#i just generally don't enjoy anything so this is not different which i knew beforehand

[tardis--dreams]

The worst part is not that i procrastinated my term paper to the last minute. I always do that. The worst part is having to send my lecturer the topic proposal a week before the deadline which will undoubtedly be met with some extreme judgment of my time management and i am not in the mood for that

[yumeka-sxf]

Thoughts on Spy x Family CODE: White

My thoughts on CODE: White will likely be different from most people since I knew pretty much the entire plot beforehand. I'm a spoiler fiend when it comes to my hyperfixations like SxF, so I read the novelization of the movie back in January and kept up on all the promotional videos and images that were released. But when it was finally time to see the movie for myself, did that ruin my enjoyment? Not at all. For me, it actually made me enjoy it more because 1) I knew what to expect so I wasn't disappointed, and 2) I found myself looking forward to seeing all the scenes I only read about or saw short clips of.

With that said, yes, I enjoyed the movie so much! If you're a Spy x Family fan, or even just a casual enjoyer of the series, it's a ton of fun. It has all the elements we love about the series: clever humor, sweet family moments, and spy action/drama. And because it's a movie, we get to see all of this with a movie animation budget instead of a TV series budget, which is another plus!

One thing to keep in mind with these original, stand-alone anime films based on series is that they're meant for a more general crowd than just fans of the series. Since theaters attract a wider audience than late-night TV and online manga chapters, movies like this serve as a means to introduce the series to people who may only have a vague idea of what it's about. That's why these movies contain a storyline that can fit mostly anywhere in the series chronology and don't have anything canon-altering.

CODE: White is an interesting mix of plots that, for the most part, blend together well. There's the main plot that continues throughout, which is saving Operation Strix by having Anya learn how to make the meremere for the cooking contest, but then there's the Yor jealousy plot B which is resolved in the first half, but is then replaced by the next "plot B" in the latter half of the movie, which is saving Anya from the military.

A lot of people didn't like the "Yor gets jealous" subplot when it was first revealed before the movie even came out, since it seemed to be a rehash of her being jealous about Fiona. I personally didn't have a problem with this since I don't think it's unreasonable for her to get jealous a second time, especially when she thinks she sees Loid doing something extreme like kissing another woman (as opposed to just talking). But the way it was resolved could have been a bit better in my opinion. The ferris wheel scene in the movie very much mirrored the bar scene from the series, but the reason the latter is so effective is because we get to hear Loid's inner thoughts during it; we know he's going full Twilight-mode and isn't being sincere, and that's why Yor kicks him. But then at the park, he talks to her much more genuinely and they work things out. But in the ferris wheel scene, we don't get to hear his inner thoughts so we don't get any indication as to whether his repeating of the marriage vows, etc, is him being sincere or not. Then she smacks him, they insist they aren't fighting when Anya brings it up, and that's the end of it.

I do like the fact that Anya reads their minds and seems happy with what she "hears" in their heads, but I still think the subplot would have felt more complete if it ended after Yor realized her mistake rather than have Loid do the ambiguous Romeo act again. Or it could have been brought up one more time later in the movie, for example, Yor apologizes for hitting him, he talks to her more sincerely, etc. If you're gonna rehash the bar scene, at least rehash the scene that brought it closure, which is the park bench scene. Again, I'm totally fine with the jealously subplot overall, just thought it could have been wrapped up a bit better.

Other than that, there were just a few little issues I had, like how was Anya able to afford what was probably an expensive liquor? (was she really packing that much dough in her little bag? She went straight from the bedroom out the window so it's not like she "borrowed" any money from Loid). Also seemed weird that she didn't pick up on Yor's infidelity worries until last minute. A few things stretched the line of believability a bit far too, like Loid's ability to make perfect masks so quickly, and Anya just happening to hit her head on the button that conveniently opened all the windows on the bridge. Also something here and there that didn't align with the manga, like Yor not having any reaction to sharing a room with Loid, whereas she has a totally different reaction to this in chapter 94. Maybe a bit more resolution for the fates of the villains too. I guess Luca and Dmitri survived the crash, but what about Snidel? Did Loid actually kill him or just knock him out? And if it's the latter, Snidel seems like the type who would want to get revenge. A quick cameo of what happened to them in the end would have been nice.

Speaking of the villains, normally I wouldn't like the fact that they're pretty one-dimensional and not that interesting, but for a movie like this where most people just want to see the Forgers being themselves in fun and exciting scenarios, taking time away from that to make more developed villains who likely won't be seen again in the franchise, would have not been the best choice, lol.

But even though I had some criticisms of the movie, all of them are minor and not enough to overshadow everything else that was enjoyable about it. Besides all the humor, of which there was plenty, there were so many cute "awww" family moments that perhaps didn't lend anything to the plot, but were still important to establish the characters and their relationships, and thus make us care about what happens to them. Like the scene of Anya, Yor, and Bond playing at the hotel...it could have been skipped without anything seeming out of place, but it reveals so much about the characters without being blatant about it: how Yor wants to please Anya despite being a bit embarrassed at first to take part in her game, and then how Anya's eyes light up with happiness when Yor starts playing with her...for a series like SxF that's character-driven rather than plot-driven, scenes like this are so important and I'm glad the film creators realized this too!

There were also so many cute, subtle scenes as well, like when Loid and Yor smile at each other after chiding Anya, as if they're happy to share this moment of exhausting yet satisfying parenting; when Anya reads Loid's mind after he saves her but doesn't reveal what he's actually thinking yet we can imagine what it is based on her expression; Loid showing feelings of comradery with the restaurant owner because their pasts are so similar; Anya quietly and sadly hugging Bond in the bedroom; and in the ferris wheel after Yor feels so embarrassed about misunderstanding what happened with Loid and the woman but then can't help but smile with motherly love when she sees Anya waving at her...the movie is filled with moments like this that are like little love letters to fans who know the true heart of SxF isn't so much the action and spy drama as it is the family relationships.

And of course, as I mentioned before, the animation of the movie is fantastic! Not just the action scenes, which are great by the way, especially Yor's fight with Type F, but the character expressions as well. Anya's always had the most varied and hilarious faces of all the characters, but the movie goes even harder with her expressions, especially when she has to hold in her stool! Her faces were making me both cringe and laugh at the same time! The animators did such a good job making me feel sorry for her but also laugh at her.

I'm not a fan of potty humor, but I was confident SxF would make it funny, and I was right! The poop god sequence in particular was as equally cringe as it was hilarious!

To conclude, CODE: White is a must-see for anyone who likes or loves Spy x Family. I can't say it's a cinematic masterpiece or anything, but for what it's supposed to be - a fun and enjoyable film for those who like the series, it definitely delivers! Can't wait to see it at least two more times during its showing in the US...and more times in the future!

[gffa]

Su'cuy! I really appreciate how thorough and well thought-out your theories and opinions about Star Wars are, I know that you are pro-Jedi, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. I love the Jedi both individually and as a whole, but I've always thought that the Jedi Council's approach to certain issues throughout the Prequels seemed a bit... questionable. Here are some examples of what I mean:

1. The way they handled Anakin joining the Order seems harsh to me. I've always thought that if Anakin had been able to keep in contact with Shmi through the beginning of his padawanship, he could've slowly grown apart from her, (rather than being somewhat unceremoniously torn away from her) and that would have helped enormously with his 'attachment' issues. I get that the Jedi only operate within the Republic's jurisdiction, so they couldn't have gone to Tatooine and overthrown the Hutts and free all the slaves like Ani wanted them to, but if everything Qui-Gon did was legal, then there's no way they couldn't at the very least send a Jedi to check up on Shmi. So why didn't they?

2. Obi-Wan clearly knew beforehand about Anakin's feelings for Padme and his issues with following the Jedi Code, so why on earth did anyone think it was a good idea to send him alone with Padme to a resort??

3. (Oh look another one dealing with Anakin's Issues) Pretending for a moment that killing a Jedi really was the best way to handle the events of the Deception arc, why Obi-Wan? Just... why?? He's not trained for undercover missions, he's a councilmember and a High General so he has a lot of responsibilities, many of which can't just be handed off to other people, and his padawan is Anakin "I'm Mentally Unstable and Everyone Knows It" Skywalker. There's no way in all nine Corellian hells that Obi-Wan was the best candidate for the job.

I'll stop here, because otherwise this ask will probably just turn into a rant

I will re-iterate the fact that I love the Jedi Order, and if there's important information I'm missing here, or perspectives I haven't considered, than I would love to know what they are because I don't like how poorly these instances reflect on Jedi like Yoda and Mace and Plo. TYSM for taking the time to read this ridiculously long ask, and please know that if you reply it will blow my mind because I may or may not look up to you as a learned Star Wars scholar that I am lucky to share in a fandom with

Ret'urcye mhi,

Ashara

Hi! Thank you for the very kind comments and, oh, you flatter me far too much, I am but a single nerd on the internet who enjoys flailing about Star Wars, hardly a scholar or anything. 😂 But you are still very nice to say so and I hope that I can live up to the good faith you've extended! Ultimately, a lot of this stuff comes down to differences in interpretation, so when I talk confidently about my views, of course I do think I’m right (😂), but if you disagree, eh, that’s no bother to me, because you’ve been nothing but sweet about it and that’s fine.  (And I say this both as a way to set the tone, but also as a way to clarify that, just because I talk in firm statements, that doesn’t mean I think there’s no room for anyone else’s views or just simply to disagree with me and that’s valid.  As long as we treat each other kindly, we’re good!) With the Jedi Council’s treatment of Anakin, I think it’s important to establish what “attachment” is first, because it’s not “caring about others”, it’s specifically more in alignment with Buddhism (as Buddhism is the heaviest influence in the Jedi’s philosophy), it’s about not clinging and grasping onto someone so hard that your fear of losing them outweighs your ability to be reasonable.  It’s about not loving them for your sake, regardless of what’s best for them or what would make them happy, because you can’t live without them.  It’s about not burning down the galaxy because you’re afraid to live without them. In Star Wars Archives 1999-2005, George Lucas says:  “[Jedi Knights] do not grow attachments, because attachment is a path to the dark side. You can love people, but you can’t want to possess them. They’re not yours. Accept that they have a fate. Even those you love most are going to die. You can’t do anything about that. Protect them with your lightsaber, but if they die they were going to die, there’s nothing you can do. All you can do is accept that fact.” That’s what attachment is within Star Wars, it’s a path to the dark side, that’s just how the worldbuilding within the narrative works.  Whatever we think of that on a writing level, within the narrative itself, attachment actually is a thing to be overcome. And it’s the very heart of Anakin Skywalker’s story, that attachment led to his fall, so when I talk about how the Jedi are trying to nudge him away from that path, it’s an important motivation because it’s absolutely what led to Anakin’s fall and they were working to prevent the source of it.  Like, he doesn’t become Darth Vader because he was separated from his mom, he becomes Darth Vader because he can’t let go of things, that distinction is the center of his story.  And if GL had meant differently, that guy is not subtle, he would have said so.  Instead, he says: “He turns into Darth Vader because he gets attached to things. He can’t let go of his mother; he can’t let go of his girlfriend. He can’t let go of things. It makes you greedy. And when you are greedy, you are on the path to the Dark Side, because you fear you’re going to lose things, that you’re not going to have the power you need.” - George Lucas, Time Magazine, 2002 Which you are probably aware of and I don’t mean to come across as lecturing, but I chose to go over it again for a reason, in that it’s important to remember that the Jedi aren’t just saying, “No contact with your bio-family!  That’s attachment!”, but instead that the worldbuilding that comes with what “attachment” means in Star Wars is illustrating what the Jedi’s goal is--work towards being able to let go when it’s time.  Protect people, love them, but accept that you can’t stop death from happening. 1.  So, with that in mind, what evidence do we have that Anakin wasn’t allowed to contact Shmi?  Yes, Tatooine Ghost (which was written in 2003, before Revenge of the Sith even existed) said so, but it’s very tricky to rely on Legends material because GL has repeatedly expressed that the books weren’t part of his worldbuilding, that he wasn’t involved with them, that they should just go do whatever as long as it was an interesting story.  (And, like, it’s fair to also dismiss current Lucasfilm canon materials, because they’re not from the primary source, either.  Everyone draws their own sandbox lines!)  What, within the movies or TV, said Anakin wasn’t allowed to contact his mother? I’m not making any definitive statements either way, I think it might be reasonable to speculate that the Jedi felt Anakin was relying too heavily on his attachments (as GL has been very clear that this is a major issue for Anakin all his life), that he wasn’t working towards letting go in a healthy way, so they may have tried to put some distance there to make it easier for him, which I think was the point the Jedi were making in Dooku: Jedi Lost when Dooku did the same with his sister.  I think it may be reasonable to point to Heir of the Jedi  showed a Jedi Knight that was in contact with his family and there were no issues there.  I think it’s fair to point out that the Jedi weren’t exactly stopping anyone from keeping connections to their birth worlds (the various cultural clothing Jedi wore, the statues they prayed to, etc.), so I don’t see why they would forbid Anakin from keeping contact with her or, as Skywalker: A Family At War pointed out, he could still feel her in the galaxy, so he knew she was okay, and yet he was still leaning into that attachment to her.  I think it’s fair to point out that the Jedi were fine with letting people leave, spoke warmly of them afterwards, even would accept them back if they wanted (Obi-Wan & Anakin, s7 of TCW where Yoda asked if Ahsoka was coming back yet), which doesn’t seem to jive with the idea that they felt you had to only ever be in contact with Jedi.  None of that seems in line with the idea that they wanted to cut Jedi off and would punish anyone for contacting someone outside the Jedi Order, unless there was a very specific reason for it. Ultimately, we don’t have enough about that time period from the movies or TCW to say for sure what happened or didn’t happen, whether he had contact with her or not, or the reasons and specific context behind it. 2.  Obi-Wan totally did object to sending Anakin alone with Padme, though!  😂  He said Anakin wasn’t ready for it, that his emotions around Padme made him confused and he wasn’t going to be able to protect her, but Mace very kindly and warmly said, “Obi-Wan, you must have faith that he will choose the right path.” And Mace is absolutely right.  I mean, yes, Obi-Wan was probably right to be concerned, but the bigger point is:  Anakin was 19 years old, he was an adult, he’d been a Jedi for 10 years at this point.  You have to eventually trust people to make their own decisions, to walk the right path on their own, and Anakin had the training and wisdom (or should have) to make that choice for himself. Sending him on a mission to escort Padme, even knowing that it would be a temptation for him, was one they had to let Anakin decide for himself how to navigate it.  If he was tempted into breaking his vows at this point, then no amount of holding him back or hand-holding him was going to make a difference. 3.  The real answer is the most unsatisfying one:  Because Obi-Wan Kenobi is a major character and therefore he was the most fun to write on that arc and to give the show drama.  I fully believe that the primary driving force behind choosing Obi-Wan for it wasn’t based on in-universe worldbuilding, but “Who would provide the most interesting, fun story to tell?” and they wanted to use it as a way to show Anakin’s growing distrust with the Jedi Order. But if we’re going to look at it from the Watsonian perspective rather than the Doylist one, I assume it’s because Obi-Wan was really good at his job, like, that guy was really good at everything he needed to be doing on that job.  And the Jedi Council were apparently on the side of telling Anakin ahead of time, it was Obi-Wan who said not to tell him, and I think it fits very well with what Obi-Wan and the Jedi have been trying to teach Anakin--that sometimes shit happens and you have to be able to face it and make peace with it.  They have to have faith that he’s going to choose the right path. Like, a driving reason (via word of god commentary) that Yoda assigned Ahsoka to Anakin as a Padawan (other than that they were a good match) is because eventually he would have to let her go, he would have to let her be Knighted and no longer interacting with her in the same way.  The Jedi were trying to provide paths for Anakin to face his attachment issues, and while I don’t think the “Deception” instance was very nice (and I do think it was a mistake and Obi-Wan was wrong to not tell Anakin, but also not totally wrong because Anakin absolutely was shit at keeping secrets and the Chancellor’s life was on the line in this mission, as far as the Jedi knew), it was meant in the vein of, “Someday, you’re going to lose people, Anakin, you have to accept that that’s going to happen.” and it’s not that I think Obi-Wan planned it as a test, but that he chose to listen to Mace’s wisdom and have faith that Anakin would choose the right path. As I see it, in the big picture of “What happened to Anakin Skywalker?  Why did he become Darth Vader?” the answer GL gave was: “When you start to care about yourself and the things that you own and the things that you have and you’re greedy and you want things all the time and you don’t want to give them up because you’re afraid to give them up, you turn to the dark side.  And that’s what happened to Anakin.” --George Lucas Q&A: Field Museum, Chicago 5/8/2010 Anakin’s fall was about his attachment to people, that’s entirely what was happening in ROTS, where his turn towards Palpatine was a justification for wanting to hold onto Padme, where the big confrontation with Obi-Wan starts because Anakin didn’t care about what she wanted or her horror at what he was doing or her choice to back away from him, he literally choked her in anger and screamed at Obi-Wan:

“YOU WILL NOT TAKE HER FROM ME!” Anakin doesn’t want to protect her, he wants to keep her, wants her to not be taken from him, like she’s something to be possessed, not because she made her own choices or because anyone else was actually trying to do so, but because he himself and his fears already did that. And that’s exactly what GL has always said was Anakin’s problem. His attachment to her, his inability to accept that she might have a fate that he couldn’t control, drove him to this.  He absolutely should have tried to protect her, to love her, to fight to help her, that’s what the Jedi do--like, that’s the whole reason they became soldiers in the war, because they were fighting to help people! But you have to accept that sometimes things are beyond your control and all you can do is work to accept that, that’s how the Force and the worldbuilding and narrative of Star Wars works.  And that’s what the Jedi were trying to help Anakin with, to prevent his attachment tendencies from getting out of control--but, at a certain point, they had given him the training and they had to trust him to make the right choices, whether that was as a Jedi or on a different path. (And I’ve always liked the quote from the A New Hope anthology, “Master & Apprentice”, where Obi-Wan says:  “Anakin became a Jedi Knight.  He served valiantly in the Clone Wars.  His fall to darkness was more his choice than anyone else’s failure.  Yes, I bear some responsibility–and perhaps you do, too–but Anakin had the training and wisdom to choose a better path.  He did not.”)

[kanmom51]

hey kanmom, I've been thinking a lot recently and kind of wanted to rant so hopefully it's okay if I do it in your anons. You had another anon post a really long time ago that I mostly agreed with except for the point they made about bts not doing fanservice anymore. I don't mean that in a way that specifically relates to KM (and I'll get to that at the end, I love and support KM and think they're together). bts absolutely still does fanservice and does it often, but the WAY they do it has changed, and so has the way the fandom as a whole perceives it. But there's this incredibly pervasive idea that an action is either genuine and real, or it is fanservice and scripted. And it's a hard line that a huge amount of the fandom seems to buy into, and I'm not naming names. But that just seems... so obviously not true to me? Why can't something be fanservice and genuine? Why can't two people who care for each other not exaggerate that on camera for effect? Do we genuinely think there's some criminal mastermind sitting behind every action people take that's scripting these things? As an example for what I'm talking about I'm not going to discuss KM at all, and I'm actually going to talk about one of my all time favourite more recent bts fanservice moments: the sope boy with love finger touch. This moment is fanservice. It's in every performance, it's obviously been pre-meditated and choreographed. Whenever it happens, it's in the center of the camera frame. I have NO idea whose idea it was. Could have been a choreographer, could have been a member of sope, could have been the evil mastermind Bang PD himself. But guess what? It's also cute as hell. I don't think for a SECOND that either HS or YG hate doing this, if YG's huge smile has anything to say. The boys are good actors, sometimes, but they're not that good. And the fandom eats this up every time. Nobody gets mad at it, everyone enjoys it. Another great example is the vmin roleplay right at the beginning of the dynamite choreo. It's a different roleplay every time but you'll bet your noggin those two are doing something cute at the beginning of that song. They probably discuss it beforehand. It's for the cameras, it's fanservice. Again, I think vmin have an absolutely excellent time doing this, and only idiots think vmin don't absolutely adore each other.

A non-choreo example is the taejin cheek kiss in that one run episode. Tae himself said he knew that armys would love it. I bet you it was Tae's idea in the moment, and it's not like the maknae line giving Jin little kisses is anything new. Taejin adore each other, that moment was likely fanservice, but that doesn't mean it wasn't real. I could find examples for every pair but this is already so long. So, BTS does fanservice, and nobody gets mad at it. Except when it's KM. And I do think KM do fanservice, in the same way vmin do it or taejin do it or literally any other pair does it. There is a freedom in front of the camera or the audience to let things go a little further. I don't think that means literally any of it isn't real. Even 'fanservice' operates within personal boundaries because we're talking about people with real relationships and real friendships. People get mad at KM (in general, but also KM fanservice, which I have a whole other rant on how much rarer that is than some people seem to think) because they can tell, somewhere in the human part of their brains that isn't totally warped by fandom and/or blatant homophobia, that there's more going on there. It makes me tired, and it makes me sad.

Thanks for coming over here and ranting anon.

I agree.

Fanservice is a discussion that needs not a whole post for itself, but multiple posts. What fanservice is, when is it exercised, by who, to what extent.

That word keeps being thrown around with JK&JM and only with them, while if there is fanservice, it would be true with everyone, including the TKK interactions.

But as you said, fanservice, at least with BTS, is not something ingenuine or forced. That kind of fanservice that they may have practiced in the early years is long gone. Interactions may be for the sake of the fans, but that doesn't mean they aren't genuine.

"There is a freedom in front of the camera or the audience to let things go a little further. I don't think that means literally any of it isn't real. Even 'fanservice' operates within personal boundaries because we're talking about people with real relationships and real friendships."

That.

I do want to add something here though.  You yourself touched on it:  

“KM fanservice, which I have a whole other rant on how much rarer that is than some people seem to think.”

Not every moment on stage is fanservice (not to mention those moments off stage, but that’s for another post). The ones you spoke of I would agree, and you can see they are done for the audience, the fans. But there are also many moments, interactions that are not about the fans, not about what they are giving to the audience and more about them enjoying themselves, having fun and just interacting with each other.

Their last 4 concerts are filled with such moments.  It’s not about showing the crowds they are interacting, and more about them interacting.

Just a couple of examples:

Day 4 PTD LA concert.

This was for JM, not us, not the cameras.  JK is looking at JM, he’s wiggling his hand in front of JM waiting for JM to see it.  This isn’t about pleasing the crowds.

Day 3 PTD concert.

Again, not about pleasing the crowds.

JM and Hobi were having too much fun that JM’s shoulders must have tensed up (at least that must be what JK was thinking, lol).

I know I said a couple of examples, but I’ve changed my mind, and have to add this obvious one here too.  PTD LA day 3:

This moment here:

This wasn’t about fanservice.  This wasn’t about giving the audience something to cheer about.  

Fact: cameras cut off this moment when JK moved his face too close to JM.  Isn’t it about fanservice?  Why cut off the camera then?

This was about JK seizing the moment.  So what as a whole is a little of a ‘FU’ song, and these last lines JM sings, they mean something.  To JM and to JK.  So no, I don’t think this moment was about amping up for the crowds either.

There are many other examples, including during these 4 concerts.

[scribble-games]

Hey there! I hope you don't mind, but I just had a few general questions about making a game like The Aegis Project! Did you have a background in coding coming into it? How challenging/complicated was it to plan and execute all of the different paths? Was there any particular resource you used if/when you got stuck on something?

So sorry if this is unwelcome or too many questions! I'm thinking of working with choice script for a project of my own and I was hoping I could pick your brain a little if you're ok with it, since you made a phenomenal game that I really truly enjoyed :)

I don't mind at all! This turned out pretty long, but I hope it's helpful! Good luck with your project and feel free to ask me any more choicescript questions.

I had a very basic knowledge of coding beforehand (back then I think my only experience was like, MatLab and maybe a teeny bit of VBA). So I knew about the concepts of conditionals and loops and string/boolean/numeric values, but I'd never made anything complicated. When I started in Choicescript I basically just learned as I went - I worked on a few WIPs before Aegis Project (I'm pretty sure if you look at the first few chapters of Awoken you can track my coding learning curve!)

For coding resources/tips:

The Choicescript Wiki and the Choicescript pages on the CoG website are a good reference point for all CS commands, and provide examples of how to use them.

https://choicescriptdev.fandom.com/wiki/ChoiceScript_Wiki

https://www.choiceofgames.com/make-your-own-games/choicescript-intro/

Lynnea Glasser's tutorial is a great intro to ChoiceScript

http://www.maderealstories.com/games/ChoiceScriptTutorial.html#.1g

It can also help to take a look at the actual code of other games! If you didn't know, you can look at the code for the demo chapters of any game on the CoG site by adding "/scenes/startup.txt" to the end of the game URL (which will show you the startup file) and then replacing 'startup' with the names of any of the chapter files. You can do the same in Dashingdon by replacing the bit after 'mygame' in the URL with "/scenes", and then clicking on any of the chapters.

For example:

https://www.choiceofgames.com/aegis-project-180-files/scenes/1_coldopen_v3.txt

https://dashingdon.com/play/scribblesome/awoken/mygame/scenes/

I know a lot of people like CSIDE for coding (personally I found it a bit awkward to use and I prefer keeping it basic in Notepad++). But they are both free programs so try out and see what you like!

https://choicescriptide.github.io/

Honestly, one of the best ways to learn coding is through trial and error! I'd advise having a 'scrap' game project that is just one scene, where you can paste in any bits of code that you're having trouble with or that are particularly complicated. That way you can quickly tweak, reload and repeat until it's working.

Planning/Writing

To answer the question of how challenging it was to plan and execute the paths - well, it didn't seem that bad at the time! I'd say my best advice when working out branching is to start out simple and then build up in complexity. I think it's almost more important to figure out the overall story beats and the chokepoints (where the branches tie together) when you begin and then sort out the branches.

So, taking Chapter One of Aegis Project as an example. It's got four main stages:

1: You're downstairs, trying to get upstairs.

2: You're upstairs; you meet Angel there.

3: You're in the back area of the casino, snooping around.

4: You're dangling over a crocodile pit, about to make a daring escape!

You always get upstairs somehow; you always get backstage somehow, and you always get knocked out by Angel.

So once I've laid out that, I cam think about how I want the branching to go in between these points. What options could there be for getting upstairs? What impacts might that choice have later on? And then you add more into that - now I've decided that you can get upstairs either by winning a lot of money at poker or by impressing the German lady, so how are you going to do those things? And so on.

Of course, this is just how I do things! There are games that branch from the first page and then never join back together, and those would need a different approach to plotting, but it's all good.

Do remember though that it's easy when you're planning to say that you'll have branching for eight different magic types, and much harder to figure out eight different versions of a scene! Watch out for that scope creep.

And my most important tip is (if you're using stats) to figure out the main stats you want to use early on. Rewriting to change the stats is a MASSIVE PAIN. Don't do it.

[reignstormz]

✓WORK IT OUT✓

|IMAGINE; PART TWO|

INTRO; Continuation from Part One, I couldn't type the entire imagine on just one smh. Still hope you enjoy!

WARNINGS; Sexual content ahead, still. Read at your own risk.

CAST; Same as the first chapter

MINI PLAYLIST; Beg For It - Chris Brown / Someday Is Tonight - Janet Jackson / Hold On - The Internet / Rather Be - H.E.R. / Finesse - Bryson Tiller.

🦋Tampa, Florida

🦋July 25th, 2021

Ever since then, you and Roman stayed in touch. You got to know each other very well over the past couple of months, and became good friends, close friends to be exact. Roman was like the other half to you that you never thought you needed; You both had a lot in common as well as differences which complimented each other, everytime you were together there was never a dull moment, you could talk for hours to this man about anything and laugh about pure nonsense that only you two could understand. He always gave the best advice whenever you were down, and did whatever he could to make you smile. Roman wasn't just the fine ass guy from the gym that you fawned over back then, he was your best friend, which made it harder to contain your feelings believe it or not.

You loved him, but it wasn't just a friendly love, you were in love. Overtime, you started to realize that he was truly your soul mate all this time. You had an idea of that beforehand, but you always denied it, mainly because you didn't want to rush into things, or get hurt again. As you guys got further into your friendship, you had revealed to him about what you went through, and how crushed you were. There wasn't a day afterwards that Roman wouldn't tell you that you deserved better, someone that would treat you like the queen that you were.

He'd always tell you that you were special, beautiful, and sometimes even got a little touchy with you. There was always a flirtatious vibe that he would give off, and you of course didn't mind. You had a strong feeling that he felt the same way, you knew he did, but you didn't want to say anything. You wanted him to make the first move. However, you were making moves of your own as well.

After your ex finally moved out of your apartment, you wanted to completely turn your life around. You wanted to boss up, and bring out your alter ego for a change. It was time to reach for the lifestyle that you always wanted, and sitting around feeling sorry for yourself wasn't going to do anything. So, you went out and did just that. First, you searched a new job. Even though you loved your current one, you strived for something bigger, and a better salary. You searched, and searched, you honestly thought that there was going to be no luck until you came across something that captured your interest.

It was an assistant job at a business company named 'Roman Empire Enterprises' and though it had a nice ring to it, it also reminded you of Roman. Anything reminded you of him, due to how head over heels you were. So, you decided to take a leap of faith and apply. You were interviewed by an older, white man named Paul Heyman, and he had informed you about every little detail this business had. He talked about how this was a family ran business, and how he's worked with them for generations. You noticed that, he never really talked about who you were going to be assisting, but addressed the family as the 'Anoa'i Family' which was Roman's last name. You got a little curious, wondering if he had anything to do with this or if he even owned this place. So, you flat out asked if he worked there and Paul didn't hesitate to answer your question. Apparently, Roman was the boss of the entire company and that's what you signed up for, to be his assistant.

You were extremely confused as to how you didn't have this information before you applied for the job, but you were even more confused at the fact that Roman never told you about his occupation this entire time you've been friends. You'd ask about it sometimes, but he would always brush it off. When you got a moment alone, you told him everything about what you found out, and he revealed something to you as well. He admitted to owning the company and being the boss, but he never told you about it because it was more than that, and he didn't want to scare you off. Roman wasn't just a regular boss, he was a Mafia boss and this position had been handed to him after his father stepped down. His family has been doing this for years, and he's dealt with some pretty dangerous, horrific things being in control, but he loved it at the same time. Roman's cousin Jey was apart of it, so was his brother Jimmy that you ended up meeting was too, including Paul, who was his special counsel.

You didn't know what to think if it, and it took you awhile to process all of it. You honestly thought about turning down the job, and maybe even keeping your distance from him, but you couldn't, you loved him too much. After all, you trusted Roman, you knew he wouldn't let anything happen to you. When he found out you were the one that applied for the job, he was happy and begged for you to take it. You gave it some thought, knowing this was something way different than you have ever done before and it wasn't like any regular job, but it didn't take you too long before you accepted his offer.

It was the best decision you ever made, you loved working by his side. It did take a little bit of time for you to get the hang of things, but he taught you everything he knew about the Mafia game, his family, the business, and how important it was to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. You worked really hard, and he spoiled you with just about everything. Jewelry, your dream car, and your salary was big enough so you could get a new, spacious penthouse. Your life really turned around and you were proud of yourself for moving forward.

Currently, you were with Roman at the moment in his gym at his new house he moved into about two months ago. It was large, very grand, typically Roman's style. Another thing that you loved doing together other than going to the movies, and even going to dozens of restaurants was working out together. This time, you didn't have any accidents thankfully but you two still goofed around at times, like now.

You were on the ground, in a deep lunge, stretching after an intense workout. You thought Roman had left the room for a little bit to take care of some business calls, but he creeped up behind you and smacked your ass harshly. You winced, and then sighed, turning your head around to glare at him, "Can you stop doing that?"

"Doing what?" He shrugged, with a playful smirk on his face as he sat down on the edge of the bench press. You rolled your eyes, getting up from your lunge and stood in front of him in a challenging stance, "Don't get smart, you punk." Then you hit his arm and a grin grew on your face by his reaction.

He rubbed his arm in pain and laughed out loud, and he quickly grabbed the both of your hands as tried your best to get out of his grasp, "What did I say about you hitting me, babygirl?"

You bit your lip, instantly you got a tingly feeling in your stomach, whenever he called you by your nickname, or one of the many nicknames he gave you.

"Don't bite your lip and get all shy now, come here." Roman licked his lips with a settle, sensual smile on his face. Jesus take the wheel, you thought. Your heart started to beat really fast and you could no longer hold his stare, instead you continued to try to fight him off but it didn't work. He dropped your hands and quickly reached for your stomach to tickle you, making you giggle uncontrollably and fall into his lap. You were trapped in his gentle, yet firm hold as he kissed you repeatedly on the cheek, making you blush and hide your face into his neck.

This wasn't the only time that you guys were intimately close like this, there's been multiple occasions where you got really close, but no moves were made. Times like this made it really hard for you to control yourself or your feelings, you wish you could just say it, but you were scared.

You inhaled his sweet scent and your arms were wrapped his neck. His large arms were wrapped around your waist, embracing you. As you continued to hold each other in silence, the air started to thicken with heat and your body started to have a mind with his own from how turned on you stared to feel. Your body clinged onto his, giving you goosebumps, and you felt a waterfall starting to form between your legs as you sat directly on his area, which you could've sworn you felt a bulge. You then felt his hands briefly wander over your ass once, which you tried your best not to react to and keep quiet, but the second time he lightly squeezed it, causing you to jolt your hips gently against him. Your breath hitched, and you pressed your lips together, holding back a moan.

"Do it again, Mama.." He whispered deeply into your ear, sending shivers down your spine. You nervously sighed, knowing that you've gone pretty far and there was no turning back now. If he didn't know before, he definitely knew now. You slowly pulled away from him, stopping your actions and looked down, with his large bulge in your view.

"Roman-" You began to say but he cut you off, hushing you.

"Shh." Roman tilted your neck to the side, leaving trails of kisses down your neck, "Roman what, huh?" He asked seductively. Your eyes slowly fell closed, falling into every kiss and touch he planted on your skin.

"I-" You muttered but he slapped your ass, shutting you up. Roman chuckled, and moved to the other side of your neck.

"Do you think I'm stupid, babygirl?" He trailed kisses up your neck, leaving one last kiss close to your lips before pulling away a little but still close to you. As you avoided eye contact with him, he watched your every move, "Look at me." He demanded carefully.

You hesitantly looked down at him, meeting his gaze before and shook your head shyly, answering his question. He just simply stared at you, as if he was trying to read you while a faint smirk was on his face.

"Then what's with all the games, hm? Why are you playing wit' me?" He questions darkly as his hands roam your body, "You think I don't know how you feel about me?"

You stayed quiet, which was the exact reply he needed to be proved right. You were on the fence, nervously anticipating what he was going to do or say next.

Roman chuckles, and his hands find his way inside your shorts, taking a handful of your ass in his hands making you gasp, and you got even more wet.

"Or were you too scared to tell me?" He said quietly, and was about two inches away from your face. You inhaled slowly, and your eyes fell to his lips.

"I wasn't scared.." You trail off, lying through your teeth. Roman licked his lips, alternating his attention between your eyes and lips.

"If you're not scared," He challenged, bringing you even closer, trapping any space between you both, giving you no choice to give in, "Then show me."

You stared into his lustful eyes for one, lingering second before you smashed your lips into his, resting your hands on his face while he returned the kiss right away, tightening his grip on your ass. Lord knows how long you've wanted to do that, there was a whole bunch of emotions running around in your mind; Relief, Happiness, Lust, but most importantly, Love. You loved Roman more than anything and it was beyond overwhelming that you finally got the chance to show him, through your mind, soul, and body.

As the makeout session got more heated, your bodies reacted with it. Your hips began to move in sync with his, creating a huge amount friction and pleasure. You moaned softly into the kiss, giving him the opportunity to slip his tongue inside of your mouth, having a battle with your own. His hands trailed up to your waist, holding them firmly as you moved against him and he broke the kiss, resting his forehead on yours, "I want you to say the words." He says, trying to control his heavy breath.

You both stare intensely into each other's eyes as he moves your hips faster, making you come undone, "Say it. Say it to me."

You nodded quickly, knowing exactly what he meant, wanting nothing more to get to the point, the teasing was driving you crazy, "I want you to fuck me," You say bluntly with a shaky breath. Roman smiled lazily, slowing down your hip movements and pecked your lips, "That's my girl."

He picked you up from the bench with your legs wrapped around his waist, and switched you around so that you were sitting down. Your face was instantly met with his pelvic area, and his member that damn near poked out of his shorts. He looked huge, you gulped, startled from the surprise. Roman tilted your head up gently to look at him, then took your hand and put it on his bulge.

"You see what you do to me?" He asked, licking his lips slowly, and you could even spot how glistened they were. In response, you smirked, tracking your hand up a little to grab the waist band of his shorts but he quickly stopped you.

"Not so fast, baby girl." He warned you, and you frowned a little, wondering why he wouldn't let you continue.

"You come first, always." Roman caressed your cheek and nodded his head toward the bench, motioning for you to lay down, "Lay down for me."

You laid down against the bench, adjusting a little bit to more comfortable and Roman dropped onto his knees his front of you, running his hands over your thighs and briefly on your stomach, taking in your body.

"Look at you.." He trailed off, opening your legs and licked his lips. "Not being able to hold still, why are you shaking, Mama?"

You sighed, looking down at him, meeting his lustful stare. You shook your head, and whispered, "Stop teasing me."

"After all the teasing you've done this entire time?" He questions, slightly looking at you like you were crazy, and gives you his sexy smile along with shaking his head, "Nah, that's not how this works."

His finger trailed down your slit, tracing it through your shorts. Your boy was so hot, wanting even more, you knew that you were drenched down there.

"I don't think you understand who you're dealing with." He says carefully as he continues to trace the outlines of your pussy through your shorts, "When you tease me, your teasing Daddy.."

The way he said Daddy made your breathing pace quicken, and your heart beat faster. You didn't know much you could take.

"And when you tease Daddy, there's consequences." Roman presses harshly on clit, making all of your nerves shoot through your body. You bit your lip, closing your eyes trying not to utter a sound.

"You're going to learn not to mess with me," He kisses the inside of you thigh softly, "And you're going to learn what happens to pretty girls like you who don't wanna' listen." He leaves one last kiss on your other inner thigh before he pulls off your shorts, revealing your blue, soaked panties.

"So here's how it's going to go down, Princess." He rubs your clit gently, teasing you painfully, "I call the shots, and you're gonna' do what I say. You're going to listen to Daddy, and if you disobey me in the slightest, your punishment will get worse. Do you understand?"

You were at loss of words, and didn't know what else to say. You had absolutely no idea what you were in for, but you couldn't wait. He smacked your thigh, not too hard but to get your attention making you jump, "When I ask you something, you answer." He demanded in a raspy voice.

"Y-Yes." You stuttered, letting him take full of control of your body. Roman smirked, watching you unravel under his touch, "Good."

His eyes then trailed down your soaked pussy and his mouth watered, dying to get a peak and a taste. His captivating fingers started to move faster, massaging your clit and you couldn't help but squirm a little, and the minute he felt you move, he put his hand on top of your pelvic bone, holding you down.

"Don't move," Roman warned. You had no where to go, and you tried your best to keep still as he played with your pussy, but it was extremely hard too. You inhaled deeply, and a soft moan followed after not being able to hold in it anymore.

"You like that shit, don't you?" He chuckled darkly, finding your sweet moans very sexy. To drive you more wild, he lifted your panties to the side, revealing your pussy to the bleak air.

"Damn, baby. All this, for me?" He says, talking about your wetness. Your hand traveled over your sports bra, clenching your breast, not knowing what to do with yourself.

"Please.." You beg, Roman presses his thumb onto your clit, rubbing it slowly and his pace gradually gets faster.

"Already not listening to Daddy?" He questions, with an innocent expression however as he stares at you, he places a long, slow lick on your slit. Your eyes roll to the back of your head, and he stops there, sliding your panties off all the way and stands up.

"Get up," He orders. You follow his demands getting up off of the bench and he grabs a hold of your waist, bringing you close to him and smacks you ass.

"What did I tell you?" He whispers in your ear, with his hands briefly roaming your ass before he smacked it again, making you jump.

Before you could answer, without warning, his hand slips between the both of you, reaching your pussy and his finger slips inside of you. You gasp, tightly holding onto his shoulders and burried your face into his chest.

"Roman.." You moaned into his shirt as his skilled fingers had their way with you. Roman kissed your forehead, and then kissed your ear before he whispered.

"It's okay, baby." He cooed into your ear as his fingers moved fastly between your folds. "You wanna be bad and show out? That's fine. If you wanna' act like a brat, I'll treat you like one.

His fingers slipped out of your wetness and he turned the both of you around, laying on the bench and pulled you on top of him. He scooted upwards the bench as you straddled him and he motioned for you to come forward with his finger, "Sit on my face."

You sort of zoned out, not being able to prepare yourself for what was about to happen. Your pussy clenched just by his words, and your breath became shaky.

"I'm not asking you again." He warned intensely, and you snapped out of it, doing what he said and slowly adjusted yourself over his face. He grabbed your hips firmly, keeping you still as you held the weight bar for support.

Then, as you lowered yourself onto him, his tongue met your wetness and began exploring your folds like no tomorrow. You closed your eyes tightly shut, throwing your head back, not being able to think straight. He moved your hips back and forth, tasting every inch of you as you moaned uncontrollably. His tongue truly had a mind of its own, it moved so fast that you could barely think straight

Sounds of him tasting you echoed across the room, pushing you over the edge as he was lost between your folds. His tongue circled around you clit multiple times before taking it fully into his mouth, sucking the life out of your soul. His eyes trailed up your body and onto your facial expressions, getting even more hard at the love faces you were making. He loved the fact that he was making you feel good, trapped with no where to go. Roman would have fantasies like this all the time, and he's been wanting to do this to you for a long time. His dreams were coming true right before his eyes.

He slowed down his pace, and inserted his tongue inside of you. Your eyes rolled to the back of your head, and he couldn't help but smile partly in response as he tongued your folds. He let go of your hips, and his hands slowly traveled inside of his shorts, pleasing himself as he let you take control.

"Ride my face." He said sexily, winking at you. You held the bar tightly, making your balance steady before you slowly started to bounce up and down his tongue gently.

"Oh my God.." You trailed off, whimpering, feeling yourself come close to the edge. If you kept going, you weren't going to be able to hold it any longer.

"I'm gonna' cum." You say, not being able to catch your breath. Roman groaned lowly against you, loving the way you tasted and from the pleasure he was giving himself. He let go of himself and placed his hands back on your hips, moving you faster.

"Cream all over my face, baby girl." He encouraged you, gripping your hips tightly, not daring to take his eyes off of you. His hand reached up your body, sneaking underneath your sports bra and massaged your breast. You closed you eyes shut, repeating the word yes yes yes over and over again before you finally reached your peak, along with your legs shaking slightly. He slowed down your movements, leaving one last kiss on your slit as you took deep breaths, trying to recover from your orgasm.

You got up slowly, swinging your leg around to get up off of him. Roman propped his elbows, helping himself get back up and he wasted no time in pulling you on top of his lap, kissing your lips passionately, and you giggled in response, which made him smile into the kiss. You took the opportunity to undo his hair from his bun, letting it all fall down to his shoulders as you tasted yourself on hips lips. As you continued to make out with him, he took your sports bra off and you helped him take off his shirt. His arms were wrapped securely around your body, picking you up from the bench and your legs were wrapped around his torso as he backed you up against the wall gently.

He let go of your legs carefully, setting you down on the exercise step-stool. You were now at his level, which was exactly where he wanted you to be.

Roman broke the kiss and grabbed your wrists, placing them above your head against the wall dominantly, he stared into your eyes, then looked you up and down slightly before leaning forward, whispering into your ear once more making your body lose all it's feeling.

"Hear me clearly, and hear me good." He directed you with ease, "You can't fool me, baby. I can tell just by the way you look at me, that I make you nervous. Whenever I have you this close to me, you get shy, and easily embarrassed. You can hardly look me in the eye half of the time because of how you feel towards me. I can read you like no one else can, and you're still doubting yourself. I've told you time, and time again how perfect you are. There's nothing about you I wouldn't change, and I'd give you the whole world if I could, if would you just give me a chance."

"I don't deserve you." You denied, looking away from him, with a hint of sadness in your voice trying to process everything he was saying. He remained holding the both of your wrists, kissing you cheek gently so you would look at him.

"Look at me," He pleaded softly. You eyes watered, and you hesitantly turned your head back at him.

"Stop saying that," Roman rested his forehead against yours. "You complete me, you always have."

You stare at him lovingly, feeling like you could get emotional by his words alone despite how good he made you feel. No one has ever made you feel the way he did, and at times he seemed too good to be true. That's why you often thought that you weren't good enough for him. You weren't shocked by him feeling the same way, because you knew he did, but you were shocked at how after all this time, you were so close to getting what you wanted, which was him.

Roman leaned forward, pecking your lips sweetly, and pulled away a little from you to take off his shorts along with his briefs, showing himself to you. You're eyes slightly widened at the sight, and your breath thickened as you saw him stroke himself slowly, aligning his dick to your entrance.

"Let Daddy please you.." He slapped his dick gently onto your pussy, making you squirm underneath his grasp, biting your lip as you both stared intensely at each other. Roman grabbed your right leg, placing it over his shoulder so he could have more access to you. He loved where he had you, especially loving you flexible you were, "Let me show you how much I love you. I don't care how loud you scream, how much you squirm or how badly you can't take it anymore. I won't stop until I have you cumming over, and over again. You will say my name, and you will acknowledge me. Listen, shut the fuck up, and take this dick."

Without warning, he slams inside you, causing your mouth to fall wide open and your eyes to roll back in pleasure. There was a little bit of pain since you were caught off guard, but not a whole lot. He groans, cursing under his breath and tightens his grip on your wrists, "You're so tight, babygirl. Shit.." He trails off as he slowly thrusts into you.

You bit your lip so hard that you started to feel blood drip from how harsh you attacked it, trying to be quiet like he said. Roman closed his eyes in pure bliss from how good you were making him feel. He loosed his grip on your wrist, letting one of your hands fall down while his other hand interlaced with yours on the wall as he kept stroking you. He leaned his forehead onto yours again, kissing you deeply as he continued to stroke you.

You wanted him to go faster, you were dying for him to go faster. You broke the kiss, throwing your head back, trying your hardest not to moan but there was no way you could hold it in anymore. Roman took the opportunity to leave kisses on your neck, and whisper nasty things to you.

"You feel so fucking good, my sweet girl." He moaned into your ear deeply, breathing heavily. You felt him inch closer and closer to your G-spot and you couldn't help but blurt out a sound of love, and Roman chuckled darkly, licking your earlobe slowly, "Whatchu' gotta say now, huh? You like the way Daddy's deep inside you? Making love to you? You love that shit? Yeah? Talk to me."

"Roman.." You beg, not being able to take it anymore. "Stop teasing me, baby. Please."

"Then say my name." He growled into you ear, with bass in his voice, "You hear me? Say, my name. Beg for it. Beg."

"I want you to go faster, please. I'm begging you." You're eyes started to gloss over from how good you were feeling, "Please, Daddy. Fuck me." You shakily whisper into his ear, and he instantly switches positions. He brings your leg down gently, and picks you up while he's still inside you. You wrap your legs around his waist tightly with your arms around his shoulders, and his hand firmly on your ass, holding you up.

"Hold on tight," Roman warns you briefly before railing up into you roughly, bouncing you up and down his dick. You screamed so loud that the neighbors could've heard you from so far away, but you didn't care, neither of you did. He was making you feel so, extremely good that it nearly made you want to pass out, you never had dick like this before, ever.

You held onto him tightly, running your fingers through his hair as he continued to fuck you. Both of you muttered insanely dirty things to each other back and forth the entire time while heavily breathing, moaning loudly. The pleasure was so overwhelming that tears began to roll down your face.

"Fuck, yes." You sighed heavily, and whimpered in ecstasy, "Don't stop, baby. Please please please." You repeatedly fastly, feeling yourself about to finish.

"Who's pussy is this?" He questions, squeezing your ass harshly, going even faster.

"It's yours, Daddy." You answer helplessly, starting to lose a little energy from how good he was giving it to you.

"And who do you belong to?"

"You, I'm all yours." You promise him. Your eyes slowly started to shut and your climax was building faster and faster, "Shit, I'm gonna cum."

"Cum," He egged you on. "Cum all over this dick."

Once he said the words, you held him even tighter than before and let your climax take over. You shook a little bit, trying to catch your breath. Roman's wickedly fast strokes came to a stop, slowing down, and kissed your cheek before sitting down on the exercise stool with him still inside of you but you were still on top of him.

He put his hands on your hips, trying to guide you but you put your hands on his wrist, wanting him to stop. You didn't think you could take anymore. Roman shook his head with a tired smirk, running his tongue over his bottom lip, "Don't even try running away, you're not done. Keep fucking going, you don't stop until I tell you too."

Since you were a still sensitive from your last orgasm, you goosebumps and shivers jolted across your body as you continued to ride his dick slowly. It was really hard, and you could barely keep a rhythm going, but Roman helped guide to since he knew that. As you threw your head back, he leaned down and took your nipple into his mouth, alternating between the both of them occasionally. His hand trailed down your ass, squeezing it, wanting you to pick up the pace.

"Come on, put in that work. You wanted this dick so bad, take it." He whispered lustfully to you, staring into your eyes and was about two inches away from your face. As you picked up the pace and went faster, Roman's eyes fell shut and he bit his lip, leaning his head against the wall.

"Fuck," He moaned, emphazing the word and dragging it out as your hips circled. Roman looked beyond sexy, and you couldn't take your eyes off of him. Just looking his reaction to how you were making him feel, it could make you cum again right then and there.

"Just like that, lil' Mama." He brought you closer to him, embracing you as he continued to ride him. Then, to bring you and himself close to the edge, he pinned your shoulders down and railed up into you, getting close.

"You're gonna' make me fucking cum." He groaned lowly into your ear as you continued to moan uncontrollably into his, "You want this nut? You wanna' have my kids, baby?"

You nodded quickly, clinging onto him as you felt another orgasm approaching you. You couldn't even cry anymore, you were so out of it that you couldn't even explain what you were feeling, "Cum inside me, Daddy." You begged.

He stroked harshly a couple more times before they eventually became sloppy, getting ready to release inside of you. Your G-Spot was hit just enough by the Samoan, making you cum all over again, but this time with him. Both of you moaned loudly, trying to catch your breath and held onto each other tightly, trying to come down from your high.

Then, you both heard the doorbell ring, making you both jump and pull apart from each other. You both looked towards the gym door and back at each other. You grinned, trying to hold back a laugh and he did the same, but you both ended up laughing. He grabbed your face, adoring your smile and infectious laugh, "You're so beautiful." He gushes to you as he kisses your lips tenderly. You smile into the kiss, kissing him back and pulled away partly.

"Do you think anyone heard us?" You asked, he shrugged, squeezing the life out of you, making you laugh again.

"I don't know, but if they did, I don't care." He pecked your lips twice, and hugged you, nuzzling his face into your neck.

"I love you so much." He says with his chest, meaning every word he said.

You smiled softly, rubbing circles on his back gently, and your heart warmed. You wanted nothing more than to hear him say that, you felt complete.

"I love you more."

➰

Tags; @gold--gucciempress @wwzentertainment @serenityfiretrash @flawlessglamazon @nicolewoo @romanreignshairdresser @sassymox @pennysky @msnikkimoneypenny @jazzy-tzw @lemonjvicey @thandiwethagirl @haharollins @reignsprint @rollinshield3 @sheerbeautyreigns @zaddyreigns @brookethegamer @glowinnbabyy

[ask-the-chaos-creation-crew]

Just to any mods in general: When designing a character do you go through many design changes before settling on a final design?

I'll put it under a cut since it's kinda long.

Ellis:

not rlly tbh , tha only one's who'v rlly gone thru any sort of design changes was alien , tyrant , teen , an horror (an even then most were 4 sake of convenience/amplifying their characteristics y'kno ?)

4 example:

- while alien may hav gotten a new Frill around his neck now , he also used 2 b able 2 split his mouth all tha way down 2 his abdomen . not sure y i had that but i don't now

- horror's monster form design was a Lot different from how it was back then (never posted it publicly tho) . biggest difference was that he had eyes and a nose !!! an also chains on his wrists an ankles

- tyrant had a Lot mor scars , altho they were simplified 4 convenience sake . him being blind in one eye was ALSO not a thing originally ! ended up adding it bc ,,,, idk lol thought it looked neat

- i jus made teen look mor liek a ,,,, well a Teenager . fuckers sixteen now he can b a little edgy as a treat <3 also unrelated but fun fact he has three parents ! i forgot 2 include one of them when teen reveals who stars parents r whoops

Pearl:

Q:

For me I just kinda .. make the character design and then … keep it like that until I look at it again and go “ew”

Spinmp:

usually when i have an idea for character design i make a few sketches on paper to see what i like. ive usually talked about personality, characteristics, backstory etc beforehand so i have a vague idea of what i want it to look like!

-OWA's design changed a lot, more specifically his outfit and its colors. He used to wear a jacket until I decided that he probably wouldn't enjoy the restrictive movement that comes w it, and also drawing his scars seems cooler to me than just a normal jacket.

-Burnt Toast was going to originally be humanoid before the final design! He was going to have only one eye and a lower jaw, and he would wear a mask around people he didn't trust. After changing his story slightly, he ended up being the giant time noodle seen today :]

-Lizard RHM was actually very tricky at first. I knew I wanted him to be a lizard, but it was very difficult to decide how humanoid he would be, what his color scheme would be, what kind of lizard he would resemble, etc. Orange and spikey stuck out to me the most! im a sucker for orange. i love orangh

Sam:

i kind of just accidentally make design changes over time and go "oh i guess this is how i draw them now lol!!"

the most common thing for me to do is to make hair fluffier over time or make the character shorter by accident

Bliss:

I tend to stick fairly closely to the original design (in Alex's case, I have not changed anything about them, but that's just because I got attached to the silly), but more often change the character's personality over time (Alex went from someone barely making ends meet and working paycheck to paycheck to a popular YouTuber because of a joke AU I made).

There's an example and exception contained in one OC of mine, who went over a huge personality overhaul (went from sad to thembo) and also had a lot of his features changed as a result of him actually being given an ethnicity (he didn't have one before), after which I changed his features accordingly.

I'll also change a physical design if the old design has bad memories attached to it (I recently redesigned a character because his outfit was created by my abuser).

Milkyway:

Personally, I haven't really changed anything much design wise for my aus (except for my modsona she got a redesign recently). Triple Treat really only had this one rather dark joke I have since tossed aside I guess. However, how an au of mine did go through a bit of a change... Kid!

Initially, Kid was meant to be a rather shy and quiet child. He didn't really talk with people or other kids at his daycare, his only friends being his toys. Mama V also wasn't part of the initial concept, coming from a suggestion that one of the other mods had

As you can tell, Kid has perked up quite a bit. He's a LOT more friendly and cheerful, and a lot more... Peculiar to say the least, with some of the things he's able to so ;)

Well, I guess there's also a lot of the ideas I had for Reaper! I just, haven't really been able to implement them.

If you want an example... Well, let's just say...

Reapers... Aren't always Reapers :>

[dxringred]

I don't know what parts exactly you & the anons are talking about, I'm not asking to agree or disagree I just like reading different POVs over writing and execution. That being said what parts of Ed's writing/execution (recent examples or not) you find weak, repetitive, unimaginative (that's your main complains I guess)? & that Maxine writer, I'm not qualified & informed enough to judge her as an overall writer, so what's her weakness as a writer iyo? In general I enjoy reading critiques.

Under the cut because asking me about this kind of thing almost always guarantees an essay. Also, big spoiler warning! 

My main complaint actually tends to be the writing overall as opposed to a lack of creativity - you can use the same idea multiple times, but you need to make sure that it’s different in its own way as well. Emmerdale thinks that this can be achieved simply by swapping out characters (usually for ones that are similar) which obviously couldn’t be further from the truth.

Like I’ve mentioned before, I find their only strength when it comes to writing is drama, and it’s a) not much of a strength considering how they execute things, and b) what you’d already expect of a soap opera in the first place. So it’s no surprise that whenever they try to write for another sub-genre, it always goes terribly wrong. Just take a look at the “Whodunnit” we’ve been forced to endure for the past three months.

There’s not exactly much to pinpoint, because I think virtually everything they do is weak, repetitive, poorly executed or all three. Their overall strength tends to lay with characterization and character interactions, but even that can go pear-shaped sometimes. (See: Chrissie’s personality transplant.) And usually that’s when Emmerdale are unable to think of another way to get from Point A to Point B. I, personally, thought this was the case last Thursday during the bridge scenes when they needed to go from Moira trying to convince Emma  not to jump (Point A) to Emma being pushed (Point B).

When it comes to execution, I can obviously only judge from the standpoint of a viewer. I haven’t taken a media course in my life, so I suppose you could argue that I don’t understand the difficulty of executing/producing a soap - especially with a budget. But I feel that Emmerdale’s biggest issue with execution, is that they don’t take the time to properly visualize beforehand what they’re trying to achieve. 

Visualizing goes a long way - I do it all the time for my writing, even though there will never be a visual representation of it - and it can help with planning angles, character positions, actions, zoom and panning etc. Of course, that’s only me talking about execution from a visual perspective. I take much more issue with execution in terms of writing/storyline - where a storyline’s going to go, what’s going to come of it, what the consequences will be etc.

Anyone who’s ever looked at my blog knows how much I’ve hated this Emma storyline, in spite of it having lots of potential and Emma being my favorite character. And the main reason was because it was poorly executed, especially for what it was advertised as - a mystery. Of course, I know a “Whodunnit” is never intended to be quite like a mystery. But that’s the way Emmerdale were playing it, and they failed to deliver. Massively. 

Mysteries are all about clues, and suspects, and going through the mystery at the same pace as the detectives - that’s what makes it immersive. You can feel like you’re solving the mystery alongside everyone else. The issue Emmerdale had was that they gave you everything right away. You knew who all of the suspects were, you knew their motives, and you knew roughly where they all were at the time of Emma’s murder. (Excluding Gabby, because not even the writers knew where she was apparently.)

That’s not a mystery. That’s not really even a “Whodunnit” because you’ve already got the answer - it was one of those 7. And if you wanted to take the time to go over the possibilities, it was easy to knock that number down to 3. (You remove Pete, Ross and Cain from the equation, as the likely suspects, and you remove Adam who was blatantly going to be the scapegoat.) I went a step further and removed Laurel, because I knew she was going to be alibied by Bob long before it happened, which was how I knew it would be Moira so many weeks before it was revealed.

This year’s SSW had a similar problem when it came to execution. The visual execution was stunning for once. The pacing and everything else? Sadly not  so much. Everything happened too quickly, which left far too much room for fallout and nowhere near enough for suspense. It was akin to a rollercoaster with a single drop at the beginning, and then just a flat track for the rest of the ride. The other problem it had, was lack of reason. Or, rather, one scene of lack of reason that was a set-up for a major plot point and thus left a bad taste in my mouth for the rest of the week.

I ranted about it at the time, but I had massive issues with Adam’s reaction to Emma saving Moira from the barn fire. Massive issues. Why? Because it was an unfounded reaction, and so painfully clearly the reaction he had to have in order for the episode to progress the way it did. 

Finn got shot because Emma had a shotgun. Emma had a shotgun because she was being chased through the woods by Adam, who she wrestled it off of. (Which is… something in and of itself.) Adam was chasing her through the woods with a shotgun because somehow he just knew she’d started the fire (which she didn’t so… there’s that, too) and tried to kill his mom.

Problem is… he had no reason, whatsoever, to make such a hostile assumption right off the bat. The scenario looked exactly how Emma described it to him upon being questioned - she’d just pulled them both from the burning barn and helped to deliver the baby. Like, that’s exactly how it looked and anyone else would’ve believed that story for that reason alone. Adam, as far as I’m aware, had no reason at the time to believe she would do something like that. And so you get an entire death, set of events and reaction based on lack of reason alone. 

But… that’s off-topic. Mostly.

When it comes down to repetitiveness and lack of creativity, it’s just staring right back at you from the second you sit down to watch an episode. You’ve got the contrived love-triangles playing on a loop, crawling out of the woodwork one right after the other even when they’re not needed or are completely out of the blue. Right now we’re preparing for a near-identical reiteration of what we just had wrapped up.

The Bartons get wiped out one-by-one, leaving two survivors - the sons, Ross and Pete. Up next, we have the Whites getting wiped out one-by-one, leaving two survivors - the sons, Sebastian and Lachlan. (Only difference is they’re not brothers.) There’s even a car-crash in both! Who’d have thunk it? 

Of course there’s a chance that Rebecca might pull through and survive the White Massacre of ‘18, but it’s not looking likely if this storyline goes in the direction it’s so obviously pointing towards. (Unless she does a Chrissie and gets a new personality; guess we’ll have to wait on more spoilers to find out.)

There’s a good difference to the stories overall - one involved murder, the other will (likely) be a tragic accident - but the core layout is the same, and I personally don’t think they should air this storyline so soon after the Emma one due to that. Also, let’s not get me started on how they’ve really been overusing the death element lately. Depending on how soon they air the White storyline, we’ve literally just watched Finn and Emma die - twice in the latter’s case. 

I’ve mentioned in the past how they tier their characters, which definitely adds to the repetitiveness as you get the same core faces showing up. Bob is finally getting something to do, but it’s long overdue - then you’ve got characters like Sam, Lydia, Megan, the Sharmas (where’s Priya been lately?) etc. who just fade into the background and then you’re like “oh!” when they suddenly show up again. 

Mostly it’s the constant love-triangles and romance storylines going on at once that make the show seem too contrived, repetitive and unoriginal. Right now, all at once, you’ve got:

Chas/Paddy/Rhona

Alex/Aaron/Robert

Vanessa/Charity

Leyla/David/Tracy

Debbie/Tom

Harriet/Cain/Moira

That’s six romance plots at once, and four of them are love triangles. (Not to mention that I’m sure I’ve missed at least one.) I’m not saying they’re all bad on their own - Aaron/Alex is good once you kick Robert out of the picture, and Charity/Vanessa has been a thrill to watch after such a lack of wlw material on the show - but you don’t need that many central romance storylines going on at once. You certainly don’t need four love triangles happening in unison, like�� holy shit?

But that’s enough about me and my burning hatred for love triangles/contrived romances, so we’ll move onto Maxine. Now… I won’t claim to know all of her episodes, but the ones I have seen of hers definitely point to her being a weak link. I know, for starters, that she’s responsible for a lot of Rbrn episodes, which is enough said really. But she also wrote last Thursday’s flashback episodes which were… god awful. I doubt the storyline overall was solely her doing, but she did a terrible job of executing it.

She also wrote two of SSW’s episodes (the 5th and the 6th I believe?) at the end of that week. The writing was incredibly flat in spite of the opportunities, and that right there is what I believe to be her weakness. Now I’m not saying I’m a good writer or anything - because trust me, I’m not - but I could definitely do better than she did with the opportunities/material she had. She’s also the one, going by those four episodes alone, who seems to struggle with keeping certain characters in line with their personalities. (Seemed pretty prominent in all of the Bartons imo.)

At any rate… I know I complain a lot, but not everything about Emmerdale is necessarily bad. They write some decent stuff occasionally, such as Rhona’s rape storyline, I love a lot of the actresses, and character relationships. There is some great visual execution sometimes, and a lot of opportunity/potential even if they do fail to utilize it 95% of the time. 

It’s just that the bad outweighs the good, and it’s particularly noticeable on this show of all shows. It annoys me, quite a lot, that these people are professional writers and yet a lot of the stuff they produce is still, well... a mess to put it slightly nicer than I originally did. But hopefully that answers your question, most likely in more detail than you’d have liked asdfghjk.

[ripplestitchskein]

You put into words exactly what I feel about how they've written her. To me, all I keep thinking of is mid s4 where she's like "Here's you heart, now I've got to do shots with Regina because she needs me more." It's just bad storytelling. It also makes me hate Regina, because a lot of Emma dealing with these issues is siphoned off into propping up the "Regina and Emma are friends" plot they keep to feed us. I don't even know if they are aware of how Emma comes across to the audience. 1/2

And I'm right with you on the TL thing. If that's what they want to sell, they are not going about it the right way at all. And it's like you said, it doesn't matter what we infer when there is nothing implicitly said in canon. What exactly are we supposed to take away from their relationship at this point? That it's okay for one person to do all the heavy lifting because the other one has "issues"? It just leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. 

This brings up a really interesting point and since a lot of people have talked about Emma's reactions in the context of their own relationship I figured why not explain why I'm so uncomfortable with it in the context of mine. Maybe that will help people understand my personal reaction. In no way am I assigning this to the characters mind you. If they choose not to go this route that's fine, I'm just saying why it bothers me as an individual. Under a cut per king and rambling. Shit, can I go on. 

I always identified with CS and Emma and Killian as characters specifically because there are so many similarities to my own life. I've talked about my teenage years, how I moved out at 16, how I got arrested for a boy who then dropped me immediately afterwards while I was dealing with the consequences. Some of the crazy shit that goes along with being a moderately attractive teen girl on her own. Obviously me and Emma are bros. 

But I identify with CS as well. I loved that Killian was all in it for her. I've written meta after meta about it. But I also keep waiting for the reciprocity, and it just hasn't happened yet. S5 HELPED certainly, I mean homegirl went to the Underworld for him, but it was still very one sided and also implied in her conversation with Neal she would have done it regardless, for anyone, if she had the option not to lose them. 

And they have been so shaky in the True Love thing it's easy to see anti arguments sometimes because the show is so muddled now it's less than clear. 

So me. 

My boyfriend and I have been together for over a decade. He's a special case because I was almost exclusively into girls at the time after my failed marriage at the very wise age of 18 for lower car insurance rates. I was not feeling the menfolk. 

We have a very odd dynamic to most people and to our families. They comment and say stupid shit about it all the time. It's actually very similar to DS and Deckhand Hook in LoAL which might be why I find that fic so easy to write. It's not a Dom/Sub dynamic, but it's similar. That's also why I find the CS dynamic in general so easy to write. There is clearly a power imbalance that allows the characters, and me and my boyfriend, to compliment each other very well by forming up the missing pieces so to speak. 

A few people have commented, both positive and negative about the things I've shared here about my life. Asked how I have so much time to fuck around on fic and meta and twitter data analysis. Or been like "goals!" When I talk about something he said or did. 

And the truth is it's because my boyfriend treats me like a Queen. It's a running joke in our house "Because you're a goddamn queen". And not in a superficial way. His life is very much about taking care of our home and our children so my only responsibilities are my career and my school and playing with and enjoying the kids when I'm home because I don't get to see them all day or for several days, and our time together shouldn't be spent on doing chores. I also handle all outside of the house interactions excepting kid wellcheck or sick visits during my work day. (I handle all school meetings, parent teacher conferences, auto mechanics, appliance shopping etc). 

That's what he likes. He doesn't have career aspirations. He doesn't care about work. He has no desire to go to school. He is uncomfortable dealing with those things and making decisions about them. He's not lazy or unintelligent by any means, he just doesn't care about those things. His favorite job was a clerk at a gas station when he was a teen because he saw interesting people and it was low stress. He's not driven by the need to succeed and do well in a certain career field or academically. Those are not motivating factors in his life. He went to work because he had to, he never wanted to be in management or running anything. Nor would he have been particularly good at it. He's very chill and not very assertive. He genuinely enjoys cleaning and cooking and teaching the kids, and doing stuff to make my life easier so it was a no brainer to have him be a Stay At Home Parent when daycare for 3 children became ridiculous. 

It brings him joy to make food I want and bring me special treats and let me have lazy days in bed where he brings me everything I need. In fact how he asked me out and expressed his intentions was getting my favorite things from several different restaurants. He just likes to do stuff like that. We've had several conversations where I tell him he doesn't have to and he's like "You don't get this at all. I want to" 

To many people it looks like I order him around, like he's a servant, like he has no life of his own. In truth I do it because he genuinely doesn't know what's expected of him in family gathering or public situations. I know this. He usually asks me to beforehand. Those situations are scary for him, where to sit, when to eat, where to go to get certain things etc. 

But in exchange for all the things he does for me he pretty much gets to do whatever he wants, and the things he likes are his games and his streaming community. He likes that he doesn't have the burden of providing an income and worrying about social concerns anymore. He can make bread and clean the house, and play games with the kids and spend hours telling them about the solar system. 

We both have anxiety and issues of our own and they manifest in different ways. His are best served by me making decisions and him doing the "heavy lifting" when it comes to the easier to handle day to day. Mine are best served by having daily life minutiae taken care of because otherwise I get overwhelmed on top of higher level concerns that may be more complex, I'm also extremely flighty and live very much in my own head and forget things like lunch or taking my vitamins. 

It could very well seem to an outsider that I take advantage of him, or that he doesn't have a sense of self outside of our relationship and family. Which at the moment is how I feel about Killian. And why it rankles so much. 

Because the difference is that we've talked about it. I've offered him choices. I spent a whole year once trying to find him a hobby because I have 500 and he has like 2 and it was weird to me. At the end of it he was annoyed and was like "This IS what I like doing. Stop trying to force these things on me. I like this." 

Same thing with the house and the kids. I offer to help and it frustrates him because he wants to do it and because he likes it. We've had many many discussions where we check in with each other and make sure we're not assuming things are okay with the dynamic because it was before. Everything he's given up (job, career, etc) was very much his choice, and he wanted to and knew how important those things are to me. 

With Killian its not his choice, he didn't want to, circumstances forced it, but he was *willing* to for Emma. It's just, he's given up so much? Like all the things, and relationships he has are given up to be the best partner. 

And in my dynamic there are very clear benefits for each of us. I don't see the benefits right now for Killian, other than him have someone to love and a reason to be a a better man. Those are great but it also veers into "at the expense of himself" territory at times. We talked about him getting a family and a home, but he's also potentially losing the JR, he's stuck on land, and the family he's gaining don't ever seem to acknowledge him or outright dismiss him and the people who did support him leave.

 I just wish there was more equity. That he still got to retain some of the things he loves, the sea, his ship, his newfound brother, being a Captain, in addition to being all in for Emma and her family, and attentive to her needs. 

There is no reason he can't have both and I don't understand on a show that is very much about "We are Both" why they strip these elements of him away. 

It would be easier to take if it didn't appear like he was doing all the heavy lifting and changing while Emma gets to keep throwing up her walls the moment something gets tough to handle. If she tried to help him get back some of the things he gave up for her once things are settled. She still could. Season isn't over. But at the moment it's been a lot of Killian giving up and not a lot of Emma, and not a lot of being mindful of his feelings or issues and getting to revert back to her own without consequence. 

That's the difference for me. 

It's fine to have a partner who does more of the "heavy lifting" but only if that arrangement is equalized in other areas. Like clearly Killian is distraught and broken up over these things he's sacrificed, he very much reminds people he's still a pirate, just a good one now. And I'd like those facets of him get to remain. For his sacrifices and his effort to be acknowledged beyond "I give him happy kisses and let him hang around."

I dunno. It just bugs me. I need more from the other side to balance this shit out. Hopefully this clears up WHY it bugs me a bit better though. I know this type of dynamic can work, and what it takes to make it work, and not be somewhat unhealthy in terms of imbalance.