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mcl4r3n · 10 months

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Ego

Or, a 2,500 word fanfic of Lando Norris discovering AO3 and getting off to fanfiction that nobody asked for but I wanted to write, anyway. :3

Lando Norris is a cunt and should lose his seat

Why the fuck do people keep hyping this kid up

Driver of the Day????? ARE U KIDDING ME???? WHEN CARLOS DEFENDED LIKE THAT??? Wtf

Lando exhales through his nose, slow and long, before smiling to himself and closing out his private Twitter browser.

The reception to his performance at Austria is expected, and it's a little amusing to read that that's the worst these strangers on the internet seem to be able to come up with.

He's gotten better, certainly, at not running his mouth with reckless abandon. Charlotte would be proud of him, if she still worked for McLaren.

He leans back in his seat, the jet preparing for takeoff. The articles were nice to him. Damon Hill had good things to say about him. P5 to P4, thanks to the penalties. It's a good fucking day.

It's a little masochistic, a little narcissistic, to peruse the internet for his name as much as he does, but he’s a Silverstone winner now. He’s really enjoyed the things written up about him.

Besides, that's how Lando learned to get over caring so much in the first place. Just a few years back, he used to agonize over a slip of the tongue, used to wring his hands and fuck up his hair in worry over what the pundits would say about him because of a careless soundbite.

He dealt with some of the worst of it when Daniel became his teammate, and even at the end, he had to learn how to stop flinching whenever he saw the word 'sympathy.'

Now it's different. It helps, of course, that Daniel taught him how to get over it, grow thicker skin, and deal with the worst of it.

"Let it roll off you like water," Daniel said. So Lando did.

It's a slower news week though, and he's bored, so he searches up his name and scrolls through all the posts on the first few pages of his Google search.

And then he sees it, a link to something called 'Archive of Our Own,' and decides to press on it with his thumb.

It opens to a page that appears to be. . . stories, written about. . . them. Drivers.

Drivers with other drivers. Drivers' names next to 'Original Female Character(s)'.

It's fiction written by fans about them.

Lando looks around his living room, at the stalled Netflix homepage on his television screen. He really should be on the sim instead, but mostly, he's tired, and would rather do some other mindless thing.

He scrolls through and sees one that says 'Lando Norris/Carlos Sainz' with an E in a red square. Beside it, a link leads to 'Formula 1 RPF'.

He toggles onto a new tab and types in 'rpf meaning,' which shows the definition: real person fiction. Well, he gathered as much.

The tags are interesting, he'll give it that. 'Blowjob', '2023 Formula 1 Season', 'Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot'.

He opens the story and scans it quickly, the morbid curiosity of wanting to know how fans see his relationship with Carlos overriding the fact that it's fucking weird to be reading what is essentially smut about himself and his friend.

This story seems to have them written like they're secret lovers, that they have been since Carlos' McLaren days, and absolutely doesn't take into account that both he and Carlos had girlfriends at one point.

He snorts when he reaches a line that has him saying, "Carlos, please, you're so big, please fuck me."

Lando frowns at the screen. His skin is starting to itch. Why do people think he'd say that to Carlos? For one thing, Carlos doesn't even have a big dick. Lando knows—he's seen it himself. Changing in a hurry tends to lead to that, flinging bits about while they finish golf.

"Cariño," the Carlos in the story says, and that's when Lando loses it, no longer able to contain his laughter. He's honestly tempted to send a screenshot off to Carlos, but then he'd have to explain how he found it in the first place, and he doesn't feel like doing that just now.

So instead, he clicks back and scrolls down some more.

There seems to be a pretty steady stream of people who are invested in Max and Daniel, and also Max and Charles, based on the list of pairings that he sees, which he can like, understand. He doesn't blame the fans at all for that, considering how many antics they get up to in the name of PR.

They know that shit sells. Lando’s just getting a full proper look at what that actually means for fans.

Yeah, that’s right, he tells himself. This is just homework. He’s doing recon to see what else they can do to boost their socials.

He takes a little more time to read through the page properly. It lists the number of words in the story, the ratings that imply just how explicit the story is, and something called a ‘kudos’ which he figures means that it’s the same as likes on Instagram or whatever.

He stops at one that has him and Daniel, and curiosity gets the better of him. It’s short, too, roughly 1,500 words. It’s listed as Explicit, but the summary is what gets him.

“Daniel knows exactly how to congratulate Lando properly for his win at Silverstone.”

Lando leans back into his throw pillow and holds his phone a little closer to his face.

The story is set in the new Hilton hotel, and this must have been written by a fan who was actually there because the description of the room itself is eerily similar to the room he himself stayed in just last week.

This story seems to get the way he and Daniel talk a little closer to reality than the previous one he perused.

It’s so strange to be reading this, to have his mannerisms laid out in text, to see how a fan describes him through this fictional version of Daniel.

Lando can’t seem to exit out of it, though. The Lando in the story is happy, of course, about winning. But the Daniel in it—seems desperate. For him.

Lando’s fucking hooked.

Daniel wants to reach out, wants to mess up Lando’s curls even more, never mind the fact that it’s sticky with sweat and champagne. Lando hasn’t even changed out of the clothes from the fan stage yet, but all Daniel wants to do is undress him, bury his face in Lando’s armpit, and inhale deeply, abolish any sort of space that separates them.

Lando puts his phone down. His heart rate has kicked up a little. This is fake. This is fake. This is fake.

He gets back to reading. This is fake. Like, it’s all made up, but the details that this fan throws in… well. It has Daniel staring longingly at his moles, and the way his clothes hug his thighs and—

And now, the Lando in the story is turning around and tipping his head to the side and saying, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Lando draws his knees closer to his chest, curling his arms in and reading intently.

"Mate, I'm really—I'm having a hard time right now and I think I should uh, go," Daniel says. He starts to scramble. He doesn't even know why he thought visiting Lando in his room would be a good idea.

Daniel turns to leave but Lando steps in closer, frowning.

"What's going on?" Lando asks, his eyes searching Daniel's face for any sort of answer. Daniel needs to go. He needs to go right fucking now, but Lando has his hand wrapped around his wrist and he looks wounded by Daniel's abrupt one-eighty.

Daniel hangs his head in shame.

"I want to—to kiss you, and I need you to let me go before I do that."

Lando doubts that Daniel would ever actually say that, but somehow he’s not inclined to laugh about this the way he was with the other story.

Lando’s hand remains where it is, fingers strong and unyielding.

“You—you wanna kiss me? Are you drunk right now?”

Daniel wants to fall into the floor beneath him, have the marble or whatever the fuck this tile is made of to rearrange its molecules so he can become one with them. That's better than having to repeat himself. That's better than having to admit out loud that he wants to fuck his ex-teammate who is ten years his junior.

Lando pauses here. He's realizing that the AC isn't quite cold enough. How'd that happen?

He readjusts himself on his couch. There's really no point in reading on but now he wants to know what happens. Morbid curiosity really is getting the better of him.

His screen lights up again when he raises his phone and unlocks the screen to where the story is still there, taunting him.

He exhales. He reads on.

"Yeah, Lando, I wanna kiss you," Daniel says, his voice steadier than how he actually feels.

Lando's eyes narrow, and he tilts his head, regarding Daniel like he's lying, like he's fucking with him. And, yeah, okay, fair, Daniel's said enough gay-sounding shit around him for him to be suspicious, but that was all for the cameras.

There aren't any, here. There's no reason for him to be playing gay chicken.

Lando's hand tightens around his wrist.

"Prove it, then," Lando says, raising his chin, like a dare. Like a fucking dare.

Daniel could easily leave. He isn't much bigger than Lando but he could have pulled away earlier. Except—except now Lando is taunting him. Telling him to put his money where his mouth is.

Lando's heart is racing now, torn between wanting to close out of this story and reading on, just because he's gotten this far. He might as well finish it.

Daniel steps closer, and even if this isn't exactly how he'd fantasized about kissing Lando for the first time, but somehow it's still fitting. Lando is so handsome like this—blush high on his cheeks, all the way down to his neck.

He cups his hand under Lando's jaw, and brushes his thumb over the stupid fucking beard that he hated at first but now loves—

Lando frowns. Was his beard really that bad?

—and presses his lips to Lando's. It's tentative at first, exploratory, hesitant in its early press, but then Lando moans, gasps against his mouth, and Daniel takes that as his cue to seal his lips in closer and slide his tongue against Lando's.

It becomes frantic then after they both cross the threshold into each other's breaths. Lando's hands grasp at Daniel's shirt, and the next thing Daniel knows, he's being guided to the bed, collapsing on top of the pristine duvet without ceremony.

Lando clambers on top of him and straddles his hips, and Daniel can already feel himself getting hard in his jeans.

Lando stops reading.

He stops because all of a sudden, he can feel himself getting hard, too.

He glances between his legs as if looking will make it go away but it’s futile. He can see his half-chub starting to tent his shorts. Fuck. What the fuck?

But then again—he’s alone right now. No one is around to see this.

He feels juvenile, like he’s thirteen all over again trying to sneak porn on his older brother’s laptop and then learning how to delete his search history. Except that porn sort of made sense, to him, at least. He was watching girls with big boobs getting railed by these buff men.

This is—this is different. Kind of concerning. He’s sure none of the other drivers have ever done this.

But the more he waits, the more impatient the little voice in his head gets, wanting to know what happens in the story. He sighs, resigned, and opens his phone back up.

“Lando, Lando, wait,” Daniel says, pulling away and desperately trying to catch his breath. “I—There, I proved it to you. Are you happy?”

“Yeah, I was, until you stopped, you muppet,” Lando frowns. “Why’d you stop?”

Daniel swallows the spit in his mouth—Christ almighty, that’s spit that also came from Lando’s mouth. “Because if we keep going, I don’t think I’ll be able to hold myself back.”

Lando leans over him, and Daniel has to suppress the shudder that courses through the entirety of his body because Lando is hard, too. Lando is hard and pressing his erection against Daniel’s steadily growing one, and he has to curl his toes to deal with the fucking emotion of it all.

Lando’s fucked. He’s so fucked. He’s fully hard now from reading this scene, and before he can bring himself to feel too much shame over it, he’s tugging the elastic of his shorts and his boxers down to tuck it under his dick and—fuck, fuck—

He holds his phone in his left hand and spits into his right before bringing it to his cock to wrap around it while he reads on.

The story progresses quickly from there, the Lando and Daniel in the scene getting back to kissing frantically and undressing each other, and none of the words feel cliche. It’s almost chilling how clearly he can hear his voice and Daniel’s in the dialogue, but what’s most concerning is that the more he reads, the faster his hand goes.

In the story, Daniel takes Lando’s erection in his hand and kisses him silly while Lando fucks into his grip, and Lando tries to follow suit, so caught up in what he’s reading that he finds himself feeling like his hand isn’t his own, like it’s Daniel’s instead, and by the time this imagined Lando finally spills all over his own belly, Lando’s own real-fucking-life orgasm is ripped out from him, and he’s coming all over his own hand, matting down his pubes with how much jizz there is that’s still coming out in small little spurts from his dick.

He drops his phone, now that he’s spent and boneless on his couch. His right hand is gross and he doesn’t even have any tissues nearby, so he has to settle for taking his shirt off to mop up his mess.

He’s sated and sleepy, but then the shame starts to creep in, except that his phone starts to ring, and—Jesus Christ, speak of the devil—he sees that Daniel is calling him.

It’s with shaky hands that he retrieves his phone from the carpet, and it’s with a shakier voice that he answers it.

“Heya, Lando,” Daniel says. “D’you wanna meet up for dinner tonight? I just got back to Monaco and I’m jonesing for that rotisserie place we went to last time.”

Lando exhales, now that post-nut clarity has started to suffuse his brain with rationality from the comedown.

“Yeah, Danny, I’m in,” Lando replies. “I can pick you up at 6:30?”

“Super,” Daniel replies. “It’s a date!” And then ends the fucking call.

Christ. He has no idea how he’s going to face Daniel tonight after what he just did.

#lando norris #f1 fanfic #f1 rpf #ao3 my beloved please come back to us safely #nessefftea #does it count as dando if he gets off to dando fic? maybe #mention of carlando briefly

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kadajsbitch · 9 months

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Random thought but

Also, SPOILERS if you haven’t watched Ghost in The Shell 💀) But I just had a random thought.

So you know how some of us are curious to know whether Pinocchio feels human to the touch, or not? (not in the perverted sense. 🙁)

It got me thinking back to Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in The Shell and how she was created, skin wise mostly 💀

First, she started out like this. Her parts being assembled, and then she gets dumped in the green liquid, before she suddenly comes to the surface.

THEN judging by the following scenes, it seems that the green stuff is what made up her hair and skin cells, considering she was both bald and robotic looking when she got marinated in the green sauce 💀

FINALLY, comes out of the green stuff, and suddenly it starts to lift from her body, and it reveals she looks completely humanoid. No signs of her being robotic whatsoever. No her skin is a peachy pale, her lips are colored, and her hair is black. (Looks brown in the pic but I wasn’t quick enough to take a screenshot 🤡)

For one, Ive seen some theories on both here, and the Lies of P discord revolving around THIS dude possibly being either the Ghost of Geppetto’s original son that from what we know, Pinocchio in the original story, was made in his image.

(Also, this was the best picture I could find of him, I just took the first pic I googled 💀)

Cool right? We also see a dude who looks EERILY SIMILAR TO HIM, pop out when Pinocchio’s fighting, only thing is he’s glowing blue and white and his name is Spector…

Bro. Considering that this is a darker retelling of Pinocchio on top of being a Dark Souls game, I think all hands are on the table to theorize some macabre shit. 👀

Antonia did say something Along the lines of Geppetto being mad with guilt. Of course that could be could also be taken as her joking to Pinocchio about him, kind of like when your parent’s friends joke to you about how your parents were back in the day or something, but I find it kind of weird that Spector can pop up in fights when needed, as well as I find it weird that Pinocchio, from what we saw from both the trailer and now the demo, hear’s someone whisper “Wake up” and this causes his eyes to squint slightly as if he too is wondering if he just heard that shit himself. 💀

And then with it coming out that we can lie to Geppetto as well, i also find that weird since it seems from both the advertisement for the game and the little demo gameplay we have, it seems that we’re supposed to be helping Geppetto in a sense find out both the cause to why the robots have gone rogue, as well as protecting the innocent around him. Why would he need to lie to Geppetto if we’re on the same side?

And yeah we can say, “So he can feel like a real boy.” But part of me personally feels like Pinocchio (from what I personally understood from the demo) doesn’t really have that goal in mind.

Yet…

Right now, I feel like he’s just lying because it benefits him at the moment. I mean if he told the truth about being a puppet, he wouldn’t have been able to get into the hotel. Of course, there’s the other things he lies about that he might not need to necessarily lie about… but Geppetto made him with free will. Who’s to say the moment he lied and felt his gears turning, the next time he’s offered the choice, he just lies because he’s curious as to what he’s feeling? (Kind of like how Motoko was curious if the memories she had were artificial or not and this causes her to do things like go scuba diving for “relaxation” knowing if her system malfunctions, she’s fucked and even Bautou find it weird she’s willing to risk it)

Finally, jumping back to how I said I feel like his goal to becoming a real boy (if the game is going to keep that key element having to do with the fairytale the games based on) as well as why I brought up Ghost in the Shell in the first place.

What if Geppetto made Pinocchio using his son?

Again, if you’ve seen Ghost in the Shell, Motoko spent the film wondering if the memories she had were ones she made up to feel less artificial, and she questions had she ever been human considering her current brain (the grey thing in the first pictures of Motoko I added) was a now a cyber brain and that they had added what they refer to, as her “Ghost” to this artificial brain.

Due to the fact her actual body had been in the process of dying, and in an effort to save her, they basically removed her brain in spinal cord and for a moment in time, placed it in a artificial child’s body (the death of her body happened when she was a child. Sounds suspiciously similar right? 👀 The only aspect of it being in the actual Pinocchio story, the puppet doesn’t become possessed with the spirit of Geppetto’s dead son.)

Like, what if part of the main storyline other than the crazy killer puppets, is Pinocchio questioning his creation? And what if “Spector” is the voice trying to drop hints to him about this? (Like what if his gears moving is Spectors way of telling him he’s going in the direction he’s trying to guide him to?)

Also, considering that the story takes place around the early 19th century, even with the crazy (modern for their time)yet old inventions, just how the fuck was Geppetto able to make Pinocchio appear so human? Like the hair on his head is not a wig, and while his skin is clearly blemish free and smooth, his skin appears to have obviously have pores on it. Like I feel like if he wanted to, he could facially emote so easily and I wouldn’t guess anything about him was robotic at all.

I sound batshit crazy, I know but I’m lowkey serious and curious if they took inspiration from it 😭 please let me know how you guys feel about this

#lies of p #ghost in the shell #motoko kusanagi #pinocchio #kadajsbitchlol #crazy ramblings #I’ve been awake since yesterday morning #so I probably sound crazy

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mischief-lies-and-stories · 7 months

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"Wait, why is Loki naked?!?!"

This is The Mighty Thor issue 359, originally published September 1985. I should preface this by saying I have absolutely zero context for this comic. It is the oldest comic, Loki-related or otherwise, that I have ever read in its entirety, so aside from any context provided by the author, I have no idea what happens before or after. My knowledge going into it is this: the cover is vaguely reminiscent of a couple pieces of fan art I've seen (that I do not have sources or screenshots of at the moment, I'm sorry): one, a slightly more harmonious sibling AU with Thor and Loki seemingly willingly kneeling at Hela's feet, and another where Hela says "Kneel before your queen," and Thor kneels at Loki's (in fem form) feet. Additionally, I know Lorelei, and I don't like her. I don't dislike her as much as I dislike her sister, but neither of them are my favorite. Finally, I skimmed this last weekend when I started getting fixated on Sigyn just to see if she was in it. While I don't think I saw her, Loki DOES NOT WHERE A SHIRT for MOST of the issue, and I am greatly distressed (hence the title). This is why I'm actually reading it. Let's get into it. (EDIT: Loki does not actually get all the way naked, but oh boy does he try to get as much skin passed the 80s censors as possible!)

If the "In the service of Loki" doesn't get vaguely homoerotic, I'm gonna be mad.

My God, these old comics have a lot of words.

I guess even macho Asgardian gods were not immune to the fads of the 80s. Those leg warmers, damn, Heimdall.

No, get Amora out of here! She's just gonna make shit worse. Let's see where this goes. Maybe Loki just wants to, I don't know, invest in the arts and institute safety regulations as king. Just a thought.

Listen, I know nothing, so a Sif/Beta Ray Bill romance that ended as suddenly as I was aware it existed comes as out of left field for me as the forty-year-old Fig Newtons ad on the next page.

AMORA! You just wanted to kiss your sister's drugged up boyfriend!!!

I cannot with this fucking bird Lorelei rides. I'm dying.

Amora, you literally just said yourself that he was under an enchantment. What is this going to do?

Uh, RUDE.

Oh, hang on. Loki doesn't even know this is happening? Is that why he's naked shirtless when he finally shows up?

Ookay. He is naked. Because he's fucking Lorelei. Now it makes sense.

Yup. Also this reaction image is so funny, I'm dying!

I am uncomfortable.

I'M SHRIEKING! Why did they reference this weird, random, old comic about a convoluted triangle of seduction where Loki is naked the whole time in Ragnarok???!!! This is the most incredible thing I've seen all week. I'm going to be thinking about this forever. Does he pull this shit with Loki often? Is this a common thing? Is this a coincidence? I don't give a shit; I'm going to tell everybody I know as if I know for a fact that this is just some strange piece of trivia about Marvel and I don't care if it's accurate or not.

"This cloak EMPTY. YEET!" --Thor, probably, if this comic was published 35 years later than it was. (Also it is important to me that you understand: She was not wearing the cloak before he did this. It was hanging up. He comes over to her, takes the cloak off the wall as he goes, then wraps it around her while he does some magical feat of ventriloquy by talking while he full-on snogs her on the mouth. And then he yeets the motherfucker out of the cloak.)

Thor, Sif is also fucking someone else. This is a goddamn soap opera. I'm gonna need to make a diagram.

Thor gets on his knees a lot in this comic. Also the service of Loki byline was a fucking lie. He's not kneeling to Loki on the cover but Lorelei. He speaks to his brother for five minutes and it's while he's threatening to smash his face in with Mjolnir.

Please excuse my god-awful handwriting or the fact that I almost misspelled Lorelei's name twice or the fact that the apostrophe in fuckin' looks like an exclamation point.

#wow. just. wow #this was a trip #i did not expect to be smacked in the face with the possible origins of a ragnarok scene though #loki #loki comics #the mighty thor issue 359 #the mighty thor 359 #thor comics spoilers #marvel comics spoilers #marvel comics #reacting to vintage comics #reading vintage comics #old comics

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aurically · 9 months

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CC Creator ARCHIVEFACTION/TERFEARRENCE

Gonna put a big ole TW all over this post for w*hite supremacy n*azi imagery and iconography.

Hey, Sims community. It's been a while, I know.

I felt the need to pop in from the Second Life community to let you know that a creator working on both the TS4 platform and the SL platform has been outed over here as a n*azi sympathizer/supporter. This creator is known as ARCHIVEFACTION and TERFEARRENCE.

I'm still compiling all the evidence of discussions and evidence surrounding the situation at hand, but below you will find screenshots of ARCHIVEFACTION/TERFEARRENCE using neo-n*azi imagery in his SL product ads for his product The Confluence Pearl Necklace, which he had released approximately 2 weeks ago at the Access Event in Second Life.

What started it: I'm unsure of which came first, the Twitter post or the Virtual Secrets post, however, they were both found around the same time when Facebook and Twitter started discussing this.

The original Twitter post and the original Virtual Secrets post.

It has been discussed at length within the Second Life community, and the creator was called out. They altered their event photo for the second time.

The blog site Seraphim goes around shopping events in Second Life, and takes photos of all the vendor booths. When Seraphim took their photo of his Access event booth, this was the ad display:

At some point, just prior to the Access Event opening, he changed his booth ad to the image that included the "w*hite power" text and neo-nazi symbols, which appeared on his Flickr until yesterday:

Yesterday, he cropped his ad photo at the physical Access event, and deleted the Flickr post (as well as other undetermined photos from his Flickr feed), issuing an "apology".

This is not his original apology/statement. I read the apology when it was first posted, and it was only a few sentences saying things about a language barrier. I do not currently have a screenshot of the original apology, but if I find one, I will update this post.

That said, the general consensus is the apology is BS, and it is not being accepted. Many people feel that if you are a content creator primarily selling to a western audience, you should be making damn sure you're not using any foul language or offensive material; that "language barrier" is no longer an acceptable excuse.

Another SL creator has been very vocal on social media about ARCHIVEFACTION, and has apparently been watching them for quite some time. Asserting that ARCHIVEFACTION has on multiple occasions produced products with w*hite supremacist and neo-n*azi words and iconography, and has been disseminating it throughout SL for some time. I've not seen any screenshots of these things, but I did take a look at his Flickr before the apology/statement, and saw some concerning dog whistles for w*hite supremacists and neo-n*azis.

Another user also pointed out that one of his pieces of jewelry had neo-n*azi symbolism to it:

Lastly, it appears his whole "brand" is a rip-off of Raf Simmons' book, The Fourth Sex, and a real-life brand "POST ARCHIVE FACTION":

His Tumblr homepage + Raf Simmons' book "The Fourth Sex", where ARCHIVEFACTION has clearly ripped off the artwork.

While no one owns a certain aesthetic, the brand name is clearly being ripped off for a virtual iteration that is not associated with the real-life brand.

All this said I'm putting this out to the TS4 community as it seems his skins and looks are widely popular for its hyper-realistic, high-quality, edgy take. I would hate for the Sims community to also support someone who clearly has been stealing and perpetuating hateful ideologies in our beloved spaces.

I am purposefully leaving out any links to his socials and websites, as I do not want this POS to gain any further traffic. I hope these screenshots suffice in my desire to share this issue. I will try to fill in any missing gaps of information when and if it becomes available, but I am definitely coming here in good faith.

I hope the Sims community is well. <3

#simblr #sims 4 cc #ts4 #second life #sl #archivefaction #terfearrence #content creator #cc #sims cc #sl creator #sl designer #sl fashion #sims fashion

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pandorasboxoftreasures · 10 months

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I BRINGETH!

Hate to admit it, don’t wanna name names.

But the level of structural accuracy of canon Na’vi character fanart MUST improve.

It’s been 6 months now. And I still keep seeing some very high quality art in amazing styles, however, the characters themselves are severely lacking in their accuracy.

I’ve been pointing out what I can about the worst victim of this, Recom “Ritch” Quaritch, and I’ve noticed people have been paying more attention and noticing these little things on their own. It’s great seeing artists working hard and perfecting their skills.

I hate as an artist to have to say that it’s not been enough for quite a lot of artists I’ve seen so far. I know everybody is improving and working hard. Including myself. And everyone has to start drawing Na’vi somewhere.

But I think I need to nudge things along a bit more. And I recently discovered a new way that may help.

Using a painting filter to basically give each character human-ish skin and eyeballs. (Unfortunately only in one light tone which is very frustrating but I guess it’s consistent and the lighter shade will make details harder to miss in different lighting situations) Clearing up the beautiful to observe but visually cluttering to study and paint details and colour palettes. Some of you may find this horrifying, I dunno. A warning anyway.

For months whenever people tell me “He’s ugly in the movie!” I’d rebuke with “He’s classically beautiful. Like works from the Italian and Dutch masters. Like the ancient sculptures of Rome. Slap him down on a couch in front of Da Vinci or Michelangelo and they’d piss themselves with sheer awe.”

Well, here’s the proof... kinda... using screenshots I’ve collected and made myself in as many angles as I could fit together for now with different levels of quality until I can get my 4K inputs sorted :

STOP JUST PAINTING HIM BELOW THE NECK! YOU HAVE NO EXCUSES NOW!

Try rendering him similar to this in your target or individual style, and THEN put the Na’vi detailing on top. See if it makes a difference.

Granted, the filter only worked on some angles (I have more images to add later too) and it did make some very minor alterations, I did my best to mimise them, regardless take note. And it couldn’t get every little crease. But with how much missing the mark there’s been anyway, I guess aiming for this is still better than the status quo (again not naming names except for maybe myself).

I’m gonna be doing this with other characters, too. I simply figured starting with him would both be the best test as to whether this would help as well as fight the tide of “this artwork is amazing but who the hell is that guy” disease.

It might also be worth my while to morph these together and see what I get. 1 uniform face for each character. Guess I’ll see what happens with the others.

Note the other posts I’ve made about the finer details like moles and freckles past and future as companions to this one.

I’ve also got another post coming up about the consistencies and differences of the patterns in the bioluminescent freckles each Na’vi subspecies has so watch out for that if you’re interested.

(SO GLAD TO BE ABLE TO SHOW HOW VISUALLY DISTINCT HE IS FROM HIS HUMAN DONOR, TOO! LIKE DAMN. THEY HAVE THEIR SIMILARITIES OF COURSE BUT I SHOULD PROBABLY DO THE SAME TO HUMAN QUARITCH SEE WHAT SHOWS UP)

UPDATE HOLD UP I THINK I FIGURED OUT A BETTER WAY OF DOING THIS BY USING THE PAINTING FILTER AS A BRIGHTNESS LAYER WITH THE ORIGINAL IMAGE COLOURS UNDERNEATH BEHOLD MUCH BETTER RESULTS AND NOT HUMANWASHING I’LL TRY AND REDO THE ORIGINAL IMAGES THIS WAY:

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wildfangz · 2 years

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ok *cracks knuckles* bitchin time. This is long but i have an autism license so thats allowed. thank you. Also disclaimer that I haven’t actually looked at any of them in game, just in screenshots.

Mortimer is the only one here who feels like a drastic improvement. Super happy they gave him that specific mustache. He looks so much more like the morty we know and love to the point I might check him out in CAS and re-do my morty makeover w/ him as a base.

Imo, and I think I can speak for most people that were looking forward to the townie makeovers, one of the most important updates was giving Bella and Cassandra the right skintones. But they’re still off! The skintone update was SO good, with so much variation, yet they still have washed out skin. It looks ashy, it’s not nearly as warm as it should be (which from what I could see was the MAIN complaint w/ the concept art) and it still doesn’t look dark enough.

WHY CHANGE BELLA’S DRESS. Her hair was fine too imo though the new style doesnt look bad but WHY CHANGE HER DRESS. I feel like they tried waaaay too hard giving them a complete makeover when what we really needed was just a little more care put into them, as well as lore updates. Dina & Nina were the ones that needed a massive makeover moreso.

Speaking of lore updates... I’ve seen people say aside from likes/dislikes there really hasn’t been any changes? Which I can understand why that’d need to be a later update but I think that was the other important aspect we were looking forward too and I would have liked at least some comments on it, even if it amounted to nothing but “its coming eventually”

Is part of the future lore update going to be something like there’s a bella imposter in the home? bc thats not bella. I have no idea why they had to change her face so much, like aside from skintone the concept art was so much better in comparison. I think Bella is the most disappointing here for me because she was only one that looked okay originally? A skintone update, cold/hot weather outfits, etc were really the only things she needed. Have no idea who decided she needed to have that No Chin problem waaay too many fucking townies have, though maybe that’s just the angle, but idk. It does look like they brought her chin up and I just don’t get it. :/

I have to agree w/ ppl that I don’t like what they did w/ Alexander. I know one of my friends felt like changing his skintone was kind of performative on their part and I’d have to agree, though for me it’s not the world’s biggest deal, just weird. Not to discount anyone that does feel uncomfortable w/ it like my friend did, just not my place to be offended by it or anything yknow. What I can say is I always liked how Cassandra took after Bella more while Alex took after Morty & I’m gonna keep that for my makeover. & They did the poor lad so dirty when he’s aged up lmao. That being said maybe an unpopular opinion but I actually think the hair change was cute & more fitting.

The best way I could describe the new Cassandra is just...disappointing. Like she looks better! There was improvement there for sure. But at the same time, I was hoping they’d change her face a bit more, to look more like her sims 2 version. Get rid of the softer look and make her face look thinner, longer. Looks like they might have done a bit of work, I just would have liked to see some more.

I was so excited about the makeovers bc so many of the earlier sims were in desperate need. The Caliente sisters specifically needed SO much work, that was the BIG one to me, but this makeover doesn’t give me much faith that the team will actually understand whats wrong with them aside from the whitewashing. And that’s only because everyone was thankfully so loud about it for so long. Like I think they’re just going to try harder to make them look more arab/hispanic which will probably include getting rid of their green eyes and call it a day without even touching on the alien thing. I’d like to hope they’d fix their personalities too since people were loudly irritated about that but. :/

#jewel.txt

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smaragdine · 3 years

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Tubbo didn’t draw any of that art, even his iconic ugly square head icon he had forever was drawn by another artist who drew like a series of those for various mcyts. The art with light blue eyes stems from artist interpretation of his mc skin but changing the hair to brown like everyone does

he uh changed his skin that he found to have blue eyes to match his eyes in real life, pretty sure hes got blue eyes, the skin he is using originally had bright green eyes

#is this discourse #oh god #im having self doubt #oh no #quick reminder that i dont actually know #but i have seen screenshots of the original skin and he did say that he editted the skin to make it more personal to him #ie adding blue eyes

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ryukodragon · 3 years

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Okay...... SO.

It seems Scott and FNAF are trending everywhere, and I'm not surprised that people are concerned. I am too!

According to a pinned thread on the FNAF subreddit, which is where I saw it first, there may yet be reason to believe that all is not as it seems? Nothing is completely confirmed either way - there may be a scam bot involved, there may be screenshots involved, it's hard to say right now.

The original poster who dug this up and posted it apparently did so "for the lulz" and didn't expect it to explode. If that's the case, take THAT lesson from this, at least - be mindful of what you share on social media!

For me, I'm waiting to see what Scott has to say about all this. He has been relatively active on Reddit, and responds sincerely to criticisms and concerns - for example, NFTs were about to become involved with FNAF, but when others shared why that's a bad ideya, he responded asking for more info, and there has been no further development with NFTs since. Having seen that myself, I like to think that Scott will share a response and take some kind of action in good time.

No response on the same day does NOT mean no response at all. This stuff has to be handled VERY carefully, because of how many eyes are now watching. Controversies come and go, some flare up and die without ANY response from the accused party, and it's all proven to be a bad-faith post from the start.

All this being said - will this affect development of my FNAF AU, one way or another? Nope! The lore I have to share is SO far apart from the canon storylines now, the similarities are skin-deep at best!

(There are still delays because, honestly, these past couple of years have been a general roller coaster and there is still a LOT happening IRL, nothing concerning but VERY attention-taking kshdfiauw LIFE PLEASE CUT ME SOME SLACK)

That's essentially all I have to say about things so far! If the situation upsets you and has coloured your opinion about Scott and FNAF, hey, I'm not surprised. I want to give this time and see what sticks, but if you have to back away, for your own sake, please do. No one can blame you for that!

We'll see what happens and carry on, one way or another!

#fnaf #five nights at freddy's #scott cawthon

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ducktracy · 3 years

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noticed something interesting while watching a pest in the house for the 1,000th time:

i realized that daffy in this frame looked a lot like his ‘30s self, so i wanted to see if lowering the saturation would further the illusion and...

not really. it looks like i slapped a black and white filter over a 1947 daffy cartoon... which i did. you never realize just how integral value/contrast is to the BW cartoons!

here’s a screenshot from an Actual ‘30s BW short—there’s a lot of deliberateness in the use of value and tone and contrast. compared to above, daffy reads MUCH more clearly here—the tones in the background and the props all have contrast and clarity. this was all very well thought out and so easy to take for granted! it doesn’t all blend together like the first screenshot, which looks fine in color.

it’s also fascinating how “phantom colors” for lack of a better phrase read. we know daffy’s beak is orange—the light gray color translates that. we know the tongue is pink/red, because it’s a slightly darker tint compared to the beak. this isn’t even saying “well, i know what he looks like in color, so this is what he must look like in black and white.” it’s easy to make out his color scheme regardless.

here, compare the original black and white cartoon to the color remake with no saturation: porky translates beautifully to black and white when the cartoons ARE in black and white, but slapping a black and white filter over a color porky cartoon and he looks hideous, with everything blending together. if you’d never seen his design before and the right screenshot was your only clue, you’d assume both his jacket and bow tie are red, but they aren’t. the flesh tones blend in with everything too. the black jacket compared with the light skin juxtaposes so much more nicely.

of course, our beloved wabbit doesn’t really have this problem. he rarely appears in any black and white cartoons to begin with (they were too “cheap” to match his prestige), but he translates seamlessly since his design already is gray and white.

you have to wonder, when these cartoons first went to TV in the ‘50s, the vast, vast majority of TVs were black and white sets. how many color cartoons looked like crap on a fuzzy, tiny B&W screen? makes you wonder how well these transferred and how many kids grew up with this as the norm. i’m not saying “people used to watch things in black and white?” but more so “how many gorgeous cartoons got muddied up by the transfer to TV in the early days? were these broadcasts the only way kids knew these cartoons to look like? if so, for how long?” we are VERY spoiled now, to say the least!

#long post #lt #analysis

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itsclydebitches · 2 years

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RWBY Fairy Tales Recaps: “The Hunter’s Children”

Welcome back, everyone! I’m immensely pleased to report that “The Hunter’s Children” functions far better as a standalone story than “The Grimm Child” did. There are still some wonky bits, but all-in-all it’s a very successful adaptation.

Before we get into that though, an update: I have bought the RWBY: Fairy Tales book! I recommend it heartily, both for the stories and the absolutely gorgeous artwork. I mean, look at this.

However, despite the latest addition to my library, I’m keeping to the original purpose of this project. I wanted to see how well the animated version stands on its own, so in order to achieve that I’m refraining from reading any of the tales until after I’ve watched their short. Thus, I’ve got notes on my initial impression of the adaptation and then a separate section of notes for my reading of the short story it’s based on, many of which remain versions of the, “Why wasn’t this included?” question. I’ll do my best to be clear about when I’m referencing each version.

So! This time, rather than beginning with a moral or perspective on humanity, Ozpin dives right in with, “Long ago, there lived a hunter in the swamps of Mistral…” except this man was a hunter of grimm, not game. We see the unnamed father defending his village from the beasts and, when he’s done, he’s surrounded by a crowd of grateful neighbors. I like the long-suffering eye-roll he pulls, like this fanfare is getting a little old.

What I found less enjoyable though was the... choppiness of the animation? I’m honestly not sure how to phrase this, given that I’m not well-versed in the technicalities of the form, but in layman’s terms the characters tend to teleport from place to place, rather than moving there. For example, we’re not really watching the villagers walk to meet the father, but rather seeing them farther away in one shot and then closer in the next, with the viewer expected to imagine the movement in between. I grabbed a screenshot of a scene I want to discuss later on and, with no effort on my part, caught the oldest brother literally fading into the shot as he “walks” across the screen.

I don’t know if this is a specific style I’m just personally not a fan of, or evidence of a lack of effort on RT’s part, but it stood out to me given that this is a technique “The Grimm Child” didn’t rely on as much (or at all?).

Regardless, other things to note about this opening are the return of RWBY’s iconic shadow people and the use of generic Beowulfs to depict the grimm attacks. I say “generic” because they’re a staple of the series at this point — seen in trailers, shorts, and the story proper — whereas Myers, in his tale, imagines species of grimm adapted to swamps, “such as the great Lagartodiles, fierce Grendels, poisonous Long Tongues, and tricky Whisps” (32). Now, I’m not going to claim that designing and modeling four new grimm for a seven minute episode would be easy — or practical — but this adaptation adds nothing to the main RWBY story. It exists solely to provide us with some Remnant world building, so it seems a shame to remove many of the details that, you know, provide that world building. Especially coming off the Atlas arc which barely even touched on the idea of cold adapted grimm — the most we got were the mammal based grimm sporting some ice and blue hues on their skin — so it’s a bit of a disappointment to get a tale set in a swamp, but absent the swamp specific grimm that Myers thought up.

Nevertheless, we see the shadow villagers hand the father a basket of five loafs of bread, which is a nod to his inability to hunt game since he’s busy killing grimm all day. As thanks for his efforts, the village ensures that he and his four kids don’t go hungry. The adaptation doesn’t make this exchange explicit — and frankly doesn’t need to — but I’m glad the detail was there for book readers to spot.

He heads home where he and his kids have dinner. They ask him why he’s the only one defending their home from grimm and he says, “My semblance tells me when grimm are near.” Yeah that’s... not an answer? This exchange makes more sense in the book because having a useful semblance is just one of three reasons the father gives for fighting, the other two being that he has the strongest aura out of everyone here and that he hates the grimm for killing his wife. The combination of those things is our answer: he’s the most capable in terms of aura and semblance, the most motivated in regards to revenge. In the adaptation though, it just sounds like he’s dodging the question. Reminding his kids that he has a semblance that makes fighting grimm slightly easier is not an answer to why others aren’t helping him despite lacking that advantage — which includes his own kids, two of which appear to be adults, or at least around RWBYJNOR’s age. I mean, I completely get that the moral of this story is learning to work together, I just wish we had some reason for why that wasn’t already happening in the village, beyond the fairy tale logic of, “It’s just not.” You could easily throw out one line about others not having their aura unlocked at all and the father not allowing his children to fight after the death of their mother, the implication being that he’s too scared to loose them too. Thus, the father’s family is the only one equipped to tackle the grimm — a nod to not everyone being cut out to be a hunter or huntress — but he’s not willing to embrace teamwork out of fear, a challenge his children will later learn to overcome. I mean, they do learn this lesson, we still get that line about their father dying because he tried to go it alone, but the tale might have been just a little bit tighter if we had a reason for his solo act, the same way we do get a reason for the kids’ own, initial division: a disagreement on how best to help.

I’m getting way ahead of myself though. For now, mention of the father’s semblance is what gets the kids to explain what theirs is too. This is the scene we got as a preview for the series and it remains pretty awkward in my opinion. Again, this works better in the book simply because it’s given as narration. We’re told that there was a lively conversation about whose semblance is better, but that presumably doesn’t include explaining what those semblances are. Because this is a family. They know each other. I don’t sit down to the dinner table and explain to my parents that I possess an interest in writing. Oddly enough, they’ve been around long enough to pick up on that. These are the sorts of details that need to be negotiated when changing mediums. RT always had an easy solution here — just let Ozpin narrate more things — but they could also have introduced a side character who exists only to be told what each semblance is after being saved by a grimm, or simply show us these semblances in action, trusting the audience to pick up on what they’re seeing — such as watching the youngest brother become invisible. For more abstract concepts, introduce them with dialogue only when they become relevant, like the eldest sister suggesting that she let her semblance lead them to their father after he goes missing, but before the shadow dude shows up with the news of his death. Here, we’d be changing the original story a bit, but doing so in order to ensure it still achieves the same goals as an animated short, like not breaking the viewer’s immersion. I would buy the older sister dropping a reference to her semblance when it might be useful to the family in a way I simply don’t buy four siblings re-explaining to each other what they’re able to do. It’s awkward.

I am, admittedly, trying to improve what doesn’t necessarily need improvement. We’re watching a short here. These characters will literally only exist for seven minutes and then, presumably, we’ll never see them again. Combined with the acknowledgment that, yes, fairy tales are often filled with holes and seemingly illogical choices, this isn’t the sort of project that needs editing with a fine-tooth comb. Not like the main webseries does and “The Hunter’s Children,” as said, lacks the confusion seen in “The Grimm Child,” which means it’s already cleared the bar, so to speak. It’s fine. But can’t things be more than fine? Don’t authors strive for more than just what’s serviceable? We talk a lot about potential in regards to RWBY and it feels like this adaptation is one of the less glaring examples of that. The story works, it’s just there’s a lot that could have been done to turn it from “good” to “great.”

(Speaking of potential, can we talk about the eldest daughter’s semblance leading her to whatever she needs the most? How the hell does that work? I mean, what kind of hierarchy of needs is her aura working from? One example is purely biological — you need to eat so here’s bread — while the other is far looser in regards to what “need” means — you need your family, not just to help keep these people safe, but in a more general way throughout the course of your life. Sometimes RWBY’s semblances spark my imagination like nobody’s business, but other times they just make me sigh and wish for the days when Remnant’s magic was solely of the “I can move really fast” variety. From hereditary inheritance to passivity, concepts of luck to skills that technically don’t exist in the canon, semblances have become incredibly imprecise over the years, made worse by the show simultaneously leaning hard into technical explanations for Ruby. I think we can chuck the eldest daughter’s ability into that growing mix.)

Another example of those these edges is right in the next line. The father says, “My semblance tells me when grimm are near. I have a duty to protect them.” What’s the technical term for this? Some sort of inconsistent noun-pronoun agreement? The way his dialogue is constructed, it sounds like the father is saying it’s his duty to protect grimm, given that they’re the last subject referenced. Obviously we know through context that he means the villagers, but he should be saying that too: “My semblance tells me when grimm are near. I have a duty to protect the village.” It’s one of the many errors that makes me wonder how many people read RWBY’s scripts prior to finalizing them. Specifically, how many people other than the scripts’ writers because most people can’t easily catch their own mistakes. That’s why we have editors.

To shine some positivity on this recap, I do really like the design of the house — very cozy — as well as the characters themselves. Like with Poppy and Oak, I think this imagining of the Hunter’s family strikes a good balance between individuality and genetic similarity. In recent years certain studios (cough-Disney-cough) have come under fire for sameness in character design: same big eyes, same button nose, same flawless skin. Whatever else we might say about RT’s shorts, the characters are visually unique. I particularly like the youngest daughter’s design of big hair, big glasses, and a big attitude attached to such a tiny frame.

As the family all explains their abilities for the audience’s benefit, the eldest son steals the younger’s loaf of bread and everyone laughs at the little display he gives by turning invisible. The father then gives his own bread to replace what was stolen as he leaves, chiding them for their behavior. Remember that everything in a story this short should serve some purpose. It’s not like we’re looking to fill the time with generalized characterization, after all. So concluding the scene this way implies that this family, alongside overcoming their inability to work together, will specifically need to learn to appreciate the youngest of the group... though that doesn’t happen. If anything, the younger brother provides the most self-critical apology at the end, reinforcing this initial belief that, yeah, he’s the weakest link. Or at least he was.

Once again, I’m admittedly reading a lot into very short, very simplistic storytelling, but what is up with RWBY ragging on children? Oscar has to apologize to the group for being punched and slammed into a wall. Whitley has to prove himself after surviving his father’s abuse and getting Weiss’ weapon shoved in his face. This kid has to listen to his family deride the fact that he can hide from grimm — which is a damn useful skill! — claiming that they’ll do all the work for him, only to apologize at the fireside for being too selfish. The kid looks legitimately hurt here.

So if that’s not something the story wants to grapple with, why include it? Just have him roll his eyes and toss a bit of food at his brother’s head, framing this as a common bit of teasing that he’s secretly fond of. You don’t have to make the children of the group emotional (or physical) punching bags especially when, for the hundredth time this recap, that’s not in the book.

Anyway, one day the father goes deeper into the swamp to try and figure out why there’s been more grimm attacks lately and doesn’t return when expected. One of the shadow people show up to deliver the sad news of his passing and wHAT KIND OF UNCANNY VALLEY SHIT IS THIS.

Okay, screenshots do not do this justice because yeah, it’s just a shadow dude. We know ‘em, some of us love ‘em, it’s a RWBY staple to just imply the basics of a person when they’re a background character. Or at least it was at the show’s start. I have no problem with these shorts foregoing individual designs for the background people — I’d have rather gotten cool swamp grimm — but why oh why wouldn’t you give him a mouth? He has eyes! Eyebrows! Ears! Hair! A nose! Even goddamn creases in his neck and face! Yet he’s missing the piece of his body that he’s using to communicate with this family. It really was a, “Oh hell no” reaction for me, watching this shadow creature start chatting without any mouth to do it with. Legitimately that’s more creepy than the dead people in “The Grimm Child.” Why, with all that other detail, is he missing a mouth? Because then they’d have to animate him speaking? They’ve already got these characters teleporting around the screen, just give him a circle that makes a few random movements and we’re good to go. This man has a single line. Just slap on something vaguely mouth-shaped and give it one motion. Two if we’re feeling indulgent. Or, again, have Ozpin narrate the bad news while this guy just stands sadly in the doorway, eliminating the need for a separate voice actor at all. There are many options here that don’t involve me stopping the video to ask my dog in a broken voice, “Why have they done this?”

For the record, she loves watching anything that moves on my computer, so she was a big fan of the episode. Good girls watch RWBY with me.

At this point in the story I’m going, “Ah yes. The father tried to tackle the grimm on his own and that’s why he failed. The children will realize this and come to the conclusion that they must work as a team” and I was very pleased to get that exact moral at the end. It admittedly feels like a low bar, but after so much of RWBY’s pitfalls and last week’s ending missing a crucial bit of context, it’s a breath of fresh air to get a story that follows through on what it’s set up.

The kids grieve for a bit and then start a big argument about how best to move forward. The eldest sister wants to defend the village, the oldest son wants to go help others, the youngest sister wants to study grimm, and the youngest son wants to seek his own adventure. This devolves into a shouting match that Ozpin says is a common occurrence, which is a weird choice considering the book says the exact opposite: “The hunter’s children loved one another too much to argue” (33).

Regardless, they make the same decision to go their separate ways. Here’s where we get that shot of the oldest son out on his own.

I saved it because he’s traveling and finding other villages decimated by grimm, but this doesn’t look anything like a grimm attack. Show some bodies, some leftover grimm scrounging around, maybe some burned down houses if a fire started. This just looks like someone was in the process of building a village, got distracted, left, and broke a few beams on their way out. One moment this short is making me go, “Oh, pretty background!” and the next I’m left scratching my head.

The oldest son continues to get the short end of the storytelling stick as he comes across another village under attack, but “not even his semblance was enough to overcome the grimm.” So I’m like, okay, he died?? In the book it’s explained that he has to link the whole village up with a rope so he can draw from their combined aura, giving him enough strength to overcome the grimm. That’s a very cool way to win the fight. Here, we cut immediately to the younger sister, leaving the brother’s fate up in the air until the very end. He’s even animated with a rope/grappling hook around his shoulders, but we never see him using it. Again, it’s weird. It’s also unclear whether the crowd of shadow people he’s show standing in front of when he reappears are the villagers he rescued, or the villagers his sister is currently leading to safety. Once again, RWBY’s various installments seem to contradict each other. Am I to believe that the brother saved that village because he does so in the book, or that he failed because last we hear in the adaptation, “not even his semblance was enough to overcome the grimm”? I’m working under the assumption that the adaptation meant to convey Myer’s ending, but as always, it doesn’t come across that way with the information we’re given.

So all the family is coming back together again. The youngest son gets lost in the woods and is attacked by grimm. He uses his semblance to hide from them visually, but can’t keep them from sensing his emotions (which is what distinguishes his semblance from Ren’s). Luckily, his younger sister is nearby and she calms him enough for the grimm to depart. Following them, they come upon their older sister leading the remaining villagers to safety, assisting in taking out the grimm that are too much for her to handle alone. Even the three of them aren’t enough though, which is when the eldest brother arrives and the four finally fight together.

It’s a nice sentiment and I like how relatively neatly their paths manage to cross. Oh, and the hug between the two youngest siblings is just adorable.

The only thing that kinda bugs me is that it’s just fighting here. I mean, the two older siblings were divided on whether to protect their own people or others. Now they’re doing both. The youngest son was unsure about whether helping people was the way to go at all, considering that both parents died in their attempts. Now he’s overcome that fear. Which just leaves us with the youngest sister. She believes that studying the grimm is what will assist them the most and yes, she realizes that observing from afar can only do so much, but the problem is that her observations don’t do anything. I was expecting a little moment when her research gave them an advantage, similar to Ruby shouting at Weiss to go for the boarbatusk’s vulnerable underbelly. Yet they just hack and slash their way through the problem, sending the message that they never needed her unique skills, just a fourth blade on the battlefield. Anyone would have done. I don’t think this mini missed opportunity would have stuck with me so much if not for the fact that RWBY, as a franchise, is now very anti-strategy for a combat show. I won’t rehash all my arguments here regarding stolen airships and foolish moments of unearned trust, but suffice to say, the show now makes the strong argument that brute force and a bullheaded attitude is all you need. “The Hunter’s Children” argues that you need teamwork to succeed, but only certain skills within that team are necessary. Namely, a boost to your physical strength and aura. Knowledge? Research? Strategy? Nah, they’re not key components of winning battles. Provided the younger sister has a pointy weapon, she’s good to go.

She even says during her apology, “I was wrong. The best way to learn about the grimm is by fighting them.” You weren’t wrong, you just weren’t completely right either. You need both. A huntsmen needs to know that a boarbatusk can be attacked from underneath, that some grimm are too old and intelligent to take on alone — or at all — and that the apathy will literally sap your will to fight them. What would Weiss have done without that knowledge? What would have become of Ruby if she’d followed her desire to “Let’s kill it”? Why was the group in so much danger down in those tunnels? Ignorance. You’ve got to know how to approach a grimm before you have a chance to beat it. I’m constantly astounded by RWBY’s recent approach towards both knowledge and the more peaceful solutions it might bring.

Anyway, the siblings all gather ‘round the camp fire to lay out their failings, some of which are — as established — a little more persuasive than others. We get the moral of how their father never should have tried to go it alone and, though not officially, this family becomes the first, four person huntsmen team. The great part is that in Ozpin’s book notes he says, “One wonders If the King of Vale had this story in mind when he established [the academies] after the Great War.” Did you know that in academia you have to cite yourself? If you’ve got research you’ve done that’s informing your current work, you’ve basically got to provide some manufactured distance and put in a (Clyde, 2021) like that’s not you and this isn’t a little weird. That’s the vibe I got from this line and it’s hilarious. The totally not King of Vale theorizing about what the King of Vale’s intentions might have been. Classic.

Now, if only we saw this four person setup in the webseries more often. Outside of Beacon, I mean. For all that I gripe about his novels at times, Myers does a lot of world building that, sadly, has never made its way into the story proper. The implications of this work, that fairy tales are an integral part of Remnant’s culture and have informed everything from regional beliefs to the structure of all the huntsmen academies, simply isn’t seen in the main RWBY tale.

As a final note, we get a concluding shot of the siblings with their associated color as a background.

Admittedly, I don’t know what color-related thing RYPB might spell. Then again, I never would have gotten “coffee” out of CFVY, so I’m sure we can get pretty flexible with this team name.

Thus endeth our second RWBY: Fairy Tales recap! I’ve managed to write nearly 4,000 words on a seven minute video.

... yup. Seems about right.

See you next week! 💜

#rwde #rwby #rwby: fairy tales #mymetas

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falcqns · 3 years

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partner in crime lll

pairing: dad!august walker x daughter!ofc

summary: Maeve joins August at work, and he find out a little more about his daughter, which in turn reveals her mothers fate.

warnings: Angst!!! graphic depictions of death, violence towards and infant mentioned but no detail, mentions of sexual assault. 18+ ONLY.

a/n: if I missed anything in the warnings, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! I hope you enjoy!

August was awoken a few hours later by his daughter screaming like someone was hurting her.

August shot up, and immediately sprung into action, looking around the room for the source of his daughter's distress, but found nothing. The only thing he saw was the little baby in her crib, wailing. Her chubby little hand was reaching out towards August, and she was screaming ‘mama.’

August took a deep breath, and scooped her up. He held her against his chest, and rocked her back and forth like he had seen Sloane do once with a little boy they had found at a crime scene.

“What happened?” He asked in the softest voice he could muster, but she only cried harder. Her hands became fists in his sleep shirt, and her tears soaked the cotton material as well. He rubbed her back, and offered her her pacifier. She took it, and her cries quieted, but didn’t cease. He tried to lay her back down, but decided against it, when she screamed again.

He sighed, and laid down with her in the bed. She settled on his chest, and he found himself enamoured by the pools of blue that were her eyes. He was able to see little specks of brown floating near her pupil. She lifted a hand, and placed it on his mouth, her middle two fingers burying themselves into his mustache hairs. August was unsure what to do, so he tried something. He kissed her hand.

Maeve smiled so big that her pacifier fell from her lips, and then she lifted her head.

“Mama?” She asked tentatively, and August paled. How do you tell a 7 month old that they can't have their Mama because she’s dead? August opened and closed his mouth like a fish, unsure what to say.

He saw her bottom lip wobble, and tears well up in her eyes. August noticed a flash of recognition behind her eyes, and she began to wail again, screaming as if she had a gun pointed to her.

Actually, as he thought about it, he realized that's the exact reaction that little boy had, the one that Sloane had held, when he had a gun pointed to his head by his parents' attacker. His heart dropped into his stomach, and made a mental note to check how exactly Maeve’s mother had died.

He pulled Maeve close to his body, and ran his hand up and down her back, occasionally traveling up to play with her soft curls.

Not long after, she settled down, and fell back asleep. August however didn’t.

Sure, it could have been a coincidence that she had the same reaction, but August didn't think it was. He grabbed his phone from where it laid atop the charger, and googled ‘PTSD symptoms in babies’.

Hypervigilance, separation anxiety, clinginess, emotional trauma when reminded of original trauma, fear or avoidance of places that remind them of event, troubles sleeping, nightmares and repetitive play were a few of the symptoms. Maeve didn’t have all of them, but he could only assume she had a nightmare, and the flash of recognition must be her remembering what happened. Was her mother killed in front of her?

The thought made August sick to his stomach, and decided to put his phone away, in favour of keeping the sleeping baby in his arms, 1) asleep, and 2), safe.

August's eyes opened, and instead of dead silence, he was greeted by his daughter babbling, and his phone ringing.

He glanced at his daughter, who was playing with one of his hands, and used his free hand to grab his phone. He saw it was Sloane calling, and swore mentally when he saw that it was 9 am, meaning he was over two hours late for work.

He answered the phone, and Sloane immediately asked where he was, and why he was late.

“I apologize. I got Maeve yesterday and she had a rough night. I overslept, but i’ll be there in less than an hour.” He assured her, and hung up.

He watched as Maeve weaved her fingers with his, and held his hand. He smiled slightly, and curled his fingers in the same way, grasping her tiny hand in his. She squealed in happiness, and August could have cried at the sweet sound.

He pushed the thought away, and pressed a kiss to her curly head before removing his hand from her grasp, and stood up.

“I have to go to work, and you’ll have to come with me. We’ll stop at the store on the way there, and get you a new outfit for you to wear. You need some new clothes.” August said, as he grabbed a diaper from the box that he had delivered yesterday. He changed her diaper, and pulled her pyjama pants back up before scooping her and her stuffy up, and placing her in the crib.

Or, tried to at least. The second he tried to set her in there, she screamed again, like she had last night.

He knew, in that moment, that whatever caused her mother to die, happened right in front of her.

He felt anger boiling up in his body, but not at Maeve. Never at Maeve. He felt a surge of love and protection over her, and he knew his first task of being her dad was to find out what happened to her mom and figure out how to help his little girl.

August had made it out of the apartment, to Walmart, and to his office, all under an hour. He had no idea how, but he had managed it. He swore he saw a smile on Sloane’s face when he walked past her office with Maeve on his hip, but couldn't be sure.

He entered his office, and had no idea where to put her. He had weapons hid all over, and didn't want her getting hurt. He couldn't put her in a crib or a playpen, she obviously had a trauma response to that. His only options were his lap, where he knew she wouldn't stay put, and underneath the desk, which seemed like the best option until he could figure something out.

He placed her under his desk, and handed her the toys he brought with him. She gurgled as she was handed her stuffy. August smiled, and got to work.

He pulled Maeve’s file out of his briefcase, and consulted it for her mothers name.

Adriana Amiens.

He barely remembered her. He glanced down at Maeve, and felt regret course through his veins as he realized if he hadn’t been so down on himself and selfish after the mission, he could have experienced everything, and could have stopped what happened to Adriana.

He went onto the CIA database, and typed in her name. Only one result came up, and he clicked on it.

August could have vomited at what appeared.

There were several pictures of the crime scene, and the actual crime. Adriana had been tied up, and the initials MA had been carved into her stomach, just above a small scar where her uterus was located. His eyebrows furrowed, and glanced at her file. His eyes found the word cesarean section, and all his questions were answered about that.

He moved the mouse over the picture, and a link popped up, attached to the scar. A link attached to the picture wasn't unusual, the database automatically linked relevant information to the pictures, so he clicked on it.

A wiki page popped up. There wasn't a lot of information, but he did note the last name. Amiens, first name Charles.

August read further. This man, named Charles Amiens, nicknamed Master, was apparently Adriana’s father. He belonged to a gang aptly named ‘The Amiens Family’. August had heard of them before. They specialized in arms dealing and murder for hire. Charles himself seemed to be responsible for over 1500 deaths in the Los Angeles area over the last 50 years, something that scared August.

August scrolled further, and found that Adriana was listed as his daughter, although there was the word ‘emancipated’ in parenthesis. August took note of the reason for emancipation being listed as ‘family differences’. August guessed that meant that Adriana wanted no part in the family business. Anais had mentioned in the original phone call that she and her family were very different, and to be wary of him, but he had no idea why, until he received the file later that day.

August clicked through the rest of the photos, his stomach churning as he looked at what the murderers had done to the poor girls body. She had bruises all over her body. She had two black eyes, a broken nose, and there was evidence of sexual assault and severe trauma to her privates.

However, the last photo is what made August throw up.

The murderers had placed Maeve, who didn't look any younger than she did now, in a crib. More specifically, they restrained her to it. There were chains attached to her wrists, bringing them straight out from her body, and attached to the crib.

The next few photos were screenshots from the security footage, and he had to shut off his computer immediately.

They had indeed pointed a gun in his daughters face.

He wanted to throw up, but also murder someone just for hurting his child like that. He felt a tear slip down his cheek, and immediately reached down for the little girl under the desk. He lifted her onto his desk, and took a good look at her arms.

He noticed that she had faint scars around her wrists, that he knew was from restraints. He stood up and took her to the bathroom. He stripped her from her outfit, except her diaper. He checked her entire body, and was thankful when he saw no other evidence of any harm on his daughters smooth skin.

He hugged her to his chest, and pressed a kiss into her hair. “I’m never going to let anyone hurt you. I promise.” She yawned in response, and August knew she was getting tired. He carried her back to his office, and by the time he had settled in his chair, she was asleep on his chest. He held her there, protecting her. He knew she wouldn’t sleep well unless she was in his arms, safe.

By the time August made it home that night, Maeve was miserable. She was exhausted, hungry, and in desperate need of a bath. He had no idea what to do with the crib situation, as it was very clear she wouldn't be able to sleep in there, and August wasn't going to force her.

He’d done some research on his lunch break, and found an alternative to the bed situation, but it wouldn’t arrive for another few days, so it looked like he’d be bed sharing until then. He wanted to get the crib out of his room, but that would entail either waiting until Maeve was asleep, or risk her seeing it and being thrown into a PTSD induced meltdown. She hadn't been diagnosed, but he recognized the symptoms. Not all missions went to plan.

Besides, he planned on getting her into a child psychiatrist as soon as possible to get her diagnosed and help her heal. He didn't want her childhood affected by this, and it was highly unlikely he’d ever tell her what truly happened to her mother.

He placed the diaper bag, his briefcase, and their dinner down on the counter before rocking her back and forth in his arms to soothe her to sleep. It didn't help that she kept crying out for her mama, the one thing August couldn't provide.

“I promise you, my sweet angel, that i will find out what happened to your mama and make sure that you never have to feel the pain you're feeling right now EVER again.” August said, tears flowing freely as his daughter wailed for her dead mother. Her dead mother that was killed in front of her.

A few minutes later, Maeve’s cries melted into whimpers, which bled into soft breaths escaping her lips. August smiled at her, and laid her down on the bed as he had done yesterday, before taking the crib out of the bedroom. He decided to hide it in the laundry room until he could sell it, because she wasn’t allowed in there.

He had managed to wheel it out into the kitchen area, and he took pictures of it. He posted them on facebook, with a price tag of $50. It was originally $270, but he wanted it gone as soon as possible. Maeve had been through enough already.

He’d gotten an offer from a lady less than an hour later, offering $100 for it, so he took that opportunity. An hour after that, the crib was gone, he was $100 richer, and Maeve was still sound asleep.

Next, he put an offer in for an apartment, and got it. He was just signing the contract as he heard Maeve waking up. He quickly finished signing his name and sending it in before going to find his baby girl.

She smiled and clapped as August walked into the room, and he gave her a smile back. “Good nap?” he asked, and she nodded and giggled. August gave her some Cheerios after she was placed in the highchair.

He warmed up the food, before giving her her plate, which she ate enthusiastically. He ate his food, and listened to Maeve babble and point to the front door. He looked out the door and saw another father walking with his son. “You wanna go for a walk?” He asked, and Maeve nodded.

August chuckled, and cleaned up. He wiped her down, and minutes later she was in the stroller and they were on their way out the door.

They made a few laps around the block, Maeve laughing and pointing at everything she saw, almost as if she was rarely outside. He made a mental note to check her file once more. Maybe there was something more to that.

They made one more lap around the block, and headed back to the apartment. He made a short pitstop at the leasing office to give his move out notice, and Maeve was asleep again by the time he made it back up to his unit.

Over the next week, August and Maeve prepared to move. August finally got Maeve on a relatively good schedule, and had the majority of her triggers figured out. Cribs, playpens, handcuffs (an unfortunate incident happened when she had gotten into his bedside drawer and found some fluffy handcuffs for some rather adult activites, and screamed bloody murder while August was prepping her bath. He also had to learn to hide his gun when he was in the office, and remind his coworkers to keep them out of sight when she was around because the sight of those also sent her into a melt down, further angering August, and making him more determined to find the people who did this to her.

Today was moving day, and August was nervous. He didn’t know how well Maeve would take the transition, but he reminded himself that she had been having a lot of abrupt transitions over the past few weeks, so whatever happened, he would deal with.

August woke her up, and carried her into the almost empty kitchen, where he sat her down into the highchair, and gave her her morning bottle and some oatmeal. August ate a protein bar, and looked around at his old apartment to see what still had to be taken to the moving truck that was still downstairs, and found it was only his mattress, and her highchair. sohosebHe had taken all of the furniture yesterday, including his bed frame.

Maeve finished up a few minutes later, and he strapped her into the baby carrier he got when he began to pack, as it was the only way he’d get any work done.

Once she was strapped in and her stuffy was secure in her hand, August rolled the highchair out of the apartment. Once it was secure in the moving truck, he went back to the apartment for the mattress. Maeve was having a fun time of smacking her hands on it while August looked around the apartment for the last time. He’d never thought he’d leave this place, but when he met Maeve, he knew his life was changing for the better.

He never thought that he’d make a good father, but here he was. He had a wonderful little girl, and even though he was raising her on his own, he knew he could do it. As long as she grew up better than he did, he knew he was doing something right.

“Take a look around, Maeve. This was yours and Dada’s first home together.” He said, a smile forming on his face as he called himself Dada for the first time.

taglist:

@kpopgirlbtssvt @nerdypinupcrystal @sohoseb @bieberhoodforever

#august walker #henry cavill x you #august walker x you #august walker x ofc #august walker x reader #august walker x y/n #august walker x female reader #august walker fluff #august walker angst #daddy!august walker

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23-tiny-wishes · 3 years

Text

Reply length is hamstringing me so it’s screenshot and @ instead

@spiritsdancinginthenight I took a look at the painting you were referring to:

And I see nothing outside of artistic convention in Tiye’s skin tone. I can also show you a depiction of her at the other end of the spectrum:

Tiye and Amenhotep III from the tomb of her brother Anen (TT120).

James Quibell, who excavated the tomb of Yuya and Thuyu (KV46), called the theory that Yuya was foreign an old one. In 1908. He noted there was no trace at all of any foreign styles of furniture etc in the burial which would have been expected if he was of foreign origin. Grafton Elliott Smith, the anatomist who examined the mummies, thought that Yuya didn’t look typically Egyptian (Thuyu did) but wouldn’t say he wasn’t Egyptian, just more like what was seen in the Delta (crossroads of the Middle East). The other thing you have to remember is that it is 1908 and so categorising people into ‘races’ is very much in vogue.

The actual physical evidence we have for Yuya being foreign? None. The evidence given is:

1) his name is spelled a number of different ways. This may mean it was foreign and therefore hard to render in Egyptian.

2) he had the title Master of the Horse and horses/chariots were a reasonably recent introduction from the Middle East (100+ years before he lived)

3) This is the most important one - it feeds into the outdated Judeo-Christian-centric idea that Tiye, as a powerful woman, was the primary driving force behind the shift towards a monotheistic-style religion. And that there must have been foreign influence in that shift, in this case her father Yuya, who has been sometimes identified as the Biblical Joseph. There’s absolutely no evidence to support any of this of course, but the idea is a pervasive one.

At any rate, Tiye and her parents all hailed from Akhmim in Upper Egypt so her skin tone would have been on the darker side before factoring in any possible ancestry from further south!

#your timely reminder that ancient Egyptian art was a thing and had styles and conventions that didn’t necessarily reflect reality #tiye #Queen Tiye #ancient egypt

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chrisjake-cp · 3 years

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History 3 Trapped Filming Diary (full English translation) - Days 41-50

Masterpost here.

I don’t own the book so I can’t post my scans of the pictures that came with it. So I included some other pictures of the scenes that were being filmed. These pics belong to LINE TV or Choco Media, or I’ve taken screenshots from the episodes or the behind-the-scenes.

Read days 41-50 under the cut.

Day 41

On this day of shooting it happened to be Christmas, and the crew, waiting for the evening shooting process, enjoyed a Christmas gift exchange. Shaofei gave out a book; according to him it was a very inspirational book. A crew member who does hair and make-overs nearby opened it and laughed jokingly: “What kind of ‘inspiration’ do you mean?”, causing Shaofei’s thoughts to immediately go into another direction to the point of him not even being able to say it out loud (I can tell you: he was very bashful!). The whole crew also acknowledged that the most creative gift was a big bunch of green onions⁕ from Sanxing. When this present was opened the whole crew burst out in crazy laughter, but it need also be said that this was a most memorable gift.

⁕ Sanxing is famous for its spring onions! They even have a little museum dedicated to green onions there.

Also, what kind of book did Jake gift someone? 👀

Day 42

The day after Christmas, Boss Tang arrived at work, and the first thing he did was accept his gift from the Christmas gift exchange from the day before. So what did Boss Tang receive?

*ding ding* The answer is 20 Christmas trees and a bottle of “Indian Spiritual Oil”⁕ At the appearance of this gift, everyone nearby immediately laughed loudly, and I also silently expressed my heartfelt wishes for Tang Yi’s and Meng Shaofei’s happiness.

For today’s scenes, basically the whole ‘world’ had to be there: Unit 3, Tang Yi, A De, Hong Ye, Daoyi and Jingtang were all present, so the set was really lively. What was shot that day were the scenes after Hongye and Shaofei were injured in the parking lot. In order to increase the conflictual character of these scenes, the director assigned each actor their own, individual combination. What was interesting is that during rehearsals, the cameramen all quickly approached the actors like a large quantity of reporters. A De said smiling that the group of people was so large that it looked like an oncoming tank and he could only silently take the ‘card position’⁕ each time.

⁕ This oil is basically like viagra...but topical instead of taking a pill....It’s a natural plant oil but it contains some anaesthetics which will irritate the skin a bit (making your you-know-what more erect as it grows hot) and the anaesthetics will also cause you to last longer. Ahem. Let’s all imagine Chris receiving this gift. 😂

⁕ The card position comes from a basketball or football game. It means that during the game, when the ball is in the air, the player accurately judges the effective landing point of the ball, takes the lead in the opponent's position, and blocks the opponent out of the best position to gain control. Here it means that Stanley just chose the best position to gain control/the upper hand in the scene.

Day 43

Today we continued to shoot the hospital scenes. Shaofei said smiling that today was another aptly-named day of “earning money while lying down,” as he was lying down from the first scene in the morning to the last scene in the evening. After several consecutive days of intensive shooting, the hospital scenes were back in Taoyuan. Shaofei said he had been getting out of bed at 4am in the morning for several days in a row, and that day was no exception. So during the moments when he wasn’t in the shots, he could openly but stealthily catch up on some sleep in the bed, which made everyone present pretty envious.

Zhaozi just gets better the more he acts. Just look at his slightly wrinkled brows.

Day 44

In the last episode, Zhaozi took Tang Yi to see Shaofei [in the hospital] for the last time. Tang Yi, who had carelessly pulled the trigger and accidentally shot Shaofei was already handcuffed. He told Shaofei he would hand He Hang as well as Zhou Guanzhi over to the police. Zhou Guanzhi was the enemy who killed his father. In these past four years, Tang Yi’s biggest goal was to single-handedly murder his father’s killer. For Tang Yi to now agree to let Zhou Guanzhi live and to hand him over to the police, meant Tang Yi had made the ultimate concession.

Because he had persisted in his revenge, he had caused his lover to be hospitalized with a gunshot. Since meeting Tang Yi, Shaofei had been assaulted in big and small ways, and suffered injuries because of him. Tang Yi discovered that his stubbornly insisting on having his own way was a big factor in Shaofei getting hurt. If this continued, Shaofei would one day be ‘killed’ by Tang Yi. Kept apart by handcuffs, kissing your lover like that; what kind of plot could be more cruel than that?

Tang Yi, even while being handcuffed, was very witty/playful. He didn’t forget to stick his tongue out to the camera.

Day 45

Long time no see! I believe that people who have watched <Right Or Wrong< should not be too unfamiliar with Dr. Jintang’s “uncle-in-law” Jiang Zhaopeng. He is Qiu Zhiyu whom we haven’t seen for a while. Before filming, these two cultivated their understanding of their lines by videochatting [i.e. they practiced their lines] (and also cultivated the signals between both of their phones). One of the most frightening things in filming is the screen of a cellphone. Apart from this scene, the drama shows many different mobile phone screens; every time a call had to be made, or when a LINE conversation happened, etc. Only, whether or not the signal would be good, is an element that no one can control. If the signal is not good, phone calls won’t go through, or the moment when the phone rings doesn’t match the plot. Sometimes it can take a good number of takes, not to mention that this scene needed a video call. If the signal would not be good, the video and the sound might have been chopped. But we had a close call and the signal in the hospital was very stable, allowing us to be able to smoothly complete the take.

Zijian, who portrays Jiang Jintang, has a lively and witty personality. He would often say crazy things that amused the crew. In the evening, we filmed that Shaofei followed Tang Yi to the hospital to see Jintang [the massage scene]. Jintang wanted to angrily quarrel with Meng Shaofei, because he didn’t expect them to arrive together. His red face, his hard breathing and his stammering made all the staff on the scene instantly almost collapse from laughter. Even Shaofei, who was doing the scene with him, and Tang Yi, who was lying down behind them, couldn’t keep in their laughter.

At another rehearsal, Jintang was planning to jump on Tang Yi’s back, but because he hadn’t well coordinated his position, Boss Tang’s knees hit Jintang straight in his ‘important parts’. The staff who were on the scene jokingly told him to jump on the spot, and he actually did it. This was also a ‘pain in the balls.’⁕

⁕ Same expression was used in day 37. It’s more literal here. You can see this happening in the behind-the-scenes.

Day 46

Today we filmed father and son Chen Wenhao and Tang Yi meeting in front of Lizhen’s grave. The weather at the cemetery site was very unstable. Sometimes an uninterrupted drizzle floated by, and at other times wind and rain became quite strong. Occasionally, the sun would stealthily sneak out from the clouds to join in on the fun, adding many changes to the shooting. But the two actors were not in the slightest affected by these elements. As if their surroundings were all congealed together, the two looked at each other and cried really heart-wrenchingly. Afterwards, Chengyang [Chris] also frankly admitted that for this scene his mood was very complex, and it was very hard on him. Tang Yi stood in front of his biological mother’s tomb, and his biological father, whom he once thought to be her killer, walked up to him. At that moment, that kind of “crying” already wasn't just tears simply shed from sadness anymore.

When he heard the gunshot as he exited the graveyard without even looking back, Chris said that his heart was really hurting so much that he almost couldn’t go on.

A big thank you to teacher Jiakui, who plays Wenhao, to give [Chris] ample ability, and to push him beyond the limits of what he could do. What is even more special, is that today was, coincidentally, also Chris’ birthday. To shoot such a meaningful scene on his birthday and falling apart crying like that, really must have left a deep impression on him.

Day 47

The day when the entire Unit 3 team got together, happened to be the very last day of 2018. Today’s MVP was Junwei [played by Ethan Liu]. Everyone most likely knows about the meeting between Unit 3 and the international criminal police division where Junwei was tasked with reporting duties.

That day Junwei was constantly drilling and rehearsing, because all his lines needed to be correctly and fluently spoken for that role to be acted out well. One of the biggest causes for stress is that when you start failing takes, the whole crew and all the actors are just waiting. One can imagine that that is a very big pressure.

Originally everyone joked and said that before noon they would surely be able to go home to celebrate the New Year, but in the end, it took until in the afternoon for the first scene to finish smoothly and everyone on Unit 3 could begin to plan how they would spend New Year’s Eve. But our poor Captain and Shaofei had to stay behind to continue the next scene. Shaofei felt wronged and said to Zhaozi: “Where is the morality in him [the captain] being so happy?”

Day 48

Outside it was drizzling, but inside, the room was brimming with nervous energy as Tang Yi took Jack to negotiate with Old Ke, while Shaofei from his side and Unit 3 rushed inside as an important step and wiped out the place.⁕

While waiting for their scenes, each of the Unit 3 were doing their own activities. First Shaofei looked for a quiet place in the room and silently sat reading the script for the future scenes. With his usual style, he would use differently coloured pens to write down dialogue that belongs to Jake and Shaofei.⁕ Zhaozi, in turn, would be lying on the very big bed inside the room, and would both be talking to Junwei, having a pillow fight with Jack and taking selfies with his cellphone.

And how did Tang Yi spend the time waiting for his next scene? The answer is that he had rolled himself up in a quilt and fell into a deep sleep. No matter if Shaofei would loudly yell, “Where is Tang Yi?” outside the room, Tang Yi slept through it all.

⁕ The very first scenes of the whole show, when Shaofei and his team barges through the door! Some of the very first words we ever hear coming out of Shaofei’s mouth are “Where is Tang Yi?” MY HEART. This show is so well-made.

⁕ There’s an example of what Jake’s script looked like in the “HIStory 3: Trapped The Making of...” book. ankdlgdndkgn it’s the hospital balcony scene. The thing that he writes in black, between the two red exclamation marks... “This is the show’s first kiss!!! (Vixen Andy doesn’t count).” WHY IS HE SO CUTE?

Day 49

For shooting the scenes at the exterior of the police station, we borrowed the Xizhi branch police building. That Xizhi branch building which only opened in 2017, is very new and very beautiful. The interior was also very spacious, so we had plenty of room to use.

On that day there happened to be a major traffic incident in that jurisdiction area, and both clerical and field police officers were busy bustling about. Even news reporting vehicles were driving in and out. We were able to witness the police officers' work that we usually don’t have opportunity to see. Thanks to all the protectors of the people for their hard work.

Today’s Xizhi police station was bustling and lively. Thanks as well to the fans of Director Qingrong who, during the afternoon tea time, came to visit the set and brought snacks like donuts and coffee. In the afternoon the weather turned cold and it started to drizzle. But the fans braved the wind and the rain and came anyway, and even gave handwritten cards to the actors and the director, which was really sweet.

Day 50

Day 2 at the police station. Today’s weather was nothing like yesterday’s “sunny and cloudy with an occasional shower”. Today the sun was shining very brightly, and the temperatures soared straight to 30 degrees. It was the perfect weather to play a song called “I love summer.”

We shot the scene where three members of Unit 3 talked with Jack at the door. They had to walk outside from inside the police station and each time they had to redo the take, everyone went back into the building with a look of total unwillingness. They opened their eyes widely and took a very deep breath, and with a blank look in their eyes they wiped their sweat and used a small fan to keep cool. Phew, foreheads were filled with beads of sweat, and everyone’s clothes were also soaked with sweat.

In the afternoon we filmed the scene from the last episode when Boss Tang goes to the police station to wait for Shaofei to get off work, when Jack also happened to ride his motorbike to pick up Zhaozi from work. At that time, the weather was still very sunny. Boss Tang, who wanted to sit on his car’s hood to wait for Shaofei, suddenly yelled out. Apparently the vicious sun had rendered the hood burning hot, which made boss Tang jump up in sudden fright.

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