#but now I'm just thinking I could have a marketable skill I love

[queers-gambit]

Love What You've Done with the Place

song by Rascal Flatts

prompt: he's never been a man built for relationships, until you come into his life. now, the house feels like a home.

pairing: Tangerine x female!reader

fandom masterlist: Bullet Train

word count: 1.8k+

warnings: more brain rot rambles, probably cursing, NOT edited, very docile, fluff, romance, hardened men being simps.

It started with clothes. Just a few, here and there; left behind, forgotten, purposefully stuffed in his dresser for when you stayed the nights. He didn't mind, in fact, Tangerine encouraged you to bring whatever you felt comfortable with leaving since he hated how early you'd leave in the mornings to get ready for work. He found his mornings were peaceful when you were around; neither rushed, both content, starting your days on high notes with each other.

So, he made the decision and found an old sitting-vanity for you. He put it in his bedroom simply because he was fascinated with the hair and make-up process; thinking it was incredible that women had such skill. When he came home about 3 months ago, he noticed your vanity when he first got home from a particularly difficult mission. Your chair was draped in an old university tee shirt, and he smiled.

It was like watching your comfort grow and it warmed something deep in Tangerine's heart. Your make-up wasn't always in a neat array, sometimes just left from a quick touch-up; making the house feel more like a home.

Tangerine also bought a strainer for the shower's drain to catch your hair. He didn't get angry like previous boyfriends did when he found strands of your hair left behind - not on purpose or by some gross standard, but it was natural that hair shed in a shower and not every single strand could be picked up. So, to make life easier, he just quietly bought the hair trap, placed it, removed whatever empty bottles from the shower, and went about his day. But then he started to notice your hair left other places.

His counters, his sink, the floor, your vanity, his bed sheets and pillows.

Tangerine had his issues with possessiveness in the past, but this wasn't remotely similar. No, Tangerine found himself smiling when he would find your hair in his clothes; thinking it was funny, almost like a mark or badge of honor to designate him as yours. It was a brief thought, but Tangerine actually felt giddy by the idea of people just knowing he was off the market 'cause his lady's hair was clung to his suit jackets.

He liked it. He really did. He'd not admit it aloud, but he liked it.

Tangerine wasn't the most humble man in the world, but he certainly liked to flash what was his. Golden jewelry, expensive, tailored suits, shining Italian leather shoes. And now, you, the woman who invaded his heart and head - and now his home. He adored showing you off, feeling affirmed and invigorated by the longing glances men threw your way, and while he expected jealousy from other women, they seemed more impressed by your beauty and grace as well.

He remembers one night, after a several weeks long mission, he just wanted to hold you. His throat was a little choked up when he called you, knowing you were at home after reading an earlier text. So, you rushed over in the middle of the night and he'd yet to let you go home - three days later.

"You've gonna have to let me out of bed sometime," you smiled playfully. "I have work tomorrow - and no, I'm not calling out again."

"C'mon, love, don't leave me alone," he whispered, looking like a beaten down puppy. The mission was much harder than he'd let on, but Lemon usually always filled you in. He thought it was important for you to know certain details that Tangerine was sure to omit, knowing those were the details that haunted him.

"I'll be back after my shift," you promised, nuzzling his nose with your own. "I also need new panties and clean clothes."

He sighed, "Some in there," he pointed to his closet now.

"What?" You giggled.

"You've left enough behind, got a bit of a collection goin', yeah?" He smiled softly, wrapping you back up in his arms. With a sigh, he relented, "I'll let yah go to work, love, just... Need this a bit longer."

You obliged, but the next day, you were gone before he woke up. With a frown, Tangerine dropped back onto the bed - but inhaled deeply when his nose buried into your pillow. He hummed in pleasure, feeling himself brim with contentment, bringing the fluffy item to his chest and nuzzling it; your perfume left behind to soothe him.

Was Tangerine clingy? Oh, for sure! He didn't think so, but you knew better. The contract killer liked you close, liked his hands on you; even if it was just a hand on your waist or a nose near your neck. He missed you when gone, but he usually held himself back from texting you all day - wanting you to be able to focus on your job.

But that day? He was inept, just wanting you; wondering if he paid you the same salary, if you'd consider just staying home. So, he texted you several times.

This obviously threw you off a little, knowing him better than himself most days. But he just missed you, so, you sent a selfie - promising you missed him too and would be home right after work.

He saved the photo and tried not to dwell on how you said you'd "be home" and not "come to his place". He had to take a few moments to calm down, feeling his heart zing with unfamiliarity - but not being afraid of it like he had been when you first started dating. He could recognize he was happy, that he was excited to see you everyday, and that the idea of coming home to you was far too appealing to ignore any longer.

It seemed neither of you needed to actually have an official conversation about living together. Lemon didn't mind, in fact, he was the one who insisted you have your own key; adoring you and whatever affect you had on his emotionally constipated brother. So, some mornings, Tangerine wasn't surprised to find a slightly damp towel left hanging in the bathroom, nor by the make-up on his counter - you using that mirror because of the fluorescent lighting. He never put it back, he didn't move it - he liked seeing it. It meant you were still here, and the idea of it being gone made his stomach knot with anxiety. He also wasn't surprised when he went to use the shampoo you insisted would help his curls flourish (you were right), only to find it damn-near empty. His shower gel, too.

When you came home that evening, you had Target bags in hand; replacing whatever was empty, making Tangerine grin to himself by how in-sync he felt with you. He'd never had a connection such as this, only ever feeling close enough to Lemon, but you changed everything for them both.

How Tangerine ended up with someone courteous was truly beyond either of them. Someone kind, caring, adventurous, sweeter than pie - someone definitely out of Tangerine's league, something he never let himself forget. He adored you to your core - thinking someone such as you should never have gotten tangled up in someone like him, but he knew, if the time ever came, he'd never be able to let you go. In fact, most days, he had to convince himself not to just pick you up and carry you around while he did chores or ran errands.

The very idea of losing you sent his heart into his stomach; hallowing his chest in a harrowing fashion that made it hard to breathe. Just a week or two ago, Lemon found Tangerine in the kitchen, hand to his chest as if he couldn't catch his breath, heaving for air; his worry spiking, but quickly realizing what was wrong.

"Bruv, you've gotta breathe - calm down," he tried to coax. "You're having a panic attack, you've gotta just focus on breathing."

"Fuck off with that!"

"Seriously, man," Lemon insisted, catching Tangerine in a vulnerable state enough that he actually listened without much of a fight. When Tan seemed a little more under control of his own emotions, Lemon asked, "What the hell happened?"

Tangerine shook his head, "Nothing t'worry 'bout - "

"Bullshit," Lemon snapped. "I've never seen yah like that, mate, the fuck happened?"

It was embarrassing, but Tangerine managed to answer, "Just... Just started thinking that if she ever left me, I'd fucking crumble, mate."

This made Lemon frown, "She's not gonna leave you, man. You know that. The girl's madly in love with you, yeah? Like madly in love - like to a degree it makes her stupid in the head, all right? Obviously, you too," he chuckled, shaking his head as he affectionately ran a hand over the back of Tan's head. "You're workin' yourself up, 's all right. You don't have to think about that - ever - 'cause she's it for you, mate. Yeah? Hear me? She ain't goin' nowhere, not without you."

Tangerine needed the assurance. Being alone after having a taste of your love felt impossible to Tan now, something he was never bothered by before. Seriously, why give a fuck about a relationship when he had his brother? Someone who loved him unconditionally and wouldn't leave? And then he met you and understood why people gave fucks about relationships.

It was as if every room you ever entered was brightened up simply by your smile. Your laugh wasn't always the most ladylike, but it was genuine and true and always made Tangerine smile to himself. During any public outing, Tan was always close - we've established this - but he liked to play a small game. One of your love languages was physical touch, so, you liked kissing him if even just for a single second. He was aware of your lipstick, feeling the tacky substance stain his cheek, but he wouldn't wipe it off. His game was to see how long it'd take before someone would point it out; his reputation didn't always warrant others to feel secure enough to speak up. Some nights, Lemon would motion to his cheek, and other nights, you'd return home, remove your make-up, and swipe make-up remover over his cheek to clear the color away.

However, it wasn't often you ventured in public due to Tangerine's innate introverted nature. You went if The Agency made it mandatory or if you were feeling stir crazy, but majority nights, Lemon would find you both lounged on the couch in various positions.

Sometimes, you'd be watching a movie together or binging a show. Other times, you were reading a book while Tangerine poured over paperwork. And once or twice, Lemon's come home to find you belly laughing and playfully scolding Tangerine as he tried to paint your toe nails. It was a homey sight to Lemon: seeing his brother so in love and at ease, hearing your laughter, the entire flat filled with warm smells of burning candles and homemade meals.

It wasn't evident at first, but with you laying in Tangerine's arms, clothes left on the floor, bellies full of whatever meal you had prepared that evening, favorite show playing on the bedroom TV, he realized that he loved what you had done with the place.

requesting rules and masterlist

Bullet Train masterlist

#tangerine #tangerine bullet train #bullet train tangerine #tangerine imagine #tangerine oneshot #tangerine x you #tangerine x reader #tangerine x fem!reader #tangerine x f!reader #tangerine x female!reader #bullet train #bullet train movie #bullet train 2022 #tangerine atj #atj tangerine #atj #atj character

[asliceofzosan]

in which Sanji is in Shells Town when Zoro eats the rice ball off the floor

It isn't often that Zeff's plans to get rid of him involve actually making Sanji leave the Baratie on a supply run (mostly because they never work. Sanji always comes back with more produce than the budget allows for which pisses the old geezer even more). But today, he was persistent that he go all the way to Shells Town. Fucking Shells Town. It isn't exactly the first place Sanji would think of when wanting quality ingredients.

However, if there's anything Sanji is, it's that he's stubborn. He'll comb through every market stall if he has to. He's coming back to the Baratie with three kilos of overpriced bluefin tuna if only to raise Zeff's blood sugar out of spite. Zeff raised a brat. So he's going to act like one.

Disembarking off of his boat, he makes a beeline first for a reputable restaurant in town. Cooks know what cooks want. He'd rather shave off time by asking a fellow chef where are the best places to get supplies. A few lovely ladies point him in the direction of a well-loved little restaurant at the edge of town and he each gives them a kiss on the back of their hand as a thank you.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintances, my angels." He says with a wink. Both girls only give him blank stares and walk away from him. He still sighs dreamily as they soon fade from view. It's a lot better than getting hit in the head.

He walks ahead to the restaurant, finding it a little crowded with a couple marines. No matter. Sanji isn't exactly known by face around the East Blue. He begrudgingly understands now why Zeff doesn't want to go here and instead forced Sanji onto his sailboat by himself.

With an irritated flick of his hair, he strides into the restaurant, sitting at a table near the window so he could light a quick cigarette before asking for the chef.

"We already have our order—"

"No. More food is better! Gotta feed the brain!"

Sanji's ears pick up the conversation in the table next to him as naturally as he does breathing. With the amount of times Zeff makes him wait tables instead of actually cooking in the kitchen, he's become skilled in the art of being a gossip. Tie him up in the middle of a marine base for admitting that, he doesn't care. There's only so much one can do to keep themselves entertained.

"We have to figure out a way to get inside the base."

"Luffy, I don't think that's a good idea–"

"It's not a good idea because I don't have a plan yet!"

"Well, what's your plan?"

"..."

"Luffy..."

"I'm getting there!"

Sanji chuckles. Whoever this Luffy kid is, he sure sounds interesting.

But before he could get another slice of their conversation, a commotion at the bar piques his interest even more. He uncrosses his legs, sitting up a little straighter, and watches as a blond man in a suit scolds a girl for running into him, calling her stupid and mocking her.

Sanji quirks an eyebrow at him. No matter what, no man should speak to a little girl that way.

"You dropped my food."

This time, a man with green hair catches his attention and with a quick glance, Sanji sees that there is smushed up rice balls on the floor by the blond's feet. Sanji sees red immediately. He's just about to go over there and give the guy a piece of his mind when the green haired man kneels down, grabs a glob of dirty riceball, and puts it into his mouth.

Sanji tunnel visions on the way his lips move, slowly chewing, savoring the otherwise spoiled riceball in his mouth like it's the most delectable piece of food he's ever eaten. The whole restaurant watches with bated breath, but none held tightly in his chest as much as Sanji's is. The man scrapes every grain of rice off of the floor, licking the remaining traces off his fingers.

He doesn't know it yet, but Sanji's heart has spilled out of his chest, and is now in the hands of a dirty green haired swordsman. With each bite he takes of the sullied riceball, the more Sanji's soul is sucked out of his body and placed into a state of near heavenly revelation.

Then the swordsman picks up the plate and offers the other riceball to the irritated blond man across from him.

"Now you eat one and apologize to the girl."

Sanji doesn't know what happens to his heart because the aching in his chest feels like he's out of breath. Maybe he's dying. It feels a lot like it because suddenly Sanji genuinely has forgotten how to breathe in this moment.

It gets even worse when the fight breaks out. The man barely even breaks a sweat. In any other circumstance where there is a fight, Sanji would go right in and make sure none of the dishes fall to the floor. But it seems that even then, Sanji's interference isn't needed.

Because the man's hits are calculated, careful despite the rough and tumble of the fight. He barely even gets his swords out. And he, Sanji notices with a bright smile, makes sure none of the tables get hit. He contains it all in the small space in front of the bar.

The final nail in the coffin is when he takes a giant swig out of his mug, shakes it a bit to see if there's any more drink inside, and casually chucks it at an oncoming marine and knocks him out cold.

Now Sanji is used to falling in love easily with beautiful women. All they have to do is smile at him and he'll be on his knees for them. He has experience in that department.

But what is Sanji supposed to do when a brutish man with a kind heart glances at him briefly before taking the other riceball in his hand and shoving it in his mouth?

Sanji thinks that this is how he falls in love with a man.

His plate is wiped clean before he hands it back to the little girl, who looks up at the man with stars in her eyes.

Sanji figures that maybe the way he's staring at the man isn't too far off from how she's looking at him.

Sanji comes back to the Baratie with no supplies and an earful from Zeff that doesn't register in his brain.

His mind instead is filled with just the memory of the green haired man, his lips pursing ever so slightly around the riceball in his mouth, and the smallest smile he gives the little girl as he thanks her for the food.

Sanji wonders if he'll ever see him again.

He learns how to make different kinds of rice balls in the meantime.

---

A/N: did somebody say sanji would fall in love with zoro if he saw him eat food off the floor? say no more !!

EDIT: part two, debt and doing dishes is up!

#zosan #one piece live action #opla #niki's fics: the riceball incident #WELL THE BRAINROT WAS REAL AND TUMBLR ACCIDENTALLY DELETED HALF OF THIS #pls let me know if yall want this continued bc brain go brrrr #roronoa zoro #vinsmoke sanji #sanji #one piece #roronoa zoro x vinsmoke sanji #zoro x sanji #fic series: it all started with a dirty rice ball

[uglyducklingofthe2000s]

I saw that your requests are open so I wanted to ask if you could write something for Charles Leclerc with All of the Girls You Loved Before by Taylor Swift, please 🙏 ❤️ you can ignore this if you want.

All The Girls You Loved Before - Charles Leclerc

First of all, I want to apologise SOOOO much, this has been in my requests for agggggeeeeessss. I am so so so sorry. I promise I wasn't ignoring it, I just couldn't remember the song off the top of my head or the lyrics and I kept forgetting to check.

But here is it. I hope you like it after such a long wait :)

Bit of a slow burn. across...nearly all of Charles' relationships. For the purposes of the timeline we're pretending Charles and Alex were short-lived to step aside for y/n.

2019

Y/n tilts her head as she watches the young Ferrari driver walk in, crowded with attention. He's not had any shortage of attention but something that most people over look is Charles' way with his girlfriend Giada.

Four years together now and there's even been rumours about him possibly having proposed.

To y/n she wishes she had that. Not just a relationship, but that exact relationship with Charles.

She just started an internship for RedBull's marketing team but her focus is solely on Charles Leclerc. The rookie who got lucky and broke every rule that Ferrari has for their drivers, choosing experience over the risk of a fresh face. His rookie year in Sauber and blatant skills earned him a seat in Ferrari and in recent history the youngest Ferrari driver, over all the second youngest.

"Y/n." Pierre calls making her whip her head around away from his friend. "What are you doing?"

"Oh uhh...nothing just looking around." Y/n lies earning a nod as she shoots him a smile. "Do you want to help choose the pictures to post for your track walk?"

And like that, those feelings are tucked away from sight. Hopefully for her crush on the man who is in a relationship to be pushed aside until it disappears into nothing.

2020

Despite Charles breaking up with Giada, he's dating a new girl. Charlotte, who is probably the most perfect person for him. He seems happy and the way he and Charlotte interact is proving harder and harder for y/n.

They've also formed a bit of a casual friendship, slightly more than acquaintances but he doesn't got out of his way to speak to her.

"You are staring again." Max whispers into her ear making her gasp and jump, turning around quickly. Max caught on quickly to the newly appointments social media assistant's crush when they came back from covid lockdown.

"Shut up." Y/n frowns nudging him away. "I'm not staring anyway, I'm thinking about how much happier social media teams looking in other teams. Probably because they don't have to deal with you."

"You should just tell him." Max states making her scoff.

"He is in a happy long term relationship and he is a good enough boyfriend that he wouldn't cheat."

Well if rumours aren't truth then that's the case, but if they are maybe Charles would cheat.

2021

Y/n sighs as she looks at Charles struggle his way through yet another race. It's safe to say that Ferrari just didn't deliver with the car this year.

Charlotte isn't here either.

Now, y/n never reaches out to make a conversation with Charles. But he does spot her and stop by her at the Red Bull unit.

"Hello, y/n. How have you been?" Charles greets making her looking up from the phone she'd quickly diverted her gaze when he looked at her. Definitely catching her but he's too polite to address it.

"I'm good...how are you? Settling in well with the new teammate? Max was saying about how Carlos was a great teammate in Toro Rosso."

"I like him as a teammate-I do miss Seb-"

"But the two are you are good friends." Y/n nods, ignoring the flutter in her chest as she speaks with him. "So is there no Charlotte this weekend?"

"Ah, no she is busy with her studies. But she will come to the next one. We don't really get to spend as much time together as it looks like. When she does come to the races, it's hard to really pay attention to her with everything else going on." Charles admits, not even sure why he's opening up about it but maybe he needed to just say it to someone.

"Charles...is everything ok?" Y/n asks softly before she swallows thickly knowing really they aren't close enough for her to push him for more information.

"Yes, of course. Is everything ok with you?" He asks looking like he genuinely wants her to answer with no lie.

"I'm great. Just working like always." Y/n nods in gesture to her phone and laptop. "Making Max part take in social media stuff or get pictures of him that he doesn't try to purposely sabotage is harder than you'd think."

"I can imagine." Charles chuckles before his phone buzzes. "Speaking of sometimes difficult. I have to go. I'll see you later, y/n."

"Oh yeah, um see you later." Y/n nods feeling her face burn, but he's already gone answering his phone in French which is beyond her knowledge of language. Though she'd love to be taught French.

2022

Charles has broken up with Charlotte and is single.

Max has been poking her about getting the courage to go and try with Charles.

But it felt like the wrong time and instead she decided to just befriend him properly, hoping to at least become a more significant person in his life and get to know him more.

No progress in the romance side but their friendship is blooming.

"Y/n." Charles smiles spotting her in the paddock as he arrives only just behind her making her turn quickly and smile tiredly. "Oh you look tired, are you alright?"

"Yeah...Red Bull has a lot going on with a competition for the livery and it's more complicated to arrange Than the social media manager thought so instead...I've been told to handle it."

"You can always hide away in the Ferrari unit...we might need to get you a disguise." Charles jokes then putting an arm around her in a one armed hug that she does slightly fall into.

"One day I might just take you up on that. Purely out of curiosity of what it's like in there." Y/n giggles before she looks at him.

"You are always welcome...just not in your uniform."

"Well, maybe I'll get the courage to accept the invitation one day." Y/n hums, eyes lighting up while Charles smiles at her. "I should go, but I'm sure I'll see you later...especially if I'm running to hide from Christian and Max."

2023

Despite what felt like progress, coming into 2023. Charles had a new girlfriend. She's perfect and honestly y/n was sure that no other woman would be nearly adequate for Charles after that.

They didn't grow to have the same closeness in the beginning of 2023 as they did at the end of 2022. Y/n invested making Red Bull's social media and also taking on the duties of Max's accounts via his request since apparently he trusts her.

But then Alex stopped appearing shortly after Silverstone and Charles' efforts to get y/n's attention were active again. In fact they weren't just active, they were painfully obvious to everyone else in the paddock.

"You realise Charles is trying to get your attention right?" Danny states as he joins the Red Bull guys for yet another social media post.

It's getting more and more obvious to y/n (and the res of the world) with every request for y/n that post Danny on social media, he could be making his return to the Red Bull team faster than Checo understands.

"I wouldn't-"

"None of your business." Y/n states cutting Max off since the world reigning world champion has learned the hard way not to talk about it.

It’s not as if y/n is really mad about it she just doesn’t want other people in her business. The paddock can be a cruel place to recieve judgement especially on relationship or in this case not a relationship.

“Told you.” Max sighs while y/n smiles gamely and raises her middle finger only for Danny to capture the moment between the two on camera.

“Say hello to Instagram.” Danny instructs earning a fake smile.

Only a couple hours later, y/n is with Charles again and this time around Charles seems to be building up to something.

"Y/n, I was thinking. We should go on a date." Charles states making her look at him in shock of the fact he even asked.

"I'd love to." Nearly 5 years of crushing on this man and this could actually finally be the dream come true.

They arrange the date for after the race and it turns into the first of many. Then they start travelling together and by the São Paulo gp, the two are inseparable unless in the paddock when they both have to divide to their teams.

But what really made headlines was "Charles Leclerc switches teams for romance? Ferrari driver spotted kissing Red Bull dressed team member"

Y/n yawns waking up beside Charles grinning as yet another morning proves this isn't a dream but's it's real. She really is waking up with a man that she'd always thought would be the perfect partner but always just beyond her reach.

"You are staring." Words he says too much, but has no idea he is not the only one to say it when it comes to her watching Charles with unwavering eyes.

"I like looking at beautiful things." Y/n's smiles before she giggles when he looks at her raising an eyebrow. "Good morning."

"Good morning, mon amour." Charles smiles moving over to her and kissing her softly. "You are so beautiful. But you never let me stare."

"Because it's intimidating when you stare. It's like you're looking into my soul and finding things I didn't even know existed there."

Y/n isn't foolish enough to think that she's the only one fortunate enough to love Charles, but she knows for certain not one of those girls before loved Charles the way that she loves him. But even more than that, Charles loves her in a way that he's never loved another girl before too.

#f1 #fanfic #formula 1 #charles leclerc fic #charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc fanfic #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc #charles f1 #Charles #Leclerc #Charles Leclerc one shot #charles leclerc imagines #cl16 one shot #cl16 x reader #cl16 imagine #cl16 x you #cl16 #formula one #scuderia ferrari #ferrari #ferrari f1

[ghostofskywalker]

hi!! i love your writing so much!!

could i request a fake dating/undercover as a couple trope with hunter and a gender neutral reader? or just the prompt “Your flirting skills need work”

no pressure tho!! and thanks!!

hello! i'm so happy to hear you like my stories - thank you for the prompt and i hope you enjoy this one!!

words: 1,128

summary: in the middle of a crowded market on Ord Mantell, you have to get pretty up close and personal with Hunter. But it's only to make sure your covers aren't blown, what other reason would there be?

Play It Cool

clone troopers masterlist || request a winter ficlet!

Hunter was a genetically modified soldier who possessed a strength you could only ever dream of, and who had been trained for most of his life to be a terrifyingly effective combat operative. His face tattoo and the vibroblade that never left his possession also contributed to his menacing demeanor, especially to those who had made the mistake of opposing the Bad Batch.

He was also a terrible actor.

Usually that wouldn’t be a problem, but this time was different, because you were currently clutching his (way too sweaty) palm as you walked through one of Ord Mantell’s crowded night markets. You just had barely been able to convince one of the local shopkeepers (a sweet old Togruta who sold hand-woven clothes) that you two were a couple, simply based on the fact that his body language and expression made it seem like he didn’t want to be there.

“Your flirting skills need some serious work,” you hissed as you let go of his hand for a moment to wipe it on your pants. You could have said something about his sweaty hands too, but you chose to hold your tongue this time. “Did they not cover this in all your special training?”

“No, they didn’t,” Hunter hissed back. “I don’t think the Kaminoans ever considered that we’d be working with any other person, because we didn’t even have a Jedi.”

“Well, you’re compromising this assignment, so you need to act like you’re in love with me,” you said lowly, wishing things were different right now. This mission may only be a simple information retrieval, but you still had to make sure that the two of you didn’t stick out (more than you already did) among the usual shoppers and passerby of this particular market. Hunter didn’t respond, but you caught a glimpse of an expression you couldn’t quite read cross his face. As much as you would have loved these roles to be real, you didn’t think that was ever going to happen.

You didn’t blame him for not noticing the fact that you had an obvious crush on him. The crushing grip of the Empire’s fist was only growing stronger by the day, and the Bad Batch had a target on their back for simply being who they were. And so when Cid had asked you to do this for her (and suggested that you pretend to play lovers), you couldn’t help the way you agreed, simply because you didn’t know if you would ever be able to live the real thing. However, you could have never expected just how awkward Hunter was when it came to this stuff.

A few minutes after you spoke to the Togrutan shopkeeper, you noticed a burly looking Rodian hovering around the outskirts of the market, which certainly struck you as odd for this particular setting. Rodians weren’t uncommon on Ord Mantell, but you usually saw them in groups, and the expression on this one’s face (and the fact that he seemed dressed for combat) certainly seemed concerning.

After a subtle nod in his direction, you and Hunter began to tail him from a safe distance. Soon however, a clear issue arose: the Rodian had gone down an alley, and it would be considerably more difficult to follow him without raising any kind of suspicion.

Unless of course, he believed you were in the alley for a completely different reason.

With a silent sigh, you resigned yourself to your fate and tried to think of the best way to explain to Hunter what you were about to do. Eventually, you decided that it was probably best not to say anything, and instead just hope to the Maker that he trusted you enough to make the best decisions, and that things wouldn’t be too awkward between you two once this whole evening had concluded.

He looked a little confused as you began to drag him into the alley, because he had clearly weighed the options (and the risk) here. “Trust me,” you whispered, silently hoping that this was the right thing to do. Positioning yourself against the outside wall of a nearby building, you squeezed Hunter’s hand a little tighter and pulled him towards you, all while listening for any snippets of conversation deeper down the alley.

“We can get that to you,” a gruff voice said, and you knew that this was likely the information you were sent here to get. “For 300.”

“Fine. How long is it going to take?”

“A couple rotations maybe, but I’m sure we can work something out if you need it quicker than that.”

In order to keep up the ruse, you couldn’t exactly be taking notes as you listened, but you tried to commit all of that to memory for later. You also hoped that neither party would re-trace their steps towards where you were currently standing, but you weren’t that lucky, and soon you were faced the impending reality of being found out.

“I’m going to do something, and I need you to trust me,” you whispered. Hunter had barely began to nod when the footsteps started to grow closed, and all you could do was grab his face and kiss him.

You weren’t a trained actor, if you wanted a kiss to look real it had to be real (to a certain extent). The shadows offered some form of cover for all this, but it wasn’t enough. You had originally planned to keep an ear out for any kind of trouble, but the fact that Hunter’s lips were so soft, and that you had been dreaming of this moment for quite some time, really made it hard to concentrate. That, and the fact that he had moved both his hands down to rest on your waist as he kissed you.

When you finally did pull away from him (and made sure the coast was clear), you immediately apologized. “I’m sorry for springing that on you, but we didn’t have that much time.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” he said.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to make things weird between us and-”

“Y/N,” he said, cutting you off. “Everything is fine.”

You nodded, not sure what else to say. You wanted to kiss him again, but now did not seem like the right time for that. All you could do was hope that one day you would be able to admit how you felt about him to his face, and that he felt the same way about you.

And as the two of you walked back through the market with the intention of heading back to Cid’s, you did realize one pretty important thing.

Hunter was still holding your hand, and it felt a lot more natural this time around.

- the end -

i no longer have a taglist! if you're interested in being notified when i post, you can follow my library blog @ghostofskywalker-library and turn on notifications!

#winterficlets23 #tbb hunter x reader #tbb hunter x you #tbb hunter #hunter x reader #hunter x you #sergeant hunter x reader #sergeant hunter x gender neutral reader #sergeant hunter x you #the bad batch x reader #clone trooper x reader #star wars x reader

[agendabymooner]

colour me your colour || toto w. x ofc (1)

Summary: Tilly Marie nearly loses faith in her passion as she refuses to listen to everyone who told her to quit. Everyone but one. And it’s the man she met years ago at a racing event she didn’t want to attend. Who would have thought that her father’s partial ownership of three brands could take her to the zone of Mercedes and meet the love of her life?

Content warning: Age gap, mentions of an absence of a father figure, brief use of explicit language, mentions of nepotism. Fictional family and business involved (Hearth family and Hearth Automotives Group).

Note: I did a funny haha series. I literally just started on this yesterday. I'm writing the third part right now, hoping to work on this as much as possible. Again, I am still new to F1?? Please forgive me.

Enjoy! xx

i. what a beautiful sight that was

   It was the year 2006. The 21-year-old me did not want to attend on behalf of my father’s role to whatever this business was he was handling. I remember being extremely confident about walking up the stage to get my master's. 

I had always been told to be an intelligent girl. One that utilizes her skills in any way possible. Everyone praised me, and my maternal grandparents encouraged me to continue my education. My paternal grandparents expressed their admiration with a pat on the head and a kiss. My mother hugged me tightly and hung nearly every certificate I had captured. My father, however… he couldn’t get over the fact that he never had a son—one who would run the company someday and perhaps become a world champion. 

He lacked boys for his fatherhood experience, so he turned to me and set a list of expectations he had of me. He was still as healthy as ever. He could bench if he felt like it. But he still wanted to instill some responsibility in his companies and passed it on to me. 

But I earned my master's in Journalism and was halfway through my Bachelor's in Marketing. What did I know about motorsport? 

This didn’t mean anything to my father. He wanted me to handle the business and pass it off to the next person if needed. He just wanted his surname to remain known in the industry and public. He trusted me to handle particular areas that he thought I could do. 

But it was 2006, and I wasn’t given the responsibilities until years after. I was simply in Dubai to watch and entertain myself while cameras tried to get a glimpse of me—the Heiress. I was the next to become a shareholder in the businesses my father and grandfather (and his father) had put their money on. I was an eye candy—the strong woman of the Hearth family. And I was just in Dubai to watch men race lap after lap while they stayed there for hours, like mad men. 

And my father didn’t even tell me anything. I’ve only been exposed to observation. But my brain wasn’t made to be awake for a day, and my eyes preferred a piece of entertainment from my research paper. 

But my mind gave me a little nudge and turned my head to look at the man who’ll have me thinking for years. His helmet was on his side, his fingers tapping to keep him focused. He was tall. He was tall and handsome—a deadly combination.

The combination was too deadly, and I only realized this when he caught me looking. I hadn’t turned my head quite fast enough as I continued to examine and annotate my anecdotal record, pretending that my face wasn’t blushing.

It turned out he was just as intrigued as he was handsome. Fucking great. He sat across the chaise lounge I stiffly sat on, his smile I could barely see from my peripheral vision. 

Knowing he probably wouldn’t leave, I stopped pretending I was studying and looked up only to see his lips spread in amusement. His smile. Oh god. Couldn’t this man be the perfect man to have existed?

“You’re not here to study,” he chuckled softly, “Because you’d be in the wrong place otherwise.” 

Of course, I hadn’t passed up the chance to roll my eyes jokingly. 

The conversation lasted forever, and not once did he gloss over the screens to see how his team was doing at the track. He listened to me as I complained about the research I had to do for book publications. He wondered how I’d gotten through my master's at 21. Then he decided to guess while I provided my answer too.

“You’re gifted.”

“Generational wealth.” 

Then silence filled the atmosphere as if we could only hear the people talk in the background. My laughter after the pause made his mouth grin as he silently laughed. One of us was more biased than the other, I thought to myself. My success at school came from the high 90s that I achieved. My family's money made it easier for me to get in without any trouble with tuition. 

But the conversation didn’t last as long as I thought it would have, as someone who wore the same racing suit came barging at the door. The man frantically gestured for my company to follow him. 

He looked at me, his eyes keeping me in one place as I shifted. He could only say, “It was nice talking to you.” 

And all I could offer him was a stutter of, “Y- yeah, a pleasure to meet you. Y- your name is…” 

But his teammate beat him to it before he could utter his name. “Torger!” 

Then he looked at me again with a brief nod as he walked out of the room. 

He was a lovely man. There’s nothing nicer than an equally attractive and genuine man. I liked every single second that I spent with him. And I’ve only known him for fifteen minutes. 

And that remained as that. We’ve only known each other for fifteen minutes. When they announced the race winners, I was already on my flight back to England. I was already reporting to my father about what I saw. 

I told him about what I saw and experienced. But never once did I say to him about a driver of the winning team and how I’ve practically fallen for him. Because I haven’t fallen, he was just lovely. 

What a beautiful sight he was. 

#formula one fic #formula one imagine #formula one x oc #toto wolff imagine #formula one smau #f1 imagine #formula one fanfiction #mercedes amg imagine #mercedes imagine #mercedes #red bull racing imagine #formula 1 #toto wolff fic #toto wolff x reader #toto wolff x oc

[earthstellar]

love the canonical implication that Earthspark Bumblebee's current alt-mode is possibly just a mid life crisis sports car phase

I mean I'm in my 30s, I'm not shitting on him, it's relatable primarily because most of my friends are at least slightly younger than I am

the "Bee hanging out with the Terrans" vibe is very real

but I also like that we're seeing a slightly older version of Bee here. usually he's the youngest of the Autobots (in most TF shows, anyway), but here he's roughly equivalent to middle aged

The Terrans are the youngest, so we get to see a more mature Bee stepping up into a carer/educator role

Bee has never really been one of my favourite TF characters (which I mostly attribute to burn out caused by all the marketing which solely fixates on him lmao), but I like him in Earthspark for the most part!

He's still a little on the "still learning" side of things coming into his current role, but that's what allows for further character development, and we've already seen him build some good skills for dealing with/training the kiddo bots

IDK it's nice.

would be interesting if there's ever an episode where Alex and Dot are unavailable for a not-necessarily-bad reason (maybe one of them is accepting a professional award or something so both of them go together as a Nice Thing)

and suddenly Bumblebee is Parent of Many Sparklings (Plus Two Human Ones) for the weekend LMAO

how long until he gives in and calls someone for help? because that is a LOT of children

eventually he calls everyone but they're all busy, Arcee just laughs at him lol she's having Fun Battle Time with Elita-1 so neither of them can do it, finally Megatron shows up and instantly all the kids are like "yeah STORY TIME" and Bee gets a 10 min nap in until a perimeter alarm goes off or something (it was just a cow but now he is Stressed)

Optimus gradually shows up like ha ha! outdoors enrichment for the children is a great idea and Bee is just like "have you ever actually raised sparklings, you had troops but you don't have SPARKLINGS"

meanwhile in the background Hashtag is trying to explain the differences between various social media sites to Megatron, who is trying so hard to pretend like he cares, but is also busy trying to keep at least two of the others from putting their hands a little too deep in his transformation seams so they can climb on him (they just want to be Large)

idk I think a Single Parent Bee episode feat. Grandpa Megatron towards the end at one point would be fun, arguably they did this kind of vibe in the first half of S1 a bit already

but it would be interesting to see how Bumblebee would manage without any other adults for support for like a weekend in its entirety (save for maybe Megs at the end taking pity on him lmao)

there aren't many bots in what seems to be Bumblebee's general age range, except maybe Arcee but she gives the vibe of being a little older than he is, so real talk he'd probably feel a little more isolated and overtaxed than usual :(

but the kiddos would likely pick up on this and they could plot with Megs to try to do something nice for him!!! it would go poorly but that's OK!!!!

just thinkin' out loud

#maccadam #maccadams #tfe bumblebee #tfes spoilers #tfe spoilers #spoiler tagging juuuuust in case #earthspark #transformers earthspark #long post

[thisisallthehattersfault]

It's really hard to find good Usopp-centric fics and even harder to find fics where Usopp is allowed to be genuinely skilled and capable (Take The World By Storm has spoiled me) and none of that is mentioning my love of the Strawhats being a little less morally good and a little more willing to really lean in on the whole Terrifying Yonko Pirate Crew thing when the situation calls for it

But I remembered today that I can be the change I want to see in the world so now my whole brain is consumed by an idea for a fic where Syrup village gets raided by slavers, the little Usopp pirates get taken, and Usopp goes fucking ballistic.

Like, think about it: The East Blue, widely considered the weakest of the seas, would be easy pickings for slave traders looking to make a quick top-up before auction day. Especially since it seems most islands are fairly autonomous, with little local governmental presence. Places like the Gecko islands would be prime targets -- we don't know how many other towns or cities might be nearby, but we know Syrup, at least, is a small and mostly isolated hamlet. It's practically a free market.

So I'm imagining like, the Strawhats have circled back to the East Blue for whatever reason -- maybe it's a post-Raftel victory lap, or maybe they had some other reason to swing back. Either way, they're all taking the opportunity to visit old friends and family, and introduce the crew they met later to all the people they grew up with, and then they reach Syrup and the whole village is in an uproar; just a couple days ago a bunch of kids from the village went missing, Usopp's little pirate crew among them. Nobody knows for sure what happened. An unmarked ship did dock for a few days for repairs, but the sailors on-board were polite and didn't cause any trouble that anyone could see. However, the day the kids vanished, the ship was also gone.

I figure the boys probably were suspicious of the sailors for whatever reason, and they likely did some investigating and left a message or even just their evidence behind when they got grabbed by the slavers, because if we know anything about these kids it's that they are very brave and very bad at knowing when to go ask an adult for help. So the boys manage to (mostly accidentally) leave a trail of breadcrumbs for the Strawhats to follow.

They catch the slave ship just before it can cross the reverse mountain and Usopp proceeds to unleash absolute hell on the men who tried to take his boys (and other kids he likely also helped babysit or at least knew and watched grow up)

And that's their first real look at their Captain in years: Usopp appearing out of practically nowhere, bloody and blazing and standing tall over the crumpled bodies of his enemies, reaching down to lift Ninjin, Piiman and Tamenegi into his arms after the scariest few weeks the boys have ever lived through. He has all three tuck their faces into his chest so they don't see the carnage, but they've already seen enough, and everything was so loud but now it's so quiet and the air smells like iron. He carries them off the ship and onto the Sunny to take them home.

(In and among all of this I imagine the Klahadore thing comes out as well, because there's no point in keeping it a secret anymore if Syrup village isn't safe after all.)

Syrup Village flies the Strawhat flag, after that. It won't win them any favors with the Navy if it's found out, but it'll keep them safer than the military ever has.

#One Piece #Usopp #straw hat pirates #usopp pirates #Is there even any point in tagging the boys #One Piece ninjin #One Piece Piiman #One Piece Tamanegi #I know they're probably better known as onion pepper and carrot #but there's the mink carrot too #and that will cause confusion #so we're just gonna go with their non-english-ized names

[deoidesign]

Just wanted to say I absolutely adore your comic! It reminds me of all the comics I would read when I was little (except now they're gay), the style and shading is amazing.

What would you say is your favorite part of creating your comic, and do you have any tips?

Thank you I'm so glad to hear that!

I think my favorite part of making comics is the way it sort of feels like a puzzle. It's super mentally difficult but it's extremely rewarding to figure out plots and work out my best execution of it! I also LOVE editing, it's where things get to really pull together.

As for tips, I'm not sure what you mean! so I'll just share a few tips for a few different ideas...

Saving time

to save time I save every head I've ever drawn in a file so I can reuse the head (I redraw the face) which allows me to skip the sketching stage, since I only need to sketch for heads!

I also make my backgrounds a single very large image so I can reuse parts of it throughout the whole scene, recolor it for different times of day, etc, which saves a TON of time for me. Then, I just add in some spot blacks on top to make it feel cohesive with the character art! (this ALSO has saved me a TON when I've been converting my pages from scroll format to page format, as I have a high quality version of the background to use when I need the panels to be wider!)

But the biggest thing that saves me time is my line confidence.

So, next I'll talk about lineart tips!

most important is to draw from your elbow and your shoulder, instead of your wrist and fingers. this will get you cleaner lines, but will also save your body in the long run! The wrist is extremely fragile, so start learning to draw with more of your arm NOW rather than later.

Next is practicing line confidence! this basically is what gets you to draw the right line the first time, saving you a ton of time! These two tips sort of go hand in hand.

writing tips

First and foremost, you should be having fun! and I'm so serious, if you are working on a scene that feels like a drag to you, it will drag to your readers too. Whatever you feel like that scene HAS to be there for can almost definitely be accomplished in a different way!

but, really, I like to try to keep the big picture in mind. What is this scene accomplishing, what needs to happen to force these character changes, what needs to be revealed, what information about the world is canonized, etc, rather than thinking about your story as "events that have happened and will have to happen"

building off of that, my personal rule for establishing information is 3 times: If you've mentioned something three times, you can expect the audience to remember it. If you've mentioned it once or twice, it's really pretty likely they'll have forgotten by the time it's relevant.

This is getting really pretty long, I could get into character design tips, worldbuilding tips, tips for characters emoting, layout tips, marketing tips, business tips... there are SO many skills that go into making a comic, it's extremely hard to offer tips without knowing what you're looking for!

#asks #anon

[rassvetsky]

Chestnuts & Naked Cookies

robert "bob" floyd x reader

The next time he spoke, you could feel his breath against your lips, like a promise of where he was heading. "Even on the worst days. Even when we fight. Just one look at you and I'm gone, I'm off the Exosphere."

[1.4k] | fluff fluff fluff, v short and messy too, my half-asleep post-writing slump skills, bob is a warning (again), bob's very questionable sexual innuendos and the consumption of santa. rest in peace king

reblog and/or like for a kiss, feedback much appreciated! not proofread.

"Did you get the chestnuts?"

"Yeah—"

"Icing sugar? The cookies are still naked."

"Please stop calling the cookies naked—"

"Oh, the wine! You got the wine too, right?"

"Sweetheart, baby," Bob could hear your breathy chuckle through the static of the phone. "I got everything, why are you so worried? It's just the two of us."

He sighed, and leaned against the kitchen counter in a defeated manner. "I just— Just come soon, drive carefully, m'kay? I love you."

"Love you too, Robby. Love you too."

He was excited. And yeah, maybe a little worried.

Last Christmas, despite wanting to spend it with you so bad, he couldn't make it home in time— instead, having to watch you through the phone screen as you munched away on all the treats you made for the occasion. In the heat of the moment, he swore that he'd drop his military career and be a househusband for you if it meant getting to be with you for all holidays, but you assured him that it was fine, and that all you cared about was his wellbeing. Besides, who made the rules? The two of you could celebrate by yourselves when he got back.

But this year, he was home. He wanted to give you the Christmas you deserved, with all the treats and delicious dinner —which he cooked for you, and then took the time to thank the food content creators on YouTube for guiding him through the experience— and some wine, some old Christmas movies, some talks about the future, some kisses—

The thought got him all fuzzy.

Dinner was prepared and served, waiting for your arrival on the table as he took out two wine glasses, setting them near your plates. Now all he had to do was to wait, which, luckily for him, didn't turn out to be a long task— the sound of your keys against the door could be heard within the next couple of minutes as you pushed it open, a big smile on your face while you kicked your boots off and walked towards the kitchen, witnessing your boyfriend lighting up upon the sight of you before reaching to take the market bag and bottle of wine from your arms.

"I hope you're hungry," he hummed, watching as you peeled off your jacket only to wrap your arms around him as soon as you could, letting him warm you up with his embrace and soft kisses against your temple. "I made you some real good stuff."

"Ah, my wonderful househusband," you giggled, on your tip-toes just so the process of planting your lips against his for a moment would get easier. "Missed you. Let's get that bottle open and dive in, hm?"

The smell of fresh roasted chestnuts, cookies and wine; with the laughter of two lovers, limbs all tangled under the soft blanket, eyes on an old Christmas movie.

Could heaven even begin to compare?

Bob was chivalrously peeling the hard shell of the chestnuts off for you, feeding you pieces here and there as you laid against his shoulder, wallowing in his warmth and the domesticity of it all.

The cookies were no longer 'naked', instead decorated with the icing sugar mixture he prepared while you were busy preparing the rest of the snacks. Pastel green tree-shaped ones near the snowflakes and that one gingerbread man which he just wrote "Santa" on top of with the cream; —because he ran out of red before he could get to it— the sight made you proud, your collaborative work —well, maybe mostly Bob's work— now keeping your stomach full and your taste buds reeling. As if he was thinking the same thing, he slowly reached for the plate of cookies, grabbing the low-budget Santa before offering the lower half to you.

"Wanna take a bite of Santa?" he asked, earning a giggle from you before you nodded and took a bite, saving the rest for him. It was always like that, even for the smallest pieces of food— you'd take one half and save the rest for him, and he'd do the same.

It was a silent declaration of love, in a way.

The taste made you hum as you closed your eyes and basked in it, your arm which was wrapped around his waist squeezing him a little. "So good," you sighed. "You should've been a baker."

"Nah. Can't bake as good if I'm doin' it for someone else." and he was such a sap for it, but you didn't mind— instead, reached to press your lips against his neck as he fed you another piece of chestnut.

"Is that so?"

His response was a soft hum, and even though you couldn't see his face clearly from this position, you were sure that the familiar little rosy tone was already settled on his cheeks— it always was, whenever he told you just how much he adored you.

You slowly sat up, now meeting his eyes— and they were the prettiest, the shiniest when you smiled at him like that. That shy little crooked smile on his lips told you that your own eyes were probably glimmering just about the same, and you couldn't help the way your hand went up to cup his cheek. "Handsome."

"Gorgeous." he shot right back, just to see your smile getting wider. "I'll bake for you all the time if it makes you this happy."

"It's not your baking that makes me happy. Although it's a great help, I'll give you that." you giggled. "It's you. You and I right here. Isn't it so perfect?"

A sigh of longing left his lips. "It is. We're always so perfect when we're together." he moved a little closer, just to place a small kiss on your cheek. The next time he spoke, you could feel his breath against your lips, like a promise of where he was heading. "Even on the worst days. Even when we fight. Just one look at you and I'm gone, I'm off the Exosphere."

"Oh no," you feigned concern. "How do you come back to the Troposphere afterwards?"

"I do this." he announced happily, before pressing his lips against yours— and maybe it was muscle memory, but his soft skin against yours had you both falling into a perfect rhythm, a slow-dance of adoration and promises to be kept. He pulled away not too long after, but didn't move too far— his lips still against yours, just with a tiny little gap this time around. "And this makes the world stop spinning. Just so I can find you quicker when I dive back into the Troposphere."

"Smart."

"You know I am." he chuckled, letting his lips brush against yours before he moved away a little further but you followed suit, pushing the blanket out of the way a little before straddling his lap and wrapping your arms around his neck, giggling along with him when he pulled the blanket up again to wrap it around your figure, and pulled you into a hug so tight that you could feel him in your molecules. "We should go somewhere snowy for next Christmas. I'm gonna make a snow Santa for you, this one didn't really cut it."

"Oh I love this Santa enough, don't you worry that pretty little head." you spoke, with your forehead leaning against his. "He was naked. Fruity."

"Scandalous." he continued. "Perhaps we should join him—"

With a gasp, you pushed yourself away a little, even though you couldn't really help the amused smile. "Right in front of his salad? We're supposed to be on the good list, Robert, I can't believe you could even suggest such misdeed!"

"I've been on the good list for far too long." you really couldn't resist that pout, and that's exactly why he whipped it out the second things didn't go his way. "And we ate him anyway, he can't see anything."

And that pulled a laugh out of you, to which he joined in shortly afterwards. "He's inside of us!"

"He's not gonna be the only person inside of y—"

"If you finish that sentence, horn-dog, I'll smack you." while that did shut him up, the smug look on his face with his shoulders all relaxed and his arms loosely around your waist let you know that he was sure you'd give in. Soon.

"Not to quote Mariah Carey but all I want for—"

"Robert!"

#bob floyd x reader #robert floyd x reader #top gun maverick #top gun maverick x reader #top gun maverick fic #top gun bob #bob top gun #can't tag to save my life #top gun maverick bob #bob floyd #robert floyd #robert bob floyd x reader #bob floyd fluff #robert floyd fluff #robert bob floyd fluff

[tangibletechnomancy]

The problem with AI and the entertainment industry in particular is that...okay, fine, technology marches on. Digital art made physical ink-on-cels animation into mostly a hobbyist novelty (though boy howdy did it ever make it an impressive one). Photography turned portrait painting into a luxury, rather than something everyone who could afford it saved to do at least once for every family member because it was the only way to keep their likenesses alive. Photo editing has gone through so many changes that it's almost unrecognizable compared to what it looked like as recently as the 80s and 90s, and the older methods are, again, super impressive hobbyist passion projects now. Digital painting made physical painting less viable in an economy of scale, but way more impressive as an art form. These kinds of changes always really fucking suck for some people, but you can't really prevent them without stifling human development in general.

But.

The entertainment industry wants to make it suck way more than it has to for everyone but their executives and shareholders. They want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to take advantage of the inherent marketing power of celebrity culture without ACTUALLY involving, let alone paying, the people whose names and likenesses they're using. That, I hope we can all agree, is vile.

Now, the logical endpoint of this is that we push back against that, and as an alternative we get more fictional celebrities in the near-ish future, and as a Vocaloid fan, theoretically, I dont see much of a problem with that. Theoretically, at least. In the best case scenario, I think it could be a lot of fun! But the problem is, well...

See, in the early days, Vocaloid producers tended to take a very backstage role. Very few people were fans of specific producers; they were fans of Miku or any other character. Eventually, though, producers just kind of came more into the spotlight on their own because everyone has their own style and taste. We still love the characters, but we all started to notice when half our favorite songs by Miku were produced by the same person, well, perhaps we were fans of that producer as well!

But in American-born entertainment culture...

You may notice that CGI was conspicuously absent from my Technology Marches On breakdown. That's because while, yes, it has made for an interesting highlight of practical effects, with love for the work and nostalgia for their jank the same way other new art media has shone a spotlight on its predecessors, it hasn't actually gotten to be recognized as an art form the way the others listed have. We've barely moved on from the attitude that got Tron disqualified from the Academy Awards for SFX because "the computer did those effects, not you" (in 1982). In fact, I'm strongly of the belief that if Disney were a halfway decent company, they would be bragging about how they're pioneering photorealistic animation, rather than trying to pass off 90+% CGI animated films, usually (but not always; see: The Lion King remake) with live celebrity actors' faces composited in, as "live-action". Instead, they treat the VFX department as mindless dancing monkeys, and perpetuate the idea that VFX is just "select material, press button, get polished scene" - because to brag about it as its own art form might imply that the people doing it are skilled artists who deserve to be paid fairly and treated like human beings, and oh, we can't have THAT, now can we?

VFX labor is all hidden; very few people have a favorite VFX artist or director, instead we treat the artists, who put the time and effort into wrangling code and semiconductors and routines and layers into creating a professional-looking end product, as just part of the machine themselves, to save the companies some money - and culturally, I fear we're well on the way to regarding AI exactly the same way but worse.

As such, I fear that we wouldn't have the same effect with any digital idols produced by Silicon Valley.

Now, I don't fear virtual celebrities being able to fully replace human ones. Half of the draw of celebrity culture is the illusion of human connection. As much as the word "parasociality" has grown to be associated with only the negative effects of this, in reality, it's also the driving mechanism behind why representation matters. It's fun to be able to feel a connection to a fictional celebrity, but it doesn't replace the feeling of knowing that your fave is a human being with a real life - ...whether you use that knowledge for better or worse.

What I do fear is the fight against using AI to replicate real humans without their input, or with their manufactured consent, being long and drawn-out and doing a lot of harm before we can fully put a lock on it, and virtual celebrities being used to hide the work that the human directors and producers put into them for the sake of saving a parent company a buck.

#not art #it's always #ALWAYS the damned devaluation of newer art forms that causes all the problems

[devildom-moss]

Since you menioned Simeon and Barbatos in the same sentence, its my time to rant about how much i love Simbarb!!

I AM LITERALLY ON MY KNEES FOR THAT SHIP. EVERY SCRAP OF SIMBARB CONTENT I CAN FIND, I WILL DEVOUR IT LIKE THERES NO TOMORROW. DOESNT MATTER IF ITS FLUFF, ANGST, OR HECK EVEN SMUT. I LIVE FOR SIMBARB. THERES NOTHING ELSE THAT WILL SATISFY ME MORE THAN SIMBARB. LIKE THE SHIP IS JUST PERFECT IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE. AND BOTH BARBATOS AND SIMEON ARE PERFECT AS WELL. I WANT TO LIKE, SQUEEZE THE LIFE OUT OF THE TWO OF THEM, AFFECTIONATELY.

I think i went a little off course.. oh and i read this simbarb fanfiction once and now ive created a whole au with lore and backstory with Simeon and someone else (which can technically be MC but the actual MC also exists in this au). And i really wanna talk about it to someone, but there's no one who wants to listen, but you're now back, and im happy so maybe ill talk about it to you if youre interested!

Anyways have a nice day! Remember to eat, sleep and dont do drugs <33

Sincerely, 💜

You are so right for this. Those two are not only my favorites, but they are probably my favorite ship (I don't know if I've made that clear in my writing, but I feel like there have at least been hints). We are on the same boat here (I apologize for the pun, but I'm sending it out into the world anyway). I am right there with you. They are precious individually and together. I generally am not a touchy/hugging person, so I wouldn't want to squeeze them, but I would make them a delicious bowl of soup, give them pats on the head, and tell them that they're both good boys.

Especially as a fellow SimBarb lover, you are welcome talk about your AU here! Also, in general, I love reading about how people view character relationships (romantic, platonic - in any form, really).

While I'm here, I would like to fuel the SimBarb love with a few thoughts of my own it won't be too much because I'm going to head to bed soon, so my brain is in wind down mode.

Okay, so I lied to myself about the "a few" and rambled for 10 bullet points, so more under the cut:

Canonically, Barbatos and Simeon just often find themselves on outings together. Barbatos phrases it like it's unintentional; it just happens; they just have accidental dates. Well, considering that Barbatos seems to always have good luck, maybe there's a reason he keeps finding himself on outings with Simeon. Wouldn't it be lucky if he happened to run into a certain handsome angel while he was out?

I think it took Simeon longer to realize he liked being around Barbatos than it took Barbatos to notice how much he enjoyed spending time with Simeon. Simeon probably used Luke as a kind of affection proxy for a long time. A lot of "Luke really likes Barbatos," and "Barbatos is so sweet to Luke. It really warms my heart." Really? Is it just Luke who likes Barbatos?

They probably pick up groceries a lot together, and they both like to menu plan as they browse the markets, so they end up taking ideas from each other. Sometimes they'll plan to cook the same dish on the same night. It makes them kind of giddy. Even though they don't share meals often, when they cook the same thing on the same night, it almost feels like they're getting to eat together.

Whenever Luke goes to Barbatos for cooking/baking lessons, Barbatos tries to ensure they have leftovers for Luke to take back to Simeon. Additionally, Barbatos is especially motivated to help the final product turn out good (outside of just wanting Luke to learn and succeed) because he knows it's a reflection of his own skills and he wants to impress Simeon.

Also, I could see Barbatos sending Luke back home with two bouquets of flowers (especially edible flowers and sometimes herbs) from his garden. One is for Luke, but the other one, Barbatos will casually suggest that Luke "give it to Simeon, if you'd like."

These two both love taking care of others. Can you imagine how often they just try to out-spoil the other? I think it would occasionally end up in arguments that are basically just "sit down, and let me take care of you for a change."

Barbatos would be the least comfortable being taken care of because he's a demon. Being doted on by an angel. That's weird, right? He feels incredibly unworthy.

These two could flirt back and forth so well.

Barbatos would get extremely flustered if Diavolo commented on how wonderful it is to see a respectable demon such as Barbatos and a regarded angel like Simeon getting along so well, and that it gives him hope for the future between the Devildom and the Celestial Realm.

This is kind of angsty, and I don't remember if Barbatos and Simeon actually met before the war, but I have this thought (maybe a future story idea if I decide to lean into ships or something) that while Diavolo was enamored with Lucifer, Barbatos took a liking to Simeon. Actually, it was initially just an interest in the angel whose cooking skills could almost compare with his own. Then he realized how similar they were and how well they would get along. I just imagine younger Barbatos thinking hoping that when the war came around, Simeon would fall with Lucifer. Selfishly, he wanted the opportunity to even just be around Simeon. When that didn't happen, Barbatos was silently crushed but he carried on. He held his excitement the entire time when he first heard that Simeon would be one of the exchange students, and he was even more delighted when Simeon treated him with kindness.

#💜 anon #ask #replies #barbatos #simeon #anon #obey me #obey me barbatos #obey me simeon #what? I'm posting just ship content? unheard of.

[threebooksoneplot]

Question for G :)) how was your fanauthor workshop experience? I don't know if I should apply it sounds interesting but at the same time almost no reviews or whatsoever. Thank you!

well I ended up doing it a second time, so I'd say it was pretty damn good! I think the reason there are "no reviews" is mostly due to tumblr's format not really lending itself to that? @fanauthorworkshop isn't marketing itself as a product so much as a pedagogical (educational) extension of the existing fandom gift economy—an exchange where you both learn stuff and share/teach stuff!

this answer is mildly off-podcast-topic and it's gonna get super long and wordy, so it's under a cut lol you're welcome

my Fanauthor Workshop experience

personally, I found the FAW perfect for me. I was at the point in my fic writing where I was getting some lovely comments and glowing praise, but also wishing the world in general took fanfiction more seriously, as a craft to be practiced and discussed, something with both intrinsic and literary merit. @bettsfic's first episode as a guest on Fansplaining really resonated with me and kind of spoke to that desire (it's a must-listen for anyone on the fence about applying to the FAW!!)

but I had never studied creative writing at a university level, and barely knew what a crit letter was. I found the FAW was the perfect way to learn that sort of thing in a low-stress environment! I didn't struggle with feelings of burdensome obligation the way I had with schoolwork; rather I was excited to read everyone else's writing and see what it had to teach me. I also loved having an appropriate venue to air all my writing opinions, lol. I found I was so motivated that I managed to attend every FAW session even though it conflicted with family vacations two years in a row. I wrote crit letters from the lobby of a restaurant in a national park because it was the only place with wifi. I even Zoomed into one session from a random public library in Durango, where I managed to alarm everyone else in the irl vicinity with my enthusiastic discussion of fictional cannibalism (shoutout to the story we workshopped that day, it SLAPPED.)

personally, I approached the FAW with the very specific goal of Having Fun first and letting the writing stuff come second (ie, not putting too much pressure on myself when it came to choosing and polishing my own workshop pieces, and not worrying too much about how they were received.) I still ended up getting some AMAZING critiques and responses to my two (very different) pieces—I was deeply impressed by everyone's insights, how much they were able to pick up on, and how willing they were to meet me at my level. the other pieces we workshopped ranged all over the place in technical ability, from "giohvnsksbnf this writing is so good I'm gonna fucking eat glass" to "this person is clearly just starting out as a writer, but even if their prose has some technical mistakes, their story has Good Bones and their critiques and discussion observations have been spot on."

my big secondary goal was to Make Friends and there I succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. I now have SO many cool FAW mutuals, a few of which I have hung out with IRL and the rest of which I totally WOULD hang out with IRL if given the opportunity. they're all uniquely creative and clever people who I probably wouldn't have met otherwise, so that's kind of the biggest Win for me. it's so cool knowing I have all these people I could DM out of the blue and be like "hey, would you mind looking over this short story/beta-ing this fic chapter?" and end up with some great insights. there's also an FAW Discord where anyone can kind of bring fandom- and writing-related questions to the floor, as well as share recs and self-promote projects (or in my case, recruit podcast guests who I know have been pre-screened for both their chill lack of pearl-clutching and their basic fiction-analyzing skills, lol.)

I would recommend the Fanauthor Workshop if:

you're a self-taught writer who's done most of your learning in the fanfiction space and you're curious about how writing is actually taught in academic settings

alternatively, you're a writer from an academic background who chafes at some of the more restrictive rules in traditional workshops/you're tired of the irl Guy in Your MFA -types who refuse to or can't engage with your work on its level

you're ok with doing some "homework" (writing two crit letters per week) on the honor system

you're down to read original work in a wide variety of genres/read fic from fandoms you're not in (maybe even fandoms/pairings/characters you don't personally like)

you like what you read in @oficmag

you wish fanfiction was taken more seriously as a craft

your favorite trad-published writers all seem to be workshop alumni (eg: I swear half of my favorite writers are Clarion grads)

you have work you'd like to publish and/or submit someday but you're not sure if it's ready/not sure where to start

you follow writing advice blogs or send them asks

you wish people would leave "concrit" (constructive criticism) on your fics

you wish people would leave concrit on your fics but you're worried they might be too mean or not "get" your work

you wish people would analyze your work and give critique without letting their personal value judgments get in the way (and you're ready to do the same in turn)

you worry your work is too niche, kinky, queer, romance-focused, or "weird" for a traditional workshop (note: but it doesn't have to be any of these things. people also workshopped gen and the equivalent of coffee shop AUs!)

you'd like to hear perspectives that don't come from cishet dudes

you enjoy Class Participation and discussions (or maybe you're no longer a student and miss that kind of thing!)

you think @bettsfic seems like a good teacher (spoiler: she REALLY is)

you like the idea of a creative writing class with no grades or possibility of "failure"

you'd like to meet people you probably wouldn't meet in any other setting, and make some cool friends from other fandoms

if even a couple of these bullet points sound like you, you'd probably get a lot out of the FAW!! I hope the next session of FAW-ers have a blast. I'll be lurkin the Discord rooting for y'all

#asks #fanauthor workshop #anonymous

[morlock-holmes]

Regarding this thread:

The thing I am talking about is not good nor bad; it can exist in a supportive community or in an authoritarian cult.

I keep trying to figure out exactly how to put what I'm trying to say, but fundamentally the big issue is fungibility.

That is, how easy would it be to exchange me, or an idea, or a building, or an institution, for a different one?

The answer is: Very easy.

In fact, the idea that I might not be fungible with a pool of identical units is almost impossible to conceive of for contemporary people, because it is at odds with both capitalistic market thinking and state bureacracy.

I started with instability and that's part of why people find fungibility distressing, but in all honesty I think the vast majority of people find fungibility itself so psychologically distressing that they will flock to organizations that seem to be working against it even when those organizations are really very bad.

It's easy to say that the idea of modern disenchantment is stupid because there was no past period of mythological unity and stability and agreement.

After all, European feudalism was characterized by frequent wars over succession and the modern bureaucratic order has arranged things so that you don't have to murder the previous guy to become the head of your country.

In fact, bureaucratic systems and capitalist ones like certain kinds of stability, they tend not to like the idea that Ron DeSantis could hire a bunch of Flemish pikemen to lay siege to Disneyworld until they bow to his demands.

So the problem isn't instability, or disagreement, or religious unity, that's not the fundamental issue.

It's very easy, because I'm not sure how to express these concepts, to think that when I talk about it "mattering" what happens to somebody that I am articulating a desire for a kind of loving individualistic community which knows me personally and would support me in reaching my hopes and dreams.

But I really am not talking about that, I'm talking about a society in which certain people (and quite possibly institutions or ideas?) are not understood as fungible with... well, with anything.

If I am the king and you hate my policies and murder me, you are expressing the kind of "mattering" that I am talking about.

Now, I don't want to be murdered by jealous political rivals, so you aren't, like, helping me by having some guy knife me in the gut or feed me poison.

Rather, you need to kill me because I, as an individual, am inseperable from my role as King. To do something to the king is to do it to Morlock-Holmes; to be Morlock-Holmes is to have a claim on kingship.

I cannot simply be replaced with an equivalent King unit.

In the modern capitalist, bureaucratic world order, this is becoming increasingly difficult to conceive of.

To the extent that I matter it is because as part of a demographic, or because I have something of value (Say, my labor) that I can sell on the open market.

Because my social value to my job is based on selling my labor, my relationship with my employer is contingent on whether or not the price of buying my labor allows me to make a living and my employer to make a profit.

But this doesn't just make my relationship contingent; it makes me part of a group of essentially fungible laborers. There is no particular reason why I should be at one job rather than another, and no particular reason why my employer should keep me around rather than an equally skilled laborer.

There is no answer to the question, "How do I differ from a different person with equal skill at this job" and there can't be an answer.

This is not how high control groups function. If you give them your two weeks notice they don't go, "Well, we're sad to see you go but we wish you luck in your future endeavors" and then turn around and start putting out want ads for applicants with a bachelors degree and at least two years of experience with head shaving and haunted stares.

No, they really put a ton of effort into keeping you in the cult because you are not fungible with anybody else. You cannot be replaced with another cultist, but rather, you specifically being in the cult is the important goal, as opposed to having a certain number of people in the cult.

In the cult, in benign religions, in the military and the caste system those two goals can be distinguished; in the contemporary job market only the second one can make sense.

In fact, as we've moved through the 20th century and on to the 21st it has become more and more difficult to conceptualize how the first goal could ever make sense in any setting. It has become self-evidently absurd and impossible (And therefore has been replaced and confused with individualist ideologies* and authoritarian ideologies).

I suspect that the "enchantment" people are talking about cannot coexist with a commitment to the fungibility of people and ideas.

And to be super clear about it, this is why I am incredibly skeptical of the idea that modern trads can actually bring back any kind of "enchantment" because for the most part all of them are deeply committed to capitalist markets and, even more importantly than that, to fungibility as a necessary and inevitable world-view.

"Capitalism, but your boss can fire you if you don't pretend to be Catholic" cannot solve the issue that I think I see here, I hope that's very clear.

@collapsedsquid if you're interested

*The problem with floating these ideologies as a solution to disenchantment is that they also struggle with bureaucratic and capitalist notions of fungibility. It is important that you, as an individual, should become a self-actualized person who succeeds at their dreams. But obviously we can't justify spending money on you specifically; after all that guy over there also needs to become self-actualized and succeed at his dreams so why on earth should I privilege you over him? Buying bulk malarial nets will maximize utility far more efficiently than whatever it is you were asking for.

#philosophy #modernity #traditionalism

[msunitedstatesjames]

I felt a little bit bittersweet when this came in the mail the other day.

I came a little late to the Terry Pratchett fandom.

I first read one his books (Nation) probably around 2008 or 2009, when I was still in high school and saw it on the new YA shelf at my local library. I remember seeing his name on the cover and seeing that he was a "bestselling author," which apparently impressed me at the time, so I picked it up. I do remember liking it overall, though when I look back I have a feeling that I thought it was a little odd, and I didn't feel the distinct need to go out and search for his other works. Being a teen is weird, I was still developing my sense of humor and analysis skills and all that, so, like many books, I really should reread it now that I'm an adult. At the very least, it left some kind of an impression on me, because at the time I was in the reading frenzy of a girl who would shortly become an English major and eventually an English teacher. I've forgotten a lot of the titles and authors I read in those years, but for some reason I never forgot that one.

I really didn't think much more about Terry Pratchett for years. I remember seeing the news when he passed away, and I was like, "Oh, yeah, he's the guy that wrote Nation." But I'm an American, and though he clearly has lots of fans here, he didn't seem to have the kind of widespread devotion that he had overseas, so I don't think I realized until then that Terry had a hugely devoted fan base. I kept seeing more and more articles and posts about him, and I read some, and I remember thinking, "Wow, this really sucks. This guy was really loved. Maybe I'll have to look at more of his work some time." But at the time I was in grad school, and I was starting my career, and I didn't have time to read for fun as much as I had a few years before.

Another few years later, in my mid-twenties, I joined a couple of Facebook groups devoted to fantasy and sci-fi. I was still transitioning from reading lots of YA fantasy and sci-fi to more "adult" market fantasy and sci-fi, and I joined the groups to get some different recommendations. Terry Pratchett was one of those names that kept coming up over and over. When people asked about humorous books he was always mentioned, when people asked for all time favorite authors he was a popular choice, when people asked for favorite quotes his words featured prominently, when people asked for long series recommendations he was obviously recommended, when people argued about which of the Big 3 Terrys of fantasy were the best, he always won. You get the picture. And again I thought about reading more of his work, but I still didn't.

Finally, Good Omens season 1 came out. It must have been marketed pretty successfully because I really wasn't seeking it out. I love fantasy, but I've never really cared for the whole 'angels and demons' sub-genre. I didn't really have an opinion on David Tennant or Michael Sheen at this point (don't come at me, Tumblr), and I'd read a few Neil Gaiman books and enjoyed them, but I wouldn't have gone around shouting about him in the streets or anything (still don't come at me, Tumblr). But I'd seen the book recommended in my Facebook groups, and I kept seeing trailers for it and thinking it looked entertaining, so I decided to do what any book-snob English teacher would do and read the book before I watched the show. That didn't last very long, because I loved the book so much from page one that I immediately wanted to watch the show and see if it could possibly live up to the book. But I also didn't want to spoil the ending of the book, so I ended up having a pretty weird but ultimately interesting experience with Good Omens, where I would read a chunk of the book, then watch an episode of the show, hoping it would cover the chunk I'd just finished reading. It was awesome, and I'd go back and do it the same way all over again if I had the chance.

And Good Omens acheived what the rest of the world hadn't been able to do, which was convince me to read more Terry Pratchett. I did what everyone in my fantasy groups told me not to do, and decided to read Discworld in publication order. I loved book one so much that I couldn't believe it when everyone said it was perhaps the weakest book in the series, so I did what I almost never do and read eleven books by the same author over the course of the year. Since then, I've slowed down to only reading about four of his books a year, but I almost never read more than two books in a year from any other given author, so it's still pretty impressive. I've loved every one of them. I love the dry sense of humor, and the subtle and not so subtle social commentary, and every time I read one of his books I just think, "this dude must have been so intelligent." He parodies and satirizes everything, which is hard to do if you don't have a good understanding of the thing you're parodying first. This dude's over here making up parody fantasy versions of physics concepts, and I'm like, "this probably makes sense to a person who actually knows about science."

Anyway, he's now my second most read author (and he will be my most read author by this time next year), and he's become one of my go to authors when people ask me for my favorite writers. And the Good Omens fandom has become my favorite fandom ever since season 1 of the show came out.

I've been so grateful for rediscovering Terry Pratchett, but it all makes me a little sad, too. It makes me wish I'd read more of his work earlier. It would have been so cool to be a part of his fandom when there were still Discworld books coming out, and the fandom was full of nothing but hope and excitement for future books. It's sad to know that eventually I'll have read all of his books, and there won't be any new ones for me to pick up. I know I can always reread, but it'll still be sad. I'm happy at least that there are still so many cool people working on continuing his legacy in a variety of ways.

So, when I heard A Stroke of the Pen was coming out, probably late this past summer, I immediately knew I wanted it. At first, I thought it'd be a good book to put on my Christmas list. (Everyone in my family pretty much knows if they're stuck on what to buy me, books are always a win.) But then I thought about it, and I realized it would almost certainly be the only Terry Pratchett book I'd ever be able to say I bought when it was new. (Except the graphic novel version of Good Omens, which I'm eagerly anticipating.) So, I preordered it instead of waiting.

I probably won't read it anytime soon. I opened it up and read Neil Gaiman's foreword, and it made me tear up a little, so I set it aside, just like I did with Terry's biography when I got that for Christmas last year. But even though it's not the next Terry Pratchett book on my list, it's nice to know there will be another one waiting for me when I'm ready for it.

#terry pratchett #gnu terry pratchett #a stroke of the pen #discworld #books

[bluebear-d]

Five act structure: reason to hope

I don't usually make posts on Tumblr, but i think after st4 maybe i should.

I agree with a lot of criticism for s4 and share everyone's pain. Hope all of you are well or at least getting there.

But here's something I've been thinking, so read on if you want to get another perspective or a little bit of hope in the magic of storytelling.

If the Duffers knew for awhile that they would have 5 seasons, they might have planned s4-5 together, a two-parter of sorts. So the reason s4 feels incomplete is because it is! And the reason it doesn't offer all the things the marketing implied is because those were meant for s5.

I think the Duffers are playing the long game using the 5 act structure. You can read about it on the internet, for example here is a good general article which i'm gonna quote a little.

I want to talk specifically about the final suspense, which is an important narrative tool occurring in act 4.

In 5 act structure, the forth act is where everything that can go wrong, does. It's the darkest before the dawn part, the part where we, along with the characters, lose all hope for things to end well.

It's like Sam's speech in The two towers: "how could the end be happy. How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad happened. But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer."

I think there's reason to assume this is the structure the Duffers are planning.

First of all, the show is 5 seasons long. What better way to structure it than with five acts?

Secondly, other seasons seem to fall neatly into this structure.

For example, s3:

If we go by this structure and try to imagine what s5 might look like, it also fits perfectly:

Sound familiar? After the brutal and incomplete s4?

So if we assume Stranger Things is supposed to have this structure (which i think is reasonable and highly probable), then s4 is exactly the season where everything is so wrong it seems to never be right again.

But a new dawn is just around the corner.

A new hope if you will.

So take heart.

p.s. I know we've waited three years for this and didn't get much of anything resolved. I know we're all having trust issues right now irt the Duffers' plan and writing, but i'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. We've loved this show for so long, it gave us a lot, we put so much passion, effort, skill and love into it that i think it's not entirely fair to anyone to just abandon all hope and judge an unfinished show.

We're all hurt and frustrated right now, and afraid to be hurt again in two years. But hope is hardly a bad thing. Remember: the story is not over yet, and some wonderful storytelling just might be still happening.

p.p.s. With byler and Robin x Vicky and Will's potential coming out it's also possible that it's just not allowed to make any of that explicit until well into s5. It can be part of the deal with netflix or something, for fear that anything more than "up to interpretation" will cost the platform a chunk of its viewership.

It's a sad possiblity to consider, but I'm speaking from experiences with other shows and fandoms.

Just as an example: the creators of Steven Universe faught tooth and nail for a lesbian wedding and a kiss on screen, WON THIS, but immediately got cancelled and faught some more for additional several episodes to conclude the series.

Obviously, they aren't the same shows, I'm not saying it's the same situation.

But stuff like this still happens, unfortunately.

#byler #stranger things 4 #stranger things

[randomnameless]

The phrase “we have been aware of the high levels of competency from KT's writers, especially with their work for 3H” is worrying; i'm not going to shit-talk them just for thinking that 3H has a good story, especially when someone's standards for what makes a story good or not is subjective and could be different from ours, but KT's story-telling skills are never going to improve if people keep only telling them that Three Houses' deeply-flawed story was actually a narrative masterpiece, instead of a self-contradicting mess with plot points it introduces solely as gotchas and has no intention of ever following up on in any meaningful way, characters getting assassinated left and right to try and argue that female Ashnard might actually be right and not so different from them in terms of morality and goals (while they're in the middle of fighting for their lives and watching their friends die in battle because she decided to invade their home unprovoked and solely for a landgrab), and an over-powered villain group that should have ended the story long before it even started because the writers decided to give them a stockpile of magic nukes they can launch at anywhere in the world, which was also introduced solely for shock value and without them realizing how much of the story is ruined by making it so that the villains who want to kill everyone and take over the world can just nuke anyone they want (that isn't inside Garreg Mach when they launch it) with no consequences.

I just don't like what it means for the future of FE stories if the worst story in the series keeps getting praised as one of the best, even by separate developers, is all.

Wait and see anon!

For what it's worth, while Engage's sales are apparently not as stellar as Houses in the same timeframe (like House after month 1 and Engage after month 1?), Nopes totally crashed.

Amazon isn't the only market in the world, but in some places in the world (tfw not for amazon.fr) Nopes is now sold at around 15 bucks, which is ridiculous considering older games released on consoles still being in circulation are more expensive than this thing that is barely 1 year old(even the first FEW?).

Also, Engage was supposed to have been released earlier but Covid and Houses being released later than planned meant it was delayed, but Engage was supposed to be Fodlan's antithesis, at least writing wise - you'd think IS would have tried to retrofit more Fodlan themes (maybe more uwu maybe some villains aren't BaD and earl grey because they luf u) but they didn't.

Imo, fwiw, while KT apparently loved how Fodlan was received, IS is aghast and doesn't want to touch it within a 10 meters radius, only if it means selling units in FEH and even there, they sometimes retcon Fodlan units (hello F!Billy/Sothis) or challenge them in various FB (Brave!Supreme Leader, but also in the most recent one, Sylvain harping on his Crust being BaD...) clearly showing how they don't really want to follow KT's direction regarding those units - at times, it's almost as if the CoS receives more development in Heroes than in both Fodlan games!

So I'd like to see what IS has in store for the next FE games (or the next non remake FE game), even if in my opinion, given how Heroes has to retcon/finish the writing (Mercedes reveals more about her Adrestian family in FEH than in two of her games!) for characters just to sell them in the gacha game ffs, speaks volumes on what they think of Fodlan's writing.

On top of that, FE16 was the first game where people received surveys/mails from Nintendo/IS asking them if they understood the game... - so despite Fodlan selling well (better than expected?), imo it's clear the writing isn't to praise, at least for IS, and they don't want anything to do with it (Nopes' DLC was scrapped, when shiny!Rhea's sprite was datamined, so either they made an useless sprite, either this sprite might have been used in a future DLC?)

They can still butcher a future remake (plz no jugdral) by adding pointless supports between units and trying to uwu more than needed the red emperor - or add an OC waifu du jour who will sell merchs and try to uwu her if she is on the side of the red emperor - but I feel like we will see where they will go with a brand new game (since Heroes's writing is... as consistent as a fog and basically circles around "women sad'n'lonely*, men evyl", female playable OC simps after the avatar and is useless in the resolution of the plot because Alfonse will finally find a mc guffin way to defeat the villain of the year).

*i truly hope Vero isn't any indication to what the writing of the future games will be, like heavy retcons from her first apparition to "i was brainwashed and akshually everyone supports me from my home even if i send them to death against askr because the voice in my head told me to do it" because that'd suck, but vero is a young woman, thus she could be monetised for alts, figurines and even DLC content in a main game!

#anon #replies #fwiw even the main redshit subs seems to be tired of the 'uwu stellar writing uwu' #i mean some people on the main sub #and call out the crap writting and incoherent plot points #I'm not joking about the CoS or at least Nabateans lol #they receive more love in FEH than in both games combined #especially Rhea which makes me happy #and billy too! #also lol@the shitstorm when Cyril was released #bcs some people didn't get the memo that Gonerils had him work without being fed in the main games #but here FEH puts it in your face through his own lines and Sharena's description #sure it's not too much because it's FEH and Cyril is a grail unit thus didn't get any FB #but it's better than the nothing he got in Nopes #and the bonkers supports and endings he can have in Houses that completely elude the topic #even Hubert in his support comments on how Adrestian Nobles treated Petra when she was brought to Adrestia #but in Cyril's support it's never mentionned he's just insulted and that's it #no one mentions how that certain house has almyran servants they forgot to feed #top tier writing uwu or is it just not throwing dirt on a waifu who can sell alts? #character rant #FE16