#this kind of blows but my photoshop is broken SO

[badsalmonella]

Media I tolerated for the 2023 cast of Camelot

I'm documenting these reviews for SCIENCE.

Ground rules: 1. I had to have watched this SPECIFICALLY for no reason other than a Camelot actor. Meaning no Phillipa's many great works aren't here. I just watched Hamilton because it was well made not specifically for her. (but like she WAS THERE and she ate it up so BONUS!) 2. I'm doing the bad ones for comedic purposes so I won't talk about Spain but like just know. I don't tolerate Spain. I. LOVE. SPAIN. Spain would blow all these entries out of the water. Don't just seek out Spain for the Danny Wolohan+ Andrew Burnap of it all frfr like it's just gOOD.😭

Under the Banner of Heaven

Verdict: ??/10

Definitely the most ""refined and pristine"" of the bunch I am about to talk about, I acknowledge this. But it turns out I didn't care about mormons when I saw Book of Mormon back in the day and went "eh." and I STILL DON'T CARE ABOUT THEM NOW. I unfortunately was not strong enough to finish this show. The first two episodes barely had Andrew Burnap and it was hard to continue knowing that there was some unsavvvvourrryyyy content waiting ahead of me. I'm always torn when talking about shows like this like what do you do when you know it's technically more competent but alsooo....it's more boring to you?

My whore levels: -ˏ͛⑅❒⌧⌧??/10

Someone (you know who you are) sent me this UNHINGED review for the show

and I went 'haha that's insane. that won't be me'. bad news folks.....it maybe might have been me. BUT ALSOOO all that progress would IMMEDIATELY undo because then the camera would zoom out and I'd be like 'ohhh.... oh no he does fit right in with these unsettling caucasians.... :/ Yeahh.............but then I'd see him in that blouuuuseeeee with that funky lil perrmmmm. 👀👀👀👀 all this to say. I am conflicted. I am confused. I am unwell. I want...a perm and a blouse?????

Broken Hearts Gallery

Verdict: 5/10

It's fine. It was alright. I'm not really a romantic comedy movie person so like I'm not the target audience but I mean this movie is doing what it says on the tin. Ya know? It's fine. Didn't offend me. Did what it had to do. Made me wish I was living an art life in New York City and Bernadette Peters was my boss.

My Whore Levels: 9/10

Honestly I love the glasses on Phillipa Soo, they got her in some fun outfits. I love the quirked up weirdo lesbian vibes. I love how she collects girlfriends like accessories. I would watch a movie about this character. Can I have a sequel??? There's a scene where she is mercilessly chopping a cucumber with a very sharp knife, it turns out my type is Phillipa Soo threatening murder I refuse to unpack that :)

One True Loves

Verdict: 0.5/10

Actually AWFUL. Like in a it barely feels like a movie kind of way. It's like it was made by someone they plucked off the street. Like the qualifications were 'have you seen a movie before???? okay cool then you can make one'. The worst editing I have seen in a movie in a long time. Holy shit. This movie costs 2$ LOOK AT THAT MOVIE POSTER!!!! If this were some random amazon prime movie with a bunch of nobodies I would understand BUT PHILLIPA SOO WAS IN THIS. THIS IS WHAT SIMU LIU ASKED TO BE IN AFTER DOING THE MCU. (not a joke)THE AUTHOR OF THE 7 HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO WROTE THE SCRIPT???? PHILLIPA PRODUCED THIS FILMMMMM. GIRLIE NOOOOOO💀💀💀 Also MASSIVE tonal problem. This movie is still sticking with me. Like I am GOOPED this was made. THIS APPARENTLY HAD A THEATRICAL RUN? and I know I said this before but HOLY SHIT I CANNOT BELIEVE BUZZFEED MAKES MOVIESSSSSS

My Whore levels: 2/10

They did my girl so dirty. This whole movie has the aesthetic of a high schooler's first photoshop project being a mood board inspired by a Taylor Swift song but all they use is the first 5 images you find on google search when you type in 'fall' and 'latte'. This movie told me "salt is spicy :(((" This is like if you could turn a cursive live, laugh, love sign into a look of a whole movie. They are dressing Phillipa Soo up like the most interesting thing she has to put on her dating profile is "I like reading :)". Two points though because for exactly one brief scene she was shoulder out, hair swooped dramatically and I whispered "slay".

Charmed (2018)

Verdict: 3/10

My worstie. My bestie. The beginning of the end. The moment that cemented that my bar was low. Honestly this would have been far and away the worst thing I watched for a Camelot cast member but One True Loves swooped in last minute and took home the gold(?) for being even more incompetent and even cheaper. I honestly have way too much to say about it though, which is proof that I somehow got emotionally invested. I'm convinced they had some sort of business deal struck with the Zara brand because everyone dresses like a business casual 35 year old woman on her way to the office (NO MATTER WHAT THEIR PERSONALITY IS THEY ALL DRESS LIKE THIS.) They must be getting awful direction or something because nooobody is doing a good job in the acting department (I'm typing this through tears. I'm choking and sobbing as I confess this to you all). There's DEFINITELYYYY a colourism problem. The show does NOT know how to utilize it's fun setting seriously for a show with witches you'd be SHOCKED how little magic is used in this show. THERE'S SO LITTLE WHIMSY!! and yet............I found myself bewitched (I'm sorry) by the show. I have given episodes rewatches. I have literally fallen to the floor, on all fours, WHEEZING, watching the bad credit card product placement in one of the episodes. My friend and I got to the episode where they say 'The curse is lifted! :) But the struggle continues' (the struggle....IS RACISM!!!) and our jaws DROPPED. A character projectile vomited on a man and he EXPLODED and all that were left were his boots in a smoking pile. It sucks but in a way I can't look away from. I wish there were ungodly amounts of seasons of this show. I wish Jordan Donica was trapped in a 13 season cycle of being this show's damsel in distress (no actually no I don't)

My Whore levels: I cannot share this number publicly💀/10

I'm not proud of the person I become when Jordan Donica is on screen in this show. YES they mostly dress him boring grey hoodies and jeans. YES He spends a whole season with his hair in the sad in between mid length stage that nobody likes being in (I stand in solidarity as a person who also likes keeping her hair short when it gets too long it's not great but it's part of the human experience) but damn dude that ain't stopping him from SERVING NORMIE CORE CUNT!!!!! Also because this relationship with me and Charmed is toxic every once in a while they would throw me the most delicious bone. Various suits in funky colours and long hair, ohhhh a bowler hat!!! The episode where he puts on a Shien punk leather outfit!! It's the small things, ya know? :) <333

[firesidetextiles]

Hi, I just saw your wooden planchette purse (super cute!) and I was curious how you take your photos? Getting that smooth all white background and lighting and stuff

Hello! Thank you!!

Apologies for this being so long. I can def chat about photography. Let me know if I can answer any other questions or go into even more detail!

For the most part I take photos on a white background in two ways. The planchette purse ones were taken on a MyStudio background which is a white plastic corner thing that looks like this:

I got it on Amazon years ago after Skullery (ParliamentRook here on Tumblr) talked about using one. (the price has gone up there so maybe check other stores if interested)

However! I also just use large pieces of Bristol board paper, either flat on a table or with it taped or weighed down into a similar curved backdrop (running along a wall for the back and across a table on the bottom). Here's a pic of it flat:

And here's what that shot looks like on my phone:

Here's a picture of it kind of curved against the cat's bed instead of a wall:

Here's the final edited shot from my camera.

(I know these two samples don't show very much white background like the purse photos do, but I can't find too many photos that show the full setup as is, zoomed out. I've use the paper trick for a lot of my photos though, especially the embroidery hoop art pieces. You can use multiple pieces of large paper for large photo subjects by either erasing or editing out where one edge of the paper overlaps another.)

The big trick is to use natural - but diffused - light as much as possible! To the direct left of these photos is a huge living room window (the first sample photo is taken where the lamp is in the second). The folded white Bristol on the right side in both shots bounces the light from the window back across the photo subject.

As far as diffused light, it'll kind of depend on your region/location and windows. Bright but overcast/cloudy is best because the light is being softened through the clouds. Timing during different parts of the day/seasons can help too, like morning over midday. Sunny direct light can blow out details and cause sharp shadows. I'm personally having a difficult time getting good natural lighting for photography now in my current living situation because the light here is always so bright. The pictures of the purse and the sample pics above were all taken in Washington state. It was easier to get shots in winter/spring instead of summer. I feel like I developed a good photo style while living there and I can't quite capture light and color that way anymore unfortunately.

I'd recommend checking out all your windows and the way the light shifts throughout the day. At a friend's house, taking them right outside her garage door was the best and at previous place I lived it was out on the front patio.

This is one of my recent photo experiments using light indoors (there's a second bulb above just out of frame):

There's also ways to make simple lightboxes like this one (and this video gives a good visual for the curved paper backdrop I tried to describe):

As far as stats for other info, the camera I shoot with - besides my phone - is an old Nikon D50 with a 50mm f/1.8D fixed lens originally for shooting concert photography. My only other lens is broken, but the f/1.8 makes it great for low light as needed. (Lowering the f-stop also gives you that depth of field blur.) A tripod can be super helpful, especially if it's low light and you need to lower the shutter speed and use a timer. I shoot all my camera photos in RAW instead of JPG because it gives you way more options for photo editing before any adjustments in Photoshop. On my phone I use Afterlight for photo editing.

If you read this entire thing, thank you for sticking it out! And again, if anyone has any questions or if I can take sample pics or anything, feel free to drop me an Ask. <3

[sanktas]

𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐈𝐗

              ❝ she was in a winter-black mood, she was bleeding fury and icy loveliness ... ❞

[whatifyoulivelikethat]

just kidding, m | jjk

pairing(s): jungkook x reader

summary: There was a time where you would be out partying, getting drunk and fucking up a storm. But you’re different now. You stopped drinking. Now you’re the one waiting for Kim Taehyung to call so you can pick him up from his drunken adventures. There’s just one small hitch –  Taehyung’s roommate, Jeon Jungkook, offering you a mojito.

warnings: rated M (18+) for language, (a little) alcohol consumption; slight crack at the start lol; smut (fem reader, thigh riding, handjob, fingering, m-receiving oral); non-idol!AU; Jungkook is a tempter and he knows it; noona!reader and you’re a nympho, whoops

--

“I don’t drink.”

“Oh.”

Jeon Jungkook blinked at you, holding out the mojito.

“But… I made it.”

“That’s true. But I don’t drink.”

He pursed his lips and frowned.

“You sure?” he asked, putting on his best puppy eyes.

“Yup.”

“I promise it’s not poisoned.”

You laughed, jangling your car keys. “I have to drive later. But also, I do not drink.”

He nodded and took a sip of it. “It’s really smooth.”

You smiled and went back to your phone. Kim Taehyung was supposed to text you in a bit so you could pick him up from a party. In exchange, he let you borrow his computer to play League of Legends since he had a better PC and internet than your apartment. There was an event going on, so you had to grind games. You were getting tired though and you didn’t want to be in the middle of a game when Taehyung called half-drunk.

Now you were sitting on the couch, as Taehyung’s roommate Jeon Jungkook stood there and took sips from his mojito. Just standing there, thinking. He did that a lot, drifting off into space randomly. You figured it was some sort of weird habit. He was wearing a striped black-and-white turtleneck and black leather pants. His cheek-length black hair was pinned back on the right side, revealing his undercut. It seemed like he was going out, but he had spent all night in his room before going to the kitchen and then appearing with said mojito. Why? Honestly, you had no idea.

“Are you going somewhere?” you asked, looking up at him from the sofa.

Jungkook snapped out of it and stared at you. “What?”

You pointed to his outfit. “You’re dressed all fancy.”

Jungkook looked down. “Oh. Uh, not really. I was going to go with Taehyung tonight but I had an assignment to finish that I forgot about. I never changed.”

You nodded. Hm.

Okay.

“How do you know Taehyung-ssi, anyway, noona?”

“I sucked his dick once.”

Jungkook nearly dropped his glass.

You calmly scrolled through Instagram. You flickered your eyes up to see Jungkook’s shocked face and his red ears.

“I’m kidding,” you chuckled, seeing Jungkook blink rapidly to collect himself. “I used to be the Biology lab TA. He’d ask for help a lot. And he plays League, so we ended up hanging out. Also, I have a car.”

“R-right…” Jungkook crab-walked to the armchair next to the sofa and sat down, placing his drink on the table. “Right, yeah.”

You two sat in silence, rather comfortable for you, rather awkward for Jungkook. You didn’t come here that often, but it was always only to borrow Taehyung’s internet or to pick him up from random outings. It was never a big deal to you, as Taehyung was always nice and bought you food later as thanks. As for Jeon Jungkook, he was just kind of there. Introverted, quiet, sometimes piped up to inquire about something when he was curious. You weren’t exactly talkative, but he didn’t bother you either, so it was never too memorable.

“What’s on your shirt?” Jungkook asked, tilted his head.

You lifted your phone to give him a better look at the nine-pointed star and bleeding goat head of your long-sleeved black shirt. “It’s an American metal band.”

Jungkook blinked at you. “You listen to metal?”

You put your phone back down. “Yup.”

You suddenly remembered your legs were wide open because you were wearing your black velvet pants and they were hot as fuck. Wearing these was a mistake. You closed your legs and settled them on the couch. They had been expensive though, so you felt like you had to wear them to get your money’s worth. Damnnit. Why did you buy these again?

“Why don’t you drink alcohol?”

You closed Instagram and opened Twitter. “Because I become sexually uninhibited.”

Silence.

You looked up to see Jungkook trying to process what you said, imaginary question marks popping on top of his head.

“It means I fuck anything with legs, Jungkook.”

His brown doe eyes went wide. “W-what?”

You shrugged. “Yeah, you know, one time one of my friends caught me in a room with my clothes off blowing three guys at once, so I figured, hmm, maybe I shouldn’t drink anymore. That ever happen to you?” you added nonchalantly.

Jungkook shook his head so quickly his long black hair floated in the air.

“Huh. Well, me neither,” you chuckled. “I was just kidding.”

Jungkook looked like a mother who was trying to process all of their child’s sex escapades. “That’s good then. Whew,” he remarked with an awkward laugh. He took another long, hasty sip of his mojito.

“It was four guys.”

Jungkook nearly choked. He snapped his head up to see your shoulders shaking as you tried to contain your snickering, hiding behind your phone. He glared at you, clearing his throat sharply.

“You shouldn’t lie, noona,” he muttered, frowning.

You lowered your phone and straightened. “I was laughing at your expression. I wasn’t lying.”

He narrowed his eyes, disbelieving. “About what part?” he said warily.

“I do not drink because I will literally try to fuck anyone in my immediate vicinity when I’m drunk,” you stated in a matter-of-fact tone. “You can imagine it’s not very good for my sexual health or my social life as I stumble out of a party covered in cum of four guys I don’t know.”

Jungkook was in the middle of drinking his mojito and swallowed so hard the entire drink disappeared into his throat.

“What?” he wheezed out, slamming his chest with his fist.

You put your hands up. “It happens.”

Jungkook looked as if he as going to pass out, either from the image or from drinking too fast. You picked up your phone again and set Taehyung a text.

Are you dead? I think I killed your roommate.

Jungkook shook his head vigorously. “You must be joking.”

“Nope, that actually happened. Ask Taehyung.”

Jungkook looked taken aback. “What?” he said again in the same panicked tone.

“I told you someone found me.”

You swore that if this was the Wild West, a tumbleweed would have drifted by. Jungkook looked as white as a sheet. You calmly plucked the glass from his hand since it seemed like he was rapidly losing focus of his surroundings.

“How… That’s so dangerous!” Jungkook sputtered, seemingly coming back to life.

“Indeed, which is why I am sitting here right now and not piss drunk in a random bedroom in someone’s house,” you replied calmly, waiting for Taehyung to text you back. “See, this is why you don’t offer me a drink because then I would try to fuck you. You’ve been spared.”

Jungkook gave you a very strange expression and suddenly crossed one leg over the other. You rubbed your eyes. Hopefully Taehyung didn’t stay out too late. You were getting sleepy.

“Well, you still have to be attracted to them, r-right?” Jungkook commented, looking away and biting his knuckle.

You didn’t look up from your phone.

“I suppose. I don’t really have a type, and when you’re drunk you only look at the parts you’re attracted to anyway and forget about anything else,” you responded, chuckling at a cute cat picture. “At least you’re attractive, so if I met you at a party drunk, I’d fuck you, easy.” Owls could sit cross-legged? What? You squinted at the meme, trying to see if it was Photoshopped.

Silence. Absolute fucking silence.

You decided that it seemed unlikely the photo of this sitting owl was Photoshopped and lifted your head to see Jungkook staring at you like you had three heads.

“What?”

“You’re…” Jungkook chuckled awkwardly. “Just kidding, right?”

You blinked. “What? About you being attractive?” You pointed to him. “No. I’m not. You’re handsome, Jungkook.”

You saw his ears turning red once again. “Ahaha… but you wouldn’t fuck me, right?”

“I would.”

A crow cawed loudly outside the window.

Jungkook wasn’t blinking. Was he dead? Was Taehyung going to come home to a statue of a roommate? You tilted your head and waved your hand in front of his face. Jungkook didn’t move. Maybe he went into shock.

“Jungkook? You alive in there?” you asked, waving your hand some more.

He blinked rapidly, startling you. “I… I…”

Okay, now he was scaring you. Was he broken? Did Taehyung have an A.I. for a roommate and not tell you? Taehyung, please come home and oil your Jungkook, you thought dryly as you watched him scrunch up his nose, as if he was trying to stretch his face muscles out.

“You surprised me,” Jungkook sputtered, nervously rubbing the back of his head. “I just… there’s no way…”

“That I would fuck you?” you replied, completely chill. He turned even redder. You placed a hand on your cheek and rested your elbow on the couch. “Why not? You’re cute, have nice fashion sense, seem like a decent guy.”

Yeah, Jungkook was definitely breaking down because he did not seem to know how to form proper sentences anymore. He was like a fish out of water, opening and closing his mouth awkwardly.

“But, I couldn’t though.” You cut off his attempts to fathom a thought. He stiffened, his doe eyes shifting to you. “Because you’re Taehyung’s friend, not a stranger. I try not to mess up my friendships, you know?”

He swallowed thickly. “R-right.”

You removed your hand from your cheek and cracked your neck, leaning back against the plushy couch arm. Sheesh, where was Taehyung? You could have played an entire ARAM in the time he was messing about. He told you around this time, but perhaps he had run late. Oh well.

“But… if he doesn’t know…”

Hold up.

You lifted your head, slowly, slowly to Jungkook’s nervous stare and shifty eyes.

“I mean, if Taehyung doesn’t know… doesn’t count, right?” he asked innocently.

His dark hair obscured part of his angular face, pink lips slightly parted. His eyes were watching your every move like a hawk, brows furrowed slightly. The living room light reflected off his glowing tan skin and the glossiness of his lips.

If you don’t stop looking like that, you thought. There’s going to be consequences.

“Let’s not tread dangerous waters here,” you said quietly.

One of his dark eyebrows quirked upwards ever-so-slightly. “How is it dangerous? Taehyung’s going to call you when he needs to be picked up. He’s going to see the inside of your car before he even sees the inside of this apartment.”

Uh oh. Now your heart was beating fast. Fuck. Fuckity fuck. Alcohol made you sexually uninhibited because you really, really enjoyed having sex. Far too much. But you couldn’t go through life fucking everything with legs (or without them – to be honest, it wasn’t that strict of a requirement) because, hello, societal standards? Social appropriateness of maybe not fucking the cashier at your favorite coffee spot or your friend’s roommate in his apartment? You know, you had to be a productive human being and not a damn nympho. Wasn’t like you were getting paid for it.

Jungkook lifted his leg from his knee and spread them, tilting his chin upward.

Oh ho?

Well, now you knew why Jungkook crossed his legs, because a very obvious bulge was struggling in his leather pants. Where was embarrassed Jungkook? Shocked Jungkook? The Jungkook that was stunned at your crude words and straightforward manner?

Give him back. This is too much.

Perhaps you had been a little too frank for once – ah, who are you kidding, you’d probably been in this situation before.

Jungkook’s right hand slid up his thigh, long fingers with tiny, delicate tattoos, tracing the contours of his muscular quads. You tilted your head as he danced his fingers along his inner thigh before spreading them over his bulge and cupping it, stroking slowly through the thick fabric as he licked his lips.

“I am not drunk enough for this,” you muttered.

“Are you scared?” Jungkook asked softly, still palming himself through his pants. “Scared Taehyungie will be mad at you?” You felt a muscle in your face twitch. It seemed that he knew he was getting the better of you, because his voice was dropping low, sultry. You did not like being challenged, because well… you always tried to rise to the challenge. To your detriment, sometimes.

“Is Taehyung the boss of you?”

Fuck.

You snapped your head at him, narrowing your eyes.

“No one is the boss of me,” you replied icily.

Jungkook softened his features, laying his head back in the armchair. His hair curled around his cheek as his breathing deepened. His teeth caught his lower lip and gradually released it, the pink flesh popping back into place. The tiny mole under his lip trembled.

“Then do whatever you want, noona.”

Your eyes narrowed to slits, nails digging into your palms.

“What’s gotten into you?”

Jungkook’s voice was a smokey wisp, soaking into you.

“Just imagining you on your knees, naked, covered in cum…” He groaned, rocking his hips into his hand. “Sounds so fucking hot.”

Well. It had been. It was fucking hot, it made you wet just thinking about that night. It had felt amazing as the cum dripped down your skin, covering you, making you filthy with your sinful lust, so delicious and raw and dirty that right now you sat up, spreading your legs again because the space between your thighs was too fucking hot, too fucking much. Stupid velvet pants.

You got up from the couch, eyes still on Jungkook, his pupils dilating, tongue tracing the outskirts of his lips. He leaned his head back a little and moaned your name, long and lustful, eyelids fluttering. His dark hair brushed against his brows.

“Stop,” you breathed, reaching down to push your shirt up. Your fingers hovered over the button of your pants. Too hot. Too fucking hot. “You’re doing this on purpose. You’re tempting me.”

The side of his lips curved upward into a lazy smirk.

“I am.”

You placed your phone on the coffee table. The sound was on. Taehyung still hadn’t texted you. You would hear it vibrate against the wood. You took another step, unbuttoning your pants. Fuck. Why was Jungkook so sexy? You could resist if he wasn’t so damn hot.

“Don’t want you to think…” You swallowed; throat tight. “Don’t want you to think I’m treating you like a sex object.” The zipper of your pants slid down. “Because you seem like a nice guy.”

He smiled, undoing his pants too, sighing as the zipper freed his bulge.

“If I was your sex object…” Jungkook purred, pushing his tight leather pants down, down. “Even for only a little bit, I wouldn’t hold it against you, noona.”

Now your velvet pants were being peeled off your hips, leaving you in your seamless black panties. Oh, fuck, his thighs. Muscular and powerful, skin so pretty you wanted to touch. His eyes slid down your body.

“Holy shit, your thighs.”

Seemed like you both had the same idea. You climbed onto Jungkook’s lap, straddling one of his thighs. Now he was close to you, smelling like fresh linen, presence so warm and powerful you were being drugged by it. Your hands slid onto his shoulders, gripping them finger by finger, breathing hard as he tensed them. Slowly, you sat down on his left thigh, gasping as your soaked, clothed heat touched him. He grinned, flexing it under you. His own hand slid up your thigh, squeezing it, watching his fingers sink into your softness.

“Now, this,” Jungkook breathed, staring into your eyes. “This is a sexy body.”

Your heart was beating so fast, so fast. He watched you closely, eyes so dark that you felt like you were drowning in them. You rolled your hips into his thigh, hissing as you became wetter. He flexed the muscle under you, hard and unforgiving, sitting back and letting you rub yourself against it. You smeared your juices into his skin, stimulating your clit, inhaling sharply. Jungkook was still clutching your thigh, his large hand pressed into you.

“Is that enough for you?” he drawled, his other hand sliding up to land on your other thigh. “Is that all you want from me?”

Your eyes flickered to his playful, daring brown orbs.

“There’s no time…” you muttered.

“Take off your panties,” he nudged.

He placed his hands on your waist and lifted you up. You bit your lip, uncertain.

“Noona, I want you to feel good.”

He slipped one finger on the side of your black panties and pushed down. You took the other side and pushed them down, raising your legs to pull out one and then the other. Your panties fluttered to the ground. Jungkook’s gaze on you as you lowered again, bare and dripping, onto his thick thigh. Oh, holy hell. He tensed it and pressed your hips down, grinding his thigh onto your slopping wet pussy. You moaned, grasping his forearms through his turtleneck, feeling the strength in them, the hardness. You closed your eyes, humping his thigh, lost in bliss.

“Can you cum like that?” You felt Jungkook lean forward, lips brushing against yours. “Cum you cum just by rubbing yourself on me?”

Tiny, rigid nods. “If you... kiss me.”

He groaned as he felt your opening tense on his skin. “I thought you would never ask.”

And then his lips were on yours, soft, delicate. Sweet, erotic kisses contrasting with how hard you were fucking his leg, his tongue dancing in the periphery of yours, dodging you playfully as you whined, clutching him tighter. He pressed you down harder, sliding his tongue into your mouth. You shuddered, wetness pooling at his kisses, your core tightening as he whispered your name into your lips.

“Your body is so fucking delectable,” his murmured. “So sexy, it’s sinful.”

You clenched your jaw as you basically rammed your hips into his thigh, slippery and hard, your clit throbbing with need.

“Cum for me, noona.” You could feel his lips form the words as he kissed you, awe in his voice. “Cum on my thigh.”

You dug your nails into his clothed arms and shut your eyes, moaning his name, feeling the strings inside you snap, pleasure waterfalling into you as you came, squelching onto his skin, so viscous and thick that it added to the lubrication, your swollen clit throbbing. Your eyelids fluttered as his hands pressed you down, grinding your hips into his muscle so you could ride your high, extend it until you were melting, hands falling from his arms. He cradled you gently, your chest heaving with effort.

“J-Jungkook…”

“Mhm?”

You cracked your eyes open. “Has my phone made any noise?”

He shook his head. His dark hair covered part of his left eye. “No, noona.”

“Ah.”

Maybe Taehyung was getting laid. Good for him.

“I’m going to touch you now,” you stated. To the point.

Jungkook grinned.

You reached down to his black boxer briefs and yanked them down, freeing his cock and balls. He lifted his legs a little and you pushed them down, but he took your hand, placing it on his semi-hard cock. He moaned as your fingers wrapped around him.

“Do you want to take it off?” you asked quietly, referring to his underwear.

“No,” Jungkook replied tightly, cupping his hand around yours, using your hand to stroke himself a few times. “I can’t wait anymore.”

You nudged his hand aside and began your pace. He leaned back, gasping softly. Your grip wasn’t what it used to be. Carpal tunnel was a bitch. Still, you furrowed your brow, concentrating, He swelled in your hand, pre-cum leaking at the red tip dripping onto your fingers. You stopped for a moment to coat your palm with it, bringing it to your mouth and licking your hand, moaning at his taste. Jungkook shivered, watching your saliva spread all over before returning to his cock, adding to the lubrication.

He pressed his head into the back of the armchair, hips rising as you started again, jaw tense.

“I’m not as good as before,” you gritted out. “My wrist–”

“It’s perfect,” Jungkook interjected. “Fuck, your hand is perfect.”

He was rock hard in your hand as you jacked him off. You snuck a glance at him. His hands were on his face, combing through his dark hair, eyes closing, mouth open as he moaned, rutting into your palm.

He was just so, so sensual that it was driving you insane, his noises making you wet. There was something feral about it, the way he looked at you through his lashes.

“Can I finger you?” he pleaded. “Please.”

Your hips were raised to get a good angle, your arousal already dripping down your thigh.

“Of course. Touch me, Jungkook.”

He lowered his hands, hair all over his face, staring at you through the veil. His fingers slid up your thigh, slipping in between. Dipping in, moaning as he touched your wetness. You sucked in a breath, feeling his fingertip graze your swollen clit. Your grip tightened.

“Jungkook.” Your eyes found his, glazed with lust. “You can be rougher with me. If you want.”

He swallowed, Adam’s apple bobbing. “Don’t want to hurt you…”

You smirked.

“You forget who you’re talking to.”

He pushed two fingers into you, feeling you suck him in as you stroked him, smile still on your lips. Jungkook grinned, pressing his thumb against your clit and rubbed it as he began to thrust his fingers into you, matching your pace, the two of you focused on getting each other off, breath mixing between your bodies.

“Noona?”

“Yeah?” you panted, whimpering at his roughness, his fingers scissoring in you, stretching your walls as you squeezed back, faster and faster.

“Wanna cum in your mouth.”

You chuckled as he shoved a third finger into you, punishing your clit repeatedly, so full, so good, it was making you crazy, but you had to focus, you had to get him off.

“This is a weird angle.”

Jungkook suddenly pulled his fingers out and pinched your clit, making you hiss and your legs shake, pained whimpers clawing from your throat.

“Do it.” His voice was a low growl. “Do it and I’ll reward you.”

You slid off the chair, still stroking his cock, narrowing your eyes at him. Jungkook looked down at you, smirk on his pretty pink lips, whispering your name. You removed your hand and replaced it with your mouth. Fuck. He sighed, hand coming up to tangle in your hair, not quite pressing you down but holding you there, his taste coating your tongue, his hard length throbbing in your mouth. You moaned onto his cock and his hips trembled, his long bangs covering his left eye.

Ugh, the way he looked at you. Your felt your pussy clench, demanding his cock.

Instead, you began to move your head up and down, soft lips around him, mouth tight around the head and length. His hand stayed there, moving with you, firm, reminding you that you couldn’t stop, that you had to keep going until he came. You set a nice, fast, tight pace, already knowing he was close, hearing his breathy groans, repeating your name over and over.

“Always thought you were fuckable,” Jungkook panted out. “Always wanted you in my bed.” He pressed his head into the armchair, shutting his eyes. “Couldn’t figure out how to convince you, couldn’t figure out how to tell you that I wanted you so very much.”

You tightened your throat around him and he dug his nails into your scalp, breathing shallow and tight.

“Gonna cum, noona, fuck, gonna cum down that pretty throat of yours.”

Jungkook squeezed his eyes shut and groaned, his orgasm filling your mouth, coating your tongue, slipping down your throat. You gulped and he yelped at the sensitivity, whimpering as you softly lapped at the head, cleaning him off. Drinking it all, intoxicated with it, so satisfied swallowing it all.

Oh, how you loved sex.

You slowly removed your mouth crawling back up, no longer aware of your obligations to Taehyung, only interested in brushing Jungkook’s hair aside and kissing him deep, moaning as his tongue forced into your mouth, tasting himself. His hand slipped back into your folds and three fingers deep into you, fucking you. You whined into his mouth, telling him how good he was, telling him how good he felt inside you, telling him you how much you wanted his cock, his beautiful, thick cock jammed all the way inside you.

The door lock clicked and neither of you heard anything.

“Ah, I managed to hitch a ride with Jim– WHAT THE FUCK?”

Taehyung’s deep voice boomed throughout the apartment and you were still making out with Jungkook’s face as his fingers thrust into your slopping wet pussy, spreading you out. You whimpered as Jungkook broke the kiss, pushing you against his body as Taehyung slammed the door and marched in, kicking off his shoes carelessly.

“Fucking shit, why are you like this, fucking everything in your sight, you absolute–”

You turned your head, somewhat ashamed, feeling somewhat sorry – but not that sorry, because Jungkook’s fingers were still inside you. Taehyung’s strong features were twisted in annoyance, but he wasn’t looking at you.

He was scowling at Jungkook.

“I told you,” Taehyung said sharply, sweeping his lush fur coat back to reveal his black turtleneck and black slacks, pointing an accusing finger at Jungkook. “Not to get her started, because she is a horny seductress.”

You raised your eyebrows at him. “Excuse me?”

Taehyung ticked his head, looking down at you. “Am I wrong?”

You pouted. “Well, no.”

“And,” he added, directing his attention at you. “Why would you not ask me to fuck first? I’ve seen you naked hundreds of times!”

Jungkook raised his eyebrows. “Hundreds?”

Taehyung ignored him, leaning down and taking your chin. Brown eyes a mix of angry and amused, observing your lust. “I am offended that I respected you and you’re sitting in my roommate’s lap instead of mine.” His breath seemed like alcohol.

Your lips parted, heart beating fast. “S-sorry, Tae… You’re just always dragging me out of weird stuff that I thought you were disgusted by me…”

Taehyung brought his face close to you. You loved his voice. So deep, so intense, so heavy. It seemed to shake your soul with bass.

“I’ve wanted you on my dick the second I saw you.”

And then he kissed you, hard and full, as Jungkook’s fingers began to move inside you once again.

-

part ii: kth x you x jjk

--

masterpost

[official-tuabangevent]

I know what it’s like to love dangerous people.

via: @circumstellars ➜ TUA fandom bang 2020 | Prompt: family, broken

[I cannot begin to describe the 15-20 hours of work this took. I was way too lucky when taako rolled such a clean and classic prompt for me, but once I finally imagined in my head what I wanted to do, executing it was a giant obstacle. It’s the most elaborate gif set I’ve made, in terms of number of effects and animation in one set. Photoshop puked on me halfway through this set, in my 3rd draft, glitching and bugging out for anything more than 100 frames long or so. I was so stubborn though. On my fifth(?) draft, here we are. It was most difficult because I had to figure this out never having done it, but also not seeing it done often, and not knowing any kind of related tutorials either. Really knocking around blindly. By the end, loading this in PS was pushing my laptop to the limits, omg it took PS 20 mins to open the document each time I started a fresh session. I do love that in all these processes, I’m recovering old tricks I used to know, and learning some new things I’ve never done in my graphic arts pursuits. It’s not perfect, but I wanted to make something worthy of this event, and to be worthy next to the mind-blowing entries by the others. 

Thank you all who participated in this event, flooding our feeds with beautiful creations for us to enjoy. Fandom creators are so precious to me, I appreciate you all - and all of you who in turn consume and feedback with love! Let’s do this again soon, guys, what a treat it has been. We have shown that we are a better fandom when we’re all together. -Stellar (I tried to upload via submit like everyone else, but sadly, the submit function doesn't work for gifsets! wtf man.) ps. if it's out of sync - its not, refresh your browser! :D]

[djmarinizelablog]

Angst no. 41 (the viewers everytime Dalisay fails to die)

#41. Angst: “No, not again. Please!”

I'll make my own spin here---Levi and Hange are watching Cardo Dalisay, the vigilante extraordinaire from the mountains, on TV. Hilarious angst (what the heck is that?) ensues.

Prompt list (pick a prompt with your fave ship and send it to me; I’ll write something about it)

---------------------

It's Friday after a long week of work, thick blankets and a hot choco kind of night, and Hange's propped on the couch while snacking on some popcorn, the TV playing in front of her.

"What the fuck are you watching?"

Levi has entered their room, confused at the fact that Hange's eyes are glued to the screen---probably for the first time since... forever?

"Just some action series I found on this channel." She munches some popcorn. "Got me hooked on the first season, and now I'm already halfway through!"

The opening credits of the next episode start with some poorly-done CGIs of the protagonist jumping off a building before said building gets blown up, flash forward to some highly-exaggerated fighting scenes where one punch from Cardo, the vigilante extraordinaire, knocks out this huge evil henchman in front of him. It's a pathetic stunt; in reality, that blow would have broken his teeny-tiny wrist. But the director didn't want that, Levi supposes; Cardo Dalisay would have been recuperating in the hospital for weeks. There would be no show without him.

Levi shrugs his shoulder and grabs some popcorn. "Looks like shit to me."

Nevertheless, he sits beside Hange, slings one arm around her while Hange lifts up the blanket high enough for both of them to snuggle underneath.

The show doesn't really interest him, really. It's Hange's reaction to it that does. Hange's eyes widen at every kick, every punch that Cardo lands at his enemies, eyebrows furrowed each time he narrowly escapes a blow.

"This guy," Hange explains, pointing her foot towards the face of Coco Martin on TV, "he used to have a twin brother who died so he avenged him and then Cardo, he's the main character, in case you haven't figured it out, gets involved with drugs and the police, but he's innocent and now he's on the run with his wife and a couple of military-people-turned-rebels---oh, shit, no!"

The main nemesis of the season shoots Cardo Dalisay right on the chest. The protagonist drops dead in the water, his body floating in the middle of the lake, and then it's a cliffhanger. Hange's face is in pure horror, like she hasn't expected this plot twist at all.

"Don't die. Survive!" Hange shouts with all the eagerness in her voice.

The popcorn merely falls out of Levi's mouth as he stares at Hange, dumbfounded. It's his motherfucking line.

"Don't tell me this is what you've been binge-watching lately. A dweeb can do better CGIs than this..." he gestures towards the screen, and thinks of the first word that comes to mind. "Shitshow."

Hange doesn't respond, but merely plays the next episode she has recorded.

Apparently, Cardo Dalisay has escaped death that time and is back for some action-packed scenes ("I knew it! Somebody found him and nursed him back to health!" Hange cheers). Little does Levi know, it's the first of many, the almost-but-not-quite "deaths." A hostage is now tied up high in the air, but Levi can still see the stupid green screen behind them like a badly photoshopped meme. Hange, however, is thoroughly engrossed.

All the death-defying scenes happen one after the other, and Levi is forced to watch, cringing. Well, because Hange would end up staying all night and wouldn't probably wake up to run some errands in the morning. He'd rather make sure she gets to bed by 1 am, at the very latest. The two of them are partners-in-crime in this household.

The next episode cuts to Cardo Dalisay hanging for dear life with one gun in hand while he's being rained down by bullets from above. Said enemies, trained assassins are they are, miss all their firing shots at him, and Cardo Dalisay miraculously escapes without a single scrape in his body.

"This doesn't make sense," he complains to Hange who's fanning herself from the adrenaline rush. Levi continues, "Nothing does in this show. Did the producers even study the laws of physics?"

Hange looks at him, curious.

"What?"

"Nothing."

She continues watching. The fact that she majored in Physics and aced all her classes in college baffles him all the more.

Cardo Dalisay dies the nth time by being shot (again). About time, Levi thinks. And then Cardo's wife Alyana wakes up with Cardo right beside her, completely unharmed. It had all been a dream.

"This guy seriously has one hell of a plot armor."

"I know! It's so cool, right?" Hange says, and he doesn't know if she's being ironic or not. "I've been so attached to his character, kinda reminds me of you."

"I can do so much better than him." He crosses his arms and slumps back into the couch. Levi has had enough of plot armors so thick nothing could penetrate the person.

"Maybe you can audition and then ask if you can replace his titular role," Hange teases him before putting all her attention to the ongoing episode. "Apparently, it's been running since 2015."

He counts the years with his fingers. "Shit, for real? It's fucking 2021."

The hours go by so slow, and Levi's back is already hurting from sitting on the couch this whole time. They're coming to the end of the last season, and he's trying his best to blink away the sleep from his eyes. He does wake up, though, when Cardo Dalisay gets repeatedly shot and stabbed by his archenemy in the most gruesome episode to date.

“No, not again. Please!” Hange shouts, fists clenching the blanket too tightly.

Please what? Please come back? Or please die this time?

Cardo Dalisay is vomitting blood on the floor and Hange is crying.

"Alright, that's it.” He stands up. “If this guy comes back alive in the next season, I'm---"

Hange grabs hold of his shirt and cries. Not a crybaby kind of cry. But a serious, I-swear-it-is-real kind of cry. Cardo Dalisay remains dead. Bad guy celebrates, laughing in triumph. The rest of the characters mourn. So does Hange. And Levi, tough guy as he is, doesn't have the heart to make fun of her when she cries.

"I can't, I can't," Hange sobs, as the ending credits roll. "I can't deal with deaths anymore."

"Oi, Hange. It's alright."

He looks at the clock and it's already past 1 am. After turning the TV off, he carries Hange to bed and tucks both of them in, wrapping his arms around her as they settle into sleep together.

Hange curls up closer to him and, being the longer-legged person between the two of them, hooks her leg on his thigh. "Levi..."

"Hm?" He cracks one eye open.

"I'm just glad you're still here."

He pulls her towards him, right where his heart is, and he's sure that Hange is listening to the thumping of his heartbeat. So much for heroes, he thinks. He's thankful enough he doesn't have to act like one to be one in Hange's eyes. He hopes the story doesn't end there.

A few episodes later, the scene zooms in to Cardo Dalisay on a hospital bed, severely injured but nevertheless, alive.

------------

(I hope you like this, Anon, 'cause I definitely enjoyed writing about your prompt)

[thanksjro]

The Transformers, Issues #1-21: A Recap, For Research and Reference  Purposes, Because Otherwise it’s Just Going to Be Confusing

Before we begin, here’s a lightning round style recap on the 21 issues that took place prior to Roberts’ involvement:

Three years after the events of All Hail Megatron, the Autobots are in hiding, trapped on Earth with limited supplies, watching on as humanity attempts to rebuild itself. They don’t offer to help, because that would probably get them shot at- humans are still a little wary of the giant robots that friggin’ destroyed NYC, even if the Autobots are supposed to be the good guys. Sometimes the narration gets a little funny with words.

I know it has multiple meanings, but come on, who talks like this? I’ve always assumed Optimus Prime was the one narrating here, which is… well, IDW Prime has a very self-flagellating and elegant way of speaking. For better or for worse. God help you if Furman is at the wheel.

Of course, because the story needs conflict, Skywatch happens. Skywatch is a human agency whose job is to locate and eliminate all giant space robot threats. Prowl blows cover when the humans make it obvious that the kid gloves are off, ready to kill a Decepticon named Breakdown, and all hell breaks loose, as it is wont to do whenever the Transformers are involved.

Also, everyone looked like this, and it was bad for my eyeballs:

That night-demon is Ironhide. Don’t get too attached to him, he won’t be around for long. But then maybe also do, because he comes back, thanks to the power of comic books and being a giant robot. Do whatever you want, I’m not your mom.

Ironhide’s death leads Optimus to remove himself as leader of the Autobots, and he surrenders himself to Skywatch, because he hasn’t made a heroic sacrifice in the last twenty minutes.

By way of yet more property damage.

Optimus doesn’t name a successor, because he no longer feel fit to choose one. It’s probably actually so there’s plot tension over who the next Prime will be.

Also, Spike Witwicky fucks. He fucks and it’s awful.

With Optimus gone, Hot Rod- Rodimus now, though it’s never established when he decided to change his name or why- gets the hell out of dodge, having had his fill of Earth, and he takes a few friends along with him. Or, at least, he tries to. Decepticons kind of ruin that plan… and then they don’t, because they want in on some of that sweet, sweet getting the hell off of Earth. After all, the war’s over- no point in fighting anymore, right? Of course, Swindle is a part of the group, so take whatever that guy says with a grain of salt. A big grain, like the ones that come out of those fancy sea salt grinders.

Back with the guys who’ve decided to stick around for Optimus’ inevitable return, Bumblebee’s been nominated as the new leader of the Autobots. So much for being the kid appeal character- boy’s got responsibilities now.

Right after democracy happens, Ultra Magnus shows up looking for the boss.

He’s here to look into Ironhide’s death and Optimus’ defection/surrender to the humans. Dude must have booked it to get here, because that was like yesterday.

Any and all interactions between Spike Witwicky and Optimus go pretty much like this:

More people leave Bumblebee’s leadership. Rodimus is hunted down by Ultra Magnus for treason. Swindle channels his inner bisexual and starts dishing out some sweet finger guns.

He has excellent form.

Skywatch uses tech to lock the Autobots into their alt-modes, and starts targeting the defectors, in an attempt to get Optimus to talk to them.

Thundercracker watched TV for a year and a half, then had a midlife crisis, and now he’s following Swindle. Swindle starts asking Rodimus for more troops- er, friends to help them get off of Earth faster, trying to butter him up by calling him Rodimus Prime. I’d love to be able to tell you how that makes him feel, but you try parsing this friggin’ facial expression.

Magnus shows up, tries to arrest everyone, then leaves. Thundercracker has an epiphany about the nature of beauty he’s found in humanity, his soliloquy contrasted with the visual of a baby with a man’s head, and it’s genuinely upsetting to see.

All the faction insignias are photoshopped on, and it’s kind of distracting.

Swindle betrays Rodimus. Quelle surprise. Menasor shows up, and starts throwing robots around. Optimus Prime is released from prison and gets in touch with his inner monster truck. Rodimus steals Magnus’ ship and peaces out.

Over in space, the Decepticon forces have resorted to cannibalism to supplement rations, and Starscream has the Matrix of Leadership on a necklace.

The art switches over to something sort of like Hellboy, and that’s pretty cool. Too bad it only lasts for a single issue.

Skywatch and the Autobots form a tentative alliance. Megatron isn’t actually dead. Two guys in Skywatch throw themselves through a plate glass window for funsies. Spike commits a robot revenge killing. North Korea starts producing energon, and is working with the Decepticons.

Comic books are wild, y’all.

Spike doesn’t respect Bumblebee’s authority, going completely around him to talk to Prime while he’s having some alone time. The US President addresses the public in front of a hyperrealistic American flag.

The Autobots go covert in order to violate the UN sanctions. All the Transformers have vanity plates with their names on them. The Combaticons have a picnic on the lawn and show off their polyglotism. Optimus Prime gets in touch with his inner monster truck. The Autobot Naval forces get involved.

Bumblebee uses his pretty eyes on Thundercracker to try and convince him to help out, seeing as the Autobots don’t have any real air support at present, but it doesn’t work.

They’re very pretty. Thundercracker must have an iron will. Everyone gets weirdly handsome. The phrase “honked off” is used. Optimus Prime gets in touch with his inner monster truck.

I’m like 80% sure that license plate isn’t legal.

China gets involved, and it gets a little weird. Nuclear action is taken.

Cosmos will not be getting a lot more respect around here.

Thundercracker commits acts of terror to destroy the energon plants. Bumblebee addresses the rioting masses, and gets shot with a laser gun for his troubles.

Rodimus makes a pun and gets shot out of the sky. He survives by pulling a Indiana Jones fridge maneuver.

Starscream is turning into Gollum. The Cerebroshells are used with great flourish by Rodimus, who then holds Starscream at gunpoint. He shoots the Matrix.

Wow.

Rodimus attempts to sneak off of the asteroid, only to run into a rebuilt Megatron. Megatron proceeds to shoot him so hard in the chest he’s rocketed into orbit and is missing most of his torso.

The Don Figueroa cover of issue #14 seems to suggest that shooting Optimus Prime in the crotch is a valid plan of attack.

The gun Bumblebee was shot with looks an awful lot like Megatron’s alt-mode. Optimus isn’t mad, just disappointed. Ultra Magnus rejoins the narrative. Not a single human being in the military has a haircut that would pass regulation. The anti-robot cult is introduced. A sign that says “Fuck Robits” is seen in a protest. Soundwave shows up with his awful gremlin children and busts all the captured Decepticons out.

This guy needs to learn to double-knot his laces.

Megatron takes a little vacation in South America.

The gunman who shot Bumblebee was hearing voices from his electronics.

Megatron now comes in grape flavor and the Decepticons have a space bridge.

Megatron has a phone in his hand, and it’s very silly looking. As in, he makes a phone shape with his hand and that just works. I can’t take him seriously. The Megatron guns are actually part of Megatron, and were used to make the gunman shoot Bumblebee. Speaking of Bumblebee, he’s got one doctor keeping him alive at present, and it ain’t Ratchet. It’s some little old man.

Thundercracker comes home to find Starscream has broken in. Starscream has the Decepticon insignia on eight different parts of his body, including the crotchal region.

They show a woman get crushed to death on the news.

Brawn is given a solo mission, finds Starscream, and kicks his ass.

Megatron shows up on Earth. Ultra Magnus transforms to confront him, but he was carrying Bumblebee in his alt-mode and I’m not sure where he went when that happened. Megatron and Magnus have a little banter, then Megatron is shot, where it’s revealed that he’s actually running around in leather chaps and hot pants.

What a fashion icon.

Optimus and his team emerge from the depths of the ocean, having had their plane crash about three issues back. Everyone looks very put-out by the situation.

Brawn helps Thundercracker get to the doctor’s office.

Optimus Prime and Megatron finally have their little reunion. Turns out Megatron dumped all the Autobots with Ultra Magnus inside the city limits, where a bunch of hooligans with Megatron guns live. No word as to where Bumblebee went when Magnus transformed, but he’s here now. Jazz takes Spike and his coworker to save the day.

Megatron is having a moment.

Optimus fucking shoots Soundwave in the face, thus making himself just as bad as Megatron…? Not really how war works, but okay! Crisis averted.

Just kidding, because Jazz shoots a cop so hard he vaporizes. Good work, buddy.

Optimus goes on a solo mission to go kick Megatron’s ass, and jumps out of a plane, punching through the Decepticon’s ceiling. Megatron invites everyone to come out and watch him and Optimus beat the shit out of each other. Cosmos and Jetfire throw a satellite at Megatron from orbit.

An excellent question.

Megatron brings Optimus over to Omega Supreme’s digs and surrenders himself, then is promptly placed in the full-body harness. It’s… it’s something. Megatron reveals that it was Spike who murdered Scrapper the Constructicon like fourteen issues ago. Optimus is all “no waaaay, he’d never do that, I’d trust Spike with my life and also my wallet.”

Optimus immediately puts Prowl on the case though.

Rodimus falls down onto a planet, the Matrix having superglued itself to his chest to keep him from bleeding out. He looked pretty dead the last time we saw him, but he’s doing loads better now. He’s captured and made to be the power source of a large ship, so those who inhabit said ship can get off of the doomed planet they’ve been trapped on for ages. Rodimus ain’t cool with that, so he blows up his restraints with his flame-out ability and runs off. He hides in a cave, only to be attacked by a massive monster. Don’t worry though, because he’s saved by the mysterious Jangle Man.

The Jangle Man is Wheelie, who’s gone full Castaway.

Rodimus gets patched up and then watches Wheelie get high off music.

One of the lackys that brought Rodimus aboard the first ship shows up and attacks, only to be subdued and immediately spills all the beans he has. Rodimus channels his inner anime character.

Rodimus cooks up a plan to get everyone home, and it involves trickery, lies, and the power of music to tame the savage beast. He straps his chest into the power cables and, with only an addled Wheelie to watch over him, does the thing.

Rodimus wakes up to the Matrix having been removed from his chest. Problem: Wheelie piloted them to Cybertron, which is currently a gigantic, uninhabitable mess at the moment. Rodimus tries to get them pointed in the direction of Earth, but that doesn’t work out so hot.

Someone breaks into the ship. It’s Ironhide and Sunstreaker. Rodimus declares himself dead. He’s not, but he might end up that way if he lets the scout that just saw them loitering around outside the ship get back to his boss.

Galvatron comes into the picture, and Rodimus books it. They use their rations- because energon is blood, food, fuel, get well soon card, birthday present, and everything else for the Cybertronians- to power the ship and head back to Earth.

Speaking of Earth, Bumblebee’s not dead. He’s got a cane now. Rodimus shows up, gets some weird Bible-like captioning, and Bumblebee about has a conniption over the Matrix. Rodimus is all ‘whatever, little yellow dude’, and so is everyone else, as Rodders goes up to Optimus, hands him the Matrix, and then is officially named Rodimus by the space pope.

Optimus decides he needs to go to Cybertron to kick Galvatron’s ass, and invites anyone who wants to come with.

Bumblebee’s mad that no one’s listening to him anymore, not that they were really doing that anyway.

Optimus and his team fuck off into space, beginning their journey back to Cybertron.

Prowl gets a few minutes alone with Megatron prior to that, though. He’s well on his way to cracking the case of Scrapper’s murder.

Thundercracker fucks off into the sky, surely heading back to his bachelor pad to catch up on his stories.

And THAT, dear children, is the entirety of The Transformers, up to issue #22. We’re all caught up and ready for what’s to come. 

[jjkfire]

update 4/27/21:

I'm working at a startup so it's extremely busy. but I love my job! i am trying to find the time to fit writing in my schedule tho. gonna figure it out someday lol. my stories are not abandoned, don't worry. all the endings and plot points have been planned. i'm just struggling to find the time to write atm. still very grateful for all the kind words and support you guys have given me over the years. hope all of you are out there living your best lives, exploring, learning, and finding joy in all the little things 😊 join my tag list (read the instructions pls) to get notified when I update my fics!

//

previous big update:

hello! i know i’ve been sort of mia but… it’s been an absolutely chaotic time for me. 

the (long) story goes a little something like this:

earlier this year during spring break, i had friends who convinced me to give america a shot and apply for jobs after grad. i really didn’t want to because the visa process is a pain and it costs a lot. also, not a lot of companies want to hire internationals so it’s very demoralizing to receive a million rejections… but my friends are very persuasive people lol. 

so it was super hectic during the last few months I had in the country as i tried to get through the visa process, study, work, beef up my resume, apply for jobs and graduate at the same time. (i understand that a ton of people have to do this too… but it’s hard y’all). anyway, one Medium article, one cold email, and a number of grueling interviews later, i found out i got a job!

now i just had to convince my parents… this was actually in all honesty, the most stressful part. i love them to death but my father really made it feel like i was choosing between my family and a job and ngl i cried myself to sleep on the regular. in the end, he finally gave me the okay to take the job but i know he’s still very upset. that’s honest to god the worst part. (my mum’s been super supportive tho so i guess that’s the silver lining in all of this!)

prior to getting the job though, I was really in limbo. I had returned to my home country because I and by extension, my parents, were not confident that i was going to be able to land a job in the US. I was very confused because I was neither here nor there. I was interviewing with the american company from my home country, trying my best to make sure they’d still be interested in me as a candidate no matter how many hurdles there were. then, to ensure that I had a safety net, I was also doing interviews locally and sending out resumes whenever I could. I was exhausted. and I know everyone goes through the job hunt so it’s equally as exhausting for everyone but yeah it was not a fun time.

anyway so now that I took that job in america i gotta move halfway across the world again, but this time without financial support and i don’t know… maybe this is the first time i’ll be truly independent and ya im seconds away from shittin myself. really gotta put on my big girl pants and try to not be broke yeet yeet.

but uhh that’s the low down on why i haven’t been able to write much at all…….. and yeah! working on it tho… haha always working on it.

to end all of this, I just want to say that I’m super lucky to have all of you. I basically got the job because of that article I wrote. I know I sound like a broken record talking about my article over and over but I dunno I guess all of this is just a little wild to me ahah.

I owe a lot of my confidence in my writing to all of you. I personally think my writing improved bc of this blog and the support you guys give me is… unreal (“: I know it may seem insignificant to some of you to reblog/like and comment on a fic but it really spurs me creatively and makes me feel sort of confident about my writing. all of that is probably why I didn’t think twice about hitting that post button on my article. although it’s a very different type of writing… I don’t know it’s just knowing that my writing is worth something… knowing that my writing is worth taking 5 minutes out of your day to read, is pretty cool and you guys kind of gave me that! (i am in no way saying that my writing is the best thing on earth. far from it. but i think you guys understand what i’m trying to say!)

so in some way, you guys helped me get a job! nice work team hahahah. also, also i just want to say, never give up. I decided I wanted to try my luck at the American job market maybe around the end of March and graduation was in early May. so I had about more or less a month to do something. I knew I needed a way to set myself apart from everyone else because my gpa wasn’t stellar and I hadn’t had any internships in America. not to mention the fact that I was an international student hence it was even harder to get hired. so basically, why would a company pick me over the next person? I thought perhaps knowing how to code was the way to give myself an edge so I learned some basic python and sql but then I realized there wasn’t really an impressive project I could attempt within that short time frame and I also knew far too little to do anything anyway. this meant that I was back at square one.

so, I switched gears instead. I sat down and really thought about what I could do. I concluded that at the very least, I could write. I knew I could write so I needed something that I could use along with my writing and I was like… it’s gotta be data! knowing that, I picked up the basics on how to use Tableau and I also picked up VBA macros in excel (if you don’t know what this is… I think you should Google it. it will literally blow your mind. excel can do a lot more than you can imagine). Then, I picked what I wanted to write my article on, got the data I needed from google trends, used vba macros to make the calculations faster, used tableau to make charts based on the data and photoshop to spice up the charts and etc. I did my research in the meantime as well and had a rough plan on what I was going to write about. after this, it was all systems go and it went a little like this:

wrote the article. attached my charts. linked the links. hit that post button. applied to all the jobs & companies that I thought would see value in what I did and can do. got rejected many times. felt discouraged. did more searching on companies that were willing to hire internationals. decided to send a cold email to a company. ACTUALLY HEARD BACK. went through multiple interviews. ACTUALLY GOT THE JOB.

so guys, never give up. recognize your strengths and build around that. if you think you don’t have any strengths, look harder. if you still feel you don’t have any, make the effort to learn something. it’s never too late for anything. I did all of that in one month and 10 days (the learning stuff and writing the article thing I mean). always be open to learning. I say this so much irl that my friends are sick of it but in this day and age with the internet, you can literally learn anything. so please, learn. learn for fun, learn for whatever reason. learn anything. you’ll never know when it’ll come in handy. like my basic Photoshop that I learned just so I could make a header for my blog… literally used that skill for the graphics in my article lol.

anyway, you can achieve a lot more than you think you can. you just gotta throw caution to the wind and do your own thing. be determined, be proactive. if things aren’t going the way you think it should be, do something to change that. you are all amazing and capable of great things! I hope you all know that. my mum always said if you never try, you’ll never know. don’t be afraid, don’t stop to think about what other people will think of you. keep doing you. people doubt you enough so don’t add to that. keep your head held high and keep moving forward.

once again I want to thank you guys for being sort of a support system for me! every comment, nice ask and sweet message has brought me this far. i really mean it (’: always be nice and supportive my sweet dumplings. your words truly have impact!

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

Mon 25 Mar

Well here we are, March 25, a cursed anniversary to be sure, but there's no time to dwell- the boys are here to distract us with content content content!

The House of Solo featuring Louis is out and the pictures are breathtaking, true model Louis realness. I could gush but I'm kind of speechless- I'll just say that a content maker got an anon giving them shit for photoshopping Louis' eyes in the new interview footage (see below) today and had to be like but I didn't! They really just LOOK LIKE THAT! Well that's the photoshoot in a nutshell like damn, you're telling me he just LOOKS LIKE THAT? Sounds fake... The interview feels dated now of course, everything does, but it's a good interview with lots of interesting music talk. He says he can't imagine being onstage in five years without a guitar in hand, that that's a priority, holy crap yes bring it on! He talks about how he and Liam wrote together for 1D and had an established sound that felt easy and the challenges of making the shift to figuring out his solo style on his own, which feels like an echo of what Liam said yesterday about how it's been for him. It's interesting to think about the ways it may be harder to go solo for them than for the other three after having such a solid songwriting rhythm and routine together and how that might play into the delays of their albums.

A Louis interview recorded back at the beginning of the month also dropped today, and it looks like there's another one coming Fri- are they just dropping the stuff they had on deck or getting ready to get back into more active promo activities? We'll see, but it makes it seem likely that the Two Of Us video will come out as planned very soon. Today (Jay's birthday) had been speculated as a possible video release date and clearly that didn't happen, but some other time before the end of the month could still be on the table. MTV is playing the lyric video, and I absolutely love that one but that does make it seem like they might wanna get with releasing the real thing.

Niall answered questions on his ig story but then decided to go all out and switched over to livestream, for over an hour! I saw so few quotes from it that I figured it was just being underreported on so I put the video on while I wrote this and uh no, he's actually just hanging out noodling around on instruments or reading comments pretty much, so if you mostly just wanna see his face and new haircut and hear two second snippets of various songs, this is the video for you. Niall on the questions people ask- "come on people, get your shit together!" Lol, but he's not wrong, he isn't given much to work with. He says the Robbie Williams collab was pretty much a made up story, though the best part of that explanation is that he was apparently sitting around watching Robbie's livestream and commenting on it, that he isn't recognized in the street as much these days and has more freedom to be out and about, and that modeling is just a natural part of his life now, well wbk that. Shawn promptly and enthusiastically named Niall when asked the other day who he'd most like to write music with but Niall answers the same question with Stevie Nicks, ouch, sorry Shawnie :'(

Zayn continues to do damage control on twitter, throwing out some goofy answers to random questions (what is it with these dudes having broken phone screens like really? Is it because they're rich so they don't bother with phone cases? I have a lot of questions) and posting a zelfie with some truly great hair.

Liam was papped arriving back at Heathrow, as is his way, and the tabloids report both that he and Naomi Campbell will be announcing their relationship when he serenades her at her birthday party soon and that that definitely won't be happening, so one of them will be correct I guess. I know where I'm placing my bets but I'm ready to eat my hat at the spectacle of Liam performing a new song he wrote for his beloved Naomi, sure, blow my mind.

[faakeid]

About k*i and j*en*ie news

Honestly, I didn’t expect to write something like this today. For real. It’s the first day of the year and I personally have other projects to concentrate. But here I am. And I know some people know this blog to exploring kd dynamics and when that mess happened in 2016, this otp especifically was mentioned a lot. But, at least for now, the impressions related with jgin and jnne won’t involve kd. Actually, it will be more a collection of thoughts about k*i persona and how his “romantic affairs” publicized can fit an agenda. Before starting, I just wanted to say that I’m surprised (positively) by the fact that people aren’t freaking out about it like happened with kxk. Back then it was a huge mess, but now even outsiders see it with some doubt. Somehow, people are opening their eyes and it’s really good, so congratulations!

Okay, so, talking about k*i persona. I think I mentioned this many times before, but k*i is and always was a character. Since the beginning S*M gave him this role of being the “sexy dancer”, seductive and womanizer. It’s obvious when you watch Wolf’s drama, for example and a live performance of them of the same song.

This intro has a huge meaning pointing towards what i’m talking about. The other members are close with the girl, but he’s the only one who can have some sort of approach with the girl.

Never forget Choco Bank, the webdrama that showed the most lover boy side of him

The problem is that the face behind k*i, jgin, never fit this description. In interviews, variety shows and other appearances, he never showed himself as the kind of guy the agency was pushing him to be. He was quiet, even shy, wasn’t comfortable with people he wasn’t close to and he expressed it really well (but he always showed how much he cherish someone he loves), talked about subjects like books, favorite movies, life philosophy, motivation... In other words, he had K*i’s face, but inside he expressed himself as jngin.

Things were normal until kxk news blow up back in April 2016. The chaos was made by then with the pictures, the photoshopped pics of them kissing, the date Dispatch chose to reveal the news (doing it on April’s Fool doesn’t help the news crediblity, I’m sorry), the fake receipt of a bought condom and so on. That and other factors were more than enough to bring him down. It was visible his distraught in many occasions and how it affected him (even in terms of projects). So, it’s obvious to conclude how that year was bad for him.

In 2017, things started to change for him. In june of that year the couple was reported to have broken up. Around the time, his media appearance got bigger and bigger. He had roles in dramas and covering The Big Issue magazine (which sold 80.000 copies, proving his popularity was getting stronger). 

In June 2018 he got strong on Instagram activities and had the opportunity of showing different sides of himself there (and a lot of other projects as being on another magazines, going to “Gucci Cruise 2019 Fashion Show” (and getting huge attention) and the list goes on.

Of course it’s good to see him getting the attention and recognition he deserves as an artist and dancer. But with all this activities, it’s easy to see that k*i’s persona blent better throught time. And with all this focus on his past “public relationship”, roles he gets, it’s easier to visualize him as the person he was projected to be from the start.

And now we go back to where we started: k*i and jnne dating scandal. 

This time, Dispatch didn’t commit the same mistakes she did with kxk. And at least ex0 doesnt have activites like they had right after the news blowed up (Lotte, jgin crying, never forget). SM waited a little longer to confirm (while YG was super wtf with all of it, as usual). Is there chances to see their rs as real? Only time will tell. But the point here is that SM always benefits from k*i “indiscretions” (if it wasn’t the case, they wouldn’t be willing to confirm everything). Dispatch too, considering that their goal is to spread news and make people interested in it. 

While readin The Korea Herald’s article about the subject, they posted a fan comment that was amusing to me. In the comment the fan said:  “If the rumor is true, be happy with each other.”. But why say that if the company confirmed it? And in a comment made in Allkpop website, the person talked about the affair and said at the end “unless SM wants to distract y’all from something happening in EXO again, hence the dating ‘scandal’”. It’s not the first time this tatic was used.

So, like someone asked: why is always jgin the one who’s caught up on rs scandals? Because it fits his image. Every group has someone with a specific role: the funny one, the quiet one, the sexy and so on. K*i’s actions just matches the role that was given to him from the start (if it wasn’t the case it wouldn’t have anything talking kxk dating back in 2012). When someone does an action that goes distant from the image they want to show, it’s where the blacklash happens (Sun*min getting married, Hy*na rs and so on). For k*i, a guy like him, he just need to see him dating. So he appears more easily than other members that can be also dating.

I hope this text could explain my opinion and show my pov well. Like I said, I wouldn’t mention kd here because it’s not necessary, for now. Considering what happened in 2016, things can be a little awkward for jgin, but he will get better stronger than ever in a few months. And, again, if this couple is not a stunt, don’t worry. Time will tell.

[highkingfen]

I think you're a beautiful person, and I hope things get better for you. How about we talk about some positive parts of the show! I love how many different personalities there are, there's no "copy and paste" among the characters. I love how everyone is so complex and unique. In last night's episode, I loved how Margo was given permission to have feelings other than anger. I love how Fen is allowed to be kind and soft, and is a strong character. What are your favourite parts?

Thanks, 

IRL had been hitting me down with a frying pan lately and getting up is hard. Im working out really hard on being better and I wished it didn't show on Tumblr but there is a time where you need to think and take care of yourself first. 

There is a lot of things i love about the show and I will do a list of it, I hope other add to it and we remember why this show is important and matter, despite its flaws. 

How women are not a plot devise for male characters

How even background character have multidimensional 

How they show disability with Margo’s eye and the dean blindness (though I wish we’d see Gretchen more)

The costume goes from found at H&M to hand made craftmanship by Magali Guidasci

The many bts and interaction the cast and writers have with their fans, they are not distant and its rare, lets remember this is a blessing

How no character is perfect, they have deep visceral flaws, they make mistake, they do dumb shit, and we still love them. 

The legendary quotes they gave us

How being a nerd and accepted is part of the show but not the main focus; Q is a nerd but so much more and the show isn't about how to fit in like a nerd but how to fit in and stay yourself. 

Hale amazing performance as the monster to a point I don’t see him as Eliot anymore. Which is creepy and crazy. 

Julia’s arc blooming into ‘’ People heals’’ and how important it is for many who had her fate or worse

Mental health representation! From depression to anxiety, to ptsd, to dependence, to anger management to actual meltdown of grief

The empowerment of women by women. It is amazing to see them helping each other and not just walking on one another 

How one emotion is portrait differently. (Per example how Q and Margo grieve Eliot is completely different)

BUNNIES

Kady was supposed to die and they love Jade so much they re-wrote the end of episode one

Summer refused to wear make up in her desert episode because Margo isn't that vain. 

The small things an actor decide to do that end up being a character important choice (I.e Jason shaking his hand when he’s Q but not Beast!Q)

The fact that Julia still struggles with the idea of being a goddess or a mortal and try her best to make a choice and don’t know what to do. If this isn’t a big mood for any important decision a millennial struggle with, I don’t know what is. 

Its filmed in Canada, which YAY my country

The sheer amount of Fanfiction there is and how omg they are so good y’all are good writers

The cast and crew understanding how much the show means for us and trying to give us a space to talk and even sharing bts with us!

Im sorry but Fish Josh? Yes

Musical episode. Fuck I love them. 

Margo realizing that she can still be a tough woman and be in love is important because the narrative in media is that either you are a bitch and alone or sweet and surrounded by people that use you. Women never wins. 

The fandom growing love for Fen warms my heart as I was the only one defending her for almost a year once. 

How we can ship everyone with everyone and no one is mad. You ship penny x josh? Why not! There is 39 other timeline one might have that!

Or, you ship a character with two people... OT3 BABY

It went from Harry Potter with drug and alcohol to Millenial try to fight gods and inner demons 

There are no fight books against the show, people take them as a separate piece of art and SCREAM when they both collide in amazingness (Aka the desert episode, Q yelling at a plant, the seven key, Abigail)  

Lev being supportive of the creator exploring and expanding the worlds! I adore the library, Fillorian lore, what is magic outside of Brakebills

Seeing the character being a young adult and growing int being adult

Also what I love about the show is the fandom

You guys not only helped me out of my depression (though it has a relapse for the past week) but you encourage me to be me. 

You supported my crazy idea of starting the Neitherlands library with @noe-gg as a place for pieces of information about the show and we are proud of this blog

You backed my crazy plan of a dnd book and the Kickstarter is over 500% financed, which blows my mind and will help me be able to take of work and sit down and write to give you better stuff

I wrote nearly 300k fanfic in a second language and instead of being mean to my mistake, you helped me, offered your advice and helped me grew as a writer

I was with a group of friend in High School that was super good at drawing so I wasn't allowed to try even if I wasn't that good. You supported me even when my first doodles are shaky and still makes me want to be better by your comments

There is no artist battle, we all help and support each other!

I fucking learn photoshop cause I wanted to gif the show and people came and help me be better

The gatekeeping is about being kind and open and not a shipping war or character war. 

Physical Kids podcast is a must listen and truly amazing work by fans for fans

Hey the podcast I made too are not half bad 

COSPLAYERS. YES. KEEP GOING. 

People out of the US without Syfy helping each other to watch the show live.

There is no popular blog vs the others. (Not that I know of)

Blogs encouraging other blogs to create. YES. 

We are all broken, but broken together. This fandom is my Brakebills, my physical kids cottage. One of the rare place I felt I belong for the first time

[oveliagirlhaditright]

For RokuShi Day: An odd crossover with I am Number Four. After KHIII.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Xion snapped a picture of a pretty blonde girl with her camera... ironically right when that child had been trying to do the same thing, so Xion got a photo of the gal just when she’d been trying to take one herself. But Xion went along with the oddity all the same, thinking that the yearbook staff might like the originality of it. ...Sarah Hart looked a lot like Roxas. And since Xion's boyfriend, Roxas, was the most popular boy in school, Xion thought that everyone would have to love this picturesque moment of Sarah for that, if nothing else. ...There was even a part of Xion that thought about firing up Photoshop on her phone and editing one of her images of Roxas with one of Sarah, so that way she'd win the best taken yearbook capture that way, but she didn't. Why? Because as Xion walked towards where Roxas was in the hall now, and linked her arm with his, she couldn't help but to get her attention on something else Sarah related—as that girl got up from where she’d been sitting on the floor, and went to talk with John Smith in angry, hushed tones: "You ever think that John and Sarah are in the mafia together, or something?" Xion ventured, just when said person yanked open a closet door and peered into it, as if she was begging for it to be a secret passage. Roxas just shrugged, and turned to Xion with a smile at her query. "They seem no worse than us, when we were talking about Subject X and all. And clearly we're the good guys."

And not being able to argue that, Xion decided to just put it all behind them… and to go find a closet to go makeout in themselves. Extra curriculars were overrated, anyway.

…

Honestly? Xion and Roxas didn’t give much thought to John and Sarah after seeing them in the hall, though when they were both watching the news that night—and seeing how everything was going to hell in a handbasket at their school—they’d realize they should have.

On the screen, Xion saw these… monsters—she didn’t know how else to put it: they looked like how she would imagine Davy Jones might, if he had demon dogs at his side—had broken into their school, and had leveled most of it… and had killed a few of the students who’d been in their after-hours.

And the two Nobodies had actually been there after hours themselves, but they’d apparently left before all of this had started…

If only- if only they hadn’t done that—Xion now thought sadly, as her hands shook before her at this revelation… They could have saved some of their friends, if only they’d cared about photography club.

But: it didn’t seem like it was too late to save John and Sarah, who Xion was fairly certain were still safe at the school.

Call her crazy… but she thought those two had known what was going to happen before it did.

And that earlier, they’d caught Sarah and John looking for cover in case these—whatever they were—found them: which they had.

The media, as Xion listened in—putting some of her thoughts behind her—was saying that John was wanted, for suspicion with all of this.

But even with the little Xion knew of him, she knew that he wasn’t responsible.

He was connected to it—probably the target—but not the master manipulator:

After all, the press always lied: Xion, Roxas, Lea, and Isa had been the first to learn that on some of their missions in Twilight Town lately.

“I know you guys see what’s goin’ on there… But I dunno if you should get involved. Looks like a massacre… like what Sora saw of Insomnia, that time,” Lea said, being the rational voice of legal guardian right now… Even if he was being a bit of a hypocrite, since he clearly did want to get down there himself: Lea had become altruistic. And perhaps this was most seen, in how he’d been the only one of them to still be willing to call on his Keyblade after the War.

But Roxas—clearly still having some Boy Scout in himself, Xion concluded—argued: “Then that’s even more reason like me should be one of the first responders!” And he slammed his hands down on their blue and white kitchen table as he did so, nearly splitting it in two.

Xion, being Roxas’ other, knew what he was getting at. How could she not? Roxas, more than anyone, could almost become invincible when he was fighting… which was exactly what Twilight High needed right now.

But since Lea had nearly lost them both forever, Xion got why he was so reluctant for them to be reckless.

And if she was a better person, she may have been in shock for the kind heart that Lea had… but she wasn’t. But her heart did end up freezing another way.

Snow, of all things—a rare commodity in Twilight Town—began blowing through a window in the kitchen that the family had left cracked, and it bathed the room in a sort of peace that no one in it would know for a while: Least of all Isa.

But Xion—and everyone—was oblivious to that fact now. So instead of dwelling on it, she dug out a lucky charm that Kairi had made her and examined it thoughtfully.

“Lea,” Xion whispered now, in much the tone she had, when trying to convince Roxas he should forgive him for manhandling her. “You know it’s the right thing to do. And that’s what we do, isn’t it? So why don’t we all go? You and Isa can watch over us, that way. And perhaps be a mentor to these other young kids, like you were us… And if anything should happen, our wayfinders will always push us back together again. You know they will.”

And Lea and Isa—seeming not being able to argue with this logic—both took one of Xion’s hands at these words, as they made a sort of group circle and closed their eyes: taking in this moment, that wasn’t truly a goodbye (and hopefully it never would be)… but also sort of was.

And Roxas? What did he do? He just slipped behind Xion, and took the lucky charm out of her hand and held onto it himself.

As he did, he held Xion’s gaze in a long glance that she couldn’t look away from: this between them said everything, after all.

But while Xion thought it was that right he did this—because they really were the Sora and Kairi to each other, weren’t they? And this had always served those two well—she also found herself hoping against hope, that they wouldn’t have the same sort of fate as those wielders had had before the Master of Masters had intervened in their lives.

…

The trip to Twilight High, was—in some ways—more eventful than what they encountered when they actually got there.

Lea, Isa, and Roxas had all finally admitted that using Corridors of Darkness were too risky, so they’d had to use a different means of transportation:

So, Isa had long ago bought them a green jeep to get around in… And they used it now: going over awkward cobble stone here, glass there, and nearly bits of gate that were falling their way as they continued forward.

…And it was about at that time that Xion decided to get out of the vehicle, while it was still moving, and to jump out in front of it—knowing that Isa would stop in time—so he didn’t destroy his tires by continuing.

It was very much… the direct approach, Xion knew—somewhat embarrassed—but it was either that, or have Isa risk going over that steel and through a fence that would pierce all of their torsos if they continued.

“Xion!” Lea roared, getting out himself now—but after Isa had stopped, unlike what Xion had done—and grabbing her by her collar as he shook her in his blind panic. “What was that?! Do you know you could have gotten yourself killed?! Do you know that-”

But Xion never got to figure out what she needed to know in Lea’s mind, because the family fell silent when they saw Roxas climbing up the fence and going over to the football field a few yards away from them… Where two kids were fighting a demonic entity, that reminded Xion very much of Cerberus?!

“We’ve got to go help Roxas now!” Isa bellowed: somehow saying even that gracefully, but then losing all grace as he tried to speed over to his son.

And Xion understood the urgency, since outside of Twilight Town… Roxas hadn’t fought as many big enemies like this as Sora had.

So, Isa did one of his “Moon, Shine Down!” attacks—while Roxas was running the monster’s way, with Kingdom Key in hand—before Rox could get to it.

And just like that, the moon beam Isa had used—mixed with some fire John, and some brunette girl had been able to create—destroyed the… thing, and made it disappear. All that was left afterwards, was smoldering grass and bleachers.

And naturally, John—for Xion, now that she was closer, could tell that it was him—and the girl thought that Roxas and the rest of them were their enemies, too:

John’s hands up, and the woman looked like she was about to try and get in a fist fight with them, too.

And as much as this sucked—because Xion didn’t want to fight—she found she couldn’t blame them? Who purposely ran into danger like they just had, after all?

And deeming that a fist fight wasn’t good enough in her books, the girl suddenly looked up to the sky—as if asking Zeus himself to strike down anyone who might try and harm her.

And it was at that point that Xion decided that she finally had to act.

“Uhh… let’s not,” she asserted—summoning her Keyblade to hand, but making sure to hold it just to her side, so these new friends wouldn’t think she was a threat. “Lightning won’t go hand-in-hand with this metal I have here.

“Anyway, John… What’s going on? I’m asking for Roxas, not myself.”

…Which was a complete lie coming from Xion, of course, but since Roxas was so popular, she thought that if any of them was capable of getting these people to trust them… that, well, it’d be Roxas.

And sure enough, Xion’s idea seemed to do the trick. And she tried her best not to be jealous of this… but the friendship between boys never ceased to amaze her.

“Roxas,” John said, getting up from his knees and shaking the hand of Xion’s love. “I don’t- I don’t want to impose. But seeing what you can do in gym class- We could really use your help! I just lost my- my dad, and-”

And this was another place where she had to try and not be envious… because what if John liked Roxas in the love sense? …Or what if Roxas liked him?

If that was the case, she knew she’d just have to trust them both—since she herself was in love with Roxas… but thought there was something about Sarah.

But more than this inane relationship drama—that Xion tried to tell herself she shouldn’t even be feeling, since she’d been in the Organization—was the intense sympathy Xion felt for John, as he tried his best not to lose it after this death: Xion remembered all too well, what it had been like to see Axel die through Sora’s eyes… And she wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

“John,” the mysterious brunette girl said, as she came forward and put a gentle hand on his shoulder—surprising Xion, because she hadn’t thought this type of woman could be capable of it. “The battle- believe it or not, it’s over. We don’t need spiky’s help to fight anymore. We don’t need anyone’s. And if you want to bury Henri…” “Which we will,” Isa piped up nearly simultaneously with Brunette’s words: in a show of kindness from him—Xion knew it—but she couldn’t help fearing he was only doing so, because he regretted how he hadn’t offered to help bury her, if need be, when she had fainted before her on a mission in Twilight Town, and then during it.

But Roxas seemed to snort at both ideas, as he reprimanded the brunette, “You don’t seem the type who would slow down for anything. And take it from someone who forgot what it was like to stop and smell the roses: that’s not a way to live your life. Whoever this guy is, you should- should bury him… But I do get the concept of not having enough time… So, I’ll help you guys move on without doing that, but only after saying that piece.”

Xion didn’t often hear Roxas make speeches like Sora did, but when he did do it, they always mattered.

And to Xion—and Lea and Isa, too—this was one of the most important ones he’d done, that showed just how far he’d come.

And when he was done speaking, the wind picked up to put some of the fires out… and dawn began to break.

And perhaps for that fact more than anything else, Xion, Lea, Isa, John, the girl, and some new people now joining them—including Sarah----paid rapt attention to him.

That girl—who Xion would soon come to learn was named “Six”—looked like she wanted to say something to Roxas’ schooling: probably that they again didn’t need any aid—but in realizing how she’d just prove Roxas’ point about not smelling the roses if she did, she kept her mouth shut.

And wordlessly, John—being the unspoken leader for the moment, as he perhaps got the most out of the two points—began leading everyone away, to escape.

…

The group eventually stopped on a grassy hill, that turned into a cemetery: the outskirts of Twilight Town.

Xion had actually seen these pastures from afar many a time, while going all over Twilight Town—one perhaps could see them best from Sunset Hill or the Station—but she’d yet to actually step foot on one… until now.

“So, let me get this straight,” Lea was the one to try and summarize now, as he put his hands on his hips and shook his head in a very exasperated tone.

And despite everything—despite the life and death situation they had just been in, and still might be in the future—Xion couldn’t help giggling at it, thinking that if anyone was a character enough to repeat these important points without being boring about it… it was Lea.

“You all… two of you, at least, are aliens in a war against other ones? Bad ones. And you came to Twilight Town as infants to escape them… but now they’ve followed you here and want to destroy all of Twilight Town and other planets? Oy! And here I thought we were done with the worlds saving stuff!”

“’World saving’?” Sarah asked in a questioning manner, with her head tilted to the side and her hands fidgeting with her camera.

Xion guessed that she was just dying to try and capture a shot, to settle her nerves and nothing more but wouldn’t dare do it.

“Yes… ‘world saving’ you could call us aliens, too—for in a sense, we are—but more than anything… we’re sort of created, or recreated, beings… Since you’re telling us yours, I think it’s only fair we tell you ours,” Xion sputtered as fast as she could, before anyone could get on her about the World Order!

But in her mind, if these guys were from another planet, they already knew about different worlds. So why even bother with it?!

After her spiel, Xion thought for sure John would be the first to ask for their help in so many words—since he’d been the most responsive to them before—but instead, it was Sarah: Walking over to Xion with a certain poise, that made her instantly have to try and stamp down her crush on her.

…But there was a part of Xion that had had feelings for Kairi because of Sora, and she felt that part of herself awakening now.

“Will you help us, then?” Sarah begged, an urgency in her eyes that the self-confessed aliens didn’t have… probably because they were used to all this trauma and had learned how to deal with it, but Sarah hadn’t.

…And since Sarah was reminding Xion so much of Kairi now, she knew what was probably going to happen now given Kairi’s track record.

And sure enough, John, and Six were now insisting that Sarah couldn’t come with them: that none of the humans could, for that matter.

Sarah was refusing this, because naturally she was, but yet… she was also soon relenting, via a tender moment she was now having with John, where they stood close together… his hand on her cheek and then running through her hair, as they whispered and nearly kissed.

Xion felt tears dotting her eyes at this, because it somehow spoke too much of false words and gestures: Xion tricking Roxas into assisting with her suicide, and her then having to say goodbye to him… and then assure him him they’d see each other again, when she didn’t know if that was the case and her heart broke.

Roxas—seeming to sense the near panic Xion was having, as she was transported back into the past—ran over to her side, much like he had during the Keyblade War and pulled her into his arms as she tried to not fall apart.

But when everyone stopped what they were doing to turn their attention to her and Roxas (Lea and Isa even itching to come to her, she could tell), Xion tried to get it together and return to the matter at hand: because she didn’t deserve to be the center of attention right now. Not when she’d been the only one getting things to move forward here. And how desperately they needed to move forward.

“No,” Xion said—pulling away from Roxas’ embrace, but maintaining her hand in his: she wanted to keep this moment suitable for audiences. But at the same time, she needed him. “Ignore me. My breakdown isn’t… important. I just- I lost Roxas before. And what you’re doing now, John and Sarah, reminds me of that. But more of note… I don’t think Sarah should be left alone.”

And though Xion explained it well, no one came to see her point of view about the Sarah thing. But the aliens did change their mind about all humans being banned from them.

Sam was chosen to go along with John and Six—since he needed to find his father through them—and Mark and Sarah realized that they did have to go home, at least for the moment.  But Mark promised he would look after Sarah.

And knowing how entangled Mark and Sarah were before this—and how messed up their relationship was—Xion saw this as a testament to just how much he had changed for the better: like another person she knew, Riku.

After the Mark thing, Xion should have been rejoicing for some of the positive exchanges she and her family had just made happen… but she couldn’t find it in her.

She told Lea and Isa to go with the aliens—to help them defeat the Mogs, who would try and destroy everything—but she was going to stay with Sarah… and Roxas had opted for the same thing.

…

“Xion? Can I talk to you?” Roxas wondered aloud, as he came out onto the rooftop that Xion was sitting on.

She was at the top of Sarah’s home, as they waited for the world to realize Sarah was more important than it knew so far.

It was a nice, easy quest with the woman Xion had a slight girl -rush on…

And yet she was miserable: something she hadn’t been since living in Twilight Town with this new life, and she couldn’t figure out why.

Anyway, Xion was about to tell Roxas that she loved him, so of course he could talk to her—the words were even already on her lips—but Roxas was interrupting her before she could get them out… guessing things so correctly, that it was almost uncanny.

“…Xion, it’s all well and good ta wanna help this Pure Light… or whatever she is. She reminds you of Kairi. I get it. But it isn’t because of that that you’re doing this. It’s because she reminds you of yourself.”

Roxas was spot-on, of course. And perhaps he got this, because she, arguably, had once been made up of parts of him, too.

…But she was also Sora and Kairi, which was why she was relating to Sarah.

…Xion’s existence was such a mess—or at least had been—that she couldn’t help rolling her eyes at just the thought of it. And she almost wanted to jump from the roof, just to try and end the confusion that way. And maybe she would have, if she didn’t have to now worry about aiding the greater good again.

…There was a lot that Xion still needed to work out about herself. And if she hadn’t come back in a new body, she might have actually had that chance.

“Roxas, don’t psycho-analyze me,” Xion stated, getting to her feet and pecking him on the cheek once—to try and let him know that she really didn’t mean the jibe. She’d been in Organization XIII, after all: there were much worse things that could be done to her—“I mean… that is a thing. And part of the reason I’m helping her. You’re right. But it’s also because the Mogadorians know about her relationship with John…. You know they’ll eventually try and use her as bait for that reason. And if we want to protect the multiverse for something greater than Xehanort, why risk that?”

Roxas didn’t say anything to Xion’s counter point and he really could have.

Trying to stop anything was usually a self-fulfilling prophecy, and you’d instead cause to happen what you were trying to avoid: both of these teens knew it well, and perhaps Roxas should have called Xion out on it. She even allowed that.

…And yet Roxas just sat with Xion to offer her moral support, and held her hand and let her lean her head on his shoulder.

And it was more than enough for Xion, and she snuggled right into him… even while thinking about the uncertain future.

[rnicole0414]

Mastery Journal Process and Reflection

InThese last four weeks of this class have been an eye opening experience for me, it taught me there is so much more to graphic design than just drawing and creating things by hand, there is also use of video and film as well as learning how to put motion into a work and making frames work together to crate a moving graphic. It has also been difficult for me with the new software we were working with because it was my first time, but I worked with them and learned well how to do my projects. I am also still working with and learning the software. I will also keep working with it each week as much as possible. My dream is to be a good  graphic designer, and work with motion and animation in some way and this class helped me to realize that. I love seeing things move with color and type.

Process

Connecting/Synthesizing/Transforming - In week one to create my story board I started my reading Animated Storyboarding witch broke down the process of storyboarding and how to work with frames per second. I also found in article The Art of Storytelling with  Mimi Chao, It breaks down the whole process, startring with making a plan,  deciding the formats of the storyboard and then hand -sketching and thumb- nailing and moving into digital tools to use to make the storyboard come to life. I also used Motion Graphics and the Art of the Abstract by Abi Pollokoff. Witch breaks down the use of animation and narrative abstraction and how to make all work together to create a storyboard, I also learned about different  types of sound and how to use it. My storyboard  on pretoria broke down how I would add motion and sound to my  brand to present my city as an adventurous, welcoming, and fresh place.

   In Week 2 Communicating with Motion I  used an the article the Basics of After Effects and watched several tutorials on after effects, the article broke everything down on how to create a new document and save and how to understand the interface import media, and how to organize projects, I worked with after effects at first as well as making my motion in Keynote and then I moved my project into iMovie because it allowed me to  edit each clip all in one and at the same time make it into a working video and movie, I watched one toutoral on iMovie, then I just worked with it by hand to learn and create my project. through this process I was able to learn how to make motion frame by frame and how to make each motion and frame work together in the movie as a whole. I also was working with how to make the motion fit the frame and make the time of each frame not be too fast or too slow, this was the hardest part for me and my movie was too fast in some frames. I worked though this and made my motion project.

In week 3 I researched and read all the articles and videos I was given to make my choice of which Motion Media Project to do, I chose to do a Cinemagraph because it was the most interesting and fun for me to learn,  I used an article called the Art of Cinemagraphs and How to Make Your Own, this really helped me to understand what a cinema graph works and what it does, I also learned what software to use to create them. I started out with Photoshop, I  struggled  working with it and making the live video fit with still frame that I chose and masking it all together in photoshop, so I researched some more and began working with cinemagraph pro, I could choose the still frame within the live video and it was easier to pinpoint which frame I wanted to make as my sill picture and to mask the part I wanted to move, the making was easier to do and the effects I added were not hard to do, I wanted to bring out my narrative in my cinemagraph, I worked to do this with the movements and I hope I did. 

Problem Solving-  In week 1 the problem I was solving was to create a storyboard for my city brand, the storyboard needed to be broken down into different frames, with each frame moving at a different rate.

the problem that my medium solved according to the industry is the first steps into making my brand into a motion piece, I  solved the problem by researching how to layout my storyboard, I did though laying out my game plan by getting to the drills ( The Art of Storyboarding, Chao,2018). then I moved on to the sketches and the timing of each frame for my brand.

In Week 2 The problem I solved was to create a working motion piece for my brand, the problem my medium solved according to the industry was giving life and movement to my brand, and making it work for the client. I solved this problem by researching how to bring a motion graphic to life, one of the most important things is it is much better to see a simple project executed well, then a big one gone wrong.( 27 Tips to make a Motion Graphic, French, 2017)

I used after effects and Movie to make my motion graphic, I wanted my narrative and voice and tone to stick out and work well together.

In week three the problem I solved was to bring a type of motion graphic to life with work related to my city, I chose a cinemagraph to bring my brand to life, My cinemagraph solved the problem of isolating a certain part of a video to draw attention to it, and by making a part of that video stand out to my audience. I solved the problem by working with Photoshop and Cinemagraph Pro, I was able to represent parts of my narrative and emphasize one part of it to bring it to life and make my brand have presence.

Innovative Thinking- Compared to others in the industry all three of my projects were beginner level, my brand does stand out as being different because I took a look at the city like never before, I worked hard to make my storyboard, motion piece, and context ,motion for my audience all fit together as one standout brand, by bringing my narrative to life.

I approached the subject of innovation with fresh eyes and a mind full of research to create something new, different, and interesting. even though some of it was mind opening and different for me, it brought me excitement and Joy to create my own moving pieces.

My work is innovative because my unique look at the city and what it stands for is different than anyone else, I made a unique narrative and brought it to  life. and my colors in my graphics were bold and bright and fit my voice and tone , and in my motion piece I used pics of the botanic gardens to prove my narrative and I tried to make my motion seem like the wind blowing or animals playing, in my cinemagraph i highlighted the great parts of my narrative to bring life to it.

Acquiring Competencies - throughout this entire process I learned a great deal of new things, I learned what a motion graphic  does, and I learned how to bring my brand and story to life in beautiful and interesting ways that could make the client and the target audience stop and take a second look, the brand could be one of a kind.

The new software I learned was After Effects, PhotoShop, I Movie, Cinemagraph Pro, and Keynote, it was a-lot to take in at first but it was all worth it and lots of fun bringing life to my own story and designs to life and create another story through motion. It made me expand my mind to new areas I never thought I could reach I was excited to create for a client and a target audience, 

the skills I learned were how to make the software work for me, and how to create motion that will standout and last, and how to create a unique piece.

this class and the work was definitely a challenge at first, but I continued to research and work hard to learn the software and concepts that will  do me good and the future, this class also helped me realize what I want to do with my degree, and how i want my work to mean something and standout to the world. I am ready to keep going and create great things.

 I will continue to work hard and open my mind to new and exiting work 

[christaronthekindaauthor]

Rowan Dov was a well known name, well to be precise it was the name Do's that were well known, but the only the eldest daughter of the Dov household carried her own weight. The woman who saved her family's business from going under, the saviour, the miracle worker. Her father's industries were suffering huge losses, more expenditure was being felt and litttle to no revenues were being earned, The Dov industries, the giants in the economic market were on their last life, grasping for straws as the many factors in the business world seemed to overwhelm it.

That was until she came into play, with her mother's looks and brains and her father's cunning nature plus her own characteristics, Rowan who just finished her studies, for now that is, took over the industries and the tables turned drastically, the industries were rejuvenated, money begun to flow in and they were back like they never left.

But of course in the real world there is no sch things as miracles, the business world knew this and the inhabitants wanted to know how she did it. However Rowan never exposed how she did it, in fact her presence in the business world was so scarce that most people thought she was just a myth but were quickly corrected when they steeped on the wrong toes especially if they were Rowan's.

In one rare occasion Rowan seemed to be in a giving mood so she entertained the press and answered questions, but most of them were as shallow as a drying up puddle. Though one answer stood out.

"How were you able to bring the Do industries back to life." A reporter shouted from the back making the entire press conference grow hush as everyone wanted to know the answer every camera zoomed in on Rowan's cold brown eyes that seemed more of black than brown. Everything was quiet, all one could hear was the ticking of the clock which was the right side of the wall, the soft thumps of Rowan's pen that she was softly tapping on her table with and the heay breathes of some dude who sounded like he was dying.

If you had blinked you had missed it, and many cameras and people did, a smile domineering smile that apppeared as fast as it had disappeared on Rowan's face.

Ï just had to take care of some few rats." Was all she said before wrapping up the congress. Seconds after her reply, the crowd went wild with ''one last questions." and "what did you mean by that?" but it all fell on deaf ears as she stood up tall and gracefully left the room.

"Did you see that?" A reporter with the name tag Daffle asked her cameraperson who was trying to get one last short at the young elite.

"Huh?" Was her response to Daffle's question.

"That creeepy ass smile she had on her face." Daffle's replied trying to get the atttention of Miq.

"What smile?Rowan smiled? we gottta go through the footage! " Miq exclaimed.

"Calm down, it maybe a trick of the light." Daffle said to her excited friend who was starting to pack up.

"Yeah right! As if you are not Daffle who was blessed with the literal sight of the gods, I mean you can see even the microscopic details in any environment that are usually brushed off as nothing. No wonder you were a criminal eh reporter ? Is that what they are callled? Before you came over to the darkside." Miq replied.

"Geez you guys still call it that? Its so cringy." Daffle whined while following her cackling friend.

Later on they did discoer that they cptued Rowan's "smile" but when they published it, the picture was dismissed as photoshop. It seems that the public had an image of Rowan that they did not want to taint.

That was almost three years ago, threee years since Rowan broke into the busines world of course by her parents help, and secured her place in it, she was seated among the Big Five of the business world, things were now settled and if her calculations were correct she would have smooth sailing for the next five years, if everything and EVERYONE follows the business plan.

Things never go the way we want do they? No they do not and as much as Rowan, as a business woman, prides herself of being prepared for the unexpected she was not prepared for her fathers accouncement which he made uring the annual family dinner.

"Rowan honey! The elders have decided! You and Gabriel are getting married." Rowan can still remeber her drunk father's words and the "WHAT!" that all her siblings and mother repled with.

The elders were just the parents of the Big Five, stupid name if you asked her.

"You want US! To be asociated with their kind?!" Rowan's mother barked out while grabbing her hisband by his collar, her mother was a tall woman and although her father was also considred tall by societal standards, she still stood a head oer him her brown eyes nearly turning to brimstones at the words she just heard.

"Honeeeey! It good for her and us, look she's almost thirty her younger brother and sister are already married and can you imagine just how much more power the Do industries will obtain."

"But an arranged..." Her mother protests were cutt off by Rowan herself.

"Mum, he is right." She started while wiping the sides of her mouth with a napkin, after setting it dwon she continued.

"The Baim's have a great relationship with the West African countries which we do not but we need, by marrying Gabriel it is a great oppoutunity to expand our market over there, you know that they are had people to please especially when you have a woman leading your company."

The silence that took over the room was heavy and the atmosphere turned ice cold.

Rowan sighed, this always happens and she doesn not know why. Maybe it was her tone but whenever she spoke she could turn even the warmest savannah into a freaking tundra.

"See darling, she agrees." Her father said drunkenly in his wives arms.

"Of course she will agree you stupid man, she will do anything for this damn company even sell her freaking soul to the devil!" Her mother shouted.

In a weird way Rowan understood that her mother was telling her she does not have to do anything she does not want to, that warmed her heart.

"Honey you know that she is my daughter to right? As her father do you think that I would have agreed to thise with out taking her feelings into considerations?" Her father asked her mother tenderly, all booze out of his oice.

After a weird moment of her parents staring into eacch other eyes nearly making rainbows and flowers sprout out of thin air with the amount of warm emotions that evelopd the two of them, her mother released a sigh and gae in.

"Fine." She said shoving her husband away from her almost making him fall, and made her way back to her seat.

"But seriously dear the Baim's? Could'nt you at least picked the Faru's?" She asked.

" Do not worry my dear!" Her father replied, booze returning back into his oice.

"It is all accounted for in your husbands grand plan, you just sit back and relax." He sain seating back down while blowing a kiss to his wife.

Her siblings "dodged" the fling kiss with a disgusted look on their faces.

"EW!" They both said in unison, followed by laughs and giggles from their partners and children.

The rest of the dinner went on smoothly and arrangements were made leading to the pesent where Rowan is seated i her office with her parents and siblings waiting for the arrial of the Baim's. This was just an official meeting to recognize the marriage plans and if these damn people are late by one more second Rowan had the right mind to cancel the whle thing.

"If i am not mistaking Liam, but this meeting was supposed to start at eleven am right?" Rowan calmy asked her secretary.

"Yes Madam." Liam replied.

"What is the time right now Liam?" She asked

"Ita half past twelve." Liam replied, watching the calm facade of his boss. Her exterior was calm but the contionus tapping of her pen told him otherwie

This fuckers better hurry up or everyone will be having a bad week, Liam thought to himself gently clenching his ipad.

"Madam, the Baim's are here." the security from the ground flow buzzed.

The tapping stopped abruptly, Liam stepped back he sensed something was about to go down.

"Todd." Rowan started.

"Yes madam?" Todd replied eagerly awaiting his orders.

"It is a pity that the elevators do not work righ?" Rowan remarked

A second of silence was broken by Todd's rply.

"Yes Madam, they have not been working since morning but the problem is being fixed right now."

"Good Todd. Send them up please and tell thm to take their time." Rowan directed and switched off the buzzer after Todd's confirmation.

"That is a really bad habit." Her father pointed out, he was seated on her office couch his head on her mother's laps. With the sunglasses and the gentle massage by her mother to his temples assued her that he was nursing a hangover.

"Learned from the best" Rowan replied as she sunk back into her chair, closing her eyes her anger was sated. Just a little bit.

Thinking of turning it into a book.

[pabloverse-nathan]

Week 2 post (11/01/21)

Media I have used this week:

Games- the first game I have been playing this week is rainbow six siege and the thing that stands out for me in this game is the physics and tactical gameplay. Most of the things you look at in this game can be broken like you can blow up walls and stuff. 

For the tactical side you have to use drones to gather intel and gadgets in defense mode to protect the objective.

The only wierd thing about the physics in this game is how if you shoot somethings like a TV a few times it will begin to crumble into nothing .

Tv show- South park 

The thing that keeps south park interesting is the humor . Because after all of the seasons they’ve used the same animation style and it still manages to be enjoyable to watch . The way the add in the jokes flows naturally and they can also be out of no where and that’s what keeps you watching.

Culteral sources:

1. For the stacker game instead of cakes I could use smashed up cars so its like you’re in a scrapyard and all of the different types of cars can be .

In games that are based in china like sleeping dogs , they use these run down cars and also small cars and vans but in the UK you see different types of cars so there could maybe be a few different levels using different cars 

2. Pinball 

In 1966, the first solid state electronic pinball machine called spirit of 76 was released and it was then followed by pinball which used a video screen in 1998

 .

Pinball was originally made in 1871 by an inventor in Ohio and pinball originated from a century old game called Bagatelle which has a similar layout and concept and his idea was just pretty much improvements on Bagatelle and bagatelle was made in Italy .

Nowadays there’s different spinoff versions like sonic spinball which was on the megadrive .

3.Space Invader-

Space Invaders is a game that takes advantage of colours because without colours it wouldnt really be as fun to play . You can still get space invaders on the switch which shows that people still enjoy it and they also have different spin offs to surive.

Space invaders uses the principle that you are shooting aliens out of the sky so even in 1978 people were thinking about aliens.

4.Asteroids-

This is another game which is based on space and uses physics like gravity because of the way the asteroids move freely in space . The spacecraft also has floatiness to show that theres no gravity. The game was made in 1979 so could have been inspired by the 1969 moon landing.

5.Stacker -

This arcade machine was a more recent one from 2004 and it could be found all over the world in places like Spain and the UK. The company was founded in Australia called LAI games and I would have expected it to be created in Japan because thats usually were you see arcade machines like this.

Furthur audience discussion

1.The games that I have used for the culteral sources have got bright coloured lights. For example space invaders , each row of the different enemies is different colours .This is good to make the game look interesting .

2.Like in these culteral games I have looked at , there are no real main characters so what I was thinking is just to make the game without a character or try to make a crane animation but it might be too hard without photoshop.

3. I could take photos from google that been taken then they can be  the backgrounds for different game levels  to match the neon bars you have to stack .Kind of like cyberpunk cities and how they have neon.

Research being implemented-

The things that I am going to take forward from my research is that from some pinball games you have this neon glow effect to them and it makes them attractive so I was thinking instead of cakes I could use neon glowing bars as the thing to be stacked in my game.

The thing that I want to try and leave behind is the whole cake idea because the whole idea of having a game based around cakes just seems a bit boring and It wouldn’t really keep the attention of older players who are playing the game and the age range would end up being for very young toddlers which is not want I want really.

Unreal engine timer-

From YouTube I found a tutorial on how to add a timer and It showed me how to make a retry button pop up as soon as the timer finished so then I tested It and it worked so this could be used for the stacking level timer.

As soon as you click retry the level will reset.

This is the code for the timer set up.

It starts with an event tick and it uses 2 branches and 2 integers called seconds and minutes. 

If the seconds don't equal 0 then it will start to take 1 away each time .

At the end it shows the mouse cursor and pauses the game when the widget pops up so you can click restart.

There are 2 bindings that are the same for minutes and seconds.

This is the code in the level blueprint .

Weekly Reflection-

I think the thing that has gone well in the past week is learning how to make the timer for the game because it should help me with the project. Also deciding not to use cakes in the game was good.

The thing that could have gone better is the cultural research because I didn’t think there was much related to the arcade game stacker but now that I think of it Tetris might have been related.

What I’m planning to do next week is design a title screen .

[stony-feels1776]

Recovery - Safe (Chapter 4)

Hello all! Here’s chapter five of Recovery - A Stony fic!

Warnings: Angst

link to it on wattpad: x

more under the read more

Tony closed his eyes, expecting to hit the ground at any second.

And then someone yanked him upwards. The wind knocked out of him, Tony couldn't process anything. Fear pulsed through his veins and his head buzzed with pain and racing thoughts. He then was on the floor. It was cold. He curled up, groaning in pain. Gently rubbing his head, he attempted to open his eyes, only to see Clint with a knife pressing against Loki's throat, Steve watching Tony carefully, and Thor threatening his brother.

Tony groaned and turned over, away from Steve and the others.

The fall.

Memories from New York came flooding back. Tony wanted to scream and rip himself apart, but he was too weak and too shaky to do so, so he just started shaking on the floor, groaning quietly. Steve's soft arms wrapped around Tony as Steve pulled Tony's head carefully into his lap. "Shhhh," Steve whispered, "it's okay, Tony." Tony tried to snap himself out of this.

He forced himself upright, pushing away Steve's arms and ignoring the burning pains spreading throughout his entire body. His head pounded. "I'm fine," He hissed, but he was unbalanced on his feet.

"Brother, I told you not to kill any of my friends!" Thor yelled at Loki, who was stuck in a corner with Clint's knife against his neck. Loki shrugged and chuckled.

"Surely that one cannot be your friend?" Loki said, pointing at Tony, "He's weak, immature, and self-centred. And an idiot. Sure," Loki leaned forward, the knife pressing gently into his neck, "he may think he's so clever with all of these toys he made up, but that'll never account for how stupid and careless he is."

Tony took a step backwards. He's told himself the same thing, but now someone was openly stating it and his friends were hearing it. He took a shaky breath. Not here. Not now. He was fine. And if he wasn't, well, back to faking it. Steve took a step towards Tony, reaching his hand out. Straightening his back, Tony put on a sarcastic smile. "Ah, yes, I'm terribly offended by your opinion. I don't even take my friends' opinions into consideration - why would I take yours?" He said sharply. Ah, good. He sounded like Tony Stark again. Finally.

"Because you know I'm right," Loki hissed before Thor hit him hard.

"Loki, how dare you speak of my friends like that? They are all good people, Stark especially. He has the courage to stand up to fools like you!" Loki staggered and Clint pulled the knife away and held it tightly as if he might stab everyone at any second.

Tony felt shivers run down his spine. Right now, without his armour and a weakened body, anyone could take him out. Clint could stab Loki and Thor before anyone blinked and could take down Steve too.

Stabbing Tony would be so easy. But Clint wouldn't do that. Clint was a trained assassin and could give Nat a run for her money, sure, but he was also a dorky family man who cried at Disney movies and dogs. He tried to avoid murder as much as possible these days.

"Yes, Loki," Tony said sourly, "I may be narcissistic and foolish and impulsive, but I'm not the one attacked with a group of alien robots." Tony paused and raised his arms, "I own all of this. I do have a few little toys, though, which I'm sure you'd like to meet."

Loki raised his eyebrows. "You had nothing to save you from," the smirk on his face grew, "the fall."

Tony bit his tongue so hard he could taste metallic blood in his mouth. He raised his head some more, panic running through his body. He wanted to shut down. To sit down and give up and weep. But he couldn't.

He was Tony Stark.

"You're wrong," Tony said, pointing at Thor, "I have friends. What do you have? Nothing but spite and some weak bad guys who'll follow you around." Clint smiled at Tony. It was nice for everyone to see Tony being his sarcastic self.

Instead of a weak, poor, silent ass who could barely move.

Tony had to give credit to the doctor - who he had suspicions about who she could be - because if it weren't for her, his healing process would have been slowed up greatly - he may even be unconscious with broken bones in a hospital if she wasn't there to fix him up.

Tony didn't even know what had been broken or torn. Pepper wouldn't let him read it.

Pepper.

Tony's heart ached. Yes, sure, he might have been in love with both her and Steve while dating, but he did genuinely care for her and if they'd stayed together Tony would have stayed far away from Steve.

But it didn't matter. Pepper didn't want to be with Tony.

But Steve did.

Loki simply laughed. Thor picked him up by the neck. "I'll be punishing him," He said grimly, "I apologize. I thought he'd behave." Thor dragged Loki out and then with a crash of thunder, the two disappeared into the cloudy sky.

Tony rubbed his collarbone. "Well, wasn't that fun and predictable?" He said, walking over to the kitchen and sitting down on one of the bar stools. Sighing, he scanned Clint and Steve's faces.

"I'm sorry, Tony," Steve started, "he's wrong. You're so great, Tony."

Tony scoffed. "Hardly." He replied. "Steve, I'm famous. I get criticism often. It doesn't bother me. What I've learned is that you ignore the hate unless it's too bad. Then you sue that person. It's not very difficult." He explained easily. It did affect him. Every piece of hate. It made him re-think everything.

Now, he usually just had FRIDAY delete all of it. That was simpler.

"Tony, you are pretty good," Clint said, poking his finger on his arrow, "you keep us all together. And make us look cool. And pay for everything."

"I'm tired," Tony said, rubbing his eyes. Sleep did indeed sound good. Temporary death. And with that, Tony swept out of the room and into his bedroom, where he fell asleep before waking up and staring at the wall until morning.

---- next day ----

It was morning. Tony was awake. He'd been awake most of the night, sitting in his room, staring at the wall. Reviewing his regrets. Trying to figure out his feelings.

It was weird that he'd been in love with both Pepper and Steve. That was weird. It kind of made him feel like a cheating bastard. Seventeen years ago, Tony would have been fine with that. But not with Pepper. He took a deep breath. Why did he love Steve? Well, Steve was.... perfect. Kind. Strong. Just... Steve.

Why did Pepper leave him? Did she use her new job as an excuse? Tony didn't blame her. If he were her, he wouldn't want to date him either. Pepper could have just told him she didn't love him. Yes, he'd be heartbroken. But he's heartbroken now, too, right? He shook his head.

"Time, Friday?" Tony asked the room, sitting up straight and stretching.

"Seven o'clock, sir. It is also April Fools day. And Easter. I see we have no plans this year." Friday informed him. Tony sighed and rubbed the back of his head. Ah, yes. Easter. April Fools.

"Any pranks I should know about?" Tony asked.

Friday hesitated, goddamnit. "No, sir."

Sighing, Tony stood up. He was starting to feel more steady - but the lack of sleep caused a headache almost instantly. He winced and rubbed his head before walking out of the bedroom.

A sense of unease overcame him. Clint's face was on everything. "What in the fuck..." Tony whispered, picking up one that fell to the ground.  It was badly photoshopped and was a weak picture of Clint sticking out his tongue and winking. He turned it over, wherein cursive purple sharpie, it read 'top or bottom?' "God, Clint, if you weren't my friend I would have stabbed you," he added, looking at it fondly. Clint's cursive sucked.

"Heya," Clint said, walking out. Only, taped to his face was a picture of Tony. Laughing, Tony sat down, shaking his head. Clint came over to him, dressed in very tight pants (which, naturally, were neon lilac) and a blazer - no shirt on underneath.

"Dear god, Clint," Tony said. Clint picked up a pair of Tony's tinted glasses from the coffee table and put it on over the picture. He put his hand up to the picture and pretended to blow kisses to Tony. "That's such a bad picture of me, too, god - wow."

Tony looked up at Steve, who was wearing another pair of Tony's glasses and a graphic T-shirt, complete with a black blazer and black dress pants. The top of Steve's hair was also dusted dark brown - from makeup or something, Tony guessed. He looked... stunning. Absolutely stunning.

Natasha came out next, wearing all black, half her face painted to look like the Iron Man helmet and repulsers drawn on her palms. Clint whistled at her as she posed, pointing her hands at Clint. She made a whistling noise, and when she ceased to whistle, Clint pretended to get hit and flew backwards. He quickly fixed the picture as it moved on his face.

Thor flew out, fabulous facial hair drawn in his own facial hair with a black sharpie. He was also wearing a cardboard sign taped to his chest that said 'Tony Stark.' Bruce followed him, wearing a 'Stark Industries' shirt and colourful glasses, along with his curly grey hair slicked back. Vision had tiny pictures of Tony's face taped along his whole body, and Wanda had 'Stark' written on her cheek.  Rhodey came out, actually wearing Tony's suit. Sam followed, wearing an old iron man helmet.

Tony clapped. Clint unbuttoned the blazer and Tony put his hand over his eyes, "Clint, no one wants to see your pathetic abs, no offence." Clint made an offended noise and swatted Tony's hand away from his face. Turns out, in the time Tony had covered his eyes to when he uncovered them, Clint had managed to draw angry eyebrows on the picture. Tony laughed again, eyes wandering to Steve, who was leaning against the wall, smiling warmly.

Tony ripped the picture off of Clint's face which had sharpie all over it. He had 'Tony' on one cheek, 'Stark' on the other, Sharpie-made facial hair, and 'billionaire playboy' written on his forehead. "Clint-" Tony paused, raising his eyebrows, "-what even are you?"

"Billionaire playboy," Clint said. A few moments later, he added, "I wish."

"Question. Does this come off?" Thor interrupted, stroking his beard, mixing the blonde facial hair with the black sharpie. "I wish to show my friends back home. I believe they'll enjoy this. Plus, today is your... E-a-ster. I don't mean to intrude."

"No, no, don't worry. Easter isn't something people can ruin." Steve said quickly, putting a hand on Thor's arm, smiling. "Easter is fun. The Sharpie on your face should last a while, after all. You'll get candy today. Lots of it."

"Alright," Thor said, grinning, "I shall join you."

"Great. Friday, show me places we can go." Tony said, flicking his wrist. A screen popped up in front of them with lists of places charities were holding egg hunts. "That one," Tony said, pointing to one entitled 'The Northfolk Easter Egg Shenanigans'.

"Sir, this one is being held at a facility entitled 'Northfolk Charity for Cancer Research and Children's Hospitals'. It donates all money to research for cancer and other terminal illnesses and regularly donates to children's hospitals and schools around the world. I've sent a message asking them for permission to join them." Friday replied without missing a beat. "They replied that you and the Avengers were gladly welcomed as Easter is a day no one should miss out on, and the children there cannot wait to meet their favourite heroes and role models."

Steve smiled. "Tony Stark spends his Easters as charity events?" He said, eyebrows raised, cheeks a little pink as he adjusted the glasses. He walked so he was standing behind the couch where Tony was sitting.

"I secretly enjoy seeing children think I'm incredible because the adults either want my money, my body or want to kill me," Tony said simply, closing his eyes and motioning with his head to his body, "or are you guys, which is probably an unhealthy mix of all three."

He opened his eyes to hear his friends laughing and Steve's eyes sparkling. "I never knew you did this," Steve said, putting a hand on Tony's shoulder, "you always looked like the type of person who stayed home on Easter." He slipped off the glasses and slid them on Tony's face gently.

Tony adjusted them so they fit correctly on his face and looked up at Steve, touching his hand for a second before he realized the rest of the team was making 'awww' noises. He stood up and looked at them. "Okay, guys," Tony said, "I don't know if we should all go dressed like this," he motioned to the entirety of Clint. He looked down at himself. He'd thrown on a simple black t-shirt and some sweatpants for bed.

They all nodded and went off to separate rooms to grab clothes and make themselves look at least somewhat presentable. Tony walked into his room and took off the glasses, looking at them for a second. He kissed them gently before setting them down and taking out a suit to wear.

He quickly got changed. He adjusted the thing on his leg, sighing. He didn't want to wear it, but he was worried without it he'd be off balance and wouldn't be strong enough to walk. At least the brace-like mechanical thing wasn't that noticeable. He bit his lip and walked out, where Steve was standing. He didn't change his clothes - he didn't need to.

Natasha had washed her face but didn't change her outfit. Rhodey was wearing a simple suit. Sam was matching him. Thor and Vision were wearing their normal apparel, Wanda was wearing a not-so-fancy red dress with flowers on it, and Clint was wearing a fancy suit.

"Lovely. Now, all of you pile into the car, I'm going to prepare some candy to give out. Go." Tony said, shooing them out. When everyone was out, he turned and clicked a button and his DUM-E robots activated, coming up to him, making cute little robotic noises. "Protocol Easter. I want 53 eggs hidden in ridiculous places around the place. 109 little-stuffed chicks. 17 stuffed sheep. It better be done before I get home or I'll dismantle all of you. Friday, you're in charge, hon." He grabbed his keys, threw them into the air and caught them, and walked out the door.

"Happy! Lovely to see you. Is the kid here?" Tony said, greeting Happy, who was driving their extravagant limousine. Happy nodded, opening the door for Tony. Tony saw all of his friends sitting around awkwardly, along with Peter, whose eyes lit up when he saw Tony.

"Mr Stark!" Peter exclaimed. Tony sat down next to him, patting his knee.

"Hey, kid. Happy, Friday should be sending you the address. Northfolk. Quickly." Tony said, looking down at his watch. 10:00 am. They were five minutes late already.

Happy nodded and started to drive.

"Mr Stark, happy Easter! I'm so glad I get to spend it with you!" Peter said, bubbling with excitement.

"Yeah, kid," Tony said. I'm glad you're here too, his mind said. He smiled at Peter and pulled a few chocolate eggs from his pocket and gave them to Peter. White chocolate - Peter's favourite. Tony put his arm around Peter and hugged him.

Peter made a squealing noise and Tony let go, rubbing his ears. His head begun to spin. Breathe in, then out. Tony was fine. He pushed away the anxiety and smiled, looking at Steve, who stared back, a ghost of a smile on his face, blue eyes bright.

"Goddamnit!" Happy screamed as he slammed on the brakes, stopping short. Tony put his hand out, stopping Peter from flying forward.

"Peter! Put on your goddamned seat belt!" Tony yelled, pointing to his own seatbelt. Peter quickly scrambled to buckle up, eyes showing fear as he looked up at Tony, who was digging his fingernails into Peter's hand without realizing it. Peter winced in pain. Tony let go, shaking. He opened his hand and stretched his fingers. "Peter, I'm sorry-" Tony murmured, looking at Peter's shaking hand, where there were little red marks from Tony. Peter didn't say anything.

Tony took a deep breath as they arrived. He rubbed his arm vigorously, clenching his jaw. He prepared to put on a fake smile.

The children all stopped and stared in awe as their favourite heroes got out of the car. Happy popped the trunk and threw Steve his shield. "Captain America!" one girl exclaimed, jumping up and down. Tony was glad Steve was getting the attention. Steve sat down on the ground, and children came over, poking him and asking him questions. The rest of the team did the same.

A little girl came over to Tony. "Is Pepper going to come?" she asked sweetly. Tony looked up at her, smiled, and shook his head gently.

"No, she's busy this year." The little girl frowned and walked away towards Rhodey. Tony rubbed his head gently, still shaken. "Come on, Stark," Tony whispered to himself, "it's Easter. Don't ruin it." He remembered all the times his father had gotten mad on Easter and ruined the day. All the times his mother and father were gone on Easter.

All the times he used to be with Pepper on Easter, visiting hospitals, giving out candy and cash.

But now Pepper was gone.

He shook his head and punched his arm as discreetly as he could. Standing, he went to grab the buckets of candy Happy always had on Easter. He handed out the chocolate to every kiddo who wanted some. Only three kids said thank you, Tony noticed. He didn't say thank you ever, so he couldn't really talk, though.

"Alright, folks!" A tall man said. He was dressed in mom jeans and had flowers in his semi-long hair. "Oh, wow, hello Avengers! My name is Harlem, and I'm hosting tonight! Why don't we all go in for food?"

The children all cheered in response and ran into the building. Steve stood and walked over to Tony, extending his hand. Tony took it and Steve helped him up. Tony looked at Steve, brown eyes portraying sadness. Steve noticed. "What's wrong?"

"I-" Tony began, "-nothing. I'm hungry. Let's go." Tony said, patting Steve on the back before walking inside. He wasn't hungry. If he ate, he was afraid he'd get sick. His stomach ached. He followed Bruce around, muttering about electrons and how he missed his suits. Bruce said a few sympathetic comments now and then, but for the most part, he was focused on his food.

Clint was busy showing the kids how he could name any flower and Natasha was showing a group of eating children how to punch correctly - but also telling them that punching people was, in fact, not something you should do all the time.

"Mr Stark?"  A little boy asked, walking up to Tony, "How did it feel like the be in space?"

Tony tried to repress the memories. The fall. The cold. The feel of death. "Alright," Tony answered, looking at the ceiling. The kid smiled.

"How did you survive the falling? You fell a lot."

"I was caught," Tony said quickly, out of breath. Bruce noticed this.

"Hey, kiddo. I caught him. Well, the Hulk did. How about we talk about something else, hmm?" Bruce suggested softly.

"Oh, okay. Are you gay?" The kid asked.

"Wh- I- uh-" Tony began, stuttering. There were no cameras. No fans. Just a child and Bruce. "Sure."

"Are you dating Dr Banner?" The kid asked.

"No," Tony answered simply.

"Who, then?"

"Uh-" Tony paused, "no one."

"Oh, okay. What happened to Pepper? Did she not like you?"

"I've got to go-" Tony said, standing, rubbing his arm. Bruce began talking to the child firmly, but Tony didn't listen. He stumbled away. Once he was outside, he collapsed near a tree, taking shelter in its comforting shade.

Steve followed him, sitting down next to him silently. "You okay?" He asked gently.

"Always," Tony replied sharply, running a hand through his hair and exhaling. "It was getting tight in there. I don't do too well with lots of kids asking me questions left and right." He lied. Steve grabbed Tony's hand.

"Ever since we- uh- confirmed we were dating - did we confirm it? Between ourselves? - our relationship has gotten even more confusing and awkward. Tony, I won't be hurt if you don't want to - uh - date." Steve said, staring at the sky.

"I do," Tony confirmed softly, squeezing Steve's hand.

"I do too. So, now we're dating. Officially. Indefinitely. Unless you change your mind, of course," Steve said.

"Or if you change yours," Tony added, "I'm a handful."

"But now you're my- uh- handful. Sorry. I'm not too good at this whole romance thing." Steve admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

Tony moved quickly, grabbing the collar of Steve's shirt and pulling him close, "I don't care. You'll always be my Captain Romance." He didn't lean in to kiss him, though. Steve was old style. Slow, serious relationship - that's what he was probably looking for. Instead, Tony kissed Steve on the forehead and sat so his legs were touching Steve's.

"Egg hunt time!" The host of the event - Harlem - called out. The children ran out and lined up. "Now, because we have a visitor from another planet who's never experienced Easter, there are two egg hunts. The kiddos here," he motioned to the children, "will have their hunt in the backyard. The heroes will be doing it in a park just down the street. Heroes, it was fantastic having you here. And a big thank you to Mr Stark for his generous donation! Ms Hansen will escort you and host you."

A small lady with red hair walked over to them, face red. The Avengers nodded, saluting the children and Harlem, who did the same back. They then followed the lady down the street and to a large park. Tony scanned the area, finding the hidden eggs with his eyes so he could get them as fast as possible. It may seem childish - but Tony hates losing at anything, and egg hunts were no exception.

"Okay. So, for those of you who are new to this, the goal is to find all the eggs. It doesn't really matter who finds the most or who is the quickest, but if you wish to race, fine. But, in the end, we do make sure everyone has an equal amount." Ms Hansen explained. Thor nodded. "Also, please do not break anything. Now, there are baskets for each of you." She motioned to a table with baskets on it.

They each grabbed one. "Okay. Three, two, one... start!" She said.

Tony raced into action, limping as fast as he could, snatching up eggs from the ground. He picked up two from the grass and then one from under a table. He found three buried under some rocks. He ignored it when Thor snatched one from under his nose.

Then he spotted it. It was big, golden, and hidden in the leaves. His eyes widened. This one would get him the win, for sure. He walked over to the tree and started climbing, ignoring the burning pains in his arms and legs as he manoeuvred himself onto the first branch. Looking down, he took a shaky breath. Could he climb higher?

Could he risk the fall?

He pushed onward, onto the next branch. He stood on it slowly, reaching for it, as it was just above him. However, he just couldn't get it. Goddamn him being short. He gritted his teeth and pulled himself onto the next branch.

Crrrack. It made an ugly, unsettling noise.

"Tony!" Steve cried, running over to the tree, dropping his basket full of one (1) egg.

Tony reached for the egg. As he grabbed it, catastrophe occurred - as it always does.

The branch creaked and collapsed under him. Tony tried to grab the other branches - but his hands simply slipped off of them, bleeding and raw. Just as he prepared himself to hit the ground - he hit something else instead. Something much gentler.

Or maybe he had passed out or was hallucinating.

Steve caught him with a soft 'oof,' gently holding Tony and scanning him, looking for any injuries besides his scraped up hands. "Well, that was extravagant," Tony said, chuckling. Steve put him down gently, and Tony stood unsteadily on his feet. He picked up the big egg and showed Steve it. "Look! I think I win. I got nine eggs - ten if you count this beauty - and I literally fell out of a tree. I think I win," Tony explained, hands shaking and bleeding all over his's own shirt.

"God, fine! You win, Tony, good god! Hey, Ms Hansen, do you, by any chance, have a first aid kit?" Steve said hurriedly. Ms Hansen ran over, first aid kit in hand, looking extra pale as she stared down at the blood. Steve took it from her and slowly wrapped Tony's hands in gauze. Tony waited impatiently. Clint came over and grabbed one of Tony's hands that wasn't covered in gauze yet.

"And y'all think I'm the careless one," Clint huffed. He looked jealously at Tony's basket. "I guess you do win. I stole all of Natasha's and my basket still doesn't look as pathetic as yours."

Tony smirked, "I always win, Clint, you better step up your game," he didn't bother to tell Clint how Natasha was sneaking up behind him, water bottle in hand, eyes sparkling, eager for revenge.

"For fu- I mean- for heck's sake, Nat!" Clint cried as the cold water splashed on him. Natasha laughed at him, smacking the back of his head playfully and gently. Clint spun around and tried to grab the half-empty water bottle from her, but she grabbed his hand and poured the rest on him, dousing him with the cold liquid.

Tony chuckled. "Yes, congrats, Mr Stark, you got the most eggs, plus you found the lucky golden egg, so you win. Now, if all of you could dump your eggs out in a pile." Ms Hansen said. Tony dumped his and the other Avengers followed suit. "You can keep the golden egg, Mr Stark, you've earned it."

Tony gave the others a significant look and opened it. Inside was a picture of all the Avengers drawn in crayon. "A young child with cancer drew that," the host informed them, "he died earlier this week. It was his wish for his drawing to get to the Avengers - his heroes."

Tony stared down at it. It was intricate and he guessed it must have been something the child was working on for a long time. He ran his fingers over it gently. In the corner, there was a small signature. "His name was Pete. Pete Nunez." Ms Hansen added.

"Thank you for giving it to me - us," Tony said softly. Children and fanart were a weakness of his. Now to know the child who made this picture was dead - it hurt. He tore his eyes away from it. He could cry about it later. Not now.

Ms Hansen gave them each seven eggs. They all opened it, pleased to find chocolates of all kinds. Tony gave half of his to Peter - who wouldn't talk to him. He said a small 'thank you' to Tony and went to sit by Thor. Tony's heart ached. First Pepper, now the kid.

"Thank you, Ms Hansen. Friday will be transferring 10K to your account tonight." Tony said, shaking her hand. She smiled and lit up, nodding eagerly.

"Thank you, Mr Stark, your donation and the Avengers visit means the world to us," she said, shaking everyone's hand.

"You're quite welcome. Anytime." Clint said, bowing and kissing her hand, making her chuckle.

"Well, I must be going... Harlem probably can't last long with sugar-high kids alone for long..." She said before running off. Tony waved at her.

"Alright, let's go back home," Tony said, adjusting his coat. He glanced at Peter. "Hey, kid, can you come with me for a second?" He asked, eyes burning into Peter's. Peter gave a hard look at Tony before following him off to a corner. "You guys go ahead - Happy will get ya' situated," Tony called to his friends, pulling Peter off to the side. He grasped Peter's hand and examined it. There were no marks anymore.

"Mr Stark, I'm fine, I'm sorry--" Peter began.

"Don't. You have no reason to be sorry. It was my fault. I'm sorry, kid. I... I didn't mean to." Tony apologized, not looking at Peter.

"It's been a tough few weeks. Forget about it, okay? I'm okay." Peter said quickly, looking Tony in the eyes. Tony stared down at him.

"Okay. Done - forgotten. Let's go." Tony said, shrugging. They walked over to the car and hopped in, Happy driving them home.

----- time skip -----

As Tony stepped into the house, he grinned, already seeing eggs peak out of random places. Clint gasped as he stepped on one as he took off his shoes. Inside was a picture of Tony. Clint's eyes lit up. "How many did you hide?" he asked, thrilled.

"Twenty," Tony lied. "Exactly twenty. No more, no less."

Clint grinned, eyes flashing at Natasha competitively. Peter, however, jumped right into the hunt and jumped around the house, picking up five in the living room.

---- time skip, again (whoops) ----

Tony sat down next to Steve without looking at him. Peter had Clint had collected twenty-three eggs, yelled at Tony playfully for lying, and found three of both the chicks and sheep. Peter went home - he needed to get back to May. Clint and Natasha were fighting over chocolate in their room - they had a bunk bed. Clint had declared that 'he was a top' and so naturally he should get the top bunk. Natasha had smacked him but allowed him to claim the top bunk. Bruce was colouring - a stress reliever, he'd say but was really just because he was a talented artist and loved to draw and colour. So, with him being so talented, he was using watercolours instead of coloured pencils, pens, or markers, as less-talented people would. Tony had tried once, but the watercolour didn't agree with him and he ended up failing. Steve could draw but didn't like to colour his work. In fact, Tony had only ever seen one drawing Steve had made. It was one of all the Avengers, sketched in pencil, but it was fantastic.

Rhodey was commenting with Sam about some nonsense about missions they've flown. Thor had flown back to his people to show them his new facial hair made by the sharpie. "So, Steve," Tony began, "today was... interesting."

"Yeah," Steve said, smiling a little, "I had fun."

"So, are still sure you want to date me?" Tony whispered, smirking.

"Positive, Tony."

"You won't do a Pepper on me, will you? Make me all attached to you and then have to do life? Because I will become your life, Steve, I swear. Y'know, they say life is hell. I guess I am hellish." Tony said in a threatening way.

Steve laughed, "No, I won't - I don't really have much of a life anyways."

"God, you sound like Peter. 'I don't have a life, so please give me a mission,'" Tony mocked Peter's voice, "well, I have news for you, you do have a life, Captain America. America's Loveliest Hero." He playfully punched Steve's arm. Steve's laugh turned into a chuckle.

"Aw, you really think I'm lovely?"

"America does."

"America has good taste."

"America has awful taste - just look at the politics! Gun control! Steve, hold my beer, I'm going to shoot the next fucker who says that we don't need gun control - wait, that's not how I should solve my problems, especially this one."

"So I'm not lovely?" Steve asked, pouting.

"No," Tony replied, "you're alluring. Exquisite." He paused, "Delicious."

"De - what?" Steve said, raising his eyebrows, face turning red.

"I memorized the synonyms for 'lovely.' Delicious was one of them." Tony shrugged but was glad that made Steve blush.

"You're a dork."

"I prefer the term 'genius.'"

"You are a genius."

"No, you are."

"Tony!" Steve objected, but Tony simply smiled and Steve wrapped his arm around him, pulling him close. Tony felt the warmth from Steve's hands and melted into his touch. He was so warm. Warm - Tony checked Steve's forehead, worried he might be sick. "What are you doing, Tony?" Steve said, laughing a little as Tony rested his hand on Steve's forehead.

Tony was glad to feel that Steve's body was warm but he wasn't ill. "I was worried you were sick - I've had enough hospital time, I don't want to get sick and end back in that hellhole."

"Oh, of course. You aren't just concerned for me?"

Tony grinned, "Well, that comes along with you being mine - yes, I am concerned for you, but right now, more so for me." That was a lie - Tony wasn't concerned for himself at all. Not anymore. But he couldn't look like a total fucking softie.

Steve scoffed, "of course. Well, I wouldn't want to get you sick anyway."

Tony leaned away from Steve. Can't look soft or gentle. No cuddling. Gotta act tough. Completely tough. Stone cold. Cold but not too cold to not love. Tony grabbed Steve's hand. "Ooh! Gosh, Tony - your hands are freezing!" Steve exclaimed. He clasped his other hand over Tony's other hand. Tony stared down at their hands.

Pepper and Tony never really held hands. They had some gentle moments like this, but for the most part, they were swamped with business and usually just kissed or hugged. But this - the electricity - the love - that swam through they connected hands - it was spectacular. Tony felt warm - loved - special. He smiled to himself. "My hands are always cold. Like the machines I work on - well, used to. I wish you'd let me get back to work. This is stupid."

"Tony - you can't work yet. You've been home for what - three, four days? I know you've been acting like your usual self, but I can see it every time you're in pain. Your nose crinkles and you look almost... angry. You rub your hands and try to ignore it." Steve said.

Tony looked at him. "You're like a stalker. No - I don't do that when I'm hurting. I'm fine." It was a lie, of course, all of it.

"Tony, you can't keep lying to me..." Steve said. He sounded almost... disappointed. Tony's heart skipped a beat. Did he upset Steve? Was Steve mad at him for not telling the truth? Oh, God, was he ruining the relationship already.

"I'm honestly fine, Steve. The first day was rough, yes, but -" he paused, "I'm feeling better. Way better." It wasn't a total lie - he did feel much better. Occasionally he'd feel sick or be hurting, but hey, he wasn't puking everywhere now.

Tony's face flushed. That night, Steve and Clint had helped him get undressed. And into a tub.

"You're blushing. Why?" Steve asked, sounded half-amused, half-concerned.

"I just thought of something," Tony said, trying to make up a story - god, they couldn't talk about that night - it was too awkward, "1998. May. There was this girl -"

"Tony! I don't need to know about that."

"She was very... flexible."

"Tony!" Steve cried, covering his ears, hands leaving Tony's.

Clint walked back into the room, clearly drunk. "Didja know that if... Steve was named... Stove... your guys' names would match... Stove and Tones - sold-mates."

"How much did you drink, Clint?" Tony said, surprised. "And, dear, my name is Tony, not Tones."

"Ohhh, shut up, Toby, your names is Tones - Secret Agent Tones," Clint said, his wors slurring.

"Clint! Back in the bathroom before you puke again!" Natasha called, looking exceptionally angry. Tony cringed under her glare. "Sorry, guys. Clint got into a batch of serious stuff."

"How?" Steve asked.

"I don't know. I'll smack him until he tells me." She hissed. Steve shifted and looked down.

Clint sauntered over to her, stumbling, looking like a dramatic actor almost, before stopping right in front of her and putting a hand to his mouth. Natasha shoved him into the bathroom quickly.

Steve looked at Tony, concerned.

"I'm sure he's fine," Tony told him, patting him gently on the shoulder, missing their hands intertwined. But he wouldn't ask for the attention.

\\authors note//

heya! well, this is late. but!! happy easter/april fools!!

i was working on this a lot but i just couldn't end it and i had an,,,, eventful week.

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date: 4-9-18