she's gonna save everyone, she quite literally means it, not just her family.

Don't fret. I skipped several pages for a reason. Next chapter really takes away many wishes of mine huh. I would've loved to see Isabella & the other women run GF in secret, if only for a little while. Hell, I need more Grandma Isabella action in general. Her extra chapter was fantastic and all, but more please.

Hayato freaking out over all the soldiers outside is so precious.

Favorite panel/moment:

Duh, of course Ray addressing Isabella and convincing her to join all the kids in the human world is my favorite moment out of this whole chapter. I've anticipated this mother-son interaction for so long and it was well worth the wait! Starting off with the ladies being so surprised to even hear Emma offer them forgiveness, it's understandable why they're so hesitant, as they firmly believe they don't deserve that chance at a better life after all the harsh things they've done to the kids while acting as caretakers. Thankfully, we got Ray coming through with his blunt statement and you can chalk that up as another reason why I love him.

The anime added in this line between Ray's previous panel and the next few and it's something I appreciate very much, especially since.. you know, ch177 happens..

While I absolutely love the idea of Ray calling Isabella out about her true feelings solely because of their mother-son relationship, this moment works so well because if anyone can understand the amount of guilt that Isabella & the other ladies endured, it's Ray. He's able to empathize with all of them since he also had no choice but to watch all those children who were shipped out over the years back at Grace Field, no matter how much they all wished to save them. Ray was ready to throw his life away for those closest to him and as a form of personal punishment, so hearing him express that he's glad to be alive after he believed his life to be cursed for so long.. aahh my heart. I'm so incredibly happy and proud of him! Not to mention how he promises that he (& all the other kids) won't hold grudges towards the ladies, essentially giving all of them forgiveness, is such a big change for him, considering he just called Isabella monster a couple nights prior to the raid during that conversation he had with Ayshe in that ch169(?) extra page. I'm sure Ray's still holding back ever so slightly when it comes to trusting Isabella completely and getting close to her, but this conversation right here is a step in the right direction and I'm so thankful it actually gets to happen between them.

It's so adorable how the rest of the children don't even question whether or not Isabella deserves another chance. They all forgave her ages ago and realized the love she had for them was real and I'm feeling so soft right now.

Even Isabella is surprised to see the children accept her so easily. Props to Don & Gilda though for keeping all the young kids under control way back when they first told them about the house's secret and the truth about Isabella.

It's because of those thoughts (that go unheard in the anime of course) that she openly questions how she could've possible earned their forgiveness. The English dub goes as far to have her say "But why? You should hate me" here instead which I'm more than fine with. Naturally, Emma explains everything and her words are similar to those said in ch177, so while the unspeakable event of that chapter doesn't happen in the anime, I'm glad Isabella was made aware of how Emma & the others truly felt about her since the escape.

I'm sure it took a whole lot for Ray to actually forgive you, honey. It certainly wasn't an easy thing for the boy to admit after all the trauma he's dealt with throughout his young life, but he understands that forgiving the source of his pain will help him become a better person and feel free. Also, love the idea of having Ayshe in the background of that panel with Ray just because of that late night conversation they had about their parents. I can imagine her giving a small "told ya so" comment about Isabella being a good parent.

Just like Isabella, I'm also overcome with emotion with how much this family cares for and loves each other. It's such a heartfelt moment and it means so much that this is how she truly feels about all her actions and her precious children without that mask she's so used to wearing to protect herself from showing any weakness.

I kinda prefer the anime here though since it has Isabella hugging them back. Dub also gives us an "I love you" here as well which absolutely melts my heart because they all definitely needed to hear that!

[sullustangin]

SWTOR 7.3 Feedback

Non-spoilery stuff first

No technical glitches that I experienced on two playthroughs on Pubside.  Minus one or two moments with Odessen NPCs wandering around, nothing broke the game or immersion.  All the quests worked for credit; I had the weekly for Ruhnuk not work the time round, so this was nice. 

I am aware that there are some financial changes they’re trying to patch back.  Basically, too much is being charged between trades with other players directly and when mailing to alts.  Also!  There is now a 30-day cooldown period between joining a guild and being able to access the guild bank. So get those alts in sooner rather than later, especially if you plan on raiding/doing group stuff with them.

On the Gunslingers and Snipers you now have a 2% per 3 seconds passive heal while in cover  -- level 64 option.  This is a big deal for survivability for these two classes.  I ran dailies and set my companion to DPS.  I had to pause and heal the comp after combat, not myself.   No more glass cannon, but this might be nerfed soon, since it’s a little op.  I’m going to have fun with it while I can.

If you love the Mantellian Privateer or Mira’s Armor from KOTOR II but can’t afford either on Cartel Market, good news:  the Mira set from Bounty Association (the event that comes around every 1-2 months) is now unlockable in collections.  So if you have a Mando char that goes hard on Bounty week, you now have a new cert sink + unlock with Cartel Points for the whole account.  There are some subtle differences in the outfits for the discerning Space Barbie player.

The Date Nights don’t happen in this patch; I would guess it will probably be activated during Night Life in July. Speculation on my part, though

Non-Spoilery Plot Stuff:  A lot of characters that we had the previous option to kill are present in this patch.  This really gives me hope for future content; I previously complained that Bioware was writing to the deadest version of the game (where they assume everyone is dead and only work with Lana).  We got A LOT of coverage with ‘optional’ characters, so this does give me hope for the future writing: assume everyone is alive, and some people get less content.  I’ll talk about what that means later for this patch.

Onward to spoilery stuff.

Torian does get an Alliance alert, which his ba’vodu Eva answered; this is unromanced I feel good about the Torian piece I just reblogged, because it seems consistent with what we see here.  Torian thought the drama over his father was over, the shame was done, the name redeemed -- and there is all is, resurrected from the dead.  Even more content with our neighborhood Mando really does make me want equivalent content with Vette; given that (shitty) decision was almost 7 years ago now and we JUST got a storyline with payoff for that choice, Vette needs some love now, romantic or platonic, beyond Date Night. 

The only downside to letting Torian live at the moment, especially if you’re a smug or bh, is that you lose quality screen time with Akaavi Spar on Ruhnuk. She comes to your rescue in the final fight.  I also feel as if this scene should have been back with the 6.2 content drop, when the banner is first stolen, but it does work here as well, with the burning of it compounding all of Torian’s feelings about his history. 

While Eva does hate that burnt tater thot, the content for Arcann was really good.  I actively wonder if they are pulling things from the aborted third KotXX expansion.  THIS is the character development many of us wanted to see before romancing him: we wanted to see the realization of what he’d done, the desire to fix things, the acknowledgement it may never be enough for some people.  Ding Ding Ding!  I did view both versions of the Darth Nul investigation -- I killed him on DS Eva and let him live on my sunshine and Rainbows LS smug Dyo -- and the version with Arcann in it is so much better.  You also get an additional scene with him; romanced folks get a hug! 

Like the Torian scene, this Arcann development probably should have been earlier in the plotline, but WAAAAY earlier -- like 6+ years.  I think before the romance trigger, most definitely, but at least by the time of Nathema, especially if the Commander takes any of his advice to heart regarding Theron.  I think this falls to fan fic writers to fix, in terms of char dev. 

As I mentioned above, both of these guys are killable.  And they got some great content this patch.  The story feels better with both of them in it. 

As for our dynamic duo, Lana and Theron do show up and play a vocal role with Shae in regard to the interrogation of Malgus.  Theron does get to call Shae out on her working with Malgus to sack Coruscant 2x years ago (I have no idea what year we’re in since COVID screwed everything up).  We also get wonderfully protective partners in Lana and Theron.  Theron makes a comment that the work among other “benefits” keep him young if you’ve romanced him -- poor Lana.  There is noticeable smoldering going on between him and the romanced PC.  Theron does provide significant dialogue content and reaction shots, even though he’s killable.  And of course you get a Theron letter, which alludes to Date Night.  In sum, I don’t think Theron was at all side-lined compared to Lana.

The one weak part of all this is the tenuous connection between the Voss and Malgus’s plans.  In part, it’s becacuse Sana Rae had to be on Voss and decided to kill a few birds with one stone (or one Commander).   It boils down to a vision in which the PC saves the galaxy again.  We do get the tidbit that if we outright kill Malgus, things happen faster, but ‘things’ are ‘inevitable.’  Some of the ‘mundane’ quests verge on the ridiculous, but Star Wars always stomps on character hubris when it can. 

Did I enjoy going back to Voss?  Yup.  Did it make sense, given the nature of the Arcann content?  Yup; if you didn’t spare Arcann, this feels more contrived than if you did, in my opinion.  If I recall correctly, Voss was supposed to be visited in an earlier expansion but that was also canned. 

The transition from Bioware to Broadsword may be bringing old things back to life to ‘finish’ the game -- or start a new beginning.  I remain optimistic.  I will say that the old story of Voss and the new story post Eternal Empire does spin together well.

Good patch, in my opinion, minus the issues with the economic system that are ongoing.