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pandawritespoorly · 4 years

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With Time: Chapter 30 - Needlework

Author’s Note: For those of you truly worried, I'd like to point out that the warning at the top remains 'no archive warnings apply'. This is probably sort of anti-climatic to who-knows-what you guys were imagining.

Woo! Chapter thirty! This is crazy to me, especially since I'm nearing the end where I'm at. I've also posted over 100,000 words of this, so that's exciting! (I think that was last update or the one before, but I didn't notice).

Anyways, enjoy some angst featuring children with too much pressure on them.

Akuma slide here.

Chapter Summary: Ladybug goes down during a battle and Adrien can’t find a pulse.

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“I’m so glad you agree with me. I really think Adrien has changed, and it’s not for the better.” Lila says tearfully.

“Oh, girl. It’s okay. We’ll do something.” Alya hugs her close.

“Yeah, my bro’ll come around eventually. He loves you.” Nino consoles.

“It’s just… I think he’s been spending time with Ma- her.” she stumbles, avoiding the name even all these months later, “I don’t want to lose him to her too…” she adds, quietly, as though it’s just an afterthought.

“Adrien’s better than Ladybug! He’d never abandon you for a liar like Marinette. If he does, you’ll still have us! I still have some choice words for him…”

“Yeah, total bummer Marinette took him away.”

“Oh.” Lila interrupts, “That might be why he’s acting so strangely recently. He’s absolutely terrified of her. Now, I’m telling you this in confidence so you can’t tell anyone else this, alright?”

The other two nod.

“Marinette threatens him. I already told you some of this, but she’s made a deal with Mr. Agreste. He gets a designer to run the company, and she gets to marry Adrien. That’s why we have to keep our relationship so secretive. If anyone found out, the consequences would be terrible! The only reason Mr. Agreste agreed to work with as awful a designer as her is because all the others would never agree to such a deal, especially since they’re all so close to me.” “That’s despicable! I can’t believe it!” Alya gasps, then scowls, “Actually, I can. That’s definitely a thing Malicious-nette would do. You’re so brave and strong for persevering through this!” “Don’t worry dudette, I’m sure something can be done.”

“Thank you so much.” Lila sighs, smiling weakly, “It’s such a relief to know that you guys have my back. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Lila truly is happy, because a plan is forming in her head.

---

It’s late February and Ladybug really wishes that winter would hurry up and end. She’s tired of being tired. She’d been resting at home when there had been an akuma alert. Now she had to deal with whatever it is this time.

Type 3 too, so there’s lots of dodging. She’s bad at dodging and things flying at her face scare her. Especially when she’s tired like this.

It’s very hard for her to convince herself to drag herself out of bed when she knows it involves magical projectiles being thrown at her.

At least she’s got Chat Noir, he’s her favorite person. He’s so nice, and he didn’t think she was an abominable disappointment like she was preparing herself for.

He hugged her a lot. That was nice.

He’s really warm too, and he visits her a lot, and-

She’s still thinking about how much she loves him when she finally sees him.

“Hey Bugaboo, how-” He’s cut off when she throws herself at him, hugging him tightly, he looks down at her seeing that she’s smiling and he joins, “Just a hug kind of day today? I can live with that.”

“I love you and you’re really nice and you’re really warm and you’re-” she’s mumbling into him, but he hears enough to get the gist of it.

“Same goes to you, my love.”

The delighted smile she gives him makes his week.

“As much as I hate to interrupt you hugging me, we can’t just leave Paris to fend for herself.”

Despite (or maybe because of) his warmth, she seems reluctant to be let go, only hugging him more. She finally accepts reality and steps back.

At the very least, she seems to have woken up more, “Dumb Hawkmoth.”

“How about we try to get this akuma over with quickly so you can go back to sleeping.”

“Do you know anything about it?”

“Nope, sorry Bugaboo.”

She sighs, and they head in the direction of the akuma. They know they’re on the right track when they see buildings that appear to have been turned into a messy patchwork of various fabric scraps.

There’s civilians wrapped up in thread, while some appear to have had their clothing changed in a similar manner to the buildings.

The duo spots the akuma eventually, a cloaked figure floating around on a giant red button. The cloak is a mis-matched jumble of various fabric scraps and threads.

She spots them, “Ladybug, Chat Noir! I am Needlework! Hand over your miraculous!”

“Not happening.” Ladybug hollers.

The battle proceeds as usual from there. They adjust to her attacks and avoid them. She raises one hand and thread shoots out, anything that makes contact with it is changed as they saw earlier. People have a chance of either being wrapped up or just having their outfit changed.

As the heroes slip into the rhythm of the fight, they can’t help but notice that one of Needlework’s arms stays hidden beneath her cloak the whole time. In the ten or so minutes they’ve been fighting her, they haven’t seen her use it once.

Ladybug is starting to get tired by this point. Being out and about is one thing, but pretending to be at her usual energy level is even worse - especially during akuma attacks. She’s about to call over to Chat and suggest they back off momentarily to strategize when the akuma finally raises her hidden arm.

It’s sudden, but she raises her arm and throws out a giant needle, it misses Ladybug’s face by a mere centimeter and she can feel it poke a pigtail before it’s pulled back by the attached thread.

Ladybug stiffened the moment it came at her. She feels it breeze by her face, and with it being winter, her ladybug instincts are at the forefront. They take over, and she doesn’t even register what’s happening as she collapses.

Chat Noir just about has a heart attack. He could have sworn that the needle didn’t touch her, but something must have happened because she’s down.

Maybe it had to do with the needle attack? They hadn’t seen it before, so there’s no telling what it does.

It doesn’t help that his instincts are screaming at him that she’s in danger.

He crosses the roofs to her quickly, and his stress isn’t helped by the fact that she’s still on the ground, her legs pulled to her chest.

“Ladybug?” He calls to her gently.

She doesn’t respond, but Needlework is approaching, so he scoops her up to carry her somewhere safer.

He ends up back in his room, and sets her on the couch gently. She hasn’t moved yet and he really doesn’t like that. After a moment of panic, he figures it wouldn’t hurt to do the basics.

He checks her pulse, and her breathing-

He can’t find her pulse.

What happened? Is she dead? She must be dead, no no no no-

His ring beeps and he doesn’t even register it.

“Adrien, calm down. She’s fine-”

“Plagg she’s dead, she’s dead, oh she’s dead-” he wasn’t prepared for this.

“Kid, breathe, you need to calm down. You’re hyperventilating-” “Calm down-?!”

“Listen to me, she’s not dead. Take a moment to breathe and check her pulse again. If I’d realized this was coming I’d have warned you.” Plagg is resting above her heart, watching Adrien carefully.

He nods tearfully, doing as he’s told. Shaking his head, he turns to Plagg to protest, but the Kwami holds up a paw, “Give it a moment kid. You’re too stressed for this.”

Adrien waits some more, holding her wrist delicately.

There.

Plagg is right, Ladybug has a pulse.

Very faint.

Concerningly faint.

But a pulse nonetheless.

Adrien exhales in relief, resting his head against her and gripping her hand tightly.

“Plagg, what happened?”

“She’s playing dead. Bugs don’t usually start doing this for another few months, but I guess she’s been through enough stress to be a little early.”

“How long will she do this?” Adrien hasn’t moved yet, still calming himself down.

“It can vary, it’s her first time so it’ll be shorter, but as soon as she feels the danger has passed she’ll wake up and return to normal. ‘Course, she’s unconscious, so her earrings decide when it’s safe.” “How do they do that?”

“With the ring. She won’t wake up if you’re not close. If the holder of the ring is stressed or feeling unsafe, she won’t wake up. Basically kid, stay calm and stay close.”

“So she’s fine.” “She’ll wake up any moment and won’t even know what happened. She’ll be a little scared obviously because that’s what led to this, but yeah, she’s fine.”

“Wait-” Adrien looks to Plagg, slightly panicked, “What if something happened when I wasn’t around? Would she just stay like this until I happened to find her?”

“Kid, you’ll always know. Doesn’t matter how far, a Cat will always know when their Ladybug needs them, and vice-versa. Follow your gut.” “Okay.” Adrien sighs, finally moving, “Okay. Okay.”

He picks her up gently, sitting on the couch and holding her in his lap. It’s easier to stay calm now that he knows what’s going on.

“So how often is this going to happen?” Adrien doesn’t look at Plagg, only watching his Lady.

“Depends,” Plagg has retrieved some camembert, tossing it up and swallowing it in one gulp, “Your Bug can be a little skittish. There’s really no way to predict it. When she’s scared, - or more when she feels in danger - it’ll happen. If she’s already excessively stressed, or her tendencies are prominent then it’ll probably be more likely.”

“Alright.”

After another minute passes, the girl in his arms startles awake, bolting upright and gasping, looking around in confusion, “Cha- wait what? What happened?”

Adrien hugs her tightly, comforted by the fact that her heart rate is back to normal - if maybe a little quicker from her panic and residual fear.

“Shh. It’s okay.”

“But- what- why- how did we get-?” she’s still panicky, breathing quickly.

“I’ll explain in a moment, but just take a minute to calm down. Everything’s fine.”

She nods, “Right. Right.” she hugs him back, murmuring, “You’re here, so… right.”

After a moment, he turns her to him, taking a moment to appreciate her eyes - alert and alive, “I thought you’d died. Mon Dieu.”

“Died?! Adrien, what happened?”

“You played dead, girly. That’s what ladybugs do.” Plagg tells her.

“But I’m not a real ladybug! I’m a human. People don’t play dead!” she protests, glancing between Adrien and his Kwami.

“Humans don’t hibernate either. It’s just another side-effect.” Plaggs shrugs, eating more cheese, “I don’t see why you’re all tied in knots about this.”

“Because! I scared Adrien!” She's not supposed to scare him, she’s supposed to be a hero, heroes don’t faint because they get startled.

“It’s okay Mari, you’re fine now.” Adrien interrupts.

“No it’s not!” Ladybug tears up, “I worried you! You don’t deserve that!” she puts her hand to his face, looking at him carefully.

“It’s not your fault, don’t beat yourself up about this. At least we know now.”

He’s so nice, and understanding. She doesn’t deserve this. He should be mad, she keeps messing up as a hero. She worried him - in the middle of an akuma attack no less.

The tears fall silently. When would she stop messing everything up?

Her earrings beep. Tikki flies out to leave them be as she goes to Plagg.

“Oh, little lady, what’s wrong?” he wipes the tears off tenderly.

“I keep messing things up. You don’t deserve that. I’m sorry.”

“Princess…”

“I’m sorry.”

“No. Don’t apologize. It’s okay. None of this is your fault. You can’t help that you’re a Bug, and I can’t help that I’m a Cat.”

“I scared you! You thought I died!” She hates to think what must have been going through his mind.

“I know now. It won’t happen again. Shh.”

“But it might-”

“But if it does, I know what’s happening. It’s okay, believe me.”

“Okay.” She hugs him, because out of the two, she thinks he needs the comfort more.

He doesn’t necessarily disagree, but he thinks they both need a moment of rest. Squeezing her closer to him lightly, he purrs softly. Both to relieve his stress and hers.

They break apart, moment of reprieve over.

They’ve got a job to do.

Transforming, Ladybug and Chat Noir exit the room together, following the trail of fabric buildings back to Needlework.

“I’m willing to bet that her needle is the akumatized object.” Ladybug nods, “That’s probably why she hides it so much.”

“What do you say we get this over with so that you can take a nap?” Chat suggests, glancing over at her.

“Mhm!” she raises an arm, “Lucky Charm!”

A spotted pair of scissors fall into her waiting hands, and she looks around momentarily.

He loves the look on her face when she figures something out, and grins when it comes, ready for her plan.

“Alright, Chat I’m gonna’ need you to get her to throw the needle again.” “Will do, Buginette!”

She waits on the sideline for her chance.

It doesn’t take long. Needlework throws out the needle again, and Ladybug rushes forward to cut the thread. Needlework shrieks as the needle falls to the ground, flying after it.

Chat beats her to it, snapping it over his knee to release the butterfly.

“Gotcha!” Ladybug sends out her yo-yo, purifying the insect as usual. When it flies away, she flutters her fingers at it, “Bye bye little butterfly.”

“Pound it!”

She calls on her cure, throwing the scissors into the sky, releasing the little beetles to fix the city.

“I can talk to the victim, you go home to rest.” Chat offers.

She nods, doing as he says, sleeping the moment she detransforms on her pillow.

---

When Allegra, Allan, Claude, Felix and Adrien stop by later, she is awake again.

They’ve barely entered the room when she stops them.

“Mm! Nuh! Mm-memmh!” she flaps one of her hands at them, and they pause. Whatever she said is muffled by the hand she’s holding in her mouth.

“What was that?” Claude asks.

She removes her hand, “Careful, I dropped a pin… or three.” she turns back to the desk where she has laid out fabric, and avoiding the scissors haphazardly open on the floor.

“Got ‘em.” Adrien’s eyes are better than hers, and he picks them up to return them to the pincushion.

Marinette puts the side of her thumb back in her mouth, bending to the put her scissors back on the table, “Mm hm.”

“Marinette, we cannot understand you if you insist on sucking on your hand.” Felix chides.

“Why are you doing that?” Allan questions.

“M hm mm hmm.” she pauses, removing the hand to clarify, “I cut my hand, that’s all”

“Marinette! Were ya’ planning on doing somethin’ about it?” Allan goes to her side, looking at her hand carefully.

“I do it all the time. I can get back to work once it stops bleeding. I can just measure for now…” She mutters flippantly, looking at her dress form, as if trying to picture her design.

“That’s not really what he meant. I think it’s time you take a break.” Allegra grabs her by the shoulders and spins her around to the trapdoor. The others follow.

Once they’re all seated in the kitchen, Adrien helps Allan find the first aid kit, and they patch the girl up.

“There.” Allan steps back once he’s finally satisfied that Marinette’s cut has been treated properly.

“As great as it is to see you up and about, maybe next time be more careful with the scissors.” Claude rests their hand on Marinette’s head.

“I was tired!” she protests, “I don’t normally cut myself that badly.”

“Then sleep. How often do you get yourself with those scissors anyways?” Allegra asks.

She shrugs, then flops onto the table, “Late winter sucksss. Even when I’m awake, I feel tired, but not tired enough to just sleep until it’s over.”

“You’ll last until spring.” Adrien comforts her, patting her arm consolingly.

“I like spring!” Marinette pops up again, smiling.

“Me too!” Claude cheers.

Adrien suddenly realizes what spring means to Marinette. Occasionally things hit him like that - he’s still catching up to combining Ladybug and Marinette in his mind. Not that he can’t accept that they’re the same, just that sometimes he forgets that things that once applied to only one of them now applies to both.

Ladybugs like spring. He saw that firsthand last year with his partner.

Her new friends will certainly be taken aback by how fast Marinette goes from slow and sleepy to hyper and happy.

He grins, this year he can see it first hand in and out of the mask.

“Oh boy,” he says quietly, grinning. He’s not entirely sure any of them will be ready for this.

“What?” Allegra turns to him.

He just shakes his head, “I forgot… just, you’ll see when spring comes.” There’s no need to ruin the surprise.

“Okay…?”

Claude has produced a card game from who-knows-where and is already dealing cards to his friends, so everyone takes a seat.

By the end of the third game, Marinette is slumped against Allan, completely out.

No one comments, leaving her be. Felix stands to retrieve a blanket from the couch to put over her and they keep playing.

---

Author’s Note: That chapter felt short.

Yay! Marinette lives! A new tendency to deal with though.

Akuma slide here.

That whole sewing scene required testing because I can't just be normal and make up sounds. I recorded myself trying to say the words while my hand was in my mouth and had both myself and my friend try to translate it into letters. Kudos to her for putting up with my nonsense.

Ooh, next chapter is notable in at least one Wayzz. (•‿<)

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any thoughts, theories, constructive criticism, or anything really in my ask box, in replies or through reblogs. I love seeing what you think!

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#miraculous ladybug #with time #fanfic #miraculous tendencies #miraculous side effects #winter #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #plagg #chat noir #ladybug #quantic kids #ml Felix #allan #allegra #Claude #original akuma #akuma attack

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99centthoughts · 5 years

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Tbh I'm analyzing your art for my visual arts class and I was wondering if you could talk about how you came up with some of the designs for your characters and what has changed over the years? Maybe a little bit about how you change their designs for different AUs?

oh!! This is such a cool question BUT FIRST, THANK YOU for choosing to analyze my art for your class!!! CUT FOR LOTS OF TEXT

Hmm I don’t really have a logical way of designing my characters tbh LOL... often I start off with a basic skeleton of their personality, then I’ll doodle a bunch of different ideas until I find the one that I feel fits best! I base a lot of my character design around personality, so I often change my characters’ design somewhat as their personalities develop. I don’t think they’ve changed too much overall, it’s more of me getting a better handle on how I want to portray them. Something I think about a lot too is their closet!! Bc I think clothes say a lot about a character! For Tyler, I wanted him to be confident and easy-going, charming and a little of a show off. He doesn’t mind standing out, likes being outdoors, is active. SO I gave him obnoxiously bright orange hair, messy hair that can’t be tamed LIVELY like he is, but overall well-groomed... dresses casually for the most part, not afraid to show skin AND DIMPLES bc i wanted him to have the kind of smile that draws people in?? Doesn’t like restricting clothes or too many layers, doesn’t mind bright colors.... WHEREAS FOR FAY, he’s meant to be reserved, clean-cut and organized, doesn’t like to draw attention to himself, practical --> so neutral coloured clothes, nothing flashy or unnecessary... I wanted him to be small but intimidating, so he’s bony with sharp eyes.. and I wanted him to be more androgynous looking. Emmett is meant to look friendly and kind, so I wanted his features to be softer and rounder, no hair in his eyes... but also he opposite of obnoxious LOL kinda hunched in and low key uncertain. For AUs I try to keep all of this in mind when designing their outfits! So tyler’s outfits tend to be skin tight/ shows skin (ALL THE CROP TOPS) / Only 1-2 layers. But someone like JC would be more covered up. Jc wears the same clothes in like almost every AU because he likes to be in the background, so he dresses like a plain office worker all the time LOL In more fancy AUs though I try to give Jc more of an intimidating look? He’s meant to be someone who looks scary but isn’t really, so I like to give him fitted jackets, dark colours, stuff that emphasizes his broad shoulders. And for younger Jc who’s more shy and jittery.. I’d give him baggy clothes that he can hide in. Over-sized everything on him to emphasize his awkwardness and discomfort with himself.With Jc.. I always try to cover up his front and arms design wise, all with v simple pieces to not stand out E.g.

I’LL FINISH OFF with cyrus bc hes my newest oc!! and he’s changed the most I think, design wise

at the start I didn’t really have an idea of who cyrus is, and i just had this vague idea of a quiet guy with curly hair. HE WAS JUST A NORMAL GUY at this time and I was still playind around with hair + eye colors. Later on I decided I wanted a more mysterious looking person... the kind of guy that blends in but on a second look you’re like h e y he looks like he’s PLANNING TO DO SOMETIHNG I BETTER KEEP an eye on him!!!!!! I was thinking dark hair... maybe black.. but I thought dark blue was more interesting iwthout being too in your face. He was initially more serious personality wise.. but I had too many serious characters so I went for something more lighthearted . I wanted him to be (exaggeratedly) expressive so I gave him high arched brows... DEEP BLACK EYES that are subtly not human... and half lidded eyes so he’d look like he’s constantly judging. A very OUTlandish person who can also look very normal if you take away all the sparkle and bling. OK I THINK IM GOING OFF TOPIC AND RAMBLING but i hope that helps u out a bit in terms of what goes through my head when I design my OCs/ outfits for my OCs! Honestly I don’t think I’m always 100% successful at portraying all these things in my chars when I draw them, so idk if it would even be something you see in my doodles. I GUESS!! THE GIST OF IT IS: it’s 80% based off their personality and 20% random designs with no reasoning behind them whatsover haha LET ME KNOW IF YOU NEED MORE or something more specific!!! ALL THE BEST WITH YOUR CLASS!!! I HOPE YOU DO WELL

#Anonymous #kelno

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cravingcrazewriting · 4 years

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Focus (Galaxy Gals)

Chemistry really sucked.

This was a blatant fact from Zoe Murphy herself. She usually liked classes like Algebra 2, Spanish 3, or even Government.

But Chemistry was just ridiculously hard and frustrating.

It didn't start out that way of course. It was as simple as making small formulas or the Atomic Structure.

Then balancing equations came into play, and suffice to say, they were Zoe's Achilles heel. They were just in general confusing and again, had too many rules.

Evan frowned as he checked through her Chemistry homework. "You didn't b-balance it correctly."

Zoe groaned in frustration as she laid on the ground, and threw her hands on her face. "I'm never going to get it! I have a quiz on this shit in just a few days, too!"

"Can't you just, like, a-ask Mr. Hews for help?" Evan offered.

"He's the volleyball and wrestling coach, remember? I can't stay after school because he leaves right away for that, and during class, everyone bombards him with questions," she complained.

"You um, you could ask A-Alana? She's already taken Chemistry..." he suggested, shrugging.

"Shes like... one of the smartest people out of your class, right?" Zoe looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"She takes her work very seriously. I think she'd help you though," Evan made a small smile. "Alana's nice too. She doesn't act c-condensing if you get something wrong, and she's kind of talkative, which is nice."

Zoe laughed, smiling at him, "Because you don't like talking, right?"

Evan shifted his weight, "It's more of I don't have anything to talk about. That's why, that's why I like being around Connor. He has more to say then he b-believes."

Zoe rolled her eyes. Evan used to really like her, but mainly from a distance as he says. He eventually had confessed, but Zoe didn't feel the same way. Although it was hard at first to convince him, they slowly started hanging out more and erasing the awkwardness between them. Evan had seemed to move on, though, and wasn't hurting that much from it. Besides, she was about fifty percent sure Evan liked her brother now, with how much he talked about him.

"Anyways, I'll ask her, unless you suddenly become a master in Chemistry," she joked, and nudged his shoulder.

Evan snorted, "I wouldn't have passed if it weren't for Alana. I just know the basics and I'm shit at, at e-explaining them."

"Should I pay her? I don't have a job," Zoe didn't have time for a job, with Jazz Band practicing every other night and hours of homework really piled against her.

Evan shook his head, "She refuses being paid all together. Just don't ask. She gladly does it for free and thinks she can make friends that way too."

"She sounds really nice," Zoe smiled slightly.

Evan smiled back at her, "She is. You'll like her, I promise."

As it turned out, Evan wasn't lying (though he didn't have a reason to). Alana was eager to help her out with Chemistry, and although she got a C+ on her quiz, Alana continued to help her and offer encouragement. Sometimes however, they just hung out, played random notes on Zoe's guitar, laughed at whatever bullshit Zoe's teen magazines were trying to convince readers of, or doodle stars wherever they could find, like in notebooks, jacket cuffs or each other arms.

They definitely weren't just 'student and tutor', no no, they were definitely close friends. It'd be bold to call them best friends, even. They hung out way more than they needed to, talked more than a student and tutor normally would, but most importantly, they acted differently than stereotypical teens at their school.

And if Zoe had an itty bitty crush on her, well, it wasn't the end of the world.

Currently, they were sitting next to one another, Alana flipping through the Chemistry book while Zoe took the opportunity to gaze at her while she was distracted.

In general, Alana was... absolutely beautiful to Zoe. She always seemed to put a lot of time and caring into her outfits, but most importantly her hair. Zoe loved seeing it in the high ponytail she had it in daily. One time, Alana let Zoe braid her hair, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Alana's hair was softer than she'd previously thought, which Zoe enjoyed to mess with.

"Zoe! C'mon, you're dazing out again."

She blushed, suddenly jumping back into reality as she realized she was accidentally starting at her. "Sorry. Got distracted," she said vaguely, which well, wasn't a total lie.

"It's okay! Just stay focused, and we'll get this together, okay?" Alana encouraged her with a friendly smile. "Your five steps look good, but you're still iffy on balancing equations. This problem didn't need balancing."

Zoe groaned, leaning back against her bed frame. "I fucking suck at this."

Alana frowned at her, "You'll get it! How about I show you how I balance it, okay?"

Zoe nodded silently, scooting closer to Alana, who pulled out a sheet of paper. She was labeling the different amounts of Carbon, Oxygen, and Hydrogen, and talking about how their subscripts played into this, and this equation was long and complex, so Zoe focused on the glimmer in Zoe's almond brown eyes. She was certain that that specific shade of brown was designed for Alana Beck alone, because they fitted her so well.

"And that's the gist of it. Got it?" Oh right, she was supposed to be paying attention to the paper, not to Alana's eyes, hair, or literally anything else but that damn equation.

"Er, yeah! I think I've got it!" She didn't wanna Alana to discover she wasn't paying attention, because that'd seem like she wasn't paying attention, but she always paid attention to Alana, but maybe not in the way she'd like her to. Silently, she grabbed the paper and looked at the equation. It wasn't a very complex one, but it would've helped if she'd paid attention to Alana.

While she tried to balance the equation, she could distinctly hear Evan and Connor chatting in the other room, and she would bet money they were cuddling together. How they didn't realize their feelings were mutual was a mystery she'd never know.

She balanced the equation as best as she could before showing it to Alana.

"You're close!" Alana grinned. "You just forgot an oxygen, but it's okay."

"Sorry. Guess I'm just bad at focusing on this stuff," she laughed.

And seriously, it was just a single touch. Just Alana putting her hand on Zoe's shoulder, which made warmth coarse through her entire being. They were both blushing like crazy, and it didn't make any sense. Was this how Evan and Connor felt? Like a single movement would fuck everything up. She didn't want to fuck anything up with Alana, but when she saw the latter lean closer to her, she found boldness deep inside her, and kissed Alana's cheek.

Alana let out a gasp, a tiny little gasp of surprise and wonder, and it was the most beautiful thing Zoe had ever heard. It was enough to drown any worries or insecurities because a reaction like that was a good one, and she was certain Alana was feeling the same way she was.

Being ever so gentle, Zoe cupped her face and slowly pulled her into a soft kiss. She fought the urge to make it rough and desperate, because she wanted it to be special cause this was Alana, one of the most sarcastic, joyful, and nicest senior girl ever who deserved the world.

Alana was kissing her back, scooting impossibly closer to Zoe to wrap her arms around her neck. She seemed surprised this was happening, but by no means was objecting. If anything, she was doing the opposite, letting all of this happen with happiness for the both of them.

Zoe pulled away first, blushing brightly. She didn't know what to say. She was at a loss of words, but in a good way.

"I... wasn't expecting that," Alana giggled, pressing her forehead against Zoe's.

"Is that a bad thing?" Zoe teased her, but laughed as well.

"Anything but that," she shook her head. "But..."

Zoe suddenly became worried. "What is it?"

"I think you should focus a little more for your test, rather than on me."

"What can I say? You make it hard to."

#dear evan hansen #evan hansen #deh #evan #treebros (implied)#connor murphy #connor #zoe murphy #zoe #alana #alana beck #galaxy gals

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speedofsoundsketches · 6 years

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Yikes, this is a complex question to answer.

Jolt took almost a year to reach the final look and required a large amount of conceptualizing after the first drawing of her on the left.

Here are a few tips that I gathered while taking on this huge job as condensed as I can possibly make it.

1.) Know the Purpose of your Character

Every character introduced into the Sonic game series has a reason for why they exist to serve the story. Jolt has a very distinct reason for who she is and her powers. The most obvious purpose, as most are aware, is her connection to Shadow.

Basically, I thought about how the story will take place, what kind of goal is she attempting to achieve, how she interacts with the other characters (which helps in defining her personality) and this guided my process.

There were well over a dozen different designs and I almost settled on a completely different idea of Jolt until I continued developing the story and decided the direction it was going required a complete overhaul in her design and purpose.

2.) Simplify, Simplify, Simplify

What is a common trait between all Sonic characters from the Video Game series?

All of them have a very specific color scheme and number of colors with very few exceptions.

After studying the main crew, I noted that each have around 4-7 main colors total (Not counting the Shoe sole color).

Sonic - Blue, Green, White, Gold, Red, Peach

Shadow - Black, Red, Gold, White, Tan

Knuckles - Red, Purple, Green, Yellow, White, Peach

Amy - Pink, Red, Gold, White, Green, Peach

Espio - Dark Magenta, Black, Gray, Purple, Yellow, White

Jolt- Mint Green, Magenta, Black, Copper, White, Tan

And when it comes to outfits, I basically just studied how the clothing and look of each of the Ladies emphasized their personalities. A common fan character trait is a tendency to overcomplicate the design, especially with clothes. You need to know when to drop superfluous details that you think look cool now but will give your character away immediately to anyone outside the fandom.

Jolt had a very complicated look in her first explorations, which is perfectly fine during the fun part of exploring ideas! Once you start whittling it down to the direction you like the most, you have to then take into account how your character would look if they were put right up against the rest of the main cast. They need to look distinguishing and recognizable without looking too different in tone.

That’s also where the silhouette comes into play, which is super important in a series aimed predominately at children.

A strong silhouette allows you to more easily identify the character from the rest and helps in making them more distinguished.

While characters of the same species share similar structures, they have enough uniqueness to each individual that you can still tell one from the other.

3.) Draw Test Comics

This is the best way to truly test a character’s design out.

If you think you’re getting close to the final look, start drawing them interacting with the main cast and feeling out how they fit in.

Note here how Jolt had a different hairstyle but she’s looking pretty much like her final design. I learned here how her design limits the different angles or emotions I try to achieve and if the design gets in the way of how she’s portrayed. This meant reconsidering how to make it easier to redraw her over and over again.

4.) Get Feedback from Trustworthy Sources

You want someone who knows what you’re trying to achieve with a character so they can give good insight from a different point of view on how to best convey that character.

My friend @aw0-files is a remarkable designer whos’ opinion I trust so he was subject to a barrage of conceptual art throughout this process. (God Bless him)

But when he drew her himself (see below), I ended up changing her hair because I liked his ideas and it was more practical.

There’s a whole lot more that goes into it but that’s about the gist of it. Happy drawing!

(To see more of Jolt and previews of her story, visit the “Shadow and Jolt” tag!)

#jolt the hedgehog #sonic the hedgehog #sonic oc #sonic fan character #character design #art help #art tips #not my art #aw0 #onlyart #Shadow and Jolt

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berlinaura · 4 years

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Last spring in Finland I attended a course “German for those who are going to have an exchange year”. They told us about the stages which one usually goes through during an exchange. As far as I remember, the stages were roughly somewhat like this: firstly one views everything and everyone better than in their home country and everything is super interesting and fun. This basically means that the everyday life hasn’t kicked in yet. The next one is getting annoyed at everything and everybody. Comparing the country to your home country and maybe even feeling like it would have been a better idea to just stay home. After this comes the stage of adaptation where one gets used to customs and stops comparing everything to one’s home country. Last phase is coming back to home country and seeing it in a new way. And of course telling stories of the exchange year to friends and family until they are bored to death.

I remember thinking two things when we were taught about this. Firstly, who the hell would go through a phase of hating the country they go to? It seemed so irrational. The second thing was “Now that I’ve heard about this stuff, I can rise above it and use my brain and self-knowledge to avoid it. Yeah... As you might guess, it did not happen. I admit, during last few weeks I have spend a huge amount of my time wallowing in “WHY DO YOU DO THIS LIKE THIS” “Why can’t you do it in the right way” “What the hell is wrong with Germans!”. Mostly my frustrations have been related to my university. The mornings I am usually in a good mood. I drink my coffee, get ready (I have started to care more about what I wear and how I look like now that I am in Berlin hahaha) and go to school. All in all it takes me around 45 minutes to get from my home to university which includes walking, tram and S-Bahn. The way there and back are usually my favorite bits of the day. I enjoy watching people, traveling through Berlin in S-Bahn and listening to music. On the way back from university the people in public transport are usually going to pubs or parties so it’s nice to see happy and lively faces. I try not to overwhelm myself with school even though I feel like I need to be constantly studying to keep up. The thing is, even though the courses seem a bit challenging, partly because I am not used to academic English and partly because I am studying in a new study field, I find all of them interesting and genuinely think they are useful. I think I will shortly find a balance because now I feel super drained after every day and still feel like I have the “responsibility” to do fun things and go to places whenever I am not studying. It’s like a freshman year all over again.

So, what has happened after the last post? Quite a lot. I was on a Wanderlust trip to Dresden in October. We also visited a famous bridge (Bastei) in Saxony. The views and the scenery were incredible! Dresden was also very cozy and historical city. It was a lot smaller than I expected. We only had a few hours to browse through the city but we could easily reach the most important sights by just walking. On the bus we opened bottles of wines we got from Lidl and played some car games with the people who sat around me. I suggested searching “questions to get to know each other” so on the few hour way back we just simply shared our biggest secrets and fears as if we had been knowing for a long time. The french boy sitting in front of me got interested as I mentioned we are throwing a sitting here, so he wanted to help. We formed a committee of 5 people for a sittning, planned it in a cafe and contacted international office. Their response was rather dry and due to International office organizing a similar event in December, we decided to postpone the sittning and start planning it again in January.

Wanderlust trip was good because everything was already planned and sorted out for us. We just had to be on time to catch the bus. I already booked another wanderlust trip to Magdeburg in December. They have a Christmas market there. I also want to see the city that was my other option to have an exchange year in. By the way, I am super glad I ended up choosing Berlin over Magdeburg.

The next day me, the Austrian girl who sat next to me on the bus and her friend went to see a light show in the city centre. There is this light festival held in Berlin where they project things onto famous buildings and monuments. The one projected on Brandenburg gate left me speechless. They projected things like collapsing of the wall, JFK’s speech and techno culture of today’s Berlin.

One Friday evening my friend, my roommate and her friends decided to go to a burlesque show. The bar was super fancy as was the show. I just couldn’t get my eyes of the woman who performed. She danced to a remix of Britney Spears’ Toxic so naturally I had to ask her after the show if she liked Britney Spears. She said they only picked it because they needed something that people would recognize but at the same time something that isn’t the actual song. :( She was amazing tho.

In October I also went to see Prinz Pi live at Columbiahalle. I’ve never been to this venue before and it was so cozy! Man the concert just got better and better and I just had goosebumps for like half of the show. At the encore Prinz Pi said something in the lines of “You know.. The next place I go to.. You don’t want me to tell the audience that the audience of Berlin was dull? Go crazy then!” and I have never seen an audience getting so hyped during a song (”Gib dem Affen Zucker”). I got inspired of this so I already booked a ticket for Sido’s Christmas show in Columbiahalle. Actually I tried to go to his normal tour’s concert which is actually today, but I thought too long and it got sold out. People were asking 200€ per ticket (the original was around 45€) so I gave up. Then I decided to go to his christmas show but AGAIN thought too long because they are held in 20.-22.12. and I needed to sort out my flights to Finland first. But one day I decided to go to eventim’s page to see if someone was selling their ticket (they were, but overprized again) and I saw that there was one original ticket on sale even though it was sold out before. Someone had cancelled their ticket and some forces of the universe told me to refresh that page at a right moment. So now I have my ticket and just can not wait for it!

In the beginning of November I went to Prague to see my friend. The train ride was only 19 euros and I could easily do my homework and watch Kotikatu there. Priorities were sorted out! I navigated to Revnice where we went to a local brewery and shared things about our lives. The beer was the best beer I have ever had in my life which is sad because I literally can’t get it anywhere else than from there. Damn brewery! The next day we played board games, ate well and went swimming. My friend introduced me to a new thing: putting honey in a coffee. At first I doomed the though: ew, who the hell does that? Honey belongs to tea, not coffee. Then I tasted it and... it was delicious. It is yet to discover if it because of the honey or their super fancy coffee maker. Then we went to the brewery again and played a Czech card game called “bang”. I think I got the gist of it and even won the game once. On our last day we were just sightseeing and went to a concert together. The songs were translated to me and for a moment I felt super ambitious to learn Czech. I don’t want to miss out on funny songs just because I don’t know the language!

Last weekend there was a celebration in Berlin due to it being 30 years from the fall of Berlin wall. It was a bit similar to the light festival. We were out with friends two nights in a row and found a super cute place in Prenzlauer berg: Houdini. They have Indian food and cheap cocktails. We continued the evening to this living room looking place that was connected to a Späti. The Späti-drinking culture is something that is missing from Finland. Here Spätis are these small shops that mostly sell drinks (beer, soda, water, cider and so on) and candy.They are open late which is actually where the name Späti (Spätkauf = late shopping) comes from. There are often benches and tables where people can enjoy their drinks which are cheaper than in normal pubs of course. The Späti man asks if the beer is to be enjoyed in the living room and adds a small fee if it is. And there’s a bottle opener on the counter. Everything is sorted out so in my opinion Späti-drinking is a good way to go out and get drunk with small budget.

Yesterday we had an excursion with my German class. We went to Berlinische Galerie which is a museum of contemporary art. They had an exhibition of Bauhaus, the art/design/architecture Academy in pre-WWII Germany that affected modern design and architecture. We were walking around and filling up a worksheet the teacher gave us. I enjoyed it so much and everything seemed so pleasing to the eye.

Afterwards we went to a open stage event which was basically a talent show. There were 10 acts of which everyone had 10 minutes to convince the audience who voted for a winner. We also had beer and wine counter there naturally. My favorite was this one dude in tight ballet outfit who preformed a circus act which was funny and impressive at he same time. His background music was swan lake but the dude sang along in a terrible way which made it less serious. Then he juggled with 6 balls and every time he messed up, he cried out in a dramatic way. Then at the end of the show he turned his back to the audience and we could see he was digging something from his crotch and then he turned around and swiped of sweat from his face with a pile of tissues he had as a crotch-filler the whole time. The tipsy audience laughed so much that the winner was pretty much clear at that point. The dude who went after him performed a horrible keyboard improvisation and his face screamed “ I am sorry to be here, I just want to flee!” hahahahah. The act that came second was funny as well, they performed “Let it go” but with a German translation, the google translate type of translation. Conclusion is: the audience wants to laugh at talent shows, not see real talent.

On top of all the events I have also been attending the hiphop dance class I think I told about. The teacher is super funny (and hot :D) and the dancing is so intensive and so much fun! I look terrible, though but it’s not the main point here. I might continue this hobby when I get back to Finland.

Now I have to start packing my things because I am going to Szczechin (Poland). I heard it is a city where Berliners go to shop because it is cheaper there. I feel like this trip can be either a massive success or a terrible flop. Time shows...

#erasmus #exchange year #berlin

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turnipmage · 5 years

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@electricjudgement 8) well. since you asked

dr. oscar blackmoore is a soft-spoken mild-mannered medical practitioner (mostly physician, but is trained in general surgery and also works as a mortician). he’s part of a world i have with sam aka @merle-casts-zone-of-truth(more under cut, including some more doodles >:) )

his primary work is as a physician for the local creature population (”creatures” being the term for the monster-like beings that inhabit a dimension/world parallel to earth, the majority of whom fled to earth centuries ago), while at night he’s contracted out as a mortician for the mob, while also providing healthcare services for its members. particularly their boss, arthur

of course, oscar, himself, is a creature. in particular, he’s from a species of vampire-adjacent beings known for their long life span and being, like, really goddamn weird and as a species closed off from the rest of the creature world. also vaguely bug-like. for a quick run down, they drink blood, have six arms, have a somewhat chitinous shell covering parts of them, are around 7′, and all of their limbs are doublejointed. i’m still working on their design, but here’s a rough look, with the second set of teeth representing what oscars looks like a bit in his half-transformed form. (yes oscar can change from one form to another with the help of glamour, his own being a modified version that allows for gradual change. his species cant change to humans on a whim, as neither can most creatures.)

now, in his own species’ terms, oscars about mid-thirties, but to other creatures, and humans especially, you could call oscar old. he was part of the first mass movement of creatures from their home world to earth, taking place roughly in the 17th century, though he was alive for at least a century prior to that, living in his old all-vampire hometown. why did he leave? well, he doesn’t like to talk about it (”if i dwell on past mistakes any more than i already do ill die”), but reportedly its got something to do with necromancy and him making extremely bad decisions

once he’d crossed over onto earth, he mostly stayed closed off. it’s a fact he’s ashamed of nowadays, but oscar was.... quite a bit of an asshole when he was younger. so he wasnt just trying to keep his creature identity secret from his new human neighbors, but he just couldn’t give two shits about the people around him,and in many cases enjoyed actively terrorizing the locals at night with his... less than human characteristics. until he met vincent, a handsome, spirited pirate with dreams of hitting it big. the two were basically inseparable for a years, in love, as vincent rose in infamy and wealth (eventually becoming captain of his own crew), but a nasty falling out led to them losing contact, and vincent hitting the chopping block, likely due to something oscar had done. at the time, oscar pretended not to be bothered, but he noticeably refused to get close to another human again for quite a long time

sometime after, oscar was enlisted to help another creature who had moved in the first wave, caroline. this part of the timeline is pretty muddled as we havent gotten to ironing it out just yet, but oscar helped caroline and her growing group of people by acting as their doctor, and over time, the two grew to be close friends, and for a long time were the closest the other had. caroline ignored or actively encouraged oscars not super great mindset, allowing oscar to go out and attack/feed off of humans at night. during that same time, vincent, suddenly a ghost now and also king of the underworld (long story), found out oscar was still alive, flpped, and proceeded to start haunting the shit out of him. and... thats where it was at, for a while.

but then, suddenly, a few centuries later, closer to the present day, a new janitor is hired, a cute upbeat guy called lance. and oscar is smitten.

they get to know eachother, gradually, and become friends. lances influence strong on him, oscar begins to pull away from caroline, and from the more toxic mindset of the work environment she’s created, and starts to think over himself and his actions. it isnt until lance leaves, and oscar goes with him, that he decides to make an effort to try and be a better person. and so far, he’s definitely succeeded in turning himself around. he’s also started making amends with vincent, and the two are also quickly growing closer again. at some point during everything with lance, he also gets contacted by the mob, and starts doing contract work for them.

nowadays, oscar is much kinder and more considerate than he’s been in the past. he has an aversion to hurting people and tries to make life easier for the people around him. hes maybe a little exasperated sometimes, but he gives people the benefit of the doubt, and tends to try to hold off on getting angry when possible. he’s a bit of a worrywart, and has a tendency to mother hen the other ocs, fretting over them if they get hurt

some more miscellaneous details about him:

-absolute goth nerd

-enjoys victorian-era outfits and wears somewhat toned-down versions of them as his daily wear

-theatre kid, generally playfully dramatic

-can sing pretty gd well

-plays violin

-has MULTIPLE pet bugs

-trans man, considers himself bisexual and queer

-has ddr competitions with lance

-can’t hold his alcohol worth shit

-definitely not a vampire, lance

-definitely not a necrophiliac, lance

-still holds out hope that caroline, like him, will eventually come around and stop being as much of an ass

-his double-jointed-ness from his creature form carries over to his human guise

-more that im forgetting we need to start writing this stuff down

-a triplet, with his two sisters

so thats the general gist of him, im leaving out a decent amount bc my hand is cramping from doodling and also i may just want to leave those as a surprise.

while writing this i realized that parts of his story dont quite make a lot of sense? unless you know about the timelines of the other ocs?? so if theres questions on stuff feel free to ask me or sam

#oc: oscar #theres my gd novel

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shirlleycoyle · 3 years

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What Makes a GPU a GPU, and When Did We Start Calling it That?

A version of this post originally appeared on Tedium, a twice-weekly newsletter that hunts for the end of the long tail.

Names change. Perhaps the most jarring element of the recent, widely reported “alien” activity isn’t so much descriptions of sonic boomless sonic flight but that UFOs (unidentified flying objects) are now called UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena).

Companies rebrand; Google became Alphabet and the Washington Football Team decided that was a good idea. With technology, terminology tends to become antiquated as industries progress beyond understanding their own achievements.

With that in mind, let’s consider how changes to the GPU (now the graphics processing unit) acronym and how it harkened a new era of computing applications, while frustrating an obvious customer base.

An ad from Tektronix Interactive Graphics, an alleged forebearer of GPU technology. Or were they?

Most of the history of GPUs doesn’t really count

How mainstream consumers came to expect graphic interfaces to work with computers is a long, fascinating history covered by many books and at least one excellent made-for-TV movie.

While Windows and Apple were gaining acceptance for their point-and-click interface, hardcore computer users, i.e. gamers, needed those points and clicks to register a lot faster. They also wanted the graphics to look more realistic. Then they started asking for features like online multiplayer, instant chat, and a slew of other features we expect nowadays, but seemed like a lot in the early to mid-1990s.

One could contribute the increase in technically demanding games to the 1993 classic Doom, as well as its successor Quake, which drove consumer interest in dedicated graphics cards. However, after talking with an expert that’s watched the field develop from the beginning, the history of GPUs just isn’t that simple.

Dr. Jon Peddie first got involved in the computer graphics industry in the 1960s when he was part of a team that made 3D topographic maps from aerial photography, leading to the creation of his company, Data Graphics. By the early 1980s, he was considering retirement and a career writing sci-fi (sounds nice) when he noticed an explosion in the field that was hard to ignore. Practical applications for high performance graphics were initially driven by CAD (computer-aided design) and GIS (geographic information system) companies, though the video game explosion of the 80s would change that.

“Gaming was (and still is) the driver because of the volume of the customers,” Peddie said in an email. “The other users of 3D and GPUs were engineering (CAD, and molecular modeling), and the movies. But that market had (in the 80s and 90s) maybe 100,000 users total. Consumer 3D had millions. But, the pro market would pay more—thousands to tens of thousands, whereas the consumer would pay a few hundred. So the trick was to build enough power into a chip that could, in a final product, be sold for a few hundred.”

At this point in computing history, the acronym GPU had been introduced into the tech lexicon. This blast-from-the-past article from a 1983 edition of Computerworld details the Tektronix line of graphics terminals. But if you look a little closer, GPU didn’t yet stand for “graphic processing unit”. Instead, this iteration stood for “graphic processor unit”. Is there even a difference?

“None,” Peddie explains. “Tense at best case. English is not the first language for a lot of people who write for (on) the web.”

Okay, fair enough. But this isn’t actually the problem or even the interesting element of GPU history to consider, Peddie points out. It’s the fact that before 1997, the GPU didn’t actually exist, even if the acronym was being used. A proper GPU, it turns out, requires a transform and lighting (T&L) engine.

“Why shouldn’t, couldn’t, a graphics chip or board developed before 1997 be called a GPU?” Peddie asks. “It does graphics (albeit only in 2D space). Does it process the graphics? Sure, in a manner of speaking. It draws lines and circles—that’s processing. It repositions polygons on the screen—that’s processing. So the big distinction, that is a GPU must do full 3D (and that requires a T&L).”

Ultimately, like much of tech history, the story quickly becomes about competing claims between an industry leader and a forgotten innovator.

The Glint 3D graphics chip by 3Dlabs, arguably the first company to produce a true GPU. Largely used for “high-end 3D CAD applications”, it was released in November 1994 (still not the first “real” GPU but still a cool graphics chip). Though first to market, 3Dlabs would not enjoy the economies of scale available to their competitors, like Nvidia. Image: Jon Peddie

Bragging rights are claimed by the winners

Let’s get this out of the way since it’s a common mistake. The first PlayStation was not the first mass market GPU. That belief comes from the powerful marketing efforts of Sony and Toshiba. As Peddie explains, “The original PlayStation [had] a geometry transformation engine (GTE), which was a co-processor to a 2D chip that was incorrectly labeled (by marketing) as a GPU.”

Marketing is a big element in this era of GPUs, which is just before they actually came out. The breakthrough for a true 3D GPU was on the horizon and plenty of companies wanted to get there first. But the honor would go to a little outfit from the UK imaginitely called 3Dlabs. The specific innovation that gave 3Dlabs the title of first accurately named GPU was their development of a two-chip graphics processor that included a geometry processor known as a transform and lighting (T&L) engine. Compared with their competitors, 3Dlabs focused on the CAD market though it was trying to make inroads with the larger consumer market by partnering with Creative Labs.

The smaller size and professional focus of 3Dlabs meant there were still plenty of “firsts” to be had in the consumer GPU market.

The graphics-card sector was incredibly busy during this period, with one-time big names such as Matrox, S3, and 3Dfx competing for mindshare among Quake players.

But the winners write the history books, and a dominant player emerged during this period. By late 1999, Nvidia was ready to release the first mass consumer GPU with integrated T&L, known as the GeForce 256.

“That, by Nvidia’s mythology, was the introduction of the GPU, and they claim the invention [of it],” Peddie explains. “So you can slice and dice history as you like. Nvidia is at $10 billion on its way to $50 billion, and no one remembers 3Dlabs.”

(Side note: Nvidia is and always will be a noun and not an acronym despite the wide belief it is one.)

Pretty soon, the market would be loaded with competing GPUs each aiming at their own particular market niche. Canadian manufacturer ATI Technologies, which was later purchased by Nvidia’s biggest competitor AMD, attempted to differentiate their entry into the market by calling their GPU a VPU, or video processor unit, even though they were the same thing. This effort didn’t last.

“ATI gave up, they couldn’t stand up to Nvidia’s superior (and I mean that) marketing skills, volume, sexiness, and relentless push,” Peddie says.

By the early 2000s, major players like Nvidia had dominated the consumer market, quickly becoming villains to gamers everywhere. Interestingly enough, this exact market consolidation helps explain exactly why high-end graphics cards are so hard to find nowadays.

Behold! One of the most coveted items in the world. And it’s not even the top of the line.

So who do we blame for that GPU shortage, anyway?

If you’ve gotten this far into an article on GPU history and naming convention, I bet you’re wondering when I’m going to get to the Great GPU Shortage of 2020 (and probably beyond).

For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, the gist is this: the price of higher-end GPUs has exploded in recent months, if you can even find them.

For example, the folks over at Nvidia have three models of graphics cards that are generally sought after by gamers:

RTX 3090: MSRP $1,499

RTX 3080: MSRP $699

RTX 3070: MSRP $499

The individual merits of these models can be (and very much are) debated relative to their given price points and performance. However, scarcity has made the resale markets for these GPUs shoot through the roof as supply becomes scarce. Current listings price the middle-tier RTX 3080 at $1,499, while the 3090 and 3070 are nearly impossible to find. One listing for a 3090 on eBay is over $3,000 at time of writing.

The AMD line of graphics cards also deserve a mention here. Though not as highly sought after because, traditionally, they haven’t been as powerful, AMD has nonetheless been affected by the supply chain limitations for GPU manufacturing. Like the Nvidia line, the AMD RX 6700, 6800, and 6900 models have seen similar price spikes in the secondary market with most models fetching more than twice their original values in resale markets.

(One extreme example of this: Ernie Smith, the editor of Tedium, bought a refurbished AMD RX 570 for slightly more than $100 in mid-2019, which he used in a piece about reusing old workstations. That same card, which is basically a budget model and was already a little old at the time I purchased it, currently sells for $599 on Newegg’s website.)

Clearly there is heavy demand and capitalism is usually pretty good at filling that gap. Like many things wrong with 2020, a good bit of the blame is being placed on COVID-19. Manufacturing hubs in China and Taiwan, along with most of the world, had to shut down. While much of the work in hardware manufacturing can be automated, the delicate nature of GPUs requires some degree of human interaction.

A flow chart describing the current shape of the GPU industry. Image: Jon Peddie

Still, this explanation oversimplifies processes that have been trending in the graphics industry long before COVID-19 hit. Again, I’ll let Peddie explain:

About 15 [plus] years ago, the manufacturing pipeline was established for GPU manufacturing (which includes sourcing the raw silicon ingots), slicing and dicing the wafers, testing, packaging, testing again and finally shipping to a customer. All the companies in the pipeline and downstream (the OEM customers who have a similar pipeline) were seeking ways to respond faster, and at the same time minimize their inventory. So, the JIT (just in time) manufacturing model was developed. This relied on everyone in the chain providing accurate forecasts and therefore orders. If one link in the chain broke everyone downstream would suffer … When governments shut down their countries all production ground to a halt – no parts shipped—the pipeline was broken. And, when and if production could be restarted, it would take months to get everyone in sync again.

At the same time people were being sent home to work, and they didn’t have the tools needed to do that. That created a demand for PCs, notebooks especially. [Thirty to forty percent] of PCs have two GPUs in them, so the demand for GPUs increased even more.

And then [crypto] coins started to inflate … Now the miners (people who use GPUs to monitor and report …) were after every and any GPU they could get their hands on. That caused speculators to buy all the graphics boards and offer them at much higher prices.

So, the supply line got hit with a 1-2-3 punch and was down for the count.

And that was him keeping a long story short. To put it plainly, companies that make GPUs were operating on a thin margin of error without the ability to predict the future. And this applies more to the general market for GPUs while tangentially addressing the higher-end customers.

Another point of frustration to add here was the unfortunate timing of the latest generation of video game consoles in 2020, which also meant a new generation of video games. The highly anticipated PlayStation 5 along with Cyberpunk 2077 was met with numerous supply and technical issues upon launch. Cyberpunk players reported inconsistent experiences largely dependent on hardware the game was being played on. On the differences between the game on a PS4 and a PS5, one YouTuber commented, “At least it’s playable on PS5.”

While Peddie expects the shortage to self-correct by the first quarter of 2022 (hooray …), he is not optimistic about the industry avoiding such missteps in the future.

“The [next] problem will be double-ordering that is going on now and so we have the prospect of a giant slump in the semi market due to excess inventory,” he concludes. “Yin-yang—repeat.”

There is a lot to learn from history even if it’s fairly recent. While it might be tempting to lean into market failures to meet demand, obviously the story is more complicated. Though GPUs have become required for billions on a daily basis, higher performance is left to a few with niche interests.

Still, the larger market should pay attention to frustrated gamers, at least on this point. Their needs push the industry into innovation that becomes standard in more common devices. With each iteration, devices gain a little more of those advanced graphics as they drip down to people who hadn’t noticed them before but now expect it.

After all, if it doesn’t have painstakingly realistic 3D graphics, can we even call it a phone anymore?

What Makes a GPU a GPU, and When Did We Start Calling it That? syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

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londontoseoularchive · 7 years

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movie shoot. | m.

➵ characters: christian yu x reader (feat. song minho)

➵ genre: smut

➵ wc: 12.6k

➵ summary: what started as a favour turned into something more, further complicating already blurred lines. with inspiration from mino’s body m/v.

warnings: this is explicit. like, hella explicit. didn’t spare on the details on this one. overstimulation is definitely a factor in this too. and dirty talk.

➵ more: an extra chapter because why not.

➵ masterlist

➵ disclaimer

“You want me to do what?” you put down the dish you were rinsing on the drying rack to turn to Christian standing a few feet behind you with your eyebrows raised.

He leaned against the counter with his arms casually crossed, thinking he has just made a very reasonable request. “Just for a day,” he said. “We’ll dress and make you up. Really, all you have to do is follow a couple of instructions and look pretty. That’s not too much to ask, is it?”

“Well, you are also asking me to step in for a YG model. YG. I’ve worked with those people, they’re basically walking masterpieces,” you noted.

“And you’re not?” he chuckled. “She got given an editorial shoot in Milan, even I wouldn’t have turned that down… But I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t think you could do it.”

“Yeah, but…” you tried to come up with another excuse. Reassessing the situation, you tried to remember all the details Christian had given you: to shoot a music video in two days for one day directed by Christian himself in a penthouse apartment in Gangnam. With Minho. “What if he doesn’t like me?”

“Who?” Christian narrowed his eyes in confusion, taking a second to realise who you were referring to. “Don’t be ridiculous, everyone adores you the second they meet you! Again, I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t think you could do it.” He straightened himself from the counter, unfolding his arms. “Please, Y/N. For me as a friend, and then I’ll owe you one, please.”

You tutted at his plea. “Alright, you don’t have to beg.”

Gasping dramatically, he asked, “so you’ll do it?”

Reluctantly, you nodded.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” you were taken by surprise when he held you by your thighs to pick you up and spinning you, making you squeal. “You’ve saved me so much trouble.” Letting you be on your feet once again, he held you tightly to plant the sloppiest kiss on your cheek possible, to which you made a face of disgust.

“Ew, Christian,” you frowned in his embrace.

“Oh, shut up, you love it,” he teased you.

The shoot was scheduled to begin at eleven a.m., in a car park already well-known for shoots that include car scenes. The location already got you thinking of what type of music video this will be, with Christian’s brilliant idea of keeping you in the dark about the concept making you curious. You’re not one to despise surprises, but just a little context would have been nice. But alas, you were only to find out once you arrive.

In sunglasses and trying your best to look presentable while not trying too hard, you called Christian as you approached the allocated place half an hour before everyone was expected to arrive.

“I’m just around the corner, where you at?” you said.

“I’m here too, just waiting on you, sweetheart,” you could just imagine the smug look on his face, knowing that those type of pet names between you two were just to push each other’s buttons.

“Well, darling, you still haven’t told me what I’m in for today.”

“You’ll know soon enough, just get here. I think I can see you.”

From the distance, you saw Christian right at the entrance of the recognisable building. You waved at him, hanging up the phone.

“You’re early,” he recognised as you approached him.

“I want to make a good impression, don’t I?” you smiled widely.

“Ah, already kissing up to the director, are you?” You both started walking side to side to side and into building, headed to the lifts that would take you underground.

“Well, from others, I heard he’s quite the asshole,” you laughed sarcastically, and he reciprocated the same chortle.

“Hilarious,” he said blankly.

“Aren’t I?” you smiled widened even more. “Hey, I’m still on the loop here, what am I doing today?” Entering the lift, you looked to Christian for an answer. “Well?”

“You really want to know?”

“Yes!”

He pressed the button to go to four floors beneath ground and sighed. “We’re here right now just to shoot some doughnuts, nothing special. You’re actually in the driver’s seat and Minho will be sat next to you with the head out of the window and—by any chance, do you know how to do doughnuts around a car park?”

“Well, I don’t wanna brag but—wait, I’m in the car with Minho?”

“Yeah, and you’ll be like flirty and touching, the normal ‘girls in a music video’ shit.”

You tilted you heard, piercing your cheek with your tongue. “Ah, so is that what we’re doing today?”

“The song’s about a guy missing this girl’s body, wondering where she at, missing her… head over heels for her. Get the gist of the video yet?”

“Uh-huh I think I got it.”

Reaching the floor, the first thing you noticed was how dark everything was, only lit with a few artificial lights, but the place still kept pretty dark. Christian was badgering you with even the smallest details about the shoot, completely different from the secretive stance he once took up. Listening to his voice had become almost insufferable, wanting to tell him to shut up, but just opted for the “alrights” and the “I got its”. He finally allowed you to leave to your designated area to start preparing, meeting with a stylist and makeup artist, but not before a few more pointers.

“Alright!” you laughed, pushing him away from his shoulders, also making him laugh. “Now go get ready yourself, jeez!”

The moment he left, you greeted the others adequately, promising not to be much of a hassle and to do your best today. With that, you commenced preparing yourself to shoot the first scene, seeing the first outfit already ready for you. However, only a few moments later, you heard a deep voice clear their throat.

“Christian, I swear if you don’t leave me alone for just one minute—“ you turned from the floor mirror to look behind you, expecting to see him there. “Oh! Sorry, I thought that—“

“You’d rather it’d be the director?” a man definitely not Christian asked. “Sorry to disappoint. I’m Minho.” But of course, you already knew that.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” you almost stuttered, timidly bowing. “I’m—“

“My leading lady.”

“Yeah, pretty much. Y/N,” you laughed nervously. “I know I’m not who you were expecting but—“

“No, no, you’re exactly what I pictured,” he eyes were trained on you, scanning your features from head to toe. “Even better… Are we ready?”

“We are,” you smiled brightly, still wanting to make that good first impression.

“Shall we?”

You took the hand Minho offered you, taking baby steps in the stiletto heels you wore to ensure you would not trip, making you hold onto his hand a little tighter than usual.

The walk to the make-shift set was not long, with the car already in its centre stage. On your walk there, you saw Christian taking his place behind a monitor and several cameras, receiving and exchanging words with his assistant. When they both looked up and saw you and Minho approaching, the assistant left Christian’s side to come to you and Minho, informing you of the events and structure of this scene. Christian paid close attention to you, skimming his eyes over you much like how Minho already did, reacting in the same manner in awe. He had not even realised when the assistant had returned to his side, stating that everything was set and ready to begin.

Minho opened the driver’s seat car for you, and you looked at him in appreciation. Once you were in, Minho quick stepped to the passenger side to make his own way in, shifting in his seat to stay as close to you and as comfortable as possible.

“So how do you and Christian know each other?” Minho asked resting his arm on the back of your seat.

“We met at one of his early video shoots. I was just dropping by to visit one of the producers, a friend. And then we just saw more of each other, stayed close.” You noted how suddenly Minho had become tense, his jaw clenching. Needing to relax him, you added, “just as friends, though.”

“Hmm,” he dropped his gaze, seeing your hand cling onto the edge of the leather seat. “Do you stay close with those you meet on set?”

“If they’re interesting enough, why not?”

He looked back at you and chuckled. “I like that.”

A producer called out for places to be taken and for the set to be cleared, ready for rolling. That was your cue to get a grip on the wheel. Minho scooted closer to you, turning the car’s engine on.

“Music, please!” Christian called out. “Y/N, start it up! And action!”

As you were instructed to, you drove in the premeditated course around the car park as Minho is to be flirtatious with you. This included touching your thigh, caressing your hair and whispering into your ear.

Minho chose the latter, getting as close as possible to you. “Do you like the song?”

Not diverting your attention away from the task, you still answered him, “yeah, it’s hot. Would make any girl’s panties drop.”

“Even yours?”

You knew he was teasing you, but for the sake of the chemistry, you played along. “Even mine.”

“My kind of girl,” he grinned. He looked at your lobe, though with an earring, still thought to nibble on it. The fact that you had just met him held him back, and no boundaries were set yet, it was still early hours.

Minho’s affection continued by stroking your exposed thigh, his palm feeling warm and your skin soft under his touch. You exhaled deeply at the sensation it created.

“Mmm, you like that, do you?” he continued to whisper in a huskier voice.

“You’re a tease, aren’t you?” you quizzed him, trying to hide the fact his touch had you shifting in your seat with a laugh.

“It’s no fun if I don’t tease.” He was right about that; you were finding this more and more fun.

Christian stayed put in his station, seeing everything the camera picked up through the monitor. The fact that you were able to get so close to Minho and get into character so quickly didn’t shock him; your professionalism was something he constantly praised. But something about not knowing what Minho was saying to you, that had you giggling and swooned, was what made his fists secretly clench.

The next thing for you to do was to halt the car and interact further with Minho, with it being your turn to touch him. Pulling on the brake lever, having your legs crossed you turned to Minho. His hand instantly found itself on your waist as you gently swooped the hair strand dangling over his forehead away.

A finger traced along the side of his face before caressing his jaw, gliding your thumb across his plump lower lip. How he growled at your delicate touches meant you felt his mouth vibrate. In the spur of the moment, Minho pulled you in closer, making you hold onto his neck and jaw with both hands.

Being so close again, this time your faces being mere centimetres away, Minho was able to say lowly, “You’re a tease yourself, aren’t you?”

“You started it,” you gazed at him, peering down at his lips. “And two can play at that game.”

Minho tilted his head as if he was preparing himself to kiss, getting as close as he could, but still not allowing your lips to even brush against one another.

You’d be lying if your heart wasn’t currently beating as if it was going at a hundred kilometres an hour right now, but you kept your cool, even if your insides were heating up.

“Cut!” Christian interrupted the moment. “Prepare for Minho’s individual shots.”

“That’s a shame, I was just starting to like this,” he smirked. “Another time, Y/N.” He winked at you before opening the door on his side, exiting the car.

You followed suit, but while Minho stayed to speak to the cameraman, you headed straight to Christian, not having strayed too far. His hands rubbed at his neck as if he was massaging a strain, all while replaying the footage just captured on the monitor.

“How was that?” you asked giddily.

He looked up at you. “Do you wanna see?”

“Ah, I don’t like seeing myself on screen. I’ll leave it to you to just show me a final cut of everything,” you declined the offer. “But how was it? Is this what you meant by ‘girls in music video shit’?”

He sighed. “You did it perfectly. Next, though, is a bath scene. You don’t mind having your back bare, do you?”

“You guys have those pasties or bras that just cover the bare minimum, don’t you?” Christian nodded. “Then it’s fine.”

“Go with Hyejin, she’ll take you to the next location. There are some camera guys there already. Just wait for me, alright?”

“We can’t do anything without Director Yu, can we?” you said softly, taking that the long day ahead of him is already getting to him. You rubbed him arm to comfort him. “You’re doing great.”

“Thank you,” he said genuinely. “Now, go.”

You gave him a departing smile, and when he was sure you were out of sight, he groaned in frustration, placing his hands flat on the table in front of him, letting his head drop. With being so currently immersed in his emotions, he didn’t even notice Minho approaching.

“That was a good take, huh?” Minho said, essentially congratulating himself. “Made it a lot easier with such a hot girl. Where did you find her?”

Christian raised his head with furrowed his eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

By his tone, Minho understood he may have crossed the line by an inch. “You know, h-how she’s so beautiful, but still s–so down to earth… You want me to get ready for the next shot?”

“Yeah, you do that.”

Minho didn’t dare say another word, and instead quickly turned on his heel to walk back towards the car.

Christian straightened his poster, muttering under his breath, “asshole.”

When Minho and Christian made their way through the entrance of the penthouse, you had already taken a tour around the place, noting the large bedrooms and the adjoining bathroom, guessing that its tub was where you’d find yourself soon. Outside was a swimming pool fit for at least twenty people; if your instincts were correct, this pool was to be put to its full use that evening.

You changed your wardrobe from the skirt, blouse and choker to jean shorts, a crop top and an oversized shirt. The stylist said this would be better for the bedroom scene, the shorts allowing you to widen your legs freely and the shirt making it seem as if you were wearing one of Minho’s shirts.

The final touches were being made to your makeup when the front door opened, and your heart skipped. Minho and Christian made their way to you to greet you once again. Minho would not stay long as he himself would have to get ready, allowing Christian to brief you.

“You do know how to have sex with your clothes on, right?” he asked you leaning against the door frame, hands shoved down his pockets.

“I was a teenager once, I did go through all the bases before the clothes came off,” you said zipping up your jeans. “But let me guess, I can’t make it too risqué or kiss him.”

“Actually,” Christian said as if had something planned already. “I was talking to Minho, and for the sake of authenticity, just do what feels right.”

“Even kiss him?” you widened your eyes. “You’re allowing that?”

Instead of answering, Christian swallowed hard and looked away from you.

But just from his body language, you understood exactly what he meant. “Alright, if you insist.”

“I mean, only if it feels right,” he reiterated.

“Alright, I got it.”

Christian was about to say something else, but a woman came from behind him to pass on information to him. He nodded, allowing her to be dismissed. “Minho’s ready. Take your place.”

Doing just that, Minho sat in beneath you and between your legs, seeing this as the perfect opportunity to continue the game you played. You simply started by skimming your hand over his exposed neck and collarbones softly, taking it as far down as in his chest. Coming back up, your nails gently scratched at his skin, making him shiver.

His hand reached up to hold onto your forearm, and before your hand could reach his neck again, he slowly pulled you down, having you hunch over and his face near his.

“You’re really gonna keep teasing me like this?” he exhaled.

“I told you,” you smirked, placing your hands on his cheeks. “Two can play at this game.”

Your noses grazed against each other, feeling each other’s breaths. His lips were right there, so plush and tempting. The cologne he wore earlier remained with the same enticing smell. His hand came up to rest on the side of your face, feeling the softness of your hair.

As sweet as it may have all looked, you needed to take it up a notch; on the floor is what seemed to be a long black ribbon, probably used as a belt, and perfect for a last minute blindfold. You reached for it, allowing Minho’s head to straighten again. You brought it over his eyes, not tying it but holding it in place. Minho didn’t protest, and, in reality, became excited at this turn of event. Leaning down once again, you were close to his ear.

“I wonder if you’d allow me to take this much control,” you whispered. “You don’t seem like the type.”

Minho allowed his head to drop backwards onto your lap as you kept the material over his eyes. “For the right woman… But I’d like to show her what I’m capable of first.”

He placed a hand over one of yours that held the blindfold, always holding onto your hand as he removed it from his face. You were forced to let go of the ribbon as Minho wanted to hold your hand, pulling you closer to him. No time was spared as Minho held you by beneath your thighs, his strength enough to make you hop onto his lap. For support, you held him by his neck, allowing him to move his hands from your legs to your waist, taking extra care when he laid you down on the dishevelled bed, always ensuring to stay close to you.

“I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do,” Minho ensured you in a whisper. “But let me make you happy at least. Any way you want. Just tell me.”

Your lips parted to speak, but your words got caught when Minho decided to land his lips upon the most sensitive part of your neck, granting a surprised reaction from you.

However, the sigh you exuded signalised pleasure. “That’s a good start—oh fuck,” you hissed at Minho tongue wanting to burrow his lips and tongue further into the crook of your neck, pleased with how much he was affecting you.

“Then how about this?” His open mouth when from your neck to your exposed chest and collarbones, making you gasp. You couldn’t help but have your fingers tangle in his styling his hair, only coming to you as a second thought, and when Minho looked back up at you, that you may not want to do that.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” you giggled quietly. “I didn’t mean to—“

“You might not wanna do that, baby girl, or else…”

“I know, I—“

“I might not be able to control myself.” But what Minho could not control was his urge and need to kiss you. He’s held himself back since the moment he saw you, his lips itching to latch onto yours, wanting it to last an eternity. So when he suddenly hovered his face above yours, your lips in danger of touching, your heart thumped against your ribcage, and all breathing essentially stopped. Still, a gaze was exchanged between you two for a moment without words.

When you remembered to breathe, you also spoke. “You’re really quite the man, Song Minho.”

“If anything, you’re the one to blame, Y/N,” he laughed lowly. You reciprocated the laugh as you hugged him warmly.

“They were able to really hit it off so quickly, weren’t they?” the assistant director commented giddily, turning to Christian for a response, just to see him lean on a fist made with the arm that leaned on the arm rest, glaring silently but attentively at you and Minho. “Director?”

“Yeah…” he said emotionlessly. “Such a great couple.”

The water you stepped into was warm enough, nothing that would not be able to immerse yourself in. Once one foot was in, the other followed, until your lower body was within the water. Sitting down, you dipped your body low enough to have the water rise to your shoulders, getting as much of your body as possible wet. You had done so just in time for Christian to enter the bathroom, bringing with him only a camera.

“The monitors are outside, it’s just you and me in here.”

On the other side of the wall was the shower, where Minho took his own place, shooting his own scene. It was multi-tasking, and you had the privilege to work with the director one on one.

Christian kneeled by the tub, trying to position himself perfectly to get the correct angle of revealing as much as modesty would allow before letting the camera roll.

Your poses were soft and delicate, having your fingers skim your shoulders, noting how the warm water trickled down your arms, letting it fall. Through your peripherals you saw Christian maintaining close to you. With this shot being difference, since it was Christian now holding the camera, the situation felt more intimate; as if you were putting on your own show and Christian was a spectator.

So you continued this show of seduction and mystery, leaning your head to the side to expose as much of your neck as possible to your right, slowly rotating it to the other side. Your hands went from an embrace to extend across the bath edge, once again playing with the droplets of water. The porcelain felt cool against your skin, a complete contrast of the heated blood running through you. It was how the day progressed with riskier moves and more lustful intentions which had you all hot and bothered, and now you had a man’s eyes focused solely on your as bare as possible body, providing more excitement.

You chuckled to yourself, the realisation that you were stuck between two men just hitting you; one you had just met but was setting you alight, and the other who you were patiently waiting to ignite you. But your patience was running low.

“Hey, Christian,” you called him over your shoulder, not looking directly at him. You waited for an answer, but nothing, prompting you to turn your head further. “Christian.”

He was engrossed in the footage he was capturing to the point he couldn’t even hear the subject at hand. “Hmm?”

“Are you alright?”

He cleared his throat. “W-why wouldn’t I be? Um, we have to move on. Minho’s already done his shots in the shower, it’s your turn with him now.”

You turned your head in the opposite direction to see Minho just in loose shorts, his torso free of any material. You bit your lower lip, looking at him. Then, you turned your head back to Christian to find him further out in the bathroom, reviewing footage in a small monitor. So much for an intimate moment.

Rising to your feet, you were careful to remove yourself from the water, the cold air of the atmosphere causing your skin to become prickled in goosebumps. With one foot out, the next one was going to be tricky if you were to be sure you weren’t going to slip on the tile floor. Just as the other foot came off the floor of the bath, your hand became occupied by another, seeing that Christian quickly came to your aid. You thanked him quickly and straightened yourself, finding yourself very close to him.

He swallowed a lump. “Were you going to ask me something?”

“Oh, it can wait… Let’s get this done first.”

Before you let Christian say another phrase, you tip toed as quickly as you could to the shower Minho found himself in, calling him out upon arrival. He quickly turned in your direction, his facial expression changing from nonchalant to surprised immediately. Minho first mistook your flesh-coloured strapless bra as you actually being naked, taking a few seconds to register that you were not.

“Well, if this gives the allusion, I’m all for it,” he joked with a light chuckle. “Is this when we become close again?”

“Closer than ever before.”

Minho’s hair was already soaked and raked back with his fingers having pushed it. The tattoo between his neck and shoulder was now much more apparent, as was his toned physique. You felt your throat becoming dry, having to swallow to alleviate it.

You looked down at his relaxed hand, taking it into yours. “You’re not going to turn shy on me, are you?”

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem in the slightest,” Minho smirked and pulled you in closer. “Once I have my hands on you, it’s keeping me away that’s gonna be the problem.”

This sly motherfucker. You bit the inside of your cheek to prevent you from commenting, leaving the playfulness to him. He saw you trying to hide that smile, making him chuckle.

“Haven’t you had fun so far?” he splayed his fingers to weave them between yours, his other hand now resting on the small of your back.

“I’ve had a lot of fun. More than just fun.” You looked up at him to gaze into his eyes, not wanting to blink and break eye contact. His lips were parted as if he was breathing heavily, still with a slight smile on his lips. “I apologise again that the original model couldn’t make it,” you teased him.

The smile widened. He inhaled and moved his body so you would have your back flushed against his chest. The embrace suddenly became closer and tighter, but you still felt profound comfort in his arms. He exhaled a sigh, stating, “No need to apologise. We both come out as winners, don’t you think?”

As he waited for your response, he peppered sweet kisses along your shoulders, making their way up your your neck, making your breath hitch. Your hands grasped at his forearms, the tension Minho felt made him hold you even tighter.

You let your head drop backwards and onto Minho’s shoulder, allow him to progress with his trail further to the shell of your ear.

“I just hope you feel the same way as I do. I want to hold you, to kiss you, to—”

“Don’t say any more,” you stopped Minho in his tracks, releasing yourself from his embrace and turning to face him, cradling his jaw and face. “Keep the fantasy alive. And then show me later.”

Minho groaned lowly, holding you close by your hips. “Fuck, you’re driving me insane.” Resting his forehead on yours he said, “I swear to god, by the end of all of this, I’m gonna–”, but was interrupted by Christian’s loud voice yelling to cut. The cameras were rolling this whole time and neither of you even noticed.

Your head was spinning and you were barely able to focus on much other than how Minho’s body detached from yours reluctantly. Your hand almost reached out to him to pull him back in, fighting with the reality that this was just a video shoot. Forcing yourself to shake yourself out of the thought, you reached for the towel being offered with a smile, dabbing your body from the water that had fallen over you.

Christian neither Minho were in sight anymore, leaving you to exasperate a sigh loudly, shaking your head, “these two…”

Before you knew it, the evening was upon you, just in the time for the outdoor shoot at poolside. It was the assistant’s turn again to inform you on the scene as you were the first to arrive, Minho coming a few minutes later. He was spoken to individually, giving you time to familiarise yourself with the setting. When you turned your head once again, Minho was already making his way towards you.

“Ready?” he winked.

You nodded, leaving him to start getting into the water as instructed. Behind Minho but still at a distance was Christian already looking in your direction with his hands in his pockets. Taken by surprise, your heart jumped, making you clench onto your chest. But you still smiled warmly at him. However, it was not reciprocated. Instead, his body just turned away from you to head towards his station. Baffled by his sudden coldness, you felt the urge to make your way to him, wanting to ensure that you had not done anything wrong or out of line. You couldn’t even do so if you wanted as Christian was quick to call for people’s places, and you had no choice but to do so.

“Roll… Y/N, get ready. Action!”

You took your first steps down the concrete slabs and into the warm pool, picking up a glasses of champagne beside you on a outdoor table. Wearing the clothes meant your body gained mass the more you were inside the pool, but it made for slower and sexier walking.

Coming from behind Minho, already sat down in the shallow end of the pool, he took the opportunity to watch you descended, licking his lips, gawking at the skin the shorts and top you wore exposed. Seeing that you were now coming his way, he shifted to part his legs further, allowing your entry.

Through the dark sunglasses in the night, you could still see how Minho’s eyes wandered over your body, making you bite your lower lip nervously. Getting as close as you can to his body, you kneeled between his legs as you handed him the glass. Clinking his and your glasses together, you held a gaze and you chuckled before you both drank it in one gulp. Minho offered to take both of them to set them well aside and out of your way, turning back to rest his arms along the side of the swimming pool.

You allowed Minho’s body to be turned back to you before you slowly removed your glasses and started to step back and a few feet away from him. You turned and swayed inside the pool, dipping your head so that only your hair would be wet. Straightening your posture again, you made sure to make Minho your focal point, just like you were to him.

Throughout the day, though Minho was flirtatious, he was still sweet in his approach, with a few laughs and smiles. As the day progressed, however, the sweetness in his eyes slowly but surely disappeared, being replaced with lustful and predatory intentions, due to how physically close you had come with him, yet he felt thoroughly teased as he could barely do much more. By the time you reached the late night portion, the pretence that he wanted your body, and that had to show so throughout the whole shoot, became his truth.

Approaching him slowly once more, you could see his sultry eyes, inviting you back to him. Taking the kneeling position once again, you stood on them so you could be eye to eye with Minho.

Barely a centimetre away from his face, you whispered, “I got you worked up, haven’t I?”

“That’s an understatement,” he declared, peering down to your lips. His arms dropped from the pool side to your sides, scooting forward before slipping his hands to your legs, moving them the straighten them and have the wrap around his waist and back. For support, you held on to his neck, but never breaking eye contact. “I feel outrightly denied.”

“Wasn’t the car enough?” you slightly taunted him. “The bed, the shower? Me sitting on your lap right now?”

“Nowhere near enough,” he growled lowly. “I need more of you.”

You looked for signs of genuineness in Minho’s face, to distinguish whether he was being extremely committed to the role, and practically repeating his lyrics to you, or if he does in fact need more of you. His eyes never faltered, his lips perfectly still, not a single knot of tension was felt from his body. Shit, he’s being for real.

You could just imagine Christian seething behind the monitor screen, his fists either clenched on the arm chair or hidden inside his pockets. His jaw locked shut and a slight eye twitch as he watched far from away, struggling to contain as his emotions, but still being the perfect professional.

The perfect professional you were too, and you ran with it. “How do you need me?”

“Fuck,” Minho exhaled, stroking your back under the heavy fabric of your top. “I just need your body. On mine. I want to make you feel good, Y/N.” His head dipped to the side of your neck facing the camera, not allowing anyone, and Christian, to see the mixture of delicate and rough kisses he was placing on your skin. You tried to resist the urge to moan, but when his hands found themselves on your ass cheeks to grind your groin on his, noticing just how stiff Minho had become with you on top of him, with your eyes closed, a long, drawn out moan escaped.

With his teeth clenched, Christian ordered, “start moving around!”

Still holding onto you, Minho rose to his feet, taking further steps inside the swimming pool until the water was up to your shoulders. Minho could not take your eyes off you, still mesmerised by the moan he had just heard. Your hands at his nape travelled up into his hair until your fingers locked on enough strands to pull them, making Minho hiss and clench your ass cheeks more.

“I knew you liked it rough,” he said with a grin, leaving open mouth kisses on your neck and chest, trusting himself he won’t take it as far as to mark you.

The chemistry of your body meant you were easily getting turned on by Minho and his words, his mouth and his hand. Your mind battled with itself with how far should you take this; continuing with what has become soft porn would make great content, but cloud yours and Minho’s emotions, as well as upset Christian further. Stopping this now meant your whole effort was half-assed and you wanted to make a good impression as Christian was the one that brought you in, making you both look bad, but how far did your loyalty to Christian go?

Noting how vacant you were becoming, Minho asked, “What’s on your mind, Y/N?”

“I-I don’t know…” you stuttered, but held Minho closer by wrapping your arms around his neck. “This… is just so hard.”

Thinking he understood what you meant, he suggested, “don’t think about that now. Right now, it’s just you and me.” He got closer to your lips, “just you and me.” As he spoke, his lips brushed lightly over yours, making you lick yours before you resumed the soft contact for a kiss.

Christian swallowed dryly as he watched, clearing his throat before turning his head away to his assistant director. “The underwater camera is ready, right?” As a response he received a nod, but struggled to face the monitor once again.

The kiss was only gentle at first, but enough to make you both sigh deeply. You opted to tilt your head to only increase the pressure of your lips on Minho’s, but the tongue he sneaked out over your bottom lip meant you parted your lips. The kiss was deepened in a matter of minutes, and with your eyes closed, it’s like you had forgotten your surroundings, solely consumed in Minho.

This was to be stopped when Christian had enough, yelling “cut!” to prepare for the next scene. However, the kiss you shared didn’t end as abruptly, with Minho opting to peck your lips before slowly stopping.

“You’re a great kisser,” he complimented biting his smile down on his lower lip, and you couldn’t help but giggle.

Before you could say anything, Christian had already approached you both. “Okay, listen–”

“Was that good?” Minho interrupted him, curious.

“Huh?” Christian pretended to be unphased. “Oh. Yeah, yeah, whatever. Listen, we’re gonna do the underwater shot. You’ll have two cameras out of frame from each other on each side. All you have to do is know where the cameras are and fall in holding each other. Alright?”

Though you looked at Christian, he couldn’t bring himself to look at you, and just looked to Minho for clearance. Christian got a thumbs up from him but didn’t see your nod, turning away instantly.

Minho held your hand to lead the way out of the pool to then let you pass him so you could walk up the stairs first. The assistant director was already standing in your allocated spot waiting for you, instructing you that you were to fall one on top of the other to allow the cameras to face the sides of your faces. Who would fall back first was up to you to decide.

“I’ll lead the way,” Minho said, this whole time still holding your hand. You also suggested it’d be best to fall on your knees to minimise splash and waves in the water to get a clearer shot. The assistant director agreed, leaving you both to take your places.

Minho kneeled down with his back to the water, and you followed suit being as close to him as possible. He held you tight by your waist and you by his shoulders. Looking down at your placement in the pavement, you could feel his fingers stroking your wet lower back in the attempt to relax you again.

“Don’t forget to hold your breath, just like how you do whenever I touch you,” he teased you.

“And I’m surprised you still have enough blood circulating to get to your brain,” you teased back, indicating with your eyes to his hard-on.

He smirked before leaning in to your ear. “I’ve been like this since the moment I saw you, imagining all the things I could be doing to you after.” Your eyes widened and you swallowed dryly, making him laugh lowly and peck your cheek.

“Places!” you were reminded of Christian’s presence. “And, action!”

An above water camera followed your moves and Minho leaned back his body holding onto yours until you were submersed in the water, both of you closing your eyes. Though you leaned with your chin under his shoulder, he pulled away from you slightly to face you once again, instantly planting your lips on yours. Your hands traced his face before creeping lower to his abdomen, tugging at his shirt. His own hands went from your waist to your face, cradling in to kiss you harder.

With your eyes closed, though your body was submissive to Minho’s every move and touch, your mind started racing with a thousand questions and thoughts: what have I gotten myself into? Why did Minho fall for me? Did we take this too far? I want Minho. I don’t want Minho. I’m here for Christian. What would Christian think? Christian. Christian!

Feeling your stored air supply running low, you brought yourself above water, gasping immediately for air. The water still in your ears muffled your surrounding, not hearing your name being called out.

“Y/N!” You turned your head in the direction of the voice, seeing it was Christian. “I called cut thirty seconds ago!”

Were you in there for that long? You turned to your right seeing Minho above water also, a stern expression on his face, to then back at Christian.

“I-I couldn’t hear well underwater and–”

“You should have paid more attention!” Christian’s voice was far too loud, and you could tell the malicious intent behind his words. The whole crew stood still as they looked at you and Minho, anticipating with fear what Christian might do next. You’ve never felt more embarrassed in your life. You looked at him disappointingly, but his angry glare never dying down. Because of this, you looked away from him and turned your back, heading for the stairs. Just by this, Christian knew he fucked up.

You didn’t allow Minho to help you at any stage, always three steps ahead of him. A production assistant was ready to offer you a towel, mouthing a thank you before you took it. Having to walk past Christian, you avoided looking at him, and kept walking as fast and as carefully as you could due to the wet surface.

“Come on, Y/N, I didn’t mean it like that–” he tried to apologise, attempting to reach out for your arm, but the water droplets on you meant you could pull away from his hold with ease, continuing to walk.

Christian stayed glued in his place, and Minho approached. “Don’t you think that was too harsh, hyung? I couldn’t hear you either.”

He didn’t respond, just turned to face him, biting his tongue before he said anything he would regret.

When he didn’t answer, Minho said, “I’ll go talk to her.”

“No,” Christian barricaded Minho with his arm to stop him from stepping any further. “I did this, I’ll go talk to her.”

Walking back into the penthouse and down its corridor, he noted that the front door was wide open but no one by it. He knew the room you used to get ready in was the room directly next to the front door, jogging there, but it was empty.

“Fuck!” he hissed to himself. He scrambled for his phone in your pocket, unlocking it to reach his recent calls, tapping your name immediately. Straight to voicemail. He cursed again.

Walking out the door, he still thought he could catch up to you, but by the time he reached the lobby and the main entrance, you were nowhere to be seen. Christian couldn’t abandon his crew as he had not called it a day yet, and so he returned to the top floor.

“Guys, it’s a wrap! Thank you everyone for your hard work! Let’s wrap everything up and go home!”

The crew was only able to meekly clap for themselves, quickly returning to the chatter of what just happened. But Minho wasn’t buying it.

“Hyung!” he called out making his way to him. “Where is she?”

With sadness and uncertainty, he shook his head, “I don’t know.”

The editing room was dark as per usual, but now also in the mood and not just in atmosphere. In the early mornings of a Sunday morning, a week after having completed the shooting of the Body video, Christian continued to struggle to concentrate with the work at hand. He ruffled his hair in the attempt to vacate his mind with thoughts of you, thinking if you didn’t think to call him in these last few days or be at your apartment where he knew he’d find you, then he should not be worried about you either.

But it wasn’t that easy; as soon as he’d decide to resume life as normal, he’d pick up his phone to check for any missed calls again, and if there were none, he’d call you. Of course, you would not answer.

Christian had a deadline to meet and it was fast approaching. The video was to be released in two weeks and YG, after having seen a draft cut and providing suggestions and requirements, wanted to see a final cut by Monday. Agreeing with himself that if he spent just this night editing, he would not need to worry about it in the following morning. And so, the following six hours were spent in front of two monitors, struggling to keep his eyes open. As soon as the draft file was exported, Christian was knocked out cold in his chair.

He was woken abruptly by his phone vibrating on his desk, groaning as he raised his head off his folded arms. He scrambled for it, turning it facing upwards to reveal ‘DB.’

“Hello?” he mumbled.

“Hey, Ian,” Dabin said. “You up yet or nah?”

“What time is it?”

“Like two in the afternoon?” he said. “Yeah, seven past two.”

“Jesus…” he groaned once again, slowly getting to his feet. “I fell asleep right after editing.”

“Damn… I’ll call you when you’re more awake,” he offered with a chuckle.

“Alright, just… give me ten minutes.” Christian hung up to throw his phone onto his desk once again, running his hands over his face. Slowly but surely he walked to the bathroom to head into the shower. The quick shower was enough to refresh him, wearing his typical casual attire.

Dabin did as he promised and called a few minutes later. “I called just wondering if you’ve heard of Y/N lately. I’ve been wanting a favour—“

“No, I haven’t spoken to her lately,” he gritted his teeth at hearing your name. “I’ve tried calling her but…”

“I know you fucked up but I didn’t think she’d give me the same cold shoulder, damn.”

“I didn’t fuck up, I—“ Christian sighed. “Can I ask what you need from her.”

“Really, I was just gonna ask her to talk to Loco or Zi. Minho’s been asking around for her, she could get his number from them.”

He gritted his teeth again. “Of course… I honestly don’t know where she’s at. I’ve been trying to call her, been to her place… nothing. Don’t even know if she’s not in the damn country or not, if she could just—“ Christian was stopped by the bell of his front door ringing, followed by a lazy knock on the door.

“You know what Y/N’s like,” Dabin spoke. “Just give her a few more days, and she’ll come to her senses.”

Christian approached his door with the phone still in his ear. As he was not expecting anyone, he was sure to peek through the peephole before opening the door.

“Uh, hey man,” Christian said, having his hand to the door handle, opening the door. “I’m gonna have to call you back.”

“Oh, aight. Remember, give Y/N the message, this dude is pissing everyone off asking around for—“

The phone call ended before the sentence could even be completed, as Christian opened the door in anger as well as relief. “Where the fuck have you been?”

“Not that it’s anything to do with you,” you replied coldly. “I’m just here to see the video.” You attempted to make your way into the apartment, but was blocked by Christian stepping in to block your path. “Can you let me in? Please?”

“Not until you tell me where you’ve been. You’ve been gone a week, I’ve been trying to call you, went to your place. You’ve acted like such an insufferable brat, god, I just—“ Christian stopped in his tracks when he remembered that he too acted like an insufferable brat that day. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to...”

He looked at you for some kind of response, emotion or movement. But you remained still in your spot still waiting for him to move out of your way. Rolling his eyes and sighing, he finally gave in, stepping to his left.

You smiled sarcastically. “Thank you.”

Being able to walk in, you were quick to slide off your shoes, heading straight to the living room. Christian went to the table where his laptop was, bringing it with him to sit beside you. Opening it on his lap, it only took a few clicks before he had the video playing, making sure it was at full volume.

You held onto your knees tightly as the video began, paying close attention to the shots chosen. When you first saw yourself on the screen, you were surprised at how the camera moved over you, seeing how well executed they were. During the whole shoot you were afraid you weren’t hitting the right movements or poses, providing only awkward angles, but Christian proved otherwise.

The scenes chosen of you and Minho where the sugar-coated or tame ones; the video oozed the sex appeal it was trying to portray, doing so perfectly. You were more interested in your own portrayal, with the thoughts of ‘could you have done enough’ clouding your thoughts since you left the location. Although the more intimate scenes of you and Minho brought back vivid memories of the day, you would catch a peak at Christian to see how he’d react. He was just as pissed as ever.

When the video came to an end was when you could finally relax the grip on your knees, sighing deeply. “Is this what you’re giving to them?”

He nodded, closing his laptop and placing it on the coffee table. “Minho hasn’t even seen any of it yet.”

“No? Oh...”

“He, um,” he cleared his throat. “He’s been trying to get your number too.” He leaned back in his seat with an arm behind your head resting on top of the sofa, slightly turning his body to you.

Turning to him also, you asked, “you didn’t give it to him, did you?”

“Of course not, I’m not that stupid.” And have him take you away from me? Fuck that.

“Good, because...” you scratched the back of your head. “That shoot was... something else. It was only that one time, if you have any more models flake out on you, then I’m sorry, but leave me out of it.”

“You took the job a little too seriously...” he turned his head and said under his breath, but you still heard him clearly.

“Excuse me?” you raised an eyebrow. “I did as you told me to do, don’t bring that shit onto me now.”

Christian clenched his jaw at your truth. “I won’t ask you again. To have you all over someone else like that again, the dude’s lucky I didn’t—“ He let his thoughts run through his head and past his lips, not having realised he done so. With each word he confessed, your eyes grew in shock.

“You motherfucker!” you shoved him. “I knew you were jealous! It was written all over your pitiful face, giving me the dirtiest looks when all I was doing was a favour for you!”

“I needed someone and quickly, Y/N. You were the first woman I thought of that I knew Minho would like. Plus, you liked the video, they’re gonna like the video, so what’s the fucking problem?”

“At what cost? Huh? Now we’re here arguing--”

“You’re the one who ran away instead of facing me like an adult! And why did you do that? Did you not want to face me afterwards or something?”

“I just...” you groaned, “needed some space. And if you were the adult that you’re trying to preach, why couldn’t you just tell me from the get-go that you were uncomfortable? For the sake of the video?”

He bowed his head. “I was going to talk to you after... I was—for fuck’s sake, Y/N.”

The distress was clear in Christian’s body language, making you feel rather guilty. “I didn’t mean to get you so worried. The whole thing was overwhelming, so I just needed a few days away from everything.” Because Christian would not raise his head, and simply looked at the gap between you both on the sofa, you shifted closer to him, placing your index finger under his chin to make him look at you. “The video turned out great. They’re gonna love it, I promise.”

Christian was almost taken aback at how close you now were, his eyes couldn’t help but divert to your lips before licking his own.

His hand came up to your cheek and jaw, using his thumb to caress your face. “You really think so?”

The finger under his chin moved to his cheek until the hand eventually came around his head to the back of his head. “I know so.”

Your lips glued to Christian’s like a magnet, revelling in the softness of his lips over yours. The kiss would only be gentle for a few moments before Christian leaned into your further, becoming more rugged and needy.

With the hands he placed on your waist, he was able to hoist you over on top of his lap, already dragging his hands along your back. “You better be fucking sorry.”

You growled. “So should you.”

The kiss left you both breathless, but neither one of you seemed to want to stop. The material of your black leggings was thin enough to feel Christian’s growing bulge beneath his grey track bottoms, having it sit perfectly in between your clothed slit. As if innately, you started to slowly grind against him slowly, providing yourself with enough friction.

The motion of your hips had Christian moaning into your mouth. “Ugh, fuck, Y/N.” He held you by your waist tighter, wanting you to grind down on him harder. “You’re such a tease.”

“But doesn’t it feel good?” you paused the kiss and smirked, looking at him with sultry eyes, seeing the neediness in his.

He looked down at where your crotches connected, watching as his mouth gaped. “Fuck, more than good.”

You held him by his chin to pull his face back up again, resuming the deep kiss. Beginning to multi-task, you removed your jean jacket while still maintaining a motion in your hips and keeping Christian’s lips on yours.

Reluctantly, though it was necessary, Christian parted his lips from yours to remove his black tee, giving you the chance to take off your white tank top. Once the top part of your breasts were exposed by your bra, Christian began to trail sloppy kisses from your jaw, placing a few on your neck, continuing down to the flesh, nipping at its soft skin.

You hissed and exhaled at his marks, feeling that he was leaning into you more and more. However, you decided to take back the upper hand by shoving him back to the sofa by a push of his shoulder. Before he could say anything, you proceeded the same treatment as he done onto you previously, repeating the same trail of kisses whilst also removing your legs from his sides.

Getting your kisses lower down to his stomach, you got yourself onto your knees between his widely parted legs. As you travelled down his body, his gaze never left not even wanting to blink and miss a moment.

Christian had his bottom lip under the grip of his teeth as he continued to watch you closely, after having quickly disposed of his basketball shorts and boxers, whining inwardly at how much you teased him, placing the sweetest kisses along his shaft. Your fingers wrapped around the tip, holding onto it, rotating your hand over him gently.

“Fuck, Y/N,” he exhaled. “You’re killing me here.”

You chuckled. “Good.” Drawing out a wet tongue, first you massaged his balls with the muscle, slowly dragging it up his cock, being sure to leave a trail behind. Pulling back his taut skin entirely, your tongue reached the underside of the tip, and Christian hissed.

His jaw gaped and he held his breath as your mouth took just the head in, sucking softly. Having his breath still trapped in his throat, you widened yours to drop your widened lips, wanting to reach the shaft. As soon as Christian felt himself hit the wall at the back of your mouth, he groaned loudly. You held your mouth there for a second before bopping your head, making his lower stomach tighten already.

“Holy fucking shit,” Christian moaned, attempting to insert himself further into your mouth. “Fuck, that mouth of yours–keep going, baby.”

You withdrew yourself from his cock, leaving it far wetter than previously, but quickly returned, creating a steady pace. Christian had his eyes screwed shut with a heaving chest, trying to breathe as normally as he could. It was becoming increasingly hard to do, his throbbing cock being stroked and sucked such a way he was at your mercy.

“If I just knew earlier, ah,” he tried to speak, though would also moan, “we would have cut the bullshit way earlier.”

Your mouth released him, having only your hand work over his slick cock, the lewd sounds you created turning you both on further. “Let’s make it worth the wait.”

He sighed deeply before letting his head fall back on the back of the sofa, one hand gripping the material beneath him, the other hand raked its fingers through his hair. When you took him back into his mouth, at a faster pace this time, his hisses and whines became more frequent. He was putty in your hands, and mouth, his moans making you grin to yourself mentally. As a physical reaction, you did feel the lace of your panties get increasingly soaked at the sight of Christian’s twisting face, wanting to see it more. So, to kick it up a notch, the grip you help him with tightened, sucking harder.

“Fuck, fuck!” he now yelled out in pleasure. “You’re gonna make me–fuck, I’m cumming!” Both of his hands flew to the side of your head to keep it still, thrusting himself into your mouth. You didn’t stop, however, wanting to take him over that edge.

With a few more strangled moans, his voice halted. Upon your tongue, you felt the salty ribbons of cum shoot onto it, coating it entirely. Christian’s thighs shook beside you as you didn’t let him go, making choke out.

“Y/N!” it sounded like a plea, but you didn’t respond. Instead, you continued to work your mouth over him, though slower this time. Breathing heavily, he couldn’t help having his hips sputter as you took him into overstimulation. “Baby, please!”

You giggled as he begged, being merciful enough to slowly take yourself away him, looking at him. You gulped loudly, letting him seed trickle down your throat, and quickly making your way up his body to reach his neck, kissing its skin roughly.

“You sound like you enjoyed that,” you chuckled, embracing him. He didn’t respond, and instead pulling his shorts up again and returned a stronger embrace, enough to pick you up.

“I’ll be glad to return the favour,” he said as he got up to his feet, taking you with him. The walk to the bedroom was short, and you two were in bed in no time. First thing that had to be done was discard yourselves of all items of clothing, leaving them on the bedroom floor.

Christian still kept the upper hand, parting your legs for him, nestling between them. His hardening cock was felt on your inner thigh, making you wince. Your whines became louder when Christian pushed up a breast to his mouth, licking its nipple. You squirmed under him, already feeling yourself getting wet. He followed on to the next breast, now making you moan.

“Get on me,” he stroked your thighs, kissing your chest. “On my face.”

You were about to ask if he was sure about it, but you were becoming increasingly impatient and Christian was already on his back ready to take you. Large strands of Christian’s jet-black hair fell across his forehead, making you brush the backwards and keeping your fingers locked in them. Taking the opportunity to keep his head still, you scooted up his torso, widening your legs to prepare your knees to have them rest on each side of his head. Providing enough space for him, Christian’s arms came under your thighs to secure themselves around them.

You peaked at Christian’s smug face one more time, chuckling at his confidence, returning the same look. The chortle stopped when you felt kisses being placed on your inner thigh, dangerously close to your centre. You gritted your teeth as Christian continued to tease you, impatiently waiting for more. To get a point across, you tightened your grip on his hair, making him hiss. In response, he began to graze his teeth on your soft skin to then suck on it harshly.

“Ah, Christian,” you gasped. “You haven’t just been teasing me only now and this past week, it’s been a whole damn year, don’t–”

“How do you think I feel?” he whined, digging his nails into your thigh. “It’s nothing you can’t handle.”

“Nuh uh, you already got yours, I want mine now.”

Christian cocked an eyebrow. “Be careful what you wish for, baby.”

“I’m not wishing for anything, I’m telling you–”

Your words were cut short having felt a long swipe of Christian’s wet tongue on your swollen clit, the sensation overtaking your body almost immediately. You fought to keep your body up straight as his tongue continued to manoeuvre perfectly beneath you, taking in deep breaths to see if it’d help you regain control of your body. The effort went to waste when Christian used a sturdier tongue on your clit and your body bucked forward, making you use flattened hands on the wall in front of you.

Christian groaned into you, becoming turned on again by how much of an effect he was having on you. With that, his arms encased around your thighs tighter, drove his mouth deeper and faster in your pussy. You were a moaning mess above him, no longer being able to suppress your moans. With each passing moment, with your sweet voice being music to Christian’s ears, he found himself slowly thrusting his hips up into the air, his cock lying thickly on his pelvic bone.

“That’s it, baby,” you panted. “You’re turning me on so fucking much, holy fuck.”

Your pending arousal coated Christian’s lips, and he ensured to sop up every last drop, using your wetness to glide his tongue across your clit more quickly. Your nails scratched at the paint on the wall, looking for something to grip onto for control. That extra support on your hands enabled you to start gyrating your hips, grinding your pussy on Christian’s tongue. Once again he moaned, louder this time, and pushed up his hips too.

Your focus was divided in search for your orgasm as well as how hot Christian looked. The way he clasped onto your thighs, the determination in his eyes and how he got turned on each time you made a bold move, all those together were a recipe for pure bliss.

But you wanted one final ingredient; you pushed yourself off the wall to stand up straight, having your hand reach down to your lower lips, spreading them with your index and middle finger. “Let me see that tongue of yours.”

Christian complied with your request with another groan, parting his lips wide enough to expose most of his tongue. At first the tip of his muscle circled around your clit, and as it was now more exposed, your sensitivity was on another level. The hand that was initially in his hair returned, earning a grin from Christian.

“That good, Y/N?”

“Not good, it’s fucking amazing–shit!”

Christian’s whole tongue was now rapidly and roughly probing your clit, and let your let escape a loud whine. Your thighs also started to shake within his hold, feeling that familiar but more satisfying sensation at the pit of your stomach.

“Christian!” you shouted.

“Come on, baby, cum for me,” Christian ordered. “Be a good girl for me and cum in my mouth.”

His words certainly had you weaker to the point your hands had to return to the wall for support one more time. A few more choked moans escaped until your body convulsed, succumbing to your first orgasm of the night. Crying out, your peak hit every corner of your body with Christian’s tongue still flicking rapidly over your clit.

“Oh god!” You were hit with a second wave, almost making you fall backwards. “Okay, okay!” you giggled hysterically. “Christian, I—“ He didn’t stop. “Fuck, stop!”

The hold he had on your thighs loosened as he found your pleas amusing, laughing with you. “I warned you.”

“Have you got any more tricks up your sleeve?” you asked sliding down his body until your face aligned with his, seeing him smile at you.

Your lips roamed freely across Christian’s jaw and neck, holding him close to you by his nape. Christian, in the meantime, held his shaft, using his tip to tease your entrance and clit, wanting to see you writhe over him.

“Oh, come on, Christian,” your voice shook, your nails clawing at his skin. “You’re the worst fucking tease in the world.”

Christian chortled at your remark, “Patience, baby. Just enjoy it a bit. Enjoy me.”

He kept a hand on your waist, trying to keep your lower body still though your hips moved on their own, but he was fighting a battle against himself, trying to prevent him from fucking you senseless right then and there. But why deny himself?

“I’ll enjoy you a lot more once you start fucking me.” You took matters into your own hands, holding his cock over his own hand, finding your entrance quickly. You both moved your hands to allow Christian to sink into you, lowering your hips steadily.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Christian gritted his teeth, hands flying to grip your waist. “Slowly or I’ll cum already.”

“Christian! I just–” you started to work your hips despite Christian’s hold, dipping lower to have him deeper inside of you, getting that tantalizing stretch you were looking for. “Just let me ride you.”

At your request, Christian let his head fall back onto the pillows, releasing his hands from you, allowing you to do as you wished. You were able to stand up straight, seeking leverage by flattening your palms against his chest, enabling you to pick up your speed. Christian adored the view of your gaped mouth, your bouncing breasts and peaking to see himself disappear inside of you every time you descended onto him.

“Fuck me, you’re tight,” he panted. “Just a little faster, Y/N.”

His hands returned to your waist to commence the desired speed, thrusting his hips upwards. Your nails dug deeper into his flesh as the pleasure began to be intensified. You still tried to work your hips against his, having you both in the work, only creating more friction between the both of you to the point you couldn’t even hold yourself up.

Collapsing against his chest in indulgence, the most you could was wrap an arm around his neck as the other hand scratched at the bed sheets. Your moans and deep breaths became more sporadic the faster he went, his intentions of keeping you on edge until the end long gone, immersed in his own needs.

“C-Christian!” you choked out. “You’re so deep–shit, don’t stop!”

He groaned deeply at your demand, snaking an arm entirely around your waist, and his other hand gripped onto your shoulder, keeping your body perfectly still for him to slam his cock faster and deeper into your pussy, cursing under his breath.

“You like me filling up your tight, pretty pussy, huh? Getting my cock so fucking wet, goddamn…”

“It’s all you,” you heaved, his words making your heart beat faster. “All you, baby. I’m not going to–you’re gonna make me cum.”

“You’re gonna cum again for me?” he smirked. You nodded. “You better cum so fucking hard on my cock.”

“Then keep going. I’m so close!”

The tight grip Christian had on you maintained as he suddenly turned you onto your back but never breaking contact. He took the arm you had over his neck to put both of them over your head, pinning you to the bed by your wrists. Your knees instantaneously raised to part your legs further, facilitating Christian’s relentless thrusts.

The constraint he had over you disabled you from movement, in turn you focused on the pleasure you were receiving, feeling yourself getting closer and closer to your impending orgasm.

“F-fuck!” you gasped, that familial sensation rising to the surface. “I’m cumming!” Your eyes couldn’t help but roll to the back of your head, shutting your eyelids. With your lower back digging into the mattress, your back arched deeply, and Christian’s cock continuously brushed harshly against your g-spot as his thrusts never faltered. “Oh god!”

Your walls spasmed and contracted around Christian, increasing his satisfaction. “Ah, Y/N!” This only made his fuck you more rapidly through your orgasm, and your legs began to shake beyond your control. He chased his orgasm in the middle of yours with such ferocity, taking no mind to how sensitive you now were. You cried out his name, but not telling him to stop. You wanted him to cum too, even though you were being driven into oblivion. When he released your wrists to fist the mattress on the sides of your body, your fingernails returned to leave marks all over his back and neck, trying to hold on tight.

“Christian!” you couldn’t take it anymore. “I–fuck–I–”

“I’m gonna cum! Y/N, I’m gonna cum!” the pitch of his voice was higher. His hands flew to the crease between your thigh and groin, pulling you closer to him as he administered the last remaining deep thrusts, burying himself inside of you entirely, spilling his seed inside the latex sleeve. He moaned your name a few more times as he breathed erratically, his orgasm washing over him. “Holy fuck!”

As he tried to control his breathing, his thrusts were shallow and slower, easing up on you. Eventually sitting up on his knees, Christian was able to dab with the back of his hand some sweat droplets that had formed on his forehead. Still, the overstimulation left you sensitive to any touch, needing a moment to recuperate.

That clearly wasn’t going to happen. “Baby, one more.”

Your eyes widened. “What?! Oh no, Christian, I can’t take another one, please!”

“I can’t get enough of you,” he breathed heavily. “You feel too fucking good, let me make you feel good too.”

As you were about to whine at how worn out you felt, Christian dipped his mouth instantly on your neck, grazing his teeth across it roughly. Instead of speaking your words, you moaned restlessly. Lost under his lips, you hadn’t even realised he had already disposed his previous condom, already opening the packet of a new one.

“Don’t expect me to do any more work,” you giggled. “I’m worn out.”

“Of course not,” he held you by your hips, wanting to put you on your stomach. “Let me take care of you now.”

Though your body was limp, the little bit of energy you managed to generate was used to aid Christian, turning your body to have your ass up to him. He kept you low, only wanting your legs spread enough to slide between them. One leg lied in a ninety degree angle, as the other was between Christian’s thighs. He scooted closer to you, his cock still as hard as ever.

He clenched onto a cheek, giving him way to slide his tip along the length of your core once again to ensure you were just as wet. He received confirmation when he slipped into you with ease, though your walls still gripped his shaft. Just as tight and wet as before, Christian wasted no time in the gradual build up, deciding to thrust into you at a steady but rough pace from the get-go.

You thought your sensitivity would subside with short break taken, and you were so wrong. You began to contract over his cock as if your orgasm was still recent and fresh, and your lower body started to shake once more.

“Fuck, oh god,” you were somewhat surprised that despite your mind signalling that you were spent, your body reacted otherwise with your g-spot being easily stimulated once again. Trying to keep your whimpers low, you grabbed for the pillow to bring it closer, biting down onto the fabric of the pillow case. Some moans still escaped but for the most part, you were relatively quiet.

Christian took note of this and dipped his head down to your ear, maintaining the fierceness of his thrusts. “Don’t hide from me now, Y/N, I want to hear how good I’m making you feel. Can you do that for me, hmm?” He purposely administered harder thrusts just to get a reaction from you, and succeeded. “So much time wasted, keeping this good pussy from me. I should be making you beg for me, but you feel too good, fuck.” His palm went flying to swat your cheek with admirable strength, making you yelp. He did it once again and you groaned, both in pain and pleasure. “You like that, baby, huh?” he grinned mischievously. “You looked like you were ready to fuck Minho that night, knowing that I was watching, getting jealous. You wanted to fuck him, didn’t you?” Another smack.

“Fuck! No!” you panted. “I wanted you that whole time. Only you!”

“Say it again.”

“I only want you, Christian. Only you.”

Like music to his ears, the grin never disappeared from his face as he slammed his hips into you more quickly with much more force. Your moans turned into whines and cries, the pleasure too intense.

“He’d never be able to fuck you like this. Never,” he snarled into your ear. “You’re mine. All mine.” Christian himself breathed heavily in the midst of his loud moans, feeling every stroke get him closer to his third orgasm. “Shit, shit, I’m—“

“Gonna cum! Fuck!” You pulled the sheets out of the corners of the bed, feeling your body tense up for the third time, more rigidly this time around. Christian’s body collapsed over yours, still thrusting deeply inside you.

“Oh, baby,” he grazed his teeth on the flesh of your shoulders. “You’re... whew, fuck me.”

“I can’t...” you said weakly. “I really—goddamn it, three times?”

“What, not enough for you?” Christian rolled off you, taking off his condom and tying it at the end. “Just give me ten minutes.”

“No, I mean,” you got onto your back. “Jesus, I don’t even know what I mean.”

“I didn’t make you that lost for words, did I?” He turned to you with open arms, taking you by your waist to face him. “But you sounded so hot when you were moaning for me... saying my name...” He kissed your lips softly like in the beginning, caressing your back. “Come with me tomorrow to give in the final cut.”

“With you?” you sounded surprised. “You already want to show me off?”

“I said you were mine,” he sighed. “And I meant it.”

Christian became possessive with his touch and kisses again, pulling you in close once more.

“I thought you said you needed ten minutes.”

“I can’t wait anymore,” he pulled your thigh over his body before turning into you, positioning himself between your legs once again. “And neither can you.”

a/n: well, sweetheart, i hope you had fun reading this.

#christian yu smut #christian yu scenarios #khh smut #khh scenarios #dpr smut #dpr scenarios #christian yu #kpop smut #dpr #kpop scenarios #do i tag this as c-clow smut too #ehhh nah #this took 24 hours in the span of four week to write goddamn #mino smut #mino scenarios #winner smut #winner scenarios #i've already thought up and started on a small part 2 to this lol that's how fucked up christian and his insta lives have me #*

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xenetala · 6 years

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The Pirate Mermaid Demo Review

I’d rather wait for the full game to do a review, but I have been waiting for several years for this game to come out and I’d like to generate some excitement around it to try garnering some support for the creators.

*Please note: All credit for the images goes to the Navigame team and their beautiful minds.

**Double note: This contains game play spoilers, but I tried to keep actual story content as spoiler free as humanly possible while still giving a review on the game.

That being said, The Pirate Mermaid is a game in development by @navigame-media and has come quite a ways from the original demo. I still have the first demo on my computer and love seeing how the art style had progressed as well as the character designs.

To show you what I mean, here is the original opening still:

The above is the original game start screen and below is the revamped one. You can probably see why I’m excited to see where this game will go. :D I love when you can see how something progresses through time.

The newer version is much cleaner and I love some of the character changes. P.S. that Shadow figure you see I’m hoping will be Mimi, but I’ll get to that in a moment. :D

GAME PLAY

The game follows like just about any Renpy Otome game does where it’s a choose your own adventure story setting. The menus are pretty easy to follow and the skip function is a total life saver for replaying parts. The basic concept for playing the game is to read through the story and make choices at varying points to control the outcome of the tale.

I left the menu for the game controls up on this (mostly because I like being able to see them) and you can see how there are several options for you during the game play itself. Many of your choices in this game not only dictate the route you can chose to get the date-able characters, but they also affect the Main Character (MC or the girl you play as) development.

This is one aspect I enjoy very much about this game. You can customize a few aspects of the MC. As you can see below, you have the ability to name her (not uncommon, but always a plus) as well as choose the color of your pirate’s mermaid fins. I was a little sad I couldn’t choose just a straight black tail (black is one of my favorite colors) or a few other colors, but at lease I can coordinate with my mer-outfit (which as we know is just as important).

Being able to customize the MC is something that I really love in this game, but there’s another tidbit that’s just as fun. You have karma ratings! As a huge fan of games like Infamous and Fable, I love stuff where you can choose to be good or evil (okay so I just like the option of being an evil person XD) and I’m so excited to see how this plays out in the full story.

The karma rating also adds a fun extra bit to the choices you make. So, you can choose to romance one of the characters and you can create your own agenda. I LOVE it.

You can access your Karma rating at anytime by clicking on the heart icon in the menu options. This also shows you your affection levels with the romance options (more on these in a bit). For the demo, after you’ve completed it once you’ll get hits to view which choices will boost which karma type. This is super helpful for those of us that want to complete EVERY achievement in the game and I’m hoping the full game will have this option open up after a full play through.

That’s really the gist of the game play. It’s a pretty basic Otome style game and that’s fine. After all, who are we kidding? We only play Otome games for the cute boys and girls you can dream date. :P

CHARACTERS

This is the best part of any Otome game; the who can I date choices. lol Right now there’s three male options open for dating and I’m hoping they’ll come out with a fourth and maybe fifth (though I know the more date options the more work so if there’s only three I’m still happy).

I’ll start this by introducing the MC a bit.

You play as a pirate girl who is searching for the mermaid’s treasure and are a pretty typical fantasy pirate, but not a typical Otome MC. For those of you (like me) who detest most of the Otome MCs out there (Voltage Inc this is directed at you!); this one rocks. For once we have a girl with sass and can hold her own. She doesn’t need to have this unexpected menagerie of male companions to jump in and save her, she isn’t a super clutz all the time, she isn’t scared of her own shadow, and she isn’t some super dense naive damsel (yes I have issues with MCs). lol You have no idea how ecstatic I am to play a game with a character that doesn’t make me want to rip my hair out. Thank you Navigame team!

Next up is your companion pet.

Those of us who are Disney girls, you’ll love this. What main girl is complete without her trusty animal sidekick? I don’t really know why, but I love the fact that the MC has a funny pet that goes everywhere with her. Mostly Jack is your trouble making comic relief, but he does have some moments of extreme usefulness. Of course like any pirate, this bird is obsessed with shiny objects.

Here is date option number one.

This guy is the sorcerer that turns you into a mermaid. He’s a pretty typical Tsundere type and my second favorite of the boys. He’s got silver hair, magic, and is a bit of a stuck up grump like any good Tsun so he’s alright. I have yet to learn his name (I’m just going to assume it’s Jack and he never tells you because it’s the name of your parrot), but he’s got a monocle so you can’t go too wrong with him. I also want his coat. It’s my favorite part of his character design for sure.

This is romance option number two.

This is the mer-prince Mikali and he’s true to his title. Long blond hair, charming, good manners, super nice, chivalrous, and an all around good guy. This makes him my absolute least favorite option (I don’t like the sweet, innocent, or good guys). That being said, as you play through the demo you find he’s got some mysterious power or something about him so there may be potential here yet. Plus, he does have a pretty character design and I’m curious to see if there’s any correlation to the fact that he wears a necklace similar to the the one MC in mermaid form has. Personal bias against nice guy options aside, who couldn’t love that luxurious blonde hair of his? Long haired men for the win.

The next character in the demo is a cute little maid.

This is Mimi. She’s not a romance option in the demo (yet, but I’m hoping she becomes one), but you can gain her favor by choosing the right options and she is too adorable not to have some strong pirate take care of her (I know I have double standards here, but sweet and cute non MCs are perfect for the MC to romance). Though, she does have some spirit once she’s over her shyness so I’d really like to see her character flesh out more. I’m also hoping that if she’s a romance option, she’s a bonus one you can only get after completing the main story or something (only because I’m a sucker for bonus stuff like that).

And, the best for last.

This amazingly hot set of mer-pixels is Malik (yeah all of the merpeople so far have names starting with ‘M’) and is the entire reason I want this game so badly! For those of you who know me and know the routes I like, you’ll know what that means. :D He’s a complete ass and I love it! You can just never go wrong with a hot headed, in your face, pushy, jerk. You just can’t. Even since his original character design, this guy has been my ultimate goal for this game and I’m glad he’s in this demo. Oh. Did I mention they gave him the best voice in the game?

That’s it for the characters in the demo. The fact that you have a merman like Malik to romance should be enough for you to go download the demo and take the survey at the end, but I guess if you still need convincing then read on.

STORY

(Yes I know this is vague and doesn’t lay out story points, but I do not want to spoil things even if all we have is a little bit of the story.)

Okay so this is demo and we only get a little slice of the story, but what’s important here is just how engaging that slice of story is. Not only did I want to see the game play through once, but even with the replays I didn’t use the skip option as much as I normally do (usually skip is my life). This game spins a tale that really makes you want to read it.

Yeah it’s a pirate and mermaids which let’s face it isn’t that unheard of and it’s like a spin on Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid, but it follows a much more in depth feel. Between the different romance options alone, you have a complexity that only a choose your own adventure story can give you. Add to that the karma options and you have the makings of a good tale. The Little Mermaid is a rather dark tale of unrequited love and though you might be able to go this route in the game, it looks like you could shape up to be an evil queen. :D

As the MC you have a pretty well laid out backstory that you learn early on in the game. I know treasure obsessed pirate seems really typical, but I like the backstory behind that obsession (I’m also hoping it explains her mermaid form necklace later on) and I like how the game uses that backstory to create a three dimensional character for us to play.

Though the story is really good thus far, I’m really curious to see all of the character’s progression. The merpeople seem to have a pretty good correlation with each other from their childhood, but I have to know that story. I am also hoping to see a few more characters pop in. Not necessarily anything super fleshed out, but it’d be nice to see a guard captain, another maid or two, and a princess or two pop in on a consistent basis. For one thing, what good romance doesn’t have a good love triangle? ;)

I figure the prince route will have some princess that ends up being your rival, but with the Sorcerer and Malik I don’t see any clear options for some romantic drama. Not that I’d complain if there was a pretty straight forward conquer/save the kingdom story route instead of a typical romance route (Truthfully I’m not fond of romantic rivals), but considering the fan base for a game like this I’d expect some kind of tension.

Another thing I’d like to see in the story is more with the island that the Sorcerer is living on. Having Mimi as a possible romance option is great, but I’d also like to see another ‘land path’ option as well. Maybe a native on the island or some mermaid palace guard who catches you going to the surface one too many times.

That being said, the creators may have stuff like this planned and I have no idea about it because this is just a slice of the story, but I thought it couldn’t hurt to throw my two cents in.

Voices

Having a voice cast in a game always scares me a bit. Mostly because of all extremely, detestfully, abhorrent, terrible, awful, voice acting choices (The voice actors do their best, but are all too often given the wrong role for their voice) from too many anime companies that end up making their way into games (VIZ, and FUNIMATION I am talking about your battle to see who makes the worst dubs!) I’ve become nervous anytime a game announces a voice cast. But. This game did a great job. I haven’t listened to the Japanese cast, but the English cast is really well matched for the characters. I was very happily impressed (Okay so I really only cared about Malik’s voice, but that’s not the point here!).

If you still aren’t convinced that you need to go download the demo and take the survey at the end, then perhaps I can tempt you with these few other tidbits in the game.

Chibis

Chibi characters are not something I’m a fan of. I know in the anime world they are a part of life, but I really fail to see their appeal. :( Yeah these scenes are kinda cute and at least a little amusing, but they really don’t need to be in chibi form. I get the company appeal to these things since they make easy pop figures (I can’t stand pop figures...), key chains, charms, and other small marketable items for fans, but I still don’t care for ‘em. I know there are people that adore chibis so if they are your thing, you can rest assured this game will make you happy.

Battle scenes

I had to put that battle scene with Hodge in there. :D I love this place holder for him and only hope he gets eyes and a mouth. Nothing more. It just makes me smile to much to see him as a place holder figure. :D

Anyway, there are a few battle scenes and some of them are serious while others are humorous. There’s not any controls you have like an in RPG, but these are still fun as you can see the battle poses of the MC and characters she’s fighting with/against.

Place holders (this section is more my hopes for the game than actual review)

I actually really like that the crew is drawn this way and I honestly hope they keep them like this. I feel like the pirate crew is just a means to an end and seeing them as place holders like this just drives the point home that the MC is moving on from them. Hodge could earn some eyes and a mouth, but i really hope these guys don’t change much. For some reason the crew just fits best like this. Maybe it’s because the original demo had the same crew format, but it feels right.

As for the guards, I’m hoping they do have a design for them. Even if it’s just the same base and only different colored fins or something, I’d rather see some fleshed out guards. Part of the reason they feel so awkward here is because Mikali and the background are so detailed, yet the guards are just plopped in there. With the issues MC will run into with the treasury, I think the guards are a more important story plot so I’d like to see them fleshed out (and who doesn’t like merpeople in armor?)

I’m not going to lie, it took me about three play-throughs before I noticed these were place holder maids. DX Even with the detail on Mimi and that background, they don’t feel as out of place as the guards. Probably because the composition of the image makes it work, but I would like to see another maid or two in the game.

This is another set of placeholders that I like. lol These are the princesses at the party you attend and I am a.o.k. with them staying like this. Although, I do hope to see at least one with an actual design. Like the ringleader of the group or something. The rest can just stay silly little white figures. :D

Now if you still haven’t gone and downloaded the demo, do it right now. And, don’t forget to take the survey at the end. Also, go follow @navigame-media to show your support and keep up to date.

P.S. I hope I didn’t give away too much about the game or show more than the creators would like in a review post, but I really, really want to encourage them to keep up with the development. I know this is a huge undertaking and I feel like this game has some ambitions goals, but I also really, really like it and want more. :D

#the pirate mermaid #navigames #otome #otome game #mermaids #mermen #dating sim #pirates #magic #navigame-media #undersea adventure

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