#impressive...very nice... (promos)

[ampsychoy2k]

Tag Dump

[dismalflo]

picture perfect

Rugby!James potter x Photographer!reader who meet for the first time while they're both working ✩ 3.2k words

summary: when Lily calls asking you to fill in for the team photographer, you agree. you meet a very nice and slightly flirty team captain - James Potter.

cw: just fluff, James is a sweetheart,

When Lily called you to ask if you could photograph the promo shots for the rugby team's social media, you should’ve said no. But, despite knowing her for years, saying no to Lily Evans is a skill you’ve never quite mastered, and lord knows, you’ve tried.

“I’m sorry, Lily, it’s just not the kind of photography I do,” you’d said, hoping she’d back off.

“I know that, but our team photographer quit out of nowhere to go ‘find himself,’ and it’s just this one time. You’d be my hero if you could help.”

“...Fine.”

So yes, you tried, but to no avail.

Now, as you drive onto the grounds, the nerves start to creep in. Lily’s request meant they were desperate, but that only ramps up the pressure. You have to get the shots right. Perfect. No room for mistakes. Because of this, your car’s boot is packed with a variety of lenses, camera bodies, and a couple of tripods. At least no one could accuse you of being underprepared.

Once you park, you allow yourself a moment to breathe. You’re not sure what you’re walking into, and the unknown is always unnerving. Hands still firmly planted on the steering wheel and eyes staring unseeingly at the dash. This is silly, you haven't felt this panicked once in the lead up to this job, but it seems to have hit you like a brick all at once at the worst possible time.

Just as your mind starts to spiral, a gentle tap on your window pulls you back to reality. You glance up to find one of the biggest men you’ve ever seen, glasses resting on the bridge of his nose, dressed in joggers and a jacket with the team’s logo emblazoned on it. His face is calm, his smile warm and relaxed. If sunshine were a person It’d be him. You try to shake off the wave of nerves and return an awkward grin, fumbling to get out of the car.

“You alright?” he asks, his voice steady and easy.

“Yeah, I’m, uh… I’m here to do the promo photos for the team,” you say, your tone hesitant, unsure of your place here.

“Oh, great. Lily mentioned you'd be coming,” he says with a nod. Then, with a casual gesture toward your car, he adds, “Need a hand bringing your stuff in?”

You're taken aback by his immediate kindness. You'd half-expected to be ignored by a bunch of burly men all day, but this tall, curly-haired guy is completely throwing you off. It's a relief, though—one you didn’t even realise you needed.

“That would be great, actually,” you say, voice softer now, but still nervous as you rush to add, “If—if that’s alright.”

As you round the car to pop open the boot, you can't help but feel a little self-conscious. Not only have you just managed to act like a bumbling fool, but there's also this man—who looks like he's been sculpted by the gods—following right behind you.

When the boot clicks open, he lets out a low whistle. “Wow, one of my mates is really into film photography,” he says, his face lighting up as he speaks. “Not sure he’s got a kit as impressive as yours, though. So, what do you need me to carry?”

You can’t help but chuckle at his comment. He’s kind, but rugby players aren’t exactly known for their gentle touch. As charming as this one is, you’re not about to risk it. You point toward the tripod bags. “Those, if you don’t mind,” you say.

He nods with an easy grin, effortlessly lifting one of the heavy tripod bags. “No problem. I’ve got it.” His muscles shift under his jacket as he adjusts the weight, and you try not to let your gaze linger too long on the way his jacket clings to his broad shoulders.

You grab a camera body, a little flustered by the close proximity of this boy, but you make an effort to steady yourself. “Thanks” you mutter, looking up at him, a little rushed.

“No worries,” he says with a chuckle, then adds, “They're all nice lads, you’ll be fine.”

The reassurance is exactly what you needed, even if it doesn’t quite settle the flutter of nerves in your stomach. “I hope so,” you reply with a faint smile, trying to sound more confident than you feel.

As you both start walking toward the stadium, the sound of your footsteps echoing in the quiet morning air, he turns his head slightly, keeping his tone casual. “So, is this your usual kind of job?” he asks, clearly trying to get a conversation going as you both make your way through the car park.

You’re grateful for the distraction, even if the question catches you a little off guard. “I mean, I mostly do portraits and landscapes,” you answer, trying to sound like you have it all together. “I don’t usually do team sports, but Lily called in a favour.”

He gives you a sideways glance, his smile widening just a bit as he lets out a low chuckle. “Well, if it makes you feel better, the team’s not as scary as they look. And, if you need a bit of help with that, I’m more than happy to make sure they stay in line.”

You both reach the entrance of the stadium, and he holds the door open for you, his smile still warm. “After you, photographer,” he says with a playful wink.

You raise an eyebrow, trying to maintain your composure. “Are you always this charming?” you can’t help but ask, a little teasing of your own slipping into your voice.

He grins even wider, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “Only when I’m trying to get someone to stop being nervous,” he says easily, then adds with a shrug, “Seems like it’s working, though, doesn’t it?”

You can't help but laugh, the tension easing slightly as you step into the stadium, the vast space unfolding before you. The first thing your eyes catch is the bright red hair of Lily Evans, making her way toward you, a grin spreading across her face.

"Thank you so much for this," she says, pulling you into a quick hug. "I mean it, you're a lifesaver." As she pulls away, you nod enthusiastically, your words failing you. Her gaze flicks over to the man standing behind you.

"I see you've met James," she says, reaching for the Tripod bag from him. "He's the team captain—and apparently not where he’s supposed to be."

James scoffs, indignant. "I was making sure this lovely thing got in here in one piece. Didn't see you rushing to help them." Lily doesn’t respond, merely shoos him away. To his credit, James takes it in stride, backing off with his hands raised in mock surrender.

Just as he turns to leave, you remember yourself and call out, "Thanks for the help!" But James doesn’t seem to hear you, already heading toward the changing rooms.

Lily gives you a soft, amused look and gestures toward a nearby hallway. "Come on, I'll show you where we'll be shooting." Her familiarity with the space is evident, and it's reassuring in a way—this is her turf, a fancy social media manager, and you’re just trying to find your footing.

She leads you down the hallway, her steps confident as she continues to chat. “Alright, so we’ll do individual portraits first. Each player will come up, and you can get the posed shots. Nothing too fancy—just something clean and simple for the social media pages.” She glances over her shoulder at you, offering a quick smile.

You nod, trying to lock that information into place. Individual portraits? You can do that. You’ve done countless shoots for portraits before, even if these players are a bit more... intimidating than your usual subjects.

Lily pauses at the edge of the room and gestures to a clear space by a set of large windows. The natural light coming in looks ideal. “We’ll set up here for the portraits. Nothing too wild. Just enough to show who they are, you know?”

“Got it,” you say, trying to steady your breath. You adjust the strap on your camera, mentally preparing for the first round of shots.

She gives you a thumbs-up before stepping away, her voice carrying back over her shoulder. “After the portraits, we’ll move to the pitch for the action shots. I’m thinking some training photos, maybe a few of them in motion, running drills.”

She turns the corner into the locker room, calling over her shoulder, “Let me know if you need anything. I’m not far!”

As you begin setting up your gear, arranging the tripod and adjusting your lenses, you steal a glance at the team members trickling out of the locker room. Their voices blend in a hum of casual chatter, punctuated by the occasional laugh. A few of them catch sight of you, offering quick nods or polite smiles as they take their positions.

But then your heart skips a beat. James emerges from the locker room, flashing you that cheeky grin of his as he surveys the space. Your hands freeze, nearly losing grip on the camera. He stands there—broad shoulders, relaxed posture—exuding a quiet confidence. His eyes lock with yours, and he winks, that familiar teasing energy lighting up the air between you.

You shake off the brief moment of distraction, focusing back on your task. You work through the shots with precision, photographing each player quickly but methodically. The room feels less overwhelming now as the others drift off, their photos already taken. Just as you finish capturing a man with dark hair and tattoos snaking up his forearms, you look up and realize there's only one player left. James.

He steps up to the backdrop, flashing you that grin again. “You’re impressive, y’know.”

You blink, taken aback. “How do you mean?” you ask, your face flushing at the unexpected compliment.

James shrugs casually, his posture still relaxed but with an edge of warmth in his eyes. “I mean, you’ve got this whole calm, collected photographer thing down. And you’re, like, making it look easy.” His voice holds a playful lilt, like he’s genuinely impressed but also enjoying how much he can throw you off with a few words.

You laugh, trying to shake the sudden flutter of nerves that surge through you again. “Well, I’ve had a bit of practice,” you say, focusing on adjusting your camera settings to avoid his teasing gaze. “And it’s only a little intimidating being surrounded by a team of professional athletes.” You glance up briefly, catching his gaze again. There’s something about him that makes your hands a little shaky, but you try not to let it show.

James doesn’t seem fazed, though. If anything, he looks even more comfortable, his hands resting on his hips as he gives you an easy smile. “I wouldn’t say intimidating. More like... impressive, right? We’re a bunch of big, tough guys who can knock each other out on the field, but off it? Pretty harmless.” He tilts his head, studying you as if trying to gauge how you’re doing with all the attention. “Plus, I’ve been told I’m easy to work with.” He winks again, and the teasing energy returns.

You roll your eyes playfully, setting up the shot. “Oh, I’m sure you are. I’m just worried I might accidentally photograph your ego instead of your face.” You smile as you say it, hoping it comes off as light-hearted, but internally, you’re wondering how you keep managing to get caught up in this back-and-forth with him.

James laughs, the sound easy and rich, like he's genuinely enjoying himself. “That wouldn't be a good look for me but you're the photographer, angel, do what you want.”

You take a deep breath, trying to maintain your composure as you adjust your camera settings again, focusing more on the equipment than the man in front of you. His teasing grin hasn't faltered, and it's making it harder to concentrate. You need to get the shot—simple, clean, just like Lily said. But somehow, with James standing there, the task feels a little more complicated.

“Alright,” you say, trying to steady your hands as you bring the camera to your eye. “Just relax and look natural, okay?”

He nods with exaggerated seriousness, then steps back, looking you dead in the eye as if he's about to pull off some grand dramatic pose. But instead, he just stands tall, hands in his pockets, eyes soft, looking completely unbothered. And somehow, it’s perfect.

After a few shots, you pause, studying the pictures on your camera’s screen. They’re good. No, they’re better than good. The natural light falls perfectly on his face, and there’s something in his eyes—something that isn’t quite the usual mischief, but maybe a little more... real.

“Not bad, huh?” James’s voice interrupts your thoughts, and you look up to find him still standing there, this time a little more relaxed than before.

You nod slowly, doing your best to mask just how much you’re replaying the image of him in that moment. “Yeah, these are great. You’ve got a good... um, 'look.'” You immediately cringe, realizing how awkward that sounded, but he just flashes a smile, unfazed.

“Of course I do,” he says, winking again, and you roll your eyes, trying to shake off the embarrassment.

A brief silence settles between you both as you both focus on the photos. Clearing your throat, you turn to James. “Thank you for–” but you're interrupted when the door swings open, and in walks the man with dark hair and tattoos.

“Prongs, stop flirting with the pretty photographer,” he says with a teasing grin, throwing an apologetic look your way. “We’ve got work to do.”

Suddenly, you feel heat rush to your cheeks, realizing you’ve held James up for longer than you should have. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” you rush out. But when you look at James, his soft gaze is fixed on you, his smile still warm and genuine.

He shakes his head slightly. “It was really nice talking to you.” His voice is calm, steady, and there’s no teasing in sight. Then, with one last glance, he turns to follow his teammate out the door, leaving you to ponder the sincerity behind his words.

The rest of the day is very uneventful. Aside from the fact your gaze kept wandering back to James, the fact that he kept making eye contact with you as if he’d already been looking, and one rogue comment from Lily.

“What have you done to James?” she asks, smirking.

“I– nothing… what?” you reply, confused and a furrow to your brows.

“He’s usually very focused,” she gives you a pointed look before leaning it, “He doesn't seem to be today.” her tone teasing.

You decided at the time not to dwell on those words. But now, as you make your way back to the car with the equipment, they echo in your mind, replaying over and over. What did she mean? You can’t help but wonder if you’ve done something to make James uncomfortable. A small—no, a rather large—part of you hopes he might actually like you.

Fumbling with your keys, your hands full and your mind racing, you hear a voice call from a distance. “Hey!”

You look up to see none other than James, jogging toward you with that effortless smile.

“Let me help,” he says, reaching for the strap of your bag and gently lifting it off your shoulder.

“Oh, thanks, James,” you reply, a shy smile tugging at your lips as your heart skips a beat.

"Anything for the best and prettiest photographer around." The compliment makes you fluster as he loads the bags into the car. "I can't wait to see the final results." His grin is the biggest you've seen all day, and you return it automatically, lost for words.

"Listen…" James straightens up to face you, rocking on the balls of his feet. "I was wondering if I could get your number?"

Your mind races through a million possibilities, but you quickly dismiss the idea that he's interested in you personally. Instead, you settle on the thought that he probably wants it for professional reasons.

"I—uh, I did this as a one-off. I'm not a sports photographer."

He chuckles softly, glancing down at the floor before raising a hand to scratch the back of his neck. "I know," he says, meeting your eyes. "But I meant it more like... I was hoping to take you on a date." He pauses, then adds, "If you'd like to."

"Oh." You're stunned into silence, and James immediately takes it as rejection.

"You should say no if you don't want to," he says quickly, looking away. "I can handle it."

"No, I—I'd really like that," you respond, nodding more to yourself than to him, but your smile betrays the nervous excitement bubbling up inside.

James’s face breaks into a grin that nearly lights up the entire car park, his eyes crinkling at the edges. “Yeah?” he asks, his voice suddenly softer, as though trying to gauge whether this is really happening.

You nod, suddenly shy, your heart doing a strange flip in your chest. “Yeah,” you repeat, giving him a small, tentative smile.

“Good,” he says with a relaxed chuckle, almost like he didn’t expect this to go as smoothly as it has. “So, uh… I’ll text you, then?”

“Yeah. Definitely,” you say, finally letting yourself exhale, feeling the tension leave your shoulders.

He doesn’t hesitate, pulling out his phone and typing something quickly before showing it to you, waiting for you to type in your number. As you do, you can feel his eyes on you, but you don’t mind it. This doesn’t feel weird or awkward, it feels—well, kind of exciting.

“Alright,” he says, stuffing his phone back in his pocket. “I’ll let you get going.” He turns toward the building, but not before looking back over his shoulder with a smirk. “I’ll be in touch, yeah?”

“Yeah,” you say, watching him walk away with a mix of amusement and disbelief. Once he’s out of sight, you take a deep breath, your hands feeling lighter now, a strange warmth spreading through you.

By the time you get into your car and start driving away, your mind is a whirlwind. You keep replaying the moments—his smile, his words, the way he looked at you.

Once home, your heart is still racing, the adrenaline from the shoot finally starting to settle, replaced by a warm, giddy feeling you didn’t expect.

Your phone buzzes in your pocket, and you pull it out to find a message from James: “Had a great time today. Can’t wait to see you again. ;)”

You laugh, your fingers hovering over the screen as you try to think of the perfect response. Maybe something casual, something cool... But who are you kidding? You quickly type back: “Same here. Looking forward to it.”

₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊

let me know what you think of this! <3

[rottingrat-jpg]

Enlighter x LinLing idea

LinLing to make ads for smaller heroes too, not just nice and moon like we see now, when he was starting he would almost exclusively do the lower rated heroes promos

These promos were some of his best work(looking at the fact that he had a zero dollar budget and a dream) he was full of passion just like he is now but back then his ideas were not looked at as strictly as the heroes just wanted an add

He gets an email from Enlighters hero agency about possibly working together to promote their upcoming hero, he of course agrees as he want that sweet sweet bonus at the end of the month

LinLing writes a script not really looking at who the hero is... because he wrote everything at 3 am and didn't read think anything through(he was hit with a creative flow can you blame him?) he had an idea and he wrote it

his idea is very much painting Enlighter as a cool guy who can throw an awesome punch to impress a girl or two, its almost completely the opposite of what Enlighter actually is

He sends the script over and goes to sleep

>>>><<<<

Enlighter received the script at 3 am, he didn't understand why his manager decided to send it over to him at such an ungodly time, whatever he will read it in the morning

He goes to sleep but ends up very much sleep deprived due to the interruption in his sleep

When he looks at the script he looks more shocked than words could explain, because what is this??? he's written like he's- like he's some grand hero- like he can actually go something other than ruining another person's image

The more he reads the more he asks himself about how the awkward photo that was sent with the email invoked the emotions to write... that.

He finishes reading it and stares at the wall for 20 minutes

Did he really look this badass?

his face felt like it went up in flames from how much the blush burned his delicate face, he was almost giggling like a little kid reading about his favorite hero in a comic

>>>>><<<<<

In the end when LinLing realizes how the guy he wrote that cool badass script for was actually a lanky awkward guy that was like 5 years older than him and his only power was truth detection

he felt embarrassed enough that he blocked the entire company and didn't even acknowledge them to his boss

>>>>><<<<<

After Enlighter learns that LinLing had ghosted them he develops a grudge that follows him all the way until he fights the man that one time

however the grudge is almost immediately gone when he sees the handsome man walk towards him fuming(the punches were great too)

he cringed to himself but nobody needed to know that

[jaegeraether]

Sunsets and footballers (Part 64)

Lucy Bronze x Reader (54) / Alexia Putellas x Character (23)

Masterlist (other parts here)

((**4.5k**))

Ridley POV

“She’s handled this very, very well.” Ridley murmured to Lucy.

Lucy nodded, looking so fatigued it was almost comical. “She and Joe were up all night doing crisis management.”

“You as well it seems?”

“She made me get some sleep for the game. I think I managed a few hours.”

They’d just arrived and were standing in the kitchen area, watching Blue on the phone again, giving another interview. She’d released a video stating that JK Rowling was in no way involved with the company, and the way she said it was impressive to Ridley because it was almost toying with Mark. Anyone who watched would have absolutely believed her when she almost mockingly denied the rumours with a virtually stress-free and amused demeanour. On top of that, her boss had somehow managed to get JK Rowling to post a video statement saying she was not involved, and that a year ago she remembered having accepted and agreed to the request that this new company also be allowed to be named Lumos. Mark was officially looking like a twat. But even more interestingly, it made Ridley wonder who this obviously rich and influential ‘Joe’ actually was.

Ridley watched Blue proudly as she expertly navigated her way through the drama. She’d always been great with people.

“I figured since you look like someone fed you after midnight.”

Lucy scoffed, her eyes moving from Blue to the food the pair had brought over, and back. She couldn’t help but shake her head and smirk at the sound of Lucy’s stomach grumbling. Blue must have heard too because she looked over and gestured for her to start eating without her. Lucy shook her head and crossed her arms. It appeared Lucy had her priorities straight which satisfied Ridley.

She looked down at Chiquito who was being vetted thoroughly by Narla, and her heart string tugged watching him sit patiently waiting, his tail curled around his body and resting atop his paws. He slow blinked at her a few times before his attention turned behind Ridley, and that’s when she realised that Alexia had been far, far too quiet during the whole exchange which alerted Ridley to her intentions. She heard Alexia before she saw her and as she went to attack, Ridley spun and ducked, her arm going around her neck in a chokehold. She pressed her body up against her back, enjoying the feel of her ass against her core and murmured in her ear. “Nice try, la Reina, but you’re too predictable.”

Alexia fought against her until she let her go and turned with a frustrated expression that Ridley enjoyed far too much. She’d been teaching her self-defence all morning and Alexia now seemed to have a new hobby of trying to catch her off guard. It hadn’t been successful thus far, though Ridley had been enjoying this new, playful side to her. “How?!”

“You were too quiet. And then too loud right before you went for it. And then then there was Chiquito.” She reached out and patted her cheek. “We’ll get you there, kid.”

Alexia smacked her hand away and Ridley couldn’t help but smirk. She loved how independent she was. The pair had also gotten a lot closer recently as they were enjoying building their friendship amongst the feelings. The strength it had taken Ridley thus far to not act on her almost-paralysing attraction to her had been the farthest she’d ever tested her discipline.

“Hey Riddles.”

Ridley looked over at her Blue who was now off the phone and smiling at her. She walked over and leapt over the couch, ducking to kiss her cheek.

“Hey baby Blue. You look happy.”

“All he’s done is give us a whole lot of promotion. And with JK’s statement… this is just great. I’m hoping to put out the promo today for Alexia’s interview to ride that popularity wave.”

“Great idea.”

That was another one of the reasons they were there. Alexia was going to review the interview and say if she was happy for it to be published.

“I’ll show you over lunch Alexia, just to make sure you’re happy with it and we can make any changes you want.” She smiled at the Spaniard as Lucy reached over the back of the couch to give her girlfriend some love.

“Thank you.” Alexia replied as she sat on the couch near Blue. Hearing her speak in English always did something to Ridley.

“Luce, you should have started eating, your stomach is so loud that it almost interrupted the interview,” Blue laughed as she held her head close to her cheek with her good arm.

“I wanted to wait for you,” Lucy murmured in response with a kiss on the cheek.

They both looked tired – Blue more so of course, and so Alexia and Ridley had thought it would be a good idea to bring lunch over before the girls went to the game. However as she watched them, Ridley grew suspicious and her eyebrows frowned.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“You two.”

They both looked amusedly confused.

“You two have been having sex. And now that I think about it, it even smells like sex in here. The fuck are you doing, Bronze?”

The pair looked sheepishly guilty.

“What are you, a sex sniffer dog?”

“Please tell me it was just once.”

Their expressions didn’t change.

“She’s a fucking walking bruise!”

“To be fair… my bruises are healing really well now…”

“You know what I mean. You have more breaks than a Kit-Kat Blue - you need to be careful.”

“We are. Very careful, aren’t we?” She turned her head slightly to look at Lucy. “And very creative.”

“Argh.” Ridley reacted disgustedly before tilting her head as she looked over Blue’s bandaged body. “Actually, the logistics would be fun…”

“Right?!” Lucy agreed.

Ridley scoured. “I’m still disappointed in you two.”

Blue shrugged and winced hard at her collarbone, Ridley’s stomach dropping as she did so. “As long as we’re happy. And to defend Lucy, it took a lot of convincing to-”

“Please don’t finish that sentence.”

Blue grinned and Ridley couldn’t help but smirk in response. She was happy. So, so happy and Ridley loved that. And the way Lucy looked at her… like she was her entire world.

Ridley looked over to Alexia who now held Chiquito in her lap, studying the pair and must have had the same thought as her eyes met Ridley’s.

Ridley had never wanted somebody so bad in her life. God, she was beautiful. She’d fallen asleep on her shoulder last night, her body twitching until she was fast asleep and breathing deep, sleepy breaths. The footballer had naturally cuddled her body to her own and it made her feel… a lot. And something she wasn’t ready to name just yet. Ridley had spent a good amount of time just studying her as she slept and eventually, she’d let herself fall asleep with her head on her own.

Ridley hadn’t slept that well in a long time. She was grateful that Alexia had used that favour because she couldn’t even admit to herself how much she’d wanted to stay. And then there had been the morning. Ridley had waited for her to wake, slowly twitching and coming back to life. She’d been apologetic for falling asleep on her, yet they both knew she didn’t mean it, and that Ridley hadn’t minded. It had changed something in her, just knowing that she was there next to her and safe, happy and comfortable. It took away that feeling of almost stress that she experienced as she lay in her hotel room staring at the ceiling and wondering if Alexia were feeling those things.

They’d spent the morning working out as it was an important part of their lives, and then another hour or so on the gym mat practicing self-defence. It had only been the basics, but the both of them had enjoyed being so close to each other, their sweaty bodies moving against one another as they’d tussled on the mat. There were multiple time when they’d moved or ground not because they had to, but because they had an excuse to feel each other like that. There was only one point where Alexia had almost gotten the upper hand, and that was because she’d distracted Ridley with a look of lust she failed to hide.

Lucy’s stomach interrupted her thoughts.

She looked over at Blue chuckling and reaching back to stroke Lucy’s belly. “Thanks for bringing lunch, guys. What did you end up bringing?”

“Sushi.”

“Ohh I’ve been craving that!”

“You’ve been craving everything, Luce.”

Lucy came around the couch to pick up Blue and move her to the kitchen table. “Ale, I’ll set you up with my laptop so you can watch now if you want?”

She watched a happy smile form on Alexia’s face at the shortening of her name. Her stomach felt strange in a good way. Blue was the most important thing to her and Alexia getting along with her was very, very important to her. So much so she didn’t even realise herself.

Alexia and Ridley set up the sushi they’d bought on the table, their fingers brushing and bodies seemingly wanting to be near each other. It was something she wasn’t used to, and she liked it. A lot.

Alexia sat at the laptop Blue had set up for her and put on her headphones, watching the interview while she ate her lunch.

“Will Chiquito eat this?” Lucy asked from the kitchen, holding up a can of Narla’s food.

“He’ll eat anything, but he prefers a specific brand. I brought him some, it’s in the bag there.”

Lucy nodded and laid the food out for the pets. “Don’t worry, Narla won’t steal his food.”

“I’m not,” she laughed. “He’d never let her.”

“Sit here Riddles…” Blue said, pointing to the chair next to her. She’d wanted to sit next to Alexia but she was at the other end of the table. She was about to question it when she saw the iPad set up in front of them.

“Sit.”

Ridley raised an eyebrow and sat, Lucy sitting on the other side of her and already choking down sushi. Blue fiddled around with the iPad and suddenly the trio were staring at her nan and brother. Now it made sense.

“Hey nan! Hey bro! I have Luce and Riddles here.”

“Hello, it’s so good to see you all!”

“Put the camera down nan, we just see your forehead,” Ben laughed.

“Oh… is that better?”

“Yes.” They all said in unison.

“Hey Riddle-me-this, it’s been a while,” Ben grinned. He looked and sounded much older and than when she’d spoken to him last.

“Hey mate, up to trouble lately?”

“Only what you taught me.”

“Oh Ridley you look so good, lovey. It’s so good to see you.” Nan said. She didn’t realise how much she missed them.

“It’s really good to see you both too.” She said with emotion. It was a great surprise.

“We just want to hear from you. Don’t be a stranger, okay?”

“Yes, nan.”

She looked over the iPad and caught Alexia’s eye. It looked like she’d paused the video and was listening to them. She didn’t look surprised which meant Blue had told her about their video call, and her eyes held sympathy and curiosity. She gave her a reassuring smile before pressing play on her video again.

“Christ, sis, you look shit. Are those bruises?”

She nodded. They could only see the upper half of their bodies so it was just the sling and bruising, but she knew she would have told them both the full story. She was always honest with them. “Yes, but it’s almost gone. I should be able to put weight on my knee soon.” She turned to Lucy with that look Ridley had seen multiple times. “Luce has been taking really good care of me.”

“Oh Lucy you’re looking so good!” Nan praised. Lucy smiled and gulped down a piece of sushi.

“Thanks nan, you’re looking well. Hey Ben, whereabouts are you at the minute?”

“Kyoto living my best life.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve been there, it’s a whole other world. I loved it.”

“When did you go?”

“Uh 2021 Tokyo Olympics. We travelled around and explored while we were there. Have you learnt any of the language?”

“Yeah… I’m getting there. It’s hard but I can have conversations.”

“That’s a big achievement to be able to do that, though. Well done, just keep practicing yeah? Even if you leave, keep on top of it.”

“For sure I will, I have a lot of friends here now.”

“Good! It’s hard to make friends overseas, especially when you speak different languages so that’s amazing.”

“Thanks Lucy.”

Ridley didn’t miss Blue’s proud smile.

“Do you remember when you two said you’d be excited to come over for a game one time? Well YFN and I have been talking and we were hoping you’d come over for Christmas? All expenses paid, of course. We have accommodation here and I’ll pay for the flights-”

“-flights will be free.” Ridley interjected.

“And Ridley and I will argue over who’s paying for flights.” Lucy continued. Blue chuckled between them.

“Really?!” Ben sounded excited.

“Are you sure it’s not too much trouble?” Nan asked.

“All expenses paid.” Blue promised. “Riddles will be here, you’ll get to meet Luce, her family are excited to meet you two as well. It’ll be a happy little white Christmas like you’ve never had, nan.”

“I’m in. Come on nan, we need to go!”

“I’m getting old…”

Ridley jumped in. “It’s first class, nan, so you’ll have a bed on the plane. It’s like a hotel. You’ll board first and I’ll have people with you the entire way. I can come to pick you up, if you’d like?”

“No, no.. it’ll be fine, Ben can help me. You’ve already done so much for us.” She adjusted her glasses and squinted at the camera. “You’re looking so well, lovey. We really miss seeing you.”

“I miss you too nan. I’ll be here for Christmas, yeah?”

“Off to England it is, then!”

Lucy clapped, excited. “I’ll let my family know.”

“Do you have a game we can come see you play at, Lucy?” Ben asked, genuinely admiring her.

“Lionesses have their last games of the year next week, so not for England, but I have some late December matches with Barcelona if you don’t mind a little trip over to Spain.”

“Ohh YFN said the food is great.”

“The food is the best part.”

“And Barcelona are iconic. I can’t wait to see la Reina up close.”

Ridley looked over to Alexia to see if she’d heard it. She was zoned out looking at Ridley, blinking out of it when she was caught.

“Well today’s your lucky day.” Blue laughed.

Ridley caught Alexia’s eyes and gestured with her head towards them. She took her headphones off and came to stand behind and join them, her hands on the back of Ridley and Blue’s seats respectively. When Ridley looked back at the screen, Ben was bright red and staring like he didn’t believe it.

“Uh… hello…” Alexia greeted, not knowing why she was there.

“Th… that… that’s…”

“Is that the one you have a crush on?” Nan asked.

Lucy and Blue laughed. “No nan, I said she’s hot.”

“You said it a lot of times,” she responded, not realising how embarrassed he was.

“You do realise she can hear you, right?” Ridley said. “Nan, Ben, this is Alexia Putellas. Nan, she’s the Captain of both Barcelona and Spain, and she’s known as the greatest female footballer to ever play.”

“I’m right here.” Lucy responded with a mouthful.

“Don’t worry Luce, you’re still my number one.”

Lucy grinned. “I’m getting old.”

“Stop that.” She admonished and gave her a light slap.

“Hello nan, Ben. It’s nice to be meeting you.”

“Are you coming for Christmas Alexia?”

“Nan, she has her own family!”

“Well they’re friends so I don’t know.”

“Uh, normally I have Christmas in Barcelona with my family,” Alexia said slowly in broken English.

“Yeah I thought so, sorry, I think nan’s excited about Christmas.”

“Nan are you trying to hook Ben up?”

“Well it doesn’t hurt to try does it?”

Alexia laughed behind them – one of Ridley’s favourite sounds.

“What about Riddle-me-that? She’s older than me.”

“Oh yes, Ridley are you bringing someone to Christmas?”

Lucy choked, Blue laughed into Lucy’s shoulder and Alexia smothered an amused sound behind her.

“Still single.”

“Oh that’s a shame.”

“Why’s it a shame, we’re living our best single lives.” Ben said.

“Well it’s nice to have someone…”

“Ridley and I aren’t like that nan.”

“Oh rubbish, everyone’s like that. You’ll find a good one sooner or later Ridley.”

Ridley sighed. If only they knew the woman she wanted was right behind her. “Thanks nan.”

The rest of the conversation was catching up and organising Christmas. Ridley lifted Chiquito to introduce him to them while Alexia excused herself to watch the rest of the interview. Ridley worried how much she was watching though as she felt her eyes drift to her often. She didn’t blame her, Ridley herself was tempted to look at her but managed to keep her focus on the people she considered family.

“Aren’t you supposed to be working?” Alexia asked from behind her.

God that voice. Ridley always needed to build up something inside her before she looked at her. She turned and smiled, holding up her phone. “No surprise attack?”

“It looked like a serious phone call.”

Ridley hummed. “I’ve pushed back a few meetings until tomorrow.”

“And they agreed?”

“That’s the great thing about being the boss.”

Alexia nodded and took a step forward onto the grass. “Did you do it to spend time with Blau?”

She knew her so well. “Yes, just a few hours. She needs her sleep.” She looked inside to where Blue was giving Lucy a kiss goodbye.

“You’re leaving now?”

“Yes…”

“Ah, come to say goodbye did you?”

“I wanted to know where you’d be staying tonight...”

Ridley let a moment of silence hang in the air. God knows where she wanted to be. “My later meetings are in the hotel.”

She wasn’t lying. Most would be in the hotel… on a video call. One actual face to face in the conference room.

She nodded like she knew that would be the answer. “Will I see you tomorrow?”

The wind blew a strand of her hair loose. That beautiful hair. Ridley was obsessed with it. She stepped close and tucked it back where it belonged, unable to not meet Alexia’s big hazel eyes staring up at her. She knew she shouldn’t go over there, it was too risky. But how could she say no to that face?

“Well I do need to make sure you’re properly trained to protect yourself.”

Her smile softened her face and she looked down, nodding. Ridley’s reaction was immediate. Again, something she shouldn’t do. Her fingertips found the spot just below her chin and lifted her head. “Shall we say nine o’clock?”

“I’ll cook breakfast,” she breathed.

The temptation to kiss her was overwhelming. Ridley’s eyes wandered to her pink lips and she needed to step away from her to not lose herself.

“I’ll see you then. Don’t forget to pick up Chiquito after the game.”

“I’d never forget him.”

Ridley stared at the photos Alexia and Lucy had posted and her insides did that thing she wasn’t used to. ‘Feeling’ she knew Blue would say if she told her. Feeling. Never before had she studied someone so closely. She zoomed in on her face, that smile in the stands with Lucy, her beanie on because she was cold and used to the Spanish weather. Her happy hazel eyes and slightly upturned pink lips. Ridley had dreamed about those far, far too often. She should have gone with them. What if she needed another jacket?

Ridley forced her phone down and looked at Blue responding to another message. She was about five minutes from falling asleep.

“Lucy being needy?”

Blue chuckled. “Always, but I love that. No, it’s Leah worried about tonight.”

“Oh?”

“She was at the Arsenal game with Luce and Ale but now she’s on her way to surprise Jordan at her game in Birmingham.”

“Oof. Two hour drive. Very cute, though. Your idea?”

“Maybe…”

Ridley rolled her eyes. “It has you written all over it, Blue.”

She put her phone down. Narla was on one side of her, curled up and Chiquito was exploring the house, ever the curious cat.

“Come here.” She said, patting the couch to the right of her.

Ridley could have said something funny, but she didn’t. Blue’s expression was too serious for that.

“What can I do for you, madam?” She asked, sliding next to her.

“It’s what you can do for yourself…”

“Ah, of course. You just can’t stop worrying about everyone else, can you?”

“Riddles-”

“You know. Better than anyone else. You know what I’ve done.”

“And yet I’m still here.”

“She deserves better-”

It was Blue’s turn to interrupt. “Better than someone who will her protect her with every fibre of her being? Someone who will always do what’s best for her and not themselves?”

“This is what’s best for her.”

“Don’t take away her choices, Riddles.”

Ridley sighed. “You seem worried.”

“I’m worried you’re going to make the mistake of pushing away the best person in your life.”

“You’re the best person in my life.”

“Riddles, it’s different, you know that. I just… I don’t want you to make a mistake of hurting her to push her away…”

“Oh come on, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve slept around to give someone a hint.” It was harsh, but Ridley needed to be to avoid her own emotions.

“You’d never with her. And the difference is that you never liked the people you were pushing away.”

“I liked some.”

“Only for sex. And not like this.”

Ridley sighed. “And how, pray tell, do you know there is something more to my ‘liking’ of Alexia.”

“Because you’re my best friend, and I see the way you look at her.”

“Mmn. I do wonder what advice you’ve given her about this whole situation, though.” Ridley watched her intelligent eyes pondering that she’d been caught. Of course Ridley knew she’d give advice to Alexia, because she was always trying to help without being too pushy. To be her benefit, she didn’t look stressed or surprised at all.

“And why would I ever speak to you about personal things I talk to Alexia about?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you’re my best friend.” Ridley teased, repeating her.

She rolled her eyes and gave that dimply smile, shaking her head.

“What?”

“I know you were mocking me, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say that before.”

Ridley tilted her head. Had she not? “You know what you are to me.”

“It’s nice to hear it sometimes though.” She said kindly, though Ridley knew it was a polite reminder.

She nodded and reached out to touch that scar over her eyebrow, a reminder of how cruel people could be. She’d sacrificed her own body so that she’d have no such scars and now… now she needed to trust that Lucy would protect her when she wasn’t there.

“You are my oldest friend. My best friend. Someone I would happily do anything for. I respect your opinion above all others, and I trust you with my entire being. I’m sorry I don’t say that enough.”

She cupped her cheek when she saw her getting upset, the tears forming in her eyes. She tried to nod to stop them from falling, but she was always the more openly emotional of the two. “I love you Riddles. I love that we’ve been around each other so much more recently. A… and I don’t want that to change.” She looked down and sniffed. “I know you like your space to go off and explore and be independent, and I said I was okay with it but truthfully… I love having you in my life. You’re such a big part of me. I feel like something is missing when you’re not around.”

Her words hit her hard. She was always so good at communicating. Ridley didn’t know how much of a burden it had been to be apart and not talking for months at a time. She had assumed the same thing – that she needed her own space for independence and that perhaps they reminded each other too much of their past. It wasn’t like that at all though. They wanted to be around each other. They felt supported in doing so.

Ridley moved closer and gently pulled her into her neck. “I feel the same, Blue.” She kissed her hair. “I’m sorry, I had no idea. From now on, I’ll be here as long as you want me around, okay?”

“N…not if you don’t want t-”

“Trust me, I want to.”

Ridley had always kept an eye on her from afar without her knowing. Where she was, what she was doing, who she was doing it with. That protective nature of hers was never-ending when it came to Blue. Knowing all of that had made it easier, but she’d never thought before of just how Blue had felt not knowing where she was or with who, or if she were happy. She should have reached out more.

“I love you, Blue. I’m right here.”

She felt her relax at that reassurance they both needed so badly. ‘I’m right here.’ She’d heard Lucy say it to her multiple times and knew just why she’d fallen in love with her. She supported her with that obsessive, all-encompassing love. And when Alexia had said it to her… she’d almost given herself completely to her right then and there.

Blue let out a large breath as her body calmed. “I don’t want to push you. I don’t want to tell you what’s best…” she said as she pulled back far enough to look up at Ridley with red puffy eyes. She needed sleep. “But I love you too much to let you miss out on love, Riddles. And that’s what this is. I know you haven’t admitted it to yourself yet, but she’s perfect for you. And you’re both in love with each other. She’s been here for you since you first saw each other at that bar in Barcelona…um…”

“Javier’s.” Ridley offered in a murmur.

“That’s the one.” She stroked her cheek and Ridley leant into it. “And no one deserves happiness more than you.”

“You do.”

“We both do.” Blue’s thumb stroked down that scar her dad had given her, and her eyes followed it. “Isn’t it finally time for us to both be happy?” Her tired big blue eyes met Ridley’s again. “Don’t we both deserve that?”

Silence followed as they sat like that, and by the time Ridley responded, Blue was already fast asleep.

“I suppose we do.”

[vimeddiart]

I DREW MY OC TOAST AAAAAA

The folks at XPPen sent me the XPPen Deco Pro (Gen 2):

XPPen is having its 18th anniversary, and is celebrating with sales and product promos, so it's worth checking those out.

My thoughts on the tablet (and purchase links) under the cut!

⭐ Review ⭐

First impressions: After unboxing the tablet, I thought it sleek and professional-looking, especially after setting it up with my PC.

The remote I LOVED right out of the box because I enjoy fiddling with buttons and wheels. The keys are super satisfying to press.

The pen and storage case are nicely complete, lots of spare nibs to switch out (though I mainly stuck to the default nib while drawing, the textured ones have a nice gritty feel similar to paper).

I had some troubleshooting when I started, as connecting to Bluetooth wasn't happening with either the tablet or the remote. I tested the Bluetooth connection with a different device and my phone successfully, but couldn't with my work PC. I was promptly helped by XPPen Support, and it turned out to be a Windows update messing things up, so I uninstalled it and Boom; I could connect both the tablet and remote, no problem. Up until then, I used both via cable, which was a convenient option!

The tablet: The XL model at 15 x 9 inches, with plenty of space to work (although you'll need space to put it, luckily I have a lot of desk to spare), and can connect via cable or Bluetooth. It also looks so dang pretty.

The tablet was so smooth, and the pressure (16k pressure levels) felt amazing to draw with. After fiddling around with the pen settings, I barely had to press down to get a nice flowy line.

I usually work on a screen tablet, so it took some getting used to returning to a pen tablet and looking at my PC screen again, but it came back to me quickly. It actually helped my posture, as I tend to shrimp-curl over my screen tablet while working.

As lovely as it was to work on, I feel this size may be too large for me, despite it being perfectly proportional to my PC screen. I like to draw quickly, and I noticed myself making more effort to travel over the surface of the tablet and tiring my arm out faster than usual. I needed to take more breaks and stretch often, although I could classify that as positive. That said, this tablet has a sloped resting area that helped. All my drawing tablets have been medium-sized, so I'm probably just conditioned to that surface area.

The battery lasted as long as it took to draw this piece and more! I didn't need to charge it the entire time.

The remote: I love this thing so much. It has ten shortcut keys and a wheel you can configure to your heart's desire. Five sets of key functions!!! That's fifty shortcuts!! I only configured four sets and struggle to memorise them, but it's very convenient. I have my keyboard right next to the tablet and would bang out shortcuts there, but this remote changed my life.

I've been using it for a month now, and it still hasn't needed charging!

The pen: Comfy to use, with a design I was already accustomed to, and one thing I noticed was that the nib wasn't scratching the heck out of the tablet. After all the drawing I did with it, not a single mark.

I LOVE popping the case open to retrieve or store the pen, and it's one of those physical things that I find satisfying and so rare with digital products. I thought it would be nice to have a pen stand too, but I have pet birds that will (and have) run away with my tablet pens, so a storage case is a strong solution.

Final thoughts: This is a solid tablet with the potential to become an essential tool for industry professionals and freelancers. I didn't think I could be convinced out of a screen tablet, but I was offered a super strong contender. I can confidently recommend it, plus my experience with support was a positive one that boosted my trust in the brand. Overall, I had a great time using this tablet and really appreciate the opportunity I've been given to try it out!

⭐ Purchase links ⭐

US Walmart Store

CA official store

[leolithe]

Very curious to know what your thoughts are on Flare and Lizzie 👀

omggggg WE LOVE LIZZIE 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 SHE'S LITERALLY SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CUTE SHE'S A LITTLE PET INFESTED GUITAR WHO USES THE :( and >:3 EMOTICONS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAAAAAA. the way she speaks both in and out of chat are so fun. gonna be crass here but she sounds like she's bout to cum in some of her lines LMFAOOO we LoooOOOOOVE it 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

I was totally ready to trust her and sell my soul to her, Lizzie and I can be possessive obsessive hivemind besties if Flare doesn't want her AHAHAHAHA. LOVE that the symbiote-type character is a she. so refreshing.

Flare we are more normal about lmfao. We know we said we didn't like their face on first impressions but that's cuz we found their render in the first promo art to be a little rough. Also thought their makeup wasn't bold enough but now in the current game we think they look pretty good. In the bar at least. Good lighting does crazy things u wouldn't believe

We like that their transness is everywhere in their story. From v*ktor calling them a degenerate to them being EXTREMELY worried that Lizzie is "their core self". It's nice that they're very sensitive and emotional and Open About It because 1) they're a rock artist this makes sense and 2) omygod such a breath of fresh air compared to the other 3 Protos earlier chats. I found both Flare and Lizzie pleasant to talk to tbh. Proud to say we did not get jumpscared 👍👍

Have not seen today's chat. Also have not built Temple yet. Actually... Kind of sick of 1999 in general. Think the Infested are ugly. Dislike the tileset (I GET LOST AND STUCK SO MUCH MORE OFTEN IN THIS UGLY STINKY INFESTED CITY EWWWW). Hate what the fandom tag looks like (yes we have already blacklisted lots of boring tags). But we'll spend some time with Lizzie and Temple when we build them. Probably won't insta-Helminth them like we did with most other Prime-less frames. (Sorry Yareli but i KNOW ur Prime is coming soon I PROMISE…)

OH and the Lizzie x Flare confession we got 2 days ago made us tear up SORRY. Even though narratively i think this climax came too fast (same with Vel and Minerva's confession (V×M were ridiculously too fast to get back together i was like bruh srsly was that one island memory all it took??)), we don't know what Lizzie did with Flare to get them to be in co-con like that but WWAAAH. HELP. We're a baby system learning to use text to communicate with each other so seeing that was just like "WAIT……… WE DO THAT TOO……. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭"

so basicly We like Them a casual amount ^_^

[felassan]

Just poring over some of the new images. ◕‿◕

I like the overall shape of the dragon, its wings and silhouette, like it's maintaining this theme, two. It particularly reminds me of the DAII cover, with the figures of other characters being present in the dragon's wings. the pattern in the background gives the impression of a sunburst or explosion/outwards burst of energy (there's been lots of that going around in promo images for DA:TV over the years hasn't there). :D chunks of rock float around, which by now is associated with Fadey stuff (floating rocks in the Fade), the barrier (Veil) crumbling in key arts, and reality warping in places like Arlathan Forest. the dragon, open-mouthed, golden-eyed and ready to breathe fire, recalls the dragons on the Dragon Age vinyl arts, two, especially with its general position, and the dragon in this screenshot/scene. in the background at the bottom you can even see a hint of the 'concentric circles' pattern that represents the Veil.

I love that this group shot truly does include the whole team, including Assan and Manfred. I wonder if they will come into the field too if we select Davrin or Emmrich to come out with us respectively? We saw Assan capably fighting darkspawn in the character trailer, and in this image Manfred is helping fend the monsters off. Does Manfred carry Emmrich's stuff in his lil backpack..? 🥺 and I wonder what the purpose of Manfred's goggles are. Visually they set him apart from other skeleton/undead-type enemies and make it so you don't have to peer into empty the eyesockets of a skull, but also they're green (necromancy magic color) and we see Emmrich doing magic on them here. Are they part of the enchantment keeping him animated? also happy to see Varric in this one even though he is not one of the 7 companions. also, Bianca is still here. RIP

Taash looks so cool. :D Even her weapons are gold. her upper body armor in this piece has the aesthetic to me of like a dragon's ribbed armored chest and underside. I like that her weapons are unique generally, and from each other too. her dual-wielding like this as [I presume] a warrior differentiates her from Rook who if a warrior would be sword and shield or twohanded. her gauntlets look like they have dragon teeth or spines on them (the sticky-out parts that are not scale-like).

Davrin is at Rook's right hand. ♡ the floating triangles near Bellara show that she is using her magical device. I wonder what the white sphere part of Neve's wand/staff is. like, in this particular image it gives me the impression of a big pearl. Lucanis' eyes are glowing, like we see here, in that way that seems to hint that something interesting is going on there. overall it's cool to see all the team and cast together like this, working together heroically to stave off doom.

some of the monsters the group are fighting at least are red lyrium darkspawn. the ones with 'shark fin'-shaped headpieces are the same kind as the one at that link. are the rest all darkspawn too (there are different types of darkspawn ofc), or are there some walking dead mixed in there? (lol at the one Varric has just shot in the face). the non-sharkhead ones seem to be these guys from concept art. the prominence of darkspawn in this key art give the impression that we will fight a lot of red lyrium darkspawn in this game and that the threat they pose, including the Blight, is a significant part of the game's storyline.

at the center of it all and at the forefront is Rook. in a nice bit of poetic mirroring (the Wolf and the Rook), they too stand on a rocky outcropping, also with the knife - just like this. the knife is blue here.. blue lyrium influence? the very ground on which they stand bursts with energy. I wonder if Rook's outfit here is sort of their default, iconic look, like the Champion of Kirkwall armor for Hawke etc? I love that they have a cape and the point of their helmet gives them a bird-like feel. (omg.. we can have capes in this game fr). they have the Veilguard symbol on their chest. and could they be canonically left-handed..? :)

[marisandini-chu-blog]

Legit, I have never watch a donghua/anime that made me want to verbalize my every reaction because it's one thing to make me go "OMG!" it's another to make me go "WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?!" and not have a source material to find the answer.

It's been a long time since I'm looking forward to a weekly anime. But I also regret it because I have to wait until September for all the episodes to start collecting answers.

So... Episode One blind reaction (SPOILER!), watch the episode if you want to know what exactly am I reacting to:

I was suprise to find the art style was in 3D after the 2D promo video. Not a bad surprise, but I'm not a huge fan of it. However, the texture didn't look too plastic or video-gamey. There's a nice balance to the animation that didn't make me feel put off.

Classic underdog tale of "My boss is a dick and I want to jump off the roof after getting fired". Exactly how Lin Ling is gonna pick himself up from this?

OF COURSE THE TARGET OF HIS ENVY IS HERE! WHAT A TIMING AHAHAHAHAHA

Is Nice gonna give Lin Ling a pick me up? But what's with the really long slow-mo?

Okay... he's walking away... finger gun pose, is he just passing by...

Wait...

WAIT!!!

WHAT?!?!

WHAT THS FUCK?!?!?!

THAT MAN DID NOT JUST GAVE THE FINGER GUN BEFORE OFFING HIMSELF!!!

WE'RE ONLY 3 MINUTES IN!!!!

OMG THIS IS ABSOLUTE KING SHIT!!! I CAN'T EVEN FEEL SORRY FOR HIM BECAUSE WHAT A LEGENDARY WAY TO EXIT STAGE LEFT!

NICE! You will be remembered!

Okay, manager came. Are we going for a replacement route? How would that work?

Casual kidnapping the only witness. Understandable. Miss J doesn't mess around.

Oof, nice throw on that paint bucket. The animation didn't have to go that hard for just a laugh

*snort* the dogpile was adorable

Hold on, are they going to transplant his brain into Nai Si's body?!

Oh, nevermind. False alarm. They just look similar.

Ooooooooh.... so the worldbuilding is liteally helping Lin Ling blend into Nice. This really is a case of "Anybody can be a hero"

Holy shit, the heroes here get off from Hero Worship!

Hmm, is this a case of Xiao Yueqing being a fake girlfriend? If not, she's a little bland as first impression goes...

Not a Lie Detector on a reality tv show!!!

It's sweet that he thinks of Xiao Yueqing as a goddess. Definitely takes the power of the narrative from the host (something very in line with his experience in the advertising team). Though I hope their bond would develop to not have this rose-tinted glass that fans would have

THAT GUY IS THE ONE VIEWER?! AHAHAHAHAHA.

Oh, okay. So people grow stronger through Trust Value and Fear Value. Though both cases, it would seem, needs some sort of tech to facilitate those energy or at least amplify it.

YOOOOOO THIS FIGHTING SCENE GOES SO HARD! I LOVE IT!!!

And I mean not just the clean animation. The choreography is creative and fun. The cinematography and fighting sequence really hypes up the fight! The change in art style as the "Hero triumphs over the villain" overtakes the narrative in an American Superhero style. Not to mention they really double down on the ballerino fighting style, like... they didn't need to go so hard with the litte twirl mid-battle. I see you, animators.

Err, Xiao Yueqing... are you... gonna be doing anything? Oh... you're just... standing there... okay... I'll reserve judgement until I see how they'll develop you

Lin Ling finally embracing his role as Nice. The only question now is if he's change into someone that abandons his past value... or is he gonna put his own grit and values into his version of "Nice"

Home sweet home... nevermind. This place is as barren as Nai Si's will to live.

Okay, good boy, Lin Ling. Be a gentleman to your goddess... WHAT THS FUCK?!

THIS IS THE FUCKING FIRST EPISODE! HOW MANY DEATHS DO YOU NEED?! THIS ISN'T ATTACK ON TITANS! CALM THE FUCK DOWN!

The emotional roller coaster this donghua made me go through had me absolutely obsessed. It's been a while since I have an anime I'm so excited to watch because some of the ones that are being hype, I already read the manga so it takes away some of the excitement. (I think the last anime I was as hype as this is Undead x Unluck and Shangri-la Frontier)

Anyway, that had been my initial reaction of a donghua I watched literally just yesterday. I need to get this out of my head since I don't have any mutual from this fandom, and it's hard to put into words just how unhinge this first episode was for me.

Episode 2 React

[ispyspookymansion]

impressive. very nice. now lets see lawrence gordons saw x promo nod

[innumerable-stars]

Born of Hope Promo Post

(Written by Aprilertuile)

Summary: Born of Hope tells us the meeting and love story of Arathorn and Gilraen, who would later become the parents of Aragorn, at a difficult time when Sauron’s power is growing and the orcs are looking for the Dúnedain, and more specifically, for the heir of Isildur.

Why should you check this fandom: If you liked the Lord of the Rings, you should really check this movie. It’s fan made, and very well made, it has the Dúnedain’s recent history, orcs, danger, impressive skirmishes, the wilderness of Middle Earth, Elladan and Elrohir and also... Baby Estel.

Where can I get this? Born of Hope is available here : Born of Hope - Lord of the Rings fan film prequel

Or here : Born of Hope - Full Movie - Original

What fanworks exist already?

There are 9 fanworks on AO3. The fanfictions are nice to read to continue the adventure.

[axel-ambassador]

Reasons why Axel is best girl

Her name and design is absolute peak

This was a promo photo. The combat boots, the camo pants, the asymmetrical piercings, the camo paint and absolute feral energy in this photo.

There's a reason why she had so much hype before we even knew her personality. She exudes absolute girlboss energy and leaks with potential.

Her voice is incredible

Something about her dialect tickles my brain. Just listen to her speak especially in S2 E3 and you'll see what I mean. Her VA does an incredible job.

She's incredibly compassionate believe it or not

Her boot episode in S1 starts with her getting breakfast in the woods. She could have made food for just herself but took the time to find and cook food for the rest of her team.

S2 E2 consists of her helping her struggling teammates several times. Zee when he's taken too many hits and Damien after going through the 4 point tube.

You may think she does it out of necessity, but anybody could have gone and saved Damien, Priya especially. She's quick to inform them he needs medical attention.

She even admits that despite winning she doesn't approve of what Millie did. This is coming from the same girl that kicked a teammate overboard in the season prior. She genuinely cares about her team.

She's not very fond of Ripper, yet when she accidentally punches him in the face, she is quick to help him up and fix his broken nose. Her voice is incredibly soft as she helps him as well.

The way she handles Ripper's initial confession really sticks out to me. She doesn't lash out or mock him for having a crush, she calmly admits to being uncomfortable and gently tells him she doesn't feels the same.

She even apologizes. There's no need to apologize for not returning romantic feelings for someone. They're not entitled to your love. But she apologizes anyways despite Ripper never asking for one, because she knows that she hurt him and wanted to reject him as nicely and possible.

She recognizes Rippers development and sees how he's willing to better himself for her. He took the time to learn one of her hobbies for her and she realizes and truly appreciates that. She rewards his efforts by kissing him.

She loves Ripper for who he is despite his imperfections. She finds his stupidity to be attractive, and he's a bit insecure when it comes to impressing her, so she's quick to reassure him that she does in fact love him after insulting him and knocking him off their canoe.

There's these little blink and you'll miss it moments in the finale where when Ripper is getting hurt she's not too pleased and is there to comfort him.

Her confidence is unmatched

From the very beginning she's very sure of herself and her abilities. Her first line is her boasting about her survival abilities and how she's not afraid and how people should fear her instead.

She doesn't doubt her decisions. She kicks Ripper overboard in S1 and doesn't ever regret it, not even after she's been voted off because of it.

In S2 E3 she does a flip over a stump just because she can. Her only solo confessional is her bragging about how she was born for this challenge. She's fully confident in her skills and for good reason.

S2 E4 has a lot of these moments where she's so sure of herself not as a survivalist but also as a person. She was voted "most likely to make you regret stuff" in survival camp. She's not ashamed of that fact, she sounds almost proud.

When her love of poetry is revealed, she's not embarrassed, she sounds happy to be able to reveal that fact about herself. She knows that it's an interest not expected of someone like her, and she doesn't care.

She kisses a man on live TV despite being incredibly embarrassed and near uncomfortable with being put on the spot.

She doesn't change herself for Ripper. She is so sure of herself and she knows Ripper loves her for who she is. She's not embarrassed to show her love for him, and she's not afraid to still be her authentic self.

She takes bullshit from no one

When she stops Ripper from wasting his time and energy in the beginning, he lashes out. How does she respond? She growls at him. She's not gonna let some guy yell at her when she's trying to help.

Ripper refuses to have her lead the team despite majority ruling for her to be captain, so what does she do? She kicks him overboard for mutiny and refusing to cooperate.

Ripper taunts her for getting booted by waving his marshmallow in her face. She's already pissed, so she bites his hand and eats his own marshmallow straight from his hand. What a queen.

Ripper calls her and her team nerds in S2 E2 and she immediately snaps at him and intimidates him for his disrespect.

S2 E3 is when she and Ripper get stuck butt to butt, and it does slow her down a lot, but she ends up being in the pack getting carried by Caleb regardless. She's not really responsible for her teams loss. So when Chef puts her on the list of people on the chopping block, she immediately shuts him down because of how stupid that is.

Her split second Yuri moment with Emma consists of her intimidating her not to mess up the challenge. Emma does mess up, Axel falls, and Axel votes her off.

Her team loses for the 3rd time in a row by E5 and of course Chris relishes in their failures and rubs it in their faces. Axel is a blunt and honest person, but here she resorts to sarcasm because that's how done she is with his shit.

She's literally about to be eaten by a shark and she just turns and yells at it to back off, icon.

[stusbunker]

Spotless: Eco

Chapter Eleven

Featuring: Dean Winchester/Reader, Dean/Bela

Other characters: Bobby, Bela, Dick Roman and Kobe Bryant mentioned (look, he wasn't supposed to be here but I did my research and well, he had to be), Anael, faceless paps

Word Count: 1683 with pictures

Warnings, etc: Mutual pining, tour planning, brunch and shopping with Bela, unbeta'd

Series Masterlist

“Okay, well the official schedule from the touring company arrived, so I have maybe a week to set up the promo interviews before they announce it publicly,” you said over the phone.

“Yeah, with Crowley it’s probably gonna be sooner. Annie’s gotta find someone to step in for the whole year with this so she’s already interviewing. Let me know if you need anything, because I’m just sitting on my hands until we’re actually rolling out,” Bobby replied solemnly.

The give me something to do, please, was implied.

“Check with Benny and his boys, I know the label is supplying some guys too, but I trust you to secure the crew and security schedules,” you said as you made another note on your ever increasing list of to do’s.

Two months may have seemed like a long time, but it was the shortest turn around you’d had for a tour since taking over as publicist for Phantom Traveler and you’d be damned if you fucked it up.

“With the holidays coming up, we’ll be in a pinch to get everything nailed down. But all the commotion with Bela and everything, people will be chomping at the bit to get actual news,” you added, staring unfocused at your computer monitor.

“And he’s got that interview coming up you said, just Dean for that one?” Bobby asked.

“Yeah,” you sighed. “I really hope Meg doesn’t eat him alive. But it’s his chance to give his side of things and for people to see where his head is at now.”

“The sassy little brunette, right?”

“The very one.”

“Is it going to be a tit-for-tat thing? Is Cas gonna be next for a tell-all?”

“Bobby, I don’t think Cas would do an interview and talk bad about Dean even if they paid him. He’s moved on.”

“If you say so, Dean didn’t exactly play nice.”

“He must have had hundreds of offers for the dirt since leaving the band. And everything I hear about him now is just about the kid he’s working with and how they’re creating something unique.”

“I just know how that reporter liked him— the last time.”

“I’m sure she’s going in with the bias against Dean here. Time will tell if she can be swayed,” you admitted. “Plus, Dean won't be alone. We made sure there'll be a few of us there to make it easier.”

“To keep him from making a damned fool of himself you mean.”

“Basically.”

Bobby sat on the other end of the line with his gruff silence before continuing, “you going home for Christmas?”

“Yeah, got the usual stuff with my folks for Christmas Eve then I’m helping Ellen on Christmas day. I’m flying so I won’t be gone more than a few days. Probably end up spending half of it at airports with my luck.”

“Okay, just checkin’.”

“You guys have any plans?”

“Just service on the night before and maybe something with Annie’s cousins. Might just be a train of open houses.”

“Wow, I’m impressed.”

“Hey, I didn’t say I’d enjoy myself.”

You laughed and wrapped it up with a promise to touch base before you left town. The next two days were a whirlwind of emails and phone calls. You put off confirming brunch with Bela for Sunday, but relented from guilt, as she now had regular visits from paparazzi outside her townhouse due to her and Dean’s night club-hopping. You finished up your Saturday errands and plopped yourself onto your stationary bike in a last ditch effort to fend off your restlessness until it was a reasonable enough time to crash.

God, your life was so exciting.

Bela poured you another glass from the endless pitcher of mimosas. “Anyway, I guess Dean got us tickets to the Lakers’ game tomorrow night, like I actually care about baseball.”

“Basketball,” you corrected, taking a sip.

“Exactly,” Bela smirked.

“How good are the tickets? He doesn’t really follow it either,” you continued, worried they’d be in an embarrassing section.

“I think he said something about getting the label’s box for the game?” She tried to play innocent.

You almost spit out your drink. “The entire box?”

“It’s not floor seats’ exposure, but it will be worth it at least. I think he said he called in a favor with Dick?”

“Dick Roman is giving Dean access to his exclusive luxury box at the Staples Center?” You were floored, you opened your phone and googled who they were playing. “Holy fuck, they’re retiring Kobe’s number tomorrow. It’s going to be insane. There’s no way that box isn’t gonna be packed, but at least you can bump elbows with the uppity ups.”

“Kobe Bryant, yeah? He was quite prolific,” Bela seemed pleased. 

“Uh, yeah, played his whole career here,” you added, but put your phone away. Unwilling to text Dean a ‘wtf’ text while you still had another hour of drinks and foodstuffs to get through. “What are you going to wear?”

Bela slid her most compelling face on. “I was hoping we could find something together. It’s been ages since we drunk shopped. Plus, it’s the holidays so I will need to be a bit tipsy if I want to deal with the crowds.”

You had literally nothing left to buy for Christmas, but drunk shopping was a time-honored tradition between the two of you. Plus, it was fun watching Bela work her magic and pull a stunning outfit together out of seemingly discordant pieces.

“Three stores and I’m getting my own ride home, missy,” you warned with a firm pointer finger.

“Of course!” Bela chuckled and tucked into her eggs, eyes flitting back to you with conspiratorial delight.

You finished off your mimosa and finally saw to your french toast.

Bela’s driver took you to all of her favorite haunts and naturally she weaseled her way in to see the best stylists, at least those who were actually on hand on the Sunday afternoon before Christmas. At Sister Jo’s boutique, the owner herself greeted Bela with a double cheek kiss and hug. 

“What are you doing here? Wait, don’t tell me, you need an outfit asap because your little rocker boy toy needs arm candy,” the woman, who was actually named Anael, teased.

“You know me too well,” Bela replied. “This is my dear friend, Y/N, and we’re a bit on the tilt from brunch, but I simply had to come see you. I need something casual and sexy. It’s for a basketball game.”

You waved as she nodded in your direction, not wanting to break the momentum.

Anael frowned and looked Bela over, with much consideration. Then she hummed before asking, “how do you feel about hats?”

Nearly two hours and a top off on champagne later (to keep your buzzes going), you and Bela walked out of the shop with a bag each and a receipt ensuring Bela would be back in the morning for the alterations on the remaining garments.  

“Well, I’d say that was a successful outing,” Bela said with pride, the pink in her cheeks the only hint of her lingering inebriation.

“I’d say,” you agreed, opening the back door of her pre-ordered ride. “I still can’t believe they had something that would work for me for New Year’s.”

Bela waited on the curb until she could slide in the other side, but continued your trail of thought. “Anael is good people, if she likes something, she carries it. Doesn’t matter the size or price, she is all about how an outfit makes you feel,” Bela explained.

“Well, it worked, because I just spent more on myself than I have the entire year because of how good it felt on, so I get it,” you said, patting the bag at your feet.

Bela confirmed your address with the driver and then hers, thanking them for going out of their way in a way that she wasn’t actually apologizing for being a burden.

“You got eyes on you lady,” the driver warned, pointing towards the corner where a camera lens was trained on the car.

“Ignore them, they’ll find someone else before they follow us very far,” Bela promised and you could see her almost glaring at the rearview mirror for the driver to get the lead out.

You sat on the couch in your robe and sleep pants, hair still wet and wrapped on top of your head. You had crashed for a late afternoon nap after shopping and had rebounded with a blissfully long shower and skincare treatment. Now you watched mind numbing television and plotted out your schedule for the coming week. Even though it was cut short with holiday travels, it was full-to-bursting with things to get done.

You sighed and dragged out your suitcase from under your bed, dropped it on the couch and unzipped it to start packing. At least you could watch something while you organized. 

Just after ten your phone buzzed with a text message. You ignored it for a minute until you could find the remote beneath your pile of socks and paused your Lord of the Rings rewatch.

You stared at the conversation with the movie still paused, dumbfounded. One, that Dean sent you a goodnight text of all things and secondly that he was going to willingly give Bela his phone to post on social media about them. Because it’s not official until they’re both posting each other, or so they say. This was going to be big for the fan girls. You already knew Becky would be emailing you the second she saw it. But as far as fanclub presidents went, she wasn’t the worst. Then again, she would be more than a little bitter if Sam and Madison were the ones flaunting their relationship.

You put a reminder in your calendar to cover an extra sweep of SM while you were waiting out Dean’s interview Tuesday morning and then you tossed your phone back amongst your clothes. You were done for the night and so you shoved your half-packed suitcase on the floor and restarted the movie.

Tagging:

@deans-spinster-witch

@mrswhozeewhatsis

@cosicas-cuquis

@fics-pics-andotherthings-i-like

@suckitands33

@ladysparkles78

@deans-baby-momma

@stoneyggirl2

@sassy-pelican

@leigh70

@globetrotter28

@winharry

@lastactiontricia

@rockhoochie

Chapter Twelve: Hook

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

Hiiiiiiiiiiii. How are you? What are you up to? Been in a reading slump again. The year is not going well i blame Jimin. Alot been happening

1)why can’t i get into succession? I dont understand i have watched ep 1 3 times and i can’t get into it 🤦🏾‍♀️

2) is hybe ok? I am confused and also yes to drama entertain me i guess

3)i only have been here for some of shinee military service and Taemin(obviously), are military man allowed to do what i have been seeing posting on social media, doing promo?

4) your faves are taking this military life under the radar 18 months too seriously, show me your face 😡

5) also i was looking at Jimin video from when Jk went to cook for him(idc what they are but if i had someone like Jungkook i would be married) i understand why jungkook is obsessed with Jimin. I too would go cook after a concert tired for him, i too would be a pick me for him, i too want to be rejected time after time on live when i offer to go to his house. Not even too fuck him ill be content just to sit there and look at him bonus if he could throw me some cuddles. Can you tell im jealous? Im not 😈

Hiiiiiii @5813!!!! It's always lovely to hear from you 🩷

Thanks for sectioning your ask, it makes this so much easier.

1) Don't force yourself, perhaps it's simply not the right time. Or it will never be. There's plenty others to choose from.

I was in a similar situation many years ago when I tried to watch The Sopranos and I couldn't get past the first episode. I found it boring and not as entertaining as Goodfellas or The Godfather. Fast forward, I just finished the series last night and I can finally say that I too have watched one of the greatest series of American television. I can finally understand the jokes and the references. And now, perhaps at my current age and just my mood in general, I could sit down and get immersed into it.

2) All is not ok in Hybe land and I personally have no concern for it. Let them all fight. It's never sunshines and rainbows in the corporate world.

3) Hmm, I have to say that I have had some similar questions about this too. Let's say I can accept that projects finalized before enlistment can be released during military service (I'm not willing to go into another debate on this specifically, I've had enough of it, case closed). But posting on social media about said projects? I find it odd and I'm not sure what the rules are. I haven't heard of any negative consequences for them, so what do I know? I was left with the impression that it's not right, but perhaps they are walking a fine line, open to interpretation. In his latest Weverse post, Jungkook mentioned that since he can't promote himself, he opened an account for Bam. So, what is it then? Is it allowed or not?

4) I knew kukumimi would do this, it's on brand and as much as I want to see them, I think it's better that they are keeping it under the radar. I heard they also just finished this intense training they had and they might get some vacation days. Perhaps they will show their faces. It's never the easy way with them, right?

5) I really enjoyed that glimpse into their evening, even if it was in front of the camera. It still felt nice and very lowkey, particularly after a concert. You wouldn't think they were jumping on a stage for two hours before that.

I think we're all jealous of Jungkook and so be it. He said so himself, we will keep being jealous, he'll still hold Jiminie (and cook for him).

[sanctus-ingenium]

answering your asks vol 3

Full context for the Inprnt issue can be found here on this post , tl;dr my shop is closed until I receive my payments from inprnt in a timely manner and essentially won't reopen unless they clean up their act. Regarding the money they owe me outlined in that post, I still have not received it and on Friday I sent a support ticket in to inprnt demanding they send it soon. Haven't heard back since. I think where Inprnt is concerned, it's worth mentioning that they no longer send promotional emails (which used to be a regular occurrence) and there seems to be a complete lack of communication and the only thing about the site that regularly updates is the sale banner (ending soon!!! 🙄)

So honestly I'm of the opinion that the print on demand bubble has burst and that this method of selling art was a very short-lived feature of an internet that doesn't exist anymore. Think about it - I make money on a sale after having spent nothing on promotion, on materials, on postage fees, etc. It's so easy to game the system using bots or stolen art to essentially print free money that I'm shocked it even lasted as long as it did. Maybe I'm wrong but I won't tie myself to another print on demand service that's just going to pull the same old shit redbubble and inprnt have done this year, or one that requires me to constantly promo it like some kind of influencer on instagram or tiktok or whatever.

Will prints come back? I hope so. I am looking into local printing shops and considering the feasibility of handling the process myself but you must understand that if I do that, the price will rise. I won't have the ability to run constant discounts or eat a loss if I order 20 prints and only 7 sell. It is what it is.

And the actual worldbuilding asks below the cut lol:

(referring to this post)

Only if you want to! I've had a few people send me cool sketches and stuff via dms and it's always nice to see but you really shouldn't feel pressured to. After all it's not like I post my rough practice here lol (that goes on patreon ;)

-

I'm going to be SO real with you right now - I did not consider that at all. However I do know that tinting flames with various chemical compounds was a huge part of alchemy, part of the whole flashy show of it to impress the layperson. So sure, I bet they do throw in copper sulfate or various other chemicals to produce the coloured flames - these make a huge impression on witnesses who might not even have imagined such a thing possible, and also help identify a holy beast at a distance on a battlefield choked with smoke and dive-bombing serpents.

Fun fact, the flames come from the furnace wells, right. Each well is connected to specific systems, where it can most efficiently deliver fuel to the heart and onwards. So it is possible to 'read' the pattern of flame bursts from the furnace slits - they are not constant, but there'll be one every few seconds based on when the furnace tenders excite each well. You can tell at a distance, for example, that Leun is readying an acid spray, or rerouting power to the rear legs for a leap, or even what direction he's turning. It all runs at a slight delay, which is why the crew inside has to be SO closely coordinated.

-

@absolutely-flabbergasted Knights are allowed to reproduce but not marry, because it's sort of accepted theory that blood relatives of a knight will be 'accepted' by the knight's beast when the time comes. This is not true but it means that sometimes the knight's apprentices are their own children. The other parent is mostly another member of the church and usually not identified or considered important (unless they're a smith...). There are usually a decent number of known knight bastards running about.

Smiths are not allowed to have families or marry, because their first devotion should be to their art or their beast if they are assigned to one. If one tries, the kids are taken away, anonymised with new names, and put into the pool of potential novices in some other stable. Now, in reality some stables or churches are just not that strict and have a slightly different culture, so there's often an Open Secret about some master smith's illegitimate family or a priest's secret mistress. This is tolerated by the authorities to a certain degree but if it becomes too rampant there'll usually be a change of management and some sort of crackdown.

Families who give up their second born cannot stay in contact, but if the child becomes successful in some way (say, if the child becomes a knight) the families are sent tokens symbolising this which can be placed in the family/village shrine. This can be a huge point of pride, with some people faking the tokens just so that they can show off about their successful kids that are totally knight apprentices.

The reason they don't get to stay in touch with their children is due to the secretive nature of the church and its arts. The church has been at war with the neighbouring nations for a long time and only its mastery of engine work has kept it afloat, and nobody wants these secrets to fall into enemy hands. Particularly if your kid goes on to become a scribe, which is if anything an even more closely guarded profession than that of a knight (those engine diagrams don't draw themselves). The laity are usually quite devout and understanding of this. If they aren't, they might attempt to find their child, often without success.

If you want your church kid back: it depends. If you can prove to the church authorities that you need your child's labour to stay afloat or to carry on the family line, they might take that into consideration. Of course, the only children that return are the likes of sweepers, cleaners, altar boys, pages, etc. Nobody who might have witnessed any Secrets. The church is best understood as being in the middle of a cold war for the past few centuries (and sometimes just regular war) so it's far more closely guarded.

-

@kicks-tiktaalik-back-into-water

It's not likely. Even if the ventilation system worked perfectly, he is still from an older generation of holy beasts and no longer represents the pinnacle of the technology. Leun might have a less sophisticated ventilation system but everything else about him is head and shoulders more advanced - including the crew number he can take on. Leun only requires a single enginesmith in the heart, for example. This is because there's more automation of his systems, and he can actually manage to walk home from battle without anybody inside at all, just based on the knight's input (because the throne chamber is open to the air the knights are technically not inside the beasts). It's not preferable (it can damage the systems) but it is a huge bonus.

Think about how in the early days of commercial aviation, there could be as many as eight people working on the flight deck. In the 60s, a 3-person crew was standard; captain, first officer, and flight engineer. Today there are only two pilots needed. This is down to increased automation, and it means that it is cheaper to fly the plane - the airline has to hire fewer pilots, 'flight engineer' is a nonexistent role these days, and that means you need to train fewer people, have fewer people on call, feed fewer people etc etc. It is cheaper for the church to run Leun than it is to run Krokodilos and even though the church is wealthy, the money and resources are not infinite. Especially now, in times of plague. Leun, for all everybody sings his praises, is basically a reskinned Pantera with better systems - again, cutting costs, because now we can get all of Pantera's old enginesmiths to work on him instead of having to train up new ones on a brand new and wholly unique platform. It's as much a matter of logistics as it is innovation and technology.

[anavilante]

The Bikeriders (no spoilers, just impressions)

The first thing I have to say is that before the movie came out, I avoided as much information about it as possible. I tried not to watch the promo, not read the interviews, nothing at all. I only watched the trailer once with sound and that’s it. This is my long-standing practice when I don’t want 95% of the information about a movie to become known to me BEFORE watching the movie and spoil my impression of it.

And with all this… my main impression of the film… cool bikes, colorful characters, nice clothes and… IT WAS BORING. Damn, I barely made it to the end of the session. I knew that this would not be a particularly action movie, but nevertheless I expected more.

Austin didn’t disappoint me - he’s a princess as always, but who loves to ride (who would have thought). My bf said he thought Benny was Gale Cleven on a bike, I think he is kinda right. The guys tried to get every bit of tough guy out of him that they could, but… sorry, Austin is Austin. I didn’t like the relationship between Kathy and Benny, I didn’t like the way he treated her, nor the way she treated him. Plus their dynamics were very expected.

The only moment that captivated me was the first appearance of The Kid on the screen. Damn, dude, I don't know your name, and it doesn't matter, but I liked the way they did it (without even putting shiny oily liquid on your arms, lol), I saw him a few seconds, but damn, it was immediately clear that this guy was going to be a problem. (What did the filmmakers say that there would be a lot of fanfiction about Johnny and Benny? Seriously? I only have hate sex between The Kid and Benny on my mind).

The movie is not bad, it is pretty nice, visual, but damn, I wanted to sleep while watching it.

[curio-queries]

GCF in Budapest

I have thoughts... but first a link, please have your own first impressions without any influence.

So...I don't know what it has been about the Golden promo period but there's literally nothing that hasn't given me mixed feelings. Nothing that I absolutely love or hate and this GCF is right along with it. And overall, that just makes me sad. I spent years being excited for whatever JK would finally give us if he ever did a proper solo project and I'm just kinda bummed overall.

What did I love?

'Directed by Jung Kook'.

Seeing JK when he's more playful. Always a serotonin boost!

JKs camera work, I just love the insight he has on camera placement and framing to help tell the story he wants to tell.

Yes or No. Still the only track I actually love from Golden so it's nice to hear it featured!

What bothered me?

'Edited by HYBE'. Bro... so much of GCF's charm and storytelling comes from the edit itself. (And not to nitpick but HYBE is a company...not an editor, so this means there were either multiple editors, or they're purposely trying to not have us associate any actual humans with this film other than JK. I also think they want ARMY to use the logic that HYBE is basically BTS and thus this work is basically completely JK's too... it's not, it's definitely not).

No English subs yet. I get it, I really do but it's a bummer.

The amount of camerawork by someone else. It's not uncommon for JK to include footage with someone else holding the camera but once we get to the gym scenes, the majority is from the perspective of someone else holding the camera, not JK. Which again, there's nothing wrong with that per se but it absolutely feels more like a bangtan bomb or episode rather than a GCF. This is also when we stop getting establishing shots and B roll. Again, nothing wrong with it but that's one of the fundamentals of a GCF for me.

There was so much dialogue that the song was interrupted pretty continuously. JK did that previously as a storytelling device which just further supports the feeling that this is bangtantv content and not a GCF.

Basically, I think I would have had very little issue with this if it wasn't packaged as a GCF. It feels a whole lot more like JK's camping vlog from a few years ago. Loved that, had no issues with it whatsoever.

...the irony is not lost on me that the only song from Golden that I love is Yes or No while my overall experience with this era is....maybe??