#there is only one correct answer to 'what is the best video game movie' and that answer is Eternal Diva

[darklight-owl]

Oops I dropped my link to Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva english dub full movie free on YouTube oh nooo now people are gonna watch it for free on any device with no prior knowledge of the Layton series needed to understand the plot oh noooooo

[nerdieforpedro]

The old switcheroo

If you could take one Pedro character and switch them into another of the characters universes, which one would it be? Let’s say, throw Dave York into The Great Wall. And what do you think that would look like? How would he do? Run with it. I even dare you to write a short dribble drabble. Well, I just wanted to write dribble drabble.

I'm unsure if my Drabble...if it can even be called that at this point 🤣 truly answers your question. I interpreted it, to mean that Dave and Pero switched places.

Our man Pero is dealing with it better than Dave, though, that could just be favoritism on my part. 👀 It's not all easy for Pero either, just different.

The question could have been any Pedro character, but I figured these two would be interesting.

I present: (I found Angela Lansbury! 💖)

Two Men out of Time

Dave York and Pero Tovar

Word Count: 1169 (I giggled - I am stuck in middle school).

Warnings: Limited understanding of Middle Ages, insults to ponytails, movie and video game references, William slander (I'm fine with this.), NAKED PERO, implied past sex work, Ogling a naked Pero, implying possible future sex work, maybe some inappropriate touching (I mean, she likely did, let's be real here), I think that's about it.

Notes: Like I said, no idea if this answered the question. This is what I wrote today after sipping two things of hot cocoa while brainstorming because you always have thought-provoking asks.

Silence can be a tool when done correctly. Honestly, it’s the best choice right now. He would close his eyes and try to picture himself back in the hotel, which he remembered falling asleep in, but he did that while he was laid out on his back near a river. 

Did not work. 

Had his face licked by a horse of all things. Dave has never had a reason to encounter a horse, and would have liked that to have been his only encounter with one, but with the horse, came three men. York tried to get up, but his clothes were much heavier than he remembered. The men called him a name he didn’t recognize and rather than correcting them, he remained quiet and nodded. They chuckled and patted him on the back after helping up, mocking him for falling off of his horse and that it was unlike him to not be able to handle his drink. Laughing with the men, Dave saw that they were all wearing armor like out of one of his daughter’s world history books. 

Which time period was this? Is he wearing armor too? Is that why it’s so hard to move? He also has weapons on his back. They’re swords, three of them. Looks to be one main and two twin swords. York was still clean shaven which appeared to confuse his comrades. They mocked him for his face, the pale one with the ponytail mocked him the most. Dave could break his neck, but he chuckled along before making a scowl. The men seem to be heading toward a village, maybe they’re in the middle ages. 

How is he going to navigate this? Is this ‘Pero’ supposed to be an ancestor of his? Wasn’t this a video game? Or that Michael Fassbender movie?

Their group arrives in a tavern where they drink some sort of barley based drink. Dave is by no means a lightweight, but five mugs in and he’s having trouble seeing straight. One of the barmaids? He assumes that’s what they're called, she helps him upstairs, but he shoos her away as she appears to want some money for certain services. Dave knows next to knowing about this time period, but he remembers hygiene not being a top priority. So in addition to not wanting to entertain that woman, the food may make him sick, he also may have rashes and expect vermin. Many of them. Maybe if he sleeps this time, he’ll wake up back in the bed with those two women he’d enjoyed the night with. Even if they weren’t there, just back the bed, in his own time would be great. Is he going to die from dysentery? Is that still a thing? Should he be concerned about a plague? “This is bullshit. When I wake up. I’m gonna smack that guy with the ponytail. I don’t look like a drowned rat. His name was William, he will pay.” Dave drifts off to sleep with anger in his heart for Will. The man in question’s ears burn while he continues to drink downstairs. 

Pero’s back felt good for once. He was on something soft, he rose out of bed too quickly. He’s naked. Unsure why and there’s two women looking at him curiously. “Dave, we don’t know where you’ve been but you can’t come here smelling like that. We got you washed and everything but we had to toss those sheets. The madam will be in to see you to talk to you about it.” For some reason, there were two women wearing undergarments he’s never seen telling him that they washed him and put him back in this bed. They were calling him Dave. He has no clue who this Dave is but apparently he is at this establishment quite a lot. Pero is familiar with this type of place. Maybe this is how the aristocrats have their brothels set up, though there are still many confusing things here. 

Moving to the edge of the bed, it doesn’t feel bad to be this clean, only odd. He wouldn’t even be scrubbed quite like this before meeting generals, lords or ladies. Cracking his neck, the door to his room opened and he was greeted by a stout woman in a silk dress. Her eyes focus between his thighs for a moment before going back to his face. She studied that as well. The two women were behind her and she closed the door on them, locking it. “You are not Dave York. A curious specimen of a man. You resemble him though, not quite in all the ways I see.” The woman moves to stand two feet away from Pero. “You can call me Ms. Magnolia. What should I call you handsome?”

“I am Pero Tovar Señora Magnolia. I do not know how I came to be here. I last remember falling off my horse. Who did you think I was?” His eyes follow her as she sits next to him on the bed and pats his shoulder. Tovar eyes her carefully, he can overpower her easily, but he knows little about what has happened. It’s best to get information first. 

“That’s no matter. You’re clearly not him. I feel that you’ll be more amenable to me supporting you as I help you navigate this strange world. You’re not from here or this time. So auspicious.”

“Are you a witch?”

“No. Just sensitive to the natural world my dear gorgeous man. If you don’t want my help, you’re more than welcome to use what money you may have on your person to pay for our services, but…” Ms. Magnolia stands and looks over her shoulder. “Given your current state, you may have trouble with that.”

“You would be correct Señora. May I have some clothes to put on so I can explore to get my bearings?” Pero placed his hands on his knees, if the madam might be swayed to help him in any fashion, he’ll need to use what he has. Tovar doesn’t see any of his weapons so his body is on deck then. 

“I don’t mind you like this Pero, but I understand you wouldn’t want to walk around like this. I can get you some clothes. There might be some things we can do to get you accustomed to things. Do not worry.” Her wide smile did in fact make him worry, but soon he was brought clothes and she ‘assisted’ him in putting them on. He next asked for food, which she did leave the room to go retrieve. Alone with his thoughts, Tovar closed his eyes. He had on what they call a t-shirt and sweatpants. They were loose, soft and comfortable. Easy to move in, but offer no protection. 

What the hell kind of mess had he gotten himself into now? Pero can’t even blame this one on William and his stupid ponytail that he never cuts off. No, Tovar will always blame that silly hair choice. 

Tagging @soft-persephone (for the drowned rat 🐀)

@604to647 @avastrasposts @tinytinymenace @morallyinept @iamskyereads (five Pero girls)

@megamindsecretlair Because she'll giggle - I know it

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Trying to organize my ask notebook better since I've run out of space under general fandom asks and I would like to know what fandoms you are in so I can ask the correct people about the correct fandoms.

I think my main ones are Bagginshield/The Hobbit, Sherlock/Johnlock, Dragon Age Inquisition, {Pippin/Faramir Merry/Eowyn}/The Lord of the Rings and I dip my toes in a few that I currently can't remember but ones I don't engage in canon at all are Good Omens but only for Crowley/Azirapheal ship, Stranger Things but only for Steve/Eddie ship, The Witcher but only for Geralt/Jaskier things and Ladybug and Cat Noir but only for Adrinette .

Also do you like getting asks that are or include story ideas or snippets?

*Asks are sent for fun, no pressure to answer within a certain amount of time or at all.

Hi Lovely!!!

OH GOSH OH GOSH OKAY, I'm actually part of a lot of fandoms!!! I'm not very active in a lot of them these days but I LOVE asks about them. My main active ones I either participate in or lurk in currently (with my preferred ship in the brackets):

BBC Sherlock (Johnlock)

Good Omens (Ineffable Husbands)

Moon Knight (Layla / The Moon System)

Loki Series (Mobius / Loki)

Red Dwarf (Lister / Rimmer)

Detroit: Become Human (Hank / Connor)

Here are the other ones I still adore and visit frequently, and was a big part of the fandoms:

Darkwing Duck (Drake / Morgana)

Sonic SatAM (Sonic / Sally and Bunnie/Antoine)

TMNT 2005 and TMNT 2012 (Casey/April in '05, none in the other. Leo is my fave character in both series. He always has the best character developments and stories)

And here are some other fandoms I check out and love and adore:

Kingdom Hearts Series (Sora / Kairi, but my fave character is Roxas)

Avatar: The Last Airbender (Katara / Zuko. I'm STILL SALTY that it was literally RIGHT THERE and the much better ship and they still went with the boringest one)

Assassin's Creed Series, more the modern era RPG games but I love pretty much all of them. My fave one is Black Flag, though. I loved it so much.

Our Flag Means Death (Stede/Ed)

And some other random fandom things:

Stitch is my favourite Disney character of all time, and Maleficent is my favourite Disney Villain.

My oldest fandom is the Sonic the Hedgehog fandom. There was a time I had to play every Sonic game ever made, until they got bad for awhile. I participated in the fandom when I was in my teens and early 20s, and wrote a fairly popular fanfic series based on the Sat AM series (which I argue is still the best Sonic TV show ever, and it's Sonic/Sally forever for me, I don't like Amy Rose at all). My fave character from the games is Shadow though, followed by Knuckles and then Sonic LOL.

Kingdom Hearts Series is my fave video game series of all time, followed by Skyrim, then Assassin's Creed. I AM that idiot who will buy all the games of these series Day One. I love the worldbuilding in all three of these series and they're ripe for AUs.

I Love the MCU, despite its flaws. I usually see every single Marvel movie or show when they come out. Aside from the MCU fandoms listed above, my other faves are Antman 1 and 2, Guardians of the Galaxy 1, Avengers Endgame, Doctor Strange, Hawkeye, and Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Fruits Basket (Kyo / Tohru). I actually love the revamped 2019 series, as it follows the manga and it was completed.

Ranma 1/2 (Ryoga / Akane) is my fave anime though. The manga is really good, I read the whole thing in one night on one of those translation sites.

I also love Dragon Age: Inquisition!! Not super familiar with much of the lore since I've only played it once, but I loved it. The world was so interesting and I want to play The Vielguard, though I might wait until it goes on sale since it's not a must-play at the moment for me.

There's SO MANY MORE I could add, HONESTLY, but I'll be here forever listing shows and nostalgia that still makes me SO happy. I LOVE talking about fandoms so I love getting these kind of asks! I can write more if you'd like LOL.

AND to answer your final question, YES, LOVE THEM. I add them to my 'writing prompts' tag for my or others' reference if a spark of something comes to me, AND I love getting story snippets because even if they aren't, they feel like little gifts for me, you know? Because someone took time out to share them with me, you know?? AHHH, so yes, if you or anyone else has them, please share them!!

Thank you for this ask, I love talking about my other fandoms!! Please feel free to ask me more about fandoms, all!!

[igaveyouamortentia]

Introduction?

Name: Well.. It's a secret that I won't tell, I might tell you later if we get to know each other. But it starts with 𝑨.

Nationality: Not really a secret, I'll tell if you ask me, but I'll not put it out here yet if not interested. (But English isn't my first language so if you find any mistakes, I'm sorry, feel free to correct me, I'll try not to get offended 😄)

Age: 22 (August 6)

Height(? If that matters); Around 162-164 cm, 5'3-5'4 feet?

Hair: Mostly straight, naturally brunette, and dyed brunette now, but I had a few colours..

Eyes: Green? I think. Have some brown in the center, but mostly green.

Sign: Leo ♌︎, I'm a bit into astrology, I wouldn't say I base everything on it, it's fun, and I'd say there's some truth in it definitely.

Occupation: I just started workiiing, I've been studying this and that, but nothing got me a job until recently.

I'm an introvert.

I've been told I can be funny.. I'd describe my humour as... Bad. 😂 Sarcastic.. Dark sometimes. I can make people laugh, but definitely myself.

I prefer cats a bit more, we've always had dogs, but since we got some cats too I started to like them more maybe. But I'm fine with either!

I have a tattoo since I was 13... Almost 14 O.o yep. It's kind of a family tattoo.

I can't really say anything about my music taste.. It's like everything... Almost.

I probably have some undiagnosed mental health issues, so be aware of that, that can be the reason for my insecurity, negativity or absence, but I'm not gonna do anything, don't worry.

I started this.. Or my previous Tumblr accounts in upper primary I believe 😂 I think I had ones before this, but I always lost access to them, forgot the passwords and such, but I have this since 6-7 or 8th grade. My friends had it, they were watching maybe fan arts, or we were just sad and depressed, yk teen life.. So I joined them and created it. They're not active anymore, and I just come here every now and then for different reasons.. To vent, to look for inspiration for fandoms, or right now.. I'm looking for stuff to send to the man I'm interested in.. And it's a long distance kind of thing, so that's how we try to beat this. 😄

As a hobby.. I like playing video games sometimes, I tried out video editing, you know for TikTok and stuff. I love to write.. I'd not say I'm good at it, but I love doing it. I had some experience in roleplaying for years, but I quit it 😄I want to write a book one day in the future hopefully.

Hmm.. What else can I say.. Oh movies maybe.

I watched all of the seasons of American Horror Story! So we can talk about that.

I watched Breaking Bad, and now I'm watching Better Call Saul..

Also watched Fleabag and some non popular series if you wanna hear it 😂

I've been made to watch almost all of the Marvel movies so I know about that a bit 😄

As I mentioned before I'm a biiig Harry Potter fan, I only watched the films, haven't read the books yet. I'm obsessed with Professor Severus Snape 💚And the actor who played him Alan Rickman (I have his book, the diariesss). So there goes my daddy issues-

I had a lot of years when I questioned my sexuality, and I'm still not sure.. I could describe it best as.. I don't care about gender, nor anything else like age(don't get me wrong, I mean adults 🙌) I love a person regardless of those.. I fall in love with their vibe, and need to have that connection. Some would call it pansexual... I don't know. I had times when I thought I'm asexual, but my sex drive is way too high for that-

That's about it for now...

We can discuss more about that and other things.. Feel free to ask me, anons too, I'd be happy to answer anything. I don't judge or bite.

~𝑨

[dvaderstark]

One thing that I want to say about Tony in Civil War

I love Tony Stark in the MCU and I love him in Civil War, I feel his actions are understandable based on previous movies, I think he is correct that oversight is needed even if the Accords aren't the answer. I also think that his actions regarding Steve's team are understandable considering that Steve doesn't really let him in on most of what he's doing in this movie and what Tony does know doesn't a paint a great picture which is why when Peter says that he's been told Captain America has gone crazy near Homecoming's beginning I don't really read that as Tony lying, I mean we don't actually know what Tony said about Steve he could have just said that Steve rampaged through an urban area and escaped from law enforcement with an extremely dangerous criminal whether or not he chooses to be dangerous.

One other point to mention is the airport battle. I think that while a lot of members of each team go a bit too far here. I want to briefly mention Tony's thing. Tony fires some missiles at Clint and Wanda who of course don't have armor. I will defend though on the fact that it is highly implied that Tony was doing the same thing Vision did when Steve's team was completed firing a shot ahead of where they are running to get them to stop. After all he has a targeting system. If he wanted to and he definitely doesn't he could have at least tried. The characters that should get the most flack for the airport right are Vision for hitting Sam, Scott for seemingly forgetting that he wasn't playing a video game after he went giant and wrecking that plane, Rhodey for hitting Wanda with the sonic cannon though Vision taking out the tower was fine since Steve and Bucky could have been crushed, and Wanda for throwing Natasha into that crate in such a way that could have really hurt her and then admonishing Clint for pulling his punches against his best friend and the least dangerous of Tony's team by far. Tony and T'Challa also are up there Tony more bringing Peter into this even if he probably didn't foresee it getting that serious and T'Challa trying to kill here if kind of the point of the movie.

Though I will say that the scene where Tony recruits Peter is a tough watch and the second worst thing he does in the movie even if I get where he is coming from in picking Peter. As for the ending of the movie, the final fight is great and RDJ brings it in every line. I sympathize with Tony here while also knowing that what he did was wrong. That the correct response to seeing that awful tape and learning Steve's confession would have been to punch Steve a few times, capture Zemo and make him pay and get Bucky help to remove the triggers so that the triggers that make Bucky the soldier that killed his parents would be gone. But Tony snapped. I hesitate to wonder what I would do in his shoes, but I could understand snapping under the weight of everything he went through throughout the movie and wanting to get revenge.

What Tony did was wrong he was not justified but I do understand why he did that and that is why I love this movie. Neither Steve nor Tony is the hero. Also people who are Tony stans do piss me off about one thing in this scene, the ones who say Tony wasn't trying to kill Bucky that he was just lashing out and wanting to hurt him but not kill, Tony actually aimed a missile point blank at Bucky's face, what more evidence do you need? Granted the Steve stans who say that Tony tried to kill Steve are also really annoying since Tony clearly tried to keep Steve out of the fight and was focused on Bucky. This evolved beyond one thing and was just my basic thoughts on Tony in Civil War a broken man trying to do what he can to keep his only family he has left while trying to get oversight because of his actions. It's a tragic very well told story and he's great in it.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

There have been some successful video-game-to-movie adaptations made here and there. Out of all of them, Edge of Tomorrow is the best… even though it isn’t actually based on a game. It’s hard to explain but you’ll see what I mean if you read on.

After an arduous struggle against alien invaders called Mimics, mankind has finally managed to hold their advance and now, we’re getting ready to counter-attack. When Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) is ordered to head into battle by his superiors, he tries to unsuccessfully blackmail his way out of combat, is knocked unconscious and sent to the front lines as punishment. The campaign is a disaster. Within minutes, everyone, including Cage, is dead. That’s when he wakes up. Something happened to him and now he relives that attack over and over.

Based on the Japanese novel All You Need is Kill (which is actually a much better title), this movie takes you by surprise. I had to spoil the premise to get you intrigued, but if you didn’t know, you’d be scratching your head from the beginning. Tom Cruise playing a coward who gets bumped off minutes in? Even when he wakes up alive again, he’s still a wimp who desperately wants to avoid the battlefield. Didn’t see that coming. What follows is a hybrid of Starship Troopers and Groundhog Day. Like in a video game, everyone - Mimic and human alike - ends up at the same spot, does the same thing, and has the same lines to say unless Cage does something to move them. This allows him to strategize and through trial and error, become impossibly skilled. This means you’ll get many hilarious scenes as he tries to get to that one place at the right time… only to fail and die horribly. You’ll also see mind-blowing sequences in which he effortlessly blows legions of opponents away, firing behind him in exactly the right spot to ensure a kill shot and dodging projectiles like he’s got eyes on the back of his head.

The time loop mechanic is just one aspect of the film. The truth is, no matter how good you are at firing a gun, you’ll eventually run out of bullets. A single man could never take down an entire invasion on his own. As we get deeper into the plot, we move away from the chaos of the war zone and towards the big question. Why is this happening? How does Cage break the loop? The answers lie in Sergeant Rita Vrataski, the “Full Metal Bitch” (Emily Blunt). She’s the opposite of Cage. Cool, collected, brave and highly skilled. Too bad the time power thing was given to the slimy noodle instead of her…

Edge of Tomorrow is a blast. It’s laugh-out-loud funny, and then it switches into action mode. The battles are the kind that makes other films look wimpy by comparison. Not only are the actors doing their own stunts but all of the combat is creative and expertly directed. We get plenty of satisfying character moments and growth, which is expected in this type of film, but the way the screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth does it is unexpected. A large chunk of the film is about two people, one of which can change, and the other cannot, at least not in the same way.

The plot moves quickly, there are many memorable lines and moments, you love digging into the mystery and the special effects are top-notch. There’s so much of it to like you start second-guessing yourself. “Is this movie really this awesome, or am I crazy?” Your gut instinct is correct. “Awesome” is the perfect word. The ending might seem a little too clean for some but a key line in the film sets it up and you’ve got to give this picture credit for truly understanding just how powerful a tool time travel is.

Following a so-so run at the box office, Edge of Tomorrow was rebranded as Live. Die. Repeat on home video. Now, it's just waiting to be discovered. Seek it out and you’ll have a blast. (On Blu-ray, April 19, 2019)

[darry-rules]

7:06

What is the most frightening thing you can think of? There is actually a unanimously correct response. By going into the darkest and most horrific part of the brain could one finally understand what one certain fear causes the body to go into hyperdrive and activate the “fight or flight” response. Any living being is ultimately condemned to choose fear or curiosity at this one, simple piece of knowledge: the unknown. This is why people are afraid of the dark, of monsters, of heights. The thrill is unknown to them. Their body isn’t prepared to explain what lies ahead.

The logs you are about to see have recently been re-released to the public for a few weeks in hopes of finding new leads. It has yet to be explained what exactly happened to Daniel Smith. The following videos should be viewed with caution. They contain graphic and violent material.

V-Log #1. January 13th, 2014. 6:45 PM

“Hello, my name is Daniel Smith. I’ve decided to start making a video journal of my life and upload it here to YouTube. I’ve started to wonder what would happen after I’m gone; would anyone miss me? The real me. My friends and I never really kept in touch after my freshman year of college. Zach is the only one I really keep in contact with nowadays. After the incident, I haven’t really told anyone what really happened to me; not even him.

Possibly by getting this story off my chest, after holding it in for three years, would help with the night terrors that keep happening. I have literally tried everything, so I’ll do my best to explain.”

“Daniel! It’s time for dinner!”

“Shit! Gotta cut this one short.”

Daniel leaves the screen, forgetting to turn off the webcam, leaving it in total darkness. Seconds later, his face immediately pops back on screen.

“Fuck. How do you even cut off the recording? Is it this one? No- oh, here we-”

There is a screen tear and the screen goes black. The voice heard calling Daniel is his mother.

V-Log #2. January 15th, 2014. 8:37 PM

“Alright, so I intended to finish my last V-log yesterday, but things came up. Anyways, let me try and explain how this all started.

I graduated high school in May of 2010 with a full ride to East Carolina University pursuing Computer Science. Over half of my classes were online because I just felt it easier to learn that way. I ended up acing them all and then decided to learn how to code. See, all of my friends were into playing games as much as I was. So we all decided that we wanted to make it a career. All four of us dreamed about making a huge advancement in the gaming field, and boy did we.

I was the brains of the operation. I had taken every coding class possible and even taught myself basic graphic design and video editing in my spare time. My main focus was on virtual reality. It has been pursued many times in the past, but no real breakthroughs had occurred. The Oculus Rift was still in development so we had to make our own version. Zach was the tech genius. He could take anything and make something useful out of it. Him and Joey made this ungodly mechanism that went over your eyes, but it got the job done.

So, now it was my turn to figure out what game we would create. Horror games were my personal favourite. I loved getting scared and being in control, unlike horror movies. Regardless, I had to find out what scared people, so we all decided to do a survey on campus. We found the majority were afraid of heights, the darkness, or ghosts. Clowns, roller coasters, and other things were part of the lesser majority, but one thing stood out to me. Only about two people came up with the answer that spawned the idea of my game. The unknown. After some hard thinking, I realised that “the unknown” really frightened everyone. All the answers I got fell under that category. They don’t know what lurks in the darkness, what a ghost is capable of doing to them, or even how to react during a roller coaster. When you aren’t in control, you are scared. Knowing that something else can break through the barriers of your mind and take control of your feelings is the most disturbing thought you can have.”

Daniel stares blankly at the screen for about forty seconds without moving. The video appears to be paused until we notice his chest moving as he breathes. He eventually blinks his eyes and looks away before he speaks again.

“I’ll tell more later. I’m feeling kind of tired right now.”

The audio becomes distorted when Daniel says this. It seems to play over itself twice with the second voice being a few octaves lower than his normal voice.

V-Log #3. January 18th, 2014. 9:48 PM

“Well, I’ve been sick the past few days so I haven’t really felt like doing this, but I have to finish my story.

As I said before, ‘the unknown’ was the main motive for the development of my game. I decided to make the prototype as a maze for the player to walk through. I had a creature chase after the player throughout the maze to add to the fear factor. Sounds would distort throughout to give the player a sense of excitement. The farther you got in the maze, the more the sounds would disturb you. I took the idea from the popular game, Slender, where you find pages in a dark forest. The more pages you find, the more noises would play adding to the creepy ambiance. Anything from a distant scream of a girl to the sound of your own heartbeat would be heard through the player’s headphones.

Well, after long hours of coding and researching, the prototype was ready. David was the first to test it.

Daniel looks down for a few seconds and then looks back up before speaking again.

You know, our minds are made to know everything we sense no matter what it takes. But, when the mind has used up all resources to explain certain pieces of information, all hell breaks loose. The body produces adrenaline causing you to run faster, farther, sweat, and breathe heavier. Our minds use all the energy that is supposed to explain the piece of information and injects it into all our muscles to get away, or face the abomination.

I wanted to find that abomination.

The video seems to slow down and the screen flickers back to different pieces of the clip. It shows Daniel saying the words, “fear,” “disturb,” “unknown,” and “scream” before the video finally cuts to black.

V-Log #4. January 19th, 2014 7:00 AM

This log shows an empty room. Daniel is nowhere to be seen in the footage for the first few minutes. At about 7:06 AM the door to the room opens and the outline of a figure is standing facing the webcam. The figure stands, unmoving, for two full hours before the door slams shut by an unknown force. The screen then goes black.

V-Log #5. January 19th, 2014 3:15 PM

“So I reviewed the footage from last night and I’m not really sure what happened. I think my computer overheated causing the recording software to fuck up.

Anyways, the tests went pretty normal for a while. All four of us tried it out and loved it. David couldn’t get enough of it. He was the first to suggest we get more people around campus to try it out and give us suggestions on how to improve it. We all agreed. After having dozens of kids try it out, I got to work on the suggestions. Everything from the sounds, to the monster, to the maze was all changed. The main concern was that people could memorise the layout of the maze after a few play-throughs. One boy suggested we play this game called Amnesia – The Dark Descent to help come up with a more fear-inducing gameplay. I found the game and loved the impact. It’s a first-person survival horror game where you have to navigate through a haunted castle avoiding monsters and solving puzzles. The hook of this game is when you are in darkness too long, your character starts to hallucinate.

Before using their idea, I decided to contact the developers before making my own knock-off. After explaining that I was in college, what my major was, and the project we had going, they approved. They actually wanted to send me a few of their discs and drives that had in-depth information on the game and how it was created. They just wanted most of the credit when and if it hit big.

I skipped my classes on a Friday to get an early weekend start on the game and got pretty far into it. I swapped the maze idea for an abandoned insane asylum. Also, I took out the single monster idea and had multiple deranged beings come after you or pop up in windows. I decided to take out some of the audio and make it almost completely silent. I would still put in the distant scream and the heart beat, but no other unknown background filler. Doors would creak, your footsteps, and when you were attacked, the beings screamed and clawed at you; These were the main audio pieces that were promoting the realistic feel to the game.

Again, Daniel pauses and looks down. He continues to look down as he speaks again.

Sometimes we forget the reason we feel fear. It’s just there for one simple reason: to save us from the unknown.

Daniel quickly looks back up to the screen.

I’ll get more into it tomorrow because I have to go into work.”

The screen goes black after Daniel closes his laptop.

V-Log #6. January 19th, 2014 7:00 PM

The camera shows a dark room again. Daniel is still nowhere to be seen. Although, it is unknown how the laptop was reopened. The door to the room is shut and there is no noise. At 7:06 PM, the door to the room slowly opens and the dark figure from before stands unmoving for three full minutes before entering the room. There is no movement of the figure suggesting that it is walking; it seems to glide across the floor and out of view of the camera.

It isn’t until 9:06 PM that the door shuts by an unknown force and the laptop closes, shutting off the webcam.

V-Log #7. January 20th, 2014 6:05 AM

Daniel’s eyes are bloodshot and tired-looking. He rubs them and yawns before speaking.

“Well, I couldn’t sleep for shit last night after work. I kept getting woken up by nightmares and I can’t even remember what they were about. Anyways, I guess I’ll just get today’s log out of the way.

By the time I finished up most of the new gameplay, we were all on Christmas break. I really needed the guys to help test out my new version, but everyone was busy or had plans. Well, what else would you do in this situation? I tried it myself.”

This is another point at which Daniel stares at the screen, except he wasn’t just staring blankly, he seemed to be looking at something on his screen.

“What the-”

A horrified look appears on Daniel’s face as he backs away from the screen and runs out of the room.

Twenty minutes pass before Daniel walks back into the room and sits down at the chair. His face is looking downward until he sits down. As he looks up at the screen, a screen tear happens for a split second. If you pause the video at the second Daniel looks up, his eyes are completely sunken in and black. When the video cuts back to normal, Daniel continues on with his story as if nothing happened.

“When I put the headgear and headphones on, it felt almost too real. I walked toward the asylum and looked up at it. It was raining and there were flashes of lightning every few seconds. I walked inside and found that everything was completely silent. I had the heart monitor strapped to my chest so my heartbeat was the only sound in my headphones.

As I walked through the asylum, I noticed a few unbelievable changes. The rooms and hallways were in unnaturally smooth detail. I continued through the asylum, found the flashlight, keys to rooms, and the hidden objects I had placed throughout the game as a point system. The weirdest part was, the monsters hadn’t appeared. I heard the screams, my footsteps, the general noises; nothing else. That was, until I got to the basement.

See, I made a series of tunnels and rooms in the basement that was sort of identical to the main floor. It was darker and I made the footsteps sound different, but there were other sounds as well. I would hear an extremely light scratching sound on the concrete walls if I would stand still. Sometimes, I would hear low whispering right in my ear and maniacal laughter far in the distance. This disturbed me. I made every fibre of this game and had no recollection of putting those in there.

When I found most of the objects I came to one final room. I also had no memory of making this either. It contained a tall wooden door with a giant lock on it, but no windows or even a handle. After constant searching, I found a black key that I had never seen before. I was still baffled at all of this, but I wanted to see this to the end. With no explanation of the key, I returned to the door and tried it. After a long wait in complete silence, I figured the game had crashed on me. Right before I removed the headgear, I heard a creaking sound. As I looked through the headgear once more, I found that the door was wide open.

In the game I made it so the flashlight would have a dwindling energy supply. One of the things you have to find are batteries scattered throughout the asylum. You can also find matches to help give you a short supply of light until you can hopefully find some spare batteries. Well, I was fucking out of batteries, and I had three matches left.

Daniel’s face turns horrified

But- but when I s-struck the match, it just blew out as soon as they looked up at me. Oh God, the eyes. They were everywhere…dozens of..eyes.

As soon as the video hits 7:06 AM, Daniel abruptly quiets and then starts sobbing and looks off screen to the right.

“I’m sorry, okay! I didn’t know I would let it out! He made-”

The video turns black and ends

V-Log #8. January 23rd, 2014 11:02PM

Daniel is seen standing in the middle of the room with his back turned to the screen. He is completely nude except for a bag covering his head. His arms are outstretched and he has three gashes on his back. A deep whispering sound is the only thing you hear from the video. Daniel stays silent standing in this position until 11:59 PM. The video ends at 12:00 AM the next morning.

Upon further investigation of this clip, the audio was increased intensely. The deep voice seems to repeat the phrase, “He comes”, throughout the video.

V-Log #9. February 6th, 2014 3:13 PM

Zach is the one in this log. He is silent for about thirty seconds.

“So, I heard that Daniel was making these video logs and I just wanted to come and finalise them for him by telling everyone what happened.

Daniel was found lying in his room here a couple weeks ago. He was naked, and cut up pretty bad. They took him to the hospital and found that the wounds were self inflicted and that he had tried to kill himself. I haven’t gone through these videos yet, but I know something has to be in here. I just wanted people to know that Daniel is in critical care.”

Zach pauses for a few seconds as he starts to tear up

“They say that, the wounds…they were so deep and the blood loss was so drastic, that he won’t survive. His body is rejecting all medication, and he isn’t supposed to make it through the night.”

Zach sobs for a few minutes before continuing

“Really, the hardest part about dealing with this, is that David passed away as well. About five months ago he dropped dead from a sudden brain aneurism. We tried to contact Daniel, but we couldn’t get in touch with him.

I’m gonna find out what happened to you Daniel. I swear it.”

He shuts off the camera

V-Log #10. February 7th, 2014 6:22 PM

Zach seems to be in a panic and rushing as he speaks

“Alright, so I watched all of his logs and something is fucked up. He never acted this way until he got into that game. I’ve tried to contact Joey but he won’t return my calls. The reason I’m here now is because Daniel was like a brother to me, and I’m not about to move on without knowing the truth. Something happened when he played that game and I have to find out. I don’t know what he saw or what he found, but I feel like it’s connected to his death. I need to find it and that headset.”

Zach gets up and rushes around the room. After eleven minutes, he finds the headset in the top of a closet and the game in a locked drawer. He seems to forget that the webcam is still on as we assume he starts up the game. He puts on the headset and headphones and immediately starts to scream. The webcam audio is muted, but Zach seems to be terrified and rips off the headset. As soon as he takes it off, the lights go out and the video cuts off.

V-Log #11. February 7th, 2014 7:05 PM

The room is barely visible through the darkness and Zach isn’t in sight. At 7:06 PM, the door to the room slowly opens revealing the silhouette of a young man in what seems to be a hospital gown. After about thirty seconds, the figure slowly walks over toward the bed as the room becomes flooded with light.

Daniel is now visible and he stands motionless facing the bed. As he leans over, bloodstains become visible on the back of his gown and grow larger as the minutes pass. On the bed, mangled to a point of almost no recognition, is Zach’s body. The blue and white shirt is the only indication of him. Daniel starts laughing maniacally. His body starts to contort unnaturally; his bones start breaking; he leans back and walks on his hands and feet toward the screen. His eyes are pitch black and his mouth in a devilish grin. He laughs for a few seconds before the deep voice erupts from his mouth and says only two words,

“He’s here.”

These videos have been investigated to the bone with no real explanation to what exactly happened. The only facts that have been recovered from the crime scene are:

Daniel apparently used coding and files from the information sent to him by the creators of Amnesia – The Dark Descent within the game he created.

Daniel’s mother has been put in a mental hospital after a sudden attempt of suicide regarding her son’s passing.

Zach’s body had multiple gashes similar to the ones seen on Daniel’s back

Daniel’s whereabouts are still unknown.

[asheewrites]

Raphael is very eloquent and accepting of the living pictures. Will he also be with the headmaster?

The rooms were significantly less stuffy than the book or the movies made him believe. It was a fairly functional room. A normal office, even if it had a quill on the desk. A quick look around offered a folded up laptop, too.

Alright, then.

It still had a little fireplace. And two armchairs in front of it. Much better than the free standing bookshelves from the games. ‘Severin Prince’ gestured for Raphael to sit in one of the armchairs – definitely better than the shame chair in front of the desk – and  lit the fireplace with a quick flick of his wand.

Which… seemed wrong. But why not. ‘wand magic’. Sure.

He sat down with a sigh and started again: “So. An abrupt arrival is rather unusual on these premises. Please, enlighten me.”

Admittedly, he had been rude, looking about and not actually answering anything. After clearing his throat, he finally answered: “I… apologize for the belated answer. Thank you for the warm welcome to… Sowguards, head master Prince.”

The man in front of him was… an unknown. So… being careful might be a good idea.

“My name is Azarias Israfil,” which was not a lie, technically, “And I’ve arrived with a somewhat special kind of teleportation. It’s not supposed to work here, am I informed right?”

Mr. Princes eyebrow had twitched when he had mentioned his name. Well. It was an angel’s name, which… might be a bad pseudonym. “With very few exceptions… teleportation does not work here, indeed. You are… a wizard then, Mr. Israfil?”

“Ah, I can work magic, indeed.” Raphael nodded. “It seems I arrived wandless through the teleportation, though.” No demonstration needed.

“Mh,” the head master looked at him, level headed and apparently considering. Then said: “Well. You did not actually tell me what or who brought you here. Or, if easier, what you are planning to do here.”

Unfortunately, that was a fair way of inquiry: “It unfortunately was a bit of an accident. And the only thing I actually plan to do is getting home again. Which… is best done outside of the premises.” At least he thought so.

“… alright, then. It might not be any of my business. Where did you study magic, if you don’t mind me asking? Sowguards is very well connected all over the globe. I might be able to help getting you back where you came from.” Which was… respectful… and still very much inconvenient. Well.

“It’s… more of an instinctual thing for me, unfortunately I had no formal education. Could slam doors shut from the other side of the room and it only got better from there, so… didn’t quite get the letter-treatment, was not all too necessary either,” he smiled a bit lopsidedly. Trying his best to look harmless and sensible.

“… which might explain the unusual teleportation, mh? Different education? Instinctual magic?” And wasn’t the raised eyebrow a familiar expression. Too bad it was entirely justified this time around.

Raphael scrunched up his nose. This… was not exactly right at all. And a weird way to give him an out. “I mean… not exactly? This teleportation wasn’t something I particularly wanted or initiated, so that’s a bit… no?”

“Alright. But you can do… wandless magic, correct?” The headmaster leaned forward and poured two cups of steaming tea, handed one over to his guest.

“Well… yes. But apparently, so can you.” Cause that tea had not been steaming a second ago. He blew over the surface of the cup.

“Oh, certainly. Have you just seen the movies and are worried now?” the head master leaned back against the armchair, comfortable with the cup in both hands. The liquid smelled of strong herbs.

“… and played the video games,” he shrugged, with one shoulder.

“Ah. Instructive little things, aren’t they? But no matter. Yes, I can practice wandless magic. And I know where those abilities come from. The question is… do you? And… is that actually your name?”

That… was an awkward question.

[entertainmentad]

Reaching Your Audience: A Guide To Effective Entertainment Marketing

The entertainment industry creates a special place in people's lives by providing entertainment content through radios, televisions, smartphones, etc. Recently, the entertainment industry has been attracting the audience like a magnet, and the credit goes to only effective entertainment marketing. The role of marketing in the entertainment industry is vital. It is essential for entertainment businesses to know everything about how to market their entertainment business.

Businesses use an effective marketing strategy, creating a challenge in the competition and an opportunity to convey a message to the right audience at the right time. If you are an entertainment business owner confused about effective entertainment marketing, this article will be a one-stop solution for all your doubts.

It's Time To Understand The Entertainment Marketing

Promoting entertainment products and services like movies, songs, video games, etc, through different modes of advertising is known as entertainment marketing. It includes numerous strategies such as online advertising, paid advertising, etc. The motive of entertainment ads marketing is to increase sales and views by capturing the audience towards the products and services. Technology is developing day by day, which generates many digital entertainment OTT platforms like Hot Stars, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.

Benefits Of Using Entertainment Marketing

As an entertainment business owner, there are the following benefits for you if you use effective entertainment marketing -

Pin-Point Targets Potential Audience

Media & entertainment marketing helps businesses target the potential audience and increase sales. If you are associated with the entertainment business, and you are promoting video games, then your focus audience should be children because they love to play video games. With the help of entertainment marketing, you can successfully target the children's audience by displaying the ads to them.

Increased Brand Awareness In The Industry

Effective entertainment marketing is essential to enhance brand awareness in the industry. Audiences will go towards your entertainment products and services if you are famous in the industry. If you utilize the proper advertising channel in your effective marketing strategy, you will successfully echo your brand name around the audience through advertising.

Increased Sales And Revenues

As an entertainment business owner, tell me one thing: what is the motive of your business? Like other businesses, your motive should be to grow your sales and increase revenues. Effective entertainment marketing will help you to be successful in the entertainment industry. No matter who your competitor is, if your advertising and entertainment marketing strategy is correct, you will get positive results in your business.

Strategies Of Effective Marketing To Skyrocket Your Entertainment Business

This is the most essential part of this article if you want the tips and tricks of effective marketing for your entertainment business. The strategies of effective entertainment marketing are as follows -

Understand Your Marketing Goals And Research Demographics

The first strategy is to know about your marketing goals and objectives. You must clear your vision before thinking of entertainment marketing. You ask yourself who your audience is, which demographics are suitable for your advertising, and how much you can afford for the marketing because there is no limit to spending in the marketing. After finding all the answers, you can go for deep research to understand your audience's taste and what your audience is looking for the most in the entertainment industry.

Create A Unique Brand Name and Informative Website

Creating a unique brand name is the best tactic to establish a different brand image in the industry. Significant market players in the entertainment industry created a challenging benchmark that is tough to crack but not impossible. It would be best if you researched the name which is unique and appropriate for you, such as G.O.A.T Entertainment, which means ( Greatest Of All Time). You must create an informative website for the audience who want to know about your entertainment business.

Partner With The 7Search PPC: Powerful Entertainment Network

If you want to take your business to the next level, you must partner with the 7Search PPC entertainment advertising network. It works like a train engine that drives your entertainment business to a thriving destination. It puts the extra star on your effective marketing efforts. It displays your entertainment business to millions of audiences worldwide. It has a vast number of entertainment website owners that display your entertainment ads on their website, which leads to more audience engagement and high conversions. 

The best thing about this ad network is that it offers precise targeting features to entertainment advertisers and ensures that their entertainment ads will be displayed to the potential audience only. It also provides numerous ad formats for entertainment advertisers, such as banner ads, text ads, native ads, popunder ads, social bar ads, etc. As an entertainment advertiser, you can choose the perfect ad formats for your campaign.

Here are the focus points of using the 7Search PPC Entertainment Ad Network

=> Worldwide Reach

=> Budget-friendly

=> Genuine Publishers And High-Quality Traffic

=> Monitoring And Analytical Tools

=> Various Ad Formats

Make Use Of The Power Of Social Media

As an entertainment business owner, you can use social media as an online advertising medium. With the help of social media, you can showcase your entertainment products and services by posting your entertainment ads. You can also use the relevant hashtags for a wider reach. You can also put your profile on the relevant community where already entertainment enthusiasts are available, making it easy for you to target them effectively.

You can take the help of social media influencers to promote your entertainment products and services. They can post your entertainment products and services in their feed and encourage their audience to go for it.

Consistent Monitoring Of Entertainment Marketing Strategy

Consistent monitoring is the last step of the entertainment marketing strategy. If you want your entertainment marketing strategy to work effectively, you must regularly check the performance. It will help you determine which strategy works perfectly and which is not in your marketing campaign. You can modify your strategy if needed for better outcomes.

Conclusion;

The entertainment industry is transforming its image after digitalization. If we can talk about the earlier times, businesses used the door-to-door advertising approach or took the help of online advertising media like TV, Radio, etc. After digitalization, the way of marketing is also changing. Nowadays, entertainment businesses add a digital advertising approach to their entertainment marketing strategy, which makes it more effective. It is cost-effective and quickly responsive, unlike traditional advertising. In this article, we discussed the things that will be most beneficial for you if you want to enter the entertainment industry or if you are already in this industry and want to make an impact. 

[meruz]

once again i am answering asks in a big compilation post. included is... gotham, patrick stump, tips about drawing backgrounds, tips about drawing in general, links to my faq, and infinity train

like.... the tv series? No... I’ve drawn dc comics fanart before, though. But it’s been years since I’ve been really into it. I like jumped ship like 10 years ago when the New 52 happened LOL.

AFJHDSLKGH I’m sorry I (probably) won’t do it again??

Actually full disclosure I have a truly cringe amount of p stump drawings/photo studies in my sketchbook right now LOL. He’s just fun to draw... hats, glasses, guitar, a good shape... but I don’t think I’ll rly post those until I can hide them in another big sketchbook pdf.. probably Jan 2022. Stay tuned........ (ominous) 

(ominous preview)

These are all sort of related to backgrounds/painting so I grouped them together even though they’re pretty much entirely separate questions.... ANYWAYS

a) How is it working as a BG artist? Is it hard? What show are you drawing for?

I think you’re the first person to ever ask me about my job! Being a background artist is great. It’s definitely labor intensive but I think that could describe pretty much any art job (If something were rote or easy to automate, you wouldn’t hire an artist to do it) and I hesitate to say whether its harder or easier than any other role in the animation pipeline. Plus, so much of what truly makes a job difficult varies from one production to the next, schedule, working environment, co-workers etc. But I will say that I think while BGs are generally a lot of work on the upfront, I think they’re subject to less scrutiny/revisions than something like character/props/effects design and you don’t have to pitch them to a room like boards. So I guess it’s good if you don’t like to talk to people? LOL

A lot of my previous projects + the show I’ve worked on the longest aren’t public yet so I can’t talk about em (but I assure you if/when the news does break I won’t shut up about it). But I’m currently working on Archer Season 12 LOL. I’m like 90% sure I’m allowed to say that.

b) ~~~THANK YOU!! ~~~

c) What exactly do you like to draw most [in a background]?

@kaitomiury​ Lots of stuff! I really like to draw clutter! Because it’s a great opportunity for environmental storytelling and also you can be kind of messy with it because the sheer mass will supersede any details LOL. 

I like to draw clouds... I like to draw grass but not trees lol,,, I like to draw anything that sells perspective really easily like tiled floors and ceilings, shelves, lamp posts on a street etc.

d) Do you have any tips on how to paint (observational)?

god there’s so much to say. painting is really a whole ass discipline like someone can paint their whole life and still discover new things about it. I guess if you’re really just starting out my best advice is that habit is more important than product. especially with traditional plein air painting, I find that the procedure of going outside and setting up your paints is almost harder than the actual painting. There’s a lot of artists who say “I want to do plein air sometime!!” and then never actually get around to doing it. A lot of people just end up working from google streetview or photos on their computer.

But going outside to paint is a really good challenge because it forces you to make and commit to lighting and composition decisions really quickly. And to work through your mistakes instead of against them via undo button.

My last tip is to check out James Gurney’s youtube channel because hes probably the best and most consistent resource on observational painting out there rn. There’s lots other artists doing the same thing (off the top of my head I know a lot of the Warrior Painters group has people regularly posting plein air stuff and lightbox expo had a Jesse Schmidt lecture abt it last year) but Gurney’s probably the most prolific poster and one of the best at explaining the more technical stuff - his books are great too.

e) Do you have tips for drawing cleanly on heavypaint?

@marigoldfool​ UMM LOL I LIKE ONLY USE THE FILL TOOL so maybe use the fill tool? Fill and rectangle are good for edge control as opposed to the rest of the heavy paint tools which can get sort of muddles. And also I use a stylus so maybe if you’re using your finger, find a stylus that works with your device instead. That’s all I’ve got, frankly I don’t think my drawings are particularly clean lol.

f) Tips on improving backgrounds/scenes making them more dynamic practicing etc?

Ive given some tips about backgrounds/scenes before so I’m not gonna re-tread those but here’s another thing that might be helpful...

I think a good way to approach backgrounds is to think of the specific story or even mood you want to convey with the background first. Thinking “I just need to put something behind this character” is going to lead you to drawing like... a green screen tourist photo backdrop. But if you think “I need this bg to make the characters feel small” or “I need this bg to make the world feel colorful” then it gives you requirements and cues to work off of.

If I know a character needs to feel overwhelmed and small, then I know I need to create environment elements that will cage them in and corner them. If a character needs to feel triumphant/on top of the world then I know I need to let the environment open up around them. etc. If I know my focal point/ where I want to draw attention, I can build the background around that.

Also, backgrounds like figure compositions will have focal points of their own and you can draw attention to it/ the relationship the characters have with the bg element via scale or directionality or color, any number of cues. I think of it almost as a second/third character in a scene.

Not every composition is gonna have something so obvious like this but it helps me to think about these because then the characters feel connected and integrated with the environment.

Some more general art questions

a) Do you have any process/tips to start drawing character/bodies/heads?

I tried to kind of draw something to answer this but honestly this is difficult for me to answer because I don’t think I’m that great at drawing characters LOL. Ok, I think I have two tips.

1) flip your canvas often. A lot about what makes human bodies look correct and believable is symmetry and balance. Even if someone has asymmetrical features, the body will often pull and push in a way to counterbalance it. we often have inherent biases to one side or another like dominant hands dominant eyes etc. you know how right-handed artists will often favor drawing characters facing 45 degrees facing (the artist’s) left? that’s part of it. so viewing your drawing flipped even just to evaluate it helps compensate for that bias and makes you more aware of balance.

2) draw the whole figure often. I feel like a lot of beginner artists (myself included for a long time) defer to just drawing headshots or busts because it’s easier, you dont have to think about posing limbs etc. But drawing a full body allows you to better gauge proportion, perspective, body language, everything that makes a character look believable and grounded.

Like if you (me) have that issue where you draw the head too big and then have to resize it to fit the proportions of the rest of the body, it’s probably because you (I) drew the head first and are treating the body as an afterthought/attachment. Sketching out the whole figure first or even just quick drawing guides for it will help you think of it more holistically. I learned this figure drawing in charcoal at art school LOL.

oh. third mini tip - try to draw people from life often! its the best study. if you can get into a figure drawing/nude drawing class EVEN BETTER and if you have a local college/art space/museum that hosts those for free TREASURE IT AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT, that’s a huge boon that a lot of artists (me again) wish they had. though if youre not so lucky and youre sitting in a park trying to creeper draw people and they keep moving.. don’t let that stop you! that’s good practice because it’s forcing you to work fast to get the important stuff down LOL. its a challenge!

b) I’ve been pretty out of energy and have had no inspiration to draw but I have the desire to. Any advice?

Dude, take a walk or something.... Or a nap? Low energy is going to effect everything else so you gotta hit that problem at its source.

If you’re looking for inspiration though, I’d recommend stuff like watching a movie, reading a book, playing video games etc. Fill up your idea bank with content and then give yourself time/space to gestate it into new concepts. Sometimes looking at other art works but sometimes it can work against you because it’s too close. 

Also something that helps me is remembering that art doesn’t always have to be groundbreaking... like it’s okay to make something shitty and stupid that you don’t post online and only show to your friend. That’s all part of the process imo. If you want to hit a home run you gotta warm up first, right? Sports.

I should probably compile everytime i give tips on stuff like this but that’s getting dangerously close to being a social media artist who makes stupid boiled down art tutorials for clout which is the last thing i want to be... the thing I want to stress is that art is a whole visual language and there are widely agreed upon rules and customs but they exist in large part to be broken. Like there's an infinite number of ways to reach an infinite number of solutions and that’s actually what makes it really cool and personal for both the artist and the viewer. So when you make work you like or you find someone else’s work you like, take a step back and ask yourself what about it speaks for you, what about it works for you, what makes it effective, how to recreate that effect and how to break that effect completely, etc. And have a good time with it or else what’s the point.

for the first 2, I direct you to my FAQ

For the last one, I don’t actually believe I’ve ever addressed artwork as insp for stories/rp but I’ll say here and now yeah go ahead! As long as you’re not making profit or taking credit for my work then I’m normally ok with it. Especially anything thats private and purely recreational, that’s generally 100% green light go. I only ask that if you post it anywhere public that you please credit me.

(and I reserve the right to ask you to take it down if I see it and don’t approve of it’s use but I think that case is pretty rare.)

a) @lemuelzero101 Thank you!!! I haven’t played Life is Strange but actually  that series’ vis dev artist Edouard Caplain is one of my bigger art inspirations lately so that’s a really high compliment lol. And yeah I hope we get 5-8 too...!

b) Thank you for sticking around! I’ve been thinking about Digimon and Infinity Train in tandem lately, actually. They’re a little similar? Enter a dangerous alternate world and have wacky adventures with monsters/inanimate objects that have weird powers... there’s like weird engineers and mechanisms behind the scenes... also frontier literally starts with them getting on a train. Anyways if anyone else followed me for digimon... maybe you’d like Infinity Train? LOL

c) @king-wens-king I’M GLAD MY ART JUST HAS PINOY VIBES LOL I hope you are having a good day too :^)

a, b, c, d) yessss my Watch Infinity Train agenda is working....

e) aw thank you!! i think you should watch infinity train :)

[yvesdot]

Milk, or, The Discussion on Literary Symbolism.

(In which everyone is correct, and fortunately gets enough time to prove so.)

The student is well within their right to point out that the author may not have intended their character’s drinking milk to mean anything. The teacher is also right to note that subconscious decisions may carry meaning-- for example, if this student were to imagine a typical breakfast scene, it’d look quite different from another student’s in another country. How did that happen? Not only real life but fiction and fiction’s representations. Therefore the student imagines, say, milk at breakfast but not at dinner. Thus, without intention, fiction informs our beliefs at large.

But if there’s no intention, the student presses, why do we discuss the meaning? And the teacher of course responds that there is, in a sense, intention-- why mention what the character is drinking, and why make it milk, and why in this scene? Authors are told only to write what is necessary, what inextricably adds to the work. So the author thought, however briefly, that this was necessary. And that means we can interpret why it is necessary-- because, if just this one line were removed about the milk, the entire book changes. The book is not “everything but this line about milk”; the book is “everything, including this line about milk.” And... why? 

The student now says that this feels like a waste of time. Sure, fine, it had some slight intention-- but why bother? Of what use is it to their material, everyday life? And the teacher asks about their favorite worlds-- Star Wars, or Harry Potter, or whatever else. Those stories also have subconscious additions. And wouldn’t it be incredible if, every time they experienced those narratives, they saw something new? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to tell their friends how they knew things-- how they predicted this villain’s plan, or who would aid them, or how it all would end? Wouldn’t it be fantastic to know everything, every little thing, about the stories they loved? Because nobody dislikes stories, deep down, whether they’re books or movies or video games. Stories are our lives.

And the student says, well, sure, but what does that have to do with the milk? And the teacher agrees, yes, milk is just easier because it’s been done so many times and we have lots of writings on it and, at the end of the day, it’s just practice. It’s a sample problem, like in math. The milk is going to teach you how to divine anything you want to know about your stories, in the future. It’s just practice for now.

And the student says okay, and they write their frustrating little essay about the milk. They talk about Clockwork Orange, and associations of childhood, and color symbolism. It’s not the best essay ever written, and they don’t necessarily enjoy it.

But in the future, that student can read. They can look at their favorite worlds and understand them-- more deeply than some of their friends who have memorized every side character’s name. When they see a news article, they see not just how but why it is written a certain way. They are able to diffuse conflict with language. They sense intention behind words without having to guess. They express themself. They understand stories.

It’s a good thing they asked about the milk. It’s a good thing they got an answer.

posted writing | published book | ko-fi | Patreon

[amelee23]

Fool | J. YH

Genre: Fluff

Tags: Best friends to lovers, Suggestive themes and sexual jokes, Wooyoung is an accidental wingman, Nerdy gamers having at it, A lot of Need for Speed references

No. Words: 3.5k

⭐⭐⭐

She always loved when they got completely absorbed in their little bubble - engrossed in what was making them tick in the most passionate of ways. Since Yunho came to pick her up and take her to the dorm, she didn’t even realize when they got there - or even that the house was empty -  because they were too caught in a conversation about the new-coming video games of 2021. The small task of taking off shoes or their jackets, the walk to Yunho’s room and the struggle to get comfortable in the gaming chair; these were not memories in her mind. All she could remember was the way he smiled without stop and the sparkle in his eyes as excitement took over his entire being.

Only after Yunho told her he’s been playing old games lately - specifically racing classics, of the Need For Speed series - had she realized the house was too quiet. Yunho then informed her they all left to eat at a restaurant with the manager team, but he asked to be left behind so he could spend time with his best friend. She couldn’t help the warm smile raising her lips at the sweet sacrifice this man made for her.

A few minutes later and she felt the usual competitive side of her kick in, seeing Yunho with a controller in hand, playing Need for Speed: Underground 2, a game she remembered dearly from her childhood. She couldn’t help but feel she could do so much better than him - and that’s how the challenge came to be.

“Yeah, you want to bet?” Yunho suggested, his cheeks raised in a cheeky smile, but his lips expressed something a lot more smug. 

“2 out of 3: sprint, Street X and drift.” The boy laughed at his best friend’s confidence, finding her determination very charming, like always.

“Deal.” He announced, raising his hand so she could high five the deal to completion. It never failed to amaze him, how gentle her high fives felt to him, even though she’s the only woman he’s ever seen break a controller before. “What are we betting on, money?”

“Money is boring.” Taken aback, Yunho had a healthy laugh at her statement. He couldn’t wait to say this sentence again, out of context, and turn it into both teasing material and an inside joke.

“Okay, then what do you suggest?” He asked, still cackling with a half lidded eye smile.

“Let’s do something more… daring.” Trying to act surprised, Yunho opened his eyes in curiosity and hummed. They both got to thinking for about a minute, then she snapped her fingers exaggeratedly to show she had an idea. “Let’s randomly ask Wooyong to give the loser a punishment!”

“Like, with no context?”

“Exactly! After one of us loses, we ask Wooyong to give out a spicy punishment-! No one would be better than him at coming up with something totally ridiculous that one of us will regret for a lifetime!”

“I mean, you’re not wrong. But I’m starting to think you’re a masochist.”

“It’s a 50/50 gamble, so who knows?” She rebutted, wiggling her eyebrows at Yunho suggestively. He could feel his ears heating up so he pretended to need to face his computer for a while. “So, what do you say?” She questioned him, moving closer to where he was, probably intentionally, because she knew how to tell when he was turning shy. 

“I say you’re both crazy and a genius … a crazy genius. But I’m all on board.”

“Yas, leggo baby!” Yunho shook his head as he took in the image of his best friend leaning back into her chair, controller in hands, legs somewhere in between the right armrest and the air. Her enthusiasm dripped from the way she was grooving to the OST of the game. Warmth and an electricity-like feeling began filling his chest.

It took them perhaps a little too long to decide on the first track to play. Eventually, after long minutes of bickering, they chose a winding long race and swore to not try to mess the other up.

Yunho was the first one to drive, his engine roaring as he continued to hold his acceleration button. He had some lucky escapes from running into traffic - and easily overcame his competition. Now in front, he was taking short cut turns, but to her, they looked too time consuming. Yunho was trying to drive as properly as possible, and it was affecting his time; she couldn’t help but puff up as she realized it would be an easy win against him. With a record of 2:27:34, Yunho rolled his chair away from the screen and let his best friend take over.

Hands grasping the controller, she took a deep breath to overly-dramatize the situation even further.

“Eat my dust.” She mumbled, and Yunho gave her a curious side eye.

Swiftly she overtook all the NPCs, climbing up to first place. She wasn’t even worried about them to begin with. As the turns approached, Yunho realized she wasn’t showing signs of taking her fingers away from the acceleration button - not until the last second, at least. Her turns were either taken with the help of crashing into a wall or into a stylish, speedy drift. Yunho was baffled, thinking that crashing on purpose to finish faster should be considered as cheating. But he accepted his defeat as her time was 2:14:58, over ten seconds less than him.

Cracking her knuckles, she wore a smug smile as she let Yunho choose the next race for them to play. It was 1 to 0 currently, so he decided he should spice things out now - by choosing a ‘random’ Street X race. He probably forgot to mention to her that Street X were his forte in this game.

Yunho put his focus face on from the moment the cars showed up on screen. For most, this Street X race was difficult to even beat on first place - but he knew what he was doing. 

“I hope you had your fun.” He threatened, hands moving effortlessly on the controller to take him through the sharp, abrupt turns which were in Street X - a race type specifically made about taking those turns right, not about speed. Raw talent was dripping off of his fingers, but she didn’t want to feel discouraged just yet. Perhaps her method of using walls to take turns could work here, too-

Now that it was her turn, she realized it wasn’t the case - in here hitting walls was the worst thing you could do. Eyes dashing in between her car and the timer non-stop, she realized she was losing a lot of time correcting her direction if she didn’t brake properly before a turn. By the last lap, she already lost hope, as she reached Yunho’s record and wasn’t done with the race yet. 

“Tight game.” She stated, trying to ease the thick competitive air in the room. Yunho just smiled, a sparkle of something naughty in his eyes.

“Would you like to do the honours?” He asked, referring to choosing the drift track, the last race of their competition. He looked so sure of himself, to even offer that she chooses the track; she couldn’t help but feel even more frustrated by that cockyness. 

“Yeah.” She answered, not even looking him in the eyes. She knew what track she wanted - the one on the actual streets of the city, which had two off road areas - those were bomb in doing drifts over 50.000 points. 

Yunho was surprised she chose such a difficult track, but didn’t really complain. He had recently unlocked this track since he was nearing the end of the game, and so he knew the trick of the off road areas too, especially because he failed them enough times. He collected small drifts here and there on the way to the first special area, then he made sure to catch enough speed to send the back of his car in a beautiful curve, following the form of the turn. He didn’t need to, but he took the risk of connecting that turn to the next one that followed and gathered around 74.000 points in that area only. She was biting her lip, wondering if she still had the nimbleness to beat that.

The next special area gained him about 37.000, and with all the other points collected from smaller drifts, he was able to gain over 130 thousand. 

She was already pinching the bridge of her nose, knowing that she would probably lose. It’s been a while since she played this game, and the special drift areas were always a gamble. Yunho couldn’t help but laugh at the tension in her back, giving her a friendly pat to brighten up.

“You got this!” He cheered, because even if he wanted to win, he didn’t like seeing her so discouraged. He often times also got mad when he realized he was being too competitive and not giving anyone a chance to win against him.

She started out just like Yunho, gaining some small scores on the way to the main attraction of the race. As she saw the goal in her eyes, suddenly she struggled to regain control of her car in the midst of the big drift. She was headed straight for the edge, meaning her score would be neutralized if she hit it - so she was forced to stop her car. The special area unfortunately only brought her 55 thousand, a weak number compared to Yunho. She brushed it off and continued on her way, towards the second special area. She had a better feeling about this one, as her car was being much more responsive, and even if the space was smaller, she gained another 50 thousand there too. 

But unfortunately, as she hit the finish line, she realized - they both scored in the range of 130 thousand - but hers was exactly that number. Yunho was closer to 140.

With a little dance celebration, Yunho announced he was the winner of the tournament. Seeing him act so goofy, she couldn’t even bring herself to sulk. It’s not like it was unusual for Yunho to win their dumb little competitions, but it would’ve been nice to win one anyway.

“I acknowledge your driving skills, Mr. Jung.” She said with a smirk, offering him a hand to shake. 

“You weren’t so bad yourself, well… except the part of taking turns with your face.” Now that the tension was lifted, they were back to being all smiley and supportive of each other.

“What can I say? I like using my head.” Yunho chuckled, grabbing the controller to quit out of the game so he could find some movie to watch while they eat. Remembering that he needed to order some food, he pulled out his phone - and read Wooyoung’s name.

“So… do I need to ask Wooyoung to give you a ‘daring’ punishment?” He used air quotes to express the idea of something naughty. For a while he forgot that this was the penalty of losing, the thought completely slipping his mind as he focused too much on doing well in the game.

“I guess.” She shrugged her shoulders, secretly hoping that he had forgotten and she could’ve avoided doing something so embarrassing. 

Hesitant, Yunho opened the messenger app and tapped on Wooyoung’s name. He didn’t know if he was excited about what was about to come.

[Yunho]: Hey Wooyoung, can you come up with a ‘daring’ punishment a girl could do for a guy for losing a game?

[Sent 18:46]

A thick silence enveloped the two as Yunho stared at the screen, waiting for Wooyoung to see his message. They were both hoping the resident jokester of the group would go easy on them this time.

[Seen 18:51] 

Five minutes later, Wooyoung saw the message and Yunho watched the three dots dance for a very short amount of time. And, as it turned out, Wooyoung didn’t ask any questions - he gave a straightforward answer.

[Wooyoung]: Oral

His answer had Yunho opening his eyes in pure shock. He glanced at his best friend, who was looking at him expectantly, and then back at the screen. 

“Uhm…” He couldn’t even bring himself to mutter such a word to her. Before he knew it, he let his phone down and stared into the distance like a deer in the headlights. 

Yes, asking Wooyoung was a bad idea. 

“Uhm? Did he answer?” She pressed on, and Yunho couldn’t do much more than nod. 

“Look for yourself.” He showed her his phone, and she felt as if she just got hit with a soccer ball in the stomach. Blinking at Yunho in disbelief, she let out a confused puff of air.

“I mean, I expected something like a sexy dance…. But not this. Wooyoung really is another level.” She complained, suddenly looking as lost as Yunho. They both looked like ghosts, the colors drained from their faces. 

In truth, both of their heads were racing at that moment - imagining what could happen if they went through with it. Yunho’s face heated up and his body grew heavy, and she was biting her lip. But a common thought was keeping them both grounded; that they were just friends, and nothing more.

Moments later, Yunho was able to collect himself and focus his vision again. She was in distress, even in a haze. He pulled out his phone again, texting Wooyoung to rectify the situation.

[Yunho]: How about something a little bit… more decent. This is my best friend we’re talking about.

Wooyoung read the message instantly after, his fingers fast on the keyboard.

[Wooyoung]: Oh my God it’s her! Why didn’t you tell me! I thought you were finally scoring a lady with those video games of yours!

[Yunho]: I told you guys I was spending time with her today

[Wooyoung]: You did? OOPS

[Yunho]: Yeah, oops. You almost gave me a heart attack

[Wooyoung]: *boner

[Yunho]: DUDE

[Wooyoung]: Okay okay I’m sorry, but you’re the one who asked me outta the blue

[Wooyoung]: Something a little more tame… HMMM

[Wooyoung]: You’re a tall dude, right? How about you have her wear one of your shirts for the rest of the day… but like only your shirt. I bet she’d look cute ;)

[Yunho]: That doesn’t sound that bad, thanks

[Wooyoung]: I can’t wait to get home :P

She dragged her voice suddenly, bringing Yunho back to reality. He didn’t realize how focused he was in his conversation with Wooyoung.

“Uhm, so, yeah! Wooyoung gave you a more tame challenge. He said you should wear one of my shirts for the rest of the day… like, as a dress type thing.” Yunho tried to explain, but he was still nervous from the previous shock and tripping over his own words.

“So wear a boyfriend shirt.” Yunho felt his being vibrate once again at the mention of the word ‘boyfriend’.

“I… guess so.”

“I can do that! That sounds more like a prize than anything, to be honest. You know I have a fixation for your clothes.” She said with a laugh. She seemed to be back to her cheerful self, already walking her way to Yunho’s closet. “Can I choose any shirt?”

“Sure, go ahead.” Still no intonation in his words, Yunho’s mind was not present in the conversation at all. It wasn’t long before he zoned out again.

He couldn’t possibly be attracted to his best friend in such a way. They had a strong spiritual bond, for sure, but it was never anything physical for them. They appreciated each other for who they are, so he never asked himself questions like these before.

Or at least that’s what he wanted to believe. He heard the door handle move and then saw her come back in, legs bare and sexy, her small frame basically swimming in his large shirt. She sat down on her chair and melted back into it without a care in the world. She looked comfortable, even.

“So, are we ordering that food?” She asked, but in Yunho’s daze, he missed the smirk playing on her lips. If only he knew how much she was enjoying this.

Forcing her to stay put, Yunho was the one to receive the food at the front door. He sighed in relief when he managed to put a blanket over her, as they nestled up in bed to watch a movie and enjoy their food. Out of sight, out of mind, they say.

His torture began again as soon as they got back into gaming -  this time choosing to do their usual foolery - playing Minecraft together, one being in charge of the mouse and the other in charge of the keyboard. No wonder they never made any real progress on their world, since they could never be in sync with each other to actually defend themselves from zombies. ‘

Time flew by as they laughed and played, but the rustle of keys at the front door still managed to startle Yunho out of his mind. Panicked, he got up to throw her pants back at her, words leaving his mouth a little too fast.

“How about you put those back on now.” Cocking an eyebrow at him, she hung them on the chair, clearly refusing to do so.

“Why would I? The punishment says for the rest of the day - or as long as I’m here.”

“Yes, but-” Yunho pursed his lips to the side. He didn’t know how to word his thoughts. To add more pressure, the door to his room swung open and San came inside to throw his phone on the bed. He glanced at Yunho’s best friend briefly and they exchanged hellos before he went back to the living room, where the boys were being loud over something.

Yunho breathed out in relief that San was nice enough not to stare. Something about other men seeing her like this irked him, even more so that she was wearing his shirt. 

“But?” She urged him to continue speaking, getting off of the chair to stand in front of him. Being the tall guy Yunho was, it wasn’t often that she had the opportunity to stare him down like that. Yunho gulped as he felt his throat dry up, taking in the image of his friend - no, an attractive woman - looking at him with such a suggestive expression.

“I don’t want anyone else to see you like this…” He mumbled, the beauty before his eyes already making him breathless.

“Why not?” She teased.

“Because…” There wasn’t any logical answer in his mind, or even a concrete idea. “I think we need to reevaluate our relationship.” Letting out a healthy laugh, she wasted no time to climb in his lap. Yunho was happy, perhaps the most relieved he’d been the entire day. He didn’t know there was such a sexual tension in between them until it finally dissipated. 

“Finally!” She exclaimed.

“You think so too?” She hummed in response, eyes locking with his lips as she did. 

The kiss itself felt good - like two magnets clicking into place. What felt even better though, was being able to accept all the feelings he’s been burying deep inside himself. He was wrong in thinking something more wasn’t possible between them.

A loud knock echoed from the door, and Wooyoung’s voice could be heard screaming from the other side.

“You two decent?” 

“No!” Yunho yelled back. They certainly weren’t a sight he’d want his bandmates to see - his shirt was hiking up on her thighs, their arms tangled around each other’s bodies. 

“What do you mean ‘no’??!” This time it was HongJoong’s voice, and Yunho knew he messed up. Almost effortlessly, he got up with her still around his hips and grabbed her pants on the way to the bathroom. 

“Okay, but seriously get dressed now.” Yunho said, and only got a wink from her in response. He rolled his eyes and went back into the room to let her change. 

He really was a fool to think this wouldn’t work out - he already loved every second of it.

[izzyspussy]

a fic where richie comes out to the losers while they're sitting around at the still miraculously empty townhouse after killing It, quietly decompressing and letting it sink in that they killed It and not ready to leave each other's sides yet, not ready to sleep

"I'm gay," he says, simple and plain, into the familial silence.

"no way," says stan, sticky sweet sarcasm. richie twists his lips, the bitter version of a smile because richie always smiles at a joke.

"I didn't know that," he explains. "I mean. I knew that when I knew you guys. but that was, you know, my thing that the clown- you know."

"you-" bev's voice breaks softly just like her heart. "you forgot?" richie nods and them buries his hands into his hair, falling onto his elbows on the table because the woke after school specials were wrong apparently and this isn't actually getting any lighter now that he's sharing it, still weighing him down and exhausting him.

"how sad is that, huh?" he whispers. "gay, knew it from, like, seven. now I'm forty and I've only kissed one boy, once, in my whole life, and it was when I was thirteen."

"thirteen?" mike repeats, curious that it was that particular year, notable for all of them for other reasons.

"that summer, actually," richie admits. "when we were all... split up." he feels guilty about it too, felt guilty even when it was happening. bev and eddie had to go home, mike and ben totally alone, and what was richie doing? playing video games and learning how to flirt.

"who'd you kiss?" eddie half-demands, trying not to be a dick when richie is so clearly hurting. curious is certainly not the word for what he is, but of course richie can't recognize the jealousy in his tone for what it is.

richie mumbles the name at first, unable to shrug off the shame enough to just say it, and the losers mishear.

"connor!" richie leaps to correct. "connor, I said connor bowers, jesus."

"that was the third most terrifying moment of my life," ben mutters, and is ignored.

"he was his cousin from out of town," richie continues. it's not necessary to use the other bowers's name, and none of them want to hear it. "after, we were at the arcade and fucking bowers got out of a movie and connor- ...he overcompensated." richie laughs here, a sick noise jarringly unlike what he usually sounds like. some of the losers even flinch at it.

"I was rising this high, right?" richie can't quite stop now that he's told it this far. "first kiss, and then bam! dumped and called both f-words, and running for my life because I didn't know if they'd chase me."

there's a long pause while the losers take this in, while they fit this into the sequence of events, while they piece it together with the rest of who they know richie to be and the life he's had.

"you're right, richie," stan says finally. "that is really fucking sad." richie snorts, a little more genuine but a little sour still.

"thanks, stanley," he grumbles, and shoots stan am affectionate glare.

"pretty simple fix," ben says, trying his level best to point them toward the bright side.

"easy for you to say," richie jokes.

"oh shut up richie, you're hot too," ben snaps back despite this blush. richie opens his mouth, crooked smile, ready to get back to the bants, but before he gets a word out ben stands up to lean over the table. he pulls richie up by the shirt and kisses him soundly.

richie is stunned into acceptance, and ben kisses him until he deems him duly kissed.

"there," he declares when he pulls back, satisfied. "two."

"oh," richie breathes. "that's, um. that was a lot more of a difference than I thought it'd be for just kissing." ben smiles sweetly.

"good?" he asks, although from the somewhat starstruck look on richie's face he hardly needs an answer. suddenly bashful, richie gives a small nod and tucks his hair behind his ear as he sinks back down into his seat.

"okay, that was adorable," stan says like he's admitting to being cold after refusing to wear a jacket. he sighs and rolls his eyes like this isn't his own glad choice. he gets up and walks to richie's side instead of leaning over, and, to richie's further surprise, kisses him too.

mike kisses richie next, and then, laughing cheerfully, bill does too.

richie carefully doesn't look at eddie, in the seat beside him, always the loser closest at hand when richie has any say in it. no pressure if eddie doesn't wanna. so he misses the lovelorn look on eddie's face as he decides if he's going to or not.

he does, of course. he cups richie's face in his hand and tucks that same snag of hair back. richie panics momentarily because that feels so tender, so boyfriendly, and he doesn't know if he can take it when eddie isn't, will never be, his boyfriend.

"eds-" he chokes out, but there's no fucking way he's going to pull back once eddie's lips touch his.

their kiss is slow, thick and sweet like molasses, eddie gently tilting richie's head at a soft angle and petting richie's mouth open with relaxed little sweeps of his tongue.

richie makes a broken little noise and clings desperately to eddie's waist, helpless not to. if being truly attracted to his partner changed how this feels, it's nothing compared to the difference being in love with them makes. richie is breathless instantly, but if eddie stops too soon richie will surely die in his arms. which is fine because eddie has no interest in doing that.

when they do finally separate, richie is imperceptibly trembling, misty-eyed and embarrassingly half hard. eddie is glad of his choice. he feels... at peace. and he's already making another good decision has he pushes richie's glasses up his nose for him before extricating himself from richie's frozen grip and relaxing back into his seat.

"s-six!" bill tallies joyfully. ben, mike, and bev all chuckle, eddie and stan smiling indulgently. richie slowly blinks his way back down to earth, and then the day continues as if this never even happened, normal and familiar and comfortable and easy.

the losers separate eventually, back to their individual rooms to sleep their two horrific all nighters off with the orange-purple light of a warm sunset shining through their windows.

except eddie. eddie follows richie.

richie doesn't question it. he and eddie had sleepovers incredibly frequently as kids and teens, there's a dozen and a half reasons why eddie might not want to go to his own room, and richie receives few enough horses to never look them in the mouth. he holds the door open for eddie and then closes his behind them with a quiet click.

"so," eddie says, facing richie from father into richie's personal space than eddie would normally stand to anybody. "you've kissed six boys now."

"yeah," richie agrees.

"but you've still never kissed a boy twice." richie swallows and shakes his head.

eddie pulls richie down by the back of his neck and kisses him again. he kisses richie just the same as the first time, making sweet love with their mouths. he pulls back this time solely for the purpose of kissing richie a third time. and a fourth.

"wait- wait-" richie gasps halfway through the fifth, tearing his lips away from eddie's like it's a painful separation (it is). he turns his head away and squeezes his eyes shut tight, because if he doesn't he'll let eddie keep upping the kiss count until they reach infinity.

"my thing," he explains tearfully.

"your thing?" eddie repeats, confused.

"my clown thing," richie clarifies. "It said-" richie does the Voice because that lets him separate himself from this a little, lets him feel how bad it still hurts a little less. "'you're a monster like me, richie. you're doing what I'm doing, except you're lying about it. you know what they're saying on the news, but you keep touching him anyway.'"

richie has to pause there for a second, because this is it. this is it, he's going to finish and then eddie is going to know. he's going to know that richie's thing was that he's gay and. the impression falls away.

"'You're going to get him sick.'"

eddie has to extrapolate a little from that, but he's a smart man and he has all the context, more even than the other losers do (except maybe stan; stan always knows everything).

"did you notice," he asks after the long moment it takes for him to realize what richie means, and the second moment it took for him to believe he could be so lucky. "that you were the only one who touched me that much?" gentle but persistent, eddie turns richie's head back to look at him again.

"yeah," richie says, embarrassed and still so guilty. "because-"

"because," eddie says firmly. he tugs richie down again so that he can press their cheeks together. "because I let you."

richie loses count of their kisses after that.

[ibijau]

Counterfeit AU pt6 / On AO3

Meng Yao makes himself useful after losing his job, and discovers something unexpected

Names are funny things, Meng Yao thinks as he stares at the sheet of paper in his hand. 

Funny things indeed.

-

After everything that went down in the Hanshi, it's Beastie that saves Meng Yao from himself.

Left to his own devices, he would have either wallowed in misery, or waste time proving to himself that everything that happened wasn't his fault, the way he knows he's done in other lives. But when he comes home after having his past lives thrown into his face and losing a job he loves, Beastie’s mother corners him just as he puts his key into his lock. Her daughter is on school holiday, she explains, and was supposed to be looked after by a friend with children of a similar age. But one of the children came down with something contagious, so the whole plan fell through, and the poor woman now desperately needs help finding someone to look after her daughter.

She’s not asking for Meng Yao to play the babysitter, but he knows so many people, he has so many connections, maybe he could pull a favour somewhere, help her out again.

“I can take care of her for a few days,” Meng Yao offers without thinking. “I’m jobless as of today.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry! What happened?”

“My employer died,” Meng Yao replies, which is close enough to the truth. He doesn’t think Nie Huaisang will continue using his Shanzi alias after this, and they’ll never meet again. He might as well be dead. “I don’t plan on looking for a new job right away, so I can babysit for a while, it’s no big deal.”

She tries to insist that he doesn’t need to be doing that, but quickly agrees after some reassurance that Meng Yao doesn’t mind. She looks so relieved she could cry as she says she’ll drop Beastie in the morning. Meng Yao smiles, certain that his mother would be proud of him for doing what’s right.

Having Beastie around is definitely the best choice he could have made. She’s a good kid, but she’s also high energy and needs to be entertained, which means he doesn’t get to think too much about how much he misses Nie Huaisang and Lan Xichen. 

They watch movies together, as they’ve always done when he picked her up after school. They go for walks to a nearby park, and once to a museum to look at old armours and swords. He buys Beastie a fake sword, though they agree to keep it at his place, since her mother already despairs that she so strongly favours boy’s toys. In fact, Meng Yao ends up just spoiling that little girl, the way he would have loved someone to do for him when he was her age. He even has Nie Huaisang’s console repaired so she can play on it, instead of selling it as he’d intended.

The video games are a big hit with her. She’s particularly in love with the same game Nie Huaisang spent too many hours on, that weird little terraforming thing which Meng Yao can’t see the appeal of. He liked that it made Nie Huaisang happy. He likes that it also makes Beastie happy, and that she’s very careful not to ruin the work previously put into it, focused instead on maintaining it and planting flowers

“It looks like home,” she explains when Meng Yao asks about that, and lifts the console for him to see.

It doesn’t look like a homely place, he thinks, and more like a military fortress right out of a wuxia drama. But Meng Yao doesn’t get to make that remark, because his phone vibrates, demanding his attention. Beastie, sitting crossed legs on some cushion on the floor, goes back to watering virtual flowers, while Meng Yao checks some news from his bank account. A lump sum has been sent to him, a good deal more than his usual salary, coming from an account registered under a name he doesn’t recognise.

It has been a week since he was fired.

Nie Huaisang kept his promise.

It really is over.

Not that Meng Yao really doubted it. Nie Huaisang has many faults but indecision has never been one, though he’s always been good at pretending otherwise. Once his choice is made he toys with expectations but rarely ever changes his mind.

Rarely, of course, isn’t never. Meng Yao, foolishly, hoped to be one of those few exceptions. 

Those new zeroes on his bank account feel like a divorce, and he never even got a honeymoon. 

That night, Meng Yao allows himself a few hours to wallow in misery, after Beastie went back to her mother. He is only human, and it does feel good to eat take-away in front of a cheesy romance. The film's hero doesn't get the girl, who was dead all along. Meng Yao cries, even though he's seen that movie before. 

By morning, he's in control again, and takes Beastie to the park so she can run around in the sun, and scare pigeons with her sword.

Those holidays are all great fun, until Beastie’s mother reminds them that she has homework to do.

Beastie is a clever kid, there’s no doubt about it, but she doesn’t much like doing her homework, least of all when she feels she could be playing. It takes all of Meng Yao’s negotiation skills to get her to even look at her school books, and he almost resorts to bribery to make her pick up a pencil. But she works hard once she starts, and Meng Yao, wanting to encourage her, sits with her at the kitchen table to update his resume. Beastie will go back to class soon, and inactivity just isn’t in his temper.

When Beastie is done with her work, she gets permission to put on whatever movie she likes while Meng Yao checks what she’s done in case it needs correcting.

But when he picks up the sheet of simple maths she’s expected to give her teacher on monday, all Meng Yao sees is her name.

It’s really funny. He knows her name of course, though he hasn’t heard it in a while. Even her mother took up to calling her Beastie after he nicknamed her that. It just fits her so well, that active little girl who prefers trousers over dresses because they're easier to move in and always wants to play at fighting. She’s a real little monster, and Meng Yao loves her like that. She’s just Beastie.

But according to the homework she’s spent the afternoon on, she’s also Nie Mingjue.

It could just be a coincidence. Names are funny like that, they pop up in unexpected places, they get forgotten and reused. Perhaps in another life, Meng Yao would have just dismissed it as a random incident.

In another life, he wouldn’t have been called Meng Yao.

It’s the first time this happens since that first life they all shared. He’s Meng Yao again, Lan Xichen bears his old name too, and now he’s found a Nie Mingjue, hiding right under his nose. A Nie Mingjue who likes fighting, and claims that her toy sword is actually a sabre, and who always insists a lot on things being fair, even when Meng Yao tries to give her the biggest share of a food she likes.

It can’t be a coincidence.

Meng Yao needs to tell someone.

He needs to tell Nie Huaisang.

He tries, of course, and without surprise his former employer’s number has been terminated. He has the same luck trying to send an email. Nie Huaisang might as well never have existed. Meng Yao feels helpless, torn between tears and laughter. After spending centuries looking for his brother, Nie Huaisang just might have lost his chance due to being so damn dramatic. Serves him right, Meng Yao thinks, still bitter about being discarded so easily, and never getting a chance to see if things might work better in this life.

Bitterness doesn’t last. Meng Yao cares about Nie Huaisang, more than he should if he were a little smarter, and he knows how important finding his brother again would be for him. And if Nie Huaisang can’t be directly contacted, there’s always indirect ways.

It’s not that Meng Yao misses Lan Xichen, he tells himself that night, when Beastie is back with his mother and he starts writing a long text message on his phone. Well, it’s not just that, anyway. He does miss Lan Xichen, sweet and funny and so eager when talking about art. But more importantly, Lan Xichen probably has access to Lan Wangji, who clearly must know how to contact Nie Huaisang. 

Texting Lan Xichen is a strategic choice. 

The way Meng Yao's heart jumps inside his chest when Lan Xichen immediately replies is… it's strategic too. He's just glad that his plan is working. 

How have you been? :)

I could have been worse. I've just realised something and I think it concerns you. I've told you about that kid I babysit, haven't I? 

Little Beastie? Is she okay? D:

She's Nie Mingjue. 

This time, the answer isn't immediate. Meng Yao stares nervously at his phone, wondering if Lan Xichen thinks he's lying, or planning something. Considering their first life, who could blame him? 

But after a few minutes, his phone vibrates again. 

Sorry, I dropped my phone and couldn't get it back from under the couch. Are you sure?? (⊙ˍ⊙)

It all fits. You could come meet her if you want. But it's him, I'm sure. 

Did you tell Nie Huaisang???

I can't contact him. Are you in touch with Lan Wangji? Maybe he can warn him. 

I have his number, I just texted him! I'll keep you updated! It's so wonderful if it's da-ge!! Can I really meet him? ╰(*°▽°*)╯

Her*?

I'll send you my address. If you can come tomorrow, she'll be there.

Are you sure? I don't think da-ge would still want me around. (≧﹏ ≦)

Meng Yao gives that question the consideration it deserves. It's not an unfair worry to have, and he'd be wondering the same if he hadn't known Beastie for so long. 

I literally killed him, and he killed me. If she had to hate anyone it'd be me, but we get along great. We're no longer the same people we used to be. It's the same for her. 

If you're sure, then I'll come! (❁´w`❁)

-

Meng Yao is very sure indeed. 

So Lan Xichen comes. 

It's odd to invite someone to his flat. It's a small place, a bit messy, full of trinkets and DVDs that Meng Yao would never admit to owning, not with the image he wants to create. He's always avoided guests. But having Lan Xichen over is as rewarding as it is terrifying. Lan Xichen brought some charming little cakes, as if he's visiting someone important, and he smiles at the sight of a movie poster on the wall, confessing he watched it so often as a teenager that the tape broke one day. 

"It's my favourite too!" Beastie exclaims. "Meng-ge has it, you know! Can we watch it now?" 

Normally, Meng Yao would point out that it's a little rude to ask that when they have a guest. But he can see that Lan Xichen is nervous and unsure how to act around Nie Mingjue, and maybe a movie will let them all relax. 

In the end, they spend a pleasant afternoon, the three of them. Once Lan Xichen stops worrying that the Nie Mingjue of old will appear and shout at him for getting him killed, he starts chatting with Beastie about her favourite movies, what she's learning in school, what she wants to be when she grows up. She's very happy to answer, and very impressed when he explains he's a teacher, even though she's finding it hard to accept that most of his students are fully adult.

And when Beastie is back with her mother, Lan Xichen lingers for a while, tempted by the offer of Meng Yao's favourite takeaway.

“It’s amazing how much like him she is,” Lan Xichen says as they sit on the sofa to wait for the food to arrive. “It’s the first time he reincarnates, you know. At least, Wangji told me they’d never found any trace of him before.”

Guilt shoots through Meng Yao. It’s his fault if Nie Mingjue’s soul was so fractured it took him this long to be reborn. Or at least, it’s the fault of someone he was, once, which is nearly the same, and yet completely different. Meng Yao has learned from living and dying several times, and he’s lucky enough to live in a kinder world than Jin Guangyao did. It helps.

“She’s also different from him, though,” Lan Xichen continues, moving just a little closer, until they’re almost touching.

“We’ll, for starters she’s a kid,” Meng Yao points out, wondering if he should take the other man’s hand. If this had happened before the Hanshi, he would have, but he’s not sure where they stand now.

“It’s not just that. In that first life, I knew da-ge as a child too and he was…” Lan Xichen sighs and makes a vague hand gesture. “He was a lot. Way too serious sometimes. We all were, I suppose, but him most of all. The Nie tended to grow fast, to compensate for dying young. I’m… I’m glad that he gets to properly be a child this time. That she gets to be a child.”

“The world has changed,” Meng Yao says, finding the courage at last to brush his fingers against Lan Xichen’s. “Things aren’t always easy but they’re… easier, I suppose.”

Lan Xichen’s returns that touch, gentle and careful as always. This, too, is easier now than it was back then. It’s not easy, but there’s less pressure to conform, less demands to be good dutiful sons, and just a little more space to be their own people, to make their own choices.

Maybe in their next life they’ll meet again and it’ll be even easier to be like this. But even now, Meng Yao is ready to take the chances that his past self wouldn’t have dared to dream of. He leans toward Lan Xichen, hoping to kiss him, but a knock on the door interrupts them and he jumps to his feet to go get their food. The delivery man looks at him a little funny, but makes no comment. If Meng Yao is half as red as Lan Xichen, he deserves those odd looks.

Nothing happens again that night. The moment has passed, and after eating, Lan Xichen has to go home because he has engagements the day after that he can’t cancel.

It's not a date that night, no more than any of their previous encounters were. 

It's not a date then, but next time, when Lan Xichen invites him to a restaurant, Meng Yao is informed in no unclear terms that this is, in fact, a date. They go see a movie after, and Meng Yao gets to kiss one of the two most handsome men in the world.

Life is good. 

Life is really good, and yet Meng Yao wants more. 

In spite of their efforts, Lan Xichen and him can't get in touch with Nie Huaisang to inform him that his brother has finally reincarnated. Even Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are getting worried. From what they told Lan Xichen they haven't had any contact with him since the day they picked him up at the Hanshi. 

"They say he's done that before," Lan Xichen tells him. "They think he'll return in a decade or two, maybe a little longer. Time is hard for immortals, they lose track easily." 

That's all very well for them, but Meng Yao doesn't have a few decades to waste, and neither does Nie Mingjue. They're not immortals. One bad illness, a reckless driver, just tripping in the stairs, and it's all over until they reincarnate again, and Meng Yao is done with missed chances. 

If he can't directly get in touch with Nie Huaisang, Meng Yao can make a few discreet calls to former buyers, and advise them to get their purchase asserted again, just in case. He makes sure to only contact people who bought legitimate artworks of course. He wants to make a wave, not get in trouble. If Meng Yao knows Nie Huaisang even half as well as he thinks he does, then even in hiding Nie Huaisang will be checking what’s happening in the world of art collectors, and he’ll hear about some of his buyers suddenly becoming fearful of fakes.

It’s a little mean perhaps, when Nie Huaisang is so proud of his counterfeits, but kindness has never been Meng Yao’s greatest quality.

Besides, it works.

One afternoon, when Meng Yao is alone at home, checking a job offer that he’s probably going to reject because he deserves better, there’s a knock on the door. Meng Yao considers ignoring it, but some of his elderly neighbours have been coming to ask for help with their phones or whatever new fancy blender their kids got them to make life easier. Usually, five minutes of easy work means free homemade food for his next meal, which is always a great deal.

When he opens the door, there’s a very old man waiting in the corridor alright, but free food is probably out of the question.

“Well, I’m here,” Nie Huaisang says. “Whatever is going on, it’d better be important.”

[ncssian]

A Favor: Part Nine

Nessian Modern AU

Masterlist

a/n: reading canon eris discourse literally makes me dizzy but in this fic he's pretty chill

***

“Any plans for Thanksgiving?” Emerie asks as they stroll between the shelves of the library.

Nesta runs her finger down the spine of a textbook on corporate law. “Not really,” she murmurs distantly.

She’s been doing her best not to think of the upcoming holidays, in fact. Cassian is going to Velaris for Thanksgiving, and of course Feyre invited Nesta as well, but…

She’s always ignored her sister’s holiday invites, but this year is different. Cassian, a recent constant in her life, will be gone, enjoying himself for the first time in months without her presence. And Nesta will be at the cabin alone, because of course she can’t celebrate Thanksgiving with Feyre’s found family. Being friends with Cassian hasn’t changed that.

“Well,” Emerie is saying, “a bunch of us can’t go home for the holidays for one reason or another, so we’re hosting a small Friendsgiving at my apartment. You’re invited.”

Nesta glances at her, surprised. “Who’s going to be there?”

“The same guys from drinks night: Eris, Justinian, Isaac. Maybe a plus one or two if we’re lucky.” She elbows Nesta. “Maybe a girl for me to take home.”

“I thought the party was at your home already?”

“You know what I mean. Anyway, are you coming?”

Nesta purses her lips. “But you said it was a Friendsgiving. Those guys aren’t my friends.”

Emerie looks at her like she's insane. “Uh, why not?”

“Because,” Nesta states, “we’ve only had one real interaction all semester.”

Emerie scoffs. “You talk to them all the time in class, Nesta.”

“Yes. Out of necessity.”

Emerie raises a high brow. “That’s how you view spending time with us? A ‘necessity’?”

She’s upset, and Nesta doesn’t know what she said wrong. “That’s not what I meant,” she tries to say.

“Then what did you mean?”

“I just…” Nesta shrugs. “I thought it took more to make friends than a single night out.” Those are the rules, right?

Emerie narrows her dark eyes at her. “I’m sorry we’re not up to standard, then. But for your information, those guys liked you. I’m sure they considered you a friend.” She turns to leave, but Nesta is so stunned she can’t even try to stop her. The click of Emerie’s heels resonate long after she’s gone.

“Hey,” Cassian comes up to her later that day. “About Thanksgiving—”

Nesta drops her dinner plate onto the island with a clatter. “What is it with everybody and Thanksgiving?” Her voice is unnecessarily loud.

Cassian blinks. “Well, it’s only a few days away—”

“I know,” she says. “I’m fine staying home alone. We never celebrated Thanksgiving growing up, you know? It’s really not a big deal.”

“Will you let me finish, Nesta?”

Nesta presses her lips together.

Cassian takes a breath. “I think you should— I would really love it if you came to Velaris with me this weekend.”

There’s a silence as he waits for her to answer.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she says after a moment.

Before he can press the subject, she blurts, “I already have plans.”

“You do?” Nesta can’t tell if he sounds disappointed or surprised.

She straightens her back, lying through her teeth, “Yes. Some friends from school are getting together for a Friendsgiving, and I’m going.” She almost bites her tongue on the word friends. She doesn’t even know what that means anymore.

“That’s amazing,” Cassian says, though he still looks a little taken aback. “I’m glad.” He looks down at the marble counter then, trying to smile. “Sucks for me, though.”

Nesta huffs a laugh. “Please, like you won’t be having fun with your friends whether I’m there or not.”

He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, but why go for half the fun when I could go for double?”

“That’s not how math works,” she snipes.

Cassian grabs a fork so he can sit down across from Nesta. “Don’t you ever bring up correct math in this house again.” He points his silverware at her threateningly.

From there, they can devolve into their usual dinner habit of bantering that leads to more serious conversation. Cassian has recently been on a French movie binge, Nesta learns, and even though she despises the French, she listens closely to his analysis of each film and offers her own thoughts back. She even promises to rewatch one or two of his favorites at a later time. The giddiness he gives in return makes her almost wish she had accepted his invitation earlier, if only so she could keep making him happy.

God. What is he doing to her?

Later that night, Nesta pulls out her phone and opens up her messages with Emerie. She doesn’t want to have rejected Cassian just to end up staying home alone all weekend. She types out five different messages and erases them before settling on an apathetic, Is the invite for Thursday still on?

Emerie takes her time to reply, likely to punish Nesta. After some minutes, she finally texts, Yes.

It’s all she can expect from Emerie, and it’s all she needs to see.

Nesta: I’ll be there.

***

“Cassian!” Feyre swings open the door with an overjoyed smile, ready to greet him.

He laughs and steps in for a hug, going so far as to lift her feet off the floor. Because damn him, even with his conflicted feelings towards Feyre lately, he’s missed her. He’s missed all of his friends, even though he’s found something precious while he was away from them.

He’s ushered into the penthouse, which Feyre and Rhys insist on calling an “apartment”, as if that softens the blow of their extravagant wealth. Cassian and everybody else goes along with it, however, because the rich have committed worse crimes. At least that’s what Nesta says.

“Rhys is out getting last minute beer from the gas station,” Feyre says as she takes his overnight bag. “And you’re the first to arrive, which means I have you all to myself.” She whirls on him with a predatory gleam in her eye. “Tell me everything about the last two months with you and Nesta, ASAP.”

Cassian’s heart starts racing at the unexpected interrogation, but he laughs it off and shrugs. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re just roommates.”

“Well, I know that.” Feyre rolls her eyes. “But what is it like? How is it going? Is she okay? Are you okay?”

Before he can answer a single question, Feyre goes on. “I haven’t heard from either of you in eons, it feels like. Is Nesta still picky about her foods touching? Does she get upset when you play music too loud? Does she—”

“Jesus, Feyre,” Cassian interrupts loudly. “Not everything in my life is about your sister. Give it a rest.” He takes his duffel bag back from her.

“I’m just curious!” she says indignantly, but Cassian is already heading up the winding stairs to his guest room, going as fast as he can without outright running.

“I need to get washed up!” he announces before Feyre can make him stop and come back for more questioning.

In the safety of his bedroom, he releases a breath.

If Cassian thought keeping Nesta’s health issues from Feyre was difficult, he couldn’t have predicted how painful it would be to hide his feelings for Nesta. Still, he doesn’t dare expose what he can’t yet define, especially not to his nosy-ass friends. Some things just aren’t matters for gossip.

***

Nesta hesitantly enters Emerie’s small studio apartment to a party in full swing; “full swing” being Justinian and Isaac playing video games on the couch while Emerie is in the kitchen area attempting to make drinks. Nesta stops near the kitchenette and crosses her arms, surveying the scene. “Something about this doesn’t look right,” she says aloud. Emerie doing the hard work while the men play? Antithetical to her very nature.

“I know,” is all Emerie says without looking up from whatever hellish concoction she’s whipping up. “But I’m the host, so this is my role.”

“Hey, Nesta,” the guys speak up together, not taking their eyes off the TV. Isaac is the first to break his concentration from the game, glancing at Nesta and doing a double take. “Woah, you look good today.” Is he blushing?

Emerie finally looks up at that, eyeing Nesta’s modest black dress. “A little funeral-chic, but still hot as ever, babe.” Right after, she makes a face at the term babe. “Nope, I tried it and I hate it.”

Nesta hates it just as much, but goes over to help Emerie with what she now realizes are oddly colored Jello shots. She picks up a little plastic cup with dark jelly in it and wiggles it around. “What color is this supposed to be?”

“Brown.” Emerie blows a piece of escaped hair out of her face. “They were supposed to be Thanksgiving themed.”

Nesta surveys the shots arranged in various fall colors. Definitely an interesting choice for a twenty-four year old law student, but what did Nesta know about parties?

“Where’s Eris?” she asks casually as she helps arrange more cups. Her argument with Emerie is far from forgotten, but the two women are too alike for their own good. They’ll ignore the lingering tension until it dissipates, and that will be the end of that.

Before Emerie can answer Nesta’s question, a loud bang comes from the entryway as the already open door hits the wall. Eris Vanserra sweeps inside in his designer coat and sophisticated boots, followed by a new, striking face. “It’s fucking freezing,” he announces, just as the new guy quietly shuts the door behind them.

“You’re late,” Emerie says in her usual flat tone.

“I had to pick up my twerp brother.” Eris tilts his head toward the redhead behind him.

“I didn’t ask to come,” the new guy, Eris’s brother, chimes in.

Nesta is perked up now, angling to get a better look at him. Same hair color, same eyes, different skin tone from Eris. He looks like the relaxed, unpretentious version of his brother. Someone pauses the video game.

“I’m Lucien,” he awkwardly raises a hand.

Justinian looks at everybody else. “I’m confused— does this mean we can finally replace Eris’s punk ass?”

The thought of an unexpected guest first makes Nesta clench up, especially when she’s seated right next to the damn guy at the dining table. New people means everything about the regular social routine will be changed up, and she isn’t at all prepared for it.

It takes maybe fifteen minutes for her to realize that Lucien is nothing to worry about— much quicker than she’s ever warmed up to a stranger before.

He has the affected quiet confidence of someone who would rather be anywhere else but here. No one knows that mask better than Nesta.

Against all odds, she’s the first to initiate a conversation.

“Why are you here?” she says bluntly.

No hello, no how are you. Fuck, this is why she doesn’t talk to people.

Lucien looks surprised at the sudden acknowledgment, but answers, “My plans got cancelled at the last minute.” His mouth tightens as he looks toward his brother. “So Eris dragged me here instead.”

“You don’t like your brother?”

Lucien narrows his eyes at her, defensive. “Is this an interrogation or something?”

Embarrassment heats Nesta’s face, but she hides it under her usual cold stare. “Never mind.”

She turns back to her food, refocusing on an anecdote Isaac is giving about a girl he met the other week. A moment later, Lucien says lowly, “I can’t stand my brother.”

She laughs a little too loudly at that, and everyone looks at her.

Isaac grins. “See, Nesta thinks it’s a funny story.”

Nesta frowns. “No, I don’t. You told it last week and no one laughed.”

His face falls. Eris laughs out loud at him, and Emerie tosses wadded up napkins at both men. “You’re both deeply uninteresting. Let’s talk about me.”

She launches into a heated discussion about how she plans to defeat “that bitch Brian” for the internship at Velaris’s biggest law firm next summer, with Eris interjecting that she wouldn’t survive a day in the big city. Nesta turns back to Lucien. “I understand how you feel.”

“You hate Eris too?”

“No, but I have sisters.” Eris is nice, if a pretentious asshole at times, but she empathizes with Lucien either way.

He raises a brow. “And you’re here for Thanksgiving instead of with them?”

For the first time all night, Nesta remembers that Cassian is having fun in a spacious penthouse with Feyre and Elain and the others, likely eating much nicer food than store-bought turkey and Jello shots, and she almost deflates. Almost. Because as much as she enjoys this— spending time with people that belong to her, not Feyre or anybody else— there’s a hollow space in the room that Cassian usually fills. She doesn’t know how she can miss someone and be this thoroughly content at the same time, but she tries not to ponder on her feelings.

She shrugs at Lucien’s question. “We’re all here instead of with our families.”

What would have been a thirty-minute meal on Nesta’s own stretches into a long night of full bellies and fuller conversation. Justinian demands a toast in honor of Friendsgiving, and Emerie tells him not to pull that cringy shit, but everyone ends up raising their small Jello shots to clink against each other.

Thanksgiving might be Nesta’s favorite holiday.

***

Cassian doesn’t know what this feeling is: the itching, nervy sense of impatience that plagues him the longer dinner drags on. All he knows is that tonight Mor’s laughter is just a little too loud, and Amren’s quips are just a little too sharp, and Rhys’s stories aren’t very interesting for once.

Nothing about his friends have changed, but somehow, Cassian feels different. Empty. He can’t stop thinking about what Nesta is doing right now.

He checks his phone under the table for the sixth time in three minutes, for what, he doesn’t know. Maybe she’s in trouble and needs his help. Maybe she’s having a bad night and wants to talk to him. Maybe she’s just bored and thinking about him.

None of this is true, evidently, because his phone remains dead silent.

“Cassian.” It’s Elain’s gentle voice that draws him out of his head. “What’s it like having a roommate for once? I know you and Nesta love being alone.”

He nearly jumps out of his skin. “Alone? No we don’t. Why would we love being alone together?”

Elain looks at him like he’s grown a new head. “I didn’t mean alone together. It’s just that you’ve always spent your time boarded up in that mountain cabin on your own, and before Nesta moved in, she wouldn’t leave her apartment even to see me.”

“I never thought of it that way,” Feyre butts in. She whirls to Cassian with her hands under her chin. “All this time I was wondering what you and Nesta living together would be like, and I didn’t even consider you guys avoiding each other.”

Cassian scoffs a laugh but doesn’t know how to respond. He just wants Feyre and Elain to stop poking at this raw, fresh thing in his life before his nerves get worse, so he turns to Amren and brings up the thing he knows will shut everyone down: work. “How much longer is Rhys gonna have you playing double agent at Adriatic?” She’s been acting as brand ambassador to the West Coast-based conglomerate for the past five months, playing nice while gathering information on Night Court Inc.’s biggest competitor.

Groans resound around the table, but Amren’s eyes brighten frightfully. “If he keeps me there any longer, I might end up staying for good.”

Rhysand smiles thinly. “Amren has a crush on their new CFO. If she keeps going on about Varian’s pretty face I might pull her out of Adriatic by the end of the year.”

Just as Cassian is about to convince himself to care, his phone vibrates in his hand. Everything tunes out as he sees Nesta’s name on the screen, attached to a new text. He clicks into it.

A picture of Nesta and her friends around a dinner table pops up, smiling and laughing. His heart catches in his throat at the image.

“What did we say about phones during dinner, Cassian?” Rhysand interrupts just then.

Cassian stands up quickly, stammering, “Uh, I just need to answer this call— it’s important.” Azriel is staring up at him like he’s lost his mind, but Cassian doesn’t notice or care as he rushes out of the room with his phone in a death grip, overcome.

Alone in a hallway bathroom, he lets himself look at the picture again, hungrily absorbing every detail he couldn’t catch the first time around: her face is flushed and her hair is down, wilder than usual. Her smile is so rarely genuine that it kills him a little just to see it; he doesn’t know whether to be relieved or pained that she’s having such a good time, that she isn’t missing him like he’s missing her. A sharp-faced girl that Cassian assumes is Emerie is holding the camera, likely having stolen Nesta’s phone to demand a picture, and the two women are surrounded by guys he doesn’t recognize. Except—

The face beside Nesta’s catches Cassian’s attention, and he clicks to zoom in. “Is that Lucien Vanserra?” he mutters.

Elain’s ex gets to hang out with Nesta while he doesn’t? This is fucked.

He doesn’t have a reason for his actions as he shoves his phone into his pocket and exits the bathroom. He just knows he needs to get out of here, away from this place that’s so far from Nesta’s heart.

His keys and coat hang near the front door, and he can hear Feyre’s voice from the dining room. “Cassian? Where are you—”

The door slams behind him before she can finish.

***

Being the only one who refused to get drunk off Jello shots, Eris offers to drive Nesta home for the night.

While Lucien is passed out in the backseat without a care in the world, Nesta is so awake she can feel her nerves buzzing. She knows as soon as she leaves this car, the bittersweet loneliness that comes after a party will set in, but for now…

What a night. She sighs and lets her head fall back against the seat, a small smile gracing her lips.

“Damn,” Eris lets out a low whistle as he pulls up to the mountain cabin. “This is your place?”

She lifts her head, realizing she’s home. “Ah. It’s only a temporary living situation,” she explains. “It’s my— friend’s place.”

“Friend or sugar daddy?” Eris smirks.

Nesta scowls, grabbing her stuff and pushing open the door to leave. It’s not Eris’s fault she’s unable to take a joke about Cassian, but that doesn’t change the sensitivity of the topic.

“Hey, wait—” he calls after her.

She pauses to look back at him. He hesitates, then says, “Good night.”

“Take care of your brother,” she directs. Stepping out of his fancy car, she shuts the door and raises a hand in goodbye, watching him pull away from the cabin.

Alone in the driveway, Nesta stands under the moonlight for a long moment, letting the chill seep into her bones. She’s dawdling.

She pauses again at the front door, her hand on the doorknob. The dreaded loneliness is already coming over her, crawling over her skin and making a home in the cage of her ribs.

A whole weekend without Cassian.

Maybe she should have asked Emerie if she could stay over for the night, but a part of her knows it would have been futile. Emerie can’t replace Cassian’s constant presence, no matter how much Nesta likes her.

It’s only three days. She steels herself and unlocks the door, prepared to be greeted by darkness and hollow silence.

The first thing she notices when she steps inside is the sound of crackling, followed by a warm glow from the living area. The lights are all off, but the fireplace is ablaze.

Nesta’s brows furrow, confused, but then she sees on the couch— “Cassian?”

***

a/n: i know justinian and isaac are names for side characters that sjm has used before but in this case they're completely different ocs.

taglist: @ladywitchling @sjm-things @thewayshedreamed @drielecarla @sensitiveillyrian @superspiritfestival @aliveahaahahafuck @cupcakey00 @sayosdreams @rainbowcheetah512 @claralady @thebluemartini @nessiantho @missing-merlin @duskandstarlight @lucy617 @sleeping-and-books @everything-that-i-love @cassianscool @awesomelena555 @julemmaes @wickedqueenoffantasy @poisonous-bloom @observationanxioustheorist @gisellefigue08 @courtofjurdan @theoverlyenthusiasticwriter @wolfiixxx @cass-nes @seashade @royaltykxx @illyrianundercover @queenestarcheron @monstrousloves-explodinggalaxies @humanexile @that-golden-lyre @agentsofsheilds @mercy-is-alive @cassiansbigwingspan @laylaameer01 @verypaleninja

[kaitycole]

chapter one: does she know?

Summary: Two little friends have always desired one thing: to end up as siblings. So when the chance presented itself after a finalized divorce, who were they to decline such an opportunity to finally bring their parents together?

Pairings: Bokuto Kōtarō x f!Reader

Word Count: 2572

Warnings: Angst. Fluff. Mentions of divorce, cheating, cussing

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters portrayed in this series. Part of the @babythotshq​ Dearest Daddy Collab

Tags: open (send me an ask to be added!)

February 2025

“DADDY!”

Frowns fill the faces of those who look at the small girl yelling as she works her way through the sea of people to the court. Where are her parents? Riddle the faces of those around, but she pays no mind, she’s on a mission and there’s nothing that’s going to get in her way.

She screams out again, but this time stops halfway when she sees who she’s been looking for. A large smile spreads across her lips as she starts sprinting across the wooden court.

“Daddy!” She cries out once more and this time he hears her.

His round, golden eyes find her matching ones and he immediately stops whatever conversation he’s having, dropping into a squat with his arm extended outwards, just in time to catch her as she throws herself into his arms.

She wraps her arms tightly around his neck, barely allowing him room to pull her backwards just long enough for him to place a kiss on her forehead. She quickly realizes the mistake she’s made before pushing against him, telling him that he needs to shower. With a loud, hearty laugh, he puts her feet back onto the court before ruffling her hair.

“I am so sorry, Bo.” You start to apologize, “She took off and there are so many people.”

He waves you off before looking down at his daughter, who already knows what he’s going to say. “Seiko, you know better. What do you need to tell Y/N?”

“I’m sorry Y/N.” Seiko puts on her best apologetic face, poking out her bottom lip to added effect.

You laugh, shaking your head looking at the golden eyed little girl whose hair matches her mother’s brunette hair instead of Bokuto’s wild mix of colors. “Thank you, Seiko.”

Bzzzt Bzzzt Bzzzt

You slip the phone out of your back pocket before rolling your eyes at the name on your screen before pressing the side button twice; sending the caller straight to voicemail. Bokuto cocks his head to the side, having watched the whole ordeal, but before he can question your actions your son grabs his attention.

“Uncle Bo you looked so awesome!” Your son Haruki exclaims as he eagerly jumps up to give the volleyball player a high-five.

“I did, didn’t I?” Bokuto throws his head up victoriously while you and Seiko just roll your eyes.

*                      * “Careful, careful. Hold on to each other!” You call out to Haruki and Seiko as they run down the sidewalk and into a small café near the stadium. It had become somewhat of a tradition to eat there after a game or at least the games you and Haruki could attend. Seiko and Haruki are still talking a mile a minute as Bo opens the door for everyone.

Sometimes you couldn’t help but wonder if they were best friends because they were born just a few months apart and raised almost like siblings or if it had anything to do with you and Bo being best friends. You had met by complete accident; you had gone to your locker to get a textbook when you saw a boy with crazy colored spiky hair trying to open it.

When you questioned what he was doing trying to open your locker, he looked completely puzzled before stating it was his. You debated it for a few moments before he handed you the paper with his locker number and combination. You pointed out his locker was in fact the one next to yours, causing him to laugh. After that every day you were greeted with a very enthusiastic ‘hey hey hey’ and were attached at the hip. That had been 16 years ago.

The four of you pile into the same booth as always with you sitting across from Seiko and Haruki across from Bokuto. Your son absolutely adores the wing spiker and has been begging you to let him start playing volleyball too, but your husband doesn’t think he should.

Bzzzt Bzzzt Bzzzt

You quickly click the button on the right side of your phone, this time just silencing it instead of sending it to voicemail.

“Are you getting excited to see your mom, Seiko?” You ask after the waitress takes everyone’s usual orders.

She beams, “Yes! She said we can go No Very Farms!”

You look between her and Bo confusingly before he corrects her ‘No Very Farm’ to ‘Knott’s Berry Farm’ and explaining that it’s an amusement park in California. It still surprised you to this day that Bokuto ended up having a kid with an American journalist. Mostly because there was so much mystery as to why they didn’t end up together.

You’ve seen them interact on several occasions and they always seemed to get along really well. You understand that some people just don’t work together, but Bo and Jess were great. They even had an adorable how we met story, but alas they didn’t end up together.

“And Mommy said we can take lots of pictures to mail to Daddy since he’s gonna miss me.” She giggles.

Bzzzt Bzzzt Bzzzt

“Aren’t you gonna miss me?” Bo looks at his daughter who is still giggling as she shakes her head no. He places his hand on his chest and gasps before turning away from her, pretending to cry.

“I’ll miss you daddy, please don’t cry!” Seiko tries to throw her arms around his broad shoulders but her arms just aren’t long enough to wrap around his muscular form. She whispers repeatedly that she was just joking before he turns around, wrapping her into a hug.

This will be only the second time since finding out he would be a dad that he’d be apart from Seiko for more than a few days. Being a professional athlete meant that he spent a lot of time traveling, but those trips never lasted longer than five days. The first time was when she was two and he was gone for two weeks, this time she’d be gone for two months and he’d miss her fifth birthday. Jess has already promised to live stream her party and Bo had already mailed Seiko’s gift to Jess so she’ll be able to open it on her actual birthday, but it still feels like the end of the world.

Bzzzt Bzzzt Bzzzt

“You can answer that if you want.” Bo offers, “If you need to step outside, Haruki won’t mind sitting here with us.”

Haruki smiles up at you, “Yeah Mom. Your phone has been going off since we left home.”

You shoot your son a look, the ‘you shouldn’t have said that’ look which causes him to sink down in his seat. Truth be told you don’t want to answer the phone, you have nothing really to say to the person on the other end, but you didn’t want to ruin your outing with Bo and Seiko either.

“It’s fine. I can just get it later.”

Bo drops the subject as Seiko and Haruki begin talking about Seiko’s trip some more which includes promises of souvenirs, handwritten letters, and daily video chats.

You look at your phone: 6 missed calls, 3 voicemails, and 18 missed text messages. All from Nakajima Youta, your husband. As you sit there, staring at the excessive amount of notifications, your mind begins to wonder.

*                      * It was an early autumn day, the kind where it wasn’t too chilly but the overbearing heat of the summer was long gone. You sat in a room, surrounded by your mother, friends and future mother-in-law as they all chatted away about how beautiful everything looks. You fiddled with your engagement ring as your mother pinned your hair up, pressing her cheek to yours as she smiled at you through the mirror.

There was a knock at the door and your mother was shocked to see it was Youta who had his hand over his eyes.

“Youta? What are you doing?”

“It’s bad luck to see the bride, but I just need her for four seconds.”

A smile twitched on your lips as you walked over to him, “What’s going on?”

He removed his hand from his eyes, but they are tightly squeezed shut as he awkwardly moved his arms around before finding your face. He stepped closer before he pressed a chaste kiss on your lips, his thumb gently stroked your cheek.

“What was that for?” “This will sound lame, but I’m kinda nervous and I figured you were too. Thought it couldn’t hurt.”

You saw him smile before turning around so you could shut the door before he opened his eyes. Your mother and his began to talk about how sweet that exchange was. Followed by them wondering how you were remaining so calm when they had been complete messes before their wedding. Then it hit you that you were extremely calm, not once had you thought of bolting or canceling the wedding which to you was strange. You get nervous about a lot of things, you second-guessed a ton of things, and here you were with nerves of steel.

Two weeks later

“Mommy!” Seiko bounces up and down, glancing up at Bo with a huge smile on her face. Jess flew in so that she could attend a volleyball game with Seiko before heading to California. The original plan was for Bo to fly out with Seiko, but a last-minute change to the MSBY game schedule disrupted the plan.

“Hey baby girl!” She scoops the little girl up in her arms, spinning her around. She peppers her face with kisses as Seiko squeals, wrapping her arms around Jess’ neck. “Hey Bo.”

“Jess!” Bo wraps Jess and Seiko in a hug before placing a quick kiss on her temple. He grabs her bags as Seiko refuses to be put down; claiming she was too tired to walk. The family of three walk through the airport and make their way to the parking lot.

The ride back to Bo’s apartment is filled with Seiko asking her mom all about California, the same thing she’s asked her every night since she learned she was going. It doesn’t matter to Seiko that her mom has already told her the same thing, it’s different because this time her mom is sitting next to her instead of telling her through a screen.

*                      * “Can we watch a movie?” Seiko asks as Bo and Jess finish cleaning up the kitchen from dinner.

“Of course.”

“YAY!” Seiko screams before running up to hug Bo and Jess then takes off to find the movie she wants to watch.

“She gets that from you.” Jess says.

“Her adorableness? I know.” Bo sticks his tongue out and Jess throws the towel in her hands at him. The kitchen fills with laughter as Seiko comes running back down the hallway, DVD case in hand.

“I want to watch this one!” Seiko holds up Coco; it was her favorite movie lately which Bo was thankful for, he was tired of watching The Lion King 2.

It wasn’t even 45 minutes into the movie and Seiko was asleep on Bo’s lap, his shirt tightly gripped in her little fist while Jess’s head is rested on his shoulder.

“Jess?” Bo whispers, not wanting to wake their daughter.

“Mm.” She hums, half asleep.

“She’s asleep. Want to tuck her in with me?”

She nods against his shoulder before sitting up, stretching the best she could; her body heavy with sleep. Bo cradles their daughter in his arms as they walk into the four-year old’s room; it’s decorated in fairy lights, purples and grays with owls everywhere. She has books on the floor, she said she had been doing research for her and Haruki’s next adventure and crayons littered her desks with drawings she had done to take to California.

Jess pulls the blanket over Seiko, pressing a kiss to her forehead before the little girl turns over to get comfortable. Bo turns off the light after making sure her nightlight is plugged in.

“You’re really good at that.” Jess says as she curls back up on the couch, Bo getting himself a glass of water.

“Turning off lights?” He laughs when she rolls her eyes.

“At being a dad.” She smiles, “I never really did thank you for how great you were with all of this.”

He just shrugs, “I couldn’t imagine having a kid with anyone else.”

A wide grin spreads across her face, “Really? No one? Not even someone with a son? A son who is best friends with Seiko. No one else? Huh.”

Blush faintly covers his cheeks as he clears his throat, “She’s married Jess. Plus, we already talked about that, remember? When we met?”

*                      * October 2018

“That’s all we have time for today. A special thank you again to Bokuto Kōtarō and congratulations on the win.”

The cameraman signaled that they aren’t live anymore before the brunette let out a sigh.

“Are you okay?” Bokuto asked.

“Oh.” She started to fiddle with the microphone cord, “This was my first interview, I’m new to Japan.”

“Well you did great!” He exclaimed, holding up a hand for a high-five. The woman looked at him like he’s crazy but complied.

“Thanks. Ah, so did you.”

Bo smiled, “Jess, right?” She nodded. “I can show you around if you want.”

She shook her head, “Oh no, I couldn’t impose like that.” Bo waved her off, “I really don’t mind. I think it’ll be fun.”

“Only if you’re sure. I have a guidebook I don’t mind using.”

Bo scrunched his face up, “Those don’t show you half of the best places.” He asked for her phone and put his number in. “Just let me know when you’re free and we’ll work it out.”

She smiled, going to speak before you ran up to Bo whose expression had changed; it was no longer just a polite look but one of adoration. His eyes appeared softer and the way his face lit would melt anyone’s heart.

“You did so great out there!” You throw your arms around him.

“Thank you.” His cheeks turned red which didn’t go unnoticed by Jess, “Y/N, this is Andrews Jess, she conducted the postgame interview.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Nakajima Y/N.”

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Jess said, feeling a tad bit awkward and blurted out the first thing she could think of, “You two make a lovely couple.”

“Oh no. No no no.” You shook your head, “We’re best friends. I’ve known Bo here forever.”

There was a slight shift in Bo’s demeanor but a shift nevertheless when a wave of sadness washes over his expression. He almost seems to have stiffened at the word ‘friend’ and somehow his hair seemed to have deflated. Jess tried not to think too much into it, she doesn’t know him or them at all.

“Y/N! Y/N!” Hinata waved from across the court.

“Hinata!” You waved back before heading over to meet Hinata.

“Did you see my spikes!?” He jumped up and down, “They were all swoosh bam!”

Jess looked back to Bo, “This is probably way out of line, but does she know?”

Bokuto frowned as his attention went back to Jess, “Does she know what?”

“That you have feelings for her?”

“I don’t…” He stopped when he saw the same look in her eyes that he’s seen in his, “No. She just got married.”

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