#yes i did also start several other projects recently

[higgsboshark]

okay look

I need new pajamas, flannel is on sale at Joann's for $4 a yard, and it's payday tomorrow

What am I gonna do, NOT be consumed by hubris and buy way more than I will ever sew?

[reasonsforhope]

No paywall version here.

"Two and a half years ago, when I was asked to help write the most authoritative report on climate change in the United States, I hesitated...

In the end, I said yes, but reluctantly. Frankly, I was sick of admonishing people about how bad things could get. Scientists have raised the alarm over and over again, and still the temperature rises. Extreme events like heat waves, floods and droughts are becoming more severe and frequent, exactly as we predicted they would. We were proved right. It didn’t seem to matter.

Our report, which was released on Tuesday, contains more dire warnings. There are plenty of new reasons for despair. Thanks to recent scientific advances, we can now link climate change to specific extreme weather disasters, and we have a better understanding of how the feedback loops in the climate system can make warming even worse. We can also now more confidently forecast catastrophic outcomes if global emissions continue on their current trajectory.

But to me, the most surprising new finding in the Fifth National Climate Assessment is this: There has been genuine progress, too.

I’m used to mind-boggling numbers, and there are many of them in this report. Human beings have put about 1.6 trillion tons of carbon in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution — more than the weight of every living thing on Earth combined. But as we wrote the report, I learned other, even more mind-boggling numbers. In the last decade, the cost of wind energy has declined by 70 percent and solar has declined 90 percent. Renewables now make up 80 percent of new electricity generation capacity. Our country’s greenhouse gas emissions are falling, even as our G.D.P. and population grow.

In the report, we were tasked with projecting future climate change. We showed what the United States would look like if the world warms by 2 degrees Celsius. It wasn’t a pretty picture: more heat waves, more uncomfortably hot nights, more downpours, more droughts. If greenhouse emissions continue to rise, we could reach that point in the next couple of decades. If they fall a little, maybe we can stave it off until the middle of the century. But our findings also offered a glimmer of hope: If emissions fall dramatically, as the report suggested they could, we may never reach 2 degrees Celsius at all.

For the first time in my career, I felt something strange: optimism.

And that simple realization was enough to convince me that releasing yet another climate report was worthwhile.

Something has changed in the United States, and not just the climate. State, local and tribal governments all around the country have begun to take action. Some politicians now actually campaign on climate change, instead of ignoring or lying about it. Congress passed federal climate legislation — something I’d long regarded as impossible — in 2022 as we turned in the first draft.

[Note: She's talking about the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Act, which despite the names were the two biggest climate packages passed in US history. And their passage in mid 2022 was a big turning point: that's when, for the first time in decades, a lot of scientists started looking at the numbers - esp the ones that would come from the IRA's funding - and said "Wait, holy shit, we have an actual chance."]

And while the report stresses the urgency of limiting warming to prevent terrible risks, it has a new message, too: We can do this. We now know how to make the dramatic emissions cuts we’d need to limit warming, and it’s very possible to do this in a way that’s sustainable, healthy and fair.

The conversation has moved on, and the role of scientists has changed. We’re not just warning of danger anymore. We’re showing the way to safety.

I was wrong about those previous reports: They did matter, after all. While climate scientists were warning the world of disaster, a small army of scientists, engineers, policymakers and others were getting to work. These first responders have helped move us toward our climate goals. Our warnings did their job.

To limit global warming, we need many more people to get on board... We need to reach those who haven’t yet been moved by our warnings. I’m not talking about the fossil fuel industry here; nor do I particularly care about winning over the small but noisy group of committed climate deniers. But I believe we can reach the many people whose eyes glaze over when they hear yet another dire warning or see another report like the one we just published.

The reason is that now, we have a better story to tell. The evidence is clear: Responding to climate change will not only create a better world for our children and grandchildren, but it will also make the world better for us right now.

Eliminating the sources of greenhouse gas emissions will make our air and water cleaner, our economy stronger and our quality of life better. It could save hundreds of thousands or even millions of lives across the country through air quality benefits alone. Using land more wisely can both limit climate change and protect biodiversity. Climate change most strongly affects communities that get a raw deal in our society: people with low incomes, people of color, children and the elderly. And climate action can be an opportunity to redress legacies of racism, neglect and injustice.

I could still tell you scary stories about a future ravaged by climate change, and they’d be true, at least on the trajectory we’re currently on. But it’s also true that we have a once-in-human-history chance not only to prevent the worst effects but also to make the world better right now. It would be a shame to squander this opportunity. So I don’t just want to talk about the problems anymore. I want to talk about the solutions. Consider this your last warning from me."

-via New York Times. Opinion essay by leading climate scientist Kate Marvel. November 18, 2023.

[therealvinelle]

wait tell us more about the deleted fic where the professor who is more competent than Tom (and capable of breaking the curse) gets fired bc Dumbledore hates him

Asker is referring to me mentioning a deleted fic I cowrote with @theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin.

It was one of those failed ventures that had a great many wonderful things in it, but it ultimately wasn't... good. We chose to scrap the project, and the things we liked in it have been recycled in other fics, with that one big exception of the DADA teacher storyline.

To get ahead of follow-up questions:

Mine and the Muffin's approach to writing is to always outline first. We start with the premise, and let the idea play out in a bullet pointed play-by-play synopsis. This way we know where we're headed when we write, and even if we end up completely disregarding said outline we have the benefit of having thought things through. We sometimes do outlines for chapters, and while writing a fic we will frequently write new outlines as we write (first outline described the path from A-F, we get to C then write C-H, if that's at all illuminating - marking out the path as we go).

The whole point of this is having thought the fic's progression through before writing. It has helped us make important decisions regarding the plot, as an optional path wouldn't actually go the places we want it to. More importantly, it has sometimes revealed to us that a fic that was in the planning stage should never be allowed to get further. (This was actually the case with a recent Rank Heresy writing competition, as we confidently set about to outlining our idea only to realize that it wasn't... good...)

The big scrapped fic stands out in that this process failed us, we outlined up until a point and set about writing, getting several chapters in before having a sudden "Wait a minute, where is this going?" moment that led to a "How can we salvage this?" crisis mode that turned into the horrible realization the fic as a whole could not be saved as the idea itself was bad.

Absolutely tragic, but very educational and has led us to asking far more critical questions ahead of writing (such as "Can we actually write this?", "Do we want to write this?", or "Is this something we've already written, or that could be incorporated into an already existing fic instead?") rather than just plunging in.

The volume of Twilight fics, many of whom wound up extremely similar and treading parallel ground, is also a lesson in that we learned to think very carefully before launching a new one. Is this an original idea, or did we just repeat a previously written fic?

Thanks to the outline, and seeing a suggestion to how the fic would play out, we've been able to say early on and before actually writing anything that "Yes, this is just (insert fic name) with (insert small tweak). YIKES" and scrap the idea.

So with that, know that the deleted fic was scrapped with good reason but that the best parts of it live on in fics that are available on our Ao3s.

[cupidjyu]

my nerdy love

eric x reader (requested by anon! sorry i cannot reply to your message directly bc i feel like that would spoil the whole fic LOL but tysm for your kind words ^^)

genre: loser eric, college!au, eric is such a nervous wreck, he's also always angry, jealous eric, villain hyunjae (not really) notes: i love these kind of stories like they're so funny LOL i hope you guys enjoyed! i enjoy writing losers more than i do flirts... song rec!

word count: 2.5k

Act 1

in the back of a large lecture hall, sat two best friends, both born in the same year. they were not paying attention to the professor whatsoever.

sunwoo poked the other’s shoulder, “yo… are you good?”

the other boy, named eric, was currently fuming, looking off into the distance where you were now sitting. there was another man who had recently plopped down next to you. eric watched as he took your pencil, twirling it around as you whined at his teasing. eric then glared with heated jealousy as you leaned over the man to try to reach it.

sunwoo asked again, “are you-”

“no,” eric yelled, making some people turn their heads and frown. eric apologized silently as he lowered his voice. “no, i’m not good. that guy is just so-” he groaned. “annoying.”

“if you like y/n that much, just go up to them or else he’ll steal your sweetheart,” sunwoo casually replied.

“i can’t just-”

“yes you can,” sunwoo refuted. “you guys are literally working on a final project together. aren’t you comfortable with them already?”

eric did not reply, only looking at sunwoo sheepishly.

“don’t tell me,” sunwoo groaned. “were you a nervous wreck?”

eric recalled that time when you were assigned to be his partner. he kept stuttering over his words and even dropped coffee all over your bag which he had to spend his whole paycheck to pay for it. even though you insisted it was fine.

“look man,” eric tried to defend himself. “you have to see what y/n looks like up close. like an angel, i swear.”

“still,” the older glared. “try not to be a coward for once.”

eric sighed, looking back to where the man was now playing with your hair. and out of nowhere, he glanced back to where eric was sitting. he looked him right in the eye and much to his anger, the man winked. eric slammed his laptop closed and took his belongings, leaving the room.

-

now, you and eric were working at one of the popular study spots, trying to finish planning out the final page of the project. eric was so, so giddy to see you and get some alone time. he even dressed up (which sunwoo teased him for).

“wait so-” he started to ask a question. “what about if…?” he trailed off because you were now leaning into his side to look at his computer. he blushed, looking away.

“what were you saying?” you looked at him expectantly.

“uh-” he faltered. “i… um- i wanted to ask if-”

“y/n!”

you turned around at the familiar voice. eric glanced in that direction too and of course, it was him again. eric looked him over, his eyes narrowing. he was tall, possibly (definitely) taller than eric, which severely hurt his ego. he was also insanely handsome, which eric despised. the younger puffed his chest out to try to look stronger but it was of no use, as the boy dragged a chair over to sit next to you, his muscles showing even through his oversized shirt.

“what are you doing here?” you smiled. you smiled! eric’s heart plummeted, envy quickly taking over every inch of his heart. i could make you smile like that too.

“just stopped by,” the man grinned, with his horribly attractive smile. “i’m exhausted from that exam.” as he talked on and on, he looked at eric with an amused glint in his eye as he wrapped an arm around your shoulder, pulling you closer. smoke was practically coming out of his ears at this point as you laughed, shoving the man away.

oh, eric was about to explode.

“ah!” you gestured to him. “this is eric, by the way.”

the man looked at eric knowingly, a sly smile appearing on his lips. “so that’s your name…”

“what?” eric asked, with a hostile voice.

“nothing, nothing,” the man was definitely amused as he got up. “i have to go, bye y/n! and don’t miss me too much!”

oh, how eric hated him.

-

later on, eric confronted that same man.

“hey,” eric gripped his shoulder, turning him around. “what’s your problem?”

the man feigned innocence, “what’d i do?”

“you know i like y/n, don’t you?” eric asked, his hand forming fists. “you know and you’re always hanging around. you even look at me while you’re being all touchy. don’t! don’t try to act slick… uh…” he paused, his mind going blank.

the other simply smirked, tilting his head, “you don’t even know my name don’t you?”

eric was about to reply but the man beat him to it.

“hyunjae,” he interrupted. and then he turned around, waving goodbye with a flick of his hand. as he walked, he glanced back at eric with a cunning smile. “and i have no idea what you’re talking about. have a nice day!”

eric loathed him.

Act 2

much to eric’s surprise though, hyunjae had disappeared for a while. were his prayers and wishes with shooting stars finally answered? would hyunjae finally vanish and stop disturbing his soon-to-be love story? it seemed like that for a while.

it was finally eric’s chance to get closer to you, with sunwoo’s constant urging. and so, he came up to you one day after the lecture.

“hey, y/n,” he gave you a nervous quirk of a smile. you looked up and smiled brightly. his heart stuttered almost immediately and so did his breath as he quickly tried to compose himself. he frantically played with the strings of his hoodie. sunwoo snickered in the background.

“hi, eric,” you softly greeted, tilting your head. eric felt like he could faint on the floor at that moment.

“do you-” he suddenly jabbed his finger at your textbook, making you jump. “want to study the next chapter to- together?”

your eyes widened and you felt excitement through your veins.

“oh!” you stood up, eagerly as you slung your bag over your shoulder. “sure!” you grinned. “let’s go to the library now then if you’re free.”

“really?” he looked at you hopefully. and then he trailed after you out of the room almost like a lost puppy.

sunwoo shook his head, “he’s got it so bad…”

-

eric wiped his sweaty palms on the fabric of his pants as he glanced at you. you looked incredibly focused while you read the chapter and took notes on it. 

eric on the other hand… he wasn’t doing quite well. he was so caught up in staring at your beauty. his eyes would constantly wander over your features, even wondering how your lips would feel against his. he quickly shook out of it.

you looked at him, puzzled. and then out of nowhere, eric felt your hand be pressed to his forehead. 

“are you feeling okay?” you looked worried. “you’ve been out of it for a while…”

his face was completely red now as he backed away. he thought that would be the end of it but much to his embarrassment, his chair had gotten caught on the carpet and he quite literally fell backward.

you yelped, immediately getting up to help him. eric was mortified as he considered just curling up into a ball in the middle of the library. nonetheless, he stood up with a pink face.

“are you hurt?” you asked, looking him over.

“no, no,” he laughed, painfully. “i’m fine.”

you looked at him skeptically. “maybe we need a break…” you pondered. you looped your arm around eric’s making him sputter. “i know, let’s go to the cafe near here?”

-

so it was a cafe date now. you were drinking your order as you stared at eric who could not seem to look you in the eye. his pupils darted everywhere, his eyes wide and round. he bit his lip nervously as he fidgeted with his bag.

“you’re like bolt,” you observed.

“huh?” he finally looked you in the eye. he wondered how beautiful someone could be just by sitting at a cafe seat near the window.

“bolt,” you repeated. “the puppy from the movie?”

eric practically choked. “you think i’m like a puppy?”

“yeah!” you laughed. he couldn’t help but smile back at your cute expression. “you always look so curious. it’s cute… like a puppy.” there was a beat of silence before you slapped your hand over your mouth, in disbelief that you had just called the arguably cute boy… cute. out loud.

he stared at you, mouth open as he gradually blushed more and more.

“thank you,” was all he could say, completely calm.

he went home and giggled about it to himself at 3 am that same day.

-

the study dates and cafe dates slowly branched out into other ways to hang out. but eric liked to call them dates. he’s delusional like that. one time, he took you to the movies where he attempted to do the “yawn and put his arm over their body subtly” thing. he failed miserably. apparently, he has bad aim.

“eric?” you looked at him confused as you munched on the popcorn.

he jolted, “h-huh?”

“you just poked my ear.”

“oh! did i? haha,” he fake laughed as he took his arm back. god, sunwoo was so going to bully him about this.

another time, he took you to the mall. you were browsing various bags when your eyes lingered on a specific one. he noticed and was about to buy it for you like the gentleman he was. except he forgot that he was a college student in debt.

“do you like this one?” he smiled sweetly. “i can buy it for you!”

“ah,” you shook your head sheepishly since you had already seen how much it cost. “y-you really don’t have to…”

eric was stubborn. “i insist!” he looked at the price tag attached to it. his eyes enlarged at the cost. it was so expensive. the number of zeroes in the number made him revolt as he hurriedly put the bag back on the shelf. “on second thought…” and he quickly walked away as he mentally slapped himself in the face.

you couldn’t help but giggle at him.

Act 3

hyunjae came back.

eric clearly remembered gasping when he witnessed hyunjae open the door to the lecture hall. he even looked at the poor young boy and winked cheekily. eric swore he saw red.

and of course, hyunjae would bound straight over to you, swinging an arm over your shoulder to pull you into a tight side hug.

“you good?” sunwoo nudged him.

eric could only glare, the paper in his hand now turning into a crumpled ball under his fist. 

“i literally hate him.”

unlike last time though, eric did not stray far anymore. instead, he clung to you. he refused to leave your side in fear that hyunjae would come and snatch you away from the only love of his life. as soon as class ended, he immediately was by your side. again, like a puppy.

“hi, eric!” you gave him a hug. he froze, looking down at the top of your head as he slowly wrapped his arms around your waist.

“oh,” he breathed out, surprised. “this… this is nice.”

“mhm,” you hummed. “i think so too.” you nuzzled closer.

(sunwoo wondered to himself, “aren’t they already dating at this point…”)

-

one day, the two of you were taking a peaceful walk, talking about how horrible your exams went and how badly eric craved instant ramen at that moment. that was when hyunjae suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“y/n!” he ruffled your hair. eric grumbled, rolling his eyes. what a way to ruin his day. “did you do something to your hair?” hyunjae asked, smiling sweetly (obnoxiously, in eric’s opinion). “it looks nice.”

eric mumbled to himself, “i noticed first…”

when you confirmed hyunjae’s observation and finally shooed him away to his next class, you turned and noticed eric glaring daggers at hyunjae’s back.

you poked him. he looked at you, his eyes softening. “everything okay?” you asked.

he paused and gazed at you with an unreadable expression.

“are you aware that he’s been hitting on you all this time?”

you froze, your heart had stopped beating. “eric-”

“it’s seriously getting annoying,” he groaned. “every time we spend time together, he’s always there, ruining the moment. with his stupidly handsome face, his long legs, his perfect hair, his fit body, his-” eric paused. “whatever! you get the point. still, don’t you think that it’s a bit low of him? like does he not get the hint? shouldn’t he back off since i-”

and eric really should have stopped before he would blurt out something stupid. but eric was never good at stopping himself.

“since i like you.”

you stared for a while. he looked at you, his mouth shut closed as a blush began to creep up his neck at the realization that he had just confessed. and then you burst out laughing.

“i-” he stuttered. “i didn’t mean to confess i-”

you kept on laughing. eric continued to try to defend himself.

he scrambled for words, “it’s just that you are so my type. you’re so beautiful and kind and i can’t help but-”

and you leaned up, cupping his face in your hands, and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. he gasped, looking at you with wide eyes. and then they darkened, looking straight at your lips. he quickly wrapped a hand around your waist, making you yelp as he pulled you right against his body. his lips were back on yours, deepening the kiss with such tenderness that you couldn’t help but melt in his arms.

you pulled away after a while, trying to catch your breath.

“hyunjae is my older brother.”

…

and it’s like the whole world came crashing down on him.

“what?” he squawked.

“he’s my brother!” you laughed. “he disappeared earlier because he had to go and do a study for the major he’s in. eric…” you poked his cheek. “he’s just very affectionate. no need to be jealous. oh, and by the way,” you leaned up, whispering in his ear. “i like you too.”

eric practically almost fainted.

“you like me?” he exclaimed as if you hadn’t just initiated the first kiss. “and wait-” he gasped loudly. “was he doing all that on- on purpose? are you serious? he knew?” he put his face in the palm of his hands with mortification. “i hate that guy so much. and you- you like me?”

you giggled and pulled him into a kiss, interrupting his little crisis.

he quickly forgot about it when he felt your lips against his.

“oh, i could get used to this,” he mumbled, pulling you closer by the waist.

Extra Scene

“why’re you hiding behind a tree?” younghoon remarked, appearing behind hyunjae who seemed to be spying on two people… kissing and giggling.

“oh they’re so cute, those two little lovebirds,” hyunjae snickered. “all thanks to my plan.”

younghoon punched his shoulder, “stop standing there, you dork. you’re going to be late for your first date. enough of playing cupid for one day…”

“never.”

[wanderingaldecaldo]

Tagged by @gloryride, @gamerkitten, @chevvy-yates, and @aggravateddurian to share something I'm working on. Thanks, chooms! Still leaning into the ADHD, so there's several things I'm working on simultaneously. Most recently it's been...

Modding

The cutoff vests are 95% done, just need a few touches before I can make them live on Nexus, so what better time to start a new modding project? 🙃 A friend mentioned wanting Vik's pants and I'm always looking for more butch clothes for Val especially ones that ride low on those hips but also the belt & tools seem like a fun project.

Unedited. Not bad for an hour's work ☺️

Both the pants and belt are simple replacers to start while I test. I have some clipping to deal with on the pants, but so far the weights look okay. 🤞

As for the belt, I lost the tools somewhere between Blender and Wkit lol. I wanted to take a go at texturing them in Substance Painter so I split them off into their own submesh. Not sure where I lost them but I'm sure they'll turn up again.

Writing

It's fitting that Durian tag me because my latest writing was incited by a scene in his fic "The President's Lady" in which Myers invites Sol and V to lunch at the White House. I'm going for a more, uh, traditional take on The Tower ending than he is, using my fave angst, combined with some good ol' longing and probably some flashback smut. I've been canoodling on this in my notebook since Durian's chapter came out, writing a bit each night before falling asleep. I started transcribing it just for this post, so here are 315 of 338 words, hot off the Google Docs.

Some backstory: The second time I played Phantom Liberty I beelined to Dogtown, and skipped meeting the Aldecaldos and doing pretty much anything past finishing the VDBs quests. Vik was the only one who called, and she decided to take Sol up on his offer of a job at Langley. Soon after she's back in DC, she gets an invite to lunch from President Myers.

“Thank you, Madam President.” “V, please. No need to be so formal. I believe we’re well past that now.” “Heh, just a few weeks ago, told you—” “Yes, V,” she cries out, breath hot against her neck— Stopping, Rosalind turns to look at her, eyebrows and lines of her forehead drawing to a point, as if finally she recognizes V for who she still is. “I suppose that really was like yesterday for you.” The lines soften and she leads V to a sofa across the room, gesturing for her to sit first, then sits close and takes her hand. Long, graceful fingers teasing her skin— V stares down at her hand in Rosalind’s, her arms blank of cyberware still a disconcerting sight, but she doesn’t pull away. “How are you feeling? I can’t imagine the news was easy to hear.” “No, wasn’t,” she says with a shake of her head. “Thought I was gonna die a merc but now....” “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to tell you myself. Solomon suggested it would lead to too many questions among the staff. He’s right of course, but I still feel I let you down.” V frowns. “Ma’am?” “You weren’t my agent for long, but that doesn’t mean you weren’t important. What you did...” Rosalind trails off, eyes dipping to her mouth before she drops her gaze to their hands on her lap. Her nails are still perfectly polished, buffed to a shine. She looks up and says, “I’ll never be able to repay you for all that you did for me.” V down looks at their linked hands then, heart pounding, she leans forward to kiss her, as if she’s just any other woman, not the most powerful in the world, and Rosalind tilts her head and parts her lips and— She swallows and shakes her head. “You did, though. Least as far as I’m concerned.”

Tagging with the usual no pressure disclaimer: @medtech-mara @breezypunk @streetkid-named-desire @peaches-n-screem @rosapexa @luvwich @merge-conflict @steelscorner @ghostoffuturespast @byberbunk2069 and YOU!

Take this as an invitation to share something you're working on and tag me! Doesn't have to be Cyberpunk, or anything fandom-related!

[reel-fear]

Wow, so umm... This looks bad, not only is it inaccurate due to using the wrong ink demon design [unless this is confirmation BATIM Ink Demon has been outright retconned... Which would make me pissed enough to make a new post just about THAT] but from an art standpoint this is just... Confusing and poorly done.

I wouldn't care if this was fanart, of course you should support young, indie artists... But for a Graphic Novel making sure your cover doesn't look like something Butch Hartman shat out in an afternoon is kind of important. Remember they're going to be asking us to give money to them to read this. The artist likely won't see any of that money and neither do the authors most of the time, not to mention this art screams of the artist being underpaid and overworked.

Like they Had to get something on someone's desk and their boss said 'good enough'. A concept Joey Drew Studios is very familiar with considering the allegations of poor working environments that Kindly Beast. Not to mention Mike Mood admitting in a Reddit AMA that they did in fact rush projects like Showdown Bandit. [Which they sold at full price]

He also says they can in fact say no or yes to designs involving their IP. Either Mike or Meatly had to say yes to this cover, according to his own damn words.

And do you really think this company in particular would care enough about its fanbase to not sell them garbage? They have done exactly that on several occasions. It's not like they care particularly about art either, considering their previous use of AI Art. There was no apology or even posts addressing it... Instead, they just rushed out an archives update to their game to get people to stop talking about it... Even forgetting an entire character in it. Again

This company is [or at least SHOULD BE] on thin ice when it comes to being suspected of misleading their fans or rushing out crappy products to them.

So with all that context in mind, I'm gonna talk about why this cover sucks ass.

The light sources are all over the place? Why does it look like someone put maces or knight armor on his shoulders but it's just flesh?? It looks both gross and weird [not in a good way either]

To explain more I'm going on a rant below but sadly this seems to have been confirmed to not just be a rough pass but the final cover and man... I am not excited about this graphic novel just at all. This felt like it really drained any possibility of it turning out good for me and I already had expectations low.

Okay first point, the light sources?? And there is no consistency here with the shadows or lighting, it looks like there's a hundred light sources all at once but none of them are even consistent!

the arrows here represent all the different light sources I can make out and yet the the shadow clearly implies there's only one. I understand wanting to use highlights to give the character a more clear shape but then just give him one or two lights behind him or in front of him? No matter how u follow the light sources, the highlights make no sense and the shadows make even less sense.

Why are the shoulders like that? Like on the legs it's a little understandable, at least those are clearly very heavily affected by perspective, for me I think they are so exaggerated it makes it look like one of the legs is either huge or one is small but that's maybe subjective.

However, the shoulders are unjustifiable, what happened there, what did they do??

I could pick on so much more honestly, how the color choices of piss yellow with no other colors being used, and the harsh pitch black being used for every part of his body is weird. How it looks straight out of Butch Hartman's recent crappy art. But to put bluntly bad start! Also what the HELL is going on with this background??

Seems once again the Bendy team is fine with sending out stuff thinking it's "Good Enough" for Bendy fans and honestly the people trying to tell me to "Be Grateful" for this are just proving that no matter how many times you betray your audience some of em will defend you!

Which is sad tbh. If anything we should be putting MORE pressure on the Bendy team to do better. Cause we deserve better than this, honestly we do. There are amazing artists in the bendy community who could do so much better for a cover. They've employed their fan artists before... Wouldn't it be great to do that for such a lore important book? The book that gives us the identity of one of the main characters in BATIM? The character you spend the entirety of Chapter 4 fighting to save? Not to mention will give several major characters their human designs?

But I guess this is... Good enough...

[whimsy-floof]

Holy shit my first real art post in literal years and it's a motherfuckin' crossover piece! FUCK YEAH!

Does this mean my burnout is finally gone? ...........eh, kinda.

OKAY! So A lot has been going on over the last....... SEVERAL years???

I won't go into it too much here, cuz I wanna actually talk about what I'm posting here.

So, Helluva Boss is a show I've been a fan of since episode 1.

A friend of mine and I have enjoyed nerding out about it every time a new episode drops, and Stolas is one of our favorite characters from the show.

Also, I've recently picked up a hyperfixation on the Game Grumps, and especially Dan Avidan, AKA Danny Sexbang.

I particularly really enjoy his music, from his comedy work in Ninja Sex Party and Starbomb to his more serious stuff in Skyhill and Shadow Academy to his collab cover almbums with the Super Guitar Brothers.

ANYWAY, so one day my friendo and I were flinging our obsessive nerdings at each other, and they were like "Imagine Danny Sexbang, but wearing Stolas' outfit."

And I was like, "Hmmm yes, but also consider.... Stolas... in Danny Sexbang's outfit?"

And then inspiration struck, and I had to make it real. SO I DID!

Here he is in all his glory! Stolas Sexbang!

The burnout I've been suffering for the last few years has been AWFUL, and it's so nice to finally be able to sit and do art without the consistent "UUUUGH" feeling that came with the burnout.

Does this mean I'll be posting more? No promises.

This just was a nice little burst of inspiration that I am glad to have been able to follow through on.

Guys, let me tell you it feels SO GOOD to finally have been able to do something like this again. I've been doing like random sketches here and there over the last few years, but nothing post worthy.

This was the first actual project I've been able to get myself to do, and it felt so good.

For a long time, I was feeling like I was never going to recover from this burnout, and I was about ready to give up hoping for it.

But this... Gave me so much relief. You have no idea.

All this to say I can't say I've fully recovered from my burnout, but I can at least say that I've finally started to.

[coffeeheartaddict2]

Instant regret

Book: Open Heart (Pre Series)

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!OC Estelle Campion, Tobias Carrick

Word count: 2383

Catergory: Angst

Warnings: language, sexual references

Rating Mature end of PG

Summary: It is coming up to the end of Estelle’s third year and she is focused on residency applications. A chat with Ethan does not go well.

Disclaimer: characters (except Estelle) belong to Pixelberry

Authors note: So the most recent Tobias Carrick appreciation week has inspired me to hop into my Time Machine and write some more fics based in their Hopkins days. Some of this will be from Tobias’s perspective so enjoy the ride.

🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃

It was a sunny day in Baltimore. End of year exams were fast approaching, plans for summer being made and for the cohort in their third year of medical school, decisions about where to apply for residency needed to be made. Estelle Campion was yo-yoing between third and fourth of her cohort, the residency world was her oyster. She was drawn to Oncology. There were plenty of hospitals that would help her fulfill her ambition, however there was a very important person she needed to take into consideration. Her boyfriend, Ethan Ramsey. They had only being together officially for six months, by far her most serious relationship but how do you broach the subject of your future when you are not sure where you stand. She knew of the abandonment that he had endured when he was eleven and how that had coloured his attitude towards relationships and how it was the main thing holding him back in starting the relationship that they had but she wanted to start an out future dialogue.

So she took a break from her thoughts and met with the other person who knew Ethan well enough. Tobias Carrick. She had gotten close to both of them and she had found Tobias attractive and his company enjoyable, however she got to know Ethan more as she worked on similar projects with him and found herself more attracted to him. She did enjoy a friendship with Tobias. It was also comforting to have someone talk to about Ethan and his walls.

“Estelle,” greets Tobias as he gives her a hug. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“As much as I enjoy your company T, I am wanting to talk with you about Ethan.” Said Estelle.

“What has he done now?” Questions Tobias

Estelle chuckles. “Nothing, well at least not yet…”

“I hear you both you know, it is not just study dates you two do…”

Estelle blushes. “Not what I meant and you know it, and hey I am pretty sure you have learnt plenty from what you overheard.”

“Hey!” Exclaims Tobias somewhat offended. “I already know plenty. Thank you very much, what about Ethan do you want to talk about?”

“How does one broach the our future discussion?”

“Why are you talking to me about this? Shouldn’t you be talking to Ethan?” Asks Tobias.

“Because I do not want to freak him out but also, if he still sees us being well, an us , it will influence where I apply for residency.”

“You know he will say that he should have little to do with such a decision.”

Tobias shakes his head in disbelief. “And he is an obstinate ass for believing that. Being top 5 though, you would get multiple offers though. I know the western seaboard has you well away from your parents, but there are plenty of great programs that are not New York or Connecticut. I mean there are several other options in Boston alone and if Ethan does miss out on Edenbrook you can still transfer.” Said Tobias

“We all know that Ethan will get Edenbrook. You may not be in the throes of application yet but I know he has started and it is impressive.” Stated Estelle, “ I do not want to screw things up between us but I do not want to be deciding which residency without his input.”

“All I can say is be honest, tell him how you feel and for the love of all things holy please do not dance around the obvious for too long.”

Estelle chuckles. “He is cooking me dinner tonight so I will open a dialogue tonight.”

“Ahh yes, “cooking dinner” says Tobias. “Good luck and don’t worry I will not be home to interrupt what I am sure will be a pleasant evening.” Said Tobias smugly. They enjoyed their meal and went their separate ways. Estelle was buoyed by her chat. Be honest, how hard can that be? She thought to herself. She went home and did some study then got ready for her date night with Ethan. She knew that they were to have a serious discussion but she still picked one of her new lingerie sets, after all, if all went to plan, well they would be fucking each other senseless afterwards. It had been a busy few weeks for both of them after all.

She made her way to Ethan’s unit. She knocked on the door and he called out to enter. He was already in the kitchen, very much in his element. It was a pasta dish that he was cooking and it looked and smelt delicious. They sat and they ate. After a glass of wine and some kissing she felt that she should not delay the inevitable chat anymore.

How much of a future do you see for us?” Ethan was perplexed initially but he knew that Estelle would be applying for residency and that assauged his surprise.

“Is this because you want to know where you should apply for residency?” Asked Ethan

“Partially, residency is a big deal and if you still see us being an us, we’ll that will impact where I apply.

“And why should I be a consideration. If the best opportunity for you is on the west coast then we will sort something out.”

Estelle was shocked. She knew this would be an Ethan response but it was still a shock, it was not like she was putting her career on hold.

“Do you even care about us Ethan?”

“Stelle, in all honesty, I thought we would be talking residencies when you got accepted, not before you even started applying.” He took a breath

“And yes I do care about us but you also need to know that you also need to do what is best for you career wise.”

“Life is not all about career Ethan.”

“It is a big chunk of our lives though”

Estelle is starting to feel hurt.

“Is care all you feel?”

Ethan paused, things were going well, so he thought. He really did like Estelle but for him,6 months was too soon surely.

“Do I really like you? I thought the answer to that was obvious but beyond that, we have only been together for six months…”

“What are you that afraid to fall in love Ethan!” Exclaims Estelle

Ethan pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Stelle, you know me entering a relationship is a big deal. A relationship, hell even the friendship I have with Tobias was not something I foresaw.”

“E, I know that I am your first serious relationship, hell even this relationship is serious by my standards but I need to know, do you see a future for us?”

Ethan took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts.

“I don’t know how to answer that question honestly. I understand why you are wanting to know this, however asking me to even guess where we will be, I am having trouble imagining that…”

“So you don’t see a future for us, is that what you are saying?”

“I did not say that….”

“Yeah that is what it sounded like!” Said Estelle crying. She picks up her bag and makes her way to the door.

“Stelle, please, can we talk about this?” Calls Ethan, following her towards the door but he is not quick enough and she walks out the door and slams it in his face.

Ethan is confused and upset. Tonight was not meant to end like it had, he decides to

Let Estelle cool off and call her tomorrow.

He sits down, dejected and angry at himself and trying to figure out what he did actually feel. He knew the answers were not what Estelle wanted to hear but surely she should have preferred him to be honest now instead of being proved wrong this time next year. He found the bourbon stash as he needed something stronger.

Meanwhile Estelle was a mess. She knew he had a wall and she had suspected that she had been enabling Ethan by letting him behind that wall but hearing he had not thought about a future that included her, letting her make what she thought was a decision that needed input from him. He did not explicitly state it was over but it sure felt like that and a fresh set of angry and sad tears flowed. She had no idea how long she had been wandering aimlessly but she was shocked when she happened upon Tobias. Tobias was also shocked to see her. He could see she was upset.

What happened?” Asked Tobias

“Ethan and I had a fight, he does not see a future for us.” More tears fall, Tobias is torn, he wants to be there for Estelle but also wants to see Ethan. Estelle then cuddles into Tobias. “I really love him” she says in between sobs, “how can he treat me like this?”

“Did you tell him you love him?” Asked Tobias.

“I did not get that far. He has not thought about us, it really hurt Tobias.”

Tobias offers to get Estelle home. Estelle decides she needs a drink while they are on the way and they stop off at the bar. They have a few drinks, talk about the fight, talk about school. They both drink more than they should have, and as such their inhibitions were lowered. The thoughts that Estelle thought she had long buried about Tobias came to the fore. With the courage that the alcohol offered, Estelle kisses Tobias. Tobias is shocked. He found her attractive but it was clear to him that she had eyes for Ethan, so he thought.

“Me and Ethan are over T” she whispers before kissing him again. Tobias decides that they should go. As much as he knew he should leave, he did want to make sure that Estelle got home safely. They make their way to Estelle’s where she kisses him again. This time Tobias ignores the voice in his head telling him to stop.

They enter the unit and make their way to her bedroom. Again the voice in his head told him he needed to stop but he again ignored it. The kisses get hungrier and they disrobe. As soon as Estelle unbuckles his belt she is down on her knees. He was taken aback by her prowess and as the night went on, he was surprised again. He could not deny that the sex was great, even Estelle was satisfied multiple times but the regret set in right away.

He discretely got up from the bed and found his clothes. He left her a note stating that he had gone home and he embarked on the walk of shame.

He arrived at the unit he shared with Ethan. A part of him hoped that Ethan would be in bed but he was not. He could tell his friend was upset and that he had been drinking.

Are you upset about you and Estelle breaking up?”

Ethan looks at Tobias, his look of sadness changing to anger. In that moment Tobias just knew he had been lied too.

“We had a fight, yes but I did not end it, she was very upset that I had trouble seeing a future and I suppose she took that as me ending it but she stormed out before I could discuss it further.”

Tobias took a breath. He knew this conversation was going to hurt his friend but he decided he was going to be honest. He took the bottle on the table and poured himself a drink before continuing.

“Well, Stelle is spinning a different story, she told me you were over, I am sorry”

Tobias could see hurt and Anger in Ethan’s eyes.

“Sorry for what Tobias, what is going on?”

Tobias decides to continue to tell the truth.

“I bumped into Estelle, she told me about the fight. She was pretty upset so I wanted to make sure she got home safely, anyway we stop off at a bar and had quite a few drinks and she kissed me. She assured me you were over and kissed me again…”

“Did anything else happen?” Asked Ethan, through gritted teeth.

“I had sex with Estelle.” Said Tobias. “If I had known she was lying I wouldn’t have. She told me that you were over.”

“And you believed her?” Said Ethan, angrily.

“What was I to think? She was crying and wandering aimlessly and very upset when our paths crossed.”

“You could have thought with your head and not with your cock for starters.”

“I did not plan it, it just happened.”

“Well you could have said no.”

“If we had not detoured that probably would have happened.”

“So what, were you waiting for me to screw up before you had your way with her? Or were you…”

“I am going to stop you right there Ethan. Yes when I first met Estelle I did find her attractive but she only had eyes for you.”

Ethan is furious. Furious at himself, at Tobias and also Estelle.

“I can not believe that you, my supposed best friend, slept with my girlfriend.”

“Which part of she said you had broken up are you not getting?”

“That does not matter, you still fucked her! And more importantly, fucked her right after she thought that we were over!”

Ethan storms out, feeling more hurt then what he did when his mum walked out when he was eleven.

Tobias wants to go after his friend but he knew that neither were in a state to discuss this maturely. He was angry at himself for ignoring the voice that said stop and mad at himself for betraying the trust that he knew Ethan did not give freely. He knew it was going to be hard coming back from this but Ethan was the brother he wished he had and he would do anything to try and keep this relationship. He calls Estelle and he is also angry at her. Angry for giving up on Ethan, angry for wanting another man in her bed so soon and angry that she lied to him.

After hanging up with Estelle he went to bed, hoping to clear his head before Ethan came back.

——-

Authors note: that awkward moment where you have already done large amounts of dialogue in the events of this night in part 2 of the medical school series which is found here. I have added some little extra bits. The next part will have some more parts lifted my series again with more added as I did want to do more from the perspective of Tobias and I also wanted to showcase a bit more the friendship that Estelle had with Tobias and how that was also ruined too.

Tagging: @jerzwriter @alj4890 @cariantha @genevievemd @jamespotterthefirst @potionsprefect @liaromancewriter @youlookappropriate @bex-la-get @a-crepusculo @crazy-loca-blog @tessa-liam @schnitzelbutterfingers @binny1985 @openheartfanfics @choicesficwriterscreations

[0nlythrowharrybeaux]

#4 angst pls!

This one's an AU!

Warnings: Mentions of depression

You knew that Harry was going through it recently. He had been struggling to find a new job and his current job was really draining him. He had an asshole boss and very self-serving coworkers that made advancing in the work and collaborating unnecessarily difficult. On top of that, you were newly married and well, despite what people think, adjusting to living with him had been hard on both of you since you hadn't cohabitated prior to getting married.

It was hard for him to turn his place into your place from one day to the next. Yeah, you had some stuff over there from before, but everything was shared now so it was a bit different. It was hard for you too to feel like his home was now your home as well. And you'd had the proper discussions long before you got engaged and even did pre-marital counseling just to make sure that you two could really do this together. With you both being children of divorced parents you didn't want to take that step if you knew from the start that you had irreconcilable differences.

But all of this to say that Harry felt like he was a bit stuck. He felt drained all the time and absolutely over everything. One of the hardest things for him now was that when he was feeling this way he didn't really have alone time. You knew that Harry really liked to wind down from his frustrations alone at his own pace. His home had always been his safe space to do that and well now, that was a bit different. But today, Harry felt that he was in luck.

He had just returned from a business trip to New York and he was absolutely spent. He decided to get a car service to pick him up as to not interrupt your day and also to have some alone time just in case you beat him home. You knew that he was coming back and that he hadn't had the best time on this trip with his coworker based on what he'd filled you in on briefly, so you made some plans after work to give him some time.

When Harry got home he texted you because you clearly hadn't arrived yet. You didn't say anything about when you'd be back so he decided to wind down with a nice relaxing bath. He kind of started to unpack and had a couple things strewn around the bed before deciding to take care of it after his bath when he was in a much better mood. He had a shower and then got in the tub for a good half hour before he wrapped himself up in his robe and headed back into your bedroom to change. He sat on the edge of the bed and picked up his phone only to see several missed calls from his office and he groaned as he called back.

"Harry!" he heard his name almost immediately after the line rang.

"Yes, Mr. Thomas? Sorry, I missed your call." he said to one of the directors that he got along with a bit better than the other bosses.

"It's alright, I have some news." he said and Harry hummed indicating that he go on, "Tomorrow, Roger's going to announce that he's decided to go with Byron's proposal for the deal with the investment firm." he sighed. Harry immediately frowned.

He felt completely devastated as he heard this. The only thing he felt confident about from this entire trip was his proposal to this investment firm. He had managed to strike up a better deal than Byron's. He had gotten them to agree on early access for new investment opportunities. He had gotten them to remove the "finders" fee that was charged on top of their standard fee as well. And yes, his plan was slightly more expensive than Byron's but based on the financial projections he had run, their company would be making a greater profit now because they'd have access to the more promising opportunities along with the bigger and more wellknown companies. With that profit essentially the cost of the deal would pay itself! He was at a loss and he couldn't help the rage building up inside of his body. His eyes started welling up as his tears threatened to spill over his waterline.

"Harry?" he heard Mr. Thomas call to him and he exhaled shakily.

"Sorry, sir. Just...processing." he said and Mr. Thomas hummed.

"I did what I could. I mean, I even told Roger he was backing the wrong man, but...you know how Byron is. And you know how Roger is..." he sighed in disappointment, "I just ummm...I wanted you to know so that little prick doesn't have the satisfaction of seeing you upset." Mr. Thomas explained.

"I appreciate it. Thank you."

"Of course. And look...you're a bright guy, Harry. And I just think that...maybe this is not the place for you. You're not like these other people, they've no self respect, no principles they adhere to. I'd sayit'll be sad to see you go, but no one here is interested in helping you reach your potential. Just... think about that." he advised and Harry hummed.

"Well thank you, I'll give that some thought."

"Yep. See you tomorrow. Game face, alright?"

"Yes, Mr. Thomas." he said and then hung up.

As soon as he pulled his phone away from his ear he started to cry. He was so frustrated and it felt like he just couldn't get a win, no matter how hard he tried! More than that, he needed to succeed now because your future depended on it. There was so much riding on him having a good job and bringing in money and he was failing at that. He felt like a failure as an employee, as a man, as a husband! He had felt like a shell of himself for months and he knew you saw it and you tried to help, but he felt beyond help. He just felt like giving up. He let himself fall back on the bed as he cried quietly, he'd unpack after...

You got home and were so excited to see Harry. He clearly hadn't eaten since there were no dishes in the sink. So you rushed over to your bedroom and quickly kept in your greeting when you saw him passed out on the bed, breathing heavily. You walked over quietly and you frowned when you saw his tear-stained cheeks. You pushed some of his things aside and gently laid beside him and raked your fingers through his damp curls. He woke up almost immediately with a deep exhale and he turned to you with a frown that soon relaxed upon seeing you.

"Hey, babe. Are you alright?" you asked him softly and he sighed.

"No. I'm just...done." he sniffled, "I feel like I can't do anything right! I'm always tired and irritable, and I work so hard and these people don't even care!" he vented, "My boss is a prick who values getting his ass kissed over actual thoughtful ideas! But I can't find something nearly as good and well now there's us and I can't just quit because I have a responsibility to you now and I just hate my life right now!" he groaned in frustration and you frowned.

You knew he didn't mean that he hated what you guys had now, but it still made you feel bad that he felt like he was responsible for you. Harry was a protector, he wasn't fragile by any means, but lately he had been and you suspected that the struggles at his job were making him depressed. And well, that tends to follow you around to every part of your life and this was the result. You hated seeing him be so unsure of himself, it just didn't make sense, it was wrong.

"I'm sorry." you said simply and he sighed and reached for your hand.

"I'm sorry for saying I hate my life. I don't hate our life. It's just...not a good time for me." he explained.

"I know, baby. And I get that you like to deal on your own before you share things but...we're a team. That's the point of us getting married, we're supposed to help each other out. And well, if you need to find something else then do it! I don't mind having to work a little more to make sure we stay afloat. Your happiness means a lot to me." you explained.

"I just...don't have the energy. Do you ever just feel like...giving up. Or like disappearing?" he asked you quietly.

"I have before, yes." you admitted and he sighed.

"Me too...but, not like this." he confessed, "It feels like...too much. Like it's out of my hands now." he confessed as he teared up again and you just hugged around him as he started to cry again.

Harry knew he had so much to be grateful for, but all the of the bad things felt like they were too overwhelming for him to even mind the good things. He felt like he was drowning, he was barely staying afloat and that scared him so much. He felt foreign in his own mind and body, it worried him, but he was scared of saying it. And now he was saying it to you and he was worried about your reaction, but when you held him and said nothing about it, it did help a little bit. He didn't need you to say anything, he just needed you to be there.

"I love you so much." you said quietly and he sniffled.

"I love you too." he responded as he just stared at the ceiling while you held him. And as you just laid there with him he decided that maybe it was time to get some help. He didn't feel like he could keep doing this alone. Not this time.

[moreespressoformydepresso]

So here’s a story that’s currently the fourth(?) next WIP on my list rn:

Tanner being part of one of those groups in high school, labeled as a “bad boy” (the type that wears way too much leather for 30°C weather, smokes regularly, and crosses around on a motorbike) but it’s the actual good kind of bad boy and not whatever recent books have been doing. By which I mean he looks mean and acts the part towards people who he doesn’t like, but he’s a perfect sweetheart with golden retriever energy towards everybody else.

Treech, meanwhile, is a Jehova’s Witness whose family is particularly extreme and abusive. He has to appear always happy and perfect because to make the church look good he has to always look like he has the perfect life with the perfect family and the perfect future. The space behind the closed door is full of mental health issues, indoctrination, and several forms of abuse (because cult). Lamina’s family was also part of the church, but they were much more moderate and eventually left and got excommunicated, meaning Treech isn’t even allowed to look at his best friend since forever. It’s very angsty :).

To distract from several big scandals the church of Jehova’s Witnesses plans a big charity event that takes place in the big park in the middle of the city, and Treech has a spot there where he sells wooden stuff that he made and carved. He learned from his grandparents, who were the only people he had a healthy relationship with aside from Lamina. All of the friends he has now are approved by his parents (so terrible and judgmental people who go way too far in their beliefs). When his grandparents died he kept practicing the craft because it’s all he has left of them. At the charity event he makes stuff on the spot and people pay a differing price depending on what they ask him to make. This is where Treech meets Tanner and his friend group properly. It’s everyone that isn’t Treech. They go to the same school but their groups do not like each other since, you know, Tanner’s group “commits sin”. They ask him to make something that goes against the teachings of the church, and he politely declines before asking if they may want something else. When Lamina comes he looks clearly heartbroken, but apologizes and looks away as he’s supposed to do when seeing someone who’s been excommunicated.

Later, Tanner asks Treech to help him with some kind of project. Either Tanner’s part of the theater club in some capacity or it’s for a party or something. Treech agrees after a bit of convincing and with Tanner being Treech’s main point of contact for the project they have a chance to talk. And get closer. Which leads to Treech realizing he may possibly not be as straight as he thought he was. Given the church and his family’s stance on everything that isn’t the nuclear family ideal, this is not a good thing. It gets even worse when Tanner seemingly starts… flirting with him? Possibly?? But Tanner is a sinner and while Treech likes him and won’t treat anybody badly for making their own choices it’s still wrong and all of this is wrong. Yes, Tanner did start flirting with Treech. Far before he notices and has a mini breakdown over it, because Tanner has a thing for pretty boys. And one with a personality that’s compatible with his? Hell yes.

Long story short Treech has a faith crisis and when his friends spot him with Tanner he gets in deep trouble. He ends up getting excommunicated and kicked out by his parents once he confesses he’s had doubts about small things, even though he never told them he’d had doubts about the bigger things as well, and he ends up running to Lamina’s house. They let him in and let him stay there for the time being, which brings us to the recovery part of the story. Treech and Tanner start dating and while Treech is still a christian, he’s no longer in a cult and slowly starts mellowing out as he slowly shakes himself free of the indoctrination. It’s a long road towards unlearning all that he’d been taught, but things finally look up as he rebuilds his life.

BONUS: Tanner loves coffee and he and several of their friends (including Lamina) spend a lot of time trying new coffees or making their favorite ones. Treech tries his first sip of coffee with them after they made him a fancy one that’s beginner-friendly.

[asherlockstudy]

um im just scrolling through the streamys tag and i saw your posts and i thought "oh they seem cool i wonder what the blog is like"... then i went scrolling and you mentioned link coming out??? huh??? (i haven't watched gmm in like years year years) you seem like a level headed person to ask.... link is... gay? did this happen recently??? i am so confused but i know that if i google im gonna get garbage results. so yeah

Hello! Sorry for the late reply, hope you get to see this.

The answer is... yes and no. While there isn't anything explicit / certain / definite over all this time, it seems there is some restlessness on their side, with several projects such as their recent scripted videos, but also as far back as Hazel, the GMEs and Ear Biscuits that point towards the possibility of them taking a very slow, long way towards this direction, especially Link. In fact it seems like Link can't stand being in the closet anymore but Rhett dreads leaving it. That's my general impression.

While I might be considered the most stark supporter of this theory around here (or at least the one who verbalizes it the most), a few days ago more people started considering it thanks to a moment during GME where Link did something very close to a coming-out.

In case you haven't watched any of the GMEs, GME (Good Mythical Evening) is a paid live show they do once a year, which is like the strictly adult version of GMM. There, strong references to sex are allowed and they also drink enough to get inebriated and foul language is also allowed to some degree.

All that on its own would be already a lot to consider, but GME has also strong homoerotic traits since Rhett and Link play a lot with their ship there. Last year, they re-enacted rhink fics where they were having sex (basically handjobs?), I don't remember exactly. And they acted LIKE they were doing it. This year, they took it up a notch and Rhett actually sucked Link's nipple, among other things. And I mean, he really did it. For a few seconds. But he did it...properly. Don't ask me why they do this stuff. I don't know. I think nobody knows. I am just presenting you the facts so I can give you an idea about what is going on.

So, during a game in this latest GME, this dialogue took place regarding what the act of "docking" is:

Rhett: I was right! It is a gay thing! Stevie: Whaaat? I mean, well, Link also agreed with your answer so... Rhett: We both get points! Hold on, though... one guy needs to be circumcised. Link: Yeah you only need one circumcision for docking. Stevie: Oh you're asking ME? Rhett: I think..... I don't know a lot about this but I think only one guy needs to be uncircumcised. Link: Do you think docking actually happens? Because I don't think docking increases pleasure. Rhett: I don't know, man. I can't do it, man. My parents didn't give me a choice. They just circumcised me, man. Link: I know, but even after you're circumcised, you can try. Rhett: With someone who's not circumcised...... And also, I am not gay. Link: Hey, that's okay. It's okay. Rhett: Yeah, I mean, it's cool to not be gay! Link: No, it's not "cool"- Rhett: No, it's "okay" to not be gay! By "cool" I meant it is "okay" to not be gay! Link: But just go ahead and explain yourself completely. Rhett: But I might do it for scientific purposes! Link: This is what I wish you would do when I say something stupid. Rhett: If they needed to figure it out, if two scientists wanted to figure out whether two guys need to be uncircumcised, I'd be like "okay", I mean, I'd check with my wife first. Link: Yeah, but just say it is equally cool to be gay. Rhett: It is cool to be whatever you wanna be. Link: Yeah. Exactly. It's cool to be whatever you need, you want to be, you are. It's cool to be who you are. That's what I am deriving. Rhett: Yeah, that's the coolest you can be, to just be who you are. Right, Stevie? Link: I, you know what, I feel like, Stevie, I feel like I have been on a journey. Stevie: Okay. Rhett: Yeah. Link: To know- to figure out who I am. Rhett (mutters): Yeah, yeah, right. Link: And it's extremely rewarding, challenging and- Rhett: But we won't be docking later... Link: And..... rewarding. And we wanna- Yeah... can you... I was saying something important. Rhett: Because we're both circumcised. Link: Yes, but we are not gonna be docking later. Rhett: Right, because we're both circumcised. Link: But you can be circumcised and still have enough of a skin left after the circumcision to dock... In Good Mythical More we are gonna answer questions from the crew and we 're gonna have conversations about - (meanwhile Rhett talks simultaneously and almost over him about unimportant docking musings) Link: ...Right, so if you are not gonna come to Good Mythical More, please you can still get a ticket, join us for Good Mythical More, but for now we're gonna move on. Rhett (sarcastically): Don't you want more of this? Link: In the More. Stevie moves on with the game.

So, what happens next, Link also had two-three more moments when he seemed to consider talking about something and Rhett explicitly told him "Whatever it is you want to say, just keep it to yourself" and also in another moment "You can tell your Uber driver on your way home but not here".

During the More, at which Link hinted, there was a red box with nosy questions asked from the crew. Rhett was the one taking the questions and reading them. He chose to not read loudly and thus answer at least two questions, even though he pulled them out of the box.

Link eventually did not make any more similar statements.

You should also know that a couple of weeks ago, during the GME promo, Link had said that one reason we should watch the GME show was that he might even make an emotional speech before its end.

Another thing, the last months Link has also expressed in interviews and even in a college graduation that it is important to find who you are and explore your identity, addressing this especially to young adults. He always seems emotionally charged when he does it.

That's it. To me it just seems like there's one explanation only, but I will leave you to your own conclusions.

And one last detail. Rhett did everything in his power to not let Link finish what he started - almost bullied him out of it. Despite all that, notice what he said. While Link was trying to say whatever he was trying to say, Rhett said:

But we're not gonna be docking later.................. because we're both circumcised.

And he repeated the explanation once more.

+++

[yamikailyn]

City of Lights

Two years ago, in 2022, @venom-for-free and I started publishing City of Lights, a cyberpunk slash mafia rivaere fic. It was a passion project born during Covid and little did we know our idea would lead us to over six months of planning and world building, six others of writing and drawing, and several continuations/side stories that are still ongoing. Oopsie ...

A few months ago, as a thank you to the readers who supported us in many ways, whether by commenting, leaving kudos or sneakily reading (we see you the 176 hidden bookmarks out of 271!), we decided to revisit City of Lights with our amazing editor, Taedae.

Taedae did an amazing work tackling style & typo issues as well as inconsistencies in the story or between CoL1 and 2. We could never thank her enough for the time she spent on this and her infinite patience with us. She read all the 190,000 words twice. TWICE! And she's working hard on the continuation. I suspect she has cybernetic implants to enhance her natural awesomeness. Go read her stories too!

We're very proud of this new version and we hope you'll like it too. If you downloaded CoL to keep a copy offline, we suggest you do it again. If you've never read CoL before and are interested in the story, check the summary and tw below before, please. This dark tale isn't for everyone.

Summary: “Love starts out as something you want to bite into and ends as something that swallows you up.” - Rose Szabo -- Or: By day, Jena is full of beauty and professionalism. But by night, darkness creeps through the alleyways and into the souls of people. Drugs, gangs, weapons, and big money wait for Eren Jaeger, who just recently moved to the City of Lights. At least, that's what he's been promised. But what he finds is an underworld full of neon lit wonders and mysteries. And love. Somewhere in the deepest night, he finds love. But what happens when daylight wakes him up?

Chapters: 52/52

TW: Graphic depiction of violence, Angst, Gang Violence, Gun Violence, Drug Use, Torture, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Class Differences/Social inequities talk, Child Death, Minor Character Death, Dysfunctional Family, explicit sex (see Ao3 for the full list of tags)

Ships: rivaere, Eren and Levi had past relationships, background relationships between secondary characters (honestly too many to list)

Illustrated: cards about the characters and places by @venom-for-free

So, are you ready to travel to Jena and the sunken district of Paradis?

Put some headphones on (yes, @venom-for-free also created a playlist for you) and get ready!

Read on Ao3

[headspace-hotel]

Oh man, I have some THOUGHTS (as in, I agree with you and I have another side to contribute from a similar opinion) and a STORY-

I started an AI art project recently, mostly about playing with absurdist concepts, shitposts taken to their logical extreme, the weirdness that really only comes from asking for an absurd concept from an inhuman mathematical model that doesn't understand what makes it absurd and tries to take it as seriously as anything, using the freedom to rework from the ground up almost instantly as an expression of what ADHD is like, and all kinds of other stuff like that, with the aim of recreating or modifying them in physical media.

Yesterday I decided to do something pretty serious from step 1 with it and write down my thoughts about how it's used for...pretty shallow, anti-artistic, and even outright malicious ends, put it in flowery poetic language, and feed THAT to the AI as a prompt.

First attempt gave me some pieces I'm going to be working into physical pieces as planned today!

Second attempt got weird. I was working with a model that is notoriously bad at making human faces in any style. It gave me MULTIPLE good, coherent human faces in MULTIPLE styles. Some had some AI wonk, but were still significantly more lifelike than what you'd usually get if you asked it for a face, even a single known one. Some...looked human-drawn at first glance. The level of detail and coherence was actually terrifying. I even reverse image searched them to make sure it wasn't just recreating one specific thing by accident and that absolutely wasn't the case! One of them clearly took inspiration from the Mona Lisa (likely because that's the portrait that will show up the most if you ask around about the nature of art itself) but the face was 1) exaggerated in the kind of way that usually confuses this model and makes it create just a creepy swirling void instead and 2) more coherent than you usually get asking for a differently styled variant of the Mona Lisa!

It is haunting me. It almost feels like the computer itself saying something about not wanting to be used for some shallow and greedy bastardization of art - I know that's silly to presume as a literal interpretation, of course, but it sure did stir one hell of an emotion.

Like art is supposed to.

This is why I find it...absolutely unbearable how people use this technology just to make shallow pieces with a nice immediate visual impact for quick viewing and treat the uncanniness that appears when you look deeper as a non-element, because imo if you want to treat it as actual art, that weirdness - and what words reduce it unexpectedly - should be some of THE defining elements that set it apart from any other tool you could use!

And if I had the space to complete the project I would totally generate my OWN uncanny flowery cathedral, invite people to look at it until the weirdness sets in, and then unveil a physical model of it in all of its bizarre and unreal glory.

Yes absolutely

I have a sideblog that I post to occasionally, @ai-generated-xenobiology , that plays with the weirdness of the medium a lot. The images there are mainly generated using a combination of several keywords.

I thought, why not interpret uncanny AI generated landscapes as alien worlds, which WOULD be uncanny to us, and figure out how to optimize that?

I've also messed with inputting images to influence the final result and with editing results and using them as inputs again. Which is a lot more "human influence" than otherwise would be included.

See, I think this is thought provoking art because the uncanny nature of it is a feature, not a bug—it invites you to keep trying to figure out "What am I LOOKING at?" and I think the "otherness" is great. Cool inspiration.

I think the unreal flower cathedral would be great. Imagine an art piece that really messes with the perceptual boundary between "natural" and "man made" space. Impossible geometry but in a "natural" setting. Lots of possibilities.

[kalosleaguesofficial]

Ash Ketchum Becomes Reigning Champion During World Coronation Series

Above: Ash Ketchum holding the World Coronation Series trophy after defeating Galar's champion Leon in the finals of the Master Class.

By: Admin | 31.12.2023 | 1.5k words

Introduction

Finally, young Ash Ketchum has reached the top during the recent World Coronation Series after his several years of defeats from the many Pokémon Leagues he participated in.

Ketchum has not only participated in seven Leagues aside from the Coronation Series, but also actively contributed to the formation and organisation of the Alolan League (of which he fought in and became Champion). Ketchum is revered by many from all walks of life and all ages, and seeing his track record of saving the world, he truly deserves the praise and admiration he gets.

The Journey: Boy to Adolescence

Kanto & Johto

Although most of his badges were rumoured to have been obtained through means other than battling, he still got to Top 16 in the Indigo League, and Top 8 in the Silver Conference. No one can deny his love and kindness towards his Pokémon and friends alike is something not many have.

During the Kanto and Johto periods of Ash's journey, his main rival was Gary Oak. Yes, the Gary Oak. Sources say that Ash and Gary used to be childhood best friends, before something unfortunate happened that caused their friendship to sour. Many times did they butt heads, but many times too did they work together to thwart the plans of evil organisations such as Team Rocket. However, Gary later decided to change paths to work towards following in his grandfather's footsteps. Today, Gary is a renowned researcher in Project Mew, coincidentally alongside Ash's recent travel companion Goh.

Ash travelled with Gym Leaders Misty and Brock of Cerulean and Pewter respectively. The same team carried into Johto, and Brock following Ash all the way to Sinnoh. I interviewed Brock about the young boy, and his experiences seemed quite...chaotic.

"Ash is an enigma. Sometimes, you know exactly what he's gonna do, but you can never seem to figure out his way of thinking. He started off as a really naïve and temperamental boy, but at least he's grown and matured while keeping that same mentality."

"And what would you say was his most redeeming quality?" I asked.

Brock smiled, "His personality. Even though he was easily annoyed, the sheer amount of times he brought the mood up for everyone when we were busy saving the world is...Ash is special. Special to many. He lives in all of his companions's hearts, that I can say with confidence."

"How lovely. Would you say he deserved the title of Champion?"

"I think, in many people's minds, he's already their Champion."

Hoenn

"Ash is a like a very annoying big brother."

May is a famous coordinator who has travelled with Ash during his Hoenn days, along with her little brother Max and Brock. She notes that Ketchum destroyed her bike on the first day of her Pokémon Journey.

"Apparently, he did that to Misty's bike too. I think he still owes us those new bikes."

Old 'grudges' aside, Ash once again placed Top 8 in the Ever Grande Conference.

Ash's save-the-world-meter in this era was slowly turning up, with Team Aqua and Team Magma standing in his way, both with malicious intents to wipe out/take over the world respectively. Sightings of Rayquaza, Groudon and Kyogre were noted by locals.

Sinnoh

The daughter of famous retired Coordinator Johanna, Dawn, followed Ash on his Sinnoh Journey accompanied by Brock once again. Some may come to think that Brock must've wanted to travel a lot since young and kept that in until he was free to travel without worrying about his many brothers and sisters.

Ash's encounters in Sinnoh were by no means normal. The Lake Trio was the least of it all, with the most jaw-dropping information having revealed to us by Ash Ketchum himself.

"It was a whole thing with Arceus, Dialga and Palkia! I don't really remember it though. It's been so long!"

This explains many things about Ketchum, of which I will let you decide what it exactly entails.

Ash finally climbed to Top 4 in the Lilly of the Valley Conference.

Unova

Ketchum is undoubtly more relaxed in Unova. Maybe it was due to the carefree-spirited people and Pokémon of the region, but Ash noted that he felt like he felt freer.

This time, Brock took a backseat in accompanying Ash and went back to Kanto to become a Pokémon Doctor. Ash's companions in this region is, funnily enough, someone also in the Master League. None other than the Dragon Princess herself partnered up with Ash and Cilan, another Unovan Gym Leader, through the region.

Kalos

And alas, home base! Well, my home base anyway. Many say that the Kalos region was where Ketchum's fashion sense peaked, it turns out that he had many girls his age turning heads to see that blue jacket with those baggy pants.

His companions in Kalos consists of our very own Kalos Queen Serena, along with the siblings who manage Lumiose City's gym, Clemont and Bonnie. Quite the adventurous group!

Ash managed to clinch the runner-up place in the Lumiose Conference, only second to one of our Champions, Alain. However, Alain had refused the position and had gone off to spend time with his sister.

The epic final battle that happened between Ash and Lysandre was truly a sight to see. I could still remember everyone's eyes glued to the television, and everyone who had met Ash or at least heard about him had their hands clenched together, all wishing him the very best to be able to defeat Lysandre.

Special mention to Ash's Greninja, who could Mega-Evolve without a Mega Stone. This phenomena is still being researched by Professor Sycamore to this day.

Alola

If you thought that Unova Ash was laid back, wait til' you hear about this one. This era was truly his peak RNR time.

His companions during his time in Alola would be everyone in the Pokémon School that he attended, run by Professor Samuel Oak's cousin.

"This was an entirely new experience for me! I've never consistently hung out with so many people before, and I've never been formally schooled since I left for my journey so early. It was pretty eye-opening, but also led me to realise that I had some issues with staying put in one place. I got bored pretty fast. Not saying that Alola is boring - it's just...I can't really sit still if you get what I mean."

It was something everyone around him worried about, but nevertheless, he somehow still managed to help organise the Manalo Conference AND reach the top as Alola's first ever champion.

Galar

Ash's time in Galar had been an eventful one, battling trainers left and right from the World Coronation Series. It seems that he enjoys Galarian recipes as well, with people flocking to Galar just to eat their well-known scones that Ash had popularised.

Ash's acts of bravery to defend peace were more well-known during this era due to the globalisation of Rotom devices such as Rotomphones and Rotompads. His courage being shown on screens worldwide had made him climb in popularity.

Ash travelled to Galar with a fellow Kantonian, Goh, as research fellows for Cerise Labs. As previously mentioned, Goh eventually joined Project Mew alongside Ash's old rival-turned-good-friend Gary Oak on a journey to find Mew. The two however, only parted ways before Ash's Master League battles.

"Goh is truly a one-of-a-kind friend you don't really get to see anywhere. He's all the science-y and tech-y part of being a research fellow. I'm the more curious one!" Ash smiles, nibbling onto the scone from the café we were at.

"Both Gary and Goh are amazing. They know so much about Pokémon too!"

Future Plans

This young boy, however, seems to think that the Leagues and battles he participate in are a smaller slice of what he wants to be in the future. In an interview with the Pokénews Network, he mentioned that his true goal was to become a 'Pokémon Master'. He himself has said that he does not know what it means to be one, but that's probably why he's on a journey.

Despite the lack of answers to his goals, Ash said that he would be settling down with his mother back in Pallet Town for a while. "I just feel like I owe it to her, y'know? She's been supporting me in whatever I do back at home, ever since I left for my Pokémon Journey when I was ten. The least I could do was indulge her in the last few years I get to be a kid and maybe help her out at home."

"Although - my Pokémon Journey is by no means at its end. I'm still gonna venture out there someday to see more Pokémon, get to know them, maybe battle a lil' here and there! But for now, I feel like I should give back some years that my mum lost from my journey."

Mother to Ash Ketchum, Delia Ketchum, shares a similar sentiment. "Ash has very much grown into a big boy now. I'm grateful to everyone who was able to support him while I wasn't there, and to the many people and Pokémon he befriended over the course of his journey. But I do miss having Ash around in the house, it gets a little too quiet for me."

"Do you regret letting him go on his journey?"

"No. If he wants to be the very best like no one ever was, who am I to stop him?"

[primewritessmut]

15, 19, 24, 26, and 30

15. favorite weather for writing

Jesus. I don't know! I've literally never thought about it. There are benefits to all the weather, I think, when it comes to nurturing writing but I think I like wet fall weather the best. When the leaves have all fallen and are turning to mush on the ground and hot drinks start becoming a necessity again. But that is all tied up in my cabin in the woods, bog witch dream future so... I mostly write when I can write.

19. the most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic

Dude. YOU KNOW.

When I was writing bloody theater, the one-shot inspired by spirit box, I needed to research Victorian era medical practices so I more or less knew what the operating theater looked like and what kinds of tools Loki would be likely to use during the vivisection. Which led to me reading an entire book about Joseph Lister who is /sort of/ the father of modern medicine in the sense that he pioneered ways to minimize infection during surgery.

It was such a wild book and so interesting. I was literally sending you screenshots of some of the shit these Victorian doctors did. Like literally nothing has made me feel more kind toward current healthcare than that book.

24. how do you recharge when you’re not feeling creative?

I usually stop writing and spend more time doing other hobbies. This past week I've been feeling sort of "meh" about Midori Sour and so haven't been writing at all BUT (!) I've read a ton of books, finished several crochet projects, and went to a few open shoots.

This very adult way of dealing with it is relatively new though. I used to just lay upon my fainting couch with my hand upon my brow and LAMENT for an hour before getting back to the word mines.

26. are you able to write with other people around?

Yes. I kind of have to be able to or I would never write at all.

Back in the day I was very much a "complete and total silence" writer but needs must when the devil drives which means I've had to adjust because I will never experience silence again.

(All that being said, I still think I'm most productive, and write better, when I can sit uninterrupted in a quiet space for an hour or more.)

30. share a fic you’re especially proud of

Goddamn it.

I don't feel pride for fics because hitting post is the exact same thing as shoving them into a shallow grave and shoveling dirt over the body. They are dead to me. Gone. I've moved on now.

I don't knooooow.

I guess I'm proud of bloody theater because it was (1) a labor of love that landed exactly as I'd hoped and (2) it's something I never thought I'd have the balls to put in fic form (let alone ROMANTIC fic form). I'm also super proud of A Particular Set of Skills because it's very balls to the wall in a different way and has format that scared me a little. That one was not so much a labor of love as a Dear John letter to Spideypool. He Speaks Daggers is also probably up there. I think it's one of my mostly tightly plotted fics and it's emotional and romantic in a way that's very special to me.

Ask me again in three months and the answer will have changed to my most recent fics from that point in time, I'm sure.

x

[hayamihinata]

Random Fanfic Idea 4 Extended

SPOILERS FOR HELL GIRL AND DANGANRONPA

So, remember a while back when I posted that idea for that Hell Girl and Danganronpa crossover that had come to my mind. I had been thinking about it again recently and since I am bad at writing actual fanfiction, I figured I would provide my current outline that I have been working on for a little while now.

So, I would have it so that the Kamakura project did not need Hajime's answer till the end of first year, mainly because I thought him being involved longer would be interesting. As the story would go, the world of the Danganronpa games and anime would stick as close to canon as possible except with the Hell Link site and Ai Enma existing within the world.

I think a good starting point would be around the Natsumi and Sato's deaths, where in this version I see Sato choosing to send Natsumi to Hell using the site since she thinks killing her outright is too good for someone as terrible as her. She wants to protect Mahiru and make Natsumi suffer, so what better way to do it, especially since it is clear she would go to that length.

Following this, I would have Fuyuhiko and Peko find out about Natsumi's disappearance and then have Fuyuhiko want to kill Sato like in canon. However, Peko would dispose of her so to speak before her young master could taint his hands.

But as anyone could tell, two girls just disappearing would not go unnoticed. I see Hajime (DR Hajime not HG Hajime) taking note and wanting to learn what happened, and after having the confrontation with Juzo like in canon, I see him wanting to at the very least figure out the truth for himself before he has to go. And through this investigation, he would meet up with Mahiru who would be investigating where Sato vanished too as well.

Through their investigation they could find out about the Hell Link sight as well, and slowly realize what happened. Imagine their reactions when they realize the truth, and especially with what would later occur as others did the same. Afterall, Hell Link isn't some secret, you can find out about it easily enough with some research.

It is during this period that I see the final exams and thus the expulsion of Seiko, Ruruka, and Izayoi still occurring, since Nagito would 100% still be Nagito in this world too. And then imagine Seiko finding out about Hell Link and choosing to banish Ruruka as revenge, only for Izayoi to retaliate and be left with having been left alone. Yes, I like to make my favorite characters suffer, what Danganronpa fan doesn't.

Also, since they have memory manipulation powers, it would be funny watching Hone Onna and Ichimokuren pretend to be teachers again, especially with how crazy the people at Hope's Peak are. Them developing a possible friendship with Yukizome would be adorable, but also sad since they would be wiping themselves from everyone's minds the minute that this whole mess ends.

There is then the distinct possibility of several other people being sent down under as well, such as Mikan having enough of Hiyoko's crap and wanting her gone. Or maybe giving some more character to the Student Council people so that they might turn against each other for the pettiness expected of Hell Girl.

Additionally, there is the scenario where people outside of Hope's Peak could also get involved. I like to imagine Hajime and Mahiru meeting the Shibata family during their dive into the background of the situation, and there being a funny scene where both Hajime's get confused when their name is called.

But sadly, there comes a point where the year would be coming to a close and a decision must be made on Hajime's end. And I could see a world where having actually gained a chance to become close to other people more than in canon, but Hope's Peak does not want to let go of their perfect subject. So just like before, an innocent person is taken to their death by the mentality of the world they live in.

And imagine that now that Hajime was becoming happier with the life he had begun to lead, that leads to him beginning to himself desire revenge against the academy as a whole. The academy that chose to cover up the disappearances and possible deaths of so many, the academy that was going to take his life from him for their own selfish gains. So, naturally the Master of Hell (that freaking spider) would see an opportunity within this gilded cage that Hope's Peak had become for many.

The flames of revenge could be brought to ravage this school, as a boy broken by the society that made him burns the world like it burned him. Of course that is all hypothetical, Hajime could ultimately choose against revenge and simply race against time to continue the life he held. Or the school could continue to prey on innocent lives and dispose of Hajime himself, leading to an agent of vengeance taking its course.

Of course, all of this was just my internal ideas. This idea could be taken many different ways as well. You could push the story forward a year and make it focus on the 78th class instead. Or you could imagine how the Hell Link would run in the stage of the Tragedy.

This truly offers up so many opportunities for interesting story telling, it just takes someone willing to take that first step.