#playback locations

[flame-shadow]

-shaking the shoulders of the people in charge of the websites i frequent-

STOP MOVING AROUND THE FURNITURE IN MY HOUSE

[xoluvx]

guilty as sin; b.eilish

what if she's written 'mine' on my upper thigh only in my mind?

smut 3.5k

Warmth filled your body as her lips hovered over your skin. The sticky lipgloss she was wearing created a trail marking the exact locations her lips had previously inhabited. They settled on your neck, placing slow open mouth kisses as her hand crawled down your body. A soft moan escaped your lips as your back arched longing for more than just her touch. Every ounce of your body felt like it was on fire. Her fingers tapped along your supple skin finally landing between your legs.

It was all so wonderful and euphoric.

Until you heard an obnoxious ringing and a repeated knocking on your door. Your eyes shot open, an immediate realization overtook your body.

It was a dream. It’d all been a dream. Your bed was empty, your alarm was ringing, but the tingling between your legs was very much real.

You heard the knock again and groaned scrambling to get your phone. Turning off the alarm, you saw the time. 6:33am. Fuck. You knew exactly who was at your door.

Pushing the covers off your body, you adjusted the waistband of your shorts. The pesky feeling of unfinished business between your legs. You felt it as you walked to the door, but you didn’t have time to take care of it right now.

“Hey, you overslept?” Your best friend asked when you opened the door.

“Uh, yeah” you replied rubbing your eyes. “I’m sorry, I’ll get ready quick,” you extended your arm, letting her in. She came in throwing herself on your unmade bed.

“We gotta be out of here in like 10 minutes,” she instructed and you nodded rushing to the bathroom. Thankfully you’d neatly folded and placed the clothes you'd be wearing today on the bathroom counter. At least you weren’t a complete mess.

You didn’t have time to shower, but you had to wipe the remnants of your dream - your very inappropriate dream - from your body and your brain because that was your best friend. The same best friend who was laying on your bed right now. The same best friend who you always hung out with and now you were having sex dreams about.

Fuck. This couldn’t be happening.

When you finally left the bathroom, you grabbed your phone and the two of you left.

You’d be okay.

Except you very much weren’t. Not when she was filming a music video where she was all seductive and sexy. So so sexy. You almost sighed in longing when she came close to the camera and opened her glossy lips just like she had in your dream.

You had to look away. No matter how much you wanted to stare, you couldn't be that obvious. Not when her lips were still oozing lipgloss and her fingers grazed her neck, twirling her hair. God, you so desperately wanted those fingers to be yours.

Suddenly your body felt the familiar heat.

No. You couldn't go there.

Checking your phone as an excuse to look away, you didn't feel when her body joined your side. Her arm slung around your shoulder bringing you back to earth.

"Hey, you okay?" she sounded genuinely concerned. Oh no, she could probably see right through you. Smiling, you nodded putting your phone in the back pocket of your jeans. You watched the playback on the small monitor and noticed the veins in her arms when she pointed at the screen.

"I think I'm going to do another take," she concluded giving your shoulder a small squeeze. You winced and she looked at you with concern. "You sure you're okay?" she asked again.

"I think I slept wrong," you lied tilting your neck trying to act totally cool and normal. Except you hadn't slept wrong. You'd slept wonderfully, recalling the waves of pleasure brought to you by her and only her.

Your hand moved over your shoulder for dramatic effect.

"I got you," she replied stepping behind you, her hands on your shoulders, fingers digging into your clothes. She held you in her grip, her gentle breathing behind your head. Her thumbs dug into your shoulder blades and a sound left your body. A moan.

Like you audibly moaned in pleasure because these were the same hands you’d only dreamt of touching you last night. Touching you in more than just a friendly way. Fuck.

"Does that feel good?" her voice dropped from the previous caring one. It was a voice you couldn't decipher. But it sure as hell was doing things to you.

You tensed.

"Just relax," she whispered working your shoulders. Then she brought her hands down your arms squeezing every few seconds until they were back on your shoulders.

"We're ready," a voice called out snapping your eyes open. Her fingers stopped moving, but she was still holding you.

"I'll finish later," she kissed the back of your head before disappearing. That kiss before would've just been a friendly ‘love you’ kind of friendly kiss, but now you were reading into it so weirdly. Because...

Was it wrong to think of your best friend that way? Or had you always felt this way and the feelings were now just clawing their way back up?

When you made it through the day, you were so happy to finally get in bed, grab your book, forget about the way she'd made you feel and focus on somebody else's fictitious dreams for a little while.

But again, it didn't last. You couldn't get past the first paragraph without recalling the way she moved in front of the camera. The way her lips wrapped around that lollipop and the way she ate that cherry so flirtatiously looking straight into the camera. Like she was looking directly into your filthy filthy mind.

How were you suppose to act totally normal when she made you feel the most unholy things?

Feeling the desperation between your legs, you slid your hand under your sleep shorts. Closing your eyes, you spread your wetness up to your clit, instantly finding your sensitive bud. Your index finger worked in circles until you felt the warm tingling rush.

Your mind wandered to the sight of her lips. The close up on the camera. The way she mouthed the lyrics so effortlessly. Then the images shifted to those of her fingers. You pictured what it'd feel like if it were her fingers on your clit right now. If the flat of her tongue would feel warm on your pussy.

Opening your legs wider, you reached for the headboard with your free hand. Your squirmed on the bed as you continued touching yourself to thoughts of her. Thoughts of her lips on your shoulder, your neck, your thighs. Her tongue on your clit. Her tongue on your nipples.

The shuddering feeling unraveled on your finger as your body convulsed. You'd been quiet this whole time, but when you came you released the pent up noises mimicking the way your body shook. They echoed in the empty room bringing you back to reality. The reality that she wasn't there. She hadn't touched you.

The reality that you so desperately longed for her touch and you were one hundred percent fucked.

As you drifted to sleep, the heaviness of your lids slowly winning that battle, you heard your phone vibrate. Reaching out, your hand shifted through the sheets trying to locate the vibrations. When you finally got it, you had one notification. From her.

You awake?

Inhaling, your brain instantly flashed with the scene of what you'd done not but 10 minutes ago. You felt so dirty.

What could you respond? Yes. I'm awake and I was just touching myself to the thought of you. Plus, in my head I just came on your tongue. Yeah, no. You could also just not respond and she'd take that as you weren't awake.

But before you could come to a conclusion, your fingers were already typing 'yes' and when she asked if she could come over to your room, you just said 'yes' again.

So it shouldn't have startled you when there was a knock at your door a few seconds later as you washed your hands in the sink. You looked in the mirror trying to compose yourself. It was fine. It was all fine.

"Hey," you smiled opening the door to your room.

Billie's hair was out of place, her eyes tired, shoulders slumped.

"I can't sleep," she confessed. "Can you cuddle me until I sleep?" her eyes were pleading. Your chest tightened at the request. You'd done this plenty of times. It was normal.

She crawled into the bed pulling the covers over her body, but her arm peeked through the fortress urging you to slide in next to her. Gulping you walked to the bed, slipping next to her. She turned, nuzzling her face into the pillow. Her body curved, ready to be held.

You watched her for a couple of seconds before bringing the blanket over both your bodies. Your arms wrapped around her torso as your body molded against hers like two pieces of a puzzle. Billie sighed contently spreading her fingers over your hand.

"Play with my hair," she whispered and your heart pitter pattered bringing your hand to her soft hair. You could smell her shampoo and conditioner. The strands fell on her cheek and you brushed them away carefully pulling them behind her ear. The tips of your fingers brushed along the side of her face.

Without warning, she turned so your faces were centimeters apart.

"Are you sure you're okay?" her voice was low like a whisper, but firm like she'd probably been recalling how weird you'd been acting all day and how she knew you were lying. She'd ask you if you were okay about a dozen times today. Were you so transparent she could see right through you? Could she see how crazy she'd been driving you?

"Yeah," you croaked, your voice betraying you, splitting the single syllable word into more than one. You cleared your throat shifting your eyes. Her stare was too powerful. She cupped your cheek before you could turn away from her. You couldn't do it. You couldn't lie to her. You could never keep secrets from her. She was your best friend and because she was your best friend you could get through anything, right?

"It's-" you cleared your throat again sitting up.

"I had a sex dream about you," you rambled covering you face. You felt her body shift, but you didn't want to see her face. You didn't want to see her reaction. It was too embarrassing.

"Sex dreams are normal," her voice calm.

"Not when they're about your best friend," you added. Your voice was a little more bold this time.

"Is that why you moaned when I was massaging your shoulders earlier?" There was a hint of playfulness in her voice. But not in a teasing way that'd make you want to crawl under a rock and live under it like Patrick Star. No, it was like an honest genuinely wanted to know playful way. When you heard her question you turned to look at her. She was propped on one elbow, her body turned to the side watching you. Her eyes searching for genuine answers.

You simply cleared your throat turning away from her. You couldn't face her and you couldn't answer her questions without fear of ruining your friendship because, yes, you fucking moaned. And yes it was because her hands were doing things you only dreamt about. And yes maybe you'd repressed these thoughts for so long-

"I've dreamt of you too," her confession hit you like a truck. Almost like the overpowering rush of electricity you felt from the slightest touch of her torso now brushing against your arm. She was sitting next to you. Her face was so close.

"You're just saying that because-" she cut you off shaking her head.

"No. No, I'm serious. I've dreamt of touching you and hearing you," she inched closer, her lips near your ear detailing the things she'd done to you in her dreams and how they perfectly matched with your own fantasies. You were weak. So fucking weak you let your head lean into her as her lips brushed your ear and her hand found yours, fingers lacing thoughtlessly.

"No, no, no, no, I can't!" You sprung up from the bed, your chest rising and falling rapidly.

"We can't." Billie watched you with confusion. You wanted to. You wanted to so fucking badly.

"One night. We can pretend it never happened." She pushed the covers off her body and stood in front of you.

"What if we can't pretend?" you ask searching her face for any signs of 'gotcha this was just a prank and you fell for it'. But there was none of that. She was serious. She was pleading with her big blue eyes and pouty pink lips. She wanted it. Just as much as you did.

It was now or never.

Without giving your brain time to sabotage the moment, you cupped her face kissing her fiercely. Billie's arm wrapped around your waist reciprocating the ferocity. She did want this. So much you felt it in your bones. Her fingers dug into your skin as your lips clashed in desperation.

Your bodies stumbled back towards the bed, collapsing on each other. Her lips parted as she watched you fix yourself. Your head resting on the pillows, hands nervously playing with your shirt. Billie hovered over you bringing her hand to your jaw, she caressed it tenderly before finding your lips again. You kissed for what seemed like an eternity.

“Can I touch you?” She mumbled against your lips and you nodded desperately. There’s nothing you wanted more. Well, you wanted everything with her.

Billie’s hand traveled down the side of your torso, her fingers grazing your bare skin from when your shirt rode up during your heated make out session. She didn’t stop there though. She wanted to feel what was under your sleep shorts. She hooked her thumb in your waistband tugging at it until you lifted your hips. She was able to slide them off with a bit of struggle but felt triumphant when she felt your bare thigh and hip bone. You weren’t wearing underwear.

Suddenly it all felt too real. Your heart started beating harder and you swore you felt her muscles tense as you held on to her arms, lips still sloppily joined.

“I’m going to touch you,” she announced this time. Her forehead pressed on yours as her thumb ran between your folds. Unable to process the sinking feeling, you simple raised your chest closer to hers, wrapping your fingers tighter around her upper arms. Eyes closed.

The next touch was with her index and middle finger. They repeated the motion of her thumb, but with a bit more firmness and certainty. Like she was memorizing your body and watching how you reacted to each touch. She watched as your face scrunched and your lips parted, your eyes still shut tightly. Chest rising and falling rapidly, fingers now losing their grip as you surrendered to her touch.

“Fuuu-“ an unfinished whimper escaped your lips as her fingers teased your entrance. Biting your lip, you furrowed your brows.

“I want you to look at me,” Billie whispered as her fingers entered you. A louder moan escaped your body and you quivered at her request because if you opened your eyes you were scared you weren’t going to just want one night. You were going to want every night with her.

“Please,” Billie kissed your cheek and you heard her jagged breathing. You were causing that. She was touching you and begging you just like in your fantasies.

You opened your eyes just as she was raising her body and moving her fingers. She smiled and her fingers curled eliciting another moan. This time she saw the way your eyes filled with desire and desperation. The way your lips parted whimpering for more. When she moved her fingers in a steady place, your eyes started swelling with tears from blinding pleasure. She didn’t take her eyes off you as she hit your g spot and you squirmed under her. She bit her lip as she angled her arm trying to go deeper.

You grabbed her head bringing her down for a kiss and she gladly broke eye contact for that. She lost herself in your lips, fingers still pumping in you. She felt your walls clench and she stopped.

You whined pulling away, eyes filled with confusion.

“I want to taste you,” she whispered with lust and your pussy throbbed in return.

“Can I?” She asked bringing her fingers out of pussy. They glistened in the soft light of bedside lamp. You nodded as she slipped the fingers between her plump kissed out lips. Her eyes closing, throat humming. She pulled them out in a swipe before running her tongue between the two digits, tongue swirling and turning detailing what could be happening between your thighs right now.

“Lick me,” you whispered. With her fingers still in her mouth, Billie looked at you. Her lids hooded, lips plump.

“Please,” you begged and she released her fingers with a pop obliging.

You bunched the fabric of your shirt in your fists as you watched her slide down the bed. She kissed down your hip. Her arm chained behind your thighs as her lips trailed down your supple skin. Her tongue running a long stripe up the side of your inner thigh, teeth grazing your skin ever so gently.

She planted small kisses trailing up to your pussy, until she was face to face with your heat.

You were throbbing and still sensitive from your almost orgasm. She found your eyes in the dim light and you nodded, unable to speak. Billie's fingers squeezed your thighs before placing the softest more gentle kiss on your pussy.

A gasp filled the room and your hands found her head. Taking the hint, Billie dove into your pussy. Her tongue ran a stripe between your folds focusing on your clit. Your thighs quivered with each stroke, fingers digging into her hair.

Her tongue lapped repeatedly before dipping into your entrance and the burning tingling feeling spread through your body. You weren't going to last much longer. Her name spilled from your lips like a cult chant only urging Billie to lap faster, fingers teasing your entrance.

The sound of her tongue on your pussy shot electric shocks up and down your body. You could hear her breathing speed up, her fingers now fully fucking you as her tongue matched it's movements.

"Fuck, Billie..." you moaned lifting your hips moving them in sync.

Just one night. One exhilarating, earth shattering night.

The soft warmth of morning hit the curve of your body as you hummed in delight. The events of last night replayed in your head over and over sending you into a slumber of pure bliss. You stretched out your arms, the sheets sliding off your body as you landed on your back. Stretching your arm out on the bed, you felt for her body, eyes closed.

The cool side of the bed made your eyes shot open. It was empty. She wasn't there. Had you really just hallucinated the whole thing? Was your mind playing cruel tricks on you now?

But you were still naked and your body burned in all the places she'd touched you. You felt her lips on your inner thigh and the way her tongue wrote words on your skin. It had to be real.

"Hey," Billie smiled wringing the excess water out of her hair. She was wearing one of your shirts, her face radiating like the rays peeking through the curtains. She was not at all phased by your naked frame.

"Hi." There you went again expanding single syllable words.

"I was just going to order us breakfast," she smiled heading to your side of the bed where the hotel phone resided.

It was real. It was very much real and she was still here? And she was acting normally.

Remembering the one night pact you'd made last night, you let your body slump on the bed pulling the sheets over your naked breasts. Billie was now sitting near you, the phone at her ear.

You were fucked. It couldn't be just one night.

Because you couldn't deny what happened last night and you couldn't deny how you just fit so perfectly together. If anybody tried to tell you you didn't make sense together, then they'd have to cuff you up and take you to jail because you believed. You were guilty of wanting your best friend.

You wanted her. So bad.

And when she searched for your hand still clinging to the sheets. And your fingers intertwined as she looked over her shoulder smiling at you, remembering to order your favorite breakfast food...you knew she felt it too.

[nicxl333]

hello

Could you write about bllk boy accidentally hurting their s/o badly.

It's okay if you're too busy. No pressure

BABY YOU SOLD ME A DREAM

characters: isagi yoichi, mikage reo, nagi seishiro, barou shouei, itoshi rin

content: major angst, reader is female coded (wears a dress, heels and makeup), mentions of smut in barou’s part but nothing actually happens (lol), vulgar language

☆彡 ISAGI YOICHI

“you think you know better than me? do me a favour and go find someone else who has the time to put up with your bullshit. ‘cause it won’t be me.”

you lay in your cold, desolate bed for the umpteenth time this week alone, which, considering it was only wednesday showed just how often isagi trained past late hours. as much as you understood his passion to climb to the top, it was simply neglect at this point. to you and to himself. you woke up, he was gone. you went to sleep, he wasn’t beside you.

of course, things were never like this in the beginning. he used to be around, take you out, nurture you and show you devoted love for you each and every time.

until he wasn’t.

once his team reached the quarterfinals of the champions league a while back, he changed. 2 hour training sessions in the evening turned into 4, and the time he spent with you halved as a result. it made you feel lonely and simply put, abandoned.

your texts querying his location and when he was coming home lay unanswered and unopened, probably within the confinement of his phone which lay in his bag during training. so you went to bed alone like you always did, missing what your relationship used to be.

as you stared at the pristine, bare white ceiling you heard a key in the lock of the front door. a few moments passed and the door pushed open, pads of feet resounding in the apartment.

you decided to go meet him in the living room, wanting to know if he’s at least okay.

as you entered the room, you were met with his figure, donned in black sweatpants paired with a black compression shirt. his normal post-training gear. the same gear that never failed to make you melt each and every time. he glanced at you in your nightwear and weary expression, due to him returning back so late.

“hey ‘ichi, how was training?”

“alright.”

you immediately frowned. outside the pitch he was never so curt and void of language. especially with you.

you ventured closer towards him, trying to debunk his guarded persona.

“are you sure? did anything happen to you?” you stepped closer still, till you were right in front of him, immediately noticing his dark circles, even in the dim lighting of the living room from the hallway light. you attempted to give him a hug, shrinking back in disappointment once he shrugged you off.

“i said it was alright. i’m fine, just go back to bed, i’ll join in a bit.”

bullshit. you knew full and well he would just retire to the sofa, watching playbacks of his games to further evaluate his performance. even when he wasn’t working physically he would somehow manage to work himself further mentally.

“yoichi. what’s wrong baby?”

“y/n, i won’t repeat myself again. go to bed.”

you stood there in disbelief. as far as you were concerned, you hadn’t done anything wrong, so it’s quite unbelievable that he would take whatever happened today out on you.

“isagi,” you made sure to use his last name to make aware you weren’t fucking around. “come correct with me please. i haven’t done anything to you and i’m concerned for your well-being. you’ve been going to sleep late, training until ungodly hours. this isn’t good for you and i’m now on the receiving end of your misery, god knows why.”

the tone in the room shifted, isagi, now displaying a scowl across his features at your rebuttal. yes, he was well aware he was maltreating himself, but to have you acknowledge his moment of weakness gave him an displeasing itch of anger that no one could scratch, not even you.

before he could think, the next words that flew out of his mouth changed the status of your relationship, whether he meant to or not.

“you think you know better than me? do me a favour and go find someone else who has the time to put up with your bullshit. ‘cause it won’t be me.”

you instantaneously drew back, his words punching you in the gut and twisting your insides. your heart leapt and fell, never expecting those words, out of isagi’s mouth of all people.

it was deathly silent for a moment, both parties having a staring match. you fought back tears, trying so damn hard to not allow him to see how his words affected you. alas, your emotions got the best of you.

you lightly sniffled, before balling your hands into fists. “you know what yoichi? fuck you, i’m done.”

you turned on your heel and made a beeline towards your shared bedroom, grabbing your biggest duffel and shoving clothes into them, not minding what it was that you picked up. only once isagi was the only individual in the living room did he snap out of his state, realising the weight of his words. he listened to the loud shuffling, registering that he may have just fucked his relationship over for good.

he swiftly followed you, watching you in a frenzy, having just changed into an outfit suitable enough for outside. it was then that he grasped you were serious, and slipped into full panic mode.

“y/n! y/n please baby, i didn’t mean any of that! don’t leave me.” he reached for your arm, falling apart, the same way you did moments before, when you pulled away from his touch. you knew if you succumbed to his pleas you might— might just stay. but you couldn’t. his words resonated within you and made you accept that fact that you needed space at the most, before your relationship delved into something irreparable.

you stood, duffel bag slung on your shoulder, tears running down each cheek, until they conjoined at your chin.

“isagi, i can’t. not right now. not when emotions are running this high. i need space. we should probably talk when we’re both calmed down. i’ll be at meguru’s house so you don’t need to worry about where i am.”

he respected your wishes, he had no choice. if he wanted this relationship to survive he had to.

so he let you go.

☆彡 MIKAGE REO

“you’re very much subpar, do you think i need to keep you around? my name alone will help find me someone better than you.”

one thing about mikage reo that really ticked you off was his obsession over his best friend, nagi. simply put,

he was always there.

when you were chilling together, when you went out, even after date nights he would come to your shared condo, playing video games with your boyfriend until who knows what time in the morning. it always felt like you had to share and fight for reo’s attention, which was pretty much a losing battle considering reo gave nagi as much of his attention to nagi as he did.

you did your best to not voice your concerns to him, withholding your true feelings, that you did. but sometimes there’s just moments where you can’t help but snap.

and that moment came at your first year anniversary dinner with reo. hell, you should’ve called it your first year anniversary dinner with yourself, considering the fucker didn’t even show up.

you had dolled yourself up so nicely, a sexy silk black dress (purchased with your own money, you didn’t like to depend on reo too much) with matching heels. your makeup was done flawlessly and not a hair out of place.

you sat at an expensive table at an expensive restaurant, sipping over-expensive wine while you waited for him to show up. you hadn’t seen him since this morning, due to him training all day today, but you had planned this dinner with him together a month ago, reservations and all, with reminders here and there about the upcoming date.

you had waited for about an hour, taking into consideration that there could be traffic, although you hadn’t experienced any on the way here, thus giving him the benefit of the doubt.

however, when no signs showed of him arriving you turned to a waiter and excused yourself, paying the bill and walking out to collect your car from the valet.

once it was brought to you and you were seated, ready to drive off, the first thing you did was call reo via the bluetooth feature, beyond pissed off.

after a few rings he picked up, the sounds of video game gunfire audible in the background.

“y/n? what’s up? where are you?”

you scoffed incredulously, ignoring the city lights whizzing past you as you drove on the highway.

“what’s up? where am i? reo, do you know what day it is today?”

“no, why?”

you gripped the leather of your steering wheel, your frustration hitting a boiling point. “you cannot be serious. does our one year anniversary ring any bells, huh? the fact that i’ve reminded you, time and time again? you stood me up reo! what could you have possibly been doing that was more important than remembering a big milestone in our relationship?!”

he didn’t even have to answer for you, because the answer came in the form of a “reo, why did you stop? our team just lost.”

nagi seishiro.

if you weren’t angry before, you were absolutely livid now.

“reo, so you mean to tell me that spending time with your friend was more important than remembering your one year anniversary with your girlfriend? do i mean nothing to you?”

“y/n it’s not that deep, we can just reschedule for tomorrow or something.” you could hear his exasperation through the phone. the audacity of him, considering he was completely at fault here.

“not that deep? not that deep?! you let me sit there for over an hour in an upscale restaurant by myself and didn’t even think to worry about where i was! why is it not getting through to you that you missed our anniversary to play games? you see nagi everyday, whether it’s at training or at home. you mean to tell me that you couldn’t bear to not see him for one singular day out of the week?”

there were probably a ton of possibilities and explanations for why he said what he said next, but if you had to choose, it would probably be the fact that nagi could most likely hear the argument over the phone, which lead reo to attempt to regain control over the situation, by any means possible, to not appear weak.

“you’re very much subpar, do you think i need to keep you around? my name alone will help find me someone better than you.”

oh. you see how it is.

his words stunned you into silence, knocking the wind out of you. the only sounds that could be heard was the continuous tapping from reo’s controller and the low hum of your engine as you drove.

“look y/n i’m busy now, so we can talk later when you’re ho-”

you didn’t wanna hear what else he had to say, hanging up the call via the steering wheel and letting out a deep breath you didn’t realise you were holding.

without fail you indicated to turn off the highway, making your way to the nearest hotel. nevermind the fact that you didn’t have any clothes, you simply couldn’t handle seeing reo after the way he just wounded you.

once at the hotel and settled in your room you lay swaddled in the crisp white blankets. without any external eyes being able to see your state you let all walls crumble, tears cascading down in waves as you let all the previous bottled emotions fly free.

unbeknownst to you, your phone lay on the side table, softly vibrating whilst the screen lit up to show a picture of you and reo at a theme park, a call coming though from him.

it lay unanswered.

☆彡 NAGI SEISHIRO

“being in a relationship is a hassle already, i shouldn’t have to deal with you bitching and whining on top of that.”

you awoke to the sounds of rapid gunfire emanating from the living room, sighing to yourself. once again, nagi was devoting himself to a night of endless gaming.

it was a never-ending cycle. when he wasn't gaming, he was training and vice versa. as much as you loved and embraced the fact that nagi was lazy, he could at least make some effort to give you attention every once in a while.

rubbing the sleep away from your eyes you trudged your way through the apartment wearily, before being met with his figure, hunched on the sofa, eyes glued to the screen in front of him.

"sei, when are you coming to bed? i miss you."

"in a bit y/n."

"sei baby you said that last night, and i came back to you passed out on the sofa. the bluelight isn't good for you, especially so late."

he barely was around as it is, but when he was, he either slept, or was parked on the sofa.

it made you feel unappreciated, and majorly unloved. he never made the effort to take you out, tell you that you ever looked pretty or even acknowledge you anymore. to you at this point he was practically a roommate with a shoddy title that really shouldn't apply to the both of you.

"y/n, just leave me alone for now. i'm too tired to get into it with you."

"so you're too tired to argue with me being concerned for your wellbeing, but not too tired to invest your time into games, which ultimately drains your thought processes more? really sei?"

he was still focusing on the tv instead of your words, which ticked you off. so, determined to get his full attention, for once, you walked towards the tv and stood directly in front of it, blocking his vision, arms crossed and frowning.

"what the hell y/n? you made me lose."

"seishiro, can you stop being an ass for just a second and focus on me and what i have to say?”

faced with no way out, he had to oblige, placing the controller down with a heavy sigh, letting you know he was agitated. you couldn’t give a flying fuck though. you’d had enough of being neglected by nagi, and weren’t going to let him off this time.

“you don’t spend time with me anymore. you never take me out, we don’t ever talk to each other anymore. is it so bad for me to want to spend time with my boyfriend? is a game really more important than me? or is being with me detrimental to you in some way?”

he rolled his eyes, sinking back into the soft material of the sofa, irises piercing into yours. you shrunk back at his change in demeanour.

“being in a relationship is a hassle already, i shouldn’t have to deal with you bitching and whining on top of that.”

huh?

“nagi, where is this coming from? what do you mean being in a relationship is a hassl- i’m a hassle?”

he shrugged while rising to his feet, placing a hand behind his head and massaging his neck.

“i said what i said didn’t i? look, i’m going to bed, happy now? i don’t wanna argue with you, you’re too loud when you’re angry.”

you stood in shock, registering his words fully before swallowing and deeply inhaling.

“forget it nagi, i’m leaving. lose my number.”

“leaving to go where?” he watched as you briskly walked to the bedroom, following you in as you changed, grabbing your phone and keys.

“that’s none of your concern anymore. i’m breaking up with you.”

he said nothing as you walked to the front door, leaving with a final slam.

he should’ve stopped you, he really should’ve, for he would come to realise soon enough that allowing you to go,

would be one of the worst decisions he ever made.

☆彡 BAROU SHOUEI

“oi, i didn’t get into a relationship with you just so you can make my life harder. fix up or leave.”

when you asked barou out, you knew damn well what you were signing up for. considering he was so headstrong, particularly when it came to football, there would be moments where he might be nonchalant or absent.

what you didn’t anticipate, would be just how bad he would get.

once his mind was focused on football, specifically climbing his way to the top, there were no distractions, especially from his girlfriend, who at times he deemed his biggest distraction.

you did try to help and aid him every way you could, cooking him meals to eat after late night practices, tending to his injuries he may obtain after over-intensive sessions, cleaning up the apartment flawlessly so he wouldn’t be tempted to do it himself. all you really wanted in return was love.

surely that wasn’t too much to ask for, right?

wrong.

even after 7 months of dating, public outings with attempts to hold his hand resulted in subtle swatting away, instead opting to walk side by side. laying in bed together? don’t expect any cuddles from him. quite laughable actually that you’d ever think he’d be willing to do that. don’t think movie nights will be any different either. you’d better be keeping your hands to yourself.

fucking was a rarity, only really when he was very much pent up with frustration from football, libido overflowing from lack of release. and even then, while you were able to cum, that’s pretty much all there was to it. no making love or anything like that. he wouldn’t display his emotions to you enough in the first place for that to ever happen.

when you asked barou out, you knew damn well what you were signing up for. but you didn’t know it would be this hard. you figured he would loosen up eventually, getting used to at least some form of affection towards you. a little peck on the lips, or a hug from behind every once in a while would be nice.

one day, you simply grew tired. you were sitting on the dining table with him, having just finished dinner. barou stood up, ready to leave the table to shower.

“shouei.”

he stopped in his tracks, pivoting on one heel to turn and face you. his face remained blank, save for his usual signature eyebrow, arched in waiting.

“hm?”

“i-” you suddenly grew self conscious, afraid to voice your concerns to him. if you wanted things to change however, this conversation had to happen sooner rather than later.

“can we do more stuff together?”

his face now contorted into utter confusion, genuinely puzzled by what you were trying to say.

“what do you mean? i do enough with you do i not?”

“no, not that that sho’, i mean more couples stuff. like…couldn’t you just be more affectionate? i just— i don’t know how you feel about me at certain points, you don’t tell me anything as it is.”

he looked at you, playing with your hands, trying to look anywhere but him, clearly uncomfortable about this conversation.

“cmon y/n, you know how it goes already, i’m not into shit like that. i may like you and all, but all that lovey-dovey stuff? that ain’t me. never has and never will be. surely you should understand how i feel about you? the fact that i’ve kept you around this long should say more than enough.”

damn. fucking cold. either way, you weren’t backing down. you stood there, holding a firm staring competition with him before opening your mouth to speak.

“shouei, it’s been 7 months and news flash! it doesn’t. when you do shit like this, it makes me feel fucking inadequate. like i’m not deserving of you. long story short, you make me feel like shit. i’m tired of it sho’.”

“y/n, regardless of how you feel, i told you how i feel, and that ain’t gonna change.”

you couldn’t accept what he was telling you, believing that what you were saying weren’t getting through to his thick skull. his stance was too relaxed for your liking, arms simply crossed over the other, looking slightly bored.

“you’re not getting it shouei!” you raised your voice slightly, not quite shouting, but about two thirds of the way there. “you’re not understan-”

“oi, i didn’t get into a relationship with you just so you can make my life harder. fix up or leave.”

you halted, making sure you heard him correctly. to hear that he basically wouldn’t fight for 7 months worth of memories and time with each other left you in denial that it would be so easy for him to let go.

“excuse me?”

“did i stutter? fix up, or leave. two choices, one answer. it’s up to you but whatever you pick is your business.”

he gave you an out, an out from what you were currently going through. and as much as you did love and care for barou, you’d be a fool not to take it. things would only get worse.

you chose the latter, opting to leave, considering how little value your relationship held to barou. weeks passed, and the items you once held in the apartment decreased, leaving a half completed house, just like your heart.

he continued as normal at first, trying to get used to the newfound ‘freedom’. but as days passed on, the emptiness of the household became more apparent. the meals you used to cook were no more, barou having to take on the tasks himself. his injuries were taken care of in a subpar manner. while he could do it adequately, they weren’t bandaged or plastered as well as you used to do it. yes he would clean, but having it done already when he came back from training and to his standard…made him start to realise just how much you really did for him.

and maybe— maybe you weren’t so bad to have around. you did give him a sense of comfort that he could not achieve on his own, filling him on things that happened during your day gave him a sense of normalcy which alternately gave him that balance from his meticulous life as a quickly rising footballer.

he missed you, he missed what you had,

it’s a pity he realised only when it was too late.

☆彡 ITOSHI RIN

“honestly i don’t understand why i got with you in the first place. you’re so lukewarm it hurts.”

you were both busy. you both knew and understood that. rin was constantly abroad on travels for football and you had your own stuff going on at work, often leaving the office late at night.

when your schedules would occasionally match up and you’d both be home, most of the time it would still be you alone. rin would go off on his own to his usual training ground and work himself to the bone. he wouldn’t even tell you he was leaving, disregarding your worries or concerns that may surface.

you jolted awake randomly, looking to your left to see disturbed duvet covers, but an empty side. yet again. next you turned to your phone, squinting at the light from the screen which temporarily blinded you.

2:34am

you could take a guess or two at where rin was. specifically because you knew he lost his last match abroad and was pissed off about it, meaning double the training he usually did. you threw on some clothes, splashed water on your face and grabbed your car keys to drive to the open football field.

the massive stadium style lights lit up the field, illuminating it in a cool white, as you pulled up next to rin’s car. even from the car park you could hear the discernible sounds of rin’s foot booting a ball repeatedly. once closer, you could see him in his normal training gear, sweating profusely, enough to fill a small bucket.

“rin!”

he stopped, just short of making the next ball his victim, making eye contact with you, not expecting to see you there of all places this late.

he waited until you had crossed the distance between you, and stood in front of him to speak.

“y/n, why are you out here this early? i thought you were sleeping.”

“rin, i should be asking you that. it’s too early to be this active my love. come home please, i’m worried for you.”

all was silent for a moment, the only audible sounds on the pitch being a crow cawing in the distance, and rin’s heavy breathing.

“…i’m fine. just go back home. it’s too early for you to be up.”

you stood, hand on hip, showing your determination to get him to give up, not taking no for an answer.

“rin, you need to sleep. you’re overworking yourself. what happens when you’re fatigued and you leave yourself open for mistakes to happen? it’ll be worse for you in the long run.”

“tch, i wouldn’t expect someone who does office work all day to know the inner workings of an athlete. you don’t understand y/n.”

you sighed exasperatingly at his attempts to disarm you. he could be so stubborn when it was really for his own good.

“rin, i don’t need to be an athlete to understand that this isn’t good for you. anyone with two working brain cells can understand that constant working out and lack of sleep isn’t healthy.”

he rolled his eyes and turned back to the football in front of him.

“fine. whether or not you leave isn’t my problem, but i’m not leaving. stay or go, the outcome is the same either way.”

he took position, aiming and shooting flawlessly at the top left corner of the goal, the ball spinning against the net before falling to the ground.

he grabbed another ball, ready to complete the same procedure before you interrupted him once more.

“rin, just please come home, you can come back tomorrow. just because you lost your match doesn’t mean you should overwork yourself like this.”

this time when he turned back towards you, the tone had shifted. his face immediately darkened, eyes thinning into dark slits, eyebrows forming a crease on his forehead. his teal eyes shot daggers into yours.

“listen. we may be together, but that doesn’t mean you get to talk to me like you know what i’m going through. i’m going to be the best football player out there, and if i need to work double to make that happen, then so. be. it. i don’t need someone like you telling me about what i should or should not be doing.”

you stood in silence, effectively stunned and insulted simultaneously. you couldn’t say anything to counter yourself, rin’s harsh words opening up a side to him you’ve never seen before. that wasn’t the worst of it though.

“honestly i don’t understand why i got with you in the first place. you’re so lukewarm it hurts.”

your heart shattered, face hung in desolation and disheartenment.

after not hearing you argue back for a while he scoffed, walking to the side to collect his training bag. “whatever, i’m leaving now.”

he left you there, standing while the gears turned in your head to make some semblance of his words.

you didn’t even register you were crying until the cold nipped at your cheeks, decreasing the temperature of the liquid against your face. you pulled yourself together, just about enough to shakily make your way back to your car and press the ignition button.

you spent the whole car ride crying your eyes out, before wiping your eyes as you arrived back home. rin’s car was nowhere to be seen.

you walked up to the front door, slotting your key in and twisting your wrist to align with the lock.

pushing the door open, you stepped in to see the lights off and the aura dark.

“rin?”

silence.

“rin, are you there?”

nothing.

you sighed, tossing your keys on the table next to the door, making a beeline to your shared bedroom. it was empty, no signs of life present.

you stripped out of your outside clothes and slipped under the covers,

leaving you to cry yourself to sleep, wondering when it all went wrong.

baby you sold me a dream pt.2

[souporsaladnatural]

Fan: “Hi I’m Tessa, and my question is ‘Were there any moments, like scenes or episodes, in Supernatural where you were especially proud of your acting because you had done something and you felt you did it really good or you, like, had to portray a really hard emotion?”

Misha Collins: [...] Uhm, there was a scene, um, gosh I don’t remember what season it was, I want to say maybe season eight? It’s when Sam is possessed by… Gadreel?”

Other Fan: “Season nine!”

Misha: “Season nine, I was really close. Um, and, Bob Singer was directing, you [points at Jensen] were back- uh- behind the monitors, and in this scene, uh, Sam, who’s now possessed as Gadreel, is coming up toward me, and Bob Singer- um, he- he was was a big fan of like 1970s cinema, and there was this one shot that he really wanted to get which was just me punching directly into the camera. Uhm, and then Sam as Gadreel was gonna pass out. And this was like kind of just a cool moment of just being like in tune with the choreography of the moment.

And so I threw the punch, directly into the lens, and um, and everyone behind, uh, video village, which is where they’re watching on the monitors, where Jensen was and Bob Singer was, um, started laughing. An, um, Jensen came out into- We were in the kitchen, we were shooting on location in the kitchen, [laughing] and Jensen came out and said, ‘Misha that was fucking hilarious!... Oh, you weren’t kidding.’ Cause he registered the look on my face and then he said ‘Come here.’ and we went back to the monitors and they did the playback, and the idea was the fist goes right into the lens on the camera. And I did this. [Weird arm swing motion]”

-

Context! This was right before Jensen gave his answer to this question, where instead of talking about a scene he was proud of himself for, he talked about how incredible Misha's acting was in the confession scene and how proud he was of him.

Misha: (tries to be silly and self-deprecating)

Jackles: So You Have Chosen Soliloquy

[x]

[pandorxxx]

A warm welcome

Lo’ak(22) x Metkayina fem reader(19)

Warnings: cursing, slight corruption, p in v, intense orgasms, creampies, DOM-LO’AK, slight age-gap, an angry Aonung at the end.

Synopsis: when Aonung chooses to bully the new family in town, lo’ak doesn’t take it too well. No need to worry though, lo’ak has something that’ll shut Aonung up for good.

🔞Mdni🔞

His walk was confident, long strides with a purpose behind them. Revenge beaming with each step. The 2 free flowing braids that hung down his face were dancing with every harsh step. A sadistic grin plastered across his face with a grip on his fathers cam so tight, he could’ve broken it.

It was about time to teach aonung a lesson for the way he treated him, and his family. Calling him a four fingered freak, and telling him he would never be one of them. He had enough. And finally, he had something that was gonna shut Aonung up for good.

“Lo’ak! You four fingered freak! Didn’t I tell you not to come to this side of the beach?” Aonung teased. With one final step towards Aonung, lo’ak outstretched his hand that held the camera. A devilish smile plastered on his face that made Aonung curious.

“You’re Right, bro! My bad. I just came over to say sorry for hitting you….sooo many times.” Lo’ak joked, making Aonung scoff.

“Here. A PEACE offering. I know I’m a four fingered FREAK, and all, but I made this…just for you.” Lo’ak went on, sounding sincere, nudging the camera into his hand.

Aonung titled his head in curiosity, grabbing the camera out of lo’aks hand. Aonung glanced back up at lo’ak in confusion. Lo’ak rolled his eyes, before reaching over to press the playback button…

Aonungs eyes went wide when he saw his sweet stepsister pop up on the small screen. Her innocent little body sitting on a rock in the middle of the night. She seemed happy, a smile plastered across her face as her legs swung back and forth.

“What the fuck is this?” Aonung asked, his voice becoming serious. “Ohhh, I don’t want to spoil it, just keep watching. I’ve gotta go, but I’ll catch you later , bro!” Lo’ak spoke sarcastically, hitting Aonungs shoulder before walking off. Leaving Aonung there to wonder what the hell he was watching.

-Video plays-

You met lo’ak where he asked you to. When you got to the location, you noticed his camera standing on a tripod. You were always very curious about his human things, and he never had a problem showing you.

You climbed up on the rock, feet dangling about 8 inches off the ground. You were really short, considering the fact that you weren’t the height you were going to be. You were younger than your siblings. You just turning 19, and being the baby of the clan.

“You’re just gonna follow my lead ok?” Lo’ak asked, stepping behind the camera to turn it on. You nodded with an innocent grin, watching the red dot flick on.

“So, tell everyone what your name is baby.” He commanded in a sweet tone. You nodded, obliging to his statement.

“Uh, m-my name is y/n.” You spoke, your sweet voice beaming through the night breeze. He stood up to his full height slowly, crossing his arms around his broad chest.

“That’s such a pretty name. Tell everyone who you are.” He proceeded, watching you through the tiny lense.

“Well, I’m Metkayina. My mother is ronal, my step father is tonowari. The chief of my clan. So I guess that makes me a Princess, right lo’ak? Like how you’re technically a prince.” You went on, with a beautiful smile that showed off your dimples. This was only supposed to be “get back” for Aonung, but he couldn’t help how you made him feel. You made him laugh, you were so sweet to him. And that was something very hard to find in a place like this.

He shook his head with a little chuckle. “Yeah, I guess that does make you a Princess, huh? You’re so pretty like one too, ya know?” He asked, stepping closer to you, his back towards the camera as he looked down at you.

“Am I? You think I’m pretty?” You asked, glancing up at him with those ocean eyes. He bit his lip before caressing your soft cheek. “I think you’re beautiful.” He spoke, swiping his thumb across your cheek a few times. You smiled at him, a glint of purple staining your cheeks.

“Let the people know. Do you have any siblings?” He asked, stepping out the way so that the camera could get you. “Mhm. Older brother, and older sister.” You nodded.

“Hmm. How about you give a big shoutout to your older brother for me. He’s been nothing but….welcoming. So as a thanks to him, I wanna give you a really…reaaalllly warm welcome as well. I think you deserve it.” He smiled, playing in your curly hair.

“Hey Aonung!” You waved at the camera with a bright smile. Lo’ak continued his massage on your head finally glancing at the camera with a dark and mischievous glare.

“Heyyy Aonung…your baby sister and I have some things to discuss. So I’ll just end the video here. Tell your big brother you love him, and that you’ll talk to him later.” Lo’ak commanded, grabbing the camera off the tripod to point it directly in your face.

“I love you, Aonung! I’ll talk to you later.” You spoke gleefully. Then you saw the red light disappear.

Video ends -

Aonung was fuming, yet equally as confused. What did lo’ak do to you? His precious little sister? Or was he just bluffing, trying to get under his skin. Because there was no way that lo’ak fucked his innocent little sister. He’d KILL him.

“This idiot!” Aonung scoffs, brushing it off. He went to turn the camera off, but seemingly pressed the wrong button. Accidently skipping through a segment of videos that were recorded after the one he just saw. He landed on one, and his heart shattered into a million tiny pieces.

Video starts-

“Yeahhh mama, just like that. You’re doing such a good job.” Lo’ak growled, in your ear. He had you pinned against the wall hands tied behind your back with a rope. Cloths still on THANK EYWA, but that didn’t change the fact that he was drilling you from behind.

“I-I can’t- fuuuuck, I can’t, please.” You whimpered, cheek resting on the wall infront of you. Voice rippling from each hard thrust.

“You will though. FOR ME, right?” Lo’ak asked, although it didn’t seem like you had much of a choice. “Yess, lo’ak!” You moaned, eyes visibly rolling to the back of your head. He sent a hard smack to your plush ass before gripping it in his large 4 FINGERED hand.

“Look at that, a man with three fingers couldn’t grip this shit like me, right baby?” He asked, making direct eye contact with the camera as he left a small peck on your cheek.

“Yesss! Oh- shit Yesss lo’ak!” You managed to nod slowly, tears prickling your eyes. He let out a chuckle, laced with lust. With one hand holding your tight restraints, his arm snaked around your neck from behind. A snug, and comfortable hold on your neck while he fucked you like no one else had.

His puffy tip continued to smash into your sweet spot, as he trailed your cheek with kisses. Praising you in your ear. It was all too much, toooo good.

“You’re not the baby anymore, are you? Taking this dick like a big girl. Tell the camera who’s making you a big girl right now.” He moaned in your ear. Still loud enough for the camera to pick up.

You glanced to the side of you, making eye contact with the camera. “L-Lo’ak’s making me a big girl! Mmmm- fuck!” You whimpered, faced screwed in pleasure as your eyes rolled back once again. Silent cries leaving your pretty lips.

He knew you were close. He could feel your tight pussy pulsating around his cock. He shifted his hands to the side of your head, covering your ears for his next statement.

“Seems like I’m not the only freak, hmm? Your baby sister here…whew! She’s gonna make me cum in this pussy. Give you a reason to see my face everyday!” Lo’ak grinned, before turning his attention to your backside . Watching your ass meet his pelvis with every thrust.

“I-Im gonna cum lo’ak.” You whined, mouth agape as you fluttered around him. “Yesss, baby. Let it go for me. Cum on this dick!” He growled, holding your hips to keep your rhythm going as you came undone. It was dramatic, almost pornographic. Your juices trickling down your trembling thighs. He fucked you through it, not letting up on you.

“Yesss, keep fucking m-mee! Don’t stopp, I-I'm still cumminggg!” You screamed with a whiny tone, a river of your slick dripping to the ground beneath you.

“Mhmm, I-I’m right behind you Princess.” He moaned, his eyes crossing in pleasure as ropes of cum entered your empty womb. He continued to thrust into you, making sure that not ONE drop leaked out.

He pulled out slowly, both of you moaning in satisfaction. You slid down the wall as your trembling legs just couldn’t keep you up without the help of lo’ak.

He walked over to the camera, picking it up from the tripod. “Think you might wanna be nice to me from now on because I might need you to babysit in the future, bitch!” Lo’ak joked, laughing Into the camera.

“Tell the camera bye, baby.” Lo’ak spoke, angling the camera to the ground, where your unconscious, tied up, body laid. Still twitching from your intense orgasm, you whimpered in response.

-video ends-

There was really no explanation for how completely mortified Aonung was, all he wanted to do was find lo’ak, and KILL HIM.

But that wouldn’t be so smart. Considering the fact that his future niece or nephew would grow up without a father….

Taglist: @number1gal @loak-bae @tiredmamaissy @terrorthewolf @lethargicluv @reyzzsostellar @m0nst3rfk3r @agelsully @jakescumdump @wekiamo @st-cass @cleardonutangelwagon @tsireqas @satanlovedays @afro-hispwriter @urfavgirlmakenna @fanboyluvr @iameatingmyhair @secretflowerobservation @violet-19999 @xreadersstuff @sweetllamaparadise @lia-nath @sullymenrhot @dotheyevenknowmars @xdbluesky @slay-nt @domino-x3-blog @ladylovegood-69 @itssomeonereading @sweetirilly @j-jinxee @im-in-a-pansexual-panik @cumikering @pxndorasdream @itsaleidasworld @yeletta @eywascall @valeriearriana37484 @avatarsslut @bee782916 @sweethoneycn

[daechwitatamic]

Of Ruin: Chapter 2 || KTH

(banner by @/itaeewon)

Of Ruin (Masterpost)

Rating: NSFW - minors dni Genre: vampire!au magic!au royalty!au, s2l, slow burn, eventual smut, angst and fluff

Summary: Taehyung of House Rune, Prince of Infracticus has been cursed. You’re the human world’s leading curse-breaker. It should be simple. But unraveling the curse becomes the least of your problems in the face of a world on the brink of civil war… and the love you start to feel for the prince.

A/N: Thank you endlessly to @/sailoryooons for betaing!!! 💕

//

Section Warnings: language, slicing one’s palm for a magical ritual?, casual beer drinking wc: 5.9k

It’s common for this first class of yours that some of your students arrive before you do, and today is no exception. Something is different today - most of the students are crowded around one girl’s desk, eyes on her phone screen.

You can’t help but peek up at them curiously as you set up your materials at the front of the room, signing into your laptop with one hand and digging in your bag for a stack of hand-outs with the other. 

Luckily, your curiosity is short-lived. 

“Have you heard about this, Professor?” one of the boys asks you, glancing up from the phone. “There have been a series of Infracti attacks across the continent.”

You feel yourself frown. “That’s news? There have always been Infracti that break the laws… just like there will always be some humans who break laws.”

“It isn’t just random hunters,” someone else tells you, pulling out their own phone to, you assume, pull up the article. “It seems like actual, orchestrated attacks - groups of Infracti at a time, and they leave survivors. They aren’t hunting, just killing. There’s footage.”

“It seems like a pattern,” someone else jumps in, turning their screen towards you. A video plays, but you’re too far away to see much on the dark, grainy video. “The news outlets are reporting there’s reason to believe the Scores are behind it.”

You press your lips together. It’s not the first time in your life you’ve seen a scare like this. Any time the general human public seems to remember that Infracti might hunt them - laws be damned - the news stations fan the flames of a little widespread panic. 

“It’s much more likely that one little group of Infracti have forgotten their manners,” you say, trying to sound mild. “They’ll be arrested. Infracticus doesn’t want trouble with us, I assure you. Or with the ruling family. They were at war for centuries - none of them want to return to that.”

The college kids look at their phones again, clearly unconvinced.

“Remember the unit we did last month?” you remind them, starting to head around your desk to pass out the handout you’d located in the depths of your bag. “When the last war between the Scorns and Ruins ended - when the protection laws were put in place - both houses were barely left standing.”

“I don’t know, Professor,” the first girl says, shaking her head. “If we’ve learned anything, it’s that Infracti history is nothing but wars for power and control of the kingdom. These moments of peace, they don’t last.”

“There were never treaties and laws in place,” you point out. “The human world was never a player in the game. Things are different now.”

She shakes her head again. “History repeats itself,” she intones.

You start to call everyone’s attention, ready to move on and into the planned lecture. But even as you speak, your stomach swirls, unsettled. Namjoon’s words in Dr. Kim’s office playback through your head: we may be walking into the start of Infracti civil war.

“Alright, so, today we’re going to be looking at some Infracti mythology,” you tell the class, as the last few stragglers find empty desks near the sides of the room. It’s a relatively small classroom, not a full lecture hall, for which you’re grateful. “You’re all familiar with the story The Hunter and the Highest?”

Most of the class nods, though a few look uncertain.

“Whether you know it by name or not,” you explain, pacing the front of the room slowly, “you know the story. It’s classic - done and redone through the history of pop culture. Can anyone give us a quick summary?”

“A vampire and a witch fall in love, and all their problems go away,” someone in the third row calls dryly.

You can’t help but laugh a little. “Okay, a little less quickly than that, maybe.”

Someone near the front raises his hand. “Isn’t it a fairy tale? Like, for kids?”

You waggle your head around. “It’s certainly been adapted in that way. But the original text predates all of those adaptations by centuries.”

“It’s about how the Infracti became civilized,” someone else offers.

“That’s closer,” you agree, pointing at them appreciatively. “In the story, Infracti were simply monsters called hunters. A magic-wielder, hunted herself by humans, finds an Infracti and gifts him with humanity. So, it is a tale meant to explain how Infracti changed from the beasts of old to the magical being we recognize today.”

You start passing out texts and give directions. “There are three versions of the myth in this packet,” you explain. “I want you to look through and find the differences, and from there we’ll discuss why those changes may have been made in the retelling.”

The college kids read in silence for a few minutes before the girl with the cell phone videos earlier raises her hand. “The second version calls the magic-wielder priestess,” she provides.

You write this on the whiteboard. “Great find. You’ll notice that the magic-wielders are given a few different names. Priestess is one. Highest is most common, which refers to a high priestess. In that version of the myth, the priestess who found the hunter was the leader, the strongest.”

“The last version calls her witch,” someone adds.

You smile, happy that they cottoned on. “And what do you notice about the chronology of that?”

They look at each other, and then at their pages. You wait.

“Witch is more recent?” someone suggests.

“You got it,” you affirm. “As time went on, as the stories got closer to now, the terminology shifted away from the respectful priestess and into a feared witch. Great observation. What else do you notice?”

“They only fall in love in the newest one,” someone points out. “In both of the early versions the priestess offers a trade.”

“That’s right,” you nod, adding this to the whiteboard. “The older versions of the myth show the magic-wielder trading humanity to the hunter in exchange for his protection against the humans who cast her out. Only in the more recent renditions is it simplified into a love story.”

You slide into the history part of the lesson - the truths that led to the folktale. It’s impossible for anyone to really know what happened in these ancient times - how the Infracti and the magic-wielders really came together for the first time. Regardless, it’s indisputable that from some point in history the two beings had a natural alliance, a symbiotic relationship. The Infracti formed the great houses, established the monarchy, and allowed the magic-wielders to live and practice safely on their land.

Of course, as your students know, the monarchy was only peaceful for a short time. It wasn’t long before the newly civilized Infracti did what civilizations always do: let greed lead them to war. 

–

You sleepwalk through your last two classes, texting Namjoon as promised as soon as you’re finished and solidifying plans to meet for a meal near campus. 

He’s there before you, standing absently on the sidewalk, scrolling on his phone with one hand in his jeans pocket.

“Hi,” you say, approaching. He looks up, clicking the screen on his phone off and sliding it into his pocket before reaching out to shake your hand. “I wanted to introduce myself a little better. I’m -”

“I know who you are,” he says with a smile. “You have a bit of a reputation. Your jaunts around the world with my grandfather are well-documented for the curse-breaking community.”

“Your grandfather?” you echo, and then realize you should have connected those dots. You’d read his business card - Kim Namjoon. “Ah, I should have realized. So, you’re continuing the family business?”

He laughs at this, leading you inside and asking the seating hostess to place you at one of the tables outside. 

You each order a drink and settle in before he finally answers you. “In a way, yes,” he admits. “I was just always around that stuff growing up. I thought it was interesting. Following that interest into college seemed natural, and the fact that it pleased Grandfather so much to have me follow in his footsteps… that was a bonus, of course.”

“That must be nice,” you muse, not really meaning to reveal so much as you add, “My family thinks I have a death wish. They don’t think anything I study has real value.”

Namjoon considers this as the waiter places his beer in front of him, the glass covered in heavy condensation. “That’s sad,” he says finally. “Curse-breaking literally saves lives.”

You shrug. “They don’t see it that way. Neither do I, really. Curse-breaking is just… calculations.” 

He smiles wryly. “I like to think of it as following a recipe.”

You laugh a little. “Without the wiggle room. Imagine following steps like a pinch when working a counter-curse? We’d blow ourselves up.”

He laughs too. “Okay, so it’s not cooking, it’s baking. The measurements matter.” 

You lapse into companionable silence, sipping your drinks, watching the late afternoon slip into evening bit by bit. 

“I need to admit,” he says finally, speaking out into the twilight instead of at you, “I’m really not sure about this.”

You nod. “It’s a lot.”

“Grandfather said you have a lot of knowledge on the Infracti,” Namjoon says thoughtfully.

You nod. “I do. But studying something in books and theory is not the same as walking among them. And the stakes are high.” You sigh. “He’s right… it’s dangerous.”

“Great payout though,” Namjoon mutters, as if he didn’t necessarily mean for you to hear it. And he’s right. The living members of the royal family have been around for centuries. You don’t live that long without amassing a fortune. Whatever reward the King of Ruin has promised, you feel sure you’d never have to work again.

Though you know you still would. 

“That’s true,” you agree quietly. But you’re thinking about the prince, and the curse. Of course the pay-out speaks to you - you have bills to pay, after all. And you’re only human. But the thing about what you do is… well, you love it. 

You love curse-breaking. You love the puzzle, the pieces clicking together just right as you uncover the components of the original curse one at a time. You love the thrill of building your own magic to push back with, love the sizzle of power beneath your undeserving, human fingertips as you cast something meant to strip away someone else’s hatred and leave calm in its place. 

You love having something you’re good at, something you can claim as yours, something to enter a room before you do and demand a sliver of respect you’d never experienced before.

Not to mention… you’ve studied the Infracti and their history and culture for your entire adult life. To get to go there and see it all in person, with the promise of protection, is something beyond your wildest dreams. Infracti can come here if they go through the proper channels - for business or for pleasure, as long as that pleasure isn’t hunting.

But humans typically don’t go to Infracticus. It’s simply too dangerous - statistically, there’s bound to be some rule-breakers, and you’d be walking into their home. This is an opportunity that has never come before, for anyone you’ve ever known in the field.

You think again of your conversation in Dr. Kim’s office earlier. You’d been chosen not for your talent as much as your anonymity. Success on this case would bring you prestige among the curse-breaking community. You’d make a name for yourself, by yourself - not attached to Dr. Kim, overshadowed and forgotten.

“I think I want to do it,” you murmur, and when Namjoon whips around to look at you, wide-eyed, you realize you’ve spoken out loud. 

“You should sleep on it,” he says, repeating his grandfather’s words from earlier. “Y/N, you could be walking to your death.”

“That’s the case every time,” you point out. “Besides, the royal family obviously wants us to succeed - they want the prince to be healed. I’m sure they’ll use their wealth and power to keep us safe. If anything happens to us, he’s screwed, right?”

Namjoon shakes his head, runs his hand down his face. “This is insane,” he intones. “This is insane. We can’t just waltz into Infracticus and pretend we belong there -”

“Again,” you say, more firmly this time, more and more sure of your decision by the second. “They want our success. They’re going to do everything they can to mitigate the risk of our cover being blown, right? They have more to gain from our success than we do. Seriously, think about it.”

“Oh, I’m thinking,” Namjoon mutters.

“I’m going to tell him yes,” you say decisively. “No pressure. Make the decision that’s best for you.”

“Yeah,” Namjoon mutters, swirling the last dregs of his beer around the bottom of his glass, voice glum. “Yeah. I’m… I don’t know. I’m not sure.”

–

Your first class the next day is early; you clutch a travel mug of coffee and watch the city pass by outside your window with barely-open eyes. You’re even earlier than normal, because you want to stop by Dr. Kim’s office on your way and give him your answer.

His door is open when you arrive, and you knock, though normally you’d just stroll in.

He looks up, startled by the noise, then softens when he sees it’s you. You feel a rush of affection for the old man; over the last ten years of your life, he’s been more of a father to you than your own family. 

“I want to go,” you tell him, proud when your voice comes out sure and steady, when inside you feel uncertain and wobbly. 

Dr. Kim takes off his glasses and places them on the desk before him, rubs at his eyes, and replaces them. “I don’t know how to feel,” he finally admits with a chuckle. “I both want you to accept, and don’t. On one hand, I know you’ll handle the situation, and I’ll be so proud… but the danger…”

“I trust the royal family,” you say evenly. “If they say they’ll give us protection, I’ve got to trust that. I can’t not help - not if I’m their best shot at success.”

Dr. Kim shakes his head, looking out his window at the rising sun to the east. “I suppose I trust the royal family, too,” he muses, “or I wouldn’t have even told you about the case.” He turns to look at you again, seems to brace himself, snap into business-mode. “Very well. When do your classes end today? We have many things to debrief before you leave.”

–

You spend almost six hours in Dr. Kim’s office after giving your last lecture of the day - so long, in fact, that he orders delivery and you sneak bites of dinner between textbook pages as he helps you prepare for the trip as best he can. 

You review Infracti niceties - greetings, things that are considered polite, habits, mannerisms. You also get a crash course in current affairs, learning everything the human public knows about the current royal family. 

“Prince Taehyung was born Infracti, not turned from human,” Dr. Kim explains. “His bloodline - the bloodline of the royal family, of the Ruins - goes back… beyond written history. His powers will be strong, and so will his influence.”

“Did they tell you any details about the curse? What symptoms he’s exhibiting?” you ask curiously, flipping the page of the book you have open on the table.

Dr. Kim nods slowly, thinking as he speaks. “It appears he loses his sense of self between midnight and dawn each day,” he explains. “Becomes… the basest of his kind. They’ve been keeping him quite literally locked up each night to stop him from harming others.”

You ponder this, unable to get Namjoon’s words from yesterday out of your head. “I suppose if you wanted to dethrone a prince… turning him into a murderer might be one way.”

“Our job isn’t to solve who caused it,” Dr. Kim reminds you gently. “Just to cure him.”

You spend the rest of the night poring over brittle texts, taking pages and pages of notes on similar cases, curses that only show up in the afflicted at certain times, curses that cause violence or the desire to do harm, curses that make you lose sight of who you are. You write down the causes, the layers that may be present. You write down how they’ve been busted in the past, tactics that have proven successful.

You write down a list of everything you may need to pack. 

It’s nearing nine p.m. when you’re startled by a light knock on the office door. You look up from where you’re scrawling shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, bar soap, to find Namjoon standing in the doorway.

He greets his grandfather warmly and gives you a polite nod hello.

“I don’t suppose you’re here to tell me you want to stay home,” Dr. Kim says dryly, and Namjoon gives him a sheepish smile.

“No,” he admits. “I’m going to go.”

Dr. Kim sighs, nodding like he expected this all along. “Very well,” he says, waving a hand at the papers you have spread across the table. “Come take a picture of the packing list. I’ll escort you two to the Ostium tomorrow morning, before sunrise.”

The Ostium is a temple built from sand-colored stone, guarded by carved stone lions, fangs bared in a roar. You’ve been inside twice before, for your studies. You’ve never seen it in action. Right now it’s too dark to see the statues clearly - it’s hours before dawn. You napped more than slept, and it was fitful at best. 

You pull a wheeled carry-on size piece of black luggage, and you see a bulging duffle bag hanging across Namjoon’s back. Dr. Kim comes empty-handed and long-faced. You’re surprised that someone is there, now, when it is technically the middle of the night. But, then again, your arrival was scheduled - you are invited, expected. 

The woman who stands before the altar at the rear of the small room is obviously an Infracti. She doesn’t hide behind mortal eyes, as she could if she chose to. Instead of whites, her eyes are fathomless pools of black, swimming and shifting like inky ocean depths. There’s an unearthly quickness to the movements her body makes, as if she has to remind herself to move slowly and forgets each time a move is instinctual instead of deliberate. 

“Welcome,” she says. There’s a heaviness to her accent, a give-away that whoever she is, she’s old enough to have spoken the Infracti’s original language. “What business?”

“Good morning,” Dr. Kim says, and all three of you give a quick nod hello. “I am Dr. Kim from the university.”

“Yes,” she says, nodding in recognition. “We were expecting you. Welcome. You’ve come with the curse-breakers?”

Dr. Kim opens his hand, indicating both you and Namjoon. He introduces you both by name and she inclines her head in greeting. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she says to you both. “Do you know how to cross?” 

Your pulse sings; you don’t think you’ve ever been this nervous about anything in your life. 

“In theory,” you tell her.

She gives you a tight half-smile. “It’s quite straight-forward. In that case, you can say goodbye here and I’ll escort you through.”

You’re surprised when Dr. Kim wraps you in a hug. “Please be careful,” he begs as he releases you and turns his attention to his grandson. “Don’t let your guard down. Do the job, and leave. Watch each other’s backs. Don’t get tangled up in anything besides breaking the curse.”

You exchange an uneasy look with Namjoon over Dr. Kim’s shoulders. In over ten years of your professional relationship, you’ve never seen a display of emotion from him. Not even when you and he were in the thick of the rainforest, faced with a nearly impossible puzzle and never-ending, bone-chilling rain.

The Infracti woman opens a door to the left of the altar, sliding a slab of stone sideways with just the wave of her hand. If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was simply a sensor. You step through, Namjoon behind you, and she pauses in the doorway. The door slides shut behind you, leaving you alone. 

A smaller altar, made of the same sand-colored stone, sits unassuming in the center of the tiny room. A curved blade, no longer than your own hand, with a bejeweled hilt sits atop the stone. 

You give Namjoon a grim, sideway look. “You know what to do?” you ask him.

He nods, letting out a shaky breath. “Yeah,” he says.

“It’s archaic,” you grumble.

“They didn’t want humans landing there by accident.”

“I get it,” you admit. “But still.”

He lets out a second slow breath between his teeth, shaking his hands a little as if to rid them of nerves. You feel yourself slide into your professional self.

“You want me to do it?” you offer. 

He considers this, then nods. You each stand on one side of the altar, and you lift the blade. No sense in delaying it, you slice through the palm of your hand quickly, hissing between your teeth as you do. Namjoon is ready, palm extended.

“Sorry,” you mutter in advance, and then imitate the cut across his large palm. He makes no noise, but clenches his jaw as you set the blade back where it came from.

“Right to left, not left to right,” you remind him quietly. “At the same time. You ready?”

He nods, curt, and then in one motion you each wipe your bloody palms across the stone - the red smears creating parallel arcs, a cave painting, an ancient expression of your will.

To your left, there is no sound or sign of motion. But the stone wall that closed you in is no longer there.

Now you’re the one battling nerves. You feel your hands shake at your sides, and you fumble for the handle of your luggage. Namjoon comes up beside you and places a gentle hand at the top of your back.

“We’ve got this,” he assures you. 

You nod, looking up over your shoulder to meet his gaze. “Yeah,” you say, though you’re not sure if it’s a lie. “Okay. Let’s go.”

–

You did not go down, and yet you pass through the door and stand in an Ostium close to the grand palace of Infracticus, the underworld inhabited by all of the Infracti - the Ruins, the Scorns, the Leaves, and all the families whose names didn’t earn a spot in history books, but who have been here all along regardless.

You step into the tiny atrium, pulling your little suitcase behind you. An Infracti man greets you, asking to see identification. As if the wrong person could accidentally slice their hand and magically enter. 

“There’s transportation waiting just outside,” the Infracti tells you after he verifies that you are indeed the humans he was waiting for. “We ask that you wear these to conceal your identities.” He hands you each a hooded cloak. You bite back a joke that it’s the vampires who are supposed to wear these, not the humans, but the tiny smile plays across your face unchecked. 

The Infracti must understand your expression, because he leans in a little and lowers his voice. “Please understand that we were charged with keeping your presence an absolute secret. This is why we’ve scheduled your arrival for the middle of the night, why we are trying to hide your faces from anyone who may be out and about at odd hours. This is for your own safety as much as anything.”

You wonder at the truth of this. What is the priority - protecting you, as a human? Or protecting the prince’s secret? 

Outside, as promised, you’re greeted with the sight of a carriage, like it’s dropped straight out of a historical drama. It’s hard to see, as dark as it is, but you glimpse swirling gold patterns along the trim. Two Infracti men jump down from the front and take the luggage right from your hands. Wordlessly, then move around to the back of the carriage and begin placing your bag and Namjoon’s into thick trunks with ornate carvings that seem to match the carriage’s.

“Have we gone back in time?” Namjoon asks you, barely audible.

Of course the Infracti can hear him. One of them turns, black eyes narrowing. “There is no need for your technology here,” he says flatly. “Our command of magic does more than your electricity and internet ever will.”

“I didn’t mean to offend,” Namjoon says, a little stilted. The Infracti doesn’t reply, face blank and unreadable, and shakes the trunks once to make sure they’re latched properly before walking back towards the front of the carriage. You shoot Namjoon a sympathetic look.

Most humans back home can go their whole lives without really interacting with magic or magical people. Of course it’s there, but people with no relationship to magic tend to not notice - their minds explain away the magical. If you hadn’t been interested in Infracticus, you wouldn’t have learned about their magical abilities, wouldn’t have followed that interest into introductory courses on curses and curse-breaking that would end up shaping your life. 

It’s a shame, though. Like you, non-magical people can still use and manipulate the universe’s magic if they learn how. The skill is called borrowing - and while there’s theory and procedure behind it, anyone should be able to borrow once they know how. You’ve never understood why so many of your kind turn away from this possibility. It wasn’t easy for you to learn, necessarily, but it wasn’t impossible either. 

“We’ll be at the palace in about twenty minutes,” the remaining Infracti, the shorter of the two, tells you. “You’ll be entering through a lower-level entrance - not the main doors. From there, we’ll take you directly to your chambers.”

“Okay,” you say. “We understand. Then once we’re there - then what? Will we be meeting with the prince?”

“You’ll have some time to unpack and sleep more, if you wish,” he says, tilting his head as he considers this. “I was told that you have an audience with the royal family before the midday meal. You will be escorted there by your guards.”

You and Namjoon both murmur your understanding, and the Infracti reaches to open the carriage’s side door, indicating that you should enter. 

As you step closer, you find yourself freezing in place, eyes going wide as you notice what’s pulling the carriage. The hooves of their front two legs paw at the ground restlessly, as they toss their cerulean manes. Their eyes swirl black like the Infracti who domesticated them. Their muscular bodies taper to powerful, curled fishtails that float about a foot above the ground, held aloft by their own magic. 

“Are they… sea-goats?” Namjoon asks next to you, inching closer to get a better look.

“They’re called amarisca,” you whisper, so awed you can barely speak. Something else you’d only read about in books, something else that had felt like fairy tales, myths, not something that would ever appear in front of you, so close that you can smell their animal musk, the unpleasant tang of their saliva as they chomp at their bits. “They’re not half goat, they’re half horse - look at the faces.”

You’re mesmerized, eyes scanning the beautiful animals, examining their wild eyes, the hues of blue in their fur, the tough scales of their rippling tails. The Infracti holding the door open clears his throat impatiently. 

“Sorry,” you say, and Namjoon moves to the carriage. You stay one more second, entranced, before hurrying to follow him into the carriage. The Infracti closes the door behind you and moments later the carriage jerks into motion, carrying you towards the palace of Infracticus. 

–

You don’t speak in the carriage; you’re exhausted, you’re terrified, you’re exhilarated. It’s all too much, and none of it meshes well together. You don’t think you could carry on a rational conversation with Namjoon if your life depended on it. Luckily, he closes his eyes and leans his head back. You don’t know if he sleeps, but by the time the carriage finally comes to a stop, you haven’t spoken at all. 

The door is opened by the same man who closed it, and he holds out a hand to help you down, which strikes you as nice. 

“Thank you,” you murmur. It’s still very dark, and the taller Infracti hurries you through an opened stone door. The other Infracti follows, carrying the trunk holding yours and Namjoon’s belongings as if it weighs nothing.

To him, it must not. 

The two men lead you deeper into the palace, wordlessly stalking down corridors, around corners, down nondescript, stone stairways. 

After you’ve walked for what feels like quite a while - long enough that you are thoroughly lost - they stop before two decorated doors. The doors go from floor to ceiling, ornate patterns carved into the thick wood. The golden handles gleam in the low lighting. 

Two more Infracti - one a woman, one a man - stand guard, flanking the doorway, their backs ramrod straight, their black eyes fathomless. 

“You’ll have security at your doors at all times,” the shorter Infracti tells the two of you quietly. “This is Satuel and Dansoo.” He indicates the woman, then the man respectively as he says their names. “As well as keeping you safe in your quarters, they’ll also be your point of contact should you have any requests.”

“The concierge,” you joke, and you’re cowed into silence when four sets of emotionless black eyes turn to you, silently. Beside you, Namjoon shifts just slightly away, as if to distance himself from the embarrassment. Traitor. 

Satuel and Dansoo move to pull the doors open, and you enter, letting them fall closed behind Namjoon, who takes up the rear. The guards stay in the corridor, keeping the monsters out. Or, at least, the bad ones. 

You look around the main room. Everything drips in deep jewel tones and gold plating. Even the furniture seems too expensive to be real, too expensive to touch. Two couches and a wingback chair circle a low table, all of which sit beside a large heath with a roaring fire. Behind the couches is a high table with two wooden chairs - an eating area, you think. The far wall sports a water feature - water trickling down the wall and ending in a peaceful fountain, rich with floating plants.

You come back to yourself when Namjoon nudges your elbow, shooting you an apologetic look that seems to say, sorry, but I had to. 

“Your personal rooms are this way,” the Infracti is saying, in a tone like perhaps he is repeating himself. “You’ll find space for sleeping and bathing, as well as a small study.”

“Thank you,” you say, looking around. “This is beautiful.”

He bows his head at this, pleased. “If there’s anything you need, just inform one of your guards - they’ll see it done. For meals, if you have any particular preferences, you can tell the staff and it will be prepared for you, going forward.” 

This is wild, you think. This must be a fucking dream. It feels like you’re on a once-in-a-lifetime vacation, the kind you would never be able to afford in real life. The only catch is that everyone at this destination has the ability and natural instinct to want to eat you. 

“Thank you, that’s very considerate,” Namjoon says to your right, and once again you’re flooded with relief that he’s here with you, that one of you can be normal.

The two Infracti start to make their way towards the doors, prepared to leave you alone. “Someone will fetch you before your audience with the royal family,” the spokesperson tells you. He indicates what time you should be ready, and they slip from the doors, leaving you and Namjoon alone. 

Your wounded hand drips onto the floor. You’d forgotten about it - in the Ostium, in the carriage, in your new rooms. But now, in the quiet, you remember that you’d paid in blood to enter this dream.

“Do you think it’s hard for them?” Namjoon asks, eyeing his own bloody palm. “To resist?”

You leave your suitcase in the middle of the open room and start poking around for a bathroom. “It might not be hard,” you call over your shoulder to him. “If they’ve followed the protection laws, then they may have never hunted a human in their entire lives. But I’m sure they notice. I think it’d be like walking past a bakery and being like, damn, those rolls smell good, but you don’t break the window and murder the rolls, you know?”

Namjoon laughs. “I guess that’s true. If you want one bad enough, you go in and buy it.”

“Exactly,” you say, a bit of triumph in your voice as you find a bathroom. You wash your hand, letting the blood rinse down the drain, and then return to the main room, kicking over your suitcase and unzipping it, rummaging for a t-shirt you can use as a bandage. 

“Go wash that,” you instruct. “I’ll rip this and we can share it.”

“My hero,” he says dryly, and disappears into what you assume is a mirror-image of your own bedroom and bathroom. 

The Infracti who’d brought you here had recommended that you get some more sleep, and you know it’s a good idea after the barely-three-hours you’d logged last night. But you’re too anxious and keyed up to even hold still, let alone rest. Instead, you spend some time unpacking - putting your clothing and toiletries away, and then setting up books and paper in the small office. By the time it occurs to you that you might want to clean yourself up before being presented to the royal family, it’s too late. 

This time, your guards escort you. You walk in silence, full of nerves. You want to try to chat with the guards, pepper them with questions, but you get the idea that they aren’t meant to be too friendly with you. 

When you reach the throne room, the guards that are already in place move over, making room for yours. They stand, straight-backed and stoic, and the woman - Satuel - lifts a hand to show that you should enter. 

You take a shuddering breath and look sideways at Namjoon. His face has gone a funny color, and his jaw juts slightly as he clenches it.

“We’ll be fine,” you tell him quietly. “Shake off the nerves. Let’s go be professionals.”

He looks at you like you’re a little crazy. Maybe you are. “No one’s ever done this,” he says a bit hollowly. “You know that, right?”

“Which part?” you ask, cocking an eyebrow.

He laughs under his breath and starts to move forward through the decorated doorway and into the empty, echoing throne room. 

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thank you so much for reading!!! i promise taehyung is IN the next chapter lmaooo :') i hope you liked this one and you can expect things to start moving very soon!!

[bitchcakegreen]

Let’s talk ADR - automated dialogue replacement - for sec.

I want to bring this up because I’ve seen folks removing the music from the smexy scenes between Polin and getting confused that there’s quiet spots and the sound doesn’t fully sync up.

When we film, the mics don’t always pick everything up. We try to capture as much of the dialogue as possible while on set or location but sometimes stuff just doesn’t come through. Especially in long shots or if there’s lots of ambience noise, mainly on location shoots.

Same with sound effects. These are added afterwards. There’s a great female foley artist on tiktok who gives people a bts view of what she does, if you’re interested. Her handle is reelfoleysound

About 10-30 percent of dialogue has to be ADRed. Basically re-recorded in a sound studio. ADR is secondary recording of dialogue that didn’t get picked up on location and then is overlayed with the music and sound effects tracks. What does that mean for the carriage scene and others like it? Well, it makes that Luke and Nicola might have had to stand at a microphones and make all those sexy ass moans and groans. They have playback of the scene and the actors say the lines or whatever along with it as the sound tech records. It helps to keep everything synced in the final product.

That’s why when you remove the music from the scene to hear the moaning better - you can’t always do so.

Rock on, Bridgerton babies!

[shinobi-bacon]

How I Make Gifs!

I've gotten multiple asks in my inbox about the method I use to make these animal crossing gifs:

So I figured it was about I time I answer these asks in the form of a separate post using gifs and screenshots to help explain things! I will warn that this will be an EXTREMELY LONG explanation, but I want to give as much details as I can under the cut. I'm going to use Queenie as my example!

The first thing I do is go to Photopia on Harv's island, a place where you can take photos using any of the villagers in the game and all the items you've collected. I use the Custom Designs app on the nook phone to download different colored wallpapers and floors. The colors that I use depends heavily on the villagers. I've used different backgrounds to make these gifs: green, blue, magenta, and (very rarely) black. For Queenie's colors, it was best to use green! I usually place the villagers towards the back of the wall while I stand in the center of the room. From there, I take out the phone's camera and start recording different reactions.

To record these I use my capture card, the Elgato HD60 S, and the capture software that you can download from Elgato's website. Any capture card and recording application will work.

I use three adobe apps to make these gifs: Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Photoshop. I know not everyone has access to these, but I was able to obtain these with the help of some friends. I won't go into details, but I will leave you with this image as a friendly reminder:

Premiere Pro - Here is where I drag all of my videos down onto the timeline and begin the editing process!

I try to find the best looping points for each reaction. I mark those points using the "Mark In" and "Mark Out" buttons located at the bottom of the preview window. The "Mark In" sets the starting position for the villager reaction and the "Mark Out" sets the ending point, creating a bracket for that specific reaction.

After marking these points, I use the "Play Video In and Out" button and then I make sure to click on the "Loop Playback."

This will not only play the parts of the timeline that I've marked, but it'll loop that exact bracket.

From there, I go to File > Export > Media (or ctrl+m on keyboard). This will bring up the export settings window. I turn the "Source Range" tab to "Sequence In/Out," so it only exports the spots I've marked with the "Mark In" and "Mark Out" buttons.

I then go to the source tab at the top and select the cropping tool.

I make sure to click the box under the "Match Source" button to remove the check mark, and then click the chain icon next to height and width settings to put a slash through the symbol. This allows me to freely crop the video and adjust the height and width of the output, so I can make a perfect green screen box around the villager

I then export this video and move on to the next reaction. I have folders for each gif set that I make. They usually look like this for all the villagers I've completed sets for:

After Effects - Here's where I open all of the reaction files. I go to the effects panel and open the keying tab.

This is where the magic happens! There are three keying effects that I use: Color Range, Key Cleaner, and Inner/Outer Key.

First Effect : Color Range - Starting the keying process, I use dropper tool on any part of the green that's behind the villager. This will only remove some of the background elements because how unevenly colored the green is, due to the lighting of the game.

I then use the dropper with a "+" icon on the rest of the background. What helps me is clicking the "Show Channel and Color Management Settings" button at the bottom of the preview window and switching to the "Alpha" view. The alpha channel deals with the transparency of an object and switching to this view allows me to see every bit of the wallpaper and floor that remains. This is where I can apply that dropper+ tool to get rid of them. It doesn't have to be perfect, because the other keying effects that'll be used will help get rid of the loose pixels of green that may still be present.

From here, the only adjustment that I sometimes use under this effect is the "Fuzziness" tool. Some villagers will have various color patterns that'll get keyed along with the background. Bringing down the fuzziness helps bring some of those colors back. This does run the risk of bringing some the background pixels back into the video, but that can easily be erased. I usually don't need to adjust the fuzziness. Again, it all largely depends on the colors of the villagers. After all of this is done, I now have a transparent background, but now there's a green outline around the villager:

Luckily, the next effect will help with that!

Second Effect: Key Cleaner - This plugin helps clean up the alpha channel around the edges of the villager. The only thing I do here is select the box labeled "Reduce Chatter" and turn the "Alpha Contrast" all the way to 100%.

This helps erase most of the outline and makes the edges a little sharper, but there's still a tiny bit of green that surrounds the villager.

Third Plugin: Inner/Outer Key - I will admit that I don't utilize the entirety of this effect's capabilities. I only adjust the "Edge Thin" and "Edge Threshold" sliders, which should shave off the rest of the green outline.

Using these tools, I've now completed the keying process and I have a nice, crisp villager reaction with a completely transparent background!

Next I go to File > Export > Add to Render Queue (or ctrl+m on keyboard). I bring up the output settings by clicking on the "Output Module." I then change the format to QuickTime, which will render the reaction as a ".mov" file. I then change the channel to "RGB + Alpha" to render the object (which is the villager) and the transparent background.

Once this is done, I hit the render button and the reaction has been exported! After doing all of this with the first video file, I highlight all of the effects that I've applied from the effects panel by clicking on the names:

I then hit ctrl+c on my keyboard, open the next reaction into the timeline, and then hit ctrl+v. This copies all the effects applied to the first reaction and pastes them to the next video. I repeat this process for each file so I don't have to redo the entire keying process for all of the reactions. After they're all rendered, I can move onto the final adobe step.

Photoshop - This is where I open all of the QuickTime files that I've exported from After Effects.

From here, I can apply any adjustments to the villager, whether it be adjusting the brightness, messing around with the hues and saturation, increasing the speed, etc. The main thing I do here is decrease the size. These files are usually huge so I have to adjust the size so I don't risk putting groups of extremely large gifs on peoples' dash. I go to Image > Image Size (or Alt+Ctrl+I on keyboard) and change the width and height to five inches. Of course, any size you choose will work. Five is just perfect for me because it's not too small to ruin the quality of the gif.

After this is done, I got to File > Export > Save for Web (or Alt+Shift+Ctrl+S on keyboard). This is where I can preview the gif.

I go to looping options on the bottom right and change it to "Forever," otherwise the gif won't loop. I then turn the matte to "None" so the gif doesn't export with an outline around it. I also make sure that the transparency box is checked. This is what my window looks like before I hit the save button:

Once I hit save, that's it! Queenie has been exported as a gif. You can see that gif at the top of this post.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading all of that! I know some parts of this could've been just a simple summary, but I really wanted to show all the details of how I use every application in this gif making process. I will say that I'm no expert at adobe. This is just a method that I pieced together after experimenting with different combinations of keying effects and I managed to make it all work. I apologize if this process seems messy to advanced users out there and I welcome any tips if they help make things easier!

[flurry-of-beaus-pop-pop]

Based off your NCIS: Hawai’i cancelation post. What are your thoughts on the cancellation? If it is just, why do you believe so?

Let's break it down!

Factor 1: Filming in Hawaii

Hawaii as a filming location is going to be more expensive than filming somewhere like LA, NYC, or Chicago. Not only will there be more individuals who will have to relocate when you're filming somewhere like Hawaii versus the mainland, meaning that you're going to have a higher cost associated relocation costs (all of which are typical in a negotiated contract), but travel expenses are also going to be higher for guest stars, directors, writers, etc., cost of living/lodging is going to be higher, cost of materials are going to be higher, it's all going to be higher in a location like Hawaii than a location like LA, NYC, or Chicago.

Factor 2: More Seasons = More Money

The longer a television show is on air, the more expensive a television show gets to make.

First, the longer a television show is on air, the more established/"famous" the cast becomes. The more established/"famous" a cast becomes, the more expensive they become to keep employed. Every time a contract is re-negotiated, unless someone's role is being reduced, it's going to cost more than it did the last time their contract was negotiated. They're more well-known, they're an integral part of a show's success, they have more of a following and more of a leg to stand on when making their negotiations.

Second, the desire to make your show better, often involves making your show bigger... bigger sets, bigger locations, bigger stars, etc. This all costs money. Look at NCIS Hawaii... they brought LL Cool J in to the fold, for whatever reason (I'm assuming to attempt to draw NCIS LA fans to NCIS Hawaii), and this isn't something that would have been cheap. LL Cool J is already well established in the NCIS-Universe and can use that to negotiate his contract, but he's also a big name in general, which can also impact his negotiating. Whenever a show tried to do more, whether it's with guest stars, plots, sets, locations, etc., it costs more money.

Factor 3: Network Have To Sell Their Shows Yearly

Networks are a business. It's honestly as simple as that. They have products (television shows) that they are trying to sell to a consumer (advertisers) in an effort to make a profit.

Every year, television networks engage in what are called "upfronts" - upfronts are essentially this big event (or at least they used to be a big event pre-covid, I'm not sure if they still are), where networks essentially present there schedule for the upcoming season in an attempt to get advertisers to pay to advertise their products during these television shows. The ultimate goal is that the amount networks make from these advertisers is more than the cost it makes to produce the television show, thus creating a profit (yay economics/math).

So how to advertisers decide how much money to allocate to certain television shows/networks? Ratings. This is where it gets complicated though. When ratings are reported for television shows, there are typically two things reported (in initial reports) - demo and total viewers. These two metrics are what is important to advertisers, but ultimately, what's most important is that demo - advertisers pay more for television shows with higher demos because it means that more individuals within the age range they want to advertise to (18-49) are consuming their product (ads). This is also why, despite the fact that Live+7 ratings are reported, they don't hold significant weight because viewers are not watching advertisements when they watch playbacks, they're fast forwarding/skipping.

So let's look at NCIS Hawaii - yes, NCIS Hawaii is doing remarkably well with total viewers, nobody can deny that, the numbers are there. But what they aren't doing well with, and what advertisers are looking at, is demographic. From season 1 to season 2, NCIS went from an average demo of .51 to an average demo of .35 which is a pretty significant drop. From season 2 to season 3, the demo has stayed consistent at an average of about .35, if not a little bit lower. This is good, right? Yes. But also no. Why? Because since episode 4 of NCIS Hawaii's season 3, ratings have had a drop of 25% (i.e. going from an average of .4 to .3), which is going to be a big factor for advertisers (i.e. yes, the average demo is consistent, but trends are showing the the demo is going down). This is also the difference between going from a "sure renewal" at the beginning of the season, to now being cancelled. Things changed.

So what does this mean? Essentially what this is going to mean is that if CBS were to present NCIS Hawaii to advertisers at the upcoming upfronts, the cost of producing NCIS Hawaii would far exceed the amount of money they could get from advertisers, most likely to a degree that they couldn't make up for with the excess advertisement they are getting from other shows.

Other Factors (More Subjective than objective, but still factors nonetheless:

NCIS Hawaii, in season 3, is a vastly different show than it was in season 1. The first season of NCIS Hawaii did a phenomenal job of capturing exactly what made it special... it's diversity. They focused on the cultures and customs of Hawaii, of the uniqueness that was Jane Tennet being in the position she is in as a single mother, the rareness that is not only having a wlw couple front and center on your television show, but also having it treated no differently than a heterosexual couple... NCIS Hawaii didn't come out of the gates trying to be like NCIS or NCIS LA... it came out of the gates being different, and that worked. But then in season 2 and moreso in season 3, they really started to get away from that - it became less about family and diversity and Hawaii and more about the "flash" and "wow". They moved away from what made them special, and that's something that CBS could have taken into account when they were making decisions.

As mentioned above, the cost of producing a show like NCIS Hawaii is going to be much higher than producing a show that is based in the mainland. This is exasperated by the fact that right now, literally everything is far more expensive than it needs to be because of inflation, which is going to make an already expensive show even more expensive

Changes to CBS's lineup: CBS's lineup is different this upcoming season than it was past seasons - you have a new and widely successful show in Tracker that CBS is going to want to capitalize on and really push in their bid to gain advertisement money. SWAT is no longer getting cancelled, which shifts their budgeting significantly (the conversation very quickly shifted from budget cuts for NCIS Hawaii to cancellation for NCIS Hawaii with this change). The strike also changed things because they went out and purchased/invested in some television shows they may not have otherwise invested in (NCIS Sydney, Ghosts UK) due to the uncertainty of when their regular programing would be back and the need to try and bring in some sort of money. (Note: There have also been a lot of people blaming the NCIS Origins spinoff as being the reason NCIS Hawaii is being cancelled, but this is disingenuous. NCIS Origins was greenlit far before any conversations about cancellations for this season would have began, which means that the fate of any show from this season was not tied to the addition of NCIS Origins - all networks greenlight a certain number of new television shows regardless of what the outcome of their current television shows are).

To Long Didn't Read Version:

NCIS Hawaii has reached the point where the total cost of producing the show is significantly increasing while the total cost they are receiving from advertisers is decreasing and therefore, they can no longer justify keeping this show on their schedule, as it result in a significant loss for CBS as a network.

Edit: Article regarding CBS's decision to cancel NCIS Hawaii that supports all of the above

[dduane]

Dai!

I'm currently reading chapter 4 of The Wizard's Dilemma - where Kit and Nita are fighting, and sending messages via their manuals - and I was wondering:

The manual translates their spoken words into the Speech. And the Speech is much more precise for describing things as they are, including a lot of context. Wouldn't it transcribe, here, context such as tone of voice, speaker's intention, etc. etc., so that Nita's "fine." might come across differently than if she texted just the English version?

(I find the idea SO intriguing, since written language often lacks exactly these context clues, and to imagine a language that doesn't? Is fascinating.)

Have a good start of your week!

...I'm going to get myself off the hook here by suggesting that there are a lot of ways you can have a Manual (or similar instrumentality) set up to either send or receive data: some ways a whole lot more granular than others... if you have the patience to put up with them. Sometimes you might just opt for the milk-tongue/casual native language option if you thought it was sufficient for current needs (and then forgot to reset when it wasn't).

Some of the granularity options were suggested in one of the YW 30-Day OTP Challenge posts: I'll just paste the contents in here. Inserting the cut below...

(Manual transcription, JD REDACTED XXXXXXXX.xxx - XXXXXXXX.xxx inclusive)

recording state: static | DYNAMIC editing: locked | UNLOCKED live context: off | ON location: Sol IIIa Illumination: 26% Phase from primary: waning crescent Coordinates: IAU: LQ11: 22.5° N / 18° W regional designation: IAU: Montes Carpatus (old style: Lunar Carpathians) microregion: no formal designation, no colloquial designation, reference coordinates; bookmark “Kit’s Rock” Playback: flat text | CONTEXTUAL POV TEXT | audio | audio + view | audio + view + interior cognitive [more] POV selection: static | dynamic | CONTEXT-DRIVEN | [more] POV style: omnicient (total) | omniscient (need to know) | BLIND ITEM NARRATIVE | normal narrative | stream of consciousness [more] POV narration: 3P | 2P | 1P | P-NEUTRAL [more] POV depth: EXTERIOR | int. conscious | int. subconscious | int. preconscious [more]

Participants: Callahan, J.L., Rodriguez, C.K.

(record begins)

CKR: You keep fiddling with that.

JLC: Yeah… the record settings are way more involved than I thought. Way more involved than they used to be, anyway. I messed something up the other day.

CKR: Anything serious?

JLC: Not really… got lucky that time.

CKR: …Up here again.

JLC: Yeah, seems smartest. We’ll have some warning in case Certain People start looking for us.

CKR: Like we have the slightest chance of escaping notice—

JLC: Didn’t say that. Some warning, though.

CKR: Fair enough.

(break in record) (record resumes)

JLC: It wasn’t, though.

CKR: It kinda was.

JLC: Uh, not really.

CKR: Look, it’s not like you were trying to hide anything about it. You told me you two were kissing. It’s okay.

JLC: But it wasn’t making out.

CKR: I don’t mind if it was. You were under pressure.

JLC: Pressure didn’t have anything to do with it! And it really wasn’t making out.

CKR: Neets, honestly, it’s not a problem.

JLC: It is if you think making out means that we were intending for something else to happen. Because it wasn’t. And you think that’s what it means. I can tell.

CKR: Listen, really, it’s okay! It was a weird situation, bizarre stuff was going on, you weren’t—

JLC: Stop right there! I know what was happening!

CKR: Look. Sorry. I’m sorry, I just…

JLC: I just need a way to show you.

CKR: …don’t think it’s that important, but if you—

JLC: Wait. Wait.

(pause)

JLC: You know… this could work. Absolutely it could.

CKR: What?

JLC: (laughter) We can run it back and take a look at it.

CKR: (pause) Run what back?

JLC: When he and I kissed.

(pause)

CKR: You lost me. Exactly what are you saying?

JLC: Well, you possibly won’t have heard. I do have an in with a privileged source. But lately there are some new ways to get at information using the Manual…

CKR: Whoa, whoa, wait a moment! How would that ever be in the Manual?!

JLC: It’s always been there… or the raw data has. But there are new ways to get at it.

CKR: (pause) This is kinda bizarre. The Powers are usually so gung-ho about privacy issues.

JLC: Oh, They still are. Everything’s locked down so that you can’t get at it if you don’t have all the necessary permissions.

CKR: How did you find out about this? Bobo?

JLC: Actually, no. Closer to home.

CKR: Oh…my…God. No.

JLC: Yes.

CKR: Dairine. How did she ever—

JLC: Not her. The Mobiles. They’ve got this insane archival project going on…

CKR: What, to preserve for all time the immortal details of you two necking?!

JLC: (laughter)

CKR: I can’t believe I’m getting on board with this. So fine. What do we need to do?

JLC: Get Ronan up here.

CKR: …For what exactly?

JLC: Consent.

CKR: …What??

(break in record) (record resumes)

JLC: See, that’s what you get. You okay?

CKR: Yeah, fine. Go on, make the call, no point in falling halfway down a mountain for nothing!

JLC: Not anything like halfway. Couldn’t have been more than—

CKR: Will you make the damn call already?

(break in record) (record resumes)

CKR: There he comes.

JLC: That was quick. Where?

CKR: Down the ridge.

JLC: Yeah. The usual offset.

CKR: Is it me or is he putting on weight?

JLC: Looks like muscle. Did he say last time that he’d started doing weights?

CKR: Yeah. Something to do with the rugby.

JLC: He didn’t give up his thing with the weird club, did he?

CKR: The hurley? No chance. Hey Ro!

(adding participant: Nolan III, R.H.)

RHN: Hey yourself. I see you two are busy with your usual pastime of watching the rest of us live out our little antlike lives far below.

CKR: Yeah. Pull up a rock. …Weren’t busy, were you?

RHN: Just finished a job. Nothing exciting.

JLC: This from the man who said Taking In The Sea was no big deal. Don’t think I didn’t just see your precis update.

CKR: What’s he done now?

JLC: Here, check this out.

CKR: (pause) Did you just cause an earthquake?

RHN: Just a wee titchy one. Maybe some plates fell down off shelves in Howth… no worse than that. CalTech and the USGS’ll have it for their records if anyone gets suspicious.

CKR: …Nice. What did the people on the ferry think?

RHN: Mostly ‘Feck are we glad that this very localized tsunami came up and pushed us ashore at Ringsend without destroying our ship much.’

CKR: Jeez. What the hell are your power levels doing?

RHN: Still having some peak swings secondary to my roomer, that’s all. Suits me fine. At least I get something useful out of having him in my head moving the furniture around all that while.

CKR: Well, wow, you did good.

RHN: I guess. Ta much.

JLC: I’m just wondering how they’re going to explain it the rest of the way. That quake won’t have been enough.

RHN: Don’t be daft. It’s Ireland. We’ll blame it on the weather.

JLC, CKR: (laughter)

RHN: So what was this big thing you needed to talk to me about?

JLC: Not that big. Need some input, though.

RHN: About?

JLC: A discussion we were having.

RHN: Oh?

JLC: We were talking about making out.

(pause)

RHN: …Uh.

(break in record) (record resumes)

RHN: Yeah, so you were telling me why you need me for this.

CKR: Well. It was a question of semantics, first.

RHN: Let me get this straight. You asked me to come up from Dublin… to the Moon… to discuss semantics. Of kissing.

JLC: Not just semantics. I want to review some material, and I was hoping you’d sanction it.

RHN: Sanction what?

JLC: Instant replay. …Well, not instant.

RHN: You lost me.

JLC: Remember when we kissed?

RHN: (pause) Which answer won’t make one of you clock me upside the head with a moon rock?

JLC, CKR: (laughter)

RHN: What the feck brought this on?

JLC: A difference of opinion.

CKR: Nosiness.

RHN: Uh, not feeling safe about this whole line of enquiry now, but moving on regardless…

JLC: It’s okay. See, there’s a recording…

RHN: Of us kissing? Not possible.

JLC: Not a recording as such. Except insofar as the universe passively records everything that happens inside it…

RHN: …You’re telling me we’re living inside the One’s Sky Plus box.

JLC: (pause) What?

CKR: TiVo.

JLC: Oh.

RHN: Seriously, you’re telling me you can play it back somehow?

JLC: Not playback exactly but—

RHN: Hey science queen, telling me what it’s not like is wasted effort. The direct approach, please.

JLC: Well, going by Dairine’s explanation, it’s got something to do with hyperstring structure and the Theory of Everything.

RHN: Oh please.

JLC: No, that’s what I thought at first. It’s a real term, though. This technology, it’s something the Mobiles have been implementing: this big project they started. She got all bogged down in technical stuff I didn’t understand, but it sounded like she—

RHN: Whoa whoa whoa, wait just a moment, did we hear history being made right here before us on this dusty rock? Did Miss Juanita Louise Callahan—

JLC: Dead, Ronan, you are about to be discorporated before your time.

RHN: —actually admit to not understanding some kind of technical stuff?

JLC: I really will kill you, you do understand that? You want to make history, fine. First human being to be killed on the Moon. You mentioned rocks? Let’s try this one, it looks good—

CKR: Oh God.

RHN: (laughter) It’s pumice. Who the feck do you think you’re gonna kill with pumice?

JLC: Oh it is not pumice, please, are you blind?—some kind of basalt, probably got kicked up here out of one of the maria by an impact, and maybe it’s about to have another of those! Dairine never told you about the L word, she knows her life would be too short. It was Carmela, wasn’t it, how can she, oh God why can she not just keep her—

RHN: Not Carmela. Someone else. Too bad, your secret’s out for all the world to hear….

(SFX: rock being pounded against larger rock)

JLC: Aaaaaggghhh!

RHN: Feel better now?

JLC: No. And when I recover my composure—

RHN: Always an entertaining exercise, there are nuclear weapons with shorter fuses—

CKR: Will you two shut yourselves up for two seconds?

(pause)

CKR: Thank you. Jeez. … ‘It sounded like she’ what??

JLC: (pause) Uh. Like what the Mobiles were talking about was making this sort of gigantic backup.

RHN: What of?

JLC: Everything wizardly apparently.

RHN: So how is the two of us kissing wizardly?

JLC: Well, we’re both wizards!

RHN: Oh, give me a break! There had to be, I don’t know, thousands of wizards kissing right then!

JLC: But probably only one who had the One’s Champion living in his mental basement at the time. Which makes it really of historical interest, I think.

RHN: Not ‘historical’ as in banging me in the head with a rock, I take it.

JLC: Don’t assume you’re safe yet. Anyway, parts of the explanation were way beyond me. In fact I think they were kind of beyond Dairine, or she hadn’t really spent much time getting her head around them. Because sometimes she made it sound like the Mobiles were trying not just to back up everything wizardly, but just… everything.

RHN: Everything?

JLC: In the universe.

RHN: What…? All the information?

CKR: Or all the thought?

RHN: All the matter?

JLC: I think maybe all those.

(pause)

CKR: …How in the One’s name do you back up everything?

JLC: I have no idea. I keep meaning to ask her about it, but she’s not home a lot right now, and other stuff keeps happening…

CKR: You’d have to make a whole new universe…

RHN: So anyway! This recording…

CKR: Wow.

JLC: Seems like wherever there’s a manual, it makes a kind of imprint or marker on local space, and this kind of record can be made.

RHN: But no one can see it.

JLC: Only the participants, if they give consent. And anybody else they consent to allow to see it.

RHN: Seriously.

JLC: Yeah.

(pause)

JLC: Well?

(pause)

RHN: How are you about this?

CKR: She told me about it.

RHN: Not the kissing itself. I know she told you about that. And anyway, you know I already knew you knew.

CKR: Oh God, stop, too complicated already. So?

RHN: If she’s okay with it, I’m okay with it.

CKR: Okay.

RHN: You sure?

CKR: Look, why do you keep asking me? I didn’t kiss you.

RHN: Maybe that’s a shame. Maybe you don’t know what you’re missing.

CKR (to JLC): Maybe you want to hand me that rock.

JLC: (laughter)

RHN: So what do we have to do?

JLC: Nothing. It’s here, in the manual. It heard you: the permission’s in. It’s cued up. Now we just roll it. Ready?

RHN: Yeah.

CKR: Yeah.

[ERROR: Permissions failure. Secondary playback is embargoed in this format due to insufficient permissions level or number. Please check your permissions module and try again.]

CKR: Would you pause this a minute? …You know, this is kinda weird.

RHN: What, you mean sitting on the bloody Moon watching yourself in a porno?

JLC, CKR: (laughter)

CKR: This is not porn! These are just two people staring at each other in the dark!

RHN: After one of them slags me off with a flamethrower, yeah. God you were brutal.

JLC: Oh, come on, it wasn’t that bad.

RHN: Maybe for you. I was kinda raw at that point.

CKR: You? Admitting to raw?

RHN: I don’t mind it now. It got better.

CKR: Anyway, how is it porn when all you’ve got here is two people just sort of looking at each other longingly with their tongues hanging out?

JLC: Cut it out! There were no tongues.

RHN: But I think I see what you mean about the weirdness.

CKR: (laughter) What, besides you thinking it’s porn?

RHN: No it is not porn, shut up, I concede the fecking point already. It’s what bothers me in bad TV shows. Where’s the camera?

JLC: I told you. There were manuals on site. No, I know, don’t start. Manuals or equivalent instrumentalities… your Knowledge thing. Where there’s a manual, or equivalent, there’s sort of a node that can make a record of what’s going on in local reality. It’s some kind of string structure business: pluck the string in one place, it vibrates somewhere else.

CKR: Oh God. Quantum mechanics again.

JLC: Yeah. Maybe the cats might be better to ask for the details: they work with strings on the gates all the time. They’d know.

RHN: Given a choice between asking Rhiow and asking your sister? Rhiow every time. Where were we again?

JLC: Watching us kiss.

[ERROR: Permissions failure. Secondary playback is embargoed in this format due to insufficient permissions level or number. Please check your permissions module and try again.]

CKR: So this doesn’t constitute making out?

RHN: Nope.

CKR: Meaning you weren’t thinking about doing anything more? Anything after?

RHN: (pause) Hadn’t crossed my mind. I was just kind of amazed that it was happening right then.

JLC: And not necking.

RHN: What?

CKR: Necking.

RHN: Haven’t heard the term.

JLC: Kissing for a long time.

CKR: Like in a car, when you’re parking. Or on the couch when nobody’s home.

RHN: Done much of that?

CKR: Oh please. I have two older sisters. You have no idea how glad I was when Helena finally went to college. Half the time when the parents were out, the living room sounded like, oh, God never mind. I’d nearly forgotten.

RHN: Parking?

JLC: Going somewhere scenic to neck.

CKR: Or make out.

RHN: The definitions are getting dangerously circular now. Better roll it again.

[ERROR: Permissions failure. Secondary playback is embargoed in this format due to insufficient permissions level or number. Please check your permissions module and try again.]

CKR: But there. See, you grabbed hold of him—

JLC: He started it.

RHN: I was falling off the fence.

JLC: Oh, and that’s my fault somehow.

RHN: Yes, yes it was. What? Would you rather I said, ‘No, she kissed me and it had no effect whatsoever, thanks for playing’? Look, here, here’s the rock! Talk among yourselves and sort it out. I’ll just sit here, don’t mind me.

(pause)

JLC: Let’s call it mutual.

RHN: Thank you very much. Continue.

[ERROR: Permissions failure. Secondary playback is embargoed in this format due to insufficient permissions level or number. Please check your permissions module and try again.]

RHN: Okay, it’s clear. Definitely not making out. It might be snogging. Timing’s pretty iffy, though.

CKR: What?

RHN: You saw the timer running. That didn’t even last thirty seconds.

JLC: Felt like longer.

RHN: Relativity. Ever heard of Einstein’s Stove? A snog is, like, three minutes minimum.

JLC: I’m not so sure.

RHN: How are you defining terms all of a sudden? Had you even heard that word before I used it just now?

JLC: Excuse me, I watch Dr. Who. He said he’d just snogged Madame Pompadour. That was even shorter than this. Ten seconds maybe.

RHN: Let’s keep the fictional characters out of this, shall we?

CKR: Um.

RHN: Besides, the other thing with a snog is that it’s more for pleasure. This was just both of us being freaked out, I think.

JLC: Well, yeah. You were so vulnerable. And kinda cute that way.

RHN: And you were all fierce even though you were unnerved. And kinda cute that way.

CKR: So…

RHN: Reassurance.

JLC: And experimentation.

RHN: Yeah. Comfort smooch, undifferentiated type.

JLC: With added One’s Champion. God was I shocked. Any comfort, boy, it went right out the window when I found out who else was in there.

RHN: Yeah, roll that. Kind of funny in retrospect.

[ERROR: Permissions failure. Secondary playback is embargoed in this format due to insufficient permissions level or number. Please check your permissions module and try again.]

RHN: (laughter) Janey mack, look at me go.

JLC: I’m so sorry… I really didn’t mean for that to happen.

RHN: Wasn’t you I was reacting to. The damn Spear: it was like having it stuck in your arse.

CKR: There’s an image I won’t soon forget.

RHN: I’ll be remembering it a lot longer, believe me.

(pause)

RHN: So what’s the verdict? Have we got consensus?

JLC: Comfort kissing.

RHN: Borderline snog at best.

CKR: But okay, not making out.

RHN: Great, he concurs. Are we done now? Can I go back to my humdrum life?

CKR: Oh, yeah, Mister 'I Made The Earth Move'!

RHN: The sea floor anyway. And don’t you forget it.

JLC: Can’t wait to see the write-up on that.

CKR: And the environmental impact justification they’re gonna make you file.

RHN: Which I am already late for, due to being called up to Lunar orbit for the absolute weirdest consult of my life. Thanks a million.

CKR, JLC: (laughter)

RHN: Always pushing the boundaries, you two.

JLC: You say that as if it’s a bad thing.

RHN: No. Not at all. Kind of what we do, isn’t it? But some of us excel.

CKR: That almost sounded like a compliment.

RHN: Don’t get cocky. I’ve got the rock. (pause) Anyway, I’m outa here. Had people to see before the damn ferry started taking water. They really have to find better technology for those doors.

JLC: Anybody I know?

RHN: Some of the chicken-shop crew.

JLC: Give them my best.

RHN: Will do. Dai stihó, you two. Stay out of trouble.

CKR: What are the odds?

RHN: Please. I know you too well. Oh Kit, don’t forget, schedule change on the Big Game next week.

CKR: I saw the calendar change. No problem.

RHN: Right. Later!

(pause)

CKR: That it?

JLC: Yeah. Save out.

Participants: Callahan, J.L., Rodriguez, C.K., Nolan III, R.H.

(formal signoff) (record complete) (end of line) (end of file)

“…So.”

“Yeah.”

“We were talking about making out…”

“Yeah, we were, weren’t we?”

“We could always try defining when a snog stops being borderline.”

“Defining terms. So romantic.”

“Yeah, well this time make sure that thing’s off.”

[mappinglasirena]

The Stairs Under the Bridge

If you've been following my blog for a while, you know that one of the many mysteries/points of discussion that come up repeatedly is: what is happening in the space under La Sirena's bridge? There's a door leading there from the mess hall and we see Picard walk through it in S01E06, "The Impossible Box", but we never find out what that space is being used as.

(At least, we don't know what its in-universe use is. We know from set plans that in the studio, the space apparently held the playback setup.)

We got a glimpse of a cross-section of the ship in the Blu-ray set tour, which has some impossible geometry happening under the bridge...

(That is not a proper floor and something is definitely clipping through it!)

... and if you remember my post from a while back, I speculated that the most likely explanation is that the model has an extendable ladder there, that would allow people to board/leave the ship by a means other than the loading ramp. This would fit with the early idea of the season 1 writers to have Picard board La Sirena in a space port, rather than beam him on board while she's in orbit.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, we got confirmation that this is indeed what the production team originally intended.

Dave Blass, the production designer for PIC Seasons 2 and 3, tweetet some images showcasing a cross-section of the Sirena set/model:

As you can imagine, this gave me enormous joy (and a not too small amount of glee)! I have long insisted that the panorama windows, i.e. the exit the Motley Crew use to get off the ship once she crash-lands on Coppelius, don't really work as a proper access point to the ship. There is a three foot drop right inside the window the crew needs to bridge, no proper hatch, no ladders, etc. The only reason it makes for such a convenient exit is that Sirena is buried in a few metres of dirt, bringing the window level with the ground.

And indeed, La Sirena has, or at least was originally intended to have, a proper access to the front of the ship, one with a ladder and hatch and everything! And it's located in the mysterious space under the bridge!

But, me being me, this schematic also immediately raised a question: Isn't that ladder a bit too short?

If you remember this post, it seems like one of the changes made during Sirena's design process was that the wings were dropped quite a significant amount. Where the early concept art has the ship sitting fairly low to the ground, she is raised much higher when she reaches her final form.

Essentially, we went from a configuration that might have looked something like the version on the top to the actual model on the bottom:

This change increased the ship's clearance significantly.

For the non-imperial-measuring among us, the height of the ladder given in the schematic shared by Blass, 14' 10 1/2", translates to about 4.8m. However, when you line up the orthogonal view of the ship with the cross section, the length of the ladder is not really enough to reach the ground once the ship has landed.

(The green line indicates the bottom of the stairs.)

There is some speculation that maybe Sirena can fold up her nacelles for landing, and that might be true. There are rooms extending into the wings that would end up at an odd angle, but I suppose with artificial gravity, anything is possible -- if somewhat unlikely.

Still, if we presume Sirena's wings are rigid in general, the distance from the tarmac to the belly of the ship (here: the stage floor in the schematic) is a bit larger than 4.8m.

I wanted to adapt the ladder accordingly, but getting good measurements by converting between feet, pixels, and metres is a bit of a hassle. So instead, I simply used the measurements already on the schematic and extended the ladder so that the ship's clearance would be 5.5m or around 18ft.

This brings the total length of the ladder to about 21ft or 6.5m, and overlaid on the orthogonal ship view, it looks like this:

(The green line once again indicates the bottom of the stairs.)

As you can see, this length requires for the outer engines to fold up a little bit and would have the lowest point of the nacelles basically sitting on the ground. I personally think that would make a lot of sense, and in season 2 we did see that the outer engine pods are on hinges and can definitely fold down.

(It's subtle, but they do move back into their resting position towards the end of the gif.)

It was never confirmed that the engings can fold farther up as well, but looking at how they're attached, I think it makes sense that they could.

Now, in the adjusted S1 concept art of Sirena at the space port, the outer engines are in their normal positions and the wings are actually fully off the ground, with the ship resting on extended landing gear:

So, my extended ladder is the absolute minimum length needed to account for the dropped wings. In all likelihood the ladder would have to be even longer than that, because the clearance would be over 5.5m.

One thing that playing around with all of these views and measurements made me realize, though, is that La Sirena is quite a bit larger than I usually picture her. I have this realization about once every two or three months, so to make it easier to internalize, I asked the wonderful @regionalpancake to assist me.

Google helpfully suggests that 5.5m / 18ft is about half the size of a telephone pole or of three Michael Jordan's standing on each other's shoulders. It is also the size of...

... one average adult giraffe. (This is more or less helpful, depending on when you last went to the zoo, but I really enjoyed that as a visual aide.)

And because Regionalpancake is a good sport (and extremely proficient at adding animals to La Sirena), she also gave me this second edit:

(She also helpfully removed the spacedock workers who were a little to tall in comparison to Sirena. Hopefully, the friendly Averagely-Sized Adult Giraffe will make the ship's real dimensions slightly easier to gauge.)

So, now we have an idea of what might lurk beneath La Sirena's bridge!

I imagine in-universe, there is more stuff stashed under there than just the stairs, though. Perhaps the space gives easier access to the phaser banks in the nose of the ship, or to some other flight control or power distribution machinery. And there's still the question of why Picard, after a very emotionally draining conversation, chooses to head into this space rather than going straight upstairs to his cabin or to his study on the holodeck. (Yes, I know the Doylist answer is because it was the more dramatically satisfying blocking/staging choice, but on this blog, we like to dig for Watsonian explanations, too!)

My personal guess is still that there's some communal washroom down there, because those have to be somewhere on the ship, and that space would actually make sense, being in such close proximity to the bridge and mess hall.

But, since we never saw any of it on screen (and won't ever see La Sirena on screen again), I guess the space under the bridge will always remain a canonical mystery -- and thus available for any interpretation your writing /mapping/ headcanon might require ;)

[chelzone]

Scrapped Game - Ezra's Playback

since i put my heart and soul into this project, i feel like i should write up a fitting farewell to it to really hammer in the fact that its been fully scrapped and won't be revived. so where do we begin then?

for starters, Ezra's Playback was going to be a kinky expansion-focused game that I was working on the past handful of months within the Bipsi engine. the general gist of its story would've involved my character Ezra Noise (a transmasc rat) exploring an abandoned science facility known as Sherwood Research (located off of the cold northeastern coasts of the country of Boreal). here, ze (and the player) would have 35 minutes to explore the facility and see what they learn along the way (and any expansion mischief ran into in the process)

gameplay wise it would've been very simple, just using the arrow keys to traverse between rooms and interact with basic actions. very text-focused and made using sprites i put together within the engine. the idea was that as u progressed thru the facility, the time would progress with it. an ending would be reached either thru interacting with something an reaching an immobile fate or merely hittin a point in the facility where the character realistically would hit the 35 mins of exploring / battery life.

unfortunately, i just didnt feel satisfied the further i went into making this game. ive come to accept that no matter how hard i try to fiddle with working within the engine's sprite size limits and text box limits it just wouldn't feel fulfilling enough for a NSFW game. in addition, the spriting was an absolute pain in the ass since i was having to use multiple tiles to create a whole larger scene. the end result of a lot of these bigger pictures made from smaller tiles felt very underwhelming and rough to me

overall, i'm at least thankful ive written something up for this so that i can finally let the game rest in a proper unfinished peace. it will be archived locally for me alone, as i have no intentions of sharing the early build anywhere online nor with any friends. going forward we'll see about a different game concept and engine for utilizing the protagonist Ezra for proper, after i finished other already-in progress SFW and NSFW games ive been working on. that's all, thanks for readin if ya did!

[raincode-archives]

Chapter 3 Loading Screen Trivia

Note: Currently, I do not know which of these trivia may be general game trivia or Chapter 3 exclusives (if there is any). And there may be trivia I'm currently missing that I will add later on, if I find any more.

World Detective Organization (WDO) An extra-legal, extra-privileged organization devoted to eradicating the world's unsolved mysteries.

Detective Deed An identification card. These are granted by the World Detective Organization.

Master Detective Among the detectives belonging to the World Detective Organization, this is a detective with a specialized power called Forensic Forte that aids in their investigative activities.

Forensic Forte Those exhibiting innate talent for special powers like clairvoyance or mind-reading are trained by the WDO to develop a supernatural investigative ability called Forensic Forte or simply, Forte.

Amaterasu Corporation Many products are in development, some of which cannot be made public.

Amaterasu Peacekeepers A department of Amaterasu Corporation. They serve as a sort of police force within Kanai Ward.

Kanai Station The only train station in Kanai Ward. It's a magnificent building, but seldom has customers because of the city's isolation.

Kamasaki District Crime generally isn't bad here, unless you venture deeper inside, that is.

Riverbank Due to polluted waters, fish are rarely caught.

Kanai Bus System A bus service running throughout Kanai Ward. The bus fee is fixed at 200 shien. Amaterasu Corporation employees ride free.

Kanai Ward Living Condition Perhaps because of the daily rainfall, some people in Kanai Ward don't mind getting wet.

TV Programs Nearly all the TV programs broadcasted in Kanai Ward are sponsored by Amaterasu Corporation.

Popular Sports Parkour is popular among the young men of Kamasaki District. New problems have arisen however, what will all the trespassing and running across the top of food stalls.

Crosswalks The crosswalks in Kanai ward detect pedestrians and stop traffic for them. As such, it's fairly uncommon to see people waiting for the signal to change.

Pets Because of Kanai Ward's unending rain, indoor pets are popular. At the same time, there is increasing concern of many dogs and cats become feral after being abandoned by irresponsible owners.

Flora in Kanai Ward Because it's difficult to grow plants in the perpetually rainy Kanai Ward, many have been replaced with synthetic counterparts, aside from some roadside trees and flowers in Ginma.

Flavor of Halara's Candy Depends on the mood. The worse the mood, the sweeter the taste; the better the mood, the lighter the taste.

Desuhiko's Bangs Desuhiko is particular about how his bangs look; it takes about an hour a day to style.

Fubuki's Accessories Fubuki's necklace has a clock motif. The choker is decorated with video playback control symbols.

Vivia's Garments There are just bandage-like wrappings beneath his coat, so it wouldn't be accurate to call it clothing.

Yakou's Lifestyle A complete night owl, he typically sleeps in until noon, even when there's work to be done. This nocturnal lifestyle was the norm until the Master Detectives arrived.

Sun & Moon Hotel Breakfast is served buffet-style in the adjoining restaurant.

Cafe A cafe with an open terrace located in Gina District. It is popular among office workers on break and female students on their way home from school.

Kanai Tower The tallest building in Kanai Ward. Especially high-ranking people within Amaterasu Corporation and their families live here.

Dohya District The so-called "slums" of Kanai Ward, where everything is stagnant and polluted. Most of the district is flooded because rainwater cannot be properly drained.

Dohya District Criminals and others on the run from Peacekeepers occupy the abandoned building here, making the area fairly dangerous.

Marunomon District The business area of Kanai Ward. Rows of office buildings line the street, and Kanai Ward's only bank is also located here.

Marunomon District Being a commercial area, it is relatively crime-free compared to other districts.

Marunomon Bank The only bank in Kanai Ward. All the money circulating through the city begins and ends their journey here. Due to the advanced security, no incidents have ever occured.

"Grade A" A meat bun shop in Marunomon District. Though luxuriously priced at 1000 shien apiece nearby office workers have remarked on the bland flavor.

Golden Path Cafe Uniforms Many customers flock here simply to ogle the uniformed waitresses.

Kanai Ward's Electrical Power Because of the perpetual rain, electrical power is derived predominantly from rainwater.

The Resistance A movement that has declared its opposition to Amaterasu Corporation. The name of the group is "Anti-Establishment Organization," but they're commonly called the Resistance.

Dronebrella Incidents Dronebrellas are handsfree umbrellas, and inter-device collisions as well as incidents involving loss of control due to electromagnetic interference has occurred.

Stay Safe at Marunomon Bank! Marunomon Bank uses state-of-the-art safes because the security of your money is our number one concern. Take advantage of our 1% interest rate now, only at Marunomon Bank.

Homunculus An immortal monster created through research conducted by Amaterasu Corporation.

Shachi's Coveralls Shachi's coveralls are made of a water-resistant material, ideal for working outdoors.

Iruka's Tattoo Iruka has a tattoo of dual pistons on the left side of her chest.

Icardi's Boots Made of waterproof material similar to that of wetsuits, the boots have a switch on the heel that turns them into flippers.

Margulaw's Photo Frame The old photo frame inside the shop is not for sale. It was a birthday present from departed family members.

Servan and Gambling A frequent patron of casinos, he prefers games based on probability and theory. His all-time win is currently less than 50%.

Makoto's Meals Almost always eaten at restaurants or the Amaterasu Corporation cafeteria. He's terrible at cooking, so he never makes his own food.

The Clockford Family The world-renowned family tasked with managing the world's standard of time. They are also responsible for deciding on standard operating procedures related to time and the calendar.

Fubuki's Sense of Monetary Value Given her affluent, princess-like upbringing, she rarely went shopping for herself and thusly has a unique sense of monetary value. She thinks an apple costs as much as a car.

Guillaume There's a hobby she hasn't told anyone about: recipe development. She's sweet on sweets and has strong opinions on proper jam making technique.

Rumor Surrounding Dominic Once a soldier, he suffered a serious injury in battle and became a cyborg after undergoing surgery at Amaterasu Corp. That's the rumor going around the company, anyway.

Swindle Detective A Master Detective who turned their advanced skills of deception and cajolery into a Forte. This detective was not summoned to Kanai Ward.

Guillaume's Lucky Fortune Telling! Guillaume's Lucky Item of the Day! For all the Aries out there, big trouble if you don't carry around a used disposable camera exposed to light!

Guillaume's Lucky Fortune Telling! Guillaume's Lucky Spot of the Day! For all the Tauruses out there, if you don't repent on the roof of an abandoned building, you'll die!

Guillaume's Lucky Fortune Telling! Guillaume's Lucky Place of the Day! For all the Geminis out there, a trip into an alternate dimension will bring you that much closer to achieving your goals!

Guillaume's Lucky Fortune Telling! Guillaume's Lucky Life of the Day! For all the Cancers out there, just give up! Better luck next life!

Guillaume's Lucky Fortune Telling! Guillaume's Lucky Goods of the Day! For all the Leos out there, wearing some lion fur might be the key to avoiding a tragic fate!

Guillaume's Lucky Fortune Telling! Guillaume's Lucky Jewel of the Day! For all the Virgos out there, get your hands on a cursed diamond! Deal with the curse yourself!

Guillaume's Lucky Fortune Telling! Guillaume's Lucky Scale of the Day! For all the Libras out there, carry one hundred 100-gram weights around for potential bliss!

Guillaume's Lucky Fortune Telling! Guillaume's Lucky Hero of the Day! For all the Scorpios out there, watch your head! Get trampled and become a star!

Guillaume's Lucky Fortune Telling! Guillaume's Lucky Gourmet of the Day! For all the Sagittariuses out there, sea turtle soup is the chef's choice! Get to a restaurant and slurp some up later!

Guillaume's Lucky Fortune Telling! Guillaume's Lucky Weather of the Day! For all the Capricorns out there, you'll have better luck when the weather clears up! But Kanai Ward is rainy all the time!

Guillaume's Lucky Fortune Telling! Guillaume's Lucky Jar of the Day! For all the Aquariuses out there, buy this jar for good luck! It's a steal at five million shien, for a limited time only!

Guillaume's Lucky Fortune Telling! Guillaume's Lucky Fight of the Day! For all the Pisces out there, pick a fight with a shop owner, then jump into the sea! A lovely encounter awaits!

Guillaume's Lucky Fortune Telling! Guillaume's Unlucky Human of the Day! Are there still Ophiuchuses around? Shouldn't we go back to just 12 zodiacs?

[demifiendrsa]

We Love Katamari Reroll+ Royal Reverie — Announcement Trailer

Title logo

Key visual

Screenshots

Overview

About

The quirky and groundbreaking game is back with new features for all to enjoy. A faithful reproduction of the original work released in 2005, with a modern touch!

Key Features

Five New Challenges Starring a Young King of All Cosmos – Enjoy all-new challenges and collectibles inspired by the first interlude movie of the main game that shows the King as a child.

Take Pictures of Your Adventure in Selfie Mode – Use your selfie stick to take photos and have fun decorating them! Selfie mode comes with a photo rally feature where you can take pictures and collect stickers of Namco characters placed on objects throughout all stages. Filling your photo rally sheet lets you unlock new frames and filters.

Play as Long as You Want with No Limitations – This remaster comes with an Eternal Mode for those that want to play with no time limit. Keep it rolling… for as long as you want!

Quality of Life Improvements and More – Players can now favorite their favorite musical tracks and select from a list of tracks for playback when they play levels, better locate target objects with navigational indicators that help find barricades and goal objects, easily find stages they want to play with the “Find a Fan” shortcut, and enjoy this HD remaster on a wider pool of gaming platforms.

[michaeldswanson]

Apple’s Mysterious Fisheye Projection

If you’ve read my first post about Spatial Video, the second about Encoding Spatial Video, or if you’ve used my command-line tool, you may recall a mention of Apple’s mysterious “fisheye” projection format. Mysterious because they’ve documented a CMProjectionType.fisheye enumeration with no elaboration, they stream their immersive Apple TV+ videos in this format, yet they’ve provided no method to produce or playback third-party content using this projection type.

Additionally, the format is undocumented, they haven’t responded to an open question on the Apple Discussion Forums asking for more detail, and they didn’t cover it in their WWDC23 sessions. As someone who has experience in this area – and a relentless curiosity – I’ve spent time digging-in to Apple’s fisheye projection format, and this post shares what I’ve learned.

As stated in my prior post, I am not an Apple employee, and everything I’ve written here is based on my own history, experience (specifically my time at immersive video startup, Pixvana, from 2016-2020), research, and experimentation. I’m sure that some of this is incorrect, and I hope we’ll all learn more at WWDC24.

Spherical Content

Imagine sitting in a swivel chair and looking straight ahead. If you tilt your head to look straight up (at the zenith), that’s 90 degrees. Likewise, if you were looking straight ahead and tilted your head all the way down (at the nadir), that’s also 90 degrees. So, your reality has a total vertical field-of-view of 90 + 90 = 180 degrees.

Sitting in that same chair, if you swivel 90 degrees to the left or 90 degrees to the right, you’re able to view a full 90 + 90 = 180 degrees of horizontal content (your horizontal field-of-view). If you spun your chair all the way around to look at the “back half” of your environment, you would spin past a full 360 degrees of content.

When we talk about immersive video, it’s common to only refer to the horizontal field-of-view (like 180 or 360) with the assumption that the vertical field-of-view is always 180. Of course, this doesn’t have to be true, because we can capture whatever we’d like, edit whatever we’d like, and playback whatever we’d like.

But when someone says something like VR180, they really mean immersive video that has a 180-degree horizontal field-of-view and a 180-degree vertical field-of-view. Similarly, 360 video is 360-degrees horizontally by 180-degrees vertically.

Projections

When immersive video is played back in a device like the Apple Vision Pro, the Meta Quest, or others, the content is displayed as if a viewer’s eyes are at the center of a sphere watching video that is displayed on its inner surface. For 180-degree content, this is a hemisphere. For 360-degree content, this is a full sphere. But it can really be anything in between; at Pixvana, we sometimes referred to this as any-degree video.

It's here where we run into a small problem. How do we encode this immersive, spherical content? All the common video codecs (H.264, VP9, HEVC, MV-HEVC, AVC1, etc.) are designed to encode and decode data to and from a rectangular frame. So how do you take something like a spherical image of the Earth (i.e. a globe) and store it in a rectangular shape? That sounds like a map to me. And indeed, that transformation is referred to as a map projection.

Equirectangular

While there are many different projection types that each have useful properties in specific situations, spherical video and images most commonly use an equirectangular projection. This is a very simple transformation to perform (it looks more complicated than it is). Each x location on a rectangular image represents a longitude value on a sphere, and each y location represents a latitude. That’s it. Because of these relationships, this kind of projection can also be called a lat/long.

Imagine “peeling” thin one-degree-tall strips from a globe, starting at the equator. We start there because it’s the longest strip. To transform it to a rectangular shape, start by pasting that strip horizontally across the middle of a sheet of paper (in landscape orientation). Then, continue peeling and pasting up or down in one-degree increments. Be sure to stretch each strip to be as long as the first, meaning that the very short strips at the north and south poles are stretched a lot. Don’t break them! When you’re done, you’ll have a 360-degree equirectangular projection that looks like this.

If you did this exact same thing with half of the globe, you’d end up with a 180-degree equirectangular projection, sometimes called a half-equirect. Performed digitally, it’s common to allocate the same number of pixels to each degree of image data. So, for a full 360-degree by 180-degree equirect, the rectangular video frame would have an aspect ratio of 2:1 (the horizontal dimension is twice the vertical dimension). For 180-degree by 180-degree video, it’d be 1:1 (a square). Like many things, these aren’t hard and fast rules, and for technical reasons, sometimes frames are stretched horizontally or vertically to fit within the capabilities of an encoder or playback device.

This is a 180-degree half equirectangular image overlaid with a grid to illustrate its distortions. It was created from the standard fisheye image further below. Watch an animated version of this transformation.

What we’ve described so far is equivalent to monoscopic (2D) video. For stereoscopic (3D) video, we need to pack two of these images into each frame…one for each eye. This is usually accomplished by arranging two images in a side-by-side or over/under layout. For full 360-degree stereoscopic video in an over/under layout, this makes the final video frame 1:1 (because we now have 360 degrees of image data in both dimensions). As described in my prior post on Encoding Spatial Video, though, Apple has chosen to encode stereo video using MV-HEVC, so each eye’s projection is stored in its own dedicated video layer, meaning that the reported video dimensions match that of a single eye.

Standard Fisheye

Most immersive video cameras feature one or more fisheye lenses. For 180-degree stereo (the short way of saying stereoscopic) video, this is almost always two lenses in a side-by-side configuration, separated by ~63-65mm, very much like human eyes (some 180 cameras).

The raw frames that are captured by these cameras are recorded as fisheye images where each circular image area represents ~180 degrees (or more) of visual content. In most workflows, these raw fisheye images are transformed into an equirectangular or half-equirectangular projection for final delivery and playback.

This is a 180 degree standard fisheye image overlaid with a grid. This image is the source of the other images in this post.

Apple’s Fisheye

This brings us to the topic of this post. As I stated in the introduction, Apple has encoded the raw frames of their immersive videos in a “fisheye” projection format. I know this, because I’ve monitored the network traffic to my Apple Vision Pro, and I’ve seen the HLS streaming manifests that describe each of the network streams. This is how I originally discovered and reported that these streams – in their highest quality representations – are ~50Mbps, HDR10, 4320x4320 per eye, at 90fps.

While I can see the streaming manifests, I am unable to view the raw video frames, because all the immersive videos are protected by DRM. This makes perfect sense, and while I’m a curious engineer who would love to see a raw fisheye frame, I am unwilling to go any further. So, in an earlier post, I asked anyone who knew more about the fisheye projection type to contact me directly. Otherwise, I figured I’d just have to wait for WWDC24.

Lo and behold, not a week or two after my post, an acquaintance introduced me to Andrew Chang who said that he had also monitored his network traffic and noticed that the Apple TV+ intro clip (an immersive version of this) is streamed in-the-clear. And indeed, it is encoded in the same fisheye projection. Bingo! Thank you, Andrew!

Now, I can finally see a raw fisheye video frame. Unfortunately, the frame is mostly black and featureless, including only an Apple TV+ logo and some God rays. Not a lot to go on. Still, having a lot of experience with both practical and experimental projection types, I figured I’d see what I could figure out. And before you ask, no, I’m not including the actual logo, raw frame, or video in this post, because it’s not mine to distribute.

Immediately, just based on logo distortions, it’s clear that Apple’s fisheye projection format isn’t the same as a standard fisheye recording. This isn’t too surprising, given that it makes little sense to encode only a circular region in the center of a square frame and leave the remainder black; you typically want to use all the pixels in the frame to send as much data as possible (like the equirectangular format described earlier).

Additionally, instead of seeing the logo horizontally aligned, it’s rotated 45 degrees clockwise, aligning it with the diagonal that runs from the upper-left to the lower-right of the frame. This makes sense, because the diagonal is the longest dimension of the frame, and as a result, it can store more horizontal (post-rotation) pixels than if the frame wasn’t rotated at all.

This is the same standard fisheye image from above transformed into a format that seems very similar to Apple’s fisheye format. Watch an animated version of this transformation.

Likewise, the diagonal from the lower-left to the upper-right represents the vertical dimension of playback (again, post-rotation) providing a similar increase in available pixels. This means that – during rotated playback – the now-diagonal directions should contain the least amount of image data. Correctly-tuned, this likely isn’t visible, but it’s interesting to note.

More Pixels

You might be asking, where do these “extra” pixels come from? I mean, if we start with a traditional raw circular fisheye image captured from a camera and just stretch it out to cover a square frame, what have we gained? Those are great questions that have many possible answers.

This is why I liken video processing to turning knobs in a 747 cockpit: if you turn one of those knobs, you more-than-likely need to change something else to balance it out. Which leads to turning more knobs, and so on. Video processing is frequently an optimization problem just like this. Some initial thoughts:

It could be that the source video is captured at a higher resolution, and when transforming the video to a lower resolution, the “extra” image data is preserved by taking advantage of the square frame.

Perhaps the camera optically transforms the circular fisheye image (using physical lenses) to fill more of the rectangular sensor during capture. This means that we have additional image data to start and storing it in this expanded fisheye format allows us to preserve more of it.

Similarly, if we record the image using more than two lenses, there may be more data to preserve during the transformation. For what it’s worth, it appears that Apple captures their immersive videos with a two-lens pair, and you can see them hiding in the speaker cabinets in the Alicia Keys video.

There are many other factors beyond the scope of this post that can influence the design of Apple’s fisheye format. Some of them include distortion handling, the size of the area that’s allocated to each pixel, where the “most important” pixels are located in the frame, how high-frequency details affect encoder performance, how the distorted motion in the transformed frame influences motion estimation efficiency, how the pixels are sampled and displayed during playback, and much more.

Blender

But let’s get back to that raw Apple fisheye frame. Knowing that the image represents ~180 degrees, I loaded up Blender and started to guess at a possible geometry for playback based on the visible distortions. At that point, I wasn’t sure if the frame encodes faces of the playback geometry or if the distortions are related to another kind of mathematical mapping. Some of the distortions are more severe than expected, though, and my mind couldn’t imagine what kind of mesh corrected for those distortions (so tempted to blame my aphantasia here, but my spatial senses are otherwise excellent).

One of the many meshes and UV maps that I’ve experimented with in Blender.

Radial Stretching

If you’ve ever worked with projection mappings, fisheye lenses, equirectangular images, camera calibration, cube mapping techniques, and so much more, Google has inevitably led you to one of Paul Bourke’s many fantastic articles. I’ve exchanged a few e-mails with Paul over the years, so I reached out to see if he had any insight.

After some back-and-forth discussion over a couple of weeks, we both agreed that Apple’s fisheye projection is most similar to a technique called radial stretching (with that 45-degree clockwise rotation thrown in). You can read more about this technique and others in Mappings between Sphere, Disc, and Square and Marc B. Reynolds’ interactive page on Square/Disc mappings.

Basically, though, imagine a traditional centered, circular fisheye image that touches each edge of a square frame. Now, similar to the equirectangular strip-peeling exercise I described earlier with the globe, imagine peeling one-degree wide strips radially from the center of the image and stretching those along the same angle until they touch the edge of the square frame. As the name implies, that’s radial stretching. It’s probably the technique you’d invent on your own if you had to come up with something.

By performing the reverse of this operation on a raw Apple fisheye frame, you end up with a pretty good looking version of the Apple TV+ logo. But, it’s not 100% correct. It appears that there is some additional logic being used along the diagonals to reduce the amount of radial stretching and distortion (and perhaps to keep image data away from the encoded corners). I’ve experimented with many approaches, but I still can’t achieve a 100% match. My best guess so far uses simple beveled corners, and this is the same transformation I used for the earlier image.

It's also possible that this last bit of distortion could be explained by a specific projection geometry, and I’ve iterated over many permutations that get close…but not all the way there. For what it’s worth, I would be slightly surprised if Apple was encoding to a specific geometry because it adds unnecessary complexity to the toolchain and reduces overall flexibility.

While I have been able to playback the Apple TV+ logo using the techniques I’ve described, the frame lacks any real detail beyond its center. So, it’s still possible that the mapping I’ve arrived at falls apart along the periphery. Guess I’ll continue to cross my fingers and hope that we learn more at WWDC24.

Conclusion

This post covered my experimentation with the technical aspects of Apple’s fisheye projection format. Along the way, it’s been fun to collaborate with Andrew, Paul, and others to work through the details. And while we were unable to arrive at a 100% solution, we’re most definitely within range.

The remaining questions I have relate to why someone would choose this projection format over half-equirectangular. Clearly Apple believes there are worthwhile benefits, or they wouldn’t have bothered to build a toolchain to capture, process, and stream video in this format. I can imagine many possible advantages, and I’ve enumerated some of them in this post. With time, I’m sure we’ll learn more from Apple themselves and from experiments that all of us can run when their fisheye format is supported by existing tools.

It's an exciting time to be revisiting immersive video, and we have Apple to thank for it.

As always, I love hearing from you. It keeps me motivated! Thank you for reading.

[a-student-out-of-time]

PLAYBACK- PART 8

September 5, 2070

Gone...? What do you mean she's-

Shinjiro: I mean she's gone, Mom! Meira's freaking out...and there's no sign of Shinguji-san either.

...

Shinjiro: ...Is it happening? Is this...Shirogane? You told me you'd keep us safe.

...

Shinjiro: WHY IS SHE GONE, MOM?! YOU TOLD ME YOU DIDN'T WANT US GETTING INVOLVED! MY DAUGHTER'S MISSING! WHO EVEN KNOWS HOW MANY OTHER KIDS ARE GONE! WHAT'VE YOU BEEN DOING ALL THIS TIME?! WHERE ARE WHEN WE NEED YOU MOST?!

...I'm getting them back, and I'm gonna do what should've been done a long time ago.

Shinjiro: ...

Shinjiro...I'm sorry I wasn't around as much as I should've been. I'm-

Shinjiro: ...Just get my daughter back. We'll...We'll talk then.

*He hangs up*

...Yeah.

Shinabe, get the car. We're following Maki.

You know where she is?!

She said she had a tracker, remember? It's in one of her teeth. We can get a fix on all the locations she's been through, and from there...

We finally narrow down where the parasite's been hiding. Perfect.

You know, if I'm being honest...I'm a little glad it took us so long to find Shirogane.

Now I have plenty of names to carve into her skull.

Let's just make sure my granddaughter and the rest of those kids are among them.

*The two hop into their car and drive off*

Hello? This is Harukawa Masa, contacting the Kisaragi Foundation and the JSDF. We're honing in on Shirogane Tsumugi's location. Secure all possible routes into and out of the following coordinates, and as soon as we've got a fix, circle around and move in.

She's slipped through our fingers for long enough.

_______________________________________________