#smart city construction | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

felassan · 3 months

Text

Cliff notes on the new info on Dragon Age: The Veilguard in today’s issue of Game Informer (magazine hub link):

Edit/update: I tidied up this post. ^^

---

In CC you can customize things like shoulder width, chest size, glute size, hip width, how bloodshot your eyes are, nose crookedness, and more

There are hundreds of sliders for body proportions

CC detail: “Features like skin hue, tone, melanin”

There is nudity in DA:TV, “which I learned firsthand while customizing my Rook” in CC

Rook’s backstory also affects “reputation standing”, along with the other previously-known things like in-game dialogue etc

Lords of Fortune are pirate-themed, “piratic”

Rook ascends because of competency, not because of a magical McGuffin, contrasting with the 'destiny-has-chosen you’ angle DA:I has for the Inquisitor

Rook is here because they chose to be, “and that speaks to the kind of character that we’ve built. Someone needs to stop this, and Rook says, ‘I guess that’s me'”

The 4 voices we can choose for Rook each have a pitch shifter in CC

The game starts inside the bar (as previously detailed in other coverage)

In some dialogue wheels there is a “romantically inclined ‘emotional’ response” option. These are the replies that will build relationships with characters, romantic and platonic alike, but you can ignore them if you want to. Giving a companion the cold shoulder might nudge them into another companion’s embrace however

Bellara’s surname is Lutara

In the streets of Minrathous (in the opening segment of the game), there is a wide, winding pathway with a pub which has a dozen NPCs in it (is this The Swan tavern?)

The devs used the DA:TV CC to make each in-world NPC, except for specific characters like companions

There is smart use of verticality, scaling and wayfinding in the gameplay

If you play as e.g. a qunari Rook, the camera adjusts to ensure larger characters like them loom over those below. The camera also adjusts appropriately for dwarves to demonstrate their smaller stature

Neve Gallus is described as being capable

The Venatori Cultists we fight in the opening segment of the game are seizing the chaos caused by the demons unleashed by Solas’ ritual to try and take the opportunity to take over the city

As you traverse deeper and deeper into Solas’ hideout, more of his murals appear on the walls, and things 'get more elven'. Rhodes says “this is because you’re symbolically going back in time, as Minrathous is a city built by mages on the bones of what was originally the home of the elves”

At the heart of Solas’ hideout is his personal eluvian

Demons are fully redesigned in this game, on their original premise as creatures of feeling that live and die off the emotions around them. “As such, they are just a floating nervous system, pushed into this world from the Fade, rapidly assembled into bodies out of whatever scraps they find”

In the opening, we stop Solas’ ritual and save the world. “For now” anyways. Rook passes out moments later and wakes up in a dream-like landscape to the voice of Solas. He explains that a few drops of Rook’s blood interacted with the ritual, connecting them to the Fade forever. (I guess this is why they said in the Discord Q&A on June 14th that Rook has good reasons to want to avoid blood magic)

He also says that he was attempting to move Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain (confirming who the two Evil Gods are) to a new prison, because the one he had previously constructed was failing. Unfortunately, Solas is trapped in the Fade by our doing, and the two gods are now free. “It’s up to Rook to stop them”, thus setting the stage for our adventure

Rook wakes up after this with Harding and Neve “in the lair of the Dread Wolf himself”, a special magical realm in the Fade called The Lighthouse. It’s a towering structure centered amongst various floating islands. This is where the team bonds, grows, and prepares for its adventures. It becomes more functional and homier as you do. “Already, though, it’s a beautifully distraught headquarters for the Veilguard, although they aren’t quite referring to themselves as that just yet”.

Because it was Solas’ home base, it's gaudy, with his fresco murals adorning various walls, greenery hanging from above, and hues of purple and touches of gold everywhere. Since it’s in the Fade, which is a realm of dreams that responds to your world state and emotion, the Lighthouse “reflects the chaos and disrepair of the Thedas you were in moments ago”

Clock symbols over dialogue icons signal optional dialogue options

At this point you can head over to Neve, engage in dialogue, and try and flirt with her

There is a dining hall in the Lighthouse. A plate, cutlery and a drinking chalice are at the end of a massive table. Matt Rhodes says that this is a funny and sad look at Solas’ isolated existence, and an example of the detail BioWare’s art team has put into DA:TV. “It’s like when you go to a friend’s house and see their bedroom for the first time; you get to learn more about them”

There is also a library, which is the central area of the The Lighthouse. It’s here that the party will often regroup and prepare for what’s next

The team decides that it must reach the ritual site back in Arlathan Forest. Corinne Busche said that the writer was "missing unique dialogue options here because I’m qunari; an elf would have more to say about the Fade due to their connection to it. The same goes for my backstory earlier in Minrathous. If I had picked the Shadow Dragons background, Neve would have recognized me immediately, with unique dialogue”

The team decide their next move. They go to Solas’ eluvian and back through to the ritual site in Arlathan Forest. However, it’s not fully functional without Solas, and while it returns them to the Forest, it’s not exactly where they want to go. Then a demon-infested suit of mechanized armor known as a Sentinel attacks them, and two NPCs appear to save you: the Veil Jumpers Strife and Irelin. Harding recognizes them, which you would expect if you read the comic Dragon Age: The Missing. They are experts in ancient elven magic. A cutscene ensues and we learn that Strife and Irelin need help finding Bellara Lutara. This cutscene is long and has multiple dialogue options.

“There’s a heavy emphasis on storytelling and dialogue, and it feels deep and meaty, like a good fantasy novel. BioWare doesn’t shy away from minutes-long cutscenes”

For Rook, this story is about what does it mean to be a leader? We define their leadership style with our choices. “From the sound of it, my team will react to my chosen leadership style in how my relationships play out.” This is demonstrated within the game’s dialogue and a special relationship meter on each character’s companion screen

Bellara is deep within Arlathan Forest, and following the events of the prologue, something is up here. Three rings of massive rocks fly through the air, protecting what appears to be a central fortress. Demon Sentinels plague the surrounding lands.

In gameplay/combat, players complete every swing in real time. Special care was taken in development for animation swing-through and cancelling. We can dash, parry, charge moves, and a completely revamped healing system that allows us to use potions at our discretion by hitting right on the d-pad. You can combo attacks and even ‘bookmark’ combos with a quick dash, which means that you can pause a combo’s status with a dash to safety and continue the rest of the combo afterward

Abilities can be used to customize your kit. They can be used on the fly as long as you account for cooldowns

When you pause and pull up the ability Wheel, it highlights you and your companions’ skills. There you can choose abilities, queue them, target specific enemies, and strategize with synergies and combos

Each character plays the same in that you execute light and heavy attacks with the same buttons, use abilities with the same buttons, and interact with the combo wheel in the same way, regardless of which class you select

Sword and shield warriors can hip-fire or aim their shield and throw it like Captain America

Warriors can parry incoming attacks which can stagger enemies. Rogues have a larger parry window. The mage the writer played couldn’t parry at all. Instead they throw up a shield that blocks incoming attacks automatically, so long as you have the mana to maintain it

On the start/pause screen: it has the map, journal, character sheets, skill tree, and a library for lore information. You can use it to cross-compare equipment and equip new gear for Rook and their companions, build weapon loadouts for quick change-ups mid-combat, and customize you and your party’s abilities and builds via an easy-to-understand skill tree. There aren’t in-depth minutiae, just "real numbers". For example, an unlocked trait might increase damage by 25 percent against armor, but that’s as in-depth as the numbers get. Passive abilities unlock jump attacks and guarantee critical hit opportunities, while abilities add moves like a Wall of Fire to your arsenal if you’re a mage. As you spec out this skill tree, which is 100 percent bespoke to each class, you’ll work closer to unlocking a spec, complete with a unique ultimate ability

“Sentinels and legions of darkspawn”

Combat is flashy and quick, with different types of health bars. Greenish-blue represents a barrier, which is taken down most effectively with ranged attacks

The game is gorgeous, with sprinkles, droplets, and splashes of magic in each attack a mage unleashes

The game looks amazing on consoles both in fidelity and performance modes

The mission to find Bellara is called “In Entropy’s Grasp”. You find her. She is the first companion you recruit (as Neve auto-joins). If your background is Veil Jumper, you get unique dialogue here with Bellara. She explains that everyone there is all trapped in a Veil Bubble, and there’s no way out once you pass through it. Despite the dire situation, she is bubbly, witty, and charming. She is spunky and effervescent

Companions are the faces of their factions, and in this case with Bellara, their entire area of the world. She is our window into Arlathan Forest. She is described as a sweetheart and a nerd for ancient elven artifacts, which is why she’s dressed more like an academic than a combatant. Her special arm gauntlet is useful both for tinkering with her environment and taking down enemies. While Neve uses ice magic and can slow time with a special ability, Bellara specializes in electricity, and she can also use magic to heal you. Her electric magic is effective against Sentinels. “However, without Bellara, we could also equip a rune that converts my ice magic, for a brief duration, into electricity to counter the Sentinels”

If you don’t direct your companions in combat, they are fully independent and will attack on their own

You progress at this point through the Forest, encountering more and more darkspawn. Bellara says that they have never been this far before because the underground Deep Roads, which they usually escape from, aren’t nearby. However, with “blighted” (BLIGHTED!) elven gods roaming the world, and thanks to the Blight’s radiation-like spread, it’s a much bigger threat in DA:TV than any prior DA game

The Forest has elven ruins, dense greenery and disgusting Blight tentacles and pustules

The style of the game is more high fantasy than anything in the series thus far and almost reminiscent of the whimsy of Fable. Matt Rhodes says that this is the result of the game’s newfound dose of magic: “The use of magic has been an evolution as the series has gone on. It’s something we’ve been planning for a while because Solas has been planning all this for a while. In the past, you could hint at cooler magical things in the corner because you couldn’t actually go there, but now we actually can, and it’s fun to showcase that.” The Forest’s whimsy will starkly contrast to the game’s other areas. The devs promise some grim locations and even grimmer story moments because, without that contrast, everything falls flat. Corinne says it’s like a “thread of optimism” pulled through otherworldly chaos ravaging Thedas. At this point in the game, Bellara’s personality is that thread

We can advance our bonds with our companions on their own personal quests and by including them in our party on main quests. Every Relationship Level you rank up, shown on their character sheet, nets you a skill point to spend on them. “The choices you make, what you say to companions, how you help them, and more all matter to their development as characters and party members”. Each companion has access to 5 abilities.

Each companion has issues, problems, and personal quests to complete. “Bellara has her own story arc that runs parallel to and informs the story path you’re on” (They’ve said that all of the companions have this too in previous promo material)

You progress deeper into the forest and Bellara spots a floating fortress and thinks that the artifact needed to destroy the Veil Bubble is in there. To reach it, we must remove the floating rock rings, and Bellara’s unique ability, Tinker, can do just that by interacting with a piece of ancient elven technology nearby. Rook can acquire abilities like Tinker later to complete such tasks in instances where Bellara, for example, isn’t in the party

Bellara has to activate three of these in the Forest to reach the castle. Each one you activate brings forth a bunch of Sentinels, demons, and darkspawn to defeat

You can create Arcane Bombs on enemies. It does high damage after being hit by a heavy attack

It sounds like mage characters can charge heavy attacks on their magical staffs. “then switch to magical daggers in a second loadout accessed with a quick tap of down on the d-pad to unleash some quick attacks”

Some enemies are “Frenzied”, meaning that they hit harder, move faster, and have more health

After a few more combat sections, including against a Frenzied sentinel, we reach the center of the temple. In there is an artifact called the Nadas Dirthalen. Bellara knows that this means “the inevitability of knowledge”. Before we can progress, a darkspawn ogre boss attacks, hitting hard with unblockable, red-coded attacks and a massive shield that you need to take down first. It is weak to fire

After defeating it (it’s a climactic arena fight), Bellara uses a special crystal to power the artifact and remove it from the pedestal, which destroys the Veil Bubble. Then, the Nadas Dirthalen comes alive as an Archive Spirit, but because the crystal used to power it breaks, we learn little about this spirit before it disappears. Bellara thinks that she can fix it (fixing broken stuff is her thing), so the group heads back to the Veil Jumper camp. The writer’s demo then ended.

The design of the game is not open world. The devs describe it as a “hub-and-spoke” design where the needs of the story are served by the level design. A version of DA:I’s Crossroads return (the network of teleporting eluvians) and this is how players will traverse across northern Thedas. “Instead of a connected open world, players will travel from eluvian to eluvian to different stretches of this part of the continent”. e.g. Minrathous, tropical beaches, Arlathan Forest, “to grim and gothic areas and elsewhere”. Some of these areas are large and full of secrets and treasures. Others are smaller and more focused on linear storytelling. Arlathan Forest is an example of this, but it still has optional paths and offshoots to explore for loot, healing potion refreshes, and other things.

Each location has a minimap, though linear levels like In Entropy’s Grasp won’t have the 'fog of war' that disappears as you explore like in some of the game’s bigger locations

The game has the largest number of diverse biomes in DA history

The Thedas of DA:TV “lives in the uncertainty”. “the mystery of its narrative”, “the implications of its lore”

The writer is surprised by BioWare’s command over the notoriously difficult Frostbite engine, and by how much narrative thought the dev team poured into these characters, even for BioWare.

---

[source: the Game Informer pages from Issue 367 - the cover story from June 18th (link), two]

#dragon age the veilguard spoilers #dragon age: the veilguard #dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #bioware #video games #long post #longpost #solas #feels #strife #blood cw #gonna tidy and typo check these notes in a moment #edit/update: i've tidied up this post now #dragon age: the missing #dragon age: the missing spoilers

666 notes · View notes

reasonsforhope · 1 year

Text

Humans are so cute. They think they can outsmart birds. They place nasty metal spikes on rooftops and ledges to prevent birds from nesting there.

It’s a classic human trick known in urban design as “evil architecture”: designing a place in a way that’s meant to deter others. Think of the city benches you see segmented by bars to stop homeless people sleeping there.

But birds are genius rebels. Not only are they undeterred by evil architecture, they actually use it to their advantage, according to a new Dutch study published in the journal Deinsea.

Crows and magpies, it turns out, are learning to rip strips of anti-bird spikes off of buildings and use them to build their nests. It’s an incredible addition to the growing body of evidence about the intelligence of birds, so wrongly maligned as stupid that “bird-brained” is still commonly used as an insult...

Magpies also use anti-bird spikes for their nests. In 2021, a hospital patient in Antwerp, Belgium, looked out the window and noticed a huge magpie’s nest in a tree in the courtyard. Biologist Auke-Florian Hiemstra of Leiden-based Naturalis Biodiversity Center, one of the study’s authors, went to collect the nest and found that it was made out of 50 meters of anti-bird strips, containing no fewer than 1,500 metal spikes.

Hiemstra describes the magpie nest as “an impregnable fortress.”

Pictured: A huge magpie nest made out of 1,500 metal spikes.

Magpies are known to build roofs over their nests to prevent other birds from stealing their eggs and young. Usually, they scrounge around in nature for thorny plants or spiky branches to form the roof. But city birds don’t need to search for the perfect branch — they can just use the anti-bird spikes that humans have so kindly put at their disposal.

“The magpies appear to be using the pins exactly the same way we do: to keep other birds away from their nest,” Hiemstra said.

Another urban magpie nest, this one from Scotland, really shows off the roof-building tactic:

Pictured: A nest from Scotland shows how urban magpies are using anti-bird spikes to construct a roof meant to protect their young and eggs from predators.

Birds had already been spotted using upward-pointing anti-bird spikes as foundations for nests. In 2016, the so-called Parkdale Pigeon became Twitter-famous for refusing to give up when humans removed her first nest and installed spikes on her chosen nesting site, the top of an LCD monitor on a subway platform in Melbourne. The avian architect rebelled and built an even better home there, using the spikes as a foundation to hold her nest more securely in place.

...Hiemstra’s study is the first to show that birds, adapting to city life, are learning to seek out and use our anti-bird spikes as their nesting material. Pretty badass, right?

The genius of birds — and other animals we underestimate

It’s a well-established fact that many bird species are highly intelligent. Members of the corvid family, which includes crows and magpies, are especially renowned for their smarts. Crows can solve complex puzzles, while magpies can pass the “mirror test” — the classic test that scientists use to determine if a species is self-aware.

Studies show that some birds have evolved cognitive skills similar to our own: They have amazing memories, remembering for months the thousands of different hiding places where they’ve stashed seeds, and they use their own experiences to predict the behavior of other birds, suggesting they’ve got some theory of mind.

And, as author Jennifer Ackerman details in The Genius of Birds, birds are brilliant at using tools. Black palm cockatoos use twigs as drumsticks, tapping out a beat on a tree trunk to get a female’s attention. Jays use sticks as spears to attack other birds...

Birds have also been known to use human tools to their advantage. When carrion crows want to crack a walnut, for example, they position the nut on a busy road, wait for a passing car to crush the shell, then swoop down to collect the nut and eat it. This behavior has been recorded several times in Japanese crows.

But what’s unique about Hiemstra’s study is that it shows birds using human tools, specifically designed to thwart birds’ plans, in order to thwart our plans instead. We humans try to keep birds away with spikes, and the birds — ingenious rebels that they are — retort: Thanks, humans!

-via Vox, July 26, 2023

1K notes · View notes

skrrts · 24 days

Text

changeup (oneshot)

✧ gn!reader x jung wooyoung ✧ genre: non idol, slice of life, fluff, romance ✧ word count: 2,1k ✧ warnings: food/eating

You two have been dating for some time and while Wooyoung often surprises you with little dates, this one is obviously special. It's a beautiful Friday night at on one of the city's popular rooftop restaurants but tonight, he seems nervous. There is something Wooyoung wants to ask you, maybe not what most would expect but important to the future of your relationship.

a/n: since reader said yes in this drabble to go on this special date, here we go. it can be read as a standalone, just thought it could be cute for the start of the weekend

You felt a little shy when Wooyoung waited for you with a gift bag and a nervous expression. It hadn’t been difficult to tell there was something on his mind, likely very important but you did not want to add to the tension. After hours of picking an outfit, you figured out something going perfectly with his. The moment he saw you, his features brightened and he waved, leading to you waving back.

“Sorry, I’m a little late. The damn bus was late because of one of those stupid construction sites. Feels like the entered city is one big hole of them right now,” you sighed but your little pout made Wooyoung chuckle: “It is alright. I was smart enough this time to ensure I asked you to come prior to our booking, unlike our first date when I did not figure if we are late, they just would give our table to somebody else.”

The memory of that will always be a favorite, quite an eventful date but somehow, it showed you how this one was the partner you wanted to be with. With Wooyoung, life was never boring, there was always something about to happen but you could count on him, you knew that. Your friends and family had been a little uncertain when you started to date an athlete but won them over in no time. Wooyoung was playing for a second-league baseball team, dreaming of going big one day.

His soft hands reached out for you, lovingly cupping your face and as your gazes locked, you could see that he was a little emotional but because his smile was sincere, you decided not to worry, simply closing your eyes as lips met in a tender kiss. This was always the best way to soothe your worries, and he gave you a gentle hug.

“I love you, ____” he whispered, placing a kiss on top of your hair before offering his hand to you: “the gift is for later. Shall we go?”

Tch, he wasn’t even giving you the time to say it back again, but you stuck out your tongue: “We better, I skipped lunch so I’m extra hungry tonight.”

Your little joke made him laugh as he led you to the building which mostly hosted offices but on top was a small restaurant that had been trendy with others your age last year. While the hype had died down, you knew he still likely needed to make a reservation a few weeks ahead, at least to get a nice table at this hour.

Wooyoung would squeeze your hand and place little kisses on your cheek as you took the elevator up. It was impossible not to see how madly in love you were, often still acting like you hadn’t already dated for quite some time. With Wooyoung, every day always felt like something new.

“You look great today, by the way,” you whispered and he smiled: “Well, of course. You approved of the outfit.”

There was a quick wink before he led you to the waitress who took his name and showed you to the table right at the edge of the terrace. It was early Autumn and the nights still warm, offering an amazing view over the busy city with its endless lights.

“Beautiful,” you mumbled and Wooyoung smiled once the two of you settled down. “I will be sappy and say, I have seen something more stunning to look at,” he couldn’t stop himself from being like that, couldn’t he? You loved him for it.

“Of course, you have the best taste after all;” you teased him confidently and your boyfriend grinned: “I really do… now just do not count on it when it comes to the menu. Based on internet reviews, they all say we should go with number nine.”

You picked up one of the menus and glanced over it: “Mh, I can see why. Let’s go with that then.” You decided the moment the waiter showed and Wooyoung was perfectly casual when ordering like he knew it was the best choice. To your surprise, he also asked for a bottle of wine, something unusual for the two of you.

“I take it, you still won’t tell me the reason what is all special about tonight?” you asked innocently and he laughed, his gaze wandering back to the city view. “Let’s first enjoy the food and once that is done, I will tell you. After all, I went ahead to ask your parents for their blessing and it would be embarrassing if I did not have it in me to ask you.”

You almost choked on your water when he mentioned your parents, the flush on your cheeks more than obvious: “My parents? Why would you ask them?”

Wooyoung was blushing now too and he waved: “Ah it is not what you think! When we started dating seriously, we both agreed that weddings wouldn’t be a topic until we settled down other things. No rush there, after all, we have all the time!”

It had been a silly topic back then but you both brought it up, how you were open to marrying one day in the future but at the same time, it wasn’t something you really required to be happy. If it would fit into your life, it should happen naturally. So if it wasn’t this, what possibly was there to ask for permission?

Ah, Wooyoung always was full of surprises…

“Your order, please enjoy and do not hesitate to let me know, should you require anything else,” the waiter appeared so suddenly, you did not even notice him but hurried to make space on the table, smiling as the plates were put down and waited for the man to vanish. Wooyoung now was quite obviously busy with the meal in front of him. No surprise, he loved cooking and this looked really delicious.

“The photos really didn’t lie. I wonder if they would tell me the recipe,” he joked and took a bite, his face brightened as it seemed the taste lived up to the appearance and you really couldn’t disagree. At least, now you didn’t feel as bad about remembering the price tags next to them. Nodding, you sipped on your water and you took your time to enjoy every bite.

Ah you were awful, but you couldn’t stop yourself from being noisy: “So other than my parents, anyone else who knows about tonight’s mystery?”

Wooyoung seemed a little embarrassed, thinking about it before admitting: “Well, my family obviously, and Sannie… he was more or less the one who encouraged me to ask your parents first since it’s a big deal.”

Please, just what was going on? There was no denial, you were as bad as Wooyoung when it came to impatience and curiosity, you needed to know but your boyfriend would be stubborn, no doubt.

“That explains why San sent me all of those smiling emojis earlier. When I asked him what it was for, he said he is just happy for me. Don’t get me wrong, he always has been very supportive of us and just you know, me in general. I thought he meant because I am so close to graduation now but looks like it was about this,” you concluded with a laugh.

Wooyoung seemed surprised: “He did?! Urgh, that idiot promised he’d not do something like that.”

Wooyoung and San had such opposite personalities but the best friends matched perfectly in so many ways, it was no surprise they were as close.

“Well, if he supports it and our parents, hm I doubt I’d not.” Maybe the question was too eager because he did not really manage to relax:

“Well, I hope so.” Wooyoung still smiled and finished the last few bites, relaxing back into the chair.

“This was amazing, I see now why my parents liked to go out for dinner here and then, I always questioned it as a kid because my mom’s such a great cook but now I see it. Eating delicious food with the person you love the most.”

Finally, you leaned forward to reach for his hand, and without hesitation, your fingers entwined and you looked at each other.

“I love you, Woo. You know that, right? As much as you distract me from studying and support my silly decisions and have led me to do one or two crazy things. I am really happy with our relationship.”

Finally, your boyfriend leaned in, also taking your second hand and he smiled fondly as he looked at how your hands played together: “I know and I promise you, that is exactly why we have this special date tonight. I want to show you just how much I admire you and, as childish as I can be, how serious all of this is for me.”

Neither of you doubted any of this, it was more than obvious but sometimes, it was nice to confirm it, to hear it spoken out loudly for the mind to remember the heart was right.

“Alright, I do not want to torture you too much,” he began with a chuckle. The gift bag was pulled on the table and he very gently moved it towards you before reaching out for the bottle of wine, pouring two glasses but somehow, you felt he just did it because he wanted to keep his hands busy.

You opened the bag carefully and pulled out a diary. It was pretty, tied in black leather and with your name stitched on the cover. It was no doubt handmade, the smell of glue and fresh paper still very present.

“Oh, this is beautiful…” you used to love journaling but stopped when you enrolled into college, free time just had been too spare but you often mentioned how you wished to pick it up again.

On the first page, Wooyoung’s font had written: 'Because I picked the most amazing person, this is the place to write down the best chapters yet to come.'

It was silly but sweet. Your fingers played with the bookmark because you could feel that something was stuck in the middle of the otherwise empty book. You carefully placed it on the table to take the first of the envelops. As you opened it, you were surprised.

Really, it had been impossible to say just what Wooyoung had in mind that would require to ask for your parent’s permission. This was not something you figured but slowly, the puzzle came together.

It was an acceptable letter from a huge American baseball team, one Wooyoung always dreamt of and he was accepted to play for them for two seasons starting early next year. You knew this wasn’t about this because Wooyoung put too much focus on you, so your hand was shaking a little when you opened the second and found what your heart anticipated.

Two one-way tickets, one bearing your name.

For a moment, there was silence, Wooyoung seemed trying to figure out what you were thinking or feeling and when he spoke, you could hear the fear in his voice.

“They approached me a while ago but for some time, it wasn’t certain, only last month. Then, I started to look into it and talked to our families… You see, I know what you say. This is my dream and I should go for it! But ____, you see. Dreams come true, eventually but there is a time after that. I always knew what my dream was but I always wondered what would come after. Sports careers are short, what would I do next? Then I met you and I figured… that’s my life, how I want it to be. Dreams also can change but I want you in my life … I really want you to come with me. I know it’s just a few months after your graduation but…”

You placed everything carefully back onto the table, sighing as you moved over, pulling him and his chair back to sit down on his lap. His face was full of surprise as you curled your arms around his neck and kissed him.

It was true, this was right after graduation but the truth was, you had no real idea what exactly you wanted to do right after, no dream position waiting for you here. Of course, it would mean parting with your family and friends for a while but it would also mean an adventure together with Wooyoung.

As your lips parted, you rested your forehead against his and looked at each other.

“Of course, I will come with you, Wooyoung. I love you and as I said, you make me do all of those crazy things.”

His eyes were big, like he had considered you would reject it but his embrace tightened around you and he sighed, closing his eyes.

“I promise, we will have a lot of time together and make sure you fill those pages with great stories.”

People around you were whispering and staring but you both ignored them.

You cupped his chin and smiled, placing a kiss on top of his lips: “Good, let’s go and be wild together.”

#wooyoung x reader #wooyoung x you #wooyoung oneshot #ateez x reader #ateez oneshot #ateez fluff #ateez au #ateez writing #jung wooyoung x reader #wy tag #wooyoung fluff #fluff tag #romance tag #reis writes

153 notes · View notes

thedoctorisgroovy · 3 months

Text

Schooled

» Pairing: Spencer Reid x BAU!Reader

» Word count: 998

» Warnings: use of y/n, S3-5 Spencer, reader has just started at the BAU, mention of bullying, fluff, establishing relationship, awkward Spencer, use of the word sh**ty, mention of gunshot wound, gn reader, they/them pronouns, slightly non canon character behaviours

» A/N: so Im 27 and i've never written a fic before! I had a dream the other night that I was gonna turn into a one shot but realised I needed way more backstory to get to the dream scene so this is gonna be multiple chapters! Reader should be GN, if not I apologise! Also I have no clue about how law enforcement works so all references to the FBI, statistics etc are all made up. Any feedback is welcome but please try to be kind/constructive!

CHAPTER 1:

Your job with the BAU took you all over the country; mountain ranges, the desert, small towns, big cities, and if you were lucky, even the beach, which may sound slightly psychopathic considering you solve homicides and kidnappings for a living. You never thought it would take you back to your old high school however. The FBI had been called in to your home-town to help solve a string of disappearances/kidnappings that seemed to be connected to the school. It started off as one or two kids not showing up for class, but had now escalated into 6 official missing students. Local police were struggling to determine whether the unsub was a teacher or student, and in a population of 35,000, they called in the BAU to put together a more accurate profile of who they were looking for.

After moving away at the ripe age of 18 to get your bachelor’s degree at a university far away, you had no intention of ever returning to your shitty town. School wasn’t too hard, you got good grades and had a few solid friends but still fell victim to the small town bullying and mentality that you’ve spent the last few years getting over in therapy. Attending the academy straight after graduating helped to keep you busy and away too - much to your mother’s protests - but you knew your goal in life. Joining the FBI and then eventually the BAU was your best shot at never returning, and while your one track mind kept you focused, it unfortunately lead to this case.

On the plus side, it also lead you to the best group of friends - who were your family, lets face it - and boyfriend you could ask for. Dr Spencer Reid was the first member of the team that you were introduced to by Supervisory Special Agent Hotchner on your first day. As he’s your age and at the time, a little awkward, Hotch thought you’d be least intimidated joining the team by meeting him first.

Hotch told you that he was a genius and had a tendency to ramble trivia at people, which intrigued you. You’d never met a 26 year old genius before. As he lead you down the ramp and across the bullpen, you noted 2 women; a blonde girl with quirky clothes and a big grin and a brunette with big eyes and a bright red tank top. You felt their eyes follow you and SSA Hotchner across the room as he lead you to wonder boy’s desk. He had his head buried in a file; legs bunched together on his seat, a pen tapping against his lips absentmindedly, his face obscured slightly by the hair falling across his cheeks and forehead. You reached his desk and Hotch cleared his throat slightly. When he didn’t react, Hotch finally spoke up.

“Dr Reid, this is Special Agent Y/F/N, Y/L/N.” Hotch said in a firm but polite tone. Spencer flinched when Hotch spoke, his voice snapping him out of whatever work induced rabbit hole his brain was stuck in. In an instant, his legs were now back onto the floor, whipped his head up and pushed his glasses up onto his head. Spencer leaned over his desk and extended his hand, to shake yours. He gave you a big smile which you remember looked genuine and sweet at the time.

“Hi, I’m Dr Reid… Or Spencer, just call me Spencer, Dr sounds prententious. I mostly just say it to sound smart but I don’t want to give you the wrong impression.” As he started rambling, you couldn’t help but stare. Now that his face wasn’t covered by his hair, you noticed how pretty he was. His light, soft brown eyes scanned your face while you accidentally stared into them. There was a kindness there that you felt drawn to and you couldn’t help but smile to yourself at his strong jawline.

“Agent Y/L/N?” Spencer questioned softly, his smile dropping to a face of mild concern. You looked down and realised his hand was still extended waiting for you to shake it. Mortified that you’d been staring at this poor man’s face, you blushed and quickly stuck your hand out to reciprocate the greeting.

“Nice to meet you!” You tried to muster in your cheeriest polite voice, hiding your embarrassment as best you could. His smile grew again, cheeks turning ever so slightly salmon colored.

“Reid, I’m leaving Agent Y/L/N in your care. Can you please introduce them to the rest of the team before the debrief? JJ’s waiting for us in the briefing room but I’ve told her to wait 5 minutes for introductions.” With that, Hotch left and you stood semi awkwardly at Reid’s desk unsure whether to initiate conversation or wait for him to take the lead. Thankfully he did.

“As the idiom says ‘there’s no time like the present’” Spencer quipped, standing up and placing his case file onto the desk. He gestured to follow him as he lead you to the two women who you could tell were gossiping quite frankly.

Since then, you’d been inseparable. The whole team noticed how fond you were of each other; 6 months of choosing to pair up on missions, sleeping next to each other on the jet, filing paperwork until the early hours alone in the office. Eventually, Garcia - your loveable bubbly tech analyst best friend - forced you to go on an official date - much to your fake protestations - and that night, you decided to make it official. The “I love you’s” came after a particularly dangerous case where you got shot in the field. The good doctor refused to leave your side from the minute you were injured until you got into the hospital bed. After surgery to remove the bullet, he laid on your recovery bed with you and whispered that he loved you and you whispered back before you both drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 2

taglist: @gghostwriter @inlovewithelliewilliams @the-quackson-brothers @lonelymuffin @lobstertalk @primrosesposts

#criminal minds #spencer reid #criminal minds x reader #dr spencer reid #criminal minds fanfiction #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid x reader #bau team #spencer reid x bau!reader #writing

165 notes · View notes

gonetoforks · 5 months

Text

Introducing; Yuichi Usagi-Cuddles!

There’s a slight typo in his basic character bio, (first, grey image) other than “yuich,” his family in America lives in the part of the hidden city under Jersey. He lives in Jersey. He’s a Jersian. So in terms of leosagi, it’s gonna be an enemies-to-lovers comedy-of-errors muahahahaha!!

More (a LOT more) info about him as his own guy under the cutoff :D ⬇️

Basically; He’s a silly guy! I feel like his kinda buffoonish, embarrassing personality in canon is simultaneously PERFECT for Rise’s writing style & grievously underrated in fanon depictions. So he’s this clownish type of character, haha.

Okay, time to go hyperfixation mode.

Adhd & his stubborn attitude;

He has ADHD! Executive function issues makes it hard for him to start tasks & manage himself, so he relies on his teams (the Mad Dogs when he’s training & the Rise equivalent to his canon friend group on his own time) to not only instruct him, but also hold him accountable & keep him on task. He’s body-doubling without even realizing it.

Although, he resents the things he does to accommodate his disability. He doesn’t notice that doing the things he does genuinely helps or why so he thinks he’s using them as a crutch because of incompetence. Every time he gets stubborn and ignores the things he needs to do, he crashes and burns. When he was new in town with no teacher & no friends who liked martial arts, he became a huge sad sack until the kraang invasion.

His character arc is about being able to rely on other people & accommodations. That relying on a bit more help than other people doesn’t make you incompetent, choosing to seek out the support you need so you can do your best is the true mature thing to do. I was inspired by canon Yuichi’s struggles with paying attention and Rise’s themes of cooperation. (& also my own experience with adhd and learning with executive function issues & junk)

Relationships w/ the turtles;

The Mad Dogs agree to let him like, intern with them? So he can see what it’s like to be a vigilante, they offer him advice and they occasionally go on low to mid-tier missions with his help. They take him on cause they think more heroes and allies out there, the less work they have to do haha. Also, one of the writers mentioned a season 3 would have them adjusting to being ~official heroes,~ I think this would be them trying to be “real.”

He’s closest friends with Mikey out of the whole group! (Adhd solidarity) Then it goes Donnie -> Raph -> and finally Leo (for now muahaha)

I tried to give Leosagi an interesting dynamic with constructing his character like this; They have similar insecurities from drawing self-worth from technical capabilities that they can develop past together, but Leo is clever and calculating about it vs Yuichi being rash and impulsive. So like smart x stupid but they’re the same actually.

His Family in Jersey;

He speaks english fluently because he’s visited his American family frequently his whole life, they’re very close. He has an accent though since he mainly speaks Japanese.

I haven’t fleshed out this concept enough, but I think members of his jersey/Cuddles half of the family would be spoofs of characters from the original yojimbo comics, implied to be reincarnations? Except Miyamoto ofc. (i’ll explain later..)

Reusing the ninja orphans plotline from the original show, his family utilizes their cute appearances to run an orphanage too. They wonder why this Chizu lady is constantly showing up with unhoused children, but they’re just grateful they’re safe now.

Everyone in his family HATES Mrs. Cuddles, they all think she’s in prison and are happy about it. She might’ve given him that scratch on his face.

Additional;

He is gay.

Thank you for your time.

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #artists on tumblr #rottmnt #leosagi #leoichi #tmnt #tmnt fanart #adhd #adhd character #rottmnt usagi #tmnt leonardo #rottmnt leo #gonetoforks’ art

237 notes · View notes