#like a reused plot line

[keferon]

May I ask what were the best transformers media you ever saw/read?

Well Transformers Prime, Transformers 1986 and IDW comics are having the first place that’s for sure

And then the second place is kind of shared by Fall of Cybertron, Exodus, Prime wars trilogy, Robots in disguise(2001) and Transformers One.

The third place goes to G1, Animated, Earthspark, Armada, War for Cybertron Netflix series, Aligned Robots in disguise, Bumblebee, Rise of the Beasts and Cyberverse because I only liked some little parts of them.

And then I also saw some of the Bay movies, Victory and Headmasters and didn’t like them at all.

Separate first place for J-Decker. It is not exactly Transformers but it is a show about giant robots and I loved it

[twcfaces]

HE AIN'T YOUR BOY IF HE'S ONLY VALUABLE TO YOU IF HE'S DEAD

[demilypyro]

I'm interested in the gradual development of Miss Pauling.

Originally an almost incidental character in the Team Fortress 2 comics alone, no official model existed for Miss Pauling for the longest time. Her first appearance was in the WAR comic from 2009, two years after the game's release. She is mentioned by name, but you can tell her character isn't nailed down here yet. They probably aren't even sure if they're going to reuse her at this point. The Administrator herself isn't even fully developed yet.

Despite the tangential nature of her character, she made regular appearances in the TF2 comics, always executing the Administrator's will, though not much was really established about her personality or characteristics beyond being hardworking, extremely competent, and very loyal.

Around this time, the fans started making their own models to use her in fanworks, though with not much to go on in regards to her personality, there weren't many people taking an interest in her. The few times she did appear in fanworks, she was often relegated to just being the token girl character.

In 2013, Valve released Ring of Fired, the first of seven full-length Team Fortress 2 comics that would end up being the main source of character development and plot progression for the universe. And Miss Pauling was there as one of the lead characters, although her characterisation was still rather thin in this first issue.

The big moment here is the Love and War update. In 2014, seven years after the game's launch, the short film Expiration Date was released, the 15 minute video supposedly being a pilot for a potential TF2 tv show. That tv show never happened. However, Miss Pauling was one of the lead characters of the video. It finally gave Miss Pauling an official 3D model, which was notably somewhat different looking from her comic appearances up to this point, as well as a canonical voice.

It also established several defining traits to her character: she was extremely neurotic, kind of awkward, a bit silly, and she had a knack for gallows humor. These traits were heightened with the following Gun Mettle and Jungle Inferno updates, which gave her a bunch of voice lines where she talked to the player characters and let her kookier side show.

These traits would make it back into her characterisation in the comics going forward, finally reaching Maximum Pauling. She became the true Main Character of the TF2 comics, usually being the main perspective character, as well as being the character with the heaviest choices to make as the plot reaches its climax.

While Miss Pauling still to this day doesn't physically appear in the Team Fortress 2 videogame, she has become one of the most important characters of its surrounding universe, and you'd be hard pressed to find a fan who doesn't really like her. It's been fun to watch her develop from an incidental lore character to the unofficial tenth member of the main cast. I'm a huge fan of her.

Okay end of post

[luna-azzurra]

Write Tension that isn't just Yelling or Guns

Listen, not all tension is someone holding a knife or screaming “I’ve had enough, Derek!” at a dinner party. Real, edge-of-your-seat tension can be quiet, slow, awkward, and still make your reader grip the page like it owes them money. So here are my favorite ways to sneak tension in like a gremlin under the bed...

╰  Unanswered Questions (That the Character is Actively Avoiding)

Tension isn’t always about what’s said—it’s about what’s not said. Let your character dodge questions, interrupt, change subjects. Let readers feel the silence humming between the lines. + Great for: secrets, internal conflict, emotional gut-punches.

╰ Time Pressure Without Action Pressure

A clock ticking doesn’t always mean bombs. Sometimes it means waiting for a test result. A letter. A phone call. A knock on the door. Tension = knowing something’s coming but not knowing when. + Great for: psychological suspense, horror, relationship drama.

╰  Small Talk That’s Not Really Small Talk

When two characters are talking about the weather, but both are secretly screaming inside? That’s tension. Give one character a goal (say the thing, don’t say the thing) and the other a defense mechanism. Now sit back and watch the discomfort bloom. + Great for: slow burns, rivalries, “we’re not talking about that night, are we?”

╰ Two Characters Who Want Opposite Things But Are Pretending They Don’t

Someone wants to leave. Someone wants them to stay. Someone wants to confess. Someone is acting like nothing’s wrong. Make your characters polite when they want to scream. + Great for: emotionally repressed chaos, family drama, enemies-to-lovers.

╰ One Character Realizes Something The Other Doesn’t

A power shift = instant tension. One person knows the truth. The other’s still talking like everything’s fine. Let that dread slow-cook. Readers love being in on the secret. + Great for: betrayal, secrets, foreshadowing plot twists.

╰ Body Language That Contradicts the Dialogue

They say “I’m fine,” but they’re picking their thumbnail raw. They laugh too hard. Their smile doesn’t reach their eyes. Show the cracks forming. Let the reader sense the dissonance. + Great for: all genres. Especially emotionally loaded scenes.

╰  Echoed Phrases or Reused Words That Hit Differently the Second Time

When a character repeats something someone else said—but now it’s laced with bitterness or grief? Chills. Callback dialogue is your best friend for building subtle dread or emotional weight. + Great for: heartbreak scenes, arcs coming full circle, psychological unraveling.

╰ Characters Performing a Role to Keep the Peace

Pretending to be “the good sibling.” Faking confidence in a boardroom. Playing therapist when they��re not okay themselves. Tension thrives when someone’s holding it together with duct tape and fake smiles. + Great for: internal conflict, layered characterization, slow unravelings.

[hoseokhasmyheartxx]

Hush | JHS

*Pairing: idol!Hoseok x f!Reader

*Word Count: 4.8k

*Genre: coworkers-to-fwb, idol au, some fluff, explicit smut, really this is just pwp, tiny bit of plot if you squint though

*Warnings: EXPLICIT SMUT, MINORS DNI. alcohol consumption, clubbing, piv sex, protected sex (be smart, ya perverts), oral (f receiving), nipple play, reader has nipple piercings, slight dom/brat tamer!hoseok, ass slapping, use of the pet name 'baby,' power imbalance, reader is basically hoseok's secretary/assistant...

*Summary: Working as a receptionist at the biggest music company in the world had its perks. You got to meet so many influential people, dabble your toes in the music world, and call yourself the personal assistant to one Jung Hoseok. You always get whatever he needs with no complaints. But, one night, the line between work and play blurs, and there's no coming back from that, you fear.

*A/N: yikes, okay, here we go. this is a reimagined/reworked fic. if you read my now-deleted old fic called 'safety zone,' this may sound a bit familiar. but it's mostly new stuff with some of the old reused. hoseok has been on my mind 25/8 lately and i could not stop thinking about what this scenario would look like. so, here ya go! let me know what you think, and as always, love you all!

Main Masterlist

It’s late one weekend night, and you and your friends are out at a club, drinking away the stress of the week. Music blares, liquor flows, and everything becomes a blur. Looking through the crowd, you spot him: Jung Hoseok. You see him every day, but have never really spoken to him, aside from the pleasantries that coworkers normally exchange. You’re not really coworkers though. Technically, in every sense of the word, you work for him. Receptionists at the company are more like secretaries for the idols. Taking their calls, scheduling their meetings, anything they need. That’s what you are to Jung Hoseok. His assistant. So when he makes his way through the crowded club over to you, you’re stunned.

“Come with me,” he says as he grabs your hand, leading you back the way he’d come. You glance back at your friends, panicked, but all they do is giggle and encourage you. You take a breath, not knowing what to expect. Your mind jumps to conclusions, expecting to be berated or asked for something, but that’s not what happens.

Hoseok pulls you over to his table, where the rest of his group are already drinking. He slides into the booth, pulling you down next to him. He pours you a drink, gently clinks his glass to yours, and downs his in one gulp. You follow his lead, smiling as the table erupts in cheers.

“Hey! Good to see you outside of work finally,” Jimin speaks up, and you smile at him, nodding in agreement.

“I realized you’ve been working with us for years and I still don’t know anything about you. So, spill,” Hoseok prods, and before you know it, all of you are talking like old friends, sharing stories and laughing.  

The alcohol starts to affect you, causing you to laugh more than you normally would, and your energy is palpable as you bounce in your seat, moving to the beat of the music. Your hand accidentally grazes Hoseok’s thigh, making you stop in your tracks. Looking at him, you start to apologize quietly, unsure how he would react to you touching him. 

“Sorry! I’m gonna go dance. Anyone want to join me?” you ask as you stand, finishing the last sips of your second drink. You look around, and when no one responds, you turn to walk away. “I’ll be back!” you say with a smile and a wave in their direction, heading for the crowded dance floor. 

Hoseok watches, silently, as you stand and walk away. Taking another sip of his drink, he looks around at his friends. They all stare at him, mischievous smiles on their faces. He stops, glass resting in his hand.

“What?” he asks, tilting his head to the side slightly. A loud laugh erupts from next to him.

“Man, you are so fucking obvious. Go dance with her before you miss your shot,” Jimin says between laughs, pointing at you as you walk away.

It’s like a switch flips inside Hoseok’s head. He downs the remainder of his drink, stands, and turns back to the table. “I’ll be back,” he says as he turns back around to follow you.

You barely reach the outer edge of the dance floor when you feel a hand on your shoulder. You turn, seeing Hoseok standing behind you. “Hi,” you say to him sweetly, smiling up at him.

“Hi. Um, I decided to join you. If that’s okay,” he responds with a small smile. You nod, reaching your hand out to him as you continue on your way. He takes your hand, following you.

The two of you slowly weave your way into the crowd, looking for a good spot. A small opening appears in front of you, leaving the perfect amount of space for two. Alcohol buzzing through you, you begin to dance, feeling the vibrations from the speakers in your chest. Hoseok stares at you, unsure at first how to cut in.

Suddenly, you feel two hands on your hips, his form pressed up against your back. It’s like he becomes a completely new person when the two of you begin dancing together. You know dancing is his thing, but you didn’t realize how much more confident he would become doing it. You feel his hands guiding you, syncing your hips together to the beat. Just then, your favorite song comes on, and he takes the opportunity to spin you by the waist, leaving you facing him. His hands don’t leave your waist. You stop, shaken by the sudden turn of events. Not missing a beat, he begins to guide your waist again, laughing as he looks down at you. 

“You good?” he asks, still laughing. You nod, laughing along with him. With that, he takes your wrists in his hands and places them around his neck, immediately bringing his hands back to your waist. 

Hoseok is totally in his element as the two of you get lost in dancing. His movements are so fluid, so precise, that you almost can’t keep up. You definitely wouldn’t have been able to if he hadn’t had a constant hold on you by the waist.

You glance up at him, only to find his eyes already on you. Suddenly, he’s leaning down, your faces inches apart. His dancing slows, his face tipped sideways a bit, and his lips are on yours. Electricity courses through you. You don’t really know what’s happening, but you welcome it, reciprocating the kiss hesitantly. Hoseok presses his mouth harder onto yours, deepening the kiss. You feel his hands move to your face as his tongue slowly darts out, licking along the seam of your lips. You open your mouth, allowing him entrance, and a small sigh leaves your lips. He pulls back slowly.

“You’re fucking breathtaking,” Hoseok says breathily, mouth slightly open, face still inches from yours. His hands move down to your neck, thumbs resting directly on your pulse points. With that gesture, your breath catches, your entire body heating up under his touch.

You stare at him, completely unable to speak. What the fuck.

“Your heart is racing,” he says, sliding his thumb along your neck, voice dripping with confidence. You look up at him, sultry twinkle in your eyes. 

Any ounce of hesitation you had left in your mind disappears. He’s so fucking hot. All thoughts, except one, clear from your not-so-innocently-thinking brain. You don’t know where this is going, or if it’s going anywhere at all, but one thing you’re certain of: whatever he wants, you’ll give him. 

Your heart pounds so hard you can feel it in your chest. Hoseok looks down at you, eyes wide, fixed on yours. You can’t speak, can’t move. You can barely even think. You open your mouth to finally say something, but words fail you. You close your mouth again. You don’t want him to think you don’t want to kiss him too, but you have no idea what to say in that moment.

“I- I’m sorry,” he says suddenly. He looks defeated; maybe even a little upset. His hands fall from your neck, unsure where to put them now that the two of you aren’t connected. You shake your head quickly, wanting him to know it’s okay, that you want to kiss him too. You reach for his hands, taking them in yours, lacing your fingers together. With that, you tilt your head upward again, leaning into him. Hoseok’s breath catches in his chest as he looks into your eyes, seeing something completely different there than he thought he’d seen just a minute ago. His lips touch yours again, hesitant at first, until you drop his hands and bring yours up to rest around his neck, returning the kiss with more urgency. His hands land on your hips, his grip strong on your skin. A minute passes before he releases you from his hold, resting his forehead on yours, a small smile on his lips. 

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” you finally reply, smiling back at him. You let out short, quick breaths. With your arms still around him, you allow yourself to play with the hair at the nape of his neck, feeling his hot breath on your face.

“I can walk you home, if you want to leave…” Hoseok breathes out, eyes never leaving you.

“Okay…” you respond, unable to take your eyes off him. His big, brown eyes are mesmerizing. It’s hard to think of anything except what’s right in front of you. Hoseok’s face is lit up by the strobe lights of the club around you, showing his adorable dimples as he smiles a small grin at you.

You watch as Hoseok pulls his phone out of his pants pocket, sends what you presume to be a quick text, then puts it away. Reaching for your hand, he begins leading the way through the crowd, heading toward the exit. Fighting your way through the hordes of people, you finally reach a door, which turns out to be an exit that leads to a back alley behind the building. 

“Lead the way,” he says to you with a low chuckle, still holding your hand. You start walking in the direction of your apartment, mind racing. The walk is quick, the alcohol buzzing inside you combined with the adrenaline from just being in Hoseok’s presence making you move faster. Within minutes, you’re back at your building, heading toward the lobby entrance.

“Uh, hang on. Is there a… quieter entrance?” Hoseok asks, looking around hesitantly. You understand why he asks: the lobby looks a little full from where you stand. So, you lead him to the back entrance, which is dead, as always. The two of you walk over to the door, Hoseok pulling it open for you politely. Your heart beats faster in your chest.

You walk through the door with Hoseok right behind you. You look around, trying to pinpoint where you are. Once you get your bearings, you lead the way to the elevator, pushing the button quickly, hoping the hallway stays as empty as it is now until you have the chance to get on. Everything works in your favor as the elevator arrives and you walk in together, pushing the button for the fifth floor. Hoseok stands close to you, still holding your hand, but now tracing random shapes onto your thumb with his. You notice him staring at you and you giggle.

“What?” you ask shyly.

“You’re just.. really fucking gorgeous,” he says, looking away after he says it, one side of his mouth turned up in a shy smile, dimple set deep in his cheek. The elevator door opens as you reach your floor, and you lead the way to your apartment slowly. You unlock the door, and the two of you go inside, closing the door quickly behind you. Before you can even think, Hoseok grabs your waist, turns you, and backs you up against the door, his lips landing on yours hungrily. You reciprocate the kiss, slightly hesitant, but the way he makes you feel then makes you forget your hesitation before you can really think. He runs his hands up your sides to rest them on your neck, the same way he had at the club, thumbs touching your pulse points. He kisses you with such intensity that you almost forget to breathe. He is intoxicating. You move your hands without thinking, placing them on his chest, gripping his shirt lightly in your fists. You hear Hoseok’s breath catch in his throat as he kisses you deeper. Your tongues move together, leaving you unsure where one of you ends and the other begins. His hands move slowly down your neck, tracing your collarbones as his fingers slip under the straps of your dress, gently moving them off your shoulders. His hands go to your chest then, squeezing one breast gently, still kissing you. You break away from the kiss, breathing heavily, looking at him, eyes wide in what you can only describe as shocked lust. He stops, waiting for you to say something.

“What are we doing?” you ask, hands still on his chest. He shakes his head lightly with a small smirk.

“Don’t think. Just kiss me,” he breathes out, watching for your response. You take a deep breath and nod at him. That’s all the confirmation he needs, and he immediately captures you in a kiss that’s even more intense than the one before it. His hands wander, one back on your breast, the other at your waist again. He digs his fingertips into your waist, pulling you closer to him. The fingers of his other hand brush over your nipple lightly, and he stops suddenly, pulling away from the kiss to look down at you.

“Do… Do you have piercings?” he asks incredulously, finger brushing over your nipple again. You giggle and nod, watching his face switch from curious to… something else, something darker. 

“Fuck,” he breathes out, “not so innocent, are you?” With that, he grabs your hand, pulling you farther into your apartment, leading you to the bedroom. He pulls you ahead of him slightly and turns you to face him, backing you up until the backs of your knees are against the edge of your bed. He pushes you down to sit on the bed, towering over you as he lowers you until you are lying down, his torso held up over yours by his forearms, his lower half next to yours. He kisses you again, this time sweeter, gentler.

“Tell me you want this, need this, as bad as I always have,” Hoseok whispers against your cheek in the dark, softer than his last words to you. You can tell by his tone of voice that he’s serious, wanting to make sure you’re comfortable. The consideration in his voice, in his entire demeanor, only makes you want him more. 

“I do, but…” you begin, looking into his eyes, trying to read his facial expressions. The dim light of your room casts shadows over his face, highlighting only a little of his face. You can feel his eyes on you, his gaze never leaving yours. He smiles down at you and uses one hand to brush the hair away from your face, thumb stroking your cheek gently. Suddenly, he moves away from you, fumbling in the dark until he finds the lamp next to you. He flicks it on, leaving the room slightly more lit. He rejoins you on the bed, pulling you up to rest on the pillows next to him. He’s even more gorgeous in this light, his confidence shocking you like lightning. Shit. 

“Nuh uh,” he orders, “I know you want me too. I always see you staring. Isn’t it about time we did something about that?” He smirks, and your heart skips.

You nod, feeling more confident by the second.

“I wanna see your face when you come for me,” he whispers, face inches from yours again. He pulls you in for another kiss, urgent, but more… at ease, this time. His hands roam, one in your hair, the other running down your body to rest at your hip. You feel his thumb running along your hip, seemingly tracing the lines of your panties underneath the tiny dress you have on. You raise one knee, pulling him over top of you, your hand in his hair again, tangling in it, pulling gently. The small gesture forces a ragged breath out of Hoseok's lungs. His kisses become more hungry, and he grabs your raised knee, pulling it gently to open your legs, slotting himself in the space between them. Your dress rides up, leaving your thighs bare under him. Hoseok runs his hand up your bare thigh, sliding it up to trace along the strings of your panties. “Is this okay?” he asks, waiting a bit, “I need you to tell me. Need you.”

Your breath catches in your throat, feeling your body heat up under his touch. You nod against his mouth, pulling away slightly so you can get your words out. “Hoseok… I love that you’re being cautious with me, but.. don’t,” you say, eyeing him with a smirk on your lips. You kiss him again, tugging his hair again to drive your point home.

It’s like another switch inside him flips at your words. He pulls you up to a sitting position, pulling your dress up over your head, throwing it to the floor, leaving you in only your cutest lacy green thong. His eyes darken as he looks you over, lust taking over any semblance of control he once had. He kisses you again, then begins tracing a line of open-mouthed kisses across your jawline, nipping gently at your earlobe as he moves his advances to your neck. You whine under his mouth as he finds the spot that always turns you into putty underneath someone. You can feel him chuckle against your neck, his hot breath spreading across your neck as he mouths the spot again, tongue darting out against your skin. You shiver, hand in his hair yet again. Your other hand drops to his waist, pulling at his shirt to untuck it from his pants, reaching down to trace your nails along his waistband. 

Hoseok shudders under your touch, and you can feel that he’s already hard, his length pressing against your core teasingly. He rolls his hips into you, eliciting a breathy moan from your lips. “I wanna hear you, baby,” he whispers in your ear as he repeats the action, smirking as you moan again, louder this time. You reach up to his chest and begin unbuttoning his shirt, kissing him as you get to the bottom of the shirt, grazing your fingertips over his bare chest and stomach. His honey skin catches you off guard, your eyes flicking over his body. His chest is perfectly sculpted, stomach toned, with v-lines disappearing under the waist of his pants. You help him slide the shirt completely off his shoulders, running your hands down his biceps as you do. He rests his body weight on one forearm and uses the other hand to teasingly rub circles over your panties, watching you as he smirks. You let out a whine against his lips as you reach down to begin working on undoing his belt and pants. Not wanting to wait any longer, Hoseok stands to remove his pants and boxer briefs, and you can’t help but stare at his perfect form, illuminated in the dim light of your bedroom.

“Come here,” you breathe out, reaching for him, still staring at him. You can’t take your eyes off him. He’s just so… perfect. His collar bones stand out slightly, his biceps are small but well-defined, his thighs muscular. Everything about him is mesmerizing. He comes back to bed, and you pounce, like a cat after its prey. You immediately climb on top of him, straddling his lap, moving in for another kiss. His hands land on your waist, your arms around his neck, kisses becoming more heated as you slowly roll your hips, grinding against him. Hoseok pushes you up a bit to help you get rid of your underwear, leaving the two of you completely naked. His hands go to your ass, squeezing it. You can’t keep your hands off each other, both of you so caught up in each other that your brain turns to mush. All you can think about is him, and you, in this moment, together. Fuck the consequences.

You kiss along his sharp, angular jawline, then down to his neck, giggling as you listen to his breathing catch in his throat. His hands grip your hips, stronger than before. You sigh, wanting nothing more than to give him exactly what he needs.

Hoseok shifts underneath you, cock pressing against your center as he does. A moan slips from his lips, eyes darkening again. His hand drops to your bare breast, finger rubbing over your nipple, playing with the sparkly end of the barbell that pierces it. He bites his lip, entranced by the fact that you could have something so dirty, hidden from everyone, except him. The innocent image you always give off to everyone is no longer there in his eyes, and he can’t wait to see just how innocent you really aren’t.

His fingers find your clit, rubbing teasing circles as he watches for your reactions. Your eyes close softly, small whines already tumbling from your lips. He chuckles, a smirk plastered across his own lips.

“Awh, baby… look at you. So desperate for me.”

You roll your eyes, holding back more moans.

Without warning, he smacks the side of your ass cheek, staring up at you with stern eyes. He prods the inside of his cheek with his tongue, following the motion with a click of his tongue.

“Hmm. Bratty too, are we?”

You giggle, watching his face, testing him.

Hoseok grips your hips again, moving you forward until your pussy is directly in front of his face. You brace yourself on your headboard, startled. His breath on you is warm, teasing.

“Fuck. Never imagined I’d get to have you like this,” he whispers, before he has his tongue on you. He presses your body against his mouth, licking straight over your clit with long, slow drags. You cry out, gripping your headboard to steady yourself. His fingers dig into the dips of your waist, continuing his efforts. His tongue swirls over every part of you, lewd sounds coming from his mouth as he devours you. Your head spins, knowing nothing else except for the feel of his mouth on your clit. You can’t help but shift your hips closer, needing more.

“Hoseok,” you cry, “more, please..”

You can barely get the words out. He knows exactly what to do with you, like you’ve been through this before. It scares you how well he already knows your body. He spreads your lips, his own lips working to suck and gently nibble at your folds.

“So fucking wet for me, fuck,” he breathes out, slipping two fingers inside you. You can’t even think straight, drunk on just the thought of him under you. You moan louder, canting your hips in ecstasy. His name falls from your lips as you feel yourself getting close.

“Nope, not yet, baby,” he chuckles out, stopping suddenly. He pushes you back and away from him, resting you back onto his lap. Your breaths come out in short bursts, pouting at him.

“Not.. not fair,” you whine, grinding your hips over him. He digs his fingers into you, hissing at the feel of your wetness on his bare cock.

“Do you have—” Hoseok breathes out, and you nod. You get up from his lap and walk over to your dresser, pulling a condom from the top drawer.

“Sorry. Uh… this,” he continues, gesturing with his hands at the space between you, “wasn’t exactly in the plan,” he finishes with a small chuckle.

You shake your head, laughing along with him. His lack of preparedness is actually endearing, in a way. It’s cute. You toss him the condom, letting him tear the wrapper and slide it down over his length. Straddling his lap again, you gasp as his fingers meet your folds again, sliding through them easily. You hadn’t realized just how drenched you were until this moment. He moves his fingers quickly, yet smoothly, deftly hitting all of your sweet spots again, building you right back up. Within minutes, you’re calling out his name again, so close to coming undone that you don’t know how much more you can take before you break.

“Hoseok, please. I want you– want you to fuck me. Now,” you moan out, breaths coming out in short, small gasps. He kisses you again, pupils blown with lust, hunger, need. You reach down to grab his cock, holding the base to position him at your entrance. With that, he grips your hips tightly and pulls you down onto him. Your moan comes out loudly. He bottoms out inside you, your torsos flush against each other, as you grind your body down on him, throwing your head back in desire.

His grip on your hips gets tighter as he raises you suddenly, flipping you onto your back, somehow managing to keep the two of you connected. From there, he takes control again, grabbing your wrists to hold them above your head and pin them against your mattress. He rocks into you, his hips rolling rhythmically, his pelvis rubbing against your clit each time he plunges into you. 

“Fuck... You feel so fucking good,” Hoseok breathes out, his voice barely a whisper. His thrusts become more erratic, making you believe he’s close to finishing himself. 

You’re a mess, completely untethered underneath him. He brings your hands together to hold both of them above your head with one of his, then moves the other hand back to your pussy, expertly sliding his fingers over your clit, pulling little whines out of you as he continues. 

“H- Hoseok… please,” you whimper, and he looks down at you, pupils blown out, before leaning down to suck small, purple bruises into the skin of your collar bone.

Without warning, you come, moaning out his name, your entire body shaking underneath him. A few deep thrusts later, Hoseok joins you, spurting into the condom, breathing heavily against your chest as his forehead falls to your shoulder.

He raises his head after a moment, leaning up to rest his forehead against yours, your breathing syncing up. Hoseok kisses you, sweetly this time, before pulling out of you slowly. He stands, walking to the bathroom and disposing of the condom. You can’t help but stare at his figure in the dim lighting, willing yourself to commit this night to memory.

“You should get cleaned up,” he directs, a small smirk on his lips. You nod, standing and going into the bathroom, closing the door behind you. 

A few minutes later, you exit the bathroom, wrapped in a clean towel. Hoseok is already dressed, only missing his shoes, his hair disheveled, looking so adorably sexy that you can’t help but giggle at him as you join him in the center of the room.

“I- uh, I should go,” he lets out with a sigh. Reaching for you, he pulls you into a hug, holding the back of your head in his hand, stroking your hair gently. He presses a kiss to your temple, his other hand wrapped around your waist. You wrap your arms around his waist too, holding onto him, feeling strangely comforted by his presence. 

“I know,” you reply as you smile up at him. With that, he gives you a gentle kiss, moving his hand to cup your cheek as he did. The kiss is sweet, soft. He pulls away after a few seconds, brushing his thumb along your cheek. His hands drop from your body as he turns to put his shoes back on to leave.

“Don’t be a stranger, baby. You have my number,” he tells you, flashing that smirk again. Your face flushes, but you nod anyway.

“Mmm, I don’t know. We work—” you start.

“Don’t care,” he cuts you off. “I’ll never forget how you sound,” Hoseok says, voice low, confident.

“Gonna need to hear it again soon,” he adds as he kisses you again, slowly, gripping your chin roughly with his thumb and forefinger. “Need to see what else I can get out of you.”

You break the kiss, shoving him away playfully. “You’re insane.”

He leans in for another kiss, squeezing your ass as he does.

“Get back safe,” you call after him as he pulls the door to your apartment open. Looking back at you over his shoulder, he presses his hand to his lips, kisses it, and reaches out to you, waving a small goodbye. His heart-shaped lips turn up into a small smile. With that, the door closes behind him, and he’s gone.

You’re left standing in the middle of the room, alone, thoughts racing through your mind. You have no idea what the fuck just happened. You slept with Jung Hoseok. The man who, arguably, is your boss. If anyone were to find out…

You shake your head, not wanting to go there. No one will ever find out. You don’t know Hoseok that well, but you know enough. He’d never tell anyone.

As you’re getting ready for bed, your phone buzzes with an incoming text.

Hoseok: Hey, baby. Same time next week?

You gape, goosebumps covering the skin of your arms. Clearly his intentions aren’t what you’d thought they were. You assumed this would be a one-time thing, but…

You: absolutely. 

Hoseok: Better not tell anyone. You can keep a secret, right?

You: cross my heart.

Hoseok: See you Monday then.

Hoseok: Shh. 😉

[bantersnatch]

THE BIANCA MASTERPOST

Why, hello! Are you interested in throwing yourself down the rabbit hole of lore for Dropout's "Very Important People"? Are you trying to drag a friend into the madness? Welcome! Hopefully this post can help. This all goes a lot deeper than you might expect after a casual viewing of the show, so let's get down to business.

In the past, the Host's stepdaughter, Bianca Jocasta, was something of a cryptid lurking at the edges of the show's lore. As of season 2, however, she has a face, speaking lines, and an implied crucial role in the meta plot. Us rabid Bianca fans -- and there are indeed a non-zero number of us -- simply never lose. Unless we get a week where Bianca doesn't show up. Which happens often.

PART 1: UNDERSTANDING the CANON.

Let's say you've watched the entirety of VIP. You have questions. Maybe you even have theories of your own. Welcome to the club, friend. Bianca generally pops up in only brief mentions -- amidst the chaos of the show it's sometimes hard to piece together exactly what's going on with her. Luckily, I've written it down for us!

Analyzing everything we know about Bianca (as of s2e3) for a review of the basics, plus some surface-level theorizing.

Analyzing the Host's relationship with Bianca (as of s2e3) for a more character-centered approach to figuring out what's going on here.

Revisiting the s2e4 loredrop.

Unpacking the s2e6 loredrop.

And of course, the sacred texts: this gifset by the talented @/avadaniels capturing their first on-screen interaction.

Dissecting the s2e11 loredrop.

PART 2: INTO the METAVERSE.

So there's something funky going on here. That's to be expected, because this show is an improvised fever dream and the Host is a certified freak. But is this actually leading up to something...? Signs point to yes.

Asked to describe the relationship between the Host and Bianca in one word, Vic chose "tethered". A normal word to describe coworkers who purportedly hate each other.

Asked for any further information about the two of them, Vic responded... like this.

Okay. Here's where we jump off the deep end. Hold my hand. Vic likes to reuse material, and the "stepdaughter the same age as her stepparent" is an idea that's been around in their work for a while now. Take a look here and here for more on that. Do you see the vision?

It seems like Vic and Talia are very down to go down interesting paths with their improv together, and they're certainly able to conjure up chemistry. Case in point.

PART 3: EXPLORATION via FANWORKS.

That's it. That's the canon, that's the relevant supplemental material from Vic. But this is tumblr, and we all know that's just the beginning of the fun.

The wonderful @/owleanders draws Bianca so beautifully and I think about his art of her non-stop. Go look at his stuff!

I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention Star Maker, my fic that attempts to blend our knowledge of the Host's lore with the "Bride Comforting Stepdaughter" sketch. It is my version of a long-form thesis for why this dynamic has the potential to be so compelling.

We use the tag #bianca vip for her here on tumblr. (edit: now that we have a last name for the character, #bianca jocasta is also in use! it's a mishmash but we'll muddle through somehow. i personally will prefer to use her full name now that we have it, but i'll be using both for a while as i adjust.)

The AO3 tag for our Bianca is wonderfully vibrant for a character with so minimal screen time, and well worth checking out if you want more!

[weirdagnes]

Are you guys ready for another Connol post? No?

So anyway, I think I found Connol’s 3D model in-show.

See this shot at the scene where Sevika was confronting Vander? (credit to @/arcane-aesthetics for the high-quality photo)

THIS GUY. I'M NOT CRAZY WAIT. Here's a comparison to the only other shots we have of Connol:

(screenshots of the Young Silco on Bridge sequence from lara / silqco on twt)

Same Face. Square face shape, thick brows, small mouth, thick nose.

Same Hat. There's like a belt thing with three metal pieces going on with the newsboy cap.

Blue Turtleneck. Also sleeveless.

Red Overalls Thing.

Left Strap. Seems to be the red overalls' strap.

Utility Belt. Pouch with gold lining, also two more pouches at the back.

Pouch.

Glove over Arm Warmers. The image on the far right doesn't seem to have warmers though.

Remember when I made the Connol Post - Part 4 and I compared little Vi and Powder's design to him?

Oh yeah it's official now * rubs my hands evilly like a fly *

While it might be Connol's actual model, it’s strictly not him. Meaning he was intended to be Connol for the bridge shot (him lying under Felicia's corpse) and as reference model for the Remember Me sequence, but he was a character model that the animators could reuse as background character too (seeing as Connol wasn't much important to the plot enough for the audience to notice.)

And we know it's him-but-also-not-him because that screenshot took place when Sevika was confronting Vander about fighting back against the Enforcers flooding the undercity after the kids' heist at Piltover, a time when he's supposedly long dead. I mean, it's a waste of model to use him only for one shot, I see the reasoning.

ngl I'm so giddy at the fact that I got close to the actual model when I created that model sheet for him.

THE SIDE BUTTONS, UTILITY BELT, NEWSBOY CAP, AND FRONTVIEW FACE I GOT IT DOWN LETSGOOO. And I only had watercolor Connol and dead Connol as reference then.

Too bad we don't have a full body shot of this 3D model so I can see the lower half too, but I'm so happy with what we got<3

[smilesatdawnmain]

Big Family Au

Pick your Adventure 1

(Day with MK Part 2)

Previous

Next

——

After some debate, you look out the window to the domain beyond. Such new lands, rarely seen by the outside world. The Monkey King didn’t exactly give tours to his home after all. How could you not be curious?

MK seems to sense where your eyes are drawn and nudges you with his elbow. “Perhaps a tour outside first?” He grinned. With a flourish he takes you to the main gates, passing a few royal guards that glance your way. They watch as you and their Second Prince take to the stairs to the bustling streets below.

You work up the courage to speak after a few steps, “So, Xiaotian. It's so nice to meet you.” You offer a smile. “It’s kind of you to take the time to give me a tour.”

MK returns it, “ah, MK is just fine~ feels so formal when my real name is used.” He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. “Nice to meet you too, Anon. It’s no problem at all. There is a chance one day I might be- uh- y’know, “King” so I’m happy to make sure everyone is feeling comfortable here.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. Out of everyone else you’ve seen, you’ve noticed MK is the only one that seems to wear more casually mortal realm clothes. Probably due to the influence of being away from the mountain and in the light of the human world more than his other siblings.

You feel a little more courage because of this. Less like MK was a Prince and more like a potential friend. So you opted for some small talk to get to know him, “What's your favorite place on the mountain?” With a bounce in your step, you fold your arms behind you.

“My favorite place hmm?” He rubbed his chin. “Probably the very peak of the mountain. The view is something you never get sick of seeing.” He points to the very tip top of the mountain behind you. The climb alone would take most likely an hour or two if you weren’t a super agile Stone Monkey like the Prince beside you.

(Totally reusing this image don’t judge) xD

MK mused, “yeahhh~ do most of my training up there. Lot of some painting too.”

“Is that a hobby?” You tilt your head.

“Oh, big hobby.”’he nodded. His expressionS seemed to come alive, “I’m making this comic with my brother, Rumble. He’s so good at making little short stories! So I’m taking what he wrote and illustrating for it. Oh it’s gonna be great~ it’s got action, and adventure- Sying was saying there should be some romance and Bao was siding with her but that would mean Rumble and I have to make a new character as the love interest...!"

(ME TOTALLY DARING FOLKS TO DRAW YOUR OWN CHARACTER OR SELF HERE)

"And it ain’t that easy to just plop some in like they think. Ya gotta give them a background and ambition and some moving action to their own plot and don’t even get me started on any Macguffins that would need to be squeezed in there, but they just don’t get that-“ he trailed off when he realized how long he had been talking. “….sorry,” he grew bashful.

You wave your hands about, insisting it’s fine. “No no, that sounds nice. I’d love to see it for myself one day.”

MK brightens, chuckling. “If we ever do.”

A breeze comes over you both, the smell of wafting fruit and pastries fills the air. Making your way across the bridge, taking you further from the royal manor and into the city, you come into the first street.

Your first stop is the market roads, lined with merchants and eager customers to see what was fresh for the day.

“Oh-!” MK rushed ahead a few steps, “okay okay, this is the Market district. Got everything you might need here. Clothes, food, furniture. You need something done there is bound to be someone here who can do it for you.”

As you stare at each passing stall, there is a larger assortment of Monkey demons present. However, there are a few humans and other species of demon as well. Certain individuals who have sought sanctuary with the Mighty Monkey King and was given the chance to live here.

“Whoa…” you were in awe. The sight of dozens of carts, lined with round and ripe fruit had your mouth watering, “MK, what’s your favorite fruit? Mines strawberries. I don’t actually like the taste of peaches much but I love the smell tho” anon said while just skipping around and looking at MK with a smile.

“Peaches.” MK’s eyes glue to one large one. But he didn’t approach. Once he had one he couldn’t stop until he was utterly satisfied. “But um-“ he clears his head of the oh so tempting fruit, “What do you want to check out first?”

Feel free to ask more questions you’d like to ask MK! :3

[professionaljester]

"Lucy's dad gets forced out of their vault by raiders, and Lucy leaves the vault to go find him"

HEY IVE PLAYED THIS GAME ALREADY!

THEY FUCKING NUKED SHADY SANDS!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

[physalian]

“How do I know if my story needs work or if I’m just being hard on myself?”

As I sit here accepting the fact that at 70k words into Eternal Night’s sequel while waiting for my editor for Eternal Night itself, that I have made an error in my plot.

Disclaimer: This is not universal and the writing experience is incredibly diverse. Figuring this out also takes some time and building up your self-confidence as an author so you can learn to separate “this is awful (when it’s not)” and “this is ok (but it can be better)” and “this isn’t working (but it is salvageable).”

—

When I wrote my first novel (unpublished, sadly), years ago, I would receive feedback all over the chapters and physically have to open other windows to block off parts of the screen on my laptop to slow-drip the feedback because I couldn’t handle constructive criticism all at once. I had my betas color-code their commentary so I could see before I read any of it that it wasn’t all negative. It took me thrice as long as it does today to get through a beta’s feedback because I got so nervous and anxious about what they would say.

The main thing I learned was this: They’re usually right, when it’s not just being mean (and even then, it’s rarely flat out mean), and that whatever criticisms they have of my characters and plot choices is not criticism of myself.

It did take time.

But now I can get feedback from betas and even when I hear “I’d DNF this shit right now unless you delete this,” I take a step back, examine if this one little detail is really that important, and fix it. No emotional turmoil and panic attack needed. I can also hear “I didn’t like it” without heartbreak. Can’t please everyone.

The only time I freak out is when I'm told "this won't need massive edits" followed up by, in the manuscript, "I'd DNF this shit right now". Which happened. And did not, in fact, require a massive rewrite to fix.

So.

What might be some issues with your story and why it “isn’t working”.

1. Your protagonist is not active enough in the story

You’ve picked your protagonist, but it’s every other character that has more to do, more to say, more choices to make, and they’re just along for the ride, yet you are now anchored to this character’s story because they’re the protagonist. You can either swap focus characters, or rework your story to give them more agency. Figure out why this character, above any other, is your hero.

2. Your pacing is too slow

Even if you have a “lazy river” style story where the vibes and marinating in the world is more important than a breakneck plot, slow pacing isn’t just “how fast the story moves” it’s “how clearly is the story told,” meaning if you divert the story to a side quest, or spend too long on something that sure is fluffy or romantic or funny, but it adds nothing to the characters because it’s redundant, doesn’t advance the plot, doesn’t give us more about the world that actually matters to the themes, then you may have lost focus of the story and should consider deleting it, or editing important elements into the scenes so they can pull double-duty and serve a more active purpose.

3. You’ve lost the main argument of your narrative

Sometimes even the best of outlines and the clearest plans derail. Characters don’t cooperate and while we see where it goes, we end up getting hung up on how this one really cool scene or argument or one-liner just has to be in the story, without realizing that doing so sacrifices what you set out to accomplish. Personally I think sticking to your outline with biblical determination doesn’t allow for new ideas during the writing process, but if you find yourself down the line of “how did we get here, this isn’t what I wanted” you can always save the scenes in another document to reuse later, in this WIP or another in the future.

4. You’re spending too long on one element

Even if the thing started out really cool, whether it’s a rich fantasy pit stop for your characters or a conversation two characters must have, sometimes scenes and ideas extend long past their prime. You might have characters stuck in one location for 2 or 3 chapters longer than necessary trying to make it perfect or stuff in all these details or make it overcomplicated, when the rest of the story sits impatiently on the sidelines for them to move on. Figure out the most important reasons for this element to exist, take a step back, and whittle away until the fat is cut.

5. You’ve given a side character too much screentime

New characters are fun and exciting! But they can take over the story when they’re not meant to, robbing agency from your core characters to leave them sitting with nothing to do while the new guy handles everything. You might end up having to drag your core characters along behind them, tossing them lines of dialogue and side tasks to do because you ran out of plot to delegate with one character hogging it all (which is the issue I ran into with the above mentioned WIP). Not talking about a new villain or a new love interest, I mean a supporting character who is supposed to support the main characters.

—

As for figuring out the difference between “this is awful and I’m a bad writer” and “this element isn’t working” try pretending the book was written by somebody else and you’re giving them constructive criticism.

If you can come up with a reason for why it’s not working that doesn’t insult the writer, it’s probably the latter. As in, “This element isn’t working… because it’s gone on too long and the conversation has become cyclical and tiring.” Not “this element isn’t working because it’s bad.”

Why is it bad?

“This conversation is awkward because…. There’s not enough movement between characters and the dialogue is really stiff.”

“This fight scene is bad because….I don’t have enough dynamic action, enough juicy verbs, or full use of the stage I’ve set.”

“This romantic scene is bad because…. It’s taking place at the wrong time in the story. I want to keep it, but this character isn’t ready for it yet, and the vibe is all wrong now because they’re out-of-character.”

“This argument is bad because…. It didn’t have proper build-up and the sudden shouting match is not reflective of their characters. They’re too angry, and it got out of hand quickly. Or I’m not conveying the root of their aggression.”

—

There aren’t very many bad ideas, just bad execution. “Only rational people can think they’re crazy. Crazy people think they’re sane,” applies to writing, too.

I just read a fanfic recently where, for every fight scene, I could tell action was not the writer’s strong suit. They leaned really heavily on a crutch of specific injuries for their characters, the same unusual spot getting hit over and over again, and fights that dragged on for too long being unintentionally stagnant. The rest of the fic was great, though, and while the fights weren’t the best, I understood that the author was trying, and I kept reading for the good stuff. One day they will be better.

In my experience beta reading, it’s the cocky authors who send me an unedited manuscript and tell me to be kind (because they can’t take criticism), that they know it’s perfect they just want an outside opinion (they don’t want the truth, they want what will make them feel good), that they know it’s going to make them a lot of money and everyone will love it (they haven’t dedicated proper time and effort into researching marketing, target audiences, or current trends)—these are the truly bad authors. Not just bad at writing, but bad at taking feedback, are bullies when you point out flaws in their story, and cheap, too.

The best story I have received to date was where the author didn’t preempt with a self-deprecating deluge of “it’s probably terrible you know but here it is anyway” or “this is perfect and I’m super confident you’re going to love it”.

It was something like, “This is my first book and I know it has flaws and I’m nervous but I had a lot of fun doing it”.

And yeah, it needed work, but the bones of something great were there. So give yourself some credit, yeah?

[god-syndicate-if]

I won’t lie, the weak part of me had their eyebrow twitch at the line skippers and everything else happening to Ares after getting fired.

Does Lady Luck like, have it out for them or was that a series of unfortunate events?

They are stronger than me fr fr, I’d have laid down and cried on the spot the second the kid got me dirty.

(Also great interactive fiction, I’m very interested and exited to see Ares as the main character for once! He tends to be the annoying, non serious threat that gets made fun of a lot. So I’m clapping my hands like a seal, looking forward to how this will go!)

There is a reason but I'm leaving it a bit ambiguous for now because it doesn't really need to be said. Whether that means its Fate itself conspiring against Ares, or maybe Ares just has some bad luck, or maybe Ares's many issues pushed them into a place that has a lot of assholes in it. I won't really say yet, if ever.

But what I will say is that it was initially going to be a lot worse. You were going to have two roommates and a 2nd job. You were going to get fired from both the boxing job with Pete as well as the 2nd job. With you able to lose your cool and beat up your manager and then spend the night in jail. But I felt that really lost the plot and at that point it would just be misery porn so I decided against it.

However, I am reusing the roommates in some fashion actually. You'll get to meet them if you have the sex vice next chapter.

[hervygervy]

So Kid Icarus Uprising has been out for 10+ years and yet we're still reusing the same two jokes, huh... Well, recycling is a beautiful thing so why don't we talk about them today!

You guys know 'em, right? Of course you do! "Floor ice cream gives you health!" "I never learned how to read!" Ha! What knee-slappers. Now what if I told y'all that those lines were actually creative deviations from the localization team?

Let's go in order. First is the floor ice cream bit, which occurs in chapter 16 right after a hot spring:

That was probably the millionth time you had to listen to that conversation, so I hope you can forgive me. But hey, now you get to hear the Japanese version:

The punchline is entirely different. Here's how I'd translate it:

Palutena: There's a Float Ring.

Viridi: I wonder if this is also an Aurum copy.

Pit: Whether it's a hot spring or a vehicle, I'll use whatever I can! This is what it is to be an angel! This is the angel's way of life!!

Viridi: What are you getting all psyched for? Palutena, are you giving him enough pocket money?

Palutena: Ah, that's... I haven't thought about that.

Pit: I'm not crying or anything, I'm not!

Aww. Poor Pit doesn't get any allowance. That's to be expected, I think.

A couple notes: the "Float Ring" is just the Japanese name for the Aether Ring, although you probably figured that out. All the vehicles have different names, actually. The Exo Tank is called the Beetle, the Cherubot is called the Gigas, the Lightning Chariot is called the Chariot of Light, and the Great Sacred Treasure is called the True Three Sacred Treasures. So on and so forth.

Additionally, something I personally find interesting is Viridi's word choice in one of her lines. Japanese is a very grammatically complex language, and one of these complexities comes in the form of talking about giving and receiving. There are a bunch of words for "to give" that are used depending on the giver and receiver's social status. As an English speaker, it's a real headache. I guess this is what you call pragmatics. When talking about giving allowance to Pit, Viridi uses やっておる (yatteoru) which is a progressive form of やる (yaru). やる can mean a billion different things, but in this context, it means "to give." And this is the kind of "give" you say when talking about giving something to a dog or plant or the like. Make of that what you will!

Wow, I really got sidetracked. Anyway, I can't say I know the logic behind this change, because both versions evidently have the intention of being funny. But lately I've been coming to the conclusion that the English version tries to make an effort to be more blatantly funny for lack of a better word. Like, instances where there is no joke in the Japanese version will see a joke inserted in the English version, or in cases like these, they try to ham up the funny factor. The localizers pretty much had free reign over the English script per Sakurai's blessing, so I suppose such random changes are an inevitability. In future posts, I'll talk about plot changes and characterization differences so please stay tuned for those! Back to the topic at hand, personally I'd say I prefer the Japanese version of this conversation, it's funny and cute.

Moving on! Reading. You're doing it right now. Thank you for that, by the way. But poor Pit, he never learned how to read. We learn this near the end of the flight segment of chapter 17:

People seem to be really fixated on what was honestly meant to just be a totally unserious and funny line. Like there's a whole lotta fanart out there depicting Pit learning to read or whole essays on literacy headcanons. But who am I to talk, I'm also someone who would take all of this game's lines at face value.

And now, the Japanese:

And my translation:

Pit: M-my wings are getting hot!

Palutena: It's no good! We're already at the flight limit! I'll cut the miracle of flight!

Pit: Wahh!

Palutena: Pit! Pit!!

Pit: Mayday! Mayday!! All systems down! It's already come to this! Before I die, I wanted to eat until I was full!

Viridi: Is this the time to be saying such corny things? You should ride this!

Pit: N-Nachure!

Viridi: Carefully line yourself up with the floating island. If you land poorly, you understand what'll happen, right?!

Oh, right, Viridi is called Nachure in the Japanese version. As in "nature." Surprised that never came up until now. But yeah! As you can see, the Japanese version uses a more clichéd punchline. Something you'd expect in a shounen anime. Again, the localizers had free reign and they simply changed the line to be something funnier. I have to say, I think the English version wins. There is no better punchline than illiteracy. It's a terribly overdone joke at this point, but maybe for good reason. It got added into Super Smash Bros Ultimate, after all. Did you know Antony Del Rio had to rerecord that line just for that game? They didn't just reuse it!

...I can make this post longer, if you want. We can like, really dive into this literacy thing if you want. There are a couple more conversations to pick apart, in that case. Just take a gander below the cutoff if that's your fancy.

Alright, so there's this part in chapter 5 where you have to jump across a bunch of rotating floating platforms, right? One of these rings of platforms is fashioned into letters spelling "Pandora," if you remember.

A thoroughly enlightening spelling lesson. The way this conversation plays out implies that Pit couldn't read the platforms. It makes me wonder if the English script writers already had the "never learned how to read" joke locked in, thus making it a genuine piece of characterization the writers were going for, or if this is purely a coincidence and it just so happens to work out perfectly.

To be honest, this conversation is a little less interesting than I hoped it to be. I'll translate:

Palutena: Those yellow floors ahead look like letters, don't they?

Pit: Let's see...

Palutena: PA-N-DO-O-RA... is this place some kind of self-introduction?

Pit: How embarrassing.

Pandora: Hmph. What, can't manage it? This taste.

Palutena: Yeah. It's impossible. In every sense.

First of all, I like how the English version calls the platforms orange rather than yellow. Yeah girl... those are indeed orange. Second, when Palutena is spelling out the platforms, she spells it out as if it were written in Japanese. The game's subtitles use Roman letters to transcribe her spelling, but it has furigana above it for a Japanese reading. Here, I'll show you and hope Tumblr doesn't ruin the compression:

Quick Japanese lesson, writing is split into three scripts: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Hiragana is like the foundation of it all and each character represents a single syllable of sound. Every hiragana has a katakana equivalent, and their purpose is just to transcribe foreign words into the Japanese sound system. Kanji are more logographic, considering they're derived from Chinese characters. They make up most of the "content" of the language while hiragana makes up the "function." Every kanji can be converted back to hiragana, since that's how all the sounds are written, but since there are no spaces in Japanese, it'd be a mighty pain to read if everything was hiragana. And Japanese is already hard to read. All of that word salad just to tell you that "furigana" are hiragana or katakana characters written above kanji or other characters to indicate how to read them.

Now, the Roman letters can actually be written out in katakana. Spelling "Pandora" would look like ピー・エー・エヌ・ディー・オー・アール・エー (pii, ee, enu, dii, oo, aaru, ee). But instead Palutena pronounces it and spells it out in a Japanese way, which seems odd to me. Am I making sense?

All in all, it's pretty obvious the Japanese version doesn't really contain any of the implications the English version potentially has.

There's one more conversation I want to take a look at. It's one of those elusive random conversations:

That's right, we're starting with Japanese first this time! This one's gonna be interesting to translate:

Pit: There are various gods around the world, huh?

Palutena: That's right.

Pit: Does each god come with their own respective angel, I wonder?

Palutena: No, that's not necessarily the case.

Viridi: "Angel" is written from "heaven uses," you know.

Pit: What? Isn't it "heavenly messenger?"

Viridi: I pity you. Don't you even understand that it means you're just being pushed around?

Pit: Lady Palutena, please say something!

Palutena: ...huh?

Pit: Hey, wait, Lady Palutena!

Mmm that probably didn't make much sense. Alright, so the Japanese word for "angel" is 天使 (tenshi) which is made up of 天, meaning "heaven," and 使, which means "use." So, literally "heaven's tool." I'm going to come to the conclusion that the Japanese seem to understand what an angel is better than the average westerner. Anyway, Viridi's making the argument that the word is derived from 天が使う (ten ga tsukau) which would mean "heaven uses." Pit protests that the word comes from 天の使い (ten no tsukai) which is also just... another way to say "angel." It literally means "heaven's messenger." A Japanese dictionary will define "angel" as "a messenger from God" so Pit's probably more correct here. As you probably gathered, 使 was read differently depending on how it was used. This is par for the course for kanji. Since kanji are derived from Chinese characters, and Chinese as a language has changed over time (as languages do) and different regions of China have different ways of saying things (dialects and all that), Japanese naturally picked up on all these different pronunciations. Thus, any one kanji could have a dozen different readings.

So what does this all mean? It means we've got a case for literacy, ladies and gents. You'd have to be able to read at least a little bit to understand that "shi" and "tsuka" are derived from the same morpheme.

The Japanese version of the Pandora convo doesn't really tell us anything, so to tally it up, we're at two points for illiteracy and one point for literacy. I have one more trick up my sleeve... but we're going to have to venture outside of Kid Icarus Uprising.

In Super Smash Bros for Wii U and Super Smash Bros Ultimate, if you play as Pit on the Palutena's Temple stage, mashing down taunt will trigger a special conversation between some of the Kid Icarus Uprising cast. It's like an evolution of Snake's codec calls from Brawl. Anyway, I want to direct your attention to this part of Villager's conversation. I don't have any audio so I hope some screenshots will do:

"By the way, that name has an interesting secret."

"Oh oh! What is it?"

"The truth is, this is the first name in Smash to use hiragana!"

"W-what! I didn't realize!"

I dunno, this has gotta indicate some literacy, right? Gotta have some conception of hiragana for this to mean anything, right? Can we get half a point for team literacy at least?

...I guess we really didn't get anywhere in the end. Is Pit literate? Up to you, I suppose. What a thrilling conclusion. Let's close this off with the English version of the above convo because I like it lots. It's got a stupidly rare random chance of occurring in like, chapter 11 exclusively so perhaps you haven't even heard it.

Probably one of my favorite interactions in the game. "Errand spirit." Chef's kiss. Perfect. Sublime. Perhaps westerners understand angels after all. Secretary Pit is also awesome.

The English version evidently takes the angle of playing with the definition of the word, rather than the etymology. This is fair enough because the average English speaker probably knows jack about the etymology of "angel." Oh, and the type of joke the Japanese version wishes to convey wouldn't really work in English. For fun, "angel" comes from Greek "angelos" which means "messenger." ...I guess we've come full circle.

This post has gone on for way too long. This cutoff part is probably longer than the main point of this post. Maybe I'm the one who needs a coffee.

[puzzlevision]

i am not feeling okay today and im genuinely so upset. and i mean by upset i mean its because the fucking season 1 remake is here and it turned out ass. i understand the newcomers who wanted to watch inanimate insanity for the first time, but how is it necessary to make a remake of the first season when they have to change some of it from the original especially when the original idea is essencial to the plot/challenge. like why do you have to remove the crap in the crappy cliff, there is a reason why its called that. no wonder this reminds me of remastered64 from smg4 because most of the videos (apart from the first one) came off as garbage, at least especially through the lens of fans of the classic era or for those who watched the original videos of it. just leave season 1 be, considering the current lore of ii (that i dislike). remaking it is very uneccesary and is against the lore.

i do like the part where lightbulb waves as if she was waving her future counterpart. its a nice touch. and i didnt expect the sour cream line to be reused (i expect the crew to rerecord the line with someone else and voicing it with a high-pitched baby-ish voice but itll be funny if it was rhenegan rizio herself) so props to that, even though i lost trust in animationepic anymore. artstyle is ok but i think this was intentional considering how ii started out as in-universe. bookcasey is an interesting unexpected character which leads me to wonder what even the hell happened to him. also, lightsaber

[glavilio]

One of my favorite fun historical through lines is that the original co-illustrator for Dick and Jane who also co-created the branding for Elmers Glue is also very likely the indirect but influential progenitor of a great majority of furry art and culture. and he doesn't even have a wikipedia page. The story is as follows:

A team of designers create Elsie the cow as the mascot of the Borden dairy company, later giving her a husband named Elmer in branding. Elsie was extraordinarily popular and was portrayed in tons of print advertising and even licensed media. The most well-remembered and beloved of these advertisements were done by a popularly unknown and uncredited illustrator named Keith Ward together with a great deal of other commercial illustrations

(Ward's early work in commercial illustration: children's books and advertising)

The scale of ward's contribution to Elsie and Elmer is somewhat murky, particularly since most credits go to the contributors with greater status at Borden. Personally, I see it as largely a collaboration between Ward and several unknown others under art director David William Reid.

(Ward's work vs Reid's work)

Elsie eventually fell out of popular consciousness after rebranding, but Elmer lives on as the mascot of Elmer's glue, originally a subsidiary of Borden as glue could be produced as a byproduct of industrial dairy. Modern Elmer's glue is synthetic, but retains the iconic mascot and design.

(Elmer's evolution from a more Ward-like design its current iteration)

Ward would later go on to illustrate for an American adaptation of Reynard the Fox by Harry J. Owens, again, miraculously uncredited on the cover. His name appears once, on the title page, and the lavish biography on the back of my copy fails to even mention the illustrations.

(Ward's work for the Scandalous Adventures of Reynard the Fox)

These works are particularly notable as much later, Ken Anderson of Disney was working on conceptualizing a Disney adaptation of Reynard, which is a very interesting and messy story for another time. In short, he and his team drew many inspirations from many many places, but with Ward being relatively more known and respected in the industry and having worked on a Reynard book in a similar style to what Disney wanted, his work was one of the most influential on the development of the film. The Reynard part was eventually scrapped (those who are familiar with the story and character will not be surprised), but a lot of the designs and even layouts were reused for Robin Hood. If you've ever wondered why they made him a fox, that's why.

(Bill Peet's and Ken Anderson's Reynards bear a striking resemblance to Ward's)

There's a lot more to the inspiration than just the designs, many plot points and layouts from Reynard, and their depictions by Ward, remain in Robin Hood (they unfortunately do not fit in this post). Its likely that finding such a clear starting point for their film in Ward's book had a hand in salvaging the Disney Reynard project and leading to the complete, although troubled, completion and release of Robin Hood.

And the rest is furstory! While there are certainly many other Disney animal features that have made their mark on the fandom, Robin Hood's influence is particularly notable for being the most popular of the most anthropomorphic animal-focused animations in contrast to the commercial underdogs of the Great Mouse Detective and many of Don Bluth's films, and more conventionally presented talking animals like those of the Aristocats and the Jungle Book. Isn't that interesting!

[myjlla]

Avatar: The Last Airbender (Avatar: The legend of Aang)

OC Presentation

Name: Yula -> full name and title: Princess Yula of the Southern Water Tribe

Zuko x OC MASTERLIST here

Personal Informations:

Age: 16

Nationality: Southern Water Tribe

Ethnicity: Water Tribe, Fire Nation

Family: Older brother Prince Louis (Dad - not coronated ruler of Southern Water Tribe, with water tribe ethnicity) (Mom - high ranked member of Fire Nation society, given in mariage to Water Tribe Royal Family, with fire nation ethnicity)

Physical Information:

Gender: Female

Eye color: Brown

Hair color: Brown

Skin color: Light/Pale

Personal Information:

Love interests: formerly - ex boyfriends; Prince Zuko

Allies: Tui, La, Both Water Tribes, Louis, Yue, Arnook, Zuko, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Suki, Appa, Momo, Iroh, Hakoda

Enemies: Fire Lord Ozai, Azula, Mai, Dai Li

Bending: Firebending

Weapon: water, fire, sword, intelligence

Destiny: Protector of the Ocean Spirit, Wife, Mother, Assistant Reastaurateur of Southern Water Tribe and Fire Nation

I don't own any rights to characters other then Yula and Kenzō (and their mom and dad). I don't own any story lines and plots other than these related to my OC.

Picture of my OC was found on pinterest!

! I DON'T ALLOW ANY TRANSLATIONS OR ANY REUSE/CHANGE/THEFT OF MY WORK. Reposts, likes and comments are welcome.

Written by @myjlla on Tumblr; do not steal !!

[campcampkirbykirbykirby]

Camp Camp Commentary Notes - Season 1, Episode 2: Mascot

Writer's Commentary

Kerry doesn't remember anything about writing this episode

Except that he does because he wrote the Rube Goldberg scene to mess with the crew because it would be hard to animate and they did it anyway

Miles worked with Al McClelland, Jr (storyboard artist) to come up with the different parts of the machine, including the inhaler, another reused element from the scrapped pilot

Kerry helped to establish the levels of weird the series could go which had not been properly foreshadowed in the first episode, likely due to time

Kerry, as well as Rooster Teeth pariah Gray Haddock, had the most involvement in making the Quartermaster who he is

Kerry took this being the second episode very seriously, trying to figure out what a normal episode after the pilot is, but then decided making it "normal" was a bad idea so they made it weird instead

At this point, the only three episodes that were in progress were this, the pilot, and Scout's Dishonor.

Lots of little details that come up because the crew thought it would be funny

David has very red elbows

Yet another repurposing from the scrapped pilot is Neil's line about the camp being a future Walmart parking lot

In fact, it was part of a much bigger blowup Neil had in that pilot, compared to the one we got

Quartermaster has a lot of his own sound design, like changing his hook hands, which they deliberated on for a moment

Bear ears don't have bones, likely added for clarity

Lots of jokes added by Al, not all make it in

Kerry will sometimes write entire episodes around single lines he comes up with, such as Quartermaster's "grumble grumble jews" bit (which does come off as anti-semetic but could really mean anything, according to Kerry)

Said line being uncomfortable is the point, in that way it's no different from anything else about the Quartermaster

Before Harrison's backstory was his brother was pinned down, his initial shtick was just being bad at magic

The "bad idea in hindsight" line was added to justify them running to the dock

Point of the episode was to give the camp the worst mascot imaginable

All the other animals, the crew made as cute as possible, meanwhile the platypus "eats the shit out of Larry" per the script

MYSTERIOUS BLACK HAIRED GIRL (it's really more of a dark blue)

Cast and Crew Commentary

Jordan, Maggie, (Sick) Elizabeth, (Healthy) Cole

Larry's screams were done by Maggie

Platypus has 3 voices: Alena Lecorchick on snarls and growls, Miles doing the "Donald Duck talk", Jordan did all the muacks

This was the first episode to be really worked on start-to-finish, the pilot didn't get too far before being reworked

Quartermaster's bag might have dead goose or whale carcass

The nose-wiping bit is highlighted in both commentaries, it was part of the crew trying to understand the characters, as was the whole sub-plot with Max and Quartermaster

Elizabeth makes her friends watch Camp Camp, something she doesn't do with most of her filmography, help get some of them hooked

Some backgrounds here were reused in Season 2

Some consideration was put into perfecting the creepy atmosphere of certain scenes, like the centipede

Okay, so the bear skeleton in the cave was changed specifically to look more bear-like

Plug for the out-of-print Platypus plush (have fun searching eBay!)

No one is quite sure where the "King of the Forest" bit came from

Matt Hullum lost it when he saw it, which is a sign they've done something right

The stab was initially way more gruesome, it was toned down for the final episode

Everything Nerris sees is magic, established with the tin can/"wizard's amulet"

Docks give the crew trouble, they can't remember if there's supposed to be one or two

Mysterious camper again, this was part of the initial concept of the camp being bigger than just what we see, with extra camps and campers strewn about, but this was eventually phased out