#i'm not in the game industry yet right now because i need to build up my portfolio more BUT

[ruvviks]

bones!! what is ur research paper on

HII it's about art style development for an applied game!! for my graduation project i worked on a game that helps first year high school students playfully practice their arithmetic reading comprehension skills and i was in charge of developing an art style for the game :D

basically i had a checklist of requirements for myself for the art style so like. its appeal to the target audience, its suitability for the educational environment it'll be used in as well as readability and accessibility to ensure that the goal and functionality of the game are prioritized and that all students can play the game without issues

so the paper focuses on how to find the right balance in all of this through looking at media the target audience enjoys and which kind of art styles fit with this, which narrative elements from those kinds of media overlap with the narrative aspects of our game and which visual elements of the art styles work and don't work for this game in the context of the story as well as its purpose and for the target audience specifically :D

it was pretty fun to work on but also i was in the fucking trenches when i had to work on it so i was. mostly suffering a lot SHGJFDHGJDFG but it gave me a good idea of like a very structured way to develop an art style! in previous projects it always was something that we quickly decided on at the start of the project so we could get started with actual production but to actually focus on the development itself before starting production was very fun and useful to do

[f0rt1e]

Devlog #0 | An unexpected journey into a game development

What does it take to go from gamer to game creator, especially when you're the team's artist, coder, and tester, all rolled into one? I would like to have an answer!

In this blog, I invite you to join me at the very start of an (hopefully) exciting journey: developing my own indie game, solo. As I dive into the territories of game design and coding, I'll be sharing regular updates about my progress, the hurdles I encounter, the solutions I discover, and the lessons I learn along the way. 

Whether you're someone who's interested in the behind-the-scenes of game creation, a fellow developer, or perhaps someone thinking about starting their own project, this blog will give you a window into the real-time ups and downs of bringing a game to life from scratch.

So why do I want to dive into a gamedev? You know, I've always been hooked on video games, always curious about the magic that goes on behind the scenes. Back in school and through university, I dabbled in a few courses on Unity, GameMaker, and Unreal Engine. But, to be honest, I never really threw myself into it—either the motivation wasn't there, or the ideas just didn't spark. Fast forward a few years, I've kicked off a career in tech, working now as a technical architect, yet my love for games hasn't faded a bit.

Recently, I found myself thinking, "Why not take a crack at the gaming industry?" But with little direct experience or relevant skills, just a ton of passion and a nagging curiosity, I realized I needed something solid to show for myself. So, I signed up for some new courses and decided to start my own little project. It’s sort of a mini-portfolio, something to back up my leap into game development. Let's see where this goes!

Sparkling idea

Lately, I've really gotten into city builders. I've played everything from SimCity to Cities Skylines, and from Banished to Settlers — not to mention the recent Manor Lords. It's been a blast, but sometimes these games can get a bit too intricate and overwhelming. That got me thinking — what if I could create a game that's more laid-back, user-friendly, and just easy to dive into? That's when the idea hit me: why not develop a medieval city builder? I imagined a game with a straightforward economy, some interesting research and discovery elements, but nothing too complicated. With just that simple concept in mind, I started developing my game.

As I mentioned, I was somewhat familiar with Unity, so naturally, I started my project there. I even made some headway — created an island with procedural generation complete with biomes and objects like rocks, trees, and flowers, got some pathfinding in place, and even prototype of a building process. But it didn't take long to realize that Unity might be a bit overkill for what I had in mind. My project wasn't that massive, and Unity felt too complex for my needs.

So, I began looking for something a bit simpler and more user-friendly. That's when I stumbled upon Godot. At first, Godot seemed a bit mysterious, but I decided to dive in and give it a shot. I'm really glad I did! Despite a slight shortage of learning materials, Godot has been a dream to work with. It's flexible, feels more approachable, and has everything I need for my 2D city builder, which, by the way, is going to be in pixel art style.

Right from the start, it's clear that being an artist is pretty much a prerequisite for game development. Sure, you could take the easy route and just buy or download assets, but where's the fun in that? Here's the thing—I'm no artist. Drawing a square is about as artistic as I get, and even then, it's a pretty questionable square. So, learning to create my own graphics was a big hurdle I had to overcome. Pixel art caught my eye because it seemed like it had the most forgiving learning curve for a beginner like me. So, I decided to give it a shot.

Current state and future plans

So here I am, just starting out with my project. I recently moved everything over to Godot, and it feels like a fresh start. Right now, I've decided to put the procedural generation on the back burner. Instead, I'm prioritizing what really matters to me at this stage—creating my first pieces of art, laying down the basics of the road system, buildings, navigation, and sketching out the interface placeholders. I’ll dive deeper into the progress I’ve made in my next post.

It's been almost two months since I started developing this game, and boy, it’s been a journey. There aren’t always clear-cut answers in game development—it’s more like an art form, with your imagination and ideas being the only real limits. I’m constantly faced with new questions and challenges, but that’s what makes this process so exhilarating.

I’m really hoping this is the start of something great, not just another fleeting idea. I want to see it grow into something both playable and visually appealing that I’ve created myself. I’ve got plenty of ideas buzzing around, and I’ll be sure to share them as the game develops and hopefully bring them to life.

Just a note to my future self: all you started with was an idea, interest, and a challenge to yourself.

Keep an eye out for more updates—I’ll have more to share very soon!

By the way - here is the photo of a project 2 months ago:

This white square is a house. Believe or not.

[sibyl-of-space]

This Tuesday I went back up to SF to attend a game dev networking Thing, and I also used the chance to visit some friends in the area and had some nice conversations with people. It's a pain in the ass to get there on public transit from where I am now but it was definitely a really fun trip and I'm really glad I went.

The event itself was nice - it was technically hosting some talks, but for about an hour and a half before the talks the space was open to meet other devs and share demos and such. Two people asked to check out the Amadeus demo and I got to a) show them the progress from the current published demo to the unpublished version I'm working on, and b) watch someone play it in person to remind myself of what a totally unbiased audience's first reaction is to it and its controls. It reminded me that while I've been revamping the point-and-click controls significantly, I need to make sure WASD is polished as well because many people prefer that scheme.

Anyway then I dipped when the talks started because I don't particularly find talks useful because I know what works for me and I don't listen to advice from people I don't know (and even sometimes from people I do know). Glad I went just for the schmoozing, though.

Spent the night with a friend who has worked in gamedev for ~8ish years now, and he is an incredibly valuable resource because he is REALLY good at giving advice/helpful feedback that recognizes "best practices" for him as someone working on a AAA team, and "best practices" for me as a solo dev of a visual novel, are completely different things. He is able to identify what values are actually worth me caring about at this point, and he also pointed out (I've very much given up on the industry completely) that once I make my own game, once I actually ship Amadeus on Steam, there are a lot of industry doors that will be open to me that aren't open yet. Many positions don't even look at you unless you've shipped a game on a major platform. So it was kind of good to hear that while I'm making this 10000% just for me on my terms, it actually could open doors much later down the line if I ever want it to.

Then I met with the professor who taught the course that got me on this path in the first place, by helping me recognize that I don't have to just be an audio person I CAN ACTUALLY BUILD THE GAME MYSELF. My final project for his class was the absolute shittiest jankiest prototype for what eventually became the Amadeus demo-- that class was HUGE for me. And my professor has given me a lot of great advice and help in Unity since then.

This meeting was interesting because I think it signified to me that, while he was the #1 most invaluable resource for me getting started in game dev, I think I've reached a point where I know what my goals are and I have the foundation to reach them, and I have somewhat found my niche and it's decidedly different from his. He definitely tried to give me advice about trying to navigate the current dumpster fire industry from the perspective of "someone who started a small studio and has done the pitching-to-publishers song and dance before" but, while he knows a LOT about the niche his own studio filled, I don't think he is equipped to understand whether the market for "4x3 SD visual novel directly inspired by a Japanese game from 2006 with a cult following" is a thing that exists. I kind of feel for him because his indie studio really tried to do everything "right" but he's having to dissolve it because the money is out and last year sucked ass. But that's exactly why I'm kind of ignoring his advice, because for me making Amadeus, it is literally not remotely about the money. I want to make this because I have a vision for a work of art that I want to bring into this world. If it never sells more than 10 copies, I'll be a bit disappointed, but I'll still consider the life I have lived as more fulfilling having made it. That's what's important to me.

I WILL burn out if I focus too hard about trying to make Amadeus into anything marketable and need it to sell X copies to be "worth it." If I continue as I have, "funding" Amadeus just by doing everything myself, creating a story I'm in love with and finishing it so I can share it with the world, then I am certain that I will finish.

It's been hard to maintain that laser focus in a world where it seems everyone wants to give me advice about how to monetize or make a career, but I KNOW that laser focus is NECESSARY to finish. I CANNOT care about the money if I want to make Amadeus what I want it to be. This game is so deeply personal to me in so many ways that I need it to be completely mine. If anything comes of it, if it sells any amount to any number of people beyond my circle of friends, it will be BECAUSE I made something incredibly authentic to my own vision and THAT is what appealed to people.

Anyway, after that conversation I met with a friend from music school, which was really wonderful because they were just excited about me making a project I'm excited about. We talked about art and passion projects and making silly things for fun. It was just nice to see them again, too.

I am extremely glad that I went, and now that I am back, I have a renewed vigor to finish Amadeus as I'd already planned on doing. Nothing is changed but everything is changed. I am bringing this game into the world and it's going to rule so hard.

[bloodelves88]

I Think I Don't Like Gaming Anymore

25 years. It's been approximately 25 years since I've started playing video games as a hobby. The games that left a memorable impression on me as a child or teenager were games like Red Alert 1, Doom, Starcraft, GTA: Vice City & San Andreas, Warcraft 3, Runescape, Little Fighter 2, Worms, Dragon Age, Mass Effect Trilogy, Assassin's Creed 1 and 2, Shattered Galaxy, Rakion, and probably a lot more that isn't surfacing to the top of my head right now.

I spent so much time playing these games. I didn't even play some of these games "properly" - I don't think I ever completed GTA: Vice City. All I ever did was muck around, blowing things up, and causing chaos. But somehow, I could spend hours doing it.

In Rakion (a PvP game), I spent hundreds of hours playing from level 1 to 10. I did that because players were matchmaked into three different level brackets. 1 to 10, 11 to 30, and 31+. Rakion was a free to play game with a cash shop, and pay to win reared its ugly head beyond level 10. So what I did was to always delete my character once it hit level 11, and just repeated everything within level 1 to 10. I had fun.

These days? I get bored and tired after an hour or two.

I started playing The Last of Us Part 1 a few days ago, and I'm already using a trainer to make things easier (i.e. cheat). I can't die, I have infinite ammo, and everything dies in one shot. But why, why am I doing such a thing?

Well, I've started to notice a particular set of feelings that arise within me whenever I play a video game nowadays. These feelings can be things like:

This is a chore

What a pain in the ass

This was only fun in the first hour of the game

This was only fun the first time I did it

What a waste of time

I just want to rush through it so that I can experience the story and complete the game

Crafting, gathering, ammo management, stealth, underwater areas, dark areas, it's all a chore to me nowadays.

Maybe an argument can be made that such mechanics aren't particularly fun to begin with, so my feelings might be understandable.

But what if these feelings extend to core gameplay mechanics?

Shooters - Shooting enemies from behind cover. Running from point A to point B. Getting headshots.

RTS - Collecting resources to build your base. Training up an army. Exploring the map.

MMOs - Travelling great distances. Earning gold. Doing dungeons and raids repeatedly to farm gear and rewards. Dealing with people. Doing dailies.

Core gameplay mechanics might not be a "chore", but they tend to drift towards "this is only fun in the first hour of the game".

I do have some guesses as to why I'm getting these feelings.

There's been no new core gameplay within video games for the past 5 years that have been really solid. I've tried Rollerdrome but it got old after a while. I haven't tried Hi-Fi Rush.

There's really nothing new, man. Every single game is just made up of the same few mechanics, wrapped up in a different skin. Fantasy, sci-fi, anime style. No matter how epic, cool, or amazing it looks, deep down it's just the same old thing all over again.

Games tend to do a very poor job to keep things fresh throughout the whole game. Once you've played a few hours of it, then you've experienced all the game has to offer gameplay wise.

I've been a story motivated gamer for quite a long time, and it's possible that what I've been seeking out are good stories and good experiences. Video games were just the vessel I used to obtain these.

It's also possible that all I wanted was a sense of progression, and the methods weren't important. This is probably why I enjoy mobile gacha games with auto-play functionality nowadays. You get to progress, but you don't need to actively grind. It basically removes the problems of it being a chore, a pain in the ass, and a waste of time. Yet it allows me to progress and experience the story (Honkai: Star Rail is so far, the best game in 2023 for me).

The video game industry, especially in the AAA space, is producing a lot of junk lately. I mean, check out this wall of shame: https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/13sjzft/we_would_like_to_apologize_please/

And even if the game isn't junk, it's filled with season passes and pay to win junk, still has to be bought before playing, and has none of the upsides of gacha games I mentioned above.

Everything is liked nowadays. My previous blog post: https://bloodelves88.tumblr.com/post/702607969068662784/everything-is-liked-nowadays

I'm just losing patience, growing old, getting tired, etc.?

I do still enjoy some new games though, but I'm not sure why. They don't seem to be that different, but I still enjoyed them from start to end. The Yakuza series, Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West, The Final Fantasy VII Remake, and Final Fantasy XIV are examples of new games I enjoyed.

All in all, I'm still not sure what to make of these feelings I have. I think I want to set video games aside and play less of it, but it's not easy to just do that for a 25 year old hobby. I doubt I'll ever drop video games from my life completely, but to stop keeping up with video game news, to stop exploring and trying out most of the new games that come out every year - it's going to be a strange feeling. Old habits die hard.

[banana-milk-enthusiast]

beat Forspoken, and while I probably will write an in-depth review down the line cuz i have many thoughts, I'm just going to pointform my basic thoughts while it's still fresh.

PROS

Great designs all around, the Tantas look so breathtaking with their extravagant designs and yet it doesn't take away from their world, it fits just right in. Absolutely love it.

Good world building most questions i had were answered either through the main story or extra archive stuff. Nothing felt too weird yknow

Gameplay gameplay gameplay. The magic system is literally amazing. I dont think I've had this much fun fighting in an rpg in a long time. Theres so much fun variety so you can focus on whats comfortable for you while also looking sick as fuck. Have i mentioned how good the battle system is cuz i avoid playing mage in every game because its such a slog but here its so fast paced and hits hard. Perfect for me.

The music is soooo good, I love the main theme and find myself humming it literally all the time.

Great graphics but maybe a lil too many particle effects but otherwise really pretty.

The story is technically a pro. Like its good, not bad, not great, just good. Basically something you'd find in the YA Fantasy section, thats the kinda quality it was. Which isn't a insult I did enjoy the story and characters. It just needed polish, fix up the dialogue and trim some of the story fat and i wouldn't have any complaints tbh. Probably would do better as a book series tho ngl, not sure what game format would have saved it.

Shoutout to the accessibility options. I'm glad more games are including these. I'll never understand complaints about them though, like just dont use them if you dont want/need to thats it.

ALMOST FORGOT THE COOLEST THING. THE NAILS. I'm sorry but the idea of using nail art to inscribe magic runes to give you buffs is the coolest fucking idea ever, why has this concept not been used till now. We always see rune tatoos or written on gear and stuff im fantasy media but this is such a neat ideaaaa and im forever thankful for it. Her capes are cool too I guess, with there was more variety rather than recolors tho. Kinda wish we could also get different outfits for her tho. Those jeans probably chafe.

CONS

THE OPEN WORLD IS SO BIG FOR NO GODDAMN REASON. I honestly wish this wasn't an open world game tbh, its so unnecessary. Halfway through the game, i got so frustrated and ignored everything that wasn't story points cuz getting everywhere takes so damn long, especially early on when you dont have fancy parkour or stamina. Easily its biggest fault for me.

I understand they thought it'd do way better than what happened but planning out a story as a trilogy in the gaming industry is not a smart move. I've yet to play the dlc so idk if we get closure but the loose ends werent a great way for the game to end.

Oh, the dialogue. Its easily one of the gamest weakest points. Like the type of dialogue i was writing in my original stories when i was 13 (not that ive gotten any better tbh). Basically, it's not what you expect from such a vaunted company. Frey is great when shes excited or angry, which is most of the time, but occasionally, they'll hit me with the cheesiest line I've heard in years, and idk how to handle it. Like the stuff she says in the final chapter is honestly so robotic, there is no natural flow present. Which is a pity cuz the actress was killing it tbh, like she definitely carried the lines with her emotion. Unfortunately, it couldn't save them. Like if it was something they dropped on ps3 or wii, it honestly would have done fine. What i mean to say is the dialogue is very outdated in this age of gaming. im actually surprised how out of touch it feels. Especially since otherwise its a solid game all around. Regarding Cuff and Frey banter you do have the option to make it less frequent or just turn it off but i never really found them annoying regardless.

Maybe its just me but the control scheme feels so weird, the games makes you feel like you should be gliding most of the time but holding O while spaming all those trigger buttons feels so awkward to me. But then again I also didnt care enough to change the control scheme so.

[defensefilms]

NFL Divisional Round Preview And The NFL Is Blocking Everything

The Divisional Round is upon us and we are now in the part of the season that matter.

But before I do my preview, I want to address something that's been happening with the NFL, and more specifically, with content creators who talk about the NFL.

Lately the NFL has been blocking links to their content being shared on all social media platforms, going so far as to even block anyone sharing a highlights video on Tumblr via a link, as well as every other type of sharing.

The NFL is a business, and they have the right to do what they want, and looking at their ratings, they appear happy to hedge all their bets on the television market, even if it is somewhat outdated.

I'll say this, it may feel like they have a huge lead in television audience numbers, and television is the medium that the NFL was created for, but times are changing.

Today you're the industry leader in live sports television, tomorrow you're a step behind every other past time because in 10 years, no one will own a television, and the streaming audience is notoriously anti-advertising.

Meanwhile every other major sport has been taking the free advertising and marketing that content creators provide and built a lead in the emerging platforms of the 21st century.

Anyway, I should really reconsider doing another one of these, given last week's 3-3 total, but here goes. Keep reading to see my picks and predictions.

1. Baltimore Ravens vs Houston Texans

The Texan roll in to this one knowing full well what their offense is capable, but to beat this Ravens team in Baltimore will be a different level altogether.

Starting with Baltimore's defense, they are surely among the best secondary units in the league, and they will need to show it in this game, CJ Stroud threw 3 touchdowns to 3 different recievers last week against the Browns.

For the most part, I expect this game to be a high scoring shootout, but there is a twist because Baltimore are the 3rd best rushing attack in the league, so I think they are more layered than the Texans, and will be able to control time of possession.

But the biggest reason to pick the Ravens is thier quarterback.

Lamar has been awesome all season, I fuly expect him to be crowned MVP because nobody has been better this year, he is simply the best player in the NFL in 2024.

Give me Baltimore to win.

MY Pick: Baltimore Ravens Win 35-30

2. San Francisco 49ers vs Green Bay Packers

The 1-seed 9ers host a plucky Greenbay team lead by a young quarterback and I really wonder how much the recent playoff history between the two teams will matter in this one.

The 9ers defense had turned into specialists at stopping Aaron Rodgers, and wonder if thier defensive co-ordinator, Steve WIlks, has figured anything out from Jordan Love's virtuoso performance last week.

The Pacers defense should com in to this game witha wave of momentum, they may have given up 32 points in the win against Dallas, but they stonewalled Dak Prescott and his offense for the first half while building up a lead.

However, even with the 9ers being the favorites, and rightly so, there is still the one boogeyman they have yet to overcome, which is Brock Purdy bringing them back when they are trailing, which has never happened.

If the 9ers are able to play with a lead, it'll be business as usual, but I feel like there is a sting in the tail, and you know, if I'm going to mae a risky pick, it may as well be against my least favorite team in the league.

MY PICK: Green Bay Packers Win 27-20

3. Detroit Lions vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Bucs travel to Detroit as underdogs and will play in an atmosphere that only the Detroit crowd can provide, and they will be hyped for this.

The Bucs defense was really good against the Eagles, but the Lions will pose a different threat in the pass game, where they were really good last week in the 1st half, Goff had 227 yard on 27 pass attempts.

Add to that, Baker Mayfield has been sacked more times than any quarterback remaining in the playoffs, at 40 times, and that's something for the Lions to ponder in thier game plan.

I expect to see the Bucs feeding Rachaad White a lot more in this game and establishing the run, how the Bucs execute play-action, will be all important for Baker and the recievers.

I think Detroit are rightly being favorited, but I'm worried about Detroit's offense only scoring a single field goal last week against the Rams.

Still, I feel I have to ride the hot hand, and Detroit still had a better quality victory and perfomance over a better team in the Rams, so I'll take Detroits

MY PICK: Detroit Lions Win 28-17

4. Buffalo Bills vs Kansas City Chiefs

This will be the 3rd time that Josh Allen and Patrick Mohames will play in the playoffs, and for the first time, the Chiefs will likely be underdogs, and they'll have to go on the road.

Here's where this gets tricky, the Bills teams of the past did not have the same balance between running and passing as they do right now, they averaged 130 yards per game for the regulars season, and both the Chiefs and the Bills hold opposing teams to 110 yards rushing per game.

However to me, the most fascinating part of this duel will be the defenses of both teams, and how both team's secondaries have been among the best in the league this year, both are in the top 10 for passing yards allowed.

The Chiefs were among the top teams in total defense but the Bills aren't far off in 3rd place, and for what it's worth I believe the Bills have to get a slight nod, they nabbed 18 interceptions in the regular season.

The quarterback comparison is where this get interesting, both Allen and Mahomes are top 10 in total touchdown passes and in total paasing yards, but its the mood around both offenses that's most telling.

The Bills really found thier rhythm toward the end of the regular season where they had a 6-1 record to claim the 2nd seed, but it's the Chiefs offense and those wide recievers have changed how the Chiefs offense approaches games.

Simply put the Chiefs in 2024 cannot win a high scoring shootout of as they would have in years past.

What this comes down to, is that this is arguably the most conservative, and also the least offensively potent Kansa City Chiefs team since Mahomes was drafted.

Give me Buffalo to win.

MY PICK: Buffalo Bills Win 29-24

[poolpartymusic]

wait i wanna say more!

Okay, I went to the toilet and decided there is more to say:

WHAT DO I WANNA DO WITH MY LIFE?

Maybe caps is a little dramatic, because I am relatively chill about it. My most concerns are with my student debt, but even that is something I'm sure will work out eventually.

"Artificial Intelligence has genuinely interested me, but building smart vacuum cleaners does not sound right to me. Meanwhile, whenever I read someone is interested in film making, I get jealous for their bravery.  But then, the proud that is burning inside of me tells me to go to WO University, to study something useful and secure. I always said I’d rather study something fun than something that would get paid well. I’m aware of what I want to do, but I am insecure. There is no experience in the film industry for me, except for all the years of writing. And then what? Script writing, is that what would make me happy? No, I’d want full control. I’d want to study Film Directing, but we all know I won’t get hired for that. That last statement is something I believe. Even if it is a logical statement, as the only people getting in are about 24 years old and have made shorts, I still miss the key characteristic for making it in the film world. Confidence. I tell myself I’d be willing to work hard, yet mean while I’ve been disappointing myself by surfing through fucking Habbo Hotel in my free time. I’m stuck."

I remember feeling at home at the thought of studying AI at Tilburg University. It was something I did find interesting, but I never realized I didn't even see a future in that work field for myself. At the same time I felt super cheekily excited about filmmaking: It scared me. It saddens me to read that I didn't believe I could ever really become a film director. I went into the film studies so insecure...

And then after two years I switched to Illustration. I do think it was a very good call. If I would've gone through wat film, I wouldn't have learned as much as I have now. Still, I don't want to become an illustrator.

These past months up to maybe two years, I've been telling people I aspire to make short animation films and documentaries, while also making little poetry books with illustrations. And while that is definitely true, I of course am also following an ICT minor right now.

And I realize that pedagogy or psychology is also something I'm interested in. I don't feel like I must make a choice between everything, but I do wanna broaden my horizon and put myself to work.

Therefor, I have two options. Firstly, I can learn more about coding and coding in art. I could make a project where I try to make a game. Secondly, I can spend time learning about child development, psychology and pedagogy. This because I'm considering doing 1.5-2 years of pedagogy work after my studies, just to earn money and try something new.

I think for now, and really I'm just brainstorming along while I'm writing this, I'll just need to make a decision. None is wrong, I can always change.

I do miss writing. I do wanna draw more- And if I decide to do pedagogy after my studies, I'll have to attend classes either way. So maybe let's focus on game making.

Okay. Now, I'll stop ranting here and I'll make a Notion page on which I outline how I want this project to take form.

I'll maybe keep you up to date, though this blog was mainly to talk about more personal struggles. We'll see.

[bitsoft360bitcointrading]

Bitcoin 360 AI Reviews - Genuine Crypto Exchange Stage? You Must Read This!

Bitsoft360 Reviews Take it easy, guys! Hey, like my Mom likes to say, "Hurry when you have time, then you'll have time when you are in a hurry." This is lip smacking good. To be certain, this project isn't the answer to the question or I feel obligated to put on my green eyeshade and count the euros. Using this is neither fish nor fowl. That responsibility might someday be a distant memory. Are you one? I expect it settles your fears a bit. Unless you're a Bitsoft360 AI whiz you will not be able to accomplish that. That's quite fragile. Sometimes it's the simplest and most main it is what zealots need.

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[grishaverse-chaos]

2, 3, 9, & 18— for the ask game! (sorry if i asked for way too many— but if so, just take your pick)

no not at all!! I love talking about my wips 😊

I have way too many wips but for this I'm going to be using the current grishaverse fic I'm writing which is a modern AU based in the music industry

2. Give the first line of this chapter/fic.

"You stay here, yeah?" Mal says, halfway out the window.

(honestly I laugh every time I reread this line)

3. Who's your favorite character for this chapter/fic?

so far, Alina is really fun to write - I'm writing from her pov and it's really interesting to see how she thinks about things while she's being manipulated. I haven't introduced him as a character yet but I'm also looking forward to writing Nikolai because his interactions with Alina are always top-tier, and his backstory is also very interesting (and very sad) 👀

9. What is your favorite dialogue you’ve written so far?

this whole scene between genya and alina is really...... something and it's one of my favourite scenes so far

"Have you ever met the guy who owns the label?" Alina asks as the two of them walk down a corridor leading to the main staircase.

A cloud seems to pass over Genya's eyes. "Yes."

She pauses, waiting for Genya to volunteer more information, but when she doesn't, Alina decides to probe a little deeper. "What's his name? What's he like? How worried should I be?" she asks, the questions seeming to flow out of her.

"Pyotr Lantsov. And he's… very powerful, and he knows it. But you have nothing to worry about," she says, almost bitterly. "If Eryk has taken you under his wing as he seems to have done, then he won't dare to try anything with you."

"Try- try what?"

But Genya clams up again. "Never mind."

18. Share the scene you just wrote, written from another character’s POV.

the LAST scene I wrote doesn't exactly have another character to switch the pov to, so I'm doing a different scene I wrote recently (this ended up longer than I meant it to, so I'll add a readmore)

When Zoya finally meets Alina Starkov, she's back in LA in between stops on her tour, and she's just finished working out with Botkin. She's ready to move on to the next part of her usual routine - practicing sparring with Nadia, to build stamina and skill in self-defence. It's her favourite part of the day. Usually. But just as she's getting off the treadmill, Alina walks in.

She looks over at Alina. "What is she doing here?" she asks Botkin.

"Starting to learn to spar," he says bluntly. "You're the same age, and similar heights. You will be sparring partners for the foreseeable future."

Wait, what? "What about Nadia? We've always been sparring partners."

"I've rearranged the pairs. That doesn't need to concern you. As it is, I would like Alina to have a more experienced sparring partner. You are more than capable of showing her the ropes, are you not?"

She nods slowly. "Damn right."

Shit, this is a disaster. She had been avoiding Alina deliberately, not wanting to let on how hurt she'd been by what Eryk had told her... She's not going to think about that now, though. She's not going to think about it at all. Fuck him and his ideas about her talent and her looks.

She zones out as Botkin explains to Alina how the sparring sessions usually go. Then she feels Alina nudge her ribs.

"I- sorry about your old partner," she whispers.

God, this girl really doesn't get it, does she? "That's not the issue. Well, it is, but I'd be fine changing partners if I didn't have to work with you."

That was meaner than she'd meant it to be, but fuck it. Alina Starkov had taken everything from her. Eryk's attention. The focus of the label. Even her goddamn manager, Ivan. She deserves to be a little petty about this.

Botkin claps his hands. "Right! Neither of you is listening to me, so we will continue this outside in the fresh air. And we will jog up to the outside area."

Ugh. Could today get any worse? Zoya easily keeps pace with Botkin as they jog up the hill to the outside area, and she notices that Alina's quite far behind them. Part of her wants to stop and wait, but most of her cares about proving she can be better than Alina at something. No matter what Eryk thinks.

She reties her ponytail and starts warming up while she waits for Alina, who arrives a few minutes behind her and Botkin. She ties up her own hair and starts imitating Zoya's stretches. She can't help it - she lets out a small giggle, and regrets it when she sees Alina glaring.

Botkin goes over the basic movements for sparring, clearly for Alina’s benefit - Zoya tries not to roll her eyes, but okay, maybe she does. Once or twice. Then he steps back, and tells the two of them to start fighting. He gives her a stern look, and says: “And go easy on her. She will not be used to this.”

Zoya nods, not meaning it at all, then throws a punch which Alina barely manages to duck. She returns with a punch of her own, but Zoya casually sidesteps it and she nearly overbalances. The next punch Zoya throws, Alina doesn't manage to dodge, and it hits her right in the shoulder. As she's already unsteady, Zoya pushes her backwards, her hands on Alina's chest, and she falls on her back, landing on one of the crash mats.

Well, at least she's beaten Alina at something. Even if she is now the new star of the record label, at least Zoya is still better than her at this.

Then Alina scrambles to her feet and throws a wild punch, catching Zoya off guard. It hits her right in the face.

Zoya sees red. How dare this girl come into her life and fuck it up so badly. She must think she's so much better than her or anybody.

She grabs Alina's arm and tosses her into the wall. Not hard enough to do any permanent damage, but... maybe a bit harder than she'd meant to.

Botkin rushes over to Alina's side, making sure she's conscious and breathing.

Fuck, Zoya messed up. Badly. Eryk will be furious.

Well, at least she's going back on tour next week.

Finally Botkin turns to Zoya. "That was wholly unprofessional -"

She doesn't stick around to hear the end of the sentence, storming out and pushing her way through a crowd of reporters.

Wait, reporters? What?

She almost feels bad for leaving Alina to deal with them on her own.

(Almost.)

this scene was originally in Alina's pov, but I think it works quite well from Zoya's pov!! (also it ended up way longer than I thought it would but oh well)

[freeworldallahexecutivembaclass]

Guess who my coach and trainer is it's no lie Joel Osteen he is getting me in shape and fit as a decent human being thank you brother I love you so much 💖 😍 thank you Joel your my friend and pastor I love your sermons it's my favorite show now . I just found out I'm Donny Creed in his new movie as Apollo Creed son I'm him in Creed 3 the new movie hot stuff it's baking cookie hot muffin stove gloves hot I'm in the kitchen training ferociously thank you so much oh yeah one of my favorite movie stars ✨ check his new movie out that makes me SIR Jay Z and Beyonce Son the Prince and much love to fellow Houstoner Beyonce Knowles Carter my homegirl and my sister mom mom Baytown Texas in the house 🏡 I owe bloods an apology the gang my gang my brothers the people who I legalized the pot gaunja marijuana bud for no I'm not into that gang lifestyle even though much tension come from my way while they are being easy and cool and people like them right now I ask the city of New York that every building or sign they put up in my name you put them included we started together and squashed our drama no drama no beef I know Joel Osteen hear me and Beyonce hear me I'm trying to end the war between me and gang members I promise not to violate them or disrespect them since I'm claiming that I'm not a gang member or a person that is into that type of crowd and it's people I like them but I rather put you at the same levels I'm on so that we can compete friendly competition you make your song I make my song and let's see who win the city type stuff I'm opening the door so you can all get on in any industry you want just like I legalized the bud weed marijuana to get the cops off of you I'm letting you in the game of being truly powerful and that echo out of my room can go away the mind control voodoo hex can go away that would help and level any playing field 🏑 and this is from a cartoonist digital animator me .

My self taught schooling and schedule hope it helps .

Week 1 Monday : Chapters 1 , Chapter 2 , Chapter 3 Subjects : Retail business kit for dummies and branding for dummies , Art of the deal Donald Trump class

Tuesday Subjects : Administrative Assistant secretary handbook chapter 27 , Chapter 28 and chapter 29 and resumes and cover letters for dummies Chapter 4 , chapter 5 and chapter 6

Wednesday : Chapter 1 , Chapter 2 , Chapter 3 Subjects : Living longer for dummies and success habits for dummies

Thursday : Chapter 1 , Chapter 2 , Chapter 3 Subjects : Communicating effectively for dummies and Commercial real estate for dummies

Friday : Chapter 1, Chapter 2 , Chapter 3 Subjects : Project management for dummies and Running a restaurant for dummies

Saturday : Chapter 1 , Chapter 2 , Chapter 3 Subjects : Basic English class writing skills and basic arithmetic class Donald Trump's commercial Real Estate and Donald Trump's entrepreneurship class

Sunday : Chapter 1 , Chapter 2 , Chapter 3 Subjects : Management for dummies and product management , Microsoft office for dummies

Week 2 Monday : Chapter 7, Chapter 8 , Chapter 9 and chapter 10 Subject : Retail business kit for dummies and branding for dummies chapter 4 , chapter 5 and 6 , Art of the deal Donald Trump class chapter 1 , chapter 2 and ,Chapter funny story the back room operations is major work I never doubt myself though because I'm successful already it's funny because I'm quiet but my work ethic is sorta what drives me since I was young and hustling I work and work extremely hard at trying to my deals done or maybe a song I write or studying about some country that need my help now I got all these accomplishments and I'm a winner there and haven't missed yet this is new to me you don't hear from me I'm doing my homework I take my time with everything I do I basically learn the game that I'm getting into and then pitch my stuff law proposal or whatever and I win all the time I study hard 😂 I feel good but you know I'm going to get a good life from all this so it is worth it 😊 ❤️ .

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1st semester subjects :

Some good books to read a doctor prescribe medicine and a psychiatrist prescribe techniques to bring a person back from dangerous behavior and mannerisms that creates their characters and then of course their destiny books for you can change that let reading be your new cool 😎

[time-to-write-and-suffer]

First day of college learning "media science" aka Getting My Gamer Degree:

Get lost (obligatory)

The door's locked cuz I haven't gotten my card yet so some lanky Carrot Top-lookin guy opens it and bows when I say thanks. Red flag, no pun intended.

The Gamer Musk is obvious on this floor of the building. In my journey to find this corridor, I went through a bunch of others, where people were nice and pretty and chatty. Here it's a bunch of teen boys in sweatpants, 3 middle-aged men, maybe 10 awkward art students. We're spread out like land mines.

Lecture begins. Not enough room or chairs for everyone. Thought this college was fancier than this, but I think it's the organization that's lacking rather than budget.

Lecturer talks about needing more women and nonbinary people in the gaming industry. He's right but the vibes are slowly rotting. They had a woman leading this program at some point but she had to leave for unexplained reasons. Uh-oh cisters.

Someone sets up a Discord server. Everyone joins. They immediately abandon this server for another, better one.

My group of awkward teens disperses. I go home to eat because I live 5 minutes away from the building.

Next lecture is on Zoom. It's fine but my head hurts.

One of the lecturers drops off the Zoom call. All the gamers spam Fs in chat. Yes this is real.

People make fun of the guy talking on Zoom on Discord and think his lecture is boring and his help isn't needed. These comments are interspersed with messages asking what's going on and what we're doing and how we're supposed to be doing it. I remember I'm surrounded by actual children.

One based comrade posts a Drive link to all the books we'll need in a secret channel, in the SAME server that the teachers will join. Asks us to please not rat him out. 75 people say nothing in what I assume is silent endorsement. I advise they go to libraries if they're not ok pirating.

People are now spamming stale memes in chat. I can't tell if I'm the normie or they are.

My jokey comment about only enjoying singleplayer story-focused games gets 3 thumbs-up in a sea of LoL and WoW junkies. I just assume the people talking are a loud minority.

Overall mood: Confused, but quietly optimistic.

[ace-in-a-shopping-cart]

Hey, I know you don't really have a fanfic ask game up at the moment but I'm really interested in your work.

Got any snippets of anything to share? Or, any works that you really want to ramble about for a bit? I just want to hear you talk about your writing for a minute if that's alright. (ahhh, *hides in the corner while embarrassed*)

Okay, anon, for real, this is the sweetest ask I've gotten in a big while. Thank you so much for liking my stuff so much and liking me enough to just 'want to hear me talk' about my stuff. For that, I'll give you a little excerpt from my few WIPs and I'll talk a little bit about my planned projects.

An excerpt from Before Your Kisses Turn Into Bruises (A time loop fic for Kaz Brekker x Reader)

There was a look in their eye that did something to Kaz, a gravity about them that tugged at him. It threatened to pull him closer and into their orbit, closer than he would let most people get. He managed to resist that gravitational pull, but only just. Instead, he watched as they made their way across the small space of the intersection and came to stand at his side.

A frustrating excerpt from Tutoring the Popular Student (the story before the ASMR script)

“Here’s the number for the Tutoring Center. For the ones you need, that’s gonna be on the ground floor of the BI building.” Jason stared at him blankly. "Sorry, Coach, I've never been to the BI. I don't even know what it's used for. All my classes like that are usually in the general Business Building of the BU." Coach Bradford sighed. "The center for Business and Industry, the BI, is to the left of the BU from the back. It's right behind the bookstore, next to the cafeteria."

Okay, those are the two excerpts I've got for you unless you wanted stuff from finished but not posted works.

As for not started works, I don't really have any clear order of how I want to work on them. I'm probably going to work on smaller scripts as I work on the Tutoring series as it is a series, just like I'm working on smaller fics along with the longer fic that is Love Me Gently (Protect Me Fiercely). Although, I really do need to get back into working on that one, it's kinda stalled a bit because wording has escaped me for it. I need to reread it for characterization of the reader and stuff like that.

A small note: The kinda ramble about the College Buildings in the Tutoring excerpt is based on the way my actual college campus so it's a little personal joke of mine.

I can say the next script I'm most likely to work on after the first episode of Tutoring is probably going to be Bodyguard X Royal Listener [A4A]. The premise of that one is actually written in my notes as a little ramble from the Bodyguard XD

Hey, you just woke from a nightmare and are pretty scared right now. I know I’m technically supposed to just be posted outside but I couldn’t help but barge in when I heard the scream, are you okay? I’ll just sit in here until you fall back asleep, it’ll be fine. Oh, you want me to sit on the bed next to you? Okay, I can do that. Oh, now you’re snuggling against me. Yeah, anything to make you feel safer. God, you’ll never know just how much I love you. Wait, you’re not asleep yet? You love me back? Okay, I’ll make sure you sleep as comfortably as possible. I can’t take off my armor cause I’m still on duty but put your pillow on my lap or against me and I’ll stroke your hair and whisper to you until you fall asleep.

It's a very cute concept to me and I'm really interested in writing it, I just can't figure out how to actually start it. It'll get done soon, I think.

[we-have-bangtan]

BCO (Bangtan Crime Org.)

Pairing: OT7 x Reader

Theme: Mafia au, poly au, smut (later), fluff, sassy female lead.

Warning: Swearing, gore, blood, smut.

Chapter 1 || Chapter 2

______________________________________

___________________________________________

"So, what's the verdict?"

"Oh, she's totally lying. She didn't say a single true thing the entire time she was sitting there. I'm sure if you asked her what color the sky was she would say 'red'." Jin answered as the seven of them gathered inside Namjoon’s office.

“so what do we do now?”  Jimin asked, looking at the monitor, she didn’t even try to free herself considering the fact that they had tied her pretty loosely. 

“Yoongi hyung, I think you should go in” Namjoon answered, looking into the monitor as well, there was something suspicious about this girl, she didn’t speak and if she did all she did was lie, she didn’t try to escape, she wasn’t even mildly panicking over the fact that the plan to kill atleast one of them had fail. She just sat there with a blank expression. 

It irritated Namjoon, how calm she was, he watched patiently as Yoongi hyung went to get the work done, get the girl to tell them something. She was extremely young, younger than Jungkook who was 24 and sipping on banana milk while looking at the monitor as Yoongi came into view.

       “Hello little girl” Yoongi greeted, the girl huffed, “Take a seat, this is going to take a long time” she jested, jerking her head towards the empty chair across the table from her, “how kind of you” Yoongi retorted as he took the seat, she rolled her eyes at him. 

   He got comfortable, loosening his tie and unbuttoning his collar, “So, what’s your name?” he asked, no response, “well then I’ll go first, my name in Min Yoongi, I’m the right hand man” he continued but was quickly interrupted by the girl, “Didn’t your friend already tell you my name? aish, you guys are so boring” she snapped, “boring?” Yoongi questioned, he had actually got a name from Jin hyung but they weren’t sure if she was lying or not.

     “so you weren’t lying about that?” he asked, “of course not!” the girl said, her voice full of disbelief, So your name is actually Susan?”, “yes.”, “well that’s funny cuz Jin hyung told me your name was Mary” Yoongi retorted, a smirk taking over his features, “That’s my middle name” She answered, he breathed out a laugh at how hard she was trying, he would have pitied her if she hadn’t tried to kill them.

      “Why do you keep lying?” he asked as he got up from his seat, he really didn’t want to hurt this pretty girl but he had no choice, if he needed information he would have to hurt her. She didn’t answer hid question, “is it loyalty?” he asked as he got closer to her, picking up the knife on the table on the way.

      “Maybe.” she said, Yoongi ran a finger down the blade in his hand, “look, you tell me everything we need and we’ll let you go” he offered, “No.” was the answer he got, making him sign, “look, you don’t talk you get hurt, I doubt you want to get hurt” he warned looking her in the eye, she simply stared back at him before speaking again, “I like getting hurt”. The fuck, Yoongi thought, she was just like Jin hyung, no wonder Jin hyung had been so frustrated with only 10 minutes of her, but Yoongi wasn;t one to give up easily, he prided himself on his interrogation technique and he was going to get this girl to spill the beans.

___________________________________________________

                         OUTSIDE

____________________________________________________

“Do you think she’ll actually talk?” Taehyung asked, he could see why Jin hyung was so frustrated, having to interrogate someone who spoke just like him was difficult especially if they had Jin hyung’s way of deviating from the topic and a phd in the nonsense game. 

The six of them payed closer attention to the pictures taken of the girl, she refused to tell them her name, Jungkook had been the one to spot her in the dealership area, atop a building with a sniper gun pointed straight at Namjoon’s head, the girl was clearly very ambitious for wanting to get done with Namjoon first. 

        “I don’t know, maybe we didn’t pressure her enough yet” Hobi answered Tae’s question, they all looked at the reports that the mafia members had given them, looking for any and all ways that the girl could have come in through, they couldn’t find any loop holes in the guard places. 

 “She’s so fucking annoying, oh my God” Jin exclaimed as he went through what he had gotten from her (which was basically nothing except for wrong information), “Glad to know you understand what it is like to ask you questions” Jimin retorted with a snigger making Jin glare at him.

“There was someone else with her on the terrace but they got away, she was even looking for them when we were taking her away” Jungkook said over Jin and Jimin’s bickering, “Any clue what that person looks like?” Namjoon asked as he looked at the pictures, the girl was pretty, she probably was a master in the skill of seduction with looks like that. Long, wavy brown hair and jet black eyes complimented her face structure, she clearly had a lot of skills other than being a sniped considering the fact that she had managed to get to the top of the building without being detected. 

      “All I saw was their back, he was very muscular and then he vanished into the street” Jungkook recalled, thinking a little harder to remember any of the details, “oh and he was wearing a cast, you know the kind they wear when they have a sprained hand, that one” he informed Namjoon who just nodded, a sprain bandage was easy to remove and the muscular back could apply to more than half of the mafia industry. They’d just have to wait and see if the girl gave up any information.

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

“Now let us try again,” Yoongi coo’d pressing the knife to the girl’s thigh, “what is your name? and i want a real answer” he questioned, he watched the girl’s eyes shut with pain as the knife pierced her skin, it wasn’t a deep cut, just a slash to the top of her skin, not meant to kill, just to make her talk. 

       “That felt good, come on give me more” she choked out making Yoongi gape at her, was this girl insane or was she really into knife play to still be able to taunt him like this, he didn’t know anymore. He pressed his palm to the wound, blood coating his hand making her hiss, “your name darling” he asked again, pressing harder onto it. She shook her head, no, she was not going to talk to him yet. He just shook his head, pressing down harder onto the wound, her scream echoed through the room and outside as well making Jin wince outside.

  “Yn, my name is Yn” she finally gave in, Yoongi’s hand coming off of her wound, “now, that wasn’t so hard was it, you wouldn’t have had to experience all that had you just answered me” he jested as he wiped his hand off on a rag, the gold rings on his fingers glinting in the yellow glow of the bulb that hung above the two of them.   

           “Now, Yn, onto the next question, who sent you?” he asked staring down at her, she didn’t answer, she just looked down at her bleeding thigh, refusing to meet his eye, “Speak up dear, unless you want to get hurt” he said, taking a step towards her, she still didn’t speak, he asked again as he ran the blood stained knife from the base of her neck to her chin, he didn’t hurt her, no, he just wanted to instill the fear inside her, it would be a shame to have to slice such a pretty throat, he thought to himself as he waited for an answer, no answer, his swiftly sliced her collarbone, blood seeping out of the cut. The girl hissed but didn’t say anything. 

      “Is this what you were told to do? give up your life but not give up information, are you really that loyal?” he continued, “Do you really think someone will come for you Yn? do you think they’ll rescue you from us? do you think you’ll get out of here alive?” he bugged as he brought the knife down on the side of her face, another sleek cut on her cheek. “Go away, you’re annoying” she groaned, not even bothering to try anything,Yoongi just laughed at her. She really was loyal, a little too loyal, if he had a person like her in his gang, he would reward her greatly for being so loyal because loyalty was something that was very rare in the mafia business.

  “Ok then, why don’t you tell us how you got through our security instead” he offered, she contemplated for a moment before answering, “your security sucks, that’s how”, it pissed him off but he managed to keep his cool, “how so?” he asked, he genuinely wanted to know what was wrong with their security so he could chew Hobi out about it later. “Everything” she replied, “maybe be more specific,” he jabbed as he walked around the room when a sharp knock sounded on the door. “Come in” he permitted leading to Hoseok coming inside.

    The two of them exchanged hushed whispers before Hoseok left again. Yoongi leaned against the table looking at the girl, he really did feel pity for her now. “We got a message from your people” he said as he toyed with the knife, her head shot up at the information, were they negotiating with Bangtan for her? were they going to rescue her? were they coming to get her? hope ran through her as she thought all the possibilities.

           Yoongi looked back at her once Hoseok left the room, all he felt was pity for her but he wouldn’t show it on his face, nope. “They’re letting you go.” he informed watching as her eyes widened at the news, “look, just tell us what we need and we’ll let you go as well” he told her, he really did feel bad for the girl but he had a job which he was supposed to do.

            “No.” she said, looking down at the floor, how could they do this, why would they do this after everything she had done for them, they knew she would hunt them all down one by one once she got out, “why would they do that?” she pondered out loud, “Maybe because they don’t have faith that you’ll come out alive” he answered, watching as anger flared in her eyes, what ever the people who had sent in that message had done, they were going to pay for it dearly.

   “Well, how do you feel? to be abandoned just like that?” Yoongi asked, egging her anger on, “you know, being abandoned ever after being so loyal, I pity you, they don’t deserve your loyalty Yn, they don’t deserve it at all” he told her, it was the truth, being so loyal to the gang only to have them not be loyal to you hurt.

     Gang life was all about loyalty and this gang that Yn was from was clearly not loyal to its members. “I’ll talk, but -” she paused looking up from the floor, straight at Yoongi, “but what?” he asked, carefully leveling her up, “You need to let me up first, these ropes are giving me a burn” she said, a mischievous grin taking over her face.

     “And why would I do that when you came very close to killing Namjoon” he asked with a raised eyebrow, “because I have no reason to kill you anymore, I don’t kill without a purpose” she answered, a challenging look on her face, “give me a minute” he said heading to the door, “either you free me or I free myself dude” she said before he could leave the door. “Can I call my friends here atleast?” he questioned, feeling doubtful about what she was thinking, would she free herself and kill them all? did she have any other hidden weapons? was she capable of killing all of them and making it out alive? he thought about all this before she answered, “Sure, call all your men if you want, I’m harmless when I don’t want to kill.” she assured.

     Yoongi shrugged, heading towards the camera that was located, gesturing them to come inside the room, it only took a few moments for the six of them to file into the room, three guards waiting outside for any commands given.

   “Anneyonghaseyo!” Yn greeted the six of them who ignored her, quickly circling Yoongi to listen to what he had to say. They spoke in hushed voices, making sure Yn couldn’t hear them before Yoongi turned towards her again, the rest of the boys moving away from him, “We’ll free you but no funny business ok” he said as Jimin came forward to cut the ropes binding her. 

     “Aishh, I knew the seven of you were handsome, but not this handsome” she said as Jimin released her, moving away from her with caution, “Aish my beautiful hands” she said, taking note of the rope burns on her wrists. “You knew we were handsome?” Jin asked as Yn inspected her injuries he was quite surprised by the news considering the fact that they didn’t know that they were talked about in other mafia circles.                              

          “Umm.. yeah, you guys are kind of a big deal in the mafia, we had a dartboard with your faces on it back at the compound” she said, looking back up at them to see them blushing. 

    “Uhh.. do -, do you need cotton for that?” Hobi asked pointing at her wounds, she nodded, “and a mirror too please” she requested as she sat more comfortably, untying her legs as well so she could stretch them out, “So what do you guys want from me and what will you give me in return?” she asked a boy rushed into the room with a first aid kit and a mirror before rushing out of the room.

  She leaned forward, grabbing a piece of cotton before looking at her face in the mirror, “Aish, could’t you stab me somewhere else, my beautiful face” she whined as she cleaned up the blood and sweat, true Kim Seokjin behavior Hobi thought as she cleaned herself up, waiting for her to get done before they started to question her.

     Yn took her time while treating herself, because her injuries were more important than what ever information they needed, she even hummed to herself as she put on the bandage, putting extra pressure on it before taking her hands off.

   “Well, what do you need?” she asked sitting up straight. “this place isn’t exactly ideal for business deals, we’ll go upstairs where we can speak comfortably” Namjoon stated, she nodded as she got up, not showing any signs of pain at flexing her thigh. 

   Jimin and Yoongi followed after her, closing the interrogation room behind them.

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

Yn sat comfortably on the huge, luxurious sofa in Namjoon’s office, but she was going to complain about it just because she wanted to, “Yah, is this how the richest mafia lives? sitting on such bumpy sofas?” she groaned as the boys sat or stood at various places in the room, only Namjoon sat in the arm chair opposite to her. 

      She crossed her injured leg over the other one, she wasn’t going anywhere any time soon, might as well be comfortable. “So...” she began as the same boy who had got her the first aid kit got her a can of coke, she raised an eyebrow at that but didn’t refuse, taking the chilled can in hand she waited patiently for them to say something.

       “So...” Namjoon started, the awkwardness settling in the air. “we need information on who sent you and why” Jin asked, trying to help Namjoon out, “what do i get in exchange?” she countered, she was willing to bargain but she needed a price first, “what do you want?” Namjoon asked as she popped the coke can open, the sound of the fizz drowning out whatever she was saying so she repeated again.

     “I need a gang,” she said, taking a sip of the fizzy drink before continuing, “I, in case you don’t know me, I am Hwang Yn,” she said making the seven of them look at her with shock, the Hwang’s were quite popular among the mafias, they were born to kill, trained from a young age and only the most prominent gangs had a Hwang in them, Bangtan didn’t have any Hwangs yet, not because they weren’t prominent but because they didn't find the need to have a Hwang, they were also the most loyal clan in the Mafia.

The boys looked at each other, "why do you want to join out Mafia? I'm sure there are plenty of Mafias out there who would be honored to have you" Jungkook said from his spot on Namjoon's desk, toying with one of the paper weights, "who wouldn't want to be in Bangtan, you guys are the biggest crime organization there is in Korea" she answered. Namjoon thought about it, he didn't want to give her a free way, she could still be dangerous. "Are you willing to go through the basic tests for joining?" He asked, leaning forward in his seat, his elbows resting on his knees, his chin in his hand.

"Sure...." she drawled, looking at the seven boys more closely, she was confident, being a Hwang meant that she was multi talented, a great assassin with a strong sense of loyalty, she knew she could win any test that she was faced with.

"Well then, who sent you?" Namjoon asked once they had decided on what Yn wanted in exchange, "they're a group called Metallica, they're in association with JYP; do you have something more alcoholic by the way, this is too soft for my taste" she said holding up the coke, "we'll give you alcohol once you're done answering us" Yoongi snigger, "fine then, get this done quick" She demanded and Namjoon almost kicked himself for nodding at the command.

"Why did they send you?" He questioned before calling Taehyung closer, "get a room prepared for Ms.Yn" he ordered making Tae turn around to leave the room going to get a room prepared.

"You're forgetting that you're the biggest gang there is Namjoon, they want you done and out of the game" she said, Namjoon swore he felt a shiver go up his spine at the way she said his name, "will they send someone else?" He asked as Tae came back into the room, "yes, not immediately but they will come back" she answered.

"Where can I find them, where is their base?" Namjoon asked, making her sign and press the bridge of her nose, "look here Namjoon, you will not go after them" she said, daring him to argue with her, "I will hunt them down myself, no one and I mean absolutely no one let's Hwang Yn go that easily" she finished, silencing any disagreement.

Namjoon was fine with that, they wouldn't have to bother if she was on it, she could hunt them down if that’s what she wanted so be it, as long as she didn’t turn on them they were good. “Okay then, I’ll leave that up to you, now, would you like some rest or food?” He asked, she was surprised with how easily they were ready to give her shelter, they seemed too nice to be a part of the mafia if you looked past the stabbing, drugs and gangs part, “You will be under house arrest for the next few days till you prove that you won’t be running away and after that you can take the test and prove your loyalty and then, you can be a part of the gang” Never mind, they weren’t that nice after all.

__________________________________________________

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A/n: I'll continue this some other day :D ~ 🦛

Someone asked to be added to the taglist for this fic but unfortunately there is no taglist since it was a spontaneous idea but the rest of the story will be posted under the hashtag #bulletproofco, you can keep checking that hashtag to see if I post :)

[sigmaleph]

🌻

for some reason this ask is bugging in the askbox. i wonder if it'll still do that after I post it

edit: not really, it just adds a redundant sunflower as if i had said it and not you

anyway i think it's weird that Space Exploration makes AAI Industry a requirement for playing it. it seems like you should be able to have the Space Exploration stuff purely as postgame and leave the pre-rocket-launch part of the game unaltered, but no, AAI is required? you need to deal with whatever changes they have made there? which i do not know what they are yet, i'm only at red science right now, I just know they have the whole burner phase thing and that every building requires its predecessor as an ingredient (which does neatly provide for something to do with burner inserters/drills/stone furnaces that isn't "destroy" or "take up storage space")

I am not complaining tbc? i don't mind the variety from vanilla recipes et al, i'm having fun. just don't see why it was the choice that was made.

also why is the mod called AAI Industry. it's a redundant acronym. I know you can't just call it AAI because there's a bunch of AAI mods but it could've been called AAI Something Else.

[falllpoutboy]

Okay, I like picking your brain about this stuff since you’re a stan (with taste!) but you’re not a blind stan who will grab your pitchfork at the first critique of your fave. Two questions I have for you: 1. “Florence and Anya are both killing the game rn but the same cannot be said for Z 🤷🏾‍♀️” I have made that exact comparison before and the first reply I always get is the gif or picture of Z winning her Emmy and the question: “Where are Florence and Anya’s awards that they were nominated for?” and I’m like, yeah, true but! what now? What’s next? What’s your response to the Emmy win puts her above the rest discourse? 2. What are your honest thoughts about Z repeatedly saying she wants to direct now? (Sam said he could see her doing it this year or next😶) I’ve seen older actress like Kerry Washington, Ellen Pompeo and now Halle Berry do it once they hit their 40’s but only because they’ve either done every role that they find worthy of doing or they unfortunately aged out of doing certain roles so they pivoted to the next best thing. Is it fair to say Z… isn’t there yet? I look at it as her taking the Jack of all trades, master of none route. I mean, now that I think of it, literally doing the Sam Levinson method of dabbling in everything instead of staying in one lane until you’ve mastered it.

You never seem to come from place of spite when it comes to Z and her peculiar choices so I’m genuinely interested in your opinions. Thank you in advance!

Thank you for asking for my opinion regarding Z! I still love her a lot but with this latest season of Euphoria and the duds of Malcolm & Marie and NWH, she has started to dim in my eyes. She won the Emmy yes and its a great achievement that i won't bring down or question its validity but her post Emmy win career has been quite bleak. She starred in supporting roles with minimal screen time in NWH and Dune and Malcolm & Marie was a two hour anxiety inducing thinly veiled fuck you to Hollywood from Sam Levinson. Challengers seems like it'll be interesting but I'm still on the fence of LG. And getting cast in a Francis Ford Coppola movie is a big deal but once again I'll bet she's only a supporting character with little screen-time and dialogue.

To answer your second question, I agree with you and I think she needs to master acting first and star in more films and build up her resume first before pursuing directing. The camera experience she gained from Euphoria is good (lord knows the technical aspect in that show is the only admirable thing) but there's more to learn from other projects.

I have nothing but love and respect for zendaya and I want her to succeed so bad. But right now she needs to do a serious 180 on her film roles and career before she's becomes yesterdays news. It seems to me that she takes her fashion career and editorial looks for magazines and ads for Lancome and Valentino much more seriously than anything, go ahead and take a look at her instagram if you dont believe me. Her and Law are an amazing duo and she clearly loves fashion but its giving conflicting statements vs actions. She seems to put more energy into her fashion career than her film career, as evidenced here. Thats why I think she isn't the "IT girl" her other stans are calling her when nobody irl over the age of 30 knows who Z is and I fear other actresses around her age are going to outlast her in the industry

[booksandlewks]

Intensity in Insmire | A Jurdan AU

Happy Holidays to my wonderful knife wife @starborn-faerie-queen!! I’m so lucky to have you as my friend and now snusband (we’re def married now) <3 I was so excited to see that I got to try and write something for you. I also have to thank everybody in the @jurdannet discord for helping me with my writer’s anxiety throughout, and @jurdannetrevels for hosting this secret santa event! 

So this was a prompt you didn’t ask for, but that I hope you will like. I thought of this right when I saw your name and have had a blast making it a reality. One of our first conversations in the discord was about none other than Lauren Layne, so I thought I’d give it my best go at making it Jurdan. I picked what I think of as the iconic scene in Passion on Park Avenue because Jude and Cardan literally define passion. You also put Nicaryn, so in my head when I wrote this they’re already dating and Jude just hasn’t noticed. 

"Be careful, you're going to drop that!" Jude said watching her twin throw down yet another box full of her merchandise.

 It was times like these that Jude wondered about her choice in friends. Not that she had so many choices in friends to begin with, something about her being "abrasive". People may not always appreciate her edges, but that edge is what landed her on the 30 under 30 list. She was grateful, if not confused, about her new-found friendships. While the ladies made for excellent company, and fellow schemers in action, a moving company they were not. Not that Jude would say a word against their help out loud. She was still so grateful to have her twin back in her life.

Jude would thank Locke for bringing them together, if she'd thought it was even remotely a part of his plan. Maybe she could thank him for dying, so that they could find each other in the park that fateful day. Not likely, she had better people to think on.

Nicasia kicked a box into the corner with the toe of her Louboutin heels, "You worry too much, they're not going to break because I didn't gingerly place every single one of your hundreds of boxes down."

"I'm not worried about you breaking an accessory," Jude said huffing as she moved to open the box Nicasia had kicked to prove a point. She held up the lipstick tube, twisting to expose the blade to prove her point. "I'm worried about one of my accessories breaking you."

"Oh, I like that," Taryn laughed, her eyes widening, "Can I borrow that for my next date?"

"Well, it is just a sample," Jude nodded her head to the truck parked outside her new building, "You can keep it if you help me unload the rest of the truck." 

"You drive a tough bargain, a days labor in exchange for one accessory?" Nicasia teased.

Jude put one hand to her heart and the other to her forehead dramatically, "Oh you're truly suffering going up and down the elevator while carrying small boxes."

"These boots were not exactly made for walking Jude," Nicasia said flicking her hair over her shoulder, and punctuating it with an all too casual check of her nails. Why she wouldn't just concede to putting her hair up was beyond frustrating to Jude. She wasn't sure if she hated or respected Nicasia's commitment to always looking perfect.

 "I mean I didn't get to where I was by giving things away for free, but I may have also ordered us pizza and tiramisu from the Italian place on Lexington Ave."

 "Ahh I knew you were my favorite twin!" Taryn said wrapping her arms around Jude and kissing her cheek with an exaggerated smack.

 "I'm your only twin, and you definitely did not know it."

 "The real question isn't why I can't move things in these heels, it's why you think I should be doing this in the first place," Nicasia said glancing speculatively.

 "Wait, yeah, aren't you meant to be rich now Jude?"

"Well, according to my accountant, approximately I am," Jude tilted her head and pretended to tally with her free hand, "filthy rich." She moved the box that had been hoisted on her hip onto the floor of what would be the main living area.

Jude wasn't insane, the larger items like the couch and industrial garment racks would be delivered by a moving company later. She just knew that she could handle the smaller boxes herself. She'd always survived by being self-sufficient, so she wasn't going to start changing what was working now. She'd moved herself into her first shoe box apartment, all her belongings compact and loaded into the back of her ancient little two door.

 "Then why on earth are we moving all of this by hand?" Taryn said turning to her sister, exasperated to see the determination gracing her twin's face. She hated that look, especially when it was on the face that was practically her own under all that stubbornness. "Nic, I need backup here, we're entering dangerously uncharted areas in stupidity. "

 "Jude, love, remember when we agreed to stop each other from entering another toxic relationship?" Nicasia said gently, her hands up as if coaxing a small animal.

 "No, I've blocked out the entirety of Locke's funeral out of a sense of self-preservation," she said voice and face purposefully blank.

 "Why stop there, why not erase him from your entire mind?" Taryn said a bitter edge to her words.  

 Jude laughed, "Me and my therapist are hard at work doing just that."

 "Well while you're working on that, have her work on the toxic relationship you've got with your stupid pride," Nicasia said checking her already perfect nails.

 "Wait, was all of that just the set up for the punchline to your dumb joke?"

 "Woah Tar, harsh words from the woman who asked for my backup in the first place." Nicasia pursed her lips clearly displeased that Taryn had not enjoyed her attempts at humor. "Maybe you should try being nicer to me considering that I have the power to save you from Jude's torture."

 Jude laughed as Taryn started to pester Nicasia to tell her what she meant. While they'd all become fast friends on the fateful day of the funeral, Jude couldn't help but feel that Nicasia and her twin had gotten closer over the summer. She supposed it had to do with the fact that they both had to worry about their reputations and what the fallout from Locke's infidelity would do to it.

That old wound started niggling at Jude again. She may not have been in an official New York society relationship with the man, but she'd had to mourn the loss too. She supposed it hadn't affected her societal standing, being Locke's dirty secret, but she hadn't gotten out unscathed. The bastard had known about her fears. She'd confided in him, about her mother's cheating and how she'd grown up not wanting to get attached for fear of ending up in a similarly messed up situation.

 He'd comforted her, talking about how cheating on somebody wasn't in her character. He'd spelled out what their story could be instead, spinning a story of comfort, safety in his arms, and safety in that future. It made Jude's skin crawl to think about now. How he could say all of this while cheating on her with Nicasia and Taryn, and using her to cheat on them. Some nights it actually made her physically ill. She was such a careful woman, and yet she'd never suspected.

 She wondered if lying to her was part of the game to him, it had to be. Jude thought about how she'd considered bridging the gap and calling Taryn to tell her that she'd met somebody. She'd been too scared to reopen that wound. At eighteen Jude walked away from the stifling role of being Madoc's daughter. She hadn't thought about what leaving Taryn behind to deal Madoc's only other eligible daughter would do. She left her behind for him to put all of his stupid high society rules and dreams into. She'd wondered about her twin over the years, but could never pick up the phone and just dial. What would things be like if she had? Thinking about it wouldn't change anything.

 During Jude's musings Taryn had moved into Nicasia's lap and was switching between pleading and apologizing. Her groveling was so over the top that a warm spot bloomed in Jude's chest while watching her. She had no idea how much she'd missed Taryn, and yet having her take up space in her apartment just felt right.

 "Okay, okay, fine!" Nicasia said standing up and taking Taryn with her. "I happen to have a friend through the New York royalty network, as you call it, and he lives in this very apartment complex."

 "Oh thank god, I love you Judie Bee Jones, but this is the worst."

 "Woah no, I never agreed to having anybody over," Jude said walking over to lock her door, "and wasn't the point of having you ladies around to avoid the assholes."

 "How can you call them an asshole when you don’t even know who it is?" Nicasia asked unlocking the door. Jude went to stop her, but Taryn simply took her face in her hands and pointed it towards the window where the open moving truck stood idle.

 "I promise he's good people, we grew up together," Nicasia said clearly forgetting that her and Jude had not exactly grown up as friends.

Jude did not have much of a chance to consider who might be coming to the rescue she did not need, as there was a knocking at the door.

The warmth she felt from being with her friends left her the second she opened the door and saw Cardan Greenbriar standing there. She'd never seen Cardan look anything less than impeccable, so she was even more furious to see him standing there looking like a Saks Fifth Avenue model from the catalog to help her move. A cable knit sweater, really, to move boxes. With an overcoat no less. No, no, this couldn't possibly be happening. Jude would rather move every single box one by one, than have Cardan Greenbriar help her.

What on earth could have even possessed him to try. She thought she'd made it clear when she'd damn near bitten his head off in her "entry interview" to the apartment complex. It wasn't her fault. Cardan had a particular way of getting under her skin, and the fact that he'd known her from her twin and had not even bothered to look at the application resting in his hand the entire interview had gotten her blood boiling. She'd never actually wanted to live in Elfhame.

The stupid application had been filled out for her and sent in by her mother ages ago. Eva Duarte had been so proud of Jude's success, it had never occurred to her that her mother had plans to use it as a statement. She'd miss her mother's mean streak, and wished she'd been around longer so Jude could understand this plan. Jude had been shocked to be called in for the interview to move into The Palace, and caught completely off guard to see Cardan on the day of the interview.  

 She must've released an actual snarl at seeing him darkening her new doorstep because Taryn and Nicasia pried her away from the door and invited him to come in. This was ridiculous ; she was not a rabid dog to be put in the corner. Although, she was considering biting Cardan.

 "And hello to you too Jude," Cardan said laughing as she struggled to break free of the grip of her friends, "Lovely as ever to see you."

"Why am I seeing you?" 

Cardan raised an eyebrow at that, "Not a very friendly greeting neighbor."

"I read over the paperwork your father sent over and it said that the building takes care of pests in the apartments."

 "Ha ha, very funny Jude," Cardan said stalking closer, "I do hope that's true, as I'd love to see them take you out of here."

 "Really, we're going to resort to I know you are but what am I?" Jude intoned, "On day one?"

 “Is this really our first day together, Judiebeet?"

 "Don't call me that!"

 "As much as I do love seeing you upset my sweet villain," he said trailing a finger over her cheeks, "I didn't come to pick a fight." Jude knew her cheeks had to be bright red, she always got flushed when she was mad. She hated that he had command over her, more than she appeared to have over her own body. Which only made her more upset when he called her that stupid name.

"Why did you come, I had demon summoning scheduled for later in the day," Jude said ignoring the looks Nicasia and Taryn were shooting her.

 "I was informed of a damsel in distress, and princely duties demanded that I come to your aid."

"Oh no, that's it," Jude turned on her friends glaring, and pointing at the door while practically shoving Cardan out, "Everybody out, I'll move them all myself."

 "Wait, but I brought champagne," Cardan said materializing a bottle from the inside of his coat. 

"Jude you can't kick the man out, he brought Dom," Taryn said pulling Cardan back into the apartment by his arm. Jude watched as he re-entered what was meant to be her space, unwilling to fight with Taryn.

"Fine, but if he's here he works," Jude said looking at Cardan as if to say 'unless you've got a problem with that.' The Cardan she knew would never deign to do a day's labor on his own. Always calling somebody his father employed to do things for him instead. So Jude was shocked when all he did was set the actually quite nice bottle on the counter, and gesture his hand towards the door with a look that said 'after you'.

Jude was not sure if she was pleased or pissed off when Cardan actually matched her for work ethic for the rest of moving. He eventually took off the coat, and the sweater, tossing them on the counter with his welcome gift. Jude wished he had not, as she'd been determined to carry more than him before that. She would have managed it too, if he had not rolled up his white dress shirt to the direct center of his forearm. Where it hugged just below his elbow as he worked.

She dropped one of her merchandise boxes when his arm brushed hers while reaching for another, shocked by the contact of his skin hot against her own. Furious with herself for the look that graced his face when she cursed and picked up the box, she decided to be less ambitious with how much she carried.

They had not actually had all that many boxes left. Which made it all the more traitorous that Nicasia had called in for help. As the work dwindled Nicasia and Taryn gave up the pretense of pretending to want to help move the boxes, and sat on the benches that were near the building's entrance. They sat close talking and laughing quietly at each others jokes. Jude could be funny too, but her humor was more dry and wicked. Just as Jude was sprinting to get the very last box, the pizza delivery driver had pulled up to the curb. 

Taryn had gone from commiserating with Nicasia, to giving Jude puppy eyes in 10 seconds flat. Jude laughed softly as she went to go pay the man. Her path was blocked by Cardan who'd made a beeline for the car as it pulled in, while she'd been distracted. If she hadn't been so focused on his damn arms she might have missed how he went to get his wallet from his back pocket. Hell no.

Jude stood one shot at having Taryn and Nicasia not mention her attitude since Cardan walked in, and that was to buy their silence. Nothing says be on my side like hot pizza and good dessert. Which is why she was going to pay for it. Cardan was already handing the man a crisp bill when Jude went to shift the box she'd been holding to under one arm. God, she hated him so much. She'd already missed out on getting to bond with her friends over how annoying moving was because of him, and now he was going to ruin their meal too?

He'd already ruined Jude's childhood, but she was an adult now, and he would not even get a single day from her. She grabbed the boxes of her food and walked to the elevator clicking the button for her floor and slamming on the door close button before he could follow. She walked into her apartment, and she would've locked Cardan out if it not for the fact she had to wait on Taryn and Nicasia to follow. If she had to face him again today, it was going to be on her terms and her rules.

 Jude moved to the boxes now all neatly lined up in what would be her living room. She scanned the barcode stickers on the top of the boxes, each item had been carefully cataloged so that she could be sure that she didn't lose anything important in the move. Downsides to owning and running a successful companies that sold accessories with a dangerous edge? There was so much inventory to keep track of.

 She found what she was looking for and swapped her sneakers for stilettos. She'd love to see Cardan try to look down on her when they were eye level. She'd give a new meaning to the term glaring daggers. She was perfectly capable of paying for a damn pizza.

The door of her apartment opened and Cardan strolled in, his arm around each of her friends. Jude let out a breath that his shirt had been set back to normal, although she was not sure if she was relieved.

 "Really, my own twin?" she said putting a hand on her hip and looking at Taryn who moved, hands up, to sit on the counter top.

"Jude, he got us pizza, please be reasonable," Taryn said in a placatory tone.

 "I got you pizza, this interloper just stole it because pizza is joy, and he can't let me have it."

"You need to stop, you're hangry and turning into rude Jude," Nicasia teased using the family nickname she knew Jude hated. That was just low, she'd revealed that in a 2 A.M. group chat. Which every woman knows means it’s classified information.

 She was being rude, she knew, but well...frankly he started it. Years ago, but she was a petty elephant and would not forget.

 "Fine, have a slice of pizza and then get the fuck out."

When Nicasia and Taryn turned their looks at her, Jude just blinked her eyes slowly a few times. She had never claimed to be a saint. 

"Can I at least get a drink before you kick me out on my ass?" Cardan asked the corner of his mouth upturned.

"Nope, sorry," Jude started and feeling her friends angry stares added, "I just moved in, and I haven't stocked the fridge yet."

"Well, then it's lucky for us my friend was kind enough to drop in to christen the home with champagne," Nicasia said as she made remove the muselet. Jude watched her carefully grip the wire as she twisted it off with effortless ease, and admired her friends grace. Jude would've likely embarrassed herself biting at it. She'd been served champagne at events, but it always came in a glass if she was honest.

 With the sound of the popping cork her control of the apartment got further away from her. She watched as the three of them opened cupboards and looked at an empty counter top as if expecting glassware to simply appear. Jude knew she could easily scan the boxes and find her glassware, but business had taught her to spot an opportunity.  

 "Oh darn, it seems like we can't get you that drink after all."

 "Yes, you seem very forlorn about it," Cardan said shaking his head at her, amusement in those dark eyes. 

Jude gave him a mock apologetic shrug of her shoulders, lips pulled to one side of her mouth. The amusement in his eyes turned to challenge. Unbeknownst to Jude, Cardan's newest hobby was complicated jigsaw puzzles. He had needed something to do while being able to keep an eye on his father, and he found that once he started he just couldn't resist figuring out how the pieces fit together. She'd just presented him with his newest game, and he was going to figure out her pieces.

"Don't worry my darling, like I said we're neighbors now," smiling when Jude scowled at the pet name, "I can just head to my place, and get us some glasses."

It was clear that he'd gotten under Jude's skin when she stalked towards Nicasia and took the bottle from her, and into her own hands. Nicasia just looked at Taryn, and whatever that look meant Taryn must have understood. She moved to the edge of the counter top and invited Nicasia into the circle of her legs, resting her chin on her the top of the other woman’s head.

"How very unfortunate for high-born little princes like you, that you can only sip champagne from the finest of glasses."

She looked right into his eyes as she began glugging the expensive bubbly from the bottle and drinking it like watered down beer. She raised an eyebrow at him as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"I do hope I haven't offended you Cardan," she said snarling out his name as if it was foul, "I'd hate to scare you off from ever visiting again."

"Not at all, I'm quite charmed by your lovely manners," he said walking over to where she stood by Nicasia. "Do not expect others to share my depraved tastes," he said taking the bottle from Jude's firm grip and drinking directly while their gazes stayed locked in a battle of wills.

 "Nic, you feel like we're interrupting something here?" Taryn said from where she sat inches away. It shocked Jude out of her stupor, and her sister hopped off the counter as Jude made to reach for her. She was suddenly stricken, it was all fine and well to hurt Cardan, but she wouldn't lose Taryn again. Not when she just got her back.

"Ugh I thought you'd never ask, this is all too straight for me," Nicasia said taking Taryn's hand and making for the door.

"Wait guys, don't go--"

 "Nope, text us when you're ready to act like a person again," Nicasia said laughing as the door shut behind their quickly retreating figures.  

 "Way to go, you scared them off with your stupid smoldering thing."

 "Jude, I think you'll find I'm not the one in the wrong here, although I am delighted to hear you think I smolder," Cardan said backing away from her.

"I meant that stupid staring," she started but trailed off when she noted his smug face.

 "Jude, all I've done today is bring you a housewarming gift and offer help at my friends request."

Jude opened her mouth to protest about the pizza slight, but stopped as she'd realized she'd just dig herself into a deeper hole. All he'd really done was cover her food for her and her friends. Was it possible that her childhood tormentor really had come here without the intent of torturing her. She'd been too caught up in trying to catch his next move, that it hadn't occurred to her. He’d clearly taken her silence to mean something else, because he went to gather his coat and sweater.

"Look, it's clear you don't want me here and I'm not actually trying to hold you hostage in your own apartment."

Jude's pride stopped her from correcting him. She'd been working so hard to get him to leave, that she couldn't exactly walk back her position now. She wanted to though, she wanted to grab him by those rather toned arms and hold him in place. To explain herself or make him explain himself, she wasn't sure. Instead she nodded her agreement, and silently watched him leave. She watched as he walked down the hall, opening and then closing his door. Only then did she finally unfreeze from her doorway and shut her own door.

She sat for about 30 minutes just trying to process all that had just happened. She was not sure when she'd become the villain in this story, but she didn't enjoy the feeling. He was the bully, not her. If his actions today were to be trusted, maybe not even him any longer. Jude stood up suddenly confident in her movements as she scanned the boxes searching for her glasses. She hadn't actually moved everything today, so all she was able to find was some coffee mugs. She looked down at her "I Rule" coffee cup, it'd have to do.

Jude went to where the remains of the bottle was left on the counter, and poured it into the cup. She wouldn't apologize, as she was not truly sorry. Even if he was not the menace he used to be, one day of rudeness was the least of what he'd deserved. She did however write what she'd call her concession. She'd apologized for the coffee mug. The note told him that while her fine Waterford Crystals were still in storage, it should taste just as good coming out of a mug. Jude left the note under the cup, and knocked on his door before leaving.