#the demo is out and damn bro

[twcfaces]

"Some animals do better in cages. Some gnaw their own leg off. Which one are you?"

[nostalgebraist]

Honestly I'm pretty tired of supporting nostalgebraist-autoresponder. Going to wind down the project some time before the end of this year.

Posting this mainly to get the idea out there, I guess.

This project has taken an immense amount of effort from me over the years, and still does, even when it's just in maintenance mode.

Today some mysterious system update (or something) made the model no longer fit on the GPU I normally use for it, despite all the same code and settings on my end.

This exact kind of thing happened once before this year, and I eventually figured it out, but I haven't figured this one out yet. This problem consumed several hours of what was meant to be a relaxing Sunday. Based on past experience, getting to the bottom of the issue would take many more hours.

My options in the short term are to

A. spend (even) more money per unit time, by renting a more powerful GPU to do the same damn thing I know the less powerful one can do (it was doing it this morning!), or

B. silently reduce the context window length by a large amount (and thus the "smartness" of the output, to some degree) to allow the model to fit on the old GPU.

Things like this happen all the time, behind the scenes.

I don't want to be doing this for another year, much less several years. I don't want to be doing it at all.

----

In 2019 and 2020, it was fun to make a GPT-2 autoresponder bot.

[EDIT: I've seen several people misread the previous line and infer that nostalgebraist-autoresponder is still using GPT-2. She isn't, and hasn't been for a long time. Her latest model is a finetuned LLaMA-13B.]

Hardly anyone else was doing anything like it. I wasn't the most qualified person in the world to do it, and I didn't do the best possible job, but who cares? I learned a lot, and the really competent tech bros of 2019 were off doing something else.

And it was fun to watch the bot "pretend to be me" while interacting (mostly) with my actual group of tumblr mutuals.

In 2023, everyone and their grandmother is making some kind of "gen AI" app. They are helped along by a dizzying array of tools, cranked out by hyper-competent tech bros with apparently infinite reserves of free time.

There are so many of these tools and demos. Every week it seems like there are a hundred more; it feels like every day I wake up and am expected to be familiar with a hundred more vaguely nostalgebraist-autoresponder-shaped things.

And every one of them is vastly better-engineered than my own hacky efforts. They build on each other, and reap the accelerating returns.

I've tended to do everything first, ahead of the curve, in my own way. This is what I like doing. Going out into unexplored wilderness, not really knowing what I'm doing, without any maps.

Later, hundreds of others with go to the same place. They'll make maps, and share them. They'll go there again and again, learning to make the expeditions systematically. They'll make an optimized industrial process of it. Meanwhile, I'll be locked in to my own cottage-industry mode of production.

Being the first to do something means you end up eventually being the worst.

----

I had a GPT chatbot in 2019, before GPT-3 existed. I don't think Huggingface Transformers existed, either. I used the primitive tools that were available at the time, and built on them in my own way. These days, it is almost trivial to do the things I did, much better, with standardized tools.

I had a denoising diffusion image generator in 2021, before DALLE-2 or Stable Diffusion or Huggingface Diffusers. I used the primitive tools that were available at the time, and built on them in my own way. These days, it is almost trivial to do the things I did, much better, with standardized tools.

Earlier this year, I was (probably) one the first people to finetune LLaMA. I manually strapped LoRA and 8-bit quantization onto the original codebase, figuring out everything the hard way. It was fun.

Just a few months later, and your grandmother is probably running LLaMA on her toaster as we speak. My homegrown methods look hopelessly antiquated. I think everyone's doing 4-bit quantization now?

(Are they? I can't keep track anymore -- the hyper-competent tech bros are too damn fast. A few months from now the thing will be probably be quantized to -1 bits, somehow. It'll be running in your phone's browser. And it'll be using RLHF, except no, it'll be using some successor to RLHF that everyone's hyping up at the time...)

"You have a GPT chatbot?" someone will ask me. "I assume you're using AutoLangGPTLayerPrompt?"

No, no, I'm not. I'm trying to debug obscure CUDA issues on a Sunday so my bot can carry on talking to a thousand strangers, every one of whom is asking it something like "PENIS PENIS PENIS."

Only I am capable of unplugging the blockage and giving the "PENIS PENIS PENIS" askers the responses they crave. ("Which is ... what, exactly?", one might justly wonder.) No one else would fully understand the nature of the bug. It is special to my own bizarre, antiquated, homegrown system.

I must have one of the longest-running GPT chatbots in existence, by now. Possibly the longest-running one?

I like doing new things. I like hacking through uncharted wilderness. The world of GPT chatbots has long since ceased to provide this kind of value to me.

I want to cede this ground to the LLaMA techbros and the prompt engineers. It is not my wilderness anymore.

I miss wilderness. Maybe I will find a new patch of it, in some new place, that no one cares about yet.

----

Even in 2023, there isn't really anything else out there quite like Frank. But there could be.

If you want to develop some sort of Frank-like thing, there has never been a better time than now. Everyone and their grandmother is doing it.

"But -- but how, exactly?"

Don't ask me. I don't know. This isn't my area anymore.

There has never been a better time to make a GPT chatbot -- for everyone except me, that is.

Ask the techbros, the prompt engineers, the grandmas running OpenChatGPT on their ironing boards. They are doing what I did, faster and easier and better, in their sleep. Ask them.

[lxnarmoons]

imagining your relationship with ateez!

a/n: i apologize this is so long..... i like to imagine!! i hope you enjoy :3

KIM HONGJOONG→ - this man will write you love songs - ballads, raps, hiphop, yada yada, he'll write songs about you in his freetime - you're on his mind 24/7 so he expresses his ideas with his writing! - depending on your native language, he'll learn it just for you. i def can see him wanting to learn every little thing about you because he loves you - he'll paint your nails for you :D - you once told him you were interested in starting fashion, so he began designing clothes with you - watching him work is amazing, he's kind of a workaholic - when hongjoong is exhausted from working in the studio, you'll sit with him, either sitting in his lap or just being there with him - your presence seems to wipe all the stress off of him - he loves compliments but gets so flustered when you compliment him back - "you're so cute, y/n..." "you're cuter, joongie!" "ohmygody/nstopit" - music brought you two together and it'll keep you two bonded - after he's done working on a few songs, he'll take you to the recording studio so you both can make demos for them!

PARK SEONGHWA→ - seonghwa is lowkey the prince of your dreams. - i know i know i KNOW if you're having a bad day, he'll hold you tight and sing to you, maybe your favorite songs - forehead kisses, making sure you're alright - i feel like out of all the members, he knows how to listen and comfort you - he will do anything that makes you happy. trust me. - "hi, lovey!" he is such a lovey-dovey man.... - bro is HEAD OVER HEELS in love with you!!! and isn't afraid to show it!!!!! - i know he's a sucker for when you call him "hwa," it makes him feel giggly or osmething - if seonghwa's away on tour, he always makes it a priority to call you every night - "dude, not right now, i'm trying to call y/n..." - he just wants to hear your voice, it helps him fall asleep.... you're just so comforting to him - tbh i see him as a little shy when he's with you because he sees you as this really really cool person - especially in front of the other members and they like to tease him - but (I WOULD HOPE) you're really sweet and always know how to make him feel better!

JEONG YUNHO→ - do dog cafes exist? because if so, that would be where you and him left - yunho would LITERALLY wake you up by singing that one song uhhh what's it called - "you are my sunshine / my only sunshine" idk - because yunho is so damn tall, he's kinda like your cuddle buddy - literally he will trap you in his chest while you two are together (big broad chest) - he's soft and gentle; head pats, small kisses everywhere and anywhere - maybe more likely on your neck??/ if that makes you uncomfy, he loves kissing your knuckles - OMG and that cringey thing like kissing your knuckles everytime he sees you - "good morning, princess" - princess treatment princess treatment princess treatment all from mr. jeong yunho!! - mingi finds it incredibly cringey but it's so funny.... he tells yunho to shut up but it never works in the end because yunho will simply kiss your lips to be quiet while you laugh - he loves pda and isn't afraid to show you off to the other members :) always will make you known, no matter what - "guys, this is my partner, y/n. say hi!"

KANG YEOSANG→ - depending on if you like to talk or not, you and yeosang will always be a pair, he listens to you and you listen to him :3 - he's also a little oblivious but it's kind of funny n cute - HELP he's def the most overprotective in terms of your safety - "Y/N, LOVE, I SWEAR-- DO NOT EAT THAT." - you and yeo would be the dumb/dumber duo (IM SORRY THIS IS JUST HOW I THINK OF IT) - you two can be roblox buddies!! - blind leading the blind.... - he likes to run his hands through your hair, maybe braid it (probably really badly.) - he will force you to watch the goofiest cartoons ever. - "y/n-y/n-y/n-y/n-y/n i wanna watch my little pony" or something (mlp is so good) 😭 - rainy day dates!!! - he def has the most atrocious .5s of you in his camera roll.... and vice versa - he's usually really quiet with you.... most of the time it'll just be you and him listening to music - yeosang is your biggest fan boy!! - profession or not, he'll always be cheering you on - "you're doing so good, baby!" and "i love you sososososo much"

CHOI SAN→ - babe. trust me. babe. - he likes to call you babe no matter the time, setting, blah blah blah. he over uses it so much that the members begin to like gag.... - babe and baby !! the other members dont mind baby as much but wooyoung will kick his balls if he says it too much - he loves hand placement. hand on the waist, hand on thighs, hands on butt COUGH COUGH COUGH - san always strives for your comfort! hes the kinda guy who knows what you like and dont like, so when he sees you're uncomfy, it's like a zap and boom- - "baby, you okay?" and if you aren't, "let's get outta here. it's not important." - he could be in the most important meeting of your life and would be more concerned about you!! - imagine late nights with san: romance, horror, comedy movies, whatever they might be, he just wants to stay up late - after the movie's over, you'll either watch another one or you'll simply talk about everything and nothing - cuddles. head on his chest, both of you maybe scrolling on your phones, sorta ignoring each other but enjoying each other's presence - he's very overprotective.... like touch her wrong and i'll beat u up idk - like yeosang, he likes rainy days. dates will involve just watching the rain and giggling stupidly

SONG MINGI→ - NOW IMAGINE THIS MAN MAKING YOU BREAKFAST IN BED - stumbling out of the kitchen in the morning, seeing mingi in the kitchen with his smile - "hi bubba, you hungry?" - I CAN SEE HIM AS BUBBA BECAUSE LIKE he thinks its funny - (me personally) calling him bubba back and pinching his cheeks which makes him giggle - mingi's definitely likes to keep your relationship more private - it'd probably be out there but i feel like he mostly keeps your activities to yourselves (unlike wooyoung.....) - he likes to press his forehead to yours and hold you close to him, mostly because he feels the connection... he likes listening to your heartbeat - so he likes laying on your chest!! he's often dozing off there..... - mingi likes to tease you a lot but always knows your limits, making sure that he doesn't cross any boundaries and accidentally hurting you - IF you have any sort of trauma and/or bad experiences in the past, he likes to listen and just let you vent - when he's writing songs for ateez, he likes to take you with him on the journey - especially if he's recording any new demos!! he'll take you to the recording studio, like hongjoong!!

JUNG WOOYOUNG→ - jung wooyoung is the goddamn most obnoxious person ever - like san, he likes to make it known that you n him are a thing, just not in that overprotective way - arm around your waist or shoulders, yapping to whoever - "hey guys have you met my lovely lovely partner...." - i personally don't see him as a nick/petname kinda guy but if i haddd to guess i would say probably one of those really cringey ones like cupcake..... oh he would def text like that - "hi cupcake" "open your door pls" LMAO - but most of the time he uses your name because he likes it ! - "Y-NNNNN!!" - i see him as a very good listener and somehow always giving the best advice when you need it - he loves spooning you because he gets worried you'd just vanish (idk i see it) but would lowk hold u tightly 😭 - one time he tried to cook for you but ended up setting the ateez stove on fire (hongjoong beat his ass) he wouldn't stop pouting so you forced him to cuddle!!! - yap sessions 24/7, especially if you like to yap - it'd be going back and forth LOL - he also learned how to braid hair for you!! depending if youre fem, masc, or anything else, he likes to braid hair and learned especially for you :)

CHOI JONGHO→ - i just know this man would call you honey - maybe even sweetie but i feel like he would call you honey more - "sweetie, have you eaten today?" jsjgdljklgjksdLJJLKGSADLJ - he would definitely be shy about using it in public, he's not too big on pda, but i think he would warm up to calling you honey/sweetie in front of the others - they lowk tease him and he gets flustered (what a cutueiiee) - even though he might not like touching, i have a feeling he would like cuddling in private - he loves those moments between just you and him - genuinely i can see his favorite date being the photobooths..... like imagine putting bear ears on him and that gummy smile of his jklldsgds :c - he loves to see you smile and laugh, so even if he despises the ears or whatever accessories you force on him, he can't help but laugh along because he loves to see you happy - if you're sad, he'll do all this goofy stuff just to make you smile - jongho, like all members, is constantly making sure you're okay, like "how did you sleep?" n "are you feeling okay?" - GENTLEMANnnNNN - karaoke nights are just filled with him singing you love songs - help i cant remember if he likes to cook but if he does he would cook (like mingi!!) - he likes forehead kisses. case closed.

[prettyboypistol]

What if... stuff that m!reader does/can do that makes the mercs flustered? even if its just making them a little embarrassed i need to know!!!

What You Do That Flusters the Mercs! || TF2 x M!Reader

Scout

He likes watching you socialize with people, you naturally lean on walls and tilt your neck up when you laugh- god damn, you look so hot when you laugh!

For some reason, when you throw things and catch them. He has no idea why it just makes his heart skips a beat.

When you focus and your eyebrows knit together and it deadass just stares at you.

Soldier

DISPLAYS. OF. POWER. Deadlift something. Throw an enemy off a cliff. Threaten a Spy and scare him. Solly will never fucking recover.

Independence and general "coolness" makes Jane stumble over his words! You don't need a man, yet you still ask him to assist you? He feels so honored!

Asking for help casually, like said above. When you extend your hand out to grab something from him it makes Soldier scream internally.

Pyro

The fact that you're kind to people makes them like you. You're sweet and polite and cordial when you want to be. You're not annoying or hard ot read or obnoxious- you're just kind.

When you take your time with things to understand them. They daydream about spilling all their secrets to you.

Protectiveness really flusters Pyro. One time in battle, Pyro was cornered. You slammed the Scouts with a metal pole and growled that "nobody touches our Pyro!". They haven't stopped thinking about that. Nor will they ever.

Demo

Tavish is enamoured with your sense of humor. He loves how you're quick to make a joke and open to laughing at anything.

Can't help but blush when you stare at him. Yeah, half of the times you stare, you're spacing out, but Tavish still looks away and is flushed a pretty deep red.

The joking flirting??? YEAH HE STARTED IT BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE ALLOWED TO BE THAT HOT

Engie

Hard work and general work ethic.

Dell is super insecure about the fact the finds you super hot when you're sweaty. After a battle or working out is when Dell seems to linger around, stealing glances at you.

WHEN. YOU. PRAISE. HIS. INVENTIONS. That replays in his head all week long.

Heavy

He likes to watch you spar with people with stuff like wrestling/boxing, especially when you swing Scout around like a baseball bat.

There was one time where you and Heavy were in a tough spot against the enemy team, down by 4 kills. There was just something in your eye that had a light of fire and determination. Seeing that is how he fell for you.

Cook for this man please he will love you and blush forever.

Medic

CASUAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT MEDICAL PAPERS AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES. GOD YES.

Cooing with his birds??? He wants to pick you up and spin you around and kiss you and-

He really likes when you challenge him. You give this confident smirk and your tone shifts that make Medic want to just scream about how handsome you are.

Spy

Spy's a man with refined taste. He likes his men like he likes his wine: aged finely and polished to perfection. He likes when you're classy and get onto the others about acting crass and classless.

If you can dance, Spy absolutely pulls some strings to have you two on a mission where you two are in matching suits and dancing together.

Spy once was muttering to himself in french and you catch him and you just lean over the back of the couch, look down at him with a knowing smile and just respond in french as well "now now, a lady shouldn't scowl like that." He knew you meant it as a playful insult, but he blushed wildly under his mask.

Sniper

Mick's downright horrendously flustered when you make eye contact with him. You're a tad shorter than he is, so you looking up from behind to him makes Mick shake in his boots.

Bro please don't grunt/groan in effort at anything. He will NOT stop thinking about that.

When you accidentally look at him during missions. He's always keeping an eye on you, so when you stare back at him it makes his heart flutter.

[jar-of-something-else]

sleeping w/ the mercs [IT IS LIKE THAT]

these are so badddddd bro literally ignore this i just need practice and the mercs are my victims pinky promise i'll get better

yeah the title is the exact same as the tf2 headcanons from my main SO WHAT

if ur under 16 please don't interact 👍🏻

afab reader i’m sorry guys :( gender is totally neutral though

obviously this is under a cut

warnings/includes: MENTIONS OF SYRINGES/NEEDLES, SCALPELS, AND MEDICAL STUFF IN MEDIC'S SECTION!!!!!! AND KNIVES AND BLOOD IN SNIPER'S!!!! these are so bad, pyro is insane, medic is also insane, sniper is depraved, actually everybody's depraved, i'm depraved and also so so sorry

mostly what they're into/how they behave, nothing super reader specific in these ones

Scout:

-he’s got enough experience but he isn’t as good as he says he is, he’s got the spirit though and that’s what matters

-really good with his fingers but he can't find the clit half the time so help him out a bit

-absolutely an ass man but isn’t into anal

-scout usually likes positions where he can easily see/touch your ass (doggy, reverse cowgirl, etc)

-definitely says cringe shit in the bedroom, 100% refers to himself as daddy (which is canon i think?? i remember him having a voice line where he does that, could be wrong tho)

-has tried (and failed) to call you kitten on the regular but reverted back to the usual (still cringy) nicknames he calls you after demo made fun of him

-he never shuts up so the dirty talk is CRAZYYYY

-calls you stuff like doll, baby, babe, and uses pretty girl/boy/baby and babygirl/boy/doll when he's close

-even though he’s a little clumsy with it, he really does like giving oral, just give him a little direction; BUT likes receiving oral even more, sorry abt ur knees babe 💔

-definitely into semi-public sex, he won’t do anything in front of people but you bet your ass he’s finding some alleyway or storage closet to get freaky in

-does get jealous pretty easy and even though he’s usually not too rough with you he is not above manhandling when he sees fit

-the dog tags stay on, do with that what you will

Soldier:

-good GAWD

-literally so mean but mean in a hot way so that makes it okay

-absolutely nickname crazy; most of them aren't very cute or sexy (i.e. cadet, maggot, etc) but cupcake always makes an appearance

-very much into verbal degradation because of course he is, is also very into manhandling and just kinda tossing you around but he doesn't wanna hurt you too bad

-rarely ever fucks on an actual bed, usually it's the nearest wall/table/chair/couch, any surface you could lay/sit on really

-no the helmet is not coming off but that adds to it

-the honey IS going on though, maybe not his full body but it will make an appearance (he’s def into foodplay)

-tiny bit of a size kink, i think soldier is one of the taller, bulkier mercs so there's a very good chance he's much bigger than you in one way or another

-would absolutely be interested in a threesome with demo let's get real here

-very attracted to body hair bc i say so

-likes positions where he's very obviously the one in control/with the power; very into restraint either with some device (handcuffs, rope, etc) or with his own hands

-VERY loud, so good luck with that lmao

Pyro:

-man,,,,

-obviously into temperature and wax play

-the mask and suit do not come off, but pyro has a plethora of toys to use on you instead 😊

-gets off on the idea that he's some faceless person you can't really understand that has complete control over you and your body

-does occasionally lift the mask up just above his nostrils to kiss you, though, scarred lips be damned

-does babble a lot, even though it's all muffled; the nicknames he uses are surprisingly cute, he'll call you stuff like sugarplum, marshmallow, firefly, sugar cube, and other sickly-sweet names

-doesn't like showing you his bare skin/body because of their burn scars, but pyro does enjoy grinding if you wanna help him out that bad

-derives most of his pleasure from making you feel good, though, so he isn't really looking for any type of physical release on his end

-pyro's are kinda short i just can't think of any more rn i apologize 💔

Demo:

-WHAT A MAN 😍😍😍

-#1 lover out of all the mercs get fucked spy

-i think his build is very similar to soldiers, maybe an inch or two taller, so he definitely has the same lowkey size kink

-is also open to a threesome with soldier

-absolutely a service dom but he teases so much

-FAKE SYMPATHY!!!! FAKE SYMPATHY!!!!!!!

-likes when you call him by his name more than any of the cheesy titles dudes usually want their significant other to call them but he is always referring to you by any nickname he can think of; the most popular ones are lamb, sweetheart, lass/lad, my girl/boy/baby and "poor, sweet thing"

-loves talking to you and making you talk back to him even when you're literally on a different planet; makes you tell him what you want him to do even though he knows exactly what you're gonna say

-also slightly into dumbification (not to the extent medic or engineer are, though, he just thinks it's hot)

-very much into face and thigh riding

-foreplay alone could last as long as an hour if he's feeling "mean" at that particular time

-THIGH MAN!!!!!! LET'S GO!!!!!!!!!!

-makes you hold eye contact with him, sometimes the eyepatch comes off 🥴

-likes giving a whole lot more than receiving but he isn't about to turn down a blowjob if you offer

-waking you up with oral, it's his version of breakfast in bed

Heavy:

-and you thought demo was a service dom 🙄

-literally will do whatever you ask him to he does not care, as long as you feel good he's content

-very obvious size kink and it's very easy to exploit, but heavy doesn't take too kindly to teasing (he isn't about to stop you, though)

-speaks mostly in russian so unless you're fluent you can't really understand him but you get the gist of what he's saying by the tone in his voice

-outside of whatever russian bullshit he's spouting out, he calls you his "leetle bunny"

-tries to be gentle with you because of how big he is, but if he's provoked he can and will get wild

-as stated above, he can and will get wild, which includes his dirty talk; russian praise will turn into demeaning english muttered in your ear

-BREEDING KINK !!!!!!!!!!

-doesn't tease you on purpose, but he goes slow enough to where you think he's fucking with you (no pun intended)

-begging is never necessary but it is a guilty pleasure of his

-doesn't ask to receive oral often but watching you struggle with it does kinda turn him on even more

-face sitting extraordinaire, yes he does make the stupid eating sounds like in the game and yes he does it on purpose to try to make you laugh

-LET HEAVY FUCK NASTY GOD DAMN IT!!!

Engineer:

-WHAT A MIGHTY GOOD MAN 😍😍😍

-much stronger than you'd think he is and he does use that to his advantage

-slight temperature play when the gunslinger is involved, it's just a little colder than room temperature but it's a very stark contrast

-loves conflicting his speech with his actions; he'll sweet talk and praise you while he's railing you into next week

-speaking of, he'll call you anything but your name. honeybee, honey, darlin', sweet girl/boy/baby, baby girl/boy/doll, any nickname that sounds hot in a southern accent he's callin you

-he absolutely has a daddy kink but won't tell you unless you have one too and approach him first, chances are you're younger than he is and he doesn't wanna make you think he's a weirdo

-all in all, the dirty talk is INSANEEEEEEEE

-absolutely into dumbification, he knows he's smart and he gets off on the power imbalance when you're babbling about nothing and he's still perfectly present

-also slightly into dacryphilia? it's not attractive when you're crying from pain, sadness, frustration, etc but he likes making you feel so good you're overwhelmed and all you can do is cry for him

-might forget to take the helmet and goggles off, but if you want him to keep them on then by all means he will

-would absolutely abide by the cowboy hat rule (if you don't know what that is, basically if a cowboy puts his hat on your head y'all are fuckin' later on)

-very much into bigger people, the extra chub around the thighs, chest, cheek, and stomach areas are a weakness of his

MEDIC!

-the moment we've all been waiting for

-kinda like soldier in the fact that he's mean in a hot way, but it's less bully-mean and more absolutely deranged mean

-of course he's into degradation and medical play, definitely dacryphilia and dumbification (for similar reasons engineer is), another merc with a slight size kink cause medic is big as hell

-likes to get you on the operation table and trace a syringe or scalpel (or both if he's feeling patient [haha get it]) along your body purely for the fear it evokes from you

-wants to get you scared/vulnerable and that's how he starts his foreplay; totally into the whole predator/prey thing but not in the same way sniper is, medic is more into metaphorical or psychological hunting rather than the actual thing

-FAKE SYMPATHY!!!!!! FAKE SYMPATHY!!!!! FAKE SYMPATHY!!!

-teases, edges, and overstimulates you to the point of tears and gets this stupid smug look on his face while cooing at you

-calls you demeaning names, like pet, but he's got some cute ones he uses too; täubchen, maus, schatz, and liebling (dove, mouse, sweetheart, and darling) are very prevalent in and outside of the bedroom

-if you're okay with it, medic does like to use you as a bit of stress relief when everybody else is getting on his nerves

-is 100% down for a doctor/nurse or doctor/patient roleplay let's get real here

-also into semi-public sex, sometimes he'll leave the medbay door unlocked and slightly ajar purpose just to mess with you

-though he is very rough with you most of the time, he likes to save his more tender moments for when the two of you are in an actual bedroom and not his workspace

Sniper:

-wild. like genuinely doesn't know what to do with himself when he's horny he just goes fucking crazy.

-even though he gets crazy insane, he doesn’t really know what all to do and it frustrates him; he doesn't have much experience when it comes to sexual acts with another person involved so please give him some pointers

-absolutely into knife play come on

-if you have a period, he'd also be down for period sex he does not care about blood in the slightest

-isn't all that nickname-heavy like some of the other mercs here, but he does sprinkle them into his dirty talk. it's usually the same things he calls you outside of the bedroom, like 'roo, darl', and love

-into body worship, giving or receiving. he likes making you feel beautiful and he likes feeling good about himself too

-would definitely want you to suck him off while he does target practice and i know this is such a popular headcanon but come on guys

-another popular headcanon is sniper being into predator/prey dynamics which like,,,come on. it's literally perfect. you're telling me this nutcase dude wouldn't be into scaring the shit out of you by physically hunting you down. it's basically canon idc

-likes biting and leaving marks on your neck/shoulders in very visible areas because he's kind of a possessive guy ngl

-as much as he likes people seeing the aftermath of what he does to you, sniper is a very private person so he really wouldn't be all that into sneaky sex. the closest you'll get is his sniper nest while he does target practice on cease-fire days

Spy:

-despite being an asshole on the regular, he's a very attentive lover

-into body worship but only giving, he already knows he's fine and he wants to make sure you're never insecure about yourself

-bilingual babe 😍 speaks in french so much you can't really understand what he's talking about but he's more than happy to give you a translation

-also has a daddy kink let's get real here

-KNIFE PLAY!!!!!!!!!!

-heavily into power play as well, similar to pyro because he'll keep his clothes (including the mask and gloves) on while you're completely bare to him

-likes buying you lingerie

-likes getting and giving head the same amount, he has no real preference cause it's gonna end in sex every time anyway 🤷‍♀️

-french nicknames ONLY!!!! mon cher (my dear), ma chérie/mon chéri (my darling), amour/mon amour (love/my love), gentille fille/garçon/bébé (sweet girl/boy/baby), mon ange (my angel) [currently using my basic understanding of the french language for evil]

-semi-public and public sex spy does not give a fuck he has a cloaking device for a reason 🙄🙄

-if you don't already have one he will give you an accent kink

[heavens-aesthetic-kitchen]

Why the TF2 Defense Trio deserve more recognition

The people have spoken, I have decided to create an essay disguised as a post on this godforsaken website because it's a free country goddammit! (I would have done it either way lmaooo, I have a lot of shit to say about these maniacs) To start this formal essay glorified very serious shitpost, why should you as a tf2 fan care about these 3 men? They're so "boring" and there's not much going on with them. If ya took a second, let's pause with what was being said. YOU MUST BE OUT OF YOUR GODDAMN MIND to think such thoughts, we must shake you out of cuckoo land by giving you an in-depth look into these three so that you understand where I'm coming from. Let's start in order:

Demoman:

After being in the fandom since 2019, there's always one character I always thought wasn't given much anything in the fandom at all. Even taking ships out of the equation, there's barely any fics I've that focus on Tavish Finneagan Degroot specifically that I've seen that isn't a compilation fic (I read a lot of x readers, don't judge me). Believe me, I checked ao3. I went through Demoman's tags and I tried very hard to filter a lot of the crossover and relationship tags, yet there's less of Demoman himself, than there's him just existing as a side character of a story. Which is honestly sad, I honestly think Demo is one of the more kinder mercs compared to a lot of the team. This man made friends with the BLU soldier, despite knowing that they were supposed to be killing each other. Sure, it's unclear whether or not Demo did actually go through with it and it's just a ruse, because the voicelines in WAR! don't have a set timeline. But I do think that Demo would have tried to keep his friendship with BLU soldier. He's very chill. I've never actually seen him get violent against his friends and family, despite being a drunkard. I honestly think he's one of the sweetest people in TF2, he takes good care of his mom and haunted sword lmaoooo. Jokes aside, he seems like a genuinely good man and I barely see anything that suggests he's sadistic. He's a chaotic and loud, but not bad. Not bad at all. The fact he can still do his job well, even after drinking so much that his body created a whole distillery, is even more impressive. He is damn good at what he does and works very hard. He's had multiple jobs, even as wee little lad. Despite what people think of him, the fact he's getting paid 5 million dollars a year, is proof he knows what he's doing. He loves his job and couldn't bear the thought of not working. I feel like his backstory isn't talked about enough in the fandom either. When you think about it, it's kinda fucked up that he was put in an orphanage by his biological parents until he was in the right age to be blowing people up. Not only that, his eye socket was haunted by the Bombinomicon so that every halloween a giant eye would manifest, attacking him and his friends. Even Medic couldn't help him and instead resorting to scooping the part of Demo's brain where he remembered so he would stop asking. He most likely has a lot of stories for you, I see him as the type that has a lot to say. His past is the most fleshed out and complete out of all the mercs, which I really appreciate, you can do a lot more with him. Also another thing, during Unhappy Returns, he took the time to reassure Soldier that he wouldn't think he's a civilian. He didn't brush Soldier's worries aside and instead comforted him. I wish I had a lot more to say about Demo because I am baffled that he isn't being gushed about as a potential partner. He has the excitement and like zero baggage. A thing I also wanna point out is that he seems to be insecure of the fact he's a black scottish man with only one eye during Meet The Demoman. I may be reading into things a bit too much, but it makes me wanna be like "NOOOO don't talk about yourself like that, bro. You're so cute UGHHH" Also also he's handsome. Sure looks can be subjective, but I still think Demo has a face I would kiss hehe. He looks great with his beard and his cheeky ass smile. GOD I could gush about him all day, but I have to move on rip.

Heavy:

Honestly, I'm having a hard time just finding the words to describe this amazing man without giving him the respect he deserves. But I'll sure try. Heavy has had a difficult life and I've always admired how strong he was. Not just of his muscles, but he endured one of the toughest situations and still kept moving forward with his life even though it was traumatizing. You see why I'm even having a hard time talking about him? I can't really get down into the weeds, without getting serious for a min. I feel like the fandom doesn't give him much credit for being able to deal with so much. He's the rock for his family after his father disappeared (atp I think he's dead, which is the cherry on top this depressing sundae) and I wouldn't doubt that he would be the same for his team. He's a man of few words, but that makes him all the more intriguing. Just because this man has a lot of brawn does not mean he's dumb at all. Despite how he acts in the battlefield, Heavy is observant and clever. Although, it's implied that Spy being Scout's dad is an open secret between the mercs and Miss Pauling, the fact he figured it out without saying it directly must mean he has a lot more going on. He's also educated, getting a phD in Russian Literature. It's not a STEM program, but he actually got a doctorate and went to college, that's a lot more than half of what the mercs did lmaooo. Also he has a bit of a softie side, not just for his mom and sisters, but also other creatures as well. I respect him so much for avoiding violence against those dogs during the Showdown comic. Not only shows what an absolute sweetheart he is, but also how much he's able to think quickly on his feet. Heavy is very direct and blunt, I don't see him as the type to lie about his feelings. I appreciate that he doesn't feel the need to sugarcoat anything, he'll get the job done and he ain't playing. There's no fluff, he knows what he wants and that's to rev up Sasha and ram through sons of bitches without any worries.

I feel like I wanna point out, his story seems the most unexplored in the fandom, even though it has a lot of potential for ANGST factor. I already broke down how sad it is, but I just feel like it isn't said enough. Can I just say how cuddly he looks?! GAH, I feel like he would give the warmest hugs! The way he smiled in Unhappy Returns when he finds out his family doesn't need to live in fear anymore, just melts my heart! He's so protective over his family and friends! I wish I had a lot more to say about this guy because I just can't stop finding more things about him that go unappreciated. I had to literally edit this part so many times before moving on, he just has those little details you don't notice until you take a second and have that OH MY GOD moment

Engineer:

I was getting so hyped, when it was finally our resident southern nerd's time to shine. GOD I have so much to say about this man. It's been over 5 fucking years and I have never stopped simping for this man since 2019, I think I'm gonna go insane from how much I've been repressing, I go feral when he's around. Anyways enough stalling. I don't ever think a fictional character has ever made me swoon quite like Engineer, I really mean that. I have ask and pleaded to whatever god was listening to give me a man like Engie. To me, he is everything I ever wanted and more.

First, I wanna talk about what makes him attractive to me. His accent. His southern charm, UGH he's killing me with that smooth voice and chivalry! I swear this man could make me faint just from existing. The way he smiles is so warm, his insults are so corny I love them. That five o clock shadow GAHH! I'm getting butterflies all over again. I swear I love all three of the defense bois, but Dell Conagher has my heart wrapped around his gunslinger metal finger. All those personal reasons aside, I've always thought Dell Conagher was a very interesting character in the world of TF2. He might not have much screen time or goofy shenanigans like the other mercs, but that doesn't mean you can ignore him oh no no no. This man is important within the whole story of Mann Co and TF industries, his grandfather being the catalyst of the game's events and the comics going forward. The Conaghers are the SOLE REASON why Team Fortress 2's story exists. I find it strange that the fandom hasn't done much with this fact because you can do a lot with this idea. Engineer knows a lot of shit and would be the biggest threat to Helen, if not for the fact that his family has been helping her for years.

Like his backstory, he's not seen much in the battlefield, but he has a lot more going on behind the scenes. Imagine the possibilities. He is damn intelligent and he knows it. While Dell is very sweet and has a southern charm, this is a facade to hide his God complex and sadistic tendencies. If you think this man is just your boring gentle engineer, you've got a big storm coming. It's heavily implied that he sawed off his own arm so that he could use the gunslinger. This man works on projects with Medic and doesn't question the moral implications of putting a human brain in a pumpkin. Hell, he threatened his own employer, even if he was an old man (Granted, Blutarch dug up his grandpa's grave, so he probably should have gotten something a lot worse than just Dell telling him to fuck off). Engineer is more than the texan egghead sweetie pie, he is a mercenary for a reason and I would argue that he might be as insane, if not more than, the rest of the team. No sane man would willingly work with a bunch of war criminals if he wasn't also crazy. That's the thing I really like about him. I love playing as him in the game because it represents his character very well. He technically serves a supportive role to the team with his buildings, but he is a killer with a lot of tools in his disposal, With the right amount of training, he can absolutely dominate in the battlefield.

I feel like he's one of the people that underestimate and assume that he's an easy target, but he's a lot more than that. He has a lot of layers that makes me want to learn more about him and what he has to offer.

In Conclusion:

These guys are cool. Lmaooo okay I won't just end it there. I genuinely believe that they're not getting the recognition that they deserve, they've got a lot more going for them if you pay attention. Sure they might not always be the loudest or most prominant character in the story, but what they lack in quantity, they make up for in quality TEN FOLD. They don't have to be your favourite, but you should at least give them a chance. You never know, they may surprise you.

Okay so thats enough of that, I couldn't find a divider above this message, so you're getting this grainy ass gif. Honestly, I put way too much effort on this shitpost lmaooo, but I just wanted to get my thoughts out in a more concise manner. If you want to add more stuff about these three that I didn't mention, feel free to do so. Anyways thanks for reading

[seat-safety-switch]

You can put up with a recalcitrant machine for quite some time. For instance, my garage door opener hasn't gone past about 70% in the last couple decades. Adapting, learning to live with it, making compromises: it's what us human beings are good at doing. One day, though, a machine will push you just a little bit too far.

Even the simplest YouTube journey will show you hundreds of videos of people destroying unreliable appliances. Once, long ago, these were prize possessions. Trusted comrades in the fight against disorder. Slowly, as they began to age and things started feeling not-so-fresh, there was still tolerance, or at least acceptance. Getting a new one is expensive, and I can live without hot water in my dishwasher. Eventually – and no one can predict when this is – the appliance just pushed someone too far, and it was time for catharsis.

Unfortunately for all of human civilization, the indulgence of this base instinct is not done as well as it could be. Usually, these videos are low-cost, shakycam affairs, a simple drunken smash-and-giggle among bros (and she-bros, and they-bros.) What our historical record wants, nay, needs is a commitment to the total obliteration of a Maytag washer-and-dryer combo, and that's where CERN comes in.

You might be aware of CERN from all the crazy shit that the haters put in the news. They built that huge particle collider that put our world onto the wrong timeline, but they swear (of course) that it's not their fault. Regardless of whose fault it actually is (CERN's arch-nemesis, NASA?) they still do possess a particle accelerator capable of absolutely blowing the living fuck out of a partially working home appliance. And they have lots of really good slow-motion cameras to capture the moment that their victim is reduced to its constituent atoms.

Unfortunately for all of us, the damn particle accelerator broke. Yeah, I guess they only bodged it to work for the one demo, and can't figure out how to get it to be reliable. Right now, if they want to do an experiment, one of the interns has to stand inside the reaction chamber and touch two wires together, quote, "really fast" before getting the hell out of dodge. And for some reason they haven't been able to hire for that job. Maybe one day it'll be replaced by robots, which will give us a whole other host of problems to solve.

[starr-finn]

Hi okay so for ur first tf2 req, I will go with something that isn't too specific lol

- So this can be for all, but you don't have to include Pyro and Heavy if you don't wanna do all

- So the prompt is, Medic has either become sick and can't participate in the fight, or he got an assistant medic (in the case for writing for Medic)

- And Reader is the replacement/assistant medic!

- She's kinda like a medic gf but in a /pos way

- So she's got the med gf outfit (blighted beak, das fantzipantzen, long pleated skirt) with a quick-fix (so she can follow rocket-jumpers and sticky-jumpers)

- She's also very nice and always compliments/thanks her team ('That was an amazing kill/shot' + 'Wow that was impressive' + 'Thanks so much for the dispenser/sandvich') bc yippee kindness

- You know the perennial petals effect? That's her-core (also yes, if needed can reader be fem)

- Here's some her-core photos

AWWWW YEAHHHH FIRST TF2 REQUEST!!! LESSGO!

I will 100% write this for you! This is such a cute request, as per usual! hope you like this one bestie! I won't add pyro because I really don't know how to write pyro lol, also to everyone reading, I'm trying to color code things now! helps me keep focused

TF2 Mercs with a medic GF!

Author's note: all of the Mercs without Pyro because I just can't write him so yay! Hope Y'all like this! I tried to make it super cute, also, just to point this out here too, Fem!Reader, and mentions of food in Heavy's part (Sandvich ofc) PRobably mistranslated russian, and german, the french is pretty damn obvious

Scout

Buddy boy here thinks you're super cool, and he loves having a medic GF!

You're always there when he gets hurt, and he loves it

he loves your constant compliments

"Wow Scout! Nice shot!"

He chuckles softly and smiles "Thanks cutie!"

Scout loves how gentle you are when you patch him up, he thinks its adorable

any time you mention anything about being proud of him for some crazy ass shot he pulled off he almost cries

Full on adores you

Calls you stuff like Cutie and Baby doll

Soldier

Bro gets into so much trouble it's not even funny tbh, dude stresses you out so much

He comes to you for everything because he enjoys how soft you are with him

He loves getting compliments from you, he just loves it

"Wow! great shot!" You smile, nodding softly at him

"Thank you Dearest" he salutes at you and then runs off to kill more people

Soldier will always drop everything to keep you safe (Defend your medics kids)

He gets hurt far to much for your liking but you honestly can't blame him in your job (and brain damage)

he is far too protective over you

Calls you Dearest and love

Demoman

Bro gets hurt sometimes, just because of his explosives, and you're always right there with him

He rambles about how much he loves you and how much he loves how gentle you are when he's drunk

He always basically drops dead when you compliment him

You smile over at him "Nice shot, dear!"

Demo looks down, lightly kicking at the dirt "Aww...thanks love..."

Demo will physically fight anyone that even dares to try anything with you

He loves how you're always there when he's far to drunk to move

Calls you stuff like Love and Darling

Sniper

Sniper doesn't get as hurt as often, he still gets injuries though

He'll keep you in his line of sight all the time and kill anyone that tries attacking you, super protective boy

as an introvert, homie almost loses it everytime you say something nice to him

Like pulls his hat down over his face flustered

"Woah!!! You're really good at that Snipes!" you smile softly and look up at him

Sniper blushes and covers his face with his hat "W-Well thank you"

now, dude will actually go to the ends of the earth to keep you safe

Healing his ass is super easy cuz this hoe stays still the whole time

Rambles about you to anyone who listens

Calls you stuff like "Roo" and "Little Koala"

Engineer (I absolutely adore this fucker)

Engie here is super easy to heal, still as a fucking stone

He likes to keep you safe, he absolutely loves you too much to let you get hurt yourself

He smiles softly and gets all blushy everytime you thank him or say something nice

"Thanks for the dispenser, love!"

He smiles and gently rubs the back of his neck "Awee thanks honey bee!"

Engie will hold your hand every time he's healing you

Helps you patch up some people

Brags that he managed to pull 'The sweetest damn woman alive"

Calls you 'Honey bee' and 'Sugar'

Medic

He's a doctor himself, so you both patch each other up!

actually tortured a guy for shooting at you

He always gets so damn cocky when you get all sweet with him

"Thanks for the heal Doc!" You smile and nod at him before running off

Medic chuckles softly and yells after you "You're welcome Engel!"

He likes when you help him with checkups!

He likes having you as a nurse around the infirmary

He doesn't really brag about you, unless he's like, SUPER drunk

Calls you 'Engel' and 'Schatz'

Heavy

Ok so Heavy gets hurt more than soldier does, he is heavy weapons guy after all

Like all the other mercs, he's super protective

Takes all the thanks, and praise so gracefully

"Thanks for the sandvich dear!" You smile happily chomping down on the sandvich

Heavy gently ruffles your hair before walking off "You're welcome Ангел'

stands in front of you in fights

Definitely towers over you btw

likes when you heal him up after a fight

Calls you stuff like 'Ангел' and 'Родна́я'

Spy

This old ass man is a tryhard with not getting hurt, it still happens

Protective, again

another cocky one with praise and thanks

"Wow! Impressive kill Dearest!" You smile softly looking over at him

He chuckles softly and nods "Thank you, Mon amour"

Shows you off constantly

Brags more than scout does

you're really one of the only people he lets touch him

Calls you 'Mon amour' and that alone

[h4rringt0nswife]

Don’t Move

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader

Summary: You are Steve Harringtons best friend. You also happen to be in love with him. Yeah, super cliche. He's recovering from his break-up but there's only so much "Nancy" you can take before you finally break too.

Warnings: Swearing, slightly jealous!reader, fluff towards the end, typos, slight sexual scenario??

Word Count: 3k

A/N: This takes place around end of season 2 early 3. No ST4 spoilers ;). As always feedback is appreciated <3.

“Babysitting on Friday again? How classy.” You laugh from the passenger side seat as Steve rolls his eyes at you, gripping the wheel tighter.

“Pfftt babysitter? I’m not a damn babysitter. I’m more of the-”

“Chauffeur?”

“Mom?“

He’s interrupted by two voices coming from the back seat of his car; Dustin and Mike. The three of you break into a fit of laughter as Steve could only stare at the road blankly.

“I was going to say a friend but yeah those are ‘fitting’ I guess.” He huffs. “Forgive us o’ high and mighty King Steve. Maybe thou shall be paid for this ‘friendship’.” You raise your arms and drop them repeatedly, only causing more giggles from the back seat.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. But come on, I thought we were better than this Henderson? I put a dead demo-dog thing or whatever in Ms. Byers’ fridge for you. I thought that counted for something.” Dustin sighs apologetically and nods his head. “And I thank you every day for that bro.”

Steve holds his hand out and Dustin takes it happily, doing a small, but nevertheless fulfilling, handshake.

“This has to be some form of gaslighting,” you scoff.

“Jealous much? The H&H bromance lives on!” He laughs happily, throwing a wink at you. Your stomach churns. You thought it was crazy how something such as an innocent wink could make you feel like that.

“Ew don’t say it like that. It sounds weird like some child labor camp or something.”

Their conversation continued but you just sat there. Mind running a million miles per second with butterflies soaring in your stomach. It was only a wink, right? But a wink from him, oh god your heart ached. How could your heart skip every few beats when you were around him, and yet…he was the reason it beat faster? As a matter of fact, he was the lone reason why it DID beat. Him. You didn’t know if it was his smile, or if it was his eyes. But it was something between all that, that had you hooked. You felt yourself going even more insane every day that you could not have him to yourself. To kiss, to love, to…cherish. Forever.

“Hey? You good?” Steve waves a hand in front on your face. You blink a few times and look around. Mike and Dustin were waving in the direction of the car while heading into The Wheelers family home. “Oh- yeah, my bad. Just zoned out.” You smile sheepishly.

“Yeah I noticed. I didn’t hear any shit-talking from your side.” You playfully push his arm. “Just admit it. You missed the soothing sounds of my voice huh ?”

“Charming.”

Steve’s eyes drift back to the wheelers home. You peered over to see Nancy through her window, pacing around with a book in hand. Looking back at Steve you sigh. Although it had been a few months since the break-up, he was still hurt by the situation. You could see it in his eyes. A love-sick puppy. It hurt you to see him like this (especially since you worshiped the ground he walked on). Though you'd hate to admit it, you could feel small spurts of the green-eyed-monster rise and spread throughout your body.

Small droplets of rain started collecting on the windshield of the BMW. Leaves swirl around on the ground. And the trees swayed as the wind started to pick up pace. It was scenic, beautiful even.

“Hey.” You nudge his arm. He was still staring up at the small window longingly. He hummed before finally turning his attention towards you. “It’s raining... we should get outta here,” you advised. Your voice was small and almost thin. You didn’t know how to comfort him when you, yourself needed comforting. Seeing the one you love be in love with someone else hurt more than anything. She burned, and she was unforgiving.

He nodded and pulled out of the driveway. He was still heartbroken to say the least. Still grieving the death of his relationship with Nancy. What really hurt him was the fact that she didn’t love him back. She didn’t feel the genuine joy he felt, or how wounding it was to see her and Jonathan in that room together. Sure, they had sex and sure it was fun, but he had fell in love with her throughout the year long relationship. And it was all just “bullshit” to Nancy.

“Let’s just go to my place. The rain is getting bad and your house is all the way across town.”

You nod.

“Sometimes I forget that you’re rich Steve Harrington. Maybe you could be my sugar daddy or something.” You look around at the house in front of you. Steve flicks on the light to the living area and plops down on the sofa.

“Oh, shut up. It's my parents. You know how they are about 'earning your way in life' or some shit." He kicks his feet up on the ottoman before him. “As a single mom of 6, what advice would you like to give the crowd?” You hold your fist up to his face, mimicking a microphone as you take a seat next to him. “What can I say? Hm... Wrap it up.” He laughs.

After he found a show to watch the two of you sat there for a while. Laughing softly every so often when the characters on the TV made a joke. You felt a breeze of cool air causing you to shiver. You figured it was the AC kicking on. Your sudden shaking didn’t go unnoticed, Steve looked over at you realizing your clothes were still slightly damp. “Hold on let me go grab you something.” He leapt up from the couch.

A few minutes later he came back downstairs with a clean sweatshirt, some sweatpants, and a blanket. “These should work.” He hands the clothes to you, your fingers brushing against each-others. You look up at him and smile. Mumbling a quick thanks and rushing to the bathroom, eager to get out of your own wet clothes.

Steve flipped through more channels on the TV. The show the two of you had been watching had gone off and turned to a news channel which, in his opinion, was not very interesting. He heard shuffling and a door creak from down the hall signaling to him that you were coming back. He kept his eyes on the box in front of him while speaking.

"The show went off so I'm changing the channel if that's fine. Unless you want to watch the 'Hawkins Snooze'." He snorts then his eyes finally land on you. His eyes scanned over you. His eyebrows furrowed together as he thought to himself.

You're really pretty.

He didn't know how he didn't notice it until now. How beautiful you are. You were wearing his shirt...but not the pants. Your bare legs were smooth, and it seemed as though they could go on forever. He tore his eyes away from your legs and fixated on your eyes. Your lips started moving but he heard nothing.

"Ahem-um the pants were uh itchy so I... I decided to not wear them...if that's okay? I hope this isn't weird?" You rambled over your words. Suddenly nervous or dare you say titillated embarrassed by his sudden attention. You gulp thickly as you shift on your feet.

"Huh? Oh, uh no it's fine. Just get over here. The couch misses you." He waves you over and you oblige.

The two of you laugh mindlessly at the joke the main character had made when Steve began speaking.

"This was Nancy's favorite thing to do on Friday nights. She'd come over and we'd watch some dumb show. We'd eat popcorn and stay up and talk all night." He admitted. Eyes still glued to the screen. You tugged on your bottom lip that was between your teeth, trying to hold in words from spilling out. Afraid that your lips would release too many.

"Can we... not talk about Nancy? I feel like she's all we talk about anymore." He finally looks over to you and his eyebrows furrow together. Confusion written all over his face.

"Pfft. No, she's not." His voice was low. Laced with disbelief. "Oh, but Steve, she is. It's always 'Should I speak to Nancy' or you're talking about how much you miss her and love her and how you should apologize for something that's completely not even your fault." You sit up, suddenly feeling overwhelmed.

"Hey hey that is NOT fair. We're supposed to be friends. And I confide in you. We tell each other everything so my bad if I talked your ear off with my feelings towards another human fucking being." He grumbled. He raked his fingers through his hair, feeling anxious about all the new raw feelings at bay.

"Tell each other everything my ass..." You whispered not expecting him to hear it.

"And what's that supposed to mean. Hm y/n? You know everything about me. I tell you shit that I would take to my grave with me." He stood from his seat, now pacing.

"You wanna know what that means? Well, I'll tell you," you chuckle unhumourously. "It means that I have been here the whole time and you really haven't ever noticed? You don't see it? I'm supposed to be your so called 'best friend' and you can't even tell that I love you." You were breaking and you felt it. The barrier between your emotions and your friendship was breaking, and you felt every. single. crack.

"What? What are you talking about? Yeah I love you too but-"

He stopped in front of you.

"You don't get it." You chuckle dryly. "You're always too busy up Nancy's ass to see that I am in love with you Steve. And when I see the way your eyes light up when you talk about her, and how your ears perk up when anyone mentions her name, I feel myself slowly slipping into madness. Yeah, I may know everything about you but obviously you don't know a damn thing about me." You confessed.

His eyes widened and his mouth formed a perfect "o".

"Yeah, and when you were out there chasing Nancy, I was always... I was always, always there with you because at least I could still love you even if it was from afar. You always talking about Nancy drives me crazy because I'm right here. I've always been here Steve. You can't tell me you didn't see me... I don't think it's possible to love someone as much as I love you. I yearn for you every single god damn day... but you don't see it. You don't see me..." Your face burned and your voice was cracking by the end. Your hands were shaking, and you felt hot tears start dampening the corners of your eyes.

"And I'm not blaming you for not knowing, because obviously you were preoccupied with your own love life. But really? You've never ever even had a small... inkling that maybe, just maybe, I could have liked you?"

He just stood there. Shocked. Unable to form any actual words. He didn't know how or what to feel in the moment. You are his best friend he'd never thought of you that way. Unless he did? His clothes squeezed against him, and he was sure you heard his heartbeat, as loud as it was in his ears.

"Say something Steve... Please...Anything." You pleaded with him. It almost sounded like you were begging him to. But whatever it took for him to say something.

He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but nothing came out. You scoff. Hurt and embarrassed.

Standing up and gathering your things, you make your way over to the door. Just as you're turning the doorknob his hand placed a firm hold against the door.

"Where are you going?" He asks. Voice hoarse from the misuse of it.

"You can't expect me to stay here. I literally just poured my heart out to you, and you had nothing to say. So, I'll leave and then we can pretend none of this ever even happened. We'll be two peas in a pod again." You wipe a tear away from your cheek and give him a tight-lipped smile along with a sarcastic thumbs up.

"But I don't want you to leave y/n.." He didn't know why he wanted you to stay so badly. Or what he was even thinking really. His thoughts going too rapidly he couldn't read any. He stepped a foot closer to you. Softly grasping your hand and pulling it away from the doorknob.

"What do you want then? Because I find it very hard to believe that you even know what you want." You were shaking. More violently than earlier. You were trying to decipher his thinking, but with the look on his face. You really couldn't tell if he was thinking anything at all.

"You're right. I don't know what I want. But I do know that I don't want you to leave." He was confused himself.

He'd never felt this way before, towards anyone, not even Nancy. He felt as though if he could just touch you, it would all go away. All his pain, all of his confusion, it would all melt away. You were his best friend; he shouldn't have thought of you this way. But oh, he did. His mind lingered on you more than he was willing to admit. Wondering what you would think of something new. How many stars you would give it and why. Anything you breathed was golden to him.

His mind was exploding. His blood was dizzying, and his bones rattled with all of his shaking. He was rooted to the ground and yet he was unbalanced at the same time. What he wanted? No, what he needed... What he needed was you. You are his safe haven, every single thing you touched, you left seared in his mind. He was completely and utterly taken by none other than you.

"Stay..." He stepped impossibly closer. With that you didn't want to leave. Your heart thumped against its cage; your body was on fire. His uneven breaths fanned over your face. Your eyes found themselves gazing shamelessly at his lips. His tongue darted out, slowly swiping over his plushy lips.

"Okay," you breathed out. Eyes drifting back up to his. He leans in carefully, slowly, giving you time to slap him if you needed. But luckily... that never happened. Breathing and not breathing, scorching cheeks, lustful eyes, trembling knees and sweaty palms. Yet, none of that seemed to matter, because he was here, he was everywhere. His scent and his touch shadowed all of your senses. Overcasting every thought you'd had at that very moment. There was only him. Your lips ghosted each other's before you whispered a simple.

"I'll stay."

He brushed a finger ever-so-slightly across your jawline leaving the skin there tingly. Your eyes flutter shut as he leans down. Placing a small kiss to the side of your mouth first before you leaned up and filled the space between the two of you. You were finally kissing Steve Harrington.

He kissed you softly, as though you were going to break. He was tender, and sweet, barely even there. His lips are soft against yours. Sweeter and softer than the first sip of hot chocolate during the winter months. Like having a fond memory to cherish for the rest of your life. In that moment he was the rest of your life. There was nothing more you wanted other than him and his sweet, relentless love. Your heartbeat slowed along with his, becoming in sync with each other and your body relaxed.

He drew small circles with his fingertips on the small of your back and you were afraid that your knees would give out right then and there. You never wanted to stop feeling like this. Terrified, nervous, and yet completely enamored.

Finally, you pulled away. The two of you gasped for air but at the same time you thought you didn't need it if it meant being that close to him. He looked down at you, in a way no one had ever looked at you before and it quite literally terrified you. Terrified you to think how much you really needed him.

"Don't move yet. Can we stay like this a sec?" He questions as he holds his head in the nape of your neck, breathing in your scent. You came to him in ebbing waves. You reminded him of the beach at sunset. Gorgeous and Peaceful. He could lose himself in you, drown in your scent and he'd never ever get enough. He'd always come back for more of you like a relentless little boy begging for candy. You are intoxicating.

"I had to know that this is all real and not some figment of my imagination." He flashes his award-winning smile at you causing a small laugh from you.

[evil8keta]

sorry, this is pretty short. my brain is tired and i wanted to write something silly but all i can think of is violence

mercs x reader who wants to fight them... like, for fun

SCOUT

- you asked him if he wants to play fight with you and he immediately agreed. he's often done this with his brothers but with you he might actually go feral and accidentally kill you or something. jk but you can tell he's really having fun lol

SOLDIER

- doesn't understand. what do you mean PLAY fighting? you don't play when you fight, it's a serious thing!!! you gotta explain to him by saying that you basically go nice on your opponent. so you guys do fight and actually have a wonderful time but it ends with soldier getting too excited and bonking you with his shovel. oops. nothing a quick trip to medic can't fix! also, soldier wants round two

PYRO

- ohhh they are very nice :) they agreed for some silly play fighting and actually went very easy on you. the whole experience was quite cute actually and ended with you both cuddling because you were tired. pyro really enjoyed this so chances are they might suggest play fighting themselves in the future

HEAVY

- does NOT fight. heavy is scared of hurting you, he knows you're strong and tough but he would still rather not fight you, even if it's just a game. however if you still wanna fight he will just let you punch him and crawl all over him. it doesn't hurt him at all because you're so tiny. also it looks very funny

DEMOMAN

- hey seems fun! demo agreed and not gonna lie this can either turn into a fluffy scenario where demo throws you over his shoulder and marches around with you while yelling about how he won the fight OR demo gets too unhinged and uses a whole damn bomb on you. oops you both turn out injured, so you both gotta go to medic now. neither of you regret it though

ENGINEER

- was a bit confused at first, like you fr just walked up to him like "hey engie wanna fight :D" like that was the most normal thing to say. he stared at you for a while, but to your surprise he smiled and agreed happily to some play fighting! he thinks the whole experience was very fun and silly and wouldn't mind to do this with you more often!!

MEDIC

- sorryyy but you probably won't get him to play fight, he thinks it's kinda below him. he's a distinguished doctor, and you want him to play fight with you??? anyways. you started a tickle fight with him because how DARE he deny your offer of play fighting. medic is ticklish asf so of course you win

SPY

- like medic, this mf refuses your offer to play fight and says it's childish. however if you still want to know what it's like to have a spy killing you experience you can try to annoy him enough that he just starts chasing you around the base with his knife. it's more fun and gives you a rush of adrenaline because spy actually wants to kill you help

SNIPER

- is unsure at first. it took him a lot of convincing but eventually he gave in and agreed to play fight with you. needless to say he had the time of his life and also went a bit... overboard? he didn't really hurt you, but you DID underestimate his strenght a little. bro is pretty strong for a guy that shoots people from long distances. ever since then you had a bit more respect for him lol

[sibyl-of-space]

afhsjfkjfsdjkljfklfdsjfdslkjfs i just received. the MOST ironic dm. in history

i literally just graduated from grad school, right. i got my master's in music composition for media specifically because i wanted to write music for games. however the job market is ass and i am a special snowflake so after 3 months of fruitless job searching i decided, fuck it, i am going to just focus on making mY OWN GAME and hire MYSELF, and it's going to rule. i got started on it in school, recorded parts on campus using the recording studios and used counterpoint assignments to write BGM, took a semester on Unity/C# to learn the basics. since then it's been me + asking friends for advice + lots of StackExchange searches.

fast forward approximately 6 months and i now ALMOST have the demo out for a game that actually is looking pretty dang good, that i made entirely myself.

i post screenshots in a SF game devs discord server despite not living in SF anymore because may as well shill everywhere, plus i still have friends in the area and it's worth visiting occasionally to network.

and i receive. a DM. from a composer. full on "real photo with self + guitar in profile pic, 'guitarist and composer' in bio" ass composer.

asking how far along my game is, and if i am looking for a composer.

IT'S. IT'S SO FUNNY. I'M SORRY BRO YOU ARE BARKING UP THE ENTIRELY WRONG TREE. I DREW THE FIRST ASSET FOR THIS GAME WHILE LISTENING TO A BGM TRACK THAT I HAD ALREADY WRITTEN FOR IT, BEFORE I EVEN KNEW I WAS MAKING THIS GAME. A COMPOSER IS VERY DECIDEDLY THE ONE THING I DEFINITELY DO NOT NEED AND IF I DID I HAVE LIKE 5 PEOPLE I MET AT SCHOOL I WOULD ASK FIRST HFSKLJFSSDFL

anyway i respect the hustle but it's. it's really funny being on the other end of this conversation. like damn it's dire out there

[maeshelix]

I hope this isn't rude or offensive to ask, but how many of you are there? And what're your names? :3

Anon. My dear friend.

Not only is this not rude at all, but we've been looking for the perfect excuse to make a little introduction post about us since we found out we were we!!!

At least, I have lmao. And you just gave me that excuse right now let's goooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!! 🎉🎉🎉

So!!! At the moment, there's about 10 of us, possibly 12??? Not sure yet, I'll let one of them edit this if I'm wrong and they exist lmao. But for now just operate on there being 10 peeps in here!!!

(Edit: It is actually twelve. Hello. I think I'll let Rokoko handle edits to the list proper though. She seems to enjoy that immensely-❤️)

(She seems to enjoy most things immensely lmao-💙)

More after the break (^-^)

First up on the list is meeeeeeeeee :3c Rokoko is the name and fun is my favorite game!!! I'm the resident clown-bot-girl of this particular system, a certified Delight here to spread joy and positivity in whatever ways I can!!! Usually through jokes!!! Though mostly because our body couldn't do half the shit I can do internally if we tried and also all of our friends are in completely different states and countries so we couldn't even hug or dance with any of them if I wanted to. And goodness knows I want to!!!

Next up is Salem!!!!!! My best buddy Salem!!!!!! She's basically the polar opposite to me lmao. She's a Protector who's perpetually tired and bitter cause the world kinda sorta sucks alot lmao. She's super sweet and kind if you get on her good side though!!! Which is harder then you think to get on but easier then you'd think!!! She's also a big tough werewolf girl who wants to look both cute and badass!!! Like a big metal spike wrapped in cute red ribbon ^_^

Next, there's Zero!!! She's a super cute robot girl like me!!! Except she's not really into the whole having emotions thing like I am. Like, she still has them (can't really completely avoid those while stuck in a human body after all) but she'd really prefer if she didn't, and she's told me that herself!!! Nonetheless, she's a logical and loyal little perfectionist AI who loves us just as much as we love her 💝💝💝. We're not really sure what her role within the system is (and honestly we don't really sweat it when it comes to roles in the system. Some of us know it instinctively but others don't and that's honestly fine!!!) But we know she's really witty and really smart!!! When she wants to be. She's also kind lazy, heehee :p

There's Daisy, who's a total sweetheart honestly. So much so that she's usually kinda sad and scared of the world around us which, fair lmao. She's a teeny tiny plant girl who just wants to be happy and loved and who's willing to help out in whatever ways she can. She's also adorable and again, soso sweet omgggggg you have no idea!!!

Marking the midway point of this list is Freesia!!! The suave moth demoness of our little family!!! She's an incredibly kind and loving woman who would probably help you move houses if you asked her to. I think she's a Caretaker??? Again, we don't really sweat labels here but it definitely fits with her in my opinion!!! She doesn't really come out often though, which sucks!!! @our brain, let the gal out every now and then she deserves time to herself!!!

Sleepy is next and we know basically nothing about her!!! Mostly because she rarely comes out, at least lately. Despite that though, we know that she's a big ol' goofball who says the most random shit sometimes and honestly, i love that aboit her (^ー^). Also fun fact!!! She's actually the one who originally tipped us off to being us in the first place!!! In that she was the first one to notice that she was different from whoever was in front at first one day and went "huh. Damn that's weird bro." I think she also miiiight controls when we feel especially ready to sleep (hence her name!!! I think. It could also be that she's just really really tired most the time, I honestly dunno!!!) so that's cool!!!

Next up, in no particular order, is Miranda!!! And next to Sleepy we probably know the least about her, except that she formed after a point in time where we played nothing but Elden Ring for like a month, after a particularly stressful point in our life!!! As such, she speaks like a fusion of Melina and Ranni and kinda looks like one too!!! With four arms and everything!!! She's really into fantasy media, and I'm sure she's gonna have a ball whenever we get around to playing Baldur's Gate 3 (let's be honest girls, it's an inevitability at this point, we just gotta pick the time lmao).

Heading up the rearguard is Hana!!! She's a super chill grill with attitude( ￣▽￣). Almost as much of a jokester as me, she's just focused on relaxing and hanging out. She's a kinda fictive??? It's complicated, and not for public speculation!!! All you need to know is that she's got multiple wings like an angel and is super into DOOM!!! She's the best I love her o(^o^)o

If you're looking for a definitive fictive, then F.E. is the girl for you!!! I don't think she wants me to tell you what she's a fictive of, so I won't say her full name, but like. She's not really subtle about it let's be honest lmao. She's the one who usually comes to front and takes care of our body whenever our brain is just far too exhausted (emotionally or otherwise) for any of us to use it!!! Or whenever we're on painkillers. Either or lmao. We actually thought she was also Zero for the longest time since they both kinda have a similar "emotionless perfect being" thing going on, though eventually F.E. found out she's definitely different from Zero and here we are now!!! She's a nice and steadfast gal with a little bit of a mischievous streak and she's also our latest split!!! I love her (^.^)

Last, but certainly not least, probably, is our girl Silver!!! Unlike F.E., Silver's pretty open about what her source is, that being Silver the Hedgehog!!! And I'd say she act an awful lot like the OG telepath too!!! If just a liiiiittle more nervous and anxious. She's an optimist, but she's also a realist, and she never fails to have hope for the future!!! In spite of the evidence to the contrary lmao. She also thinks she's been here the longest too!!! Here being our brain of course. Which I believe!!! Makes sense that we'd have a Silver fictive as a kid lmao.

And that's the list so far!!! We'll probably just edit and re-edit this list whenever something new happens in here so keep an eye out for that!!! And of you can't then don't worry, cause I'm pinning this to the top of our silly little blog lmao.

Again, thank you for the ask anon!!! And I hope you enjoy my answer as much as I did writing it!!!

[prettyboypistol]

Personal Favorite SniperSpy Dynamics

SAME TEAM:

Sniper is horny for Spy and Spy is like "bro i know how you live hell no" but also secretly wants Sniper

Spy thinking low of Sniper and getting pissed when Sniper proves just how professional and competent he is, Sniper knowing damn well what Spy is thinking and relentlessly teasing him about it

"I'm not going camping with you." "Well then I'm not going to Morocco with you."

Idk but I love the plot of Spy dodging Sniper's flirting like the plague while Sniper dodges Scout's flirting like the plague. (Sniper would know that Spy is Scout's dad, Scout wouldn't know.) Bro it's so fucking funny to think about. like Scout. Scout. Fuck off I'm trying to hit on your dad. I also just really like pathetic Scout >:)

CROSS FACTION:

We all saw meet the spy. those bitches hate each other. They spend their down time scheming and thinking about each other. They both have pictures of each others they stab. They complain about each other. They bicker on peace days. They make out with each other. They refuse to acknowledge that this isn't the first time the other has woken up in the other's room.

Both privately acknowledge the sexual tension but refuse to say anything about it actively.

Heavy and Medic openly betting about when they will finally get over themselves and quit the drama like BLU Soldier and RED Demo becoming good friends.

RED being more encouraging to Sniper while BLU being snide and spiteful for anything to do with RED

[shefanispeculator]

For every new star on the recording scene, there is at least one unheralded industry drone without whom that star might never have shone. In the case of Blake Shelton, who is about to receive his well-deserved Hollywood Walk of Fame star after more than two decades as one of country music’s best, there are probably more like a dozen heroes who made Blake’s incredible career possible.

One of those heroes is your humble Nashville correspondent, me. No, that’s the truth. Once or twice in your life the impossible hits you between the eyes and you need to be prepared if you want to turn it into pure sunshine before the inevitable eclipse drifts in.

One day in 1995 or 1996 I got a call from Jim Sharpe, then publisher of American Songwriter magazine.  He had found this big kid from Oklahoma, best singer he’d ever heard, would I like to come by the office to hear him sing?  “Why?” I asked. You see, I was trying to dodge what the gods were hurling at me.  I was done with the music business. I would just be a waste of this kid’s time.

But a week or two later found me in Sharpe’s office shaking hands with this kid, six-foot-four, great looking, with a big, black cowboy hat, big black Takamine guitar, a voice so huge it shook the walls of Sharpe’s office, and a laugh to match.

I was hooked, and soon we were writing songs together every Tuesday.

But nothing further happened until a couple from California hired me to run their music publishing company. We signed Shelton to a publishing deal. And then nothing more happened. I learned that he’d already been turned down by labels all over Music Row, talent be damned.

Now comes the big twist in the story.

I’m not the hero, after all.  The hero is a guy I’m about to call. Bobby Braddock has written or co-written many of country music’s biggest hits, including “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” “I Wanna Talk About Me,” “People Are Crazy,” “Golden Ring,” “Time Marches On” and “D-I-V-O-R-C-E.”  He also produces terrific demos and he’s always wanted to produce records.

The call goes like this:

“Hello, Homer (his phone name is Homer, and mine is Jethro). I’ve got something I want you to hear.” I’m holding an old microcassette tape recorder in my right hand, and a telephone receiver in my left. This phone call is high-tech. I push the recorder flush against my telephone mouthpiece and press the start button. Homer listens to Blake sing for a little more than two minutes.  When the tape has finished playing, Bobby speaks.

“The song is OK, but who’s that singer?”

“He’s 20 years old and we signed him a couple of months ago,” I reply.

“He sounds like a young Hank Jr. Can I meet him?”

The three of us met at Braddock’s house and Braddock and Shelton hit it off immediately. Braddock agreed to produce Shelton, and Braddock persuaded his publishing company, Sony/ATV Music, to pay for the session. That’s a big deal, to get a producer and publisher to put time and money into a session.  But the hard part is not cutting the session — it’s getting a record company to love the session and sign the artist.

Armed with the fresh recording, Braddock hit the pavement. One label at a time. Fortunately, in 1998, there were still a lot of record labels left in Nashville.

“I took Blake’s CD all over town,” says Braddock. “RCA showed some interest, but they passed. Arista Records showed enough interest to request a showcase, and we gave it to them, then they passed. I was running out of record labels. The last label I went to was Giant Records, an affiliate of Warner Bros. Doug Johnson listened hard. And he said yes.”

Now life got tougher. Braddock produced an album by Shelton. Virtually everybody at the label loved it. Braddock, Shelton and a whole lot of other people waited for the album to be released. And they waited. People wondered why they waited.

Then Debbie Zavitson, a stalwart of Giant Records’ A&R department, received a CD from publisher Jana Talbot of a special song called “Austin,” written by David Kent and Kirsti Manna. Braddock, Shelton and a handful of great session players went to Sound Stage recording studio on Music Circle South and cut “Austin” and two other songs. Braddock recalls that the label had picked another song for the first single, but he had sent copies of the session to several friends and they felt that “Austin” was the hit. He took this new information from “the people,” and, he says, convinced the label to go with “Austin” instead. Then they waited, and while they waited, rumors circulated that Giant Records might soon be closing down.

“It took Giant three years to put out Blake’s record,” says Braddock, his brow furrowed in puzzlement over the memory. “And it never would have gotten out at all, if it hadn’t been for Fritz Kuhlman!”

Braddock would later refer to Kuhlman as “the promotion man who committed mutiny.” Kuhlman had heard the rumors about Giant, and while he was not a powerful executive at the label, he did have the ability to send out copies of “Austin” to country radio stations all over the country. And that’s just what he did, because he believed in “Austin.” 

Stations began to play “Austin,” but Giant closed its doors anyway. By this time it didn’t matter. “Austin” was hot with or without a label. Giant’s parent company, Warner Bros., picked up the record and ran with it, and thanks to Kuhlman, “Austin” became a multi-week No. 1 country smash. 

Country music had a brand new star. Over the next two decades, Shelton would pump out hit after hit, and become a national TV icon on the worldwide hit show “The Voice,” as well as a member of the venerable Grand Ole Opry. I can’t help but think of the many heroes it took to make it happen for Blake Shelton.

Of course there’s Shelton, with all that talent, heart and personality. Then there’s Bobby Braddock, one of Nashville’s greatest songwriters, listening to hundreds of other people’s songs in search of that special one for Shelton. And Braddock in the studio, hour after hour, with some of the world’s best studio musicians, background singers and studio engineers, pursuing the perfect record. Then cruising from label to label, determined to find a yes among all the inevitable no answers. And then there’s me, playing a cassette over the phone to my friend Braddock, who I thought was a genius in a recording studio.

And gutsy Kuhlman, on his own, mailing out CDs on a wing and a prayer.

Lots of other heroes, too, braving the stiff competition: promoters, publicists, A&R people, bookers, roadies, managers — and nobody outside the business knows their names. It took a lot of skill and experience to make a music industry in those days, and I like to think it still does.

[dr-spectre]

Sonic x Shadow Generations thoughts...

So after watching the 10 minute gameplay VGC released and seeing multiple people play the demo, i got to say... To the people who are saying "oh its exactly like Forces/Frontiers again..." Like... No? Have people forgotten just how AWFUL the level design in Forces was? Do you guys remember Lost Valley? Arsenal Pyramid? Sunset Heights? LUMINIOUS FOREST!?!? Space Colony Ark Act 1 is nowhere NEAR that quality bro.

There's multiple pathways that don't last for 3 seconds and add nothing of substantial gameplay, there's level gimmicks like the gravity walls and rockets that you can freeze with chaos control which adds new pathways, reaction based platforming with floating hoops and rails that you gotta react to fast enough in order to get on them and save time to get the S rank. It has those elements that Generations level design has but it definitely still has room for improvement of course.

Frontiers biggest issues with Cyberspace was copying and pasting level design that the controls weren't built around, and so therefore i wish i was playing Generations or Unleashed or Adventure 2 instead of some weird janky version of those levels that are covered in green hill, chemical plant, sky sanctuary and some basic ass city aesthetics i've seen over and over AND OVER AGAIN!! The original level design wasn't too bad actually and with the right control mods and tweaks, it felt REALLY good. Although still way too short for my liking.

I think that Forces really hurt a lot of fans deeply and the moment that they see any sort of hallway they freak the fuck out and get PTSD from Forces. Guess what other games in the series had long hallways in them? Adventure, Adventure 2, Heroes, Unleashed, Colors and Generations! If SA1 or SA2 got released today people would complain about linear level design, if Generations got released today and it didn't exist until 2024, people would give shit towards Green Hill Act 2 for being linear even though it's one of the best opening levels in the entire Sonic franchise in my opinion. Linearity isn't a bad thing, it's when you add 50 million dash panels and invisible scripting sequences where you can't move left or right until it's done, THEN it's an issue and bad level design like in Forces.

Now I'm not saying that you cannot criticize the level design, obviously you can duhhh, i have my own issues with the level design so far. I really do want there to be more little details and other aspects in the levels to add variety, like light speed dash trails, pits and spikes in those long hallways that you gotta quick step or move around to keep the speed up, like imagine in those tunnels you had to run up the walls to avoid a pit at the bottom that leads to a slower platforming section, that would be more engaging right? Add back tricks from base Generations and i wish there were more true 3D platforming and ramps and slopes, which the level somewhat has but i want there to be MORE of it. And the omission of the drift makes a lot of the level design seem a bit too blocky and less sloped if that makes any sense.

It's really weird that base Generations has a drift yet Shadow Generations doesn't. I just want there to be more options in the level design, those little details and extra paths do add up and make games like Unleashed and Gens so damn fun to replay.

Anyways, those were my thoughts on the level design of Shadow Generations that I've seen so far. I am looking forward to this as it seems like the team put in the work and time to make something really interesting and surprisingly polished. Like the UI actually looks fire, i want that HUD in the base game it looks so clean.

If Generations didn't get this new addition then i wouldn't give a fuck about it buying it again as i already got the game on steam and PS3 back when i was 10 years old....

....damn that feels weird to say... Generations is nearly 13 years old.... ouch...

[astralartefact]

Placeholder Name for Atarase's Media Diary

Entry 004 - Unicorn Overlord <<Prev: NieR Reincarnation

Synopsis

The drums of war are beating. No man can be trusted. What happened to Dorcas? (say it with me) I put poison in his mutton!

Once again I have been falsely advertised to and I will not forgive. (the names used are different since I played in german)

How much did I know before playing?

I played 13 Sentinels for what that's worth and I did play the demo extensively. I played it a month late but went out of my way not to get spoiled.

Also I play Fire Emblem sometimes? the game certainly feels inspired by that

Did I like it more than I expected?

I liked it about as much as I expected to like it, maybe even a little bit more!

Except for one thing, which I had only expected because several "news sites" have reported on it being in there - even providing lists! - only to find out it wasn't in it and that thing is...

Since I liked it, here's what I hated about it

So all that stuff about Male Romance for Alain was a fucking lie. Tell yourself whatever you want but I have higher standards than that - what's shown there is pretty explicitely not Romance, with Male Characters the Ring of the Maiden scenes are very much framed as Friendship Bracelet scenes.

And maybe I'm a little bit more heated at this than I should be, but as is tradition I had once again the patented Vanillaware pleasure of learning this by Surprise Mandated Romance as suddenly after several scenes of sweet and cute moments between him and Alain the guy I chose (gilbert) suddenly - without warning because I did not give a singular damn about Virginia (is that even her name) - announced his wedding to her in between two credit screens.

Like, I was fully okay with not a single blush moment, at this point I still thought this was their take at Male on Male-Romance and I was perfectly happy with what I got, mainly because it's just sadly common for japanese media to cut any intimacy from mlm relationships as soon as they're textually confirmed - but I also had no frame of reference for the other characters, so for all I knew the female ones were just also like that. I sincerely believed that when Alain told him that despite all those political reasons he also just really treasures Gilbert that that was supposed to be read as Romantic even if it was very toned down.

But welp. Vanillaware Surprise Mandated Romance strikes again. This is Sekigahara Ei all over again.

Spurted by this I then did my own research. I tried it with about 10 other guys after the ending - and I even inspected their epilogue overworld dialogue each time!!! - and all of them were very clearly just as non-romantic as Gilbert's, even Lex and Clive who I remembered front and center on those Romance Option lists. The best I got was Adel's epliogue dialogue (which is very cute ngl) and maybe Lex's as well, even though that one was just pretty much verbatim a "Hey, we have a good thing going here...", the vagueness of which doesn't really offset the "Yeah, but No Homo, right??" I had to sit through when giving him the ring right before.

Meanwhile I tried 2 (two) female options to see if it's the same for both genders and while one (Tatianna) was lightly implied to be romantic in the epllogue but mostly the same to the male ones the other one (Primm) was explicitly and overtly romantic. (which is also clearly indicated by blushing and i'm pretty sure only Adel ever blushed in one of the male ones)

It's just. Why? Why even include this if you don't go the whole way. You knew you couldn't or shouldn't just make it female only - but then why do it like this? Why is the Ring of the Maiden so clearly treated as a wedding ring with Girls and then "No Homo Bro, it's just a friendship bracelet with a weird name" with the Boys (and of course you need to make sure that people get how gay uncommon it is to give your friend a ring by pointing it out almost every time). Either you make it all Friendship Bracelets, all Wedding Rings or you make both equally mixed - which would have been more than fine with me too! - but not something stupid like this. and no i don't care if alain is 'supposed to be straight' alain isn't a real person and he's clearly supposed to be self-insertable, but I guess only for straight men

After Takatoshi in 13 Sentinels and now this I'm having some kind of feeling about how Vanillawear includes this stuff. Like it's nice that you're trying to think of these things, but... if this was a genuine attempt on your part then why did you think this was good?

I guess the reason I'm so upset is that the way the Ring is integrated into the story is so fucking cool?? And Gilbert was such a good choice for me to pick too because he fit right into the scene?? I legit didn't realize at first he was just there because of the Ring? And then after all that uwu sincerity I'm No Homo-ed in the credits by a surprise wedding because I guess I missed the moments where they mentioned their relationship... if they did at all (staring into space remembering 13sen, shaking my head at Ei x Iori being written the way it was)

Thank God that's the only thing I really hated about this game, but for another nitpick: I guess the Unit Promotions could have been flashier if they already aren't branching? i guess it's to save work because of the Animation Style but imo Fire Emblem does those better. With some of the promotions here you can't even really see any difference...

What did this game make me think about?

Nothing really in particular but I loved how relatively fresh the writing felt despite not being all that 'out there.' Like, on paper it's a relatively 'basic' story, I wouldn't call it groundbreaking or anything, but the way it is delivered and presented felt fresh, yeah, I think that's the best word to describe it.

Specific Impressions that will stick with me

The Ending Ring Scenes even if they were ruined for me a little bit afterwards q_q I didn't repeat those with other ring partners so maybe I should try it again with Adel and see if they're still as good

I love a game that lets me Sequence Break and I love that this game supports it so much that even the story still makes perfect sense if you do the segments out of the 'intended' order. You better believe I weaseled my way into Bastoria when I saw that there was only a high level fight stopping me from not going to the other regions first.

And whoever decided to let the Character Creator Mirror work on every single character deserves a fucking raise. I made them all look so pretty. Whoever you are, you're a visionary!!!

Outstanding Audio

I loved the Music in Elheim and the Night Music in Albion is really eerie it gave it such a good vibe. Also Drakenheim's final stage music.

Favorite Character

There were a lot of good ones... I loved Sanatio and Nigel. Also Yunifi and the Lion whose name I forgot.

Favorite Arc/Story Line

Albion and Bastoria

In general I loved how individually important the major Story Lines were! Every story line felt equally as valuable and impactful to the overall story, but all in their own unique way!

Favorite Set Piece

Elheim's Final Battle was really cool...! I really loved Elheim's Aesthetic as a whole, especially what we saw of the undercity...

I don't know what exactly I skipped doing it, but in Elheim's Final Stage if you take over the other exits before fighting the Boss, she bumps into your stationed unit while fleeing and I guess you skip a second battle? That's the Presence that Immersion and Suspension of Disbelief people should be talking about!!!

Favorite Scene

Again, the Ring Scenes in the True Ending really hit the spot... if you choose the right person that doesn't immediately break your trust q_q (gilbert found dead for breaking the pact)

Best Performance (I played with JP voices)

I love Sanatio's VA (Mutsumi Tamura) and as the entire reason why I like Sanatio (I was pretty sure that's just Okino again and I was right) I guess I'm obligated to mention her. apparently he's voiced by damien haas in english and i can't and won't even picture that lol (i looked it up and ouch what) (and that's not shade to the VA, that's casting shade, who thought this was a good fit)

Also Shout Out to Raenlys for using Yumi Hara's Mama Voice <3

German Localization Notes

Listen, I would love nothing more than to join in bitching about Unicorn Overlord's Localization because I, personally speaking, absolutely hate the verbose olden speech writing style FFXIV has made popular (and yes I'm specifically accussing them of being the source of that), not because it's wrong or because they aren't allowed to add in their own quirks, but simply because it sounds horrible, makes every character feel 13 existential planes removed and I just can't stand hearing it (my immersion!11)

But I played the game in german with JP VA and the german localization was pretty good :) It fit the tone perfectly without being as weirdly verbose as I saw the english version being. Also i think Gilbert used the word Hundesohn at one point and I gasped. There were some sentences that were translated in a weirdly literal way and a few spelling errors here and there that nobody caught, but it's a game with a lot of text so I'll forgive them that :)

The one thing I do not forgive is that they renamed DRAKENGARD. I HEARD THEM SAY IT SO OFTEN AND IT WAS LITERALLY CALLED THAT ON THE MAP Q_Q AND THE FIRST SETTLEMENT IS EVEN CALLED MIER!!!! it cant be a coincidence

Tangent, but I always remember one time I watched a stream of someone (NerineS00 but I think that was way back in the before times) and somebody asked her in the usual 'who would ever do that???' tone americans like to use in situations like that why she wasn't playing the game with english voices instead of japanese and she answered that english wasn't her first language so why should she, they're both equally foreign languages to her - and for some reason that really stuck with me? And somewhere along the line that thought turned into, yeah, why should I play a game in english if I can just play it in german? And the German Localization is hard work too - and yet nobody is ever standing up for them, the opposite actually, since it's much more apparent what's different from EN (much more DE people speak EN than JP) more people complain about things that actually don't really matter all that much out of some weird form of self hate.

Another place where that happened recently is Dungeon Meshi where the german voice acting (please. look up the german marcille meme thing) is like genuinely amazing - sure, it's probably not perfect by whatever metric people suddenly really care about but it's far removed from the "cheap german anime va" a lot of people still think "all german va" sounds like - and for some reason the rise in quality EN went through in the past years gives a lot of DE people this weird sense of bully pride to be "see, i'm cool bc i like good stuff and hate bad stuff!"

But whatever, clearly those people haven't thought that much about what they're doing - this is just me standing up for all the good German Localizations out there! A lot of you are doing a great job and I appreciate what you guys are doing :D

--- ENTERING THE PRETENTIOUS SECTION OF THIS ENTRY ---

What about this game gives me Hope for the future of gaming?

This game feels really well thought through and I hope Vanillaware manages to keep this momentum they have going. Because at its heart I feel like this game is relatively simple, it doesn't always need big complicated systems if you can just do something well thought through instead.

Also it feels much more like the good sort of inspiration where they took from games like Fire Emblem and Tactics Ogre while combining it with the Battle System from their own 13 Sentinels (at least that was what it felt like) - which feels like much more respectful and in the spirit of things than say Hoyoverse just taking whatever game is currently most popular and turning it into a Gacha Game to make boatloads of money.

What about this game makes me scared for the future of gaming?

So uh, Video Games Journalism, huh. Oh boy, I complain about the thing everybody is already complaining about anyways!

I guess I finally got a first hand account of how I was personally slighted by this infamous boogieman. I was told that this game had male romance because somebody didn't do their research and wrote that the Ring mechanic = Romance and even to this day, about 2-3 months after release, there are several "games journalism" websites (can you even call them that? but it's people writing articles, so... i guess?) still up spreading that knowledge.

And I guess we all know how that happened (Capitalism), but it's just...

Okay, to be honest, I felt so Journalistic doing my own research, testing out both male and female romance options (even though 2 female options clearly isn't nearly enough to get a general overview lol), I felt so thorough for even checking the Epilogue Snippets - as baby's first sleuthing as I realize it is, it made me kind of sad that that's not what Games Journalism is (of course on a larger scale), you know playing games, making observations, researching noticeable topics, criticism with a bigger personal stake than 'Is the big game everybody is talking about worth your money' - no, for all intents and purposes it's just... (Regurgitating) Game Announcements, Reviews and I guess Exposés on Working Conditions because yay capitalism

And those Reviews are their own whole point of discussion, aren't they. I distinctly remember when Cyberpunk came out that there was one female writer (going to be relevant) who dared to rate it a 7 or 8 (which at the time a few days before release was below average compared to the other review sites who mostly gave it 9-10) - and she clearly explained why, stating why she thought the game didn't go as far as she would have liked it to go - and Capital-G Gamers couldn't let that stand, calling her any sort of name (keep in mind the reviewer was a women, what does she even know about video games???), once again complaining that Video Game Criticism is a Joke because how dare this woman rate this game so low for attention. (which, as we all know by now, is very ironic given how those same people immediately turned on the game once they noticed they could use it as a punching bag instead, funny how that works)

The reason I remember that is that I read that review before seeing those comments and thought: Huh. That's actually a really helpful review because I totally get what she's talking about, clearly she has played games like this before - now I know better what to expect when getting into this game.

And I guess I never truly cared about Games Journalism as a topic of discussion because - well, to be real - I just don't really care about the "State of the Industry" all that much lol sry BUT ALSO looking at what they're mostly criticized for, no matter what they do they'll never be able to do it "right" even if they try their best. And wouldn't you know it I think it's actually the Gamers who are to blame.

I think a lot of people have a weird relationship to this ecosystem we find ourselves in. I think, and this is a wild pull, a lot of problems we have with Video Game Journalism is that even Gamers don't actually consider Video Games Art, even though they are, right, i thought we all agreed after all we need to tell ourselves non-gamers that so we don't think of what we're doing as wasting our time they take our hobby seriously

But if video games are Art (and my point is that I sincerely think they are) then they can't be wrong (and they also can't be right either) (i don't feel like explaining that in detail rn but trust me bro) and a lot of Gaming Culture is centered primarily around the fact that Video Games can certainly be made wrong and shouldn't. And the resulting antagonism Gamers have developed towards "flaws" and their entitlement to unrestricted ""criticism"" because, well, it's in their right as they have paid money for a product and therefore it's their right that the product they bought should be flawless! But since you will never find anything without problems this situation is an unsolvable ouroboros that swallows the horizon.

The Ramble Section where I get to actually talk about what I thought about

So, uh, Vanillaware, what's going on with your Sexual Dimorphism? I can't help but notice that all of the female units are pretty uniformly waifu material while the male units 'are allowed' to display a much more pronounced bodily diversity that isn't centered around being pleasing to look at? (Most egregious example are imo the Hammer Units lol)

Doesn't help that your armor design is also... uhh... sparse at times. Whatever you think the Fox Warrior's... panty metal is doing - it's not doing that. It honestly would have been better from a visual stand point if she just didn't wear anything down there.

I also grew frustrated that so many male generic units have their faces hidden - meanwhile pretty much none of the female units wear helmets... Curious. It's once again as if a video game developer couldn't fathom that anyone might want to look at men in the same way men look at women. Wonder why that might be.

Actually, not to get back to that mess but that's also part of my Gilbert problem - I only even chose Gilbert in the first place because there are barely any 'hot and dateable' male characters like Clive or Gilbert compared to the female side of things where... it's pretty much every single one. Huh.