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mikenips · 4 years

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Pinheads

“What the fuck are you doing back here? You aren’t even working tonight.” One of the other managers at Bowlero, the new bowling alley and venue, says to me.

“I’m playin’ tonight.” We all wish we had known the Stools were doin’ a live album recording down at OLL tonight before we booked it though. Rae said Chuck told her before I picked her up that they don’t play till midnight. So the goal is to rush the sets so we can get there in time for their set.

“That explains the war paint on the eyes.” Chip, the mechanic that once got fired as a carny, says as he spits dip into a coffee cup. “Ya know ya got some jeans with those holes though Mike?” Damn. That’s pretty clever.

My mom’s side of the family is down at lane one. And my dad’s side is hangin’ in the lounge. Even my uncle from New Mexico is in town for the holidays. Jordan is setting up the kit. Sound checkin’ the violin. Drew walks into the storage room that doubles as a green room for gigs. Me and Greg the bartender are hittin’ a vaporizer before I get on stage. We play first. “You see how Drew walked in here man? He walked up like he owns this bitch!”

And the scene really does own this bitch. I’m the bar manager at twenty one. Drew just started training to bartend. Dom works the front desk here and there. Everyone else askin’ if we can pull some strings to get them hired or booked. Just waitin’ on Sugar Tradition. Gotta make sure they don’t get carded. The kids are still in high school. And we’re eighteen up. Like the owners would really care though. They got history too. One of ‘em owning the Garden Bowl. The other is one of the top lawyers in Oakland County. Used to own the Falcon Club in Hamtramck in the nineties. Actually even was Johnny’s lawyer to get Outer Limits their liquor license.

We open with “Haunted House.” I’m fuckin’ baked. And already forgettin’ the lyrics. That shot of jezy Greg fed me probably didn’t help. Nobody is here yet besides my family. A few members of the Hand. And some Royal Oakies waitin’ on lanes that don’t understand what the fuck is happening. We’re botchin’ even our classics. At least the Oakies are gettin’ a real weird show.

Yelp into a drone cover of “Real Cool Time” as Jordan saws away at his violin behind me. Antonio rollin’ across the stage in front of me. Glad they got in alright.

Fuck it. We got a show to get to tonight. “This is gonna be our last one.” A piece of glitter falls into the corner of my eye. “It’s about when it’s five am. You’re blacked out. Shirtless. Pissin’ on the side of a 7-11. Smokin’ a spliff. Shotgunnin’ a tall boi. If you could all raise your drinks.” Rip through “Miller High Life” before boltin’ for a cig while Sugar Tradition sets up.

“Dude!” Jordan says to me as we load some gear into the car. “I think that was the worst set we ever played.”

Dee comes up behind us. “What are you talkin’ about? That’s the best part about Just Guys Being Dudes. There’s no bad sets. Every set is it’s own experience. I really dug it. The owner was behind me and Rae vibin’ too.”

Take a drag. “Thanks Dee. That means a lot to me.”

Walk back inside. Didn’t even realize how many people had showed up. Sean’s dad, my old high school film teacher, is here. Still doesn’t know he showed my dick at the student film show at the end of the year. Even fuckin’ Ian Ruhala showed his bitch ass. There’s no way that was coincidental. Not when his girlfriend’s sister is performing with Zilched at the Stools show. Joey’s gonna lose his shit when he gets here from the wedding.

“That was sick Michael!” My coworker Reagan says to me. “Wanna celebrate by doin’ a shot of Jager with me? You don’t even gotta give me a drink ticket.” I’m about to be trashed tonight. What am I talkin’ about? I already am.

“Why not? I’m gonna need seven shots of jezy too though.”

“Wakin’ up I got a nothin’ to do!” Sugar T kicks into one of their many rippers.

Cy, my GM, walks over to me. “These guys are really good.” I can barely make out her words over Kevin’s spastic style of jazz drumming. “They’re like a psychedelic Mudhoney.”

“Yeah. They’re also only seventeen too. Don’t tell the managers though I booked some minors.”

She laughs. “Nobody should be that good at that young of an age. Do they have a CD?”

“Nah. We put out their debut album on the cassette label I’m helping run though.”

“What the fuck are you kids doing making cassettes again?”

“Cause they’re fuckin’ sick! You wanna hear this fuzz on something just as fuzzy. We don’t wanna clean this noise up!”

Walk back to center stage. Jake is in the corner with Evan. Owen layin’ on the floor in front of the couch. Crossed the border for this night. On the couch next to Rae is Joey Molloy goin’ hard to Sugar Tradition’s set. Gotta love Joey. Nobody goes as hard at a show as good ol’ Joey Molloy. Bleached tufts of hair whippin’ through the air the same way their brain whips back and forth in the skull. Everyone takes the Polish, purple nectar. Jeżynówka. A Hamtramck staple. A little piece of home all the way out here.

Joey walks in, still in his suit, and helps Drew wheel three cabs into the crammed lounge as I meet Antonio at the merch table. They spent over a mill on this remodel. And the Hand is about to shatter all the windows here when they hit their first note. This will be the first and last time they let a stoner metal band in here. TJ stoned as fuck on the floor testin’ out the Juno. Sean, equally as baked, clicks open the briefcase synth he made.

“Yoo Antonio. Whenever you guys are ready I’ll take you to the office so the manager can cut you a check. You just gotta fill out some tax forms.”

“Shit… This is like a legit gig then?”

We weave through the overfilled lounge. Drunks and stoners attempt to file towards the stage. BO and fuzz forcin’ the yuppies to wait for their lanes elsewhere. Tonight, this bitch is ours.

Paperclips and loose change vibrate their way off the desk in the office as the Hand strikes their first drone. “Wait… Kev,” Antonio spins in the desk chair. “What’s my social security number?”

“How the fuck should I know?”

“You guys don’t know your social security numbers? How?”

“Dude. We’re in high school. We’ve never had to use ‘em before.”

“Honestly,” my coworker cuts in. “We don’t really need the W-9. If you take it with you and bring it back in a couple days it’s probably fine. But I really don’t give a shit if you do.”

Head back to the bar. All the freaks headbang in unison to Joey’s screams before Drew rips into a solo. Greg hands over two shots before I even flag him down. “I knew Drew was gonna shred because he never talks about his band. The quiet ones always shred. Good job putting this together Mike. Not a huge drinking crowd. But I’ll take a chill night. Gettin’ stoned to some chuggin’ bands whenever it comes.”

Or at least I think that’s what he said. I can’t hear over the riff. Hail the fuckin’ riff! Wrappin’ it just before midnight. Nobody says goodbye to each other before we all dip. It’s every man for himself. Drag racin’ down I-75 to get to OLL. Somewhere in the night Caveman Woodman is yellin’ about the Stools. Tellin’ folks to fuck off if they think rock n’ roll is dead.

Walk into Outer Limits greeted by the familiar unbearable humidity of a crowd of familiar faces. Not a single face you don’t recognize. Greeted with a free Stroh’s and shot of Hornito’s courtesy of Johnny. Kid Infinity on the stoop of the stage. Documenting the entire night on camera. 208. The Long Stairs. The rest of the Waterheads. Everyone from the Bowlero show there too. Sweat gluing bodies together as flesh meets flesh. “This one’s about a spooky dream Will had!” KQ shouts into the mic as Chuck uses his already soaked shirt to wipe sweat from his forehead. As Will’s screeching guitar bends, cuing “Black Fly Stew.” Two step tune off their latest seven inch from Third Man Records. Jack White may be a prick. But he sure puts out some good ass music.

This time I’m not gonna concuss myself on Joey Molloy’s eye socket. They speed and slop their way through their discography. Dig into some tracks Will claims are older than some of us. Kirk recording every second through the soundboard to be put out on Chuck’s cassette label Painter’s Tapes. “How does two more sound?” KQ asks after finishing up a version of “Q-Nails” that’s half the length of the studio version. But still has all the original notes. Bodies make their way off the concrete ground to their feet. Stomachs cramp from downin’ Stroh’s. Lungs attempt to catch their breath. Jake yells back to ‘em “Eat shit Mike Duggan!” We don’t need no curfew. Unplug us and we’ll scream louder.

Mikey of the Waterheads discusses Sigmund Freud on the patio while we all pass joints to each other. Never give those lungs a break. Kyle of 208 passes out Remove Records t-shirts. Tells us none of us need to pay for ‘em. But we all force money into his hands. “This is what the scene is about man.” My words come out half coherent.

“Exactly! That’s why I’m so glad me and Shelby came here from Florida. This is what music should be about! Community. Doing it for each other. Fuckin’ being there! Cause without each other, none of what’s goin’ on is possible. We’re like one big, happy, chaotic family!”

Jake punches my shoulder at the bar. Radiating the energy of the Bananas in Pajamas. A loose and excitable toddler ready to play. We each get a shot of jezy. “You here anything yet about HMF Nips?”

“Nah. I saw they ‘leaked’ some of the lineup. But it was all like Hala. Legume. Who Boy. The indie bands ya know.”

“See. And that’s what’s fucked man! They don’t fuckin’ get it like we do. We’re out here every fuckin’ night playin’ these joints. We’re all at every show for each other. They make one appearance a month. Half the time not even in Hamtramck. They don’t support each other. They’re in it for the clout! And fuckin’ Who Boy gets picked before any of us?! That’s fucked up man.”

“It is dude. But don’t worry so much about it. I’m sure it’ll all pan out for us. Cause we get it. And they don’t. You wanna come over to my place after? Make some pancakes or some shit?”

“Oh heeeellll yeah! Pancakes at Belmont. I’ll rally the troops. We gettin’ trashed tonight!”

As if we aren’t already. Rip through a fifty pack of whip-its in twenty minutes. Sittin’ around eatin’ pancakes at three in the morning. Listenin’ to the 13th Floor Elevators as Joey tries persuadin’ everyone into watchin’ Pirates of the Caribbean. “Dead Man’s Aaaaasssss…” his whipped voice whispers to every single one of us individually.

Jake does his first popper as if he’s huffed it before. Panicking in the barstool in my living room. “I’m sweaty. My head hurts. And my face is hot, man. My face is hot!” Before locking himself in the bathroom with a sealed fifth of tequila. We continue to chainsmoke in the house I rent. No mention of not smokin’ in my lease. Dunkin’ chocolate chip pancakes in a bowl of syrup. He re-emerges from the bathroom. Quarter of the bottle now inside him. Or possibly in my toilet. “Rae. You gotta finish this. I can’t do it.”

Owen spits up on Giovanna while tryin’ to rush to the bathroom. Attempts to wipe the bile off her knee before returning to the cool tile floor around the toilet to sleep for the night. Jake arguing with me and Rae about ordering him an Uber home. “You’d fuckin’ love it if I crashed on your futon Nips. You’d fuckin’ love ordering me an Uber home wouldn’t you Rae?”

“Jake dude. I don’t know what you want from me man. Your car is at Evan’s anyways.”

“I just wanna shit on my toilet!”

So eventually he consents. Tells Rae he’ll Venmo me the ten bucks she spent on him cause he’s “Venmoed Michael Nipples before.” Even though I’ve never had one. Yells back to us with the passenger door open “what’s its name?” As he struggles to crawl into the whip.

And as Rae and I go to sleep. My phone buzzes with three texts from the drunk Toehead. “Uh oh…”

“Help…”

“We listenin’ to Dough Boyz!”

Fuckin’ idiot. Pinhead. That’s what we all are though. Or at least what we pretend to be.

#bowlero #hail the riff #just guys being dudes #vague glimpses of beauty #outer limits lounge #the stools #the hand 420 #sugar tradition #remove records #painters tapes #grown up fucked up #detroit garage rock #detroit diy #a vibe

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eurydisims · 5 years

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just testin’ out a new style <3

i also forgot to give her a necklace so lmao

#ts4 #ts4 edits #simblr #ts4 mm #ts4 portraits

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carolynpetit · 5 years

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Reason to Play, a Journal--Entry One: Fortnite, MGSV, and Finding Ourselves in the Act of Play

Hi.

This is the first entry in what I hope will be an ongoing journal of play. I wanted to start by explaining my thinking behind this project.

Right now, I’m looking for a reason to play. I’m always wary of games that seem to offer nothing beyond a mildly pleasant occupation of my time, and right now, I find such games downright inadequate. Unworthy. These are horrifying times, and yet, like so many of us, I find myself exhausted by it all. Unable to maintain the levels of rage and resistance that the actions of the current administration demand. I see it all becoming normalized and I feel powerless to stop it. And as the days and weeks and months go by, I feel as if this numbness accrues. I become increasingly detached, not just from the horrors of the moment but from myself. I start to wonder where the person I believed myself to be has gone.

I believe that art is most vital in times like this. I love this quote from Kafka:

“I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound or stab us. If the book we're reading doesn't wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading for?...We need books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us. That is my belief.”

If a game isn’t going to be the axe for the frozen sea inside me, if it isn’t going to cut through the numbness, shake me up, break my heart, fuck me up, do something to rehumanize me, it is not worthy of this moment.

But I might find what I’m looking for anywhere. I’m not talking just about games that explicitly comment on fascism or racial injustice or economic inequality. Yes, I think it’s essential that we have art, including games, that confronts these things directly, but it’s also true that a game can have the noblest aims and leave me cold, while a throwaway moment in a big-budget mainstream game of the sort that certain gamers like to call “apolitical” can crack my heart wide open.

Like most of my writing about games, this journal will be a place where I fully embrace the subjectivity of my own experience with the games that I play.

Okay. Here we go.

Testin’ My Mind, Shakin’ My Body in Fortnite

Yeah, okay, Fortnite’s a Battle Royale. That’s just a fact. If you’re playing solo, which I almost always am--I’m uncomfortable teaming up with random players, though on occasion I’ll play duos with a friend, which makes for a completely different, really exciting dynamic--you drop onto the island with close to a hundred other players, and the way you win is by being the last player standing. Now, I encourage conversations about the violence inherent to the format, as well as about all the other aspects of Fortnite that people rightly raise concerns about--the way in which it’s monetized, Epic’s pattern of repeatedly profiting off of dances associated with artists and communities of color without compensating the artists or communities that created them. All of it. But if we’re gonna go to the mat with Fortnite on these aspects (and we should), let’s also at least have a full, multifaceted conversation about why we play Fortnite, how it feels, and the moments that can emerge from a fully invested experience of the game.

Did you know that earlier this year, a massive beast that had been frozen in ice under Polar Peak broke free, that huge footprints showed it had made its way to the sea, where it’s occasionally been spotted, roaming the waters around the island? Did you know that right now, a towering robot is being built in the remnants of the volcano? It seems inevitable that soon, a massive Pacific Rim-style fight between them will take place, almost certainly resulting in a new wave of major changes to the island. Indeed, the island is always a place in flux, changing in big and small ways. It’s alive in ways that I’ve always wanted my game worlds to be alive. Landing near Loot Lake a few weeks ago, I was excited to see that the massive power cable that runs through the area was shredded and sparking, as if perhaps the monster had taken a bite.

But the life of the environment wouldn’t mean much if it weren’t for my encounters with the lives of other players. The other day, I was trying to complete a challenge that required me to get a certain score on a balloon board at one of the numerous little beach party setups that currently dot the map. Jumping from the bus, I swooped down to a spot in the desert, opened a chest, grabbed the weapon, and made my way over to the nearby board. Another player got there just before me, and I stood still, hoping to indicate that I didn’t want to stop them from completing the challenge. They froze for a moment, but then proceeded, and when they hit the necessary score, a little celebratory explosion of confetti occurred, and I got credit for the challenge, too.

Basking in the glow of our shared little moment, I wanted to walk away then, wishing them nothing but the best in the match ahead. But then they took a shot at me. In that instant, a sinking feeling ran through my whole body, a physical expression of “Aw, why’d you have to go and do that?” and in an instant, I obliterated them. It wasn’t a victory. It was more like putting someone down. I didn’t feel good about it, but it sure was a real feeling. Something surprising and immediate that emerged from my encounter with another living person. And that’s what I’m here for.

Yes, Fortnite is a Battle Royale, but so much of the experience of Fortnite is about unexpected occurrences like this, and about the things we do in the stolen moments between the shootouts and build battles. The other day, I got so caught up in playing a silly memory game I stumbled upon that I wound up getting caught in the storm. Not long before that, I danced with John Wick to raise a disco ball in an abandoned lair so we could snag a fortbyte, one of this season’s collectibles. These are the things I really remember, not my win-loss ratio or all the times I’m eliminated by players much better than I am before I quickly hit play and hop on the battle bus all over again.

I’m eager to return to the island because the island itself feels vibrant and alive, emanating a kind of Spielbergian Americana and optimism, but also because of the vigorous bodies and exuberant identities I get to inhabit while I’m there. The mix-and-match nature of Fortnite’s customization means that one round I might be a sprightly female wizard with a sleek laptop on her back, and the next a nerdy, purple-haired gamer girl with a satchel full of potions and spellbooks. “Fun” may be overemphasized in some of our conversations around games, but it certainly has its place, and playing as these colorful characters, well, it’s just fun.

Every character in Fortnite plays exactly the same, but they don’t all feel the same to me. I just unlocked a black variant of the character Sentinel, a robot or power suit that looks like it might have appeared on Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, and I think it looks kinda cool, but I sure don’t want to be it. On the other hand, playing as Elmira (pictured above) feels good. And oh, do I love the way that some emotes make me feel. Tweeting recently about an emote called the Laid Back Shuffle, I wrote:

I’m almost always pretty uncomfortable in my body, for a number of reasons related to my appearance and my transness and things. The easygoing physical exuberance of this emote, the way that the avatar performing it, whatever avatar that might be at any given moment, appears to feel so loose and free in their own body, makes it really appealing to me, like a virtual experience/expression of a sensation that I’ve never known IRL. I think emotes have some kind of power beyond whatever power we often think of them having, perhaps particularly for those of us who never really feel comfortable in our own skin.

And all the kids playing Fortnite that we’re so worried about, let’s remember that their experience of this game isn’t as simple as just trying to slaughter everyone else on the island. Setting aside whatever value there may be in the particular type of complex thinking and skill-building that it requires to try to simultaneously outbuild and outgun your opponent, there’s also the fact that they, too, are experiencing the life of Fortnite’s island, having encounters with other players that play out in unexpected ways, and experimenting with self-expression. Yes, their opportunities for that exploration and expression are gated by money, and that’s a real issue, but that doesn’t change the fact that a young person finding that they feel particularly cool when playing as a woman in red with a bionic arm is valid, and maybe even valuable.

II. MGSV and What I Know Is True

I set The Phantom Pain aside for a few years after hitting a mission that I found maddeningly difficult, but something called me back to it. Now I’ve powered through the mission that gave me so much trouble, and I’m making progress again. I enjoy the geographical roughness of its environments, and the way you really have to deal with that roughness, often lying flat and crawling along the ground. The truth is that I spend far too much time alone in my apartment, and though it’s no substitute at all for the real, natural world, when I take my time being rooted in one spot to scout out locations and tag enemies before making any dangerous moves, I feel the shape of the space around me in a way that I rarely do in games.

The other day I fought a grueling boss battle and then, finally, when it was over, hopped onto the helicopter to return to base, exhausted by the ordeal. Just as we were about to lift off, Quiet hopped on, hanging off of the side of the chopper as the rotors above her head spun faster until we lurched up and away from the ground. She held my gaze the whole time. I think a lot of games look at the player too much. They want you to feel like the center of the universe, the only person who really matters. But that wasn’t the feeling I got from this moment. I’d just fought for my life, and the way she looked at me, without malice or sympathy for what I’d just been through or anything, made me feel like I was being sized up. Looked at in a real way. Seen.

Do you know that feeling--Does this happen to everyone or just me?--that feeling where, for a moment, your awareness kind of spreads beyond yourself and you’re suddenly very aware that what you’re experiencing is something real that is happening in physical, three-dimensional space at this exact moment in time? It’s a feeling I get sometimes when I’m in a moment that I wish I could make last, or that I really want to remember. Sharing a last drink with a friend before they move away, that sort of thing. This feeling of momentarily being very much rooted in myself but also outside of myself and acknowledging, This is real. This is something that happened. That moment where Quiet was looking at me in the wake of the momentous battle I’d just fought felt something like that.

It didn’t happen in real, physical space, but virtual space is a valid space, too, a space where real things happen. Sometimes when I’m playing Fortnite I’ll see the hillside where a friend and I once sped away from attackers on a Quadcrasher, bullets whizzing past our heads, and I’ll think, We were there. That happened. These moments become part of my relationship with the ever-changing island, just as my memories of San Francisco become part of my relationship with the city.

On another recent mission, I was sneaking my way through an enemy outpost when, from a nearby building, I heard the familiar sounds of Spandau Ballet’s “True.” To be honest, I never liked “True” much. The Phantom Pain takes place in 1984, and as a kid in the suburbs of Chicago in that year who sometimes saw the video on MTV, the song felt too airy and ethereal to move me. But recontextualized in The Phantom Pain, I heard it differently. That precise ethereal quality made it such an effective contrast to the grim military seriousness and the tactile terrain that my heart began to ache.

The presence of 80s pop songs in the isolated military outposts of the game is politically fascinating to me. It says something about how American and British cultural exports are absorbed by the entire world, but it’s largely a one-way street. A Pakistani friend of mine in high school had grown up with Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis, but I’d never heard Pakistani music in my life. I don’t understand why so many players are so intent on not considering all the political dimensions of a game like this. They only make the experience infinitely more fascinating, even if and when they reveal the game’s failures.

The songs also allow for the creation of some great moments. I snuck into the building where the song was playing just so I could snag the tape, and the next time I was in the helicopter, I played it, and as the opening notes of “True” played, I panned the camera slowly around Big Boss, creating a very short music video that I honestly found exciting.

I tweeted the clip, jokingly commenting that I’d “won Metal Gear Solid V by creating this beautiful moment,” but it had really felt this way to me. Creating this moment had been as fun and rewarding to me as anything else the game offered. Playing MGSV isn’t just sneaking and shooting, or at least for me it isn’t. This, too, is play. So obviously, I get frustrated with the “Git Gud” players, those who feel that games are at their best when they’re perfectly calibrated tests of raw skill, that the only thing that matters is having an awesome KDR, or earning the highest possible rating on missions, or whatever.

But the truth is that it’s not just hardcore gamers who set limits on our notions of play by talking about games like this. A lot of us do it, even a lot of us who consider ourselves emphatically opposed to the “Git Gud’ brigade. We do it when we look at a game like Fortnite and see it only as one simple thing, a struggle to be the last remaining survivor, without at least acknowledging all the other things a player might go to the game for. We do it when we deny the possibility for moments of strange beauty to emerge from even a grim, ugly, grossly misogynistic game like MGSV. We do it whenever we, ourselves, adopt a limited, conventional understanding of what it means to really play a game, rather than fully engaging with all the different ways that we can find ourselves and each other in the spaces that games create.

-----

I’m currently looking for work. If you enjoy my writing and are in a position to do so, please consider supporting me on ko-fi.

#MGSV #Fortnite #Reason to Play

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loserbfb · 5 years

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pop goes the weasel!

anyways heres a new object oc i made! she’s a jack-in-a-box!!

also m testin out a different style bc. ya!

#object oc #object show community #bfdi #inanimate insanity #clown #clourophobia #clowncore #kidcore

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over-roaming-waves · 6 years

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Turn Turn Turn

Rating: SFW

Charaters: Yuma Tsukumo, Yugi Mouto, Atem, Yusei Fudo, Jaden Yuki, Carly Nagisa, Jack Atlas, Yami Bakura, Ryou Bakura, Malik Ishtar, Isis ishtar, Mai Valentine, Jounouchi Katsuya Mentioned: Seto Kaiba, Mokuba Kaiba

Pairings: Puzzleship, Visionship, Theifship (slowburn), Scoopship, More to be added.

January

“O.K., you can do this Yuma. Just go in there and say you want to join. Right then, it’s not like they’re going to kick you out because you’re just start, or you’re too young, or anything like that. And it’s definitely not likely that they will call my sister and tell her everything. O.K., O.K. …Kattobingu! “

He opened the door.

“Hey there, I’m Tsukumo Yuma and I’m here to-“

“Join the gaming club, but don’t tell your sister because she doesn’t know.”

Yuma look where the answer came from and saw a man with platinum blond hair and skin that was several shades darker than his own. He was reading a guide book for a game called Monster World.

“How did you-“

“Please, you were stand in front of the building for 30 minutes. Most everyone heard some part of your inner monologue when they came in.”

“Malik, please don’t be so rude. It was not long ago that you were in his position,” a woman with the same shade of skin and the distinct air of an older sister around her came in. She bowed, which made her black hair flow over her shoulder, “Welcome, I am Isis Ishtar and this is my younger brother, Malik. If you’d like, I’ll take you to the next room and we’ll see about getting you some more information, as well as creating your character for our role-playing game.”

Yuma was escorted inside, thou he saw Malik mimicking his sister behind her back.

He was brought into a big room, with a table near a kitchen area. The table was occupied a figure hunched over an RPG… thingy that kept them hidden from view, only allowing a view of the person’s arms. In a chair on the left side farthest from the cover, there was a man with two different shades pf brown in his hair, the top part being lighter than the bottom part. He seems occupied by his phone. On the brunet’s opposing side, he spotted two blonds, a man and a woman, with a chair between them. On the man’s left, there was a black-haired woman. She and the man were holding hands.

Deep breath and…

“Hello, I’m Tsukumo Yuma and I wish to join your Game Club. I am going into my third year of middle school and want to be more honest with who I am. Please take care of me!”

He bowed so far down, he felt like one of those wooden birds that go up and down, mimicking a drinking bird. He doesn’t hear anything from the other members but he could feel their stare as they look at him and his outfit that he bought behind his sister’s back. He’s sure that grandma knows already but…he’s scared that Akari would hate him if he told her. He’s still starting out and… this was really the first place that he went to as a man. That poster on the pole felt like a sign that he should be himself. That there were people would accept him as Yuma.

He felt like maybe this was a mistake. Maybe he’s too young. Maybe he needs to do more to be able to join. Maybe-

He smells a chocolatey scent. Someone was walking, put something down (cups maybe?), and walking again. He felt someone guide him up, where he saw bright blue eyes stare down at him.

“It’s O.K., you’re doing fine.”

The blue-eyed masterpiece escorted him to an empty chair, where he gave Yuma a hot chocolate. (Was that what he put on the table?) he then started talking again in his velvety voice.

“We’d be glad to have you as a member. Isis is just getting some paper work for you to make it all official. Unfortunately, several members including the founder are not here at the moment but you can be introduced to the members that are here. I am Fudo Yusei, and I am like you in body.”

“wow, that pretty good up until that last part. Hey there, I’m Jaden Yuki. Oh, right, I meant Yuki Jaden. Well, what I mean is my personal name is Jaden. I was born and raised in the USA, so I’ll warn ya right now that I will mess up on social niceties. And like Yusei so weirdly said it, I’m a Trans Man. I’ll get your character sheet, ‘kay?” shouted the two-toned brunet, who had put his phone down to look at him with his soft brown eyes. He left his chair to get the sheet.

“Right”, the blond woman said, “You can call me Mai Valentine and I was assigned male at birth. As you can see, I disagreed with that decision. The idiot next to me is Jake Atlas, who is Cis and is dating the only other Trans woman in the place, Carly. The silent Dungeon Master who is rudely ignoring our guest is Bakura. (he heard a grunt by the covered man) You probably have already met Isis and Malik, so that would be a bit redundant and the others can introduce themselves when they come in.”

Then Mai started to explain the rules of the game, how to set up his character, how to roll for the stats, and other such thing while he was filling out the papers Isis gave him … until he heard Jaden yell.

”HOLY SHIT! GUYS, ATEM IS PREGNANT!!”

____________________

“So, you’re preggers, hon?”

“… I wanted to tell you AFTER I told our close family and friends. I already expressed my displeasure in my IDIOTIC, BUBBLE-HEADED, TRATOROUS SISTER telling everyone with an internet connection my current status about something I told her in private!”

“While I’m sure got that by how quickly the post got deleted. I’ll put the congratulatory gifts given to you away for a better time. Call me Curious George but when would you have told your more… distant relatives?”

“ …. When everyone else would know. By the way, how would you think the members of our gaming club would feel about being part of a ceremony that my family is putting together?”

“Pay for the outfits and you’ve got ‘em, Sweetheart.”

____________________

The Kame Game Shop was always slow at 2 in the afternoon. Jaden liked it that was. It gave him time to work on his secret job. Only three people on the planet know that Haou, the author of the hit series Gates of Eterniea, was a trans man living in Japan. He loved taking people to new world with amazing adventures. He also liked his privacy. Honestly, Jaden probably needed his job at Kame more for his mental heath more then anything.

It keeps him from going into that place he can’t go. where bad things lurk. Wher-

*DING*

“Yug’ why didn’t ya tell me sooner”, shouted the blond that just came in. The blond was none other than Yugi’s best friend from high school, Katsuya Jonouchi, who goes by Jou.

“About…”

“da baby!”

“Well, that’s why I called you. And sent an email. And texted you.”

“… Ya know da Kaiba takes things when we’re testin’, buddy.”

“Really? Well, maybe Seto-kun should revise his policies then. I’ll talk about it with Mokuba when he comes to the next meeting.”

“… Sorry, I fucked up, Yug’”

“By the way, do you have a suit?”

“…why ’da ask about ‘dat?”

“Well, Mama, Ji-chan, and Atem’s parents want to have a wedding.”

“But ya already married ta ‘im!”

“Yeah, but they probably wanted to have a ‘proper’ ceremony. Plus, it could be a fun anniversary gift.”

“Tch, Rich Folks.”

“By the way, can you please tell Anzu, Hiroto, and the others about the Ceremony?”

Jou leaves, no doubt to tell Yugi’s other friends about the party that’s going to happen.

“Jaden?”

“Yeah, boss?”

“Let us tell the others about the ceremony, O.K.?”

“’Kay.”

Now then, how do the Band of the Pejuleum get through the Cave of Despair….

____________________

At the second ever time that he came into the Domino City Gaming Club, he saw two people with spikey black hair that had a rim of red at the edges. Thou they had the same hair, they had vastly different styles, one in head to toe black clothes with a tattoo on his right arm, the other in a grey business suit. He was too far away to hear the words so he jogged over to the two.

“Hi there, I’m Tsukumo Yuma. I’m a new member of the Domino City Gaming Club. I hope we can be good friends,” Yuma exclaimed as he bowed to his seniors of the club.

The two turned and… whoa, they both looked so weird. The tattooed one had blond bangs that frames his purple eyes, who looked at him kindly. The other, who somehow had darker skin than Yuma’s own, looked so excited at him(?) with his red (?!?) eyes. The red-eye guy, who had blond streaks in his hair to go with his blond bangs, went into a speech that he said with such enthusiasm that it felt like he was trying to sell him on an epic game that he just played that he wanted to share with everyone.

“Welcome once again to the Domino City Gaming Club! I am the founder and fanatical backer of the club, Atem La Lune. The handsome man next to me in my Husband, Yugi. I’m sure you’ve met the secretary of the DCGC, a little nickname I gave our illustrious club, Isis Ishtar, as well as one of our greeters. The brunet giant setting up the duel disks is Seto Kaiba, and the child with the wild black mane is Mokuba. Mokuba is genderfluid, and they indicate what gender they are by wearing a bow in their hair if they wish to be referred to as female, and leaving their hair down if they want to be man at that time. If I’ve read the notes from last time correctly, you were already introduced to Mai, Jaden, Yusei, Jack, Carly, Malik, and Bakura. I apologize for anything that the latter two would have done t-“

“Oy, don’t try that shit with me, you short-ass brat. You were telling your blond Bunny that you got knocked up last time. The least you could due is not act like some fucking saint.”

Yuma saw the white-haired Bakura (he saw him fully when he knocked out the cardboard-thingy after Jaden say that Atem was going to be a papa) charge at Atem. Atem looked ready to fight the white-head when Yugi stopped it in its tracks before proclaimed the weirdest announcement.

“O.k. just want everyone here to know that Atem and I and having a Wedding ceremony, courtesy of the matriarch of the La Lune clan, and all DCGC members are invited and are allowed to bring a guest. This is a formal affair so Atem will pay for any clothes that you would need. I expect to see most of you there.”

“You’re already married,” Shouted Jake.

“Mother insisted on it as an anniversary gift. But if you don’t want to go…”

“Hell yeah I’m going!”

“Woo!”

Yuma stared on as each person there offered their congratulations, their condolences, and their RSVP.

“Things tend to hectic here,” Yuma turned to see another white-haired guy looking on, “But I think that it just gives this group a unique character, don’t you think so?” The snowy haired guy looked at him in fondness. “Bakura Ryou, my brother’s looking for the right personal name, so he’s been going by the familial name for now.”

Yuma smiled, “Yeah, I think it’s good.”

He just knows that this will be a good year.

#TransAtem AU #TurnTurnTurn #yugioh 5d's #yugioh gx #yugioh #ygo #yugioh zexal #fanfic #fanfiction #Talkin' about my dumb-ass Aus

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midwestmuppet · 7 years

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hhhh testin out a new style and I drew The Boys, is real messy and gross but I don't hate it???? Yet??? also I was gonna draw everyone but I got distracted with drawin something else and didn't make it past them and brooke

#bmc #michael mell #jeremy heere #boyf riends #be more chill musical #my art #hhh ill pos the thing istated working nlater???? maybe???#allof tht was ispelled I'm sorry

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diyatestingupdates-blog · 5 years

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The best approach to testing security of aggregator mobile apps

The advent of 3G or 4G enabled smartphones and the running of sophisticated mobile apps on them have virtually changed the consumer behaviour globally. The behaviour, underpinned on factors like convenience, speed, cost savings, privacy, and security provided by the mobile apps (Android and iOS based,) has led to a spurt in the development of such apps. If numbers are to be believed then out of five billion mobile users globally, the total mobile apps downloaded equalled 2.6 million and 2.2 million across Android and iOS platforms in the first quarter of 2019 (Source: businessofapps.com.)

The popularity of mobile apps has largely been attributed to the usage of aggregator apps, which pull, show, and interact with content sourced from various locations. The examples can be cited that of Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Flipboard, among others. Since the APIs of these apps interact with numerous content sources, there is every likelihood of them becoming the conduits for malware. Moreover, many of these apps incorporate the digital payment feature, which helps customers to conduct financial transactions on the go. However, notwithstanding the benefits of using such aggregator apps integrated with the digital payment feature, the spectre of cyber threat looms large. As more number of app makers try to feed into this huge demand for apps, ensuring their security has become the primary concern. Let us understand the top security threats that can befall any aggregator mobile app and how mobile application security testing can pre-empt the same.

Top security threats to aggregator mobile apps

The propensity of people to use aggregator mobile apps in the workplace or other places has exposed such apps to hacking. As no digital device can claim to be 100% secure and hackers always on the lookout to compromise a device, the role of application security testing becomes prominent.

1. Unsecured Wi-Fi connection: One of the biggest security threats is in using unsecured Wi-Fi connections at public places like airports, bookstores, coffee shops etc. As the number of smartphones connecting the endpoints at workplaces increases, hackers get a goldmine of opportunities to compromise enterprises by leveraging the vulnerabilities of mobile apps. However, in spite of the warnings, people continue to use such unsecured networks and subject themselves to cyber attacks. A robust mobile application security testing can plug vulnerabilities that hackers may exploit when people use apps to connect to their workplaces.

2. Built-in malicious codes: As aggregator apps source information from multiple locations using APIs, not all APIs or locations can claim to being secure. Many unsecured apps may contain malicious strains of malware, which upon usage, can allow hackers to siphon off sensitive data and information on a platter. Such mobile security threats can be prevented by downloading apps from official app stores. Besides, the apps contained in the apps stores should have undergone stringent end-to-end mobile application security testing.

3. OS vulnerabilities: Smartphone manufacturers continually update the operating software to incorporate features, functionalities, and technologies. This is mainly to obtain a better system performance, a key determinant in achieving user satisfaction. Importantly, users often do not update the operating systems of their aggregator mobile apps thus leaving them vulnerable to cyber attacks. To ensure the mobile apps remain secure against any emerging security threats, their operating systems must be updated. Also, should their mobile devices do not remain compatible with the latest version of the operating system, it is better to get a new one.

The best approach to testing the security of aggregator mobile apps

Once your aggregator mobile app accepts personal data from the user, it becomes your responsibility to safeguard the same. This calls for conducting rigorous software application security testing to identify and plug vulnerabilities and protect data breaches. The best security practices or approaches any enterprise can take to secure its mobile app are:

· Simulating attacks on the app systems to assess their vulnerabilities and strengths.

· Analyzing internal controls to identify the presence of potential malware.

· Assessing and monitoring the APIs to identify any security flaws.

· Evaluating the risks through security threat modelling and building a mobile application testing strategy based on parameters such as threat sources, attack interface, expected attacks, business impact, and disaster management to nullify them.

· Undertaking the collaborative approach of DevSecOps to turn security testing into a continuous activity throughout the SDLC and beyond. DevSecOps introduces security factors early on in the development cycle. It helps to cut down vulnerabilities and security risks, and ensures the management and other stakeholders are in sync with the overall business objectives.

Conclusion

The rising scare of cybersecurity threats has led businesses to adopt stringent mobile app security testing. By incorporating an approach like DevSecOps where every sinew of the organization is tasked with ensuring the security of an aggregator mobile application, the vulnerabilities and risks intrinsic to the system can be promptly identified and acted upon. Businesses should ensure that the shortening of development lifecycles as brought about by DevOps and Agile, should not let mobile app security testing take a back seat.

Diya works for Cigniti Technologies, which is the world’s first Independent Software Testing Services Company to be appraised at CMMI-SVC v1.3, Maturity Level 5, and is also ISO 9001:2015 & ISO 27001:2013 certified.

#application security testing #web application security testing #application security testing methodology #mobile application security testing #software application security testing #mobile app security testing #mobile application testing #mobile testing services

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zillyeh · 6 years

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hey guys im homE,,, could i get some asks,,, fr either Cinder or Orotun....

#Zilly rambles #my lower jaw hurts lmao i just got my bottom braces on #gndfmngdfbg #im also testin out a new sprite style w orie..... stay tuned

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demzlebeau · 5 years

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After I uploaded the images from the Dyno shoot ‘n’ made a bite-sized blog post, I asked myself one simple question: “Why don’t you just upload the images from each shoot to your blog rather than solely Insta?”. When I initially created this space separate from IBTC, it was intended as a platform to showcase all things Demz. As per the ‘bio’ on my page, I’m a man of simplicity – there’s only a handful of things that intrigue me enough to commit to on a somewhat regular basis. As per the #OperationIdris posts, I enjoy liftin’ weights. As per my sporadic trysts with music, I enjoy writin’ ‘n’ recordin’ music – that relationship status is currently set to ‘it’s complicated’. ‘N’ finally, as per my “you’re never too old to learn somethin’ new” post, I enjoy capturin’ images. I find it dope. So, in the aim of providin’ quality content on a more consistent basis, today I present to you, Demz Visuals: Platt Fields Rose.

Unlike Dyno’s shoot, this one was impromptu – but considerin’ the content, I’m glad it occurred. Also, my work schedule permits me a day or two in the week to myself (shift dependent), so I’m actively dedicatin’ time to shoot. As with anythin’ the more you do it, the better you get. Anyhow, I hit the gym as per on Wednesday (leg/tricep/abs/cardio split). The only difference this time was I had my ‘rig’ with me as I didn’t stay home that night. MYDB. So workout finish, I’m in the changin’ room swappin’ my sweat-drenched T for a dry one. (Side-note: “if you’re not drenched, did you even work out though?”). As I’m ready to leave, a thought occurred to me: “you’ve got your rig with you, hit the park ‘n’ take some test shots”. So I did.

Reachin’ the park, I whip the cam out ‘n’ I start fiddlin’ with ISO, aperture n shutter speed settin’s as I’ve officially taken off the trainin’ wheels of shootin’ in a ‘camera selected mode’. It’s amazin’ to think last year when I had the kit lens, I would shoot in ‘csm’ – but the confidence wasn’t there. It’s not quite there yet, but each day it builds. Like a child who’s said to themselves: “it’s time to lose the stabilisers”, there’s a realisation that you can do this. You gotta believe in ya own sauce! Don’t let the drip go to your head though! I may have mentioned this last week, but I actively found myself mutterin’ different settin’s etc to try dependent on the natural light at play. And you know what, I was right. The main reason I went to the park as well was by practisin’ solo, when it comes to shoots, they can transition smoothly due to me knowin’ off the bat what settin’s will work. Overall, it gives it a more professional feel!

Whilst testin’ out the settin’s I found a gate within the park which lead to a garden. In all the years I have been in ‘n’ around the park, I never knew this place existed. The layout was evocative of a grid wherein each ‘square’ had it’s own patch of shrubs and bushes. My horticultural knowledge is non-existent at best so I can’t go into specifics. The walkways were segmented by stone/gravel (I’m not sure), and there was this dope apple tree in the middle. I should have got a picture. Maybe I’ll go back one day to get more content? One of the main things which drew me to pictures from way back was the idea that photography can capture ‘moments’. Moments of triumph, moments of pain, or in case, moments of discovery. Though this garden has been in close proximity this whole time, I may never have found it if it wasn’t for my camera. ‘N’ to that, I’m grateful.

As I’m still learnin’ my trade, until I find my ‘style’, I’m just havin’ fun atm playin’ around with different shots, compositions ‘n’ editin’ styles. I suppose that’s why from as far back as I can remember I’ve had an innate disposition towards creativity. It’s excitin’. It’s engagin’. But most importantly, it’s subjective. To each their own interpretation. ‘N’ that’s what’s brilliant. Subjective styles sparks intriguin’ dialogue.

Enjoy the images.

Insta: @DemzVisuals

#gallery-0-4 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-4 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Platt Fields Rose – 22-08-19 After I uploaded the images from the Dyno shoot 'n' made a bite-sized blog post, I asked myself one simple question: …

#demzlebeau #DemzVisuals #england #ibethecool #lebeausworld #LIFESTYLE #manchester #photographer #PHOTOGRAPHY #writing

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