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blueikeproductions · 4 months

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So let’s talk Bakugan!

Boy what an odd ball of the Mon genre. I was in college when Battle Brawlers came out, but Mon Series are my jam so I’m obligated to still tune in to see what it was like.

Over the years in its so far three generations, it’s… pretty much the left over scraps of its contemporaries. G1 was Pokémon, Digimon, and Yu-Gi-Oh! smooshed together, and as it went along it felt like it skewed more towards Digimon and Zatch Bell, largely abandoning the Yu-Gi-Oh! flavor in exchange for Super Robot style evil empires. (I thought it was also funny that New Vestroia seemed to copy Beyblade’s Cyber Bit-Beast concept with the Mechanical Bakugan, which comes full circle with G3 Bakugan toys mimicking Beyblade with its new weapon gimmick.) The creature designs came off as as a mix of Digimon and Yugi, but having what I can best describe is a western monster flair that I think helped it stand out a bit more, and like Digimon, leaned into an anything goes approach from mecha, knights, Sentai aliens, dinosaurs and utter nonsense creatures like Goblinball and Wontu. G2 meanwhile asks the question “What if we smooshed Pokemon and Transformers together?” (Funnily enough, RiD15 had its own Bakugan adjacent gimmick in Cyclone Mini-Cons prior to release). Its creature design felt a bit conflicted. Initially all Bakugan were designed to appear fully mechanical, with a Bayformers/Aligned flair. However as the series went along, the purely mechanical aesthetic was dropped in favor of sleeker armored looks, that felt restricted as all the Bakugan were largely just giant animal robot. You had a few unique designs like Ryerazu, Spartillion, Auratoa, and several mishmash generics, but they felt too far between in favor of stuff like giant cat or giant shark.

G3 design wise seems to instead be a hybrid of its previous generations. The Bakugan largely return to being primarily organic beings as they were in G1, but largely sticking to the giant animal motif of G2. However because they’re not hindered by the mecha style, the designs feel more fresh and nostalgic, now closer to designs like Tigrara and Preyas again. The main draw back is the Bakugan are still rendered in 3D, so the more organic designs don’t work well in that style as they did for the purely mechanical ones. Also like G2, the generic designs are also surprisingly charming, and I like them a little more than the main Bakugan like the dolphin man, ankylosaurus, a Leomon looking fellow and some assorted dinos and dragons.

Bakugan, in its three major generations, have generally followed some general blueprints: the Bakugan are divided in color coordinated factions, the main villains are either evil Bakugan and/or corrupt human(oids), with most importantly of all: the leads are almost always new iterations of Dan & Drago. This consistency of using Dan and Drago is honestly kind of impressive, even though its technically different characters each time, but it's funny to me that in an era where Ash has been (for the time being) retired, Bakugan still relies on Dan, Digimon brought back Tai and now Davis, and Yokai Watch brought back Nate after experimenting with using his future children. Whether that remains in a potential 4th generation of Bakugan remains to be seen though...

The different factions concept is both interesting and kind of frustrating about Bakugan. A big appeal for Pokemon and Digimon is having these profiles that expand on what each creature does and what its like, allowing you to pick and choose some favorites based on that if need be. Bakugan... doesn't seem to have that for whatever reason, and I never understood why. Most guidebooks are largely reliant on what a specific species of Bakugan has done in the anime, with G2 being the most egregious, as the profiles are extremely limited and incomplete due to Battle Planet not even being half way done when the book was made. I tend to suspect part of this was due to the Elemental Attribute/Factions concept, as many Bakugan are quite literally a horse of a different color in the same species, and it was probably seen as simpler not to write how a Ventus Tigrara is different from a Subterra Tigrara. Not helped are characters like Preyas and Elfin, who are depicted as chameleons, who can freely change their Attribute colors, and in Elfin's case in particular, she gains a new design to correspond to each type, despite not changing personality (at least that I recall). It might actually have been fun to see different Dragonoids similarly have different designs based on attributes, like a Ventus Drago is more bird like, an Aquos Drago's wings are more like fins, just small things.... But part of the toy lines appeal is just getting the same guy in different colors, so that probably wouldn't make sense to sculpt the toys like that.

While individual Bakugan don't really have that much lore, it is fascinating to see how Bakugan's lore has evolved in the different generations though. In G1, the Bakugan are monsters that came from another dimension, Vestroia, which was divided into different dimensional planes comprised of the different attributes. When Bakugan enter other worlds outside their own, they assume their ball forms, implying it's not something their race were capable of doing originally, as well as being only able to attack when partnered with other beings by using cards. After series villain Naga was stopped, and the Cores of Vestroia were restored, the dimension was reshaped into a proper planet called New Vestroia. On top of Bakugan coming to Earth via dimensional rifts, similar to how it works in Digimon, the Bakugan also fell to other dimensions, and bonded with the human analogs there in Vestal, Gundalia and Nethia, with it being revealed the Bakugan are descended from an ancient force in the G/N universe called Code Eve, with all Bakugan descended from primordial versions of Dragonoid and Dharak. Bakugan are divided into Pyrus, Haos, Aquos, Ventus, Subterra and Darkus types, referring to fire, holy light, water, wind, earth and darkness. Bakugan don't seem to have an active government or form of civilization in this universe, and like most instances in Digimon, just seem to do whatever they like. This presumably is just to make it easier for them to partner up to humans, since that's the focus, lol. It does appear Bakugan do just adapt to Earth, Vestal, and so on's various culture anyway. Bakugan are capable of Evolution, like Pokemon and Digimon, though its not as ... impressive. Evolution mostly seems limited to a slightly modified version of the base Bakugan, and usually doesn't seem to progress beyond this secondary form. Drago is the only one that constantly evolves into multiple forms, though esoteric means typically, but possibly also due his lineage with Genesis Dragonoid. Dharak similarly seems capable of multiple Evolutions, though he's the only one to Evolve into a completely separate creature as Razinoid via other means. A form of Pseudo Evolution via Fusion in Mechtanium Surge is introduced, but it's not clear if all Bakugan are capable of doing this. While Bakugan don't appear to have their own technology, they make use of advanced Vestal and Gundalian technology to use special battle suits and vehicles suited to themselves. While primarily children are depicted as using Bakugan, older teens and adults are capable of bonding and using them no issue.

G2 meanwhile goes its own direction, but borrows fairly heavily from its predecessor.

Here, Bakugan are instead divided into Pyrus, Haos, Aquos, Ventus, and Darkus, where they're governed by the divine Golden Bakugan. Subterra was apparently retired as a faction as it wasn't considered popular, so Ventus is reworked to be more nature themed to make up for Subterra's absence. Haos is apparently still themed around holy light, but it feels a bit... forced when the Golden Bakugan are this too.

The different factions are said to have not gotten along in the past, though this mostly only comes up in Armored Alliance through the ancient, Earth bound Bakugan, as the present day Bakugan don't seem to have any beef with each other. Like G1, the planet is connected to special Cores that help keep Vestroia going. Somewhat confusingly, due to later retcons, its stated that Bakugan have a symbiotic relationship with their home planet, that requires them to constantly battle to give off the necessary energy to fuel the planet. Later on, it seems this isn't really the case anymore... Also, the Bakugan also benefit to this energy exchange, which made me think they don't require food like we do, but apparently Ventus Bakugan are the farmers, so they apparently do require food...? It's one of those world building things I never quite got. Meanwhile Bakugan naturally can assume ball form here as part of their evolution, so much so, the ancient Geogan are apparently primordial Bakugan specimens that assumed different shapes prior to the evolution to sphere forms. The series seems to be copying G1's idea that Bakugan only assume their ball forms while on other planets, but it appears to be more a form of convenience the Bakugan can control, as their giant forms aren't otherwise compatible with Earth. The aforementioned Cores were tampered with by the first antagonist, Tiko, who seems to be the stand in for Naga, creating a chain of events that see the Bakugan come to Earth similar to G1, only it results in Vestroia fusing with Earth, creating a sort of inner world concept where Bakugan can live freely within Vestroia, but through unspecified means, Bakugan will periodically be "born" on Earth, emerging in ball form via liquid sacks and bond with humans. Unlike G1, Bakugan specifically bond with children, but teenagers and adults aren't able to readily bond with Bakugan without using special Devices. It's not... really explained super well why this is that I recall, but its one of G2's most consistent ideas that lasts until the series finale. Bakugan aren't entirely welcomed by most of humanity, with several companies like AAAnimous capturing Bakugan and brainwashing them into obedience using mind control devices, though by Armored Alliance things stabilize, but Geogan Rising onward sees several wild Bakugan not happy at how humans treated them...

Bakugan are capable of Evolution here also, and like G1, it's mostly limited to a slightly modified version of the base form, with Drago and opposite Nillious being the only ones who can evolve into multiple stages at first. Evolution is apparently something not all Bakugan can accomplish and later on, Evolution was removed entirely due to Vestroia channeling the power post Tiko into special battle gear and fusion based abilities. Confusingly, Evolution returns anyway, where Bakugan can assume special speed and strength forms this time. Even more confusingly, it appears Evolution technically still happens in the five series of G2, as the main Bakugan assume different default forms in each series, with Nillious confusingly having Evolved into a robust, three headed centaur like dragon... only to revert back into his original bipedal two headed stage with no explanation after that. Evolution wasn't explained well at all here, though it was clarified only specific Bakugan are capable of fusion, and is otherwise something they can't typically do.

One detail I liked is the G2 Bakugan can apparently assume ball form to travel in space, which feels like a reference to the asteroid mode Bayverse Transformers assumed in earlier material. In this universe, Bakugan made contact with Earth in its prehistory, with some Bakugan apparently surviving long enough to interact with early man, as the present day uncovered artifacts related to the Bakugan made by humans. That said, Bakugan are apparently immortal to some extent, as fossilized Bakugan can be easily revived, while the Geogan apparently just exist in their own separate plane and can be summoned at will. Similarly, presumably to soften things for younger children at the time, villainous Bakugan don't die, when they technically should like Tiko, with Hanoj evidently being so absurdly powerful, he can't be killed or knocked into "stasis", and instead has to be sealed away in a nearby planetoid. Bakugan appear to have their own devolved civilization, something that was rather vague in G1, but here the Bakugan have various villages and cities that have a rustic RPG vibe I kinda dig. Unlike G1, where Bakugan can survive on other planets just fine, G2 era Bakugan are largely only able to survive on Earth due to their symbiotic ties to Vestroia, and once Vestroia is separated and becomes its own planet again, the Bakugan can't live on Earth anymore, and can only visit periodically in short visits. Interestingly, the ancient Bakugan on prehistoric Earth could survive just fine, but after stopping an asteroid collision, it still caused a shift in the environment that forced most Bakugan into stasis and later fossilization.

G3 is still going as of typing, but it takes the biggest departure, but replacing Elemental Factions with Clans. This instead refers to a Bakugan's species with Dragons, Beasts, Dinosaurs, Birds, Bugs and Aquatic types. Beasts seem to be the spiritual successor to Subterra, with Haos and Darkus being removed entirely. Somewhat confusingly, the Clans aren't really bound by specific colors, so Bakugan still come in Pyrus, Haos, Aquos, Ventus, Darkus, Subterra type colors, which makes me wonder if in some early stage of development, Bakugan were meant to still be divided into Attributes, but were segregated into Clans based on what animal they were, but the concept was dropped. Like G2, the Bakugan are space aliens again, but instead hail from the Vestroian System, which includes planets each Clan is native to: a planet of Dragons, a planet of Birds, etc. And like the South Park joke, all these different clans are stuck on Earth and forced to cohabitate. Unlike previous series, these Bakugan REALLY don't get along with each other, and largely stick with their own kind. Only the Misfit clan sees various Bakugan from other clans team up and become friends alongside their human partners.

In this version of events, the Bakugan are at war with each other, similar to the Transformers, with the opposing leaders being Dragonoid who assumes an Optimus Prime like role, while Nillious is... well he's supposed to be Megatron, but his personality and mannerisms evoke Starscream pretty heavily. Very little of Vestroian culture is seen, but the Bakugan do possess technology of their own that they use to fight each other. This being G3's version of battle gear, but this gear also doubles as a form of Evolution, with the Bakugan functionally Armor Digivolving. While Bakugan can naturally assume ball form like G2, they don't usually STAY in this form while on Earth, with the new idea being Bakugan base forms are roughly human sized, allowing them to interact with our planet better. This leads to humorous scenarios of them using public transportation and holding jobs when not with their human partners, making them more independent than they've usually been. They can still assume giant "evolved" forms, which seems to be treated as an ability Bakugan can't normally do until they partnered with humans, referencing older G1 concepts. Interestingly, Bakugan and humans are shown to synch upon meeting, with glowing eyes sealing a bond, something older series didn't do, which I find cool. G3 overall seems to be a more revised version of G2, with a slightly more engaging story, showing the Bakugan being embraced by humans, but Brawls being forced to go underground due to laws that restrict them. One company does capture and experiment on Bakugan however, but this doesn't appear to be as big of a problem this time, with humans and Bakugan getting along fine otherwise... However....

Most of Bakugan's villains tend to cycle from Evil Bakugan to Evil Human and so on. G2 largely operated on Evil Bakugan being the main villains, with humans being secondary when applicable. Usually a rival or main villain would be a teenager wearing a mask, starting with Masquerade, continuing with Spectra and later Magnus. G3's main villain revives it once more, with this teenager out for revenge against the Bakugan, as their sudden appearance caused the death of his parents. Using his parents' inventions, he created a G2 style control Device to brainwash Bakugan into a frenzy to initially frame them as a threat, but it later evolved into a desire to control them to take over the Earth in order to "set things right", due to the bad luck he perceived his family having. It's still a pretty unique take all things considered, and G3, if nothing else, has a better balance of humor and stakes, where as G2 often struggled with that post Battle Planet for some reason. Executive meddling I wager. I also adore that the Bakugan actually get to be characters in G3 again, as a major problem in G2 is most Bakugan didn't really get to talk or do much. Trox and Hydrous in particular suffered this, which to my surprise, G3 Trox not only gets proper dialogue, he has a very fun personality, sort of a eager beaver tourist Texan with nerdy interests that I really dig. Same with Nillious, though I admit I'm not sure if making him the slightly more competent Starscream works for him, but I still enjoy this direction. G3 is also interesting in that people seems to largely be on board with the anime, but the toys this time around are seen as a downgrade. The Beyblade style gimmick of the toys isn't really communicated at all in the show, with it being being questioned why it just wasn't more clip on G1 and G2 like Battle/Baku-Gear instead. The toys have a new phase coming out soon that seems to be another form of Evolution, as the package art shows Drago assuming a four legged beastial form, but how that works for the anime has yet to be seen. The toy sales of G3 aren't going so hot either, but as the series seems to have a cliffhanger atm, I hope the anime and toys aren't canceled before it gets properly resolved... Still, I'm not sure if we'll get a G4 atm unless the toy sales turn around, but I hope we get one, because the evolution of Bakugan as a series continues to fascinate me on how they spin it each time, despite still being the odd cousin of its Pokemon and Digimon relatives.

#bakugan #bakugan battle brawlers #bakugan battle planet #bakugan g3 #blueike #blueike productions

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cyberdragoninfinity · 4 months

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I'd love to know what the other Barians are up to in the college AU!

YESSS like i said when i was talkin about Vector, I rly wanna properly draw all these guys sometime this year, theyve been bumping around my brain for Months now. some tidbits about the other guys:

Shark/Nasch: MISTAH TRANS MASC HE/THEY OF ALL TIME. Has a really dense Carrd covered in sea predator gifs and dA stamps. I thiiink I assigned him Pursuing a Marine Biology degree, naturally--he spends a lot of time at the aquarium wishing he worked there (he works at a country club currently. he drives golf carts to go pick up errant golf balls. his little nametag says 'Reginald'.) Does really well in his classes but is becoming. a Little Bit Burned Out trying to deal with them And work And whatever bullshit his current and ex-roommates are entangling him in. Vector stole his Ikea blahaj plush and tied it to a ceiling fan. Frequents Not-Lawrence State University's esteemed Smogon Club (usually because Yuma begs and begs for him to come,) and runs a nasty Walking Wake led Monotype team.

Rio: I NEED TO DECIDE ON HER MAJOR WAHHH Atmospheric Science would be kind of insane... invested interest in meteorology and winter events. I know she's dabbled in a bunch of campus sports and ice skates at a very skilled level, probably is banking on maybe doing that professionally if she can qualify. She's also buddies with Alexis! :3 Works at a bougie gelato place not far from the country club Shark works at so sometimes she will come bother him on her break. Has a modest interest in birding and sometimes meets up with the town Birding Group. All in all just likes being active and stylish and is closing in on a date with Miss Anna Kaboom~ lord dont get me started on butchfemme annario i aint got no brakes

Girag and Alito: THE BESTIES. THE ROOMIES OF ALL TIME. They actually live in the same apartment complex as Primo and Claus so they hang out and shoot the shit sometimes. Alito I feel is majoring in something like English, he's not super attached to it, what he really is banking on is a boxing career (whether or not that pans out for him remains to be seen.) He goes and spars at a local gym frequently! Girag is a history major with a focus on feudal Japan and he's also a furry. The boys' r/malelivingspaces ass apartment is a haven for the other Emperors if they dont want to be in the Nightmare House for a hot minute. Don't mind the giant knockoff red panda squishmallow taking up half their couch. Also Ponta is still there he's still a little spirit guy that Girag is nebulously aware of but Alito isn't.

Mizar: OH MIZAR..... one of my favorite zexals in the College AUverse tbh. my failwoman. Tentatively out transfem overdramatic fake blond trying out she/they pronouns for the first time. Has a big expensive gaming desktop that lights up (it looks vaguely like Tachyon Dragon lol) and uses it primarily to get into heated furry drama online and write extensive papers and lab reports for her Physics degree, usually while under some degree of white knuckle meltdown stress. She and Dumon were dating for a while but broke up and truth be told Mizar's still got a couple hangups about it. Gets into a LONG, STUPID beef with Kite over their fursona designs "being too similar" that culminates in them having a brawl on the roof of a hotel mid furry-convention. Yes they were both in fursuits. No you can't tell anyone you saw Kite in a fursuit keep you voice down shh!!!!!!! They end up having some kind of t4t qpr-ish situationship i think. not avoiding the mizakai allegations i fear HDFHSFGF

Dumon: WHO UP STUDYING THEY MEDIEVAL TEXTS. god. I love college AU Dumon. little library dyke. dweeb he/him butch kind of sort of dating clark's Paula From Earthbound and they are having In Depth discussions about a podcast they just listened to. Medieval lit major who knows more about knights than you ever will in your entire life. He was born in Utah. Organizes the finances of the Barian Rental House and takes it all dead seriously and Vector still owes like three months of back rent and he kind of wants to strangle him over it. Type of guy who spends all day at the campus coffee shop nursing the same matcha latte for five hours. Mizar is his best friend and they still hang out post-break up and they're both just kind of constantly putting up with Vector's bullshit. i mean all the Barians are but STILL.

Shark, Rio, Dumon, and Vector also all have the distinction of having known each other when they were kids, before they all moved off on their separate ways (until reconnecting in college) As you can imagine, Vector and Shark's playground wars would get. Violent. 🥴 Dumon has had a bit of a crush on Shark since they met but has absolutely never disclosed this. Because I think it is funny.

The funniest detail about them as a whole in college AU to me is theyre all transfer students from NLSU's sister-campus in Barian, Indiana. WOE! Midwestern be upon ye! And also the previously mentioned nightmare queer housing situation they live in under Don Thousand The Dogshit Landlord (or, well, at this point it's just Mizar, Dumon, and the Kastle twins living there. The situation has improved Somewhat after Vector got kicked out HHDFDF he still loves fucking with all of them though in true 🥕 fashion)

#DONT MIND THE RAMBLE THEYRE ALL VERY LOOSEY GOOSEY THOUGHTS waauughh i wanna draw themmm #also yeah alito n girag do frequently hang out with their fucked up ex-roommate's cousin and they thought he was a vector psyop for a WHILE #ygo posting #ygo spinoff college au #asks #anonymous

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39oa · 6 months

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Talk Hockey To Me

tagged by beloved @txstars T__T <3 thank uuu as always

1. The thing that got you hooked on hockey

it's hard to pinpoint one moment because i honestly genuinely believe that it's the best sport in the world just in terms of pure mechanics and objective viewing enjoyment and live crowd atmosphere so it's easy to get hooked once you actually watch it... i've been on and off with hockey fandom itself and took a few years away from tumblr until recently but i'd say it was a mix of just watching games + discovering fandom spaces on tumblr/reading fic on ao3 + having a decent home team at the time + canadian tax etc.

2. Your first ever fandom friend

ngl i think most of the people i first met in hockey fandom eventually moved onto bts (or k-pop in general) lmfaooo but i met @regularseason when i was in 11th grade making connor mcdavid gifsets and now i am somehow 25 years old. we have seen so much on this vast internet together ❤️

3. The jersey you would most like to own

MOOTERUS BROS RISE UP ☝️🐮 absolutely my favorite jersey of all time i genuinely don't think any other design comes close. i also really love the stars rr 2.0 but i finally bit the bullet and bought it so that's out... another top contender would be sabres goathead 🐐 and maybe mighty ducks era pkariya, also i think the sharks rr 2.0 with the spin on the seals logo is sooo cute and i love the og sharks logo designed by terry smith as well... specifically the classic late 90s teal jersey. and my fav regular home jersey of current teams is the kraken :')

i have way too many opinions on jerseys honestly. if i could pick some from my warmup jersey database then i lovelovelove the habs 2023 bhm and pride designs (i have apparel for both of these...), the leafs indigenous celebration design, and the kraken women in hockey design. gorgeous girls!!!!!

4. YOUR player (you only get ONE so choose wisely)

:saluting_face: there is only one guy for me... jr21! (real talk like a big part of why i got into the stars and came back to sports tumblr was because of him despite having 0 geographical ties to texas LOL. admittedly there was some superficiality involved at first in seeing an asian guy achieve top-line star status against the restrictive pains of bones hockey but then i was like oh your game is actually efficient and understated as hell? and it kind of spiraled out from there. my favorite deceptively abnormal "boring" guy!!!)

5. A pairing that deserves more fic

i will echo 2124 💚 but i am part of the problem for having 4 partial aus in one doc and not actually writing anything of substance for them... otherwise there are a ton of rarepairs i could argue in favor of but i feel like i'd sound insane. where is the otter/woll boston goaliefic... where is mitch/nrob with robo being vaguely horrified but trying to be supportive of his brother's poor decision making skills. where is my sabresfic and kidsline shenanigans in general......... also if we're going back to the stars then 2141 honestly have so much untapped potential wrt Why Are You Both So Weird Can You Please [Redacted] About It. but you get the gist i'm sure!!!

6. Your favourite on-ice moment

my memory does NOT go that far back. whatever is the most embarrassing thing to have ever happened to some guy i hate is good enough for me

THEN

link someone else's art/fic/etc that you love & think everyone should check out

immediately the first thing that came to mind is that i still think zoe's 2129 primer is one of the most fantastic and comprehensive labors of love this fandom has ever seen... truly one of the major backbones of starsblr. honestly despite hockey fandom not being quite what it used to be on here i think there are sooo so many great creators making stars content and i am immensely grateful to all the gifmakers + artists + writers who constantly feed me no matter what time of year it is!!! i'm kind of shy but you know who you are... TT__TT

AND

link something you made & are proud of & want people to see

\o/ i desperately do not like any of the things i make and i am already grateful to the people who have looked at my measly creations before so thank you!

tagging @regularseason @iamidentical @pupuhintz @slagkovsky @supersoftsports... apologies if you've already been tagged and no pressure as always but pls feel free to if you'd like ❤️

#t #long post

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zeldacd · 1 year

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Hi there!! Taking a chance to say that I love your art very much, your style is wonderful!

Talking about requests, I'm curious to see Ordovica's interaction with other characters or some fragments from her story (I love her design sm). She's a very interesting character to see more of! Or maybe you'd like to draw Link or Gan with some flowers?👀 (any idea by you)

HIII OMGG thank you so much!! That really means a lot to me!! Your art and ocs are wonderful as well ^w^

I'm also happy you like Ordovica, Zoras are my FAVORITE Zelda race I just think they're all soooooo gorgeous. (I like all the different games' designs but i think its obvious botw zoras are my favorite of all)

Ordovica is actually the Queen of my AU's Lake Zoras (I have river Zoras in my au as well so there's a bit of a distinction) and Prince Kaluga (pictured) is her son! He's a momma's boy but she just wants him to prove he can take place on the throne cause he has no ambition, he just kinda acts on whims. and is a bit spoiled lolol.

It might be somewhat clear by her appearance, but she is a Lich Queen. Despite being immortal she has a history of Hylians attempting to take her life lol. Obviously they were failed efforts and the only way to truly kill her is to destroy her soul gem, which is kept guarded deep beneath Zora's Domain.

Which i actually have an old concept drawing of! (and is my header on my theme)

So the entire lake is frozen for a majority of the year (only for 3 summer months is it thawed), but even so beneath the ice and further into the depths of the lake the temperature is warmer due to many hydrothermal vents (it makes many pretty frozen bubbles on the clear ice of the surface as well lol) The Zora's actually have a large portion of their kingdom underwater, so this is why I designed Ordovica and Kaluga both based on deep sea fish. (Which are a chimaera/ghost shark and an oarfish, respectively)

The Lake Zora Kingdom is also a very large kingdom, maybe even rivaling Hyrule kingdom in population bc its made up of multiple aquatic races and not just Lake Zoras (though they are the majority).

Anyways so Ordovica (and her son) historically have been very brutal rulers, the Lake Zora Kingdom and the Kingdom of Hyrule are not currently in good standing with one another (haven't been for centuries) so most Lake Zoras are hostile to humans. They can be very violent and scary if you cross them. And the mother/son duo in particular have no qualms about killing humans. Though Kaluga is a bit strange bc he doesn't harbor any hatred for humans in particular, he just has a violent nature.

Omg sorry to ramble but thank you for reading this far!!! and thank you so much for the ask/request!!!

#ask #cuterozhok #loz au #my au #tloz #loz #zelda #zora #zora oc #au lore #ordovica #kaluga

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onceuponalegendbg · 1 year

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Thoughts On Danganronpa Project: Eden’s Garden Fan Game

It’s genuinely so good so far guys. It’s incredible how much effort was put into this project, and how well it’s turning out so far. The potential for this project is ridiculous right now.

Damon Maitsu: Ultimate Debater - Snake. It’s so interesting that we’re basically playing as the Byakuya of this game. It doesn’t feel quite as antagonistic as Togami but there’s definitely some of the same leanings. At least as of right now. Damon kind of reminds me of Hajime, and how he acknowledged that even he wasn’t sure if he wouldn’t kill someone if he got desperate enough. He’s certainly arrogant and a bit hypocritical in that arrogance but I’m supposing that may be part of his development as a character. Either way, it’ll be an interesting perspective to play from.

Eva Tsunaka: Ultimate Liar - Crow. Ah, the enigma of this game for sure. So far I’m really enjoying her as a character and am very intrigued by the concept of having someone that you actually can’t tell if they’re lying or not. So far, Eva has been impressively unreadable while still coming off as having personality. In fact she’s actually a little sassy. Her and Damon also just bring up some excellent points in regards to Wolfie trying to rally the troops with a very... naive view of trust. Also, I just... really love her hair. The black giving way to the white tips.

Grace Madison: Ultimate Golfer - Rabbit. When I say my heart stopped when I thought we’d lost her already. I was having Mukuro flashbacks and I can’t even begin to describe the relief I felt when she didn’t end up shot. I think she might be my favorite of the cast so far. She’s definitely abrasive, no doubt about that but it feels different than it did with Miu or even Hiyoko. I can’t quite describe what it is, I just kind of find her funny. I just also have to admire the guts (insanity) it takes to just go up and beat the crap out of the cult leader dude that kidnapped you and a bunch of other Ultimates in order to get you play a killing game. Like, she actually was just gonna beat him down. You have to respect the guts.

Wolfgang Akire: Ultimate Lawyer - Sheep. Now time for the protagonist to our antagonist. On surface level, this guy seems pretty swell. There’s definitely some backstory trauma with how riled up he got during the Prologue Trial but overall, he seems to have a decent head on his shoulders. But again, that’s just a surface level read. Unfortunately for Wolfie, however; most of us are familiar with the idea of a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. Do I trust him? Not particularly, but I think he’ll make an excellent rival character if that’s indeed what they’re going for with him.

Toshiko Kayura: Ultimate Matchmaker - Flamingo. Who is this sassy, lost child? Like seriously, why is a 14 year old the Ultimate Matchmaker? Did she guess which contestant the Bachelor would choose 100% of the time or something? Anyway, I like her design but I also just.... really don’t have an actual opinion on her yet.

Eloise Taulner: Ultimate Fencer - Swan. Protective instincts are kicking in hard with this one which means she’s most likely going to die. She seems like a sweetheart, and that’s always dangerous in a game like this. Outside of that I don’t have a ton to say about her but I’m looking forward to learning more. After all, it’s only the beginning of the game.

Desmond Hall: Ultimate Marksman - Shark. He seems like a pretty chill dude, and I can see a lot of potential red herrings in regards to him and his skill during trials. I’d be surprised if he isn’t suspected in at least one trial.... until it actually turns out to be him. Dun dun duuuuun.

Ingrid Grimwall: Ultimate Blacksmith - Lion. Love her design. Another character I’m not particularly sure about. Again, seems like a big teddy bear but... there’s something that doesn’t quite sit right with me now that I’ve seen the whole prologue. I can’t put my finger on what it is. Also while the creators have said that they’re going to avoid the typical Danganronpa tropes (two murders in the third chapter, big muscle character dies in the fourth, etc) I will be shocked if she makes it to the end of the game.

Wenona: Ultimate Entrepreneur - Bear. She certainly has the arrogance to give our darling protag a run for his money, and I’m looking forward to the possible back and forth between her and Cassidy. Another gorgeous design, and I do really like her voice. I’m actually placing bets on her being a survivor. I’m fully prepared to be absolutely wrong. Really interested in what she brings to the game.

Cassidy Amber: Ultimate Pro Gamer - Spider. Speaking of our resident streamer, she’s another character that I like, but something about her is also just very off putting to me. I appreciate a good Ace Attorney reference though, so that does get her some bonus points. As stated earlier, can’t wait to see her butting heads with Wenona.

Ulysses Wilhelm: Ultimate Historian - Owl. As someone who loved history in school, is an avid note taker, and desperately just wishes she could spend most of the day napping.... this boy is such a mood. Outside of that, however.... He hasn’t really made that big of an impression on me. In fact, when listing characters earlier today, I completely forgot about him. So.... do with that what you will. I don’t hate him by any means but so far I’m a bit indifferent. Which is a shame because history class was usually one of the classes outside of English that I was actually very good in.

Mark “Mayhem” Berskii: Ultimate Music Producer - Alligator. This kid looks like he really needs to go to sleep and honestly... I feel that.

Diana Venicia: Ultimate Cosmetologist - Chameleon. Okay, so this girl is actually one of the ones I’m so overtly suspicious of for seemingly no reason. At first glance at least. Diana just seems so weirdly normal, if not a little shady. Like seriously, if you actually look at some of her dialogue, she has a tendency to sneak in these really backhanded comments. Keeping my eye on this girl.

Kai Monteago: Ultimate Influencer - Butterfly. ..... I do not trust this boy and his crocodile tears. Not in the slightest.

Jett Dawson: Ultimate Drag Racer - Coyote. Good boy. No way he’s making it to the end. Again, will be genuinely shocked if he does.

Jean Delamer: Ultimate Ship Captain - Dragon. His voice. Yes, sir. But also, he seems like he’ll be a bit of trouble. Similar to how Kaito kept getting himself into trouble by being a hot head. Really hoping he sticks around for a while, but knowing how these games go, I’ve probably just jinxed it.

Tozu: Game Master - Goat. I really like this change up from the main line games. Instead of a joyfully creepy teddy bear mascot we have the clearly unhinged cult leader. This should be interesting.

Mara: Enforcer - Panther. We know nothing about her and I already love her. Sure, she almost killed Grace but I’m willing to forgive that very minor transgression. I also just love that they actually gave her tone/muscle definition. Her design is seriously cool.

Outside of the characters I just really dig the art. It’s obviously replicating the usual Danganronpa style (masterfully I might add) but there’s also these really neat little extra touches. I especially love the art for the splash screen showing the Surviving Students countdown and can’t wait to see how they play with that.

I’m just genuinely so stoked to see where this all goes and can’t wait for Chapter 1′s release. At least they do have a lot of the assets finished. Most it now would probably be other splash screens, trial dynamics/mechanics, and ironing out some of the future story points.

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mageofcolors · 1 year

Text

ive been wanting to do a little sonic tag game so!!! anyone can do it, but i will tag a few people at the end (you dont have to do it if you dont want to either ofc!!)

the only rule is please repost, dont add on to this post pleaseee

QUESTIONS:

how long have you been into sonic? i was into it when i was like. 10??? i was hyperfixiating on it. and now 15 years later im back again babey

what was your first sonic game? the first one i played was a demo of sonic adventure on the dreamcast that my friend had. it only had the first sonic stage and we played it over and over and over

whats your favorite sonic game? sonic frontiers!!! i think the open world combined with the stages and the intermittent dialogue and stuff made it super enjoyable for me

whats your favorite sonic media (movies vs games vs shows vs comics, etc)? i'm a huge fan of the idw comics, it has some of my favorite writing in the franchisr

favorite character(s)? when i was little it was amy bc girl power, then as i realized i was trans it was tails bc gender. now it's those 2 + sonic + surge and kit

favorite character dynamic? sonic and tails!!!! best bros my beloveds!!!!!

favorite stage? i actually dont think i have one? ive been sitting on this and i cant think of one

favorite boss? im a big fan of shark in frontiers!!

favorite song? I'M HERE!!!! REACHING FAR ACROSS THESE NEW FRONTIERS!!!!!

favorite stage music? casino park!!! it's SO fun

do you have a sonic oc? if so tell us about them! when i was little i made sonic ocs but they were actually just recolors of amy fjgjjg now i have an oc though!!!! i dont have much of a story for them tho. but their name is star!!!!

(my art)

(art by candycatstuffs)

what character do you most relate to? oh this is a hard one. a mix of sonic, tangle, and silver i think?? i think the biggest trait is the positive attitude

which character design do you like the best? tails is amazing also chao!!! i love the chao so much in general

what are some headcanons you have about the characters/lore? the chao descend from chaos, who is rrlated to the koco. idk if this has been confirmed in any way but yeah

what are you looking forward to most in the franchise? all the new lore building and the lore team's writing for the new games aaaa

tagging!!! @aceshadow @squash-daisy @rouge-the-bat @candycatstuffs and anyone else who wants to do it!!!

#sonic frontiers spoilers #sonic frontiers #sorry for main tagging its for blacklist #donk post #donk text

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functionally-immortal · 1 year

Note

Talk about 5 or 8 or 39 (or all 3?)

(Link to the post.)

5: Talk about the best birthday you’ve had.

Ok, so first, I'm going to acknowledge the fact that I've had a lot of really shitty birthdays. There's a bit of shared pain here with anyone who has a birthday around a holiday. Mine falls near, and sometimes on, Memorial Day here in the US. As a kid, I had a lot of birthdays where only one or two people showed up (and some where no one showed) because everyone else's parents had opted to go camping or they were hosting a BBQ on the same day, etc.

Anyway! I have two "best" birthdays. The first was when I turned 18. I had finally admitted to my closest friends that 1) I have a history of bad birthdays where no one shows up and 2) no friend had ever thrown me a party. So my friends threw a pool party for me! Complete with smashing a slice of cake in my face!! LOL

We ate too much sugar, threw too many water balloons, and spent hours acting like little gremlins. There were 20+ people there, which was a far cry from the usual <3. I still think about that party nearly 20 years later, despite no longer being friends with any of those people anymore. (Some times when you grow up, you grow too different to stay friends. Still glad to have known them when I did.)

The second one was just this year, where I took myself to Disney for the first time ever. I had always wanted to go, but always found myself prioritizing other goals. I finally decided to commit, and went for a weekend at the beginning of May. The weather wasn't too miserably hot yet, and spring break was long gone, so it wasn't too horribly crowded either. Every ride and show blew me away with the level of detail, and I finally got to meet some princesses! It was an exhausting but amazing time.

8: Talk about the thing you are most proud of.

Ok, so the real answer here is "going to therapy", but that's boring. So let's talk about the time I got to work on theming for a ride/show at Universal Studios Orlando!

A little over a decade ago, I was employed at a shop that did "scenic design" - if you've gone to a mini golf place that was all decorated top to bottom with the same theme, or one of those restaurants that makes you feel like you've stepped into another time and place, or if you've been to Disney or Universal Studios, things like that - there are shops and studios that make all that theming stuff happen. I worked at one. I was a composite artist which means I worked with fiberglass. (I also did paint, metalworking, and woodworking, but my primary assignment was composite artistry.)

So we get a contract for a new Universal Studios attraction called Disaster Studios, which is a show/ride that showcases how special effects in movies and rides are done at Universal. A few weeks after taking the contract, Universal ships us a tank, a small airplane, and a bunch of other miscellany, and tells us to make things like "giant tentacle crushing a tank" and "recent plane crash still smoldering" and "house struck by meteorite". These things would be installed along the queue for Disaster Studios, to give park-goers something to ogle while waiting for the show to start.

I have never had as much fun as when my director handed me a crate of power tools, the sketches for the finished install, and said "go ham". I got to destroy parts of a tank! And then later build and paint a giant tentacle crushing this destroyed tank! I got to tear into a real plane with a Sawzall!

Actual footage of me working on the project:

I didn't get taken on the install job, which was a pity, but here's the finished tank on-site (colleague for scale):

THE BEST PART?? They shipped us an old JAWS shark prop and we turned it into the DUMBEST and BEST mechanical shark you have ever seen!

The tank was actually my second favorite part, because working on this shark was the highlight of my career. I could not stop chortling over how incredibly stupid this shark was. Every part was a joy to work on. See those stretched skin ripples, with the hooks in 'em? That was my favorite part! It makes no sense! I love it!

If I find the rest of the photos (buried somewhere on a CD in the back of a closet, I'm sure), I'll rebagel this and share.

39: Talk about things you wish you’d known earlier.

Oh, I have a whole bunch of these!

"Having boundaries is good, actually. Having emotions is, too. And it sucks to have to teach yourself how to have boundaries or how to have emotions as an adult, but the effort is always worth it."

"How another person treats you does not define who you are and has no impact on your intrinsic worth."

"Shame is a piss poor motivator."

"People give what they need to receive. What are you giving to others that you deserve to ask for and receive?"

"Instead of focusing on what you are running away from, look instead for what you'd like to run towards."

"Embrace the concepts of radical kindness and radical acceptance, and you'll accidentally unlock the ability to forgive yourself. Yeah, even those ugly parts that you think are unforgivable."

(Btw, your mission, hoomhum, should you choose to accept it, is to answer these in return. :D Thanks for the ask!)

#asks answered #functionally immortal lore #ask game

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musubiki · 2 years

Note

do you have anything you can share with us about Mermaid GF??? 🥺

aaa i have some stuff!!! not super fleshed out though and super subject to change!!!

- so far my favorite design is that koi fish mermaid i drew back in july so im gonna stick with that for now.,,,

- she still doesnt have a name,...some contenders are just koi (me being uncreative), tofu, soy, (adzuki is also a cute name!! name her after beans!!!!)

- im using that same mermaid lore i used a while back for a mermaid au: the way mermaids work is they all have items they carry with them that if they give it to a human, they can turn human too (so long as its in that humans possession. they cant return to the ocean and be a mermaid until said human gives their item back)

- that being said, im not sure what her item is yet!! probably pearls she wears around her tail!! gives them to oscar when she wants to come on land and be around him!!!

- i like to think shes pretty bubbly..,..very upbeat and excited about life..,,sweet and a little bit dumbass (but they all are so she kinda fits right in)

- her and mochi have a beef. theres a huge rivalry between the witches and the mermaids. probably dates back thousands of years to some sour grapes but basically now they hate each other. its also a bit of a pride/power thing, similar to the BU bear vs shark debate. on land the witch is the top magical creature but plot them into the ocean and the mermaids can kill their asses so its a bit of a fight there

- they both talk enough shit to get on each others nerves. when mermaid gf first came around to see oscar mochi was like NO. absolutely not. put that thing back where you got it or so help me-

- and of course oscar wont disobey her, he owes her a lot. but also it makes him sad. new friend gone :(. and lime has to be like "get your ass over here mochi we have to have a TALK." and gives her a scolding about being mean to oscars mermaid gf just because shes a mermaid

- eventually mochi is like fine youre right. oscars been through enough he can have this. goes up to oscar and goes "(sighh) i wont stop you from hanging out with mermaid gf" and hes HAPPY!!

- (worth noting at that point he doesnt.....particularly care? shes cute and all but he doesnt really know her, he just feels bad about mochi sending her away when mermaid gf just wanted to befriend him)

- her and mochi never really stop fighting. but they reach the point of friendship one day. still fire off insults and stereotypical jabs but they come to understand each other eventually (i believe at one point mermaid gf even protects mochi against the other mermaids trying to kill her)

- in terms of magic, mermaids are closer to like. the rock monsters and tree spirits than the mages and witches, despite being part humanish. this is because their magical features are inherint rather than gifted by the gods or whatever

- that being said, theyre not capable of the kind of magic witches or mages can use. but they have abilities like the turning human through the item thing i mentioned, and they also have special coral they can morph into any kind of weapon/object

- bouncing off that, mermaids are masters of arms!!! theres a few fighting types in tcwg, and aside from magic fighting and hand to hand combat, theres also weaponized combat which is what the mermaids are best at !!! they all carry a piece of coral they can morph into weapons when they need!! (mermaid gf here prefers a polearm, i believe.)

- shes veeeerrrrryyyy flexible

- perfect wavy hair all the time

- mermaids have natural eyeshadow and lipstick that matches their tails. its who they are as a species. they also have very long eyelashes and it makes witches go GRRRRR cuz witches are always seen as ugly old hags

- i want her to have a koi/ocean patterned wrap skirt when on land !!!!!

- her and coco are chill with each other. coco is like yooooo wanna try peanut butter on a spoon? and shes like YESSSSSS

- her and taffy are also chill. she looks at him for a long time, seems to remember he tried to kill mochi in the past, then goes "witches are the worst, amiright?" and he kind of cringes and goes "i am not the man i used to be-"

- she never becomes a member of the guild. but i consider her to be one of the various characters that just show up sometimes like sulluvan or the merchant or corvus. definately not a constant character but she shows up occasionally!! (i believe shes also timeskip-exclusive)

#ooo more lore #mermaid gf #is her tag for now #bpp

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cerastes · 3 years

Note

What do you make of Specter's operator record? Personally I liked it, but that's with the knowledge we're getting more Specter backstory soon.

Ok, so! Just as you pointed out, I went into it with the knowledge that:

We're getting Under TIDES soon.

Specter gets a second Operator Record later, some time after Under TIDES.

And with that in mind, I'm fine with it, but if I was a CN player and all we got was Specter's first Operator Record without any knowledge of the future, I would be pretty pissed, lmao. In fact, CN players were pretty pissed, the reception to her Operator Record was pretty bad. Specter is a popular character both in terms of gameplay and character (the latter more so in China, she gets a steady influx of cosplayers, fanart and fanfic in Weibo, Lofter, and such). It's believed that Hypergryph announced her second Operator Record because of this backlash.

Now, with the context and preamble on the table, I want to say: Great idea, not so great execution. Overall, I enjoyed it, but again, that's only with knowledge of the future. Despite that, I sincerely praise Hypergryph for actually having the balls to try a narrative approach like this one on a mobile game. The thing is, just because an idea is interesting doesn't mean it's good, and I think a lot of aspiring writers and designers need to hammer that in their head, especially armchair game designers that like to theorize oh so much about how cool it would be to have a game that did this or that. I don't care if it's cool or not, is it enjoyable to experience?

And that's just the thing with Specter's Operator Record: It felt lackluster in many regards. The approach was definitely interesting, bold, I'd even say, but that doesn't really matter too much if the result isn't a success, now, does it? Let's immediately address the Originium Slug in the room: Specter doesn't even appear in it. Now, is that an interesting approach to an Operator Record? Sure! Is it good? I don't really think so, especially with a character that fans really have been clamoring to see more of in actual cutscenes, given the wealth of clues they've put regarding Specter in other places:

Blue Poison' Files -> We learn that Blue Poison knew Specter personally before her descent to madness, addressing her with her real name.

Skadi's Dialogue -> Skadi implies that Specter was on a very important mission, and more or less confirms she knew her before she went crazy.

Several pieces of official art -> Specter is associated with the phrase "All seas are singing your name".

Ceobe's Fungimist -> It's implied the cursed painting depicting the end times is the same confusing painting Specter painted in her Token.

Rosmontis' Files -> It's confirmed that Specter's spinal cord is filed to the brim with originium fluid, and the Medical Team theorizes that, just like Rosmontis, her infection was artificially induced. It also confirms that they have no idea how Specter is able to fight such an insanely high level of infection.

So, see, this has been a character that fans have really been clamoring to see again. The only cutscene Specter's ever been is the secret cutscene of Grani and the Knight's Treasure AKA the very first event in the game. Understandably, after two years of the game existing, people were a bit miffed that once again we just get breadcrumbs and a non-participation 'appearance', to say the least, in what's supposed to be her day in the limelight.

Now, personally, I kind of get how they are handling her, and the Operator Records are a very faithful reflection of this: Specter is meant to be this mysterious force that we don't have clearance to know about, as Kal'tsit herself is the only one authorized to treat her or even enter her containment quarters. And, in this regard, I think the Records succeed:

It all starts innocently with Suzuran drawing Specter in a Secret Santa and then having to start deep diving to find out who the hell even IS Specter, because absolutely no one knows of her. Eventually, Suzuran lucks out by asking Meteorite, who did participate in a mission with Specter once, to which Suzuran immediately reacts: "Hey hold on, don't they send you on pretty dangerous missions all the time?", and Meteorite's answer is, "Yeah, and she's right at home there."

Now, this is really interesting because we, as Doctor, have some level of clearance: We know things about Specter and can even converse with her to a certain degree, because Doctor is a high authority in Rhodes Island, but the average Operator, like Suzuran, Aosta and Chiave, doesn't even know of her existence. She's one of Rhodes Island's well kept secrets, even within Rhodes Island. Even Meteorite, a veteran Sarkaz mercenary and a bombardment expert, only knows about Specter in a need-to-know basis (because they deployed once together). More telling is the fact that Meteorite doesn't think she'd get along with Specter, simply based on the fact that, just on that one operation, the level of violence and carnage brought upon by Specter unnerved even her, a Kazdel Sarkaz veteran. Well, to be precise, it's not the sheer level of destruction that Specter is capable of that unnerved Meteorite, it's the fact that she does it all seemingly without a care in the world, expressionless, soundless, simply following orders to the letter without showing or taking in a single emotion. To paraphrase Meteorite, "someone that can unleash such destruction and violence upon others so easily, and that can then just not mind it in the slightest, has something wrong and concerning going on with them, no doubt".

Next up, we also learn that Folinic has very restricted, also on a need-to-know basis access to Specter. Keep in mind that Folinic is extremely competent and not at all a stranger to danger: She handles Phantom. So this is a huge hint: There's perhaps more to the secrecy regarding Specter than just her being a dangerous, unstable element. Folinic could reasonably handle Specter professionally, but it's not about whether she can or not, it's about information, and this brings us back to Grani and the Knight's Treasure: Kal'tsit makes it clear to Skadi that Specter is, as a whole, inaccessible to everyone but her, that only she has clearance to access Specter's quarters. Keep in mind that Skadi does not operate in the same conditions, despite also being an Abyssal Hunter. In fact, it's well known that Skadi is infamous among other Operators for being unreasonable and obstructive in operations, as well as unapproachable outside of them (unless you are Grani, who managed to successfully befriend Skadi and vouches for her). There's things about Specter that are so sensitive, so important, that Kal'tsit can't risk them getting out, and even using her as an Operator is something reserved for very dangerous operations. Not even Warfarin, senior staff and Operator that's been with Rhodes Island for a very long time, has full access to Specter, but she clearly knows the importance of keeping her under curtains, given she immediately diffused the Folinic-Suzuran situation by coming up with a compromise on the spot.

There's another interesting contrast between Files and the Operator Record: Meteorite describes Specter as "dead silent". Mind you, we knew from before, thanks to Specter's Files, that the shark is completely silent in battle, but we also do know that she incoherently rambles quite a lot. Folinic sheds some light onto this, explaining that Specter intentionally stays silent most of the time so as to not say anything that could be misunderstood when around others. When she's in a more private setting, however, she does let loose with the insane talk. This is confirmation of something that had been hinted at before: Even though she's insane, there's a fervent part of her clinging onto sanity for dear life with bloodied, splintered fingers, and it manifests itself in how she'll never harm an ally, and how Specter is, to a certain degree, aware of how far gone she is, and thus keeps her mouth shut around others that aren't Doctor or Kal'tsit, so as to not spook them out or accidentally threaten them with her insane rambling.

Then, at the very end, after Suzuran managed to get her present to her, Specter does in fact deliver a thank you present back to Suzuran: A music box, consistent with Specter's love for the arts. Of course, the gift might have been chosen by a proxy of hers (Skadi or Blue Poison, both known to also enjoy music), but the message is all the same: Specter clearly appreciated the gift, and was mentioned to see an improvement in her condition after receiving the doll Suzuran gave her.

So, in paper? All of this? I love it. Of course I do, she's my favorite character, and it was such a bold way to present her Record, too, I respect them trying out new things, it managed to capture the essence of "the mysterious, terrifying fighting machine Operator they don't want us to know about that's actually a pretty sweet and decent person, just going through some really hard stuff" that they've been going for with Specter, it's just, I can also understand (and agree with) fans because... It's been two years, bwahaha, let us see her again, you know? It's her Operator Record, we've gotten some VERY good insights into the lives and days of other Operators through those, like with Angelina's or Kroos'! Of course we also wanted something like that, bwahaha.

What I would've loved, and what I think would've made it all better with fans, is if the final scene had Specter actually show up in Suzuran's room like the cryptid she is, with Suzuran noting the security door had just sort of been casually pried open, Specter's perpetual smile on her face as she's holding her thank you gift before Warfarin and Folinic just sort of storm into the room like "DUDE, WE SAID YOU CAN'T--", she thanks Suzuran wordlessly, gently hands her the music box, and then she calmly turns back and walks back to her confinement quarters.

But, yeah, I've gone on for long enough. I appreciate it overall, knowing what's coming, and I appreciate the idea, I just think they could've handled it better, but the whole essence and message of it, I think lands pretty nicely.

#beta elekid #long post #arknights #specter

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hizashis-lil-bunbun · 3 years

Text

BNHA Valentine’s Day Headcanons!

Happy first day of February! Some of my Discord friends and I were brainstorming how different My Hero characters would celebrate Valentine’s Day. So let’s give ‘em a whirl! All characters are adults or aged up to be 18+ in these scenarios.

Big thanks to @varnienne, @emmappelle, @sweet-darling91, @donica95, and @katsontherun for letting me bounce ideas off of them. 💖

⚠️MOSTLY FLUFF BUT THERE IS SOME NSFW AHEAD!⚠️

Hizashi Yamada (Present Mic)

SFW

Gotta start with my blonde bby. And the best way I can describe his ideal Valentine’s is BIG and LOUD!

He’s never been one shy away from telling you how he feels, but he’s especially talkative on V-Day. Going on and on about how lucky he is, how much he loves you, etc.

It’s love songs all day, baby! From blasting modern pop songs while he makes breakfast to sweet, old-fashioned tunes that he makes you slow dance with him to in the living room. He’s a true romantic (and a surprisingly good dancer to boot).

And he might even (re: definitely will) serenade you. The man is a musician after all! In fact, don’t be surprised if Hizashi wrote a song just for you.

As far as gifts go, Hizashi goes all out. He’s a hero and a celebrity, with the salaries to match. So you can expect a few big ticket items. Plus, he’s a good listener. If you ever mentioned something you needed/wanted/expressed interest in, chances are it will arrive wrapped up in red and pink paper on the day.

“Hey little listener! Remember how ya said you might wanna try painting? No? Well I turned the spare room into a studio for ya anyways! Maybe you can make me something to hang up at the station, yeah?”

But just because his gifts are expensive and flashy, that doesn’t mean he devalues your own. Hizashi will blubber and gush over anything you give him, from lavish luxuries to a something as simple as a homemade card. Loudly I might add. Make sure to have earplugs handy.

Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks of having a radio star as your partner is that he’ll most likely have to work on Valentine’s Day. It’s even worse if he had teach that day as well. So don’t count on any fancy dinners until after the 14th.

But if you tune into his station on the day (and you will), there will be at least three or four songs dedicated to “his favorite little listener.”

NSFW

Even if he can’t be with you on the actual night, he’s definitely going to make up for lost time. Mood music, candlelight, the whole nine yards. He wants to romance you. To make you feel as good as you make him feel everyday.

Oral and overstimulation are the name of the game, and Hizashi is a giver through and through. He’s happy as a clam once he’s got his face buried between your legs, making you cum for the umpteenth time that night. Seriously, does he ever come up for air?

Praise is also a big thing for him. It flows from his mouth like the sweetest wine. And with his quirk, every whispered word and groan against your body feels just as intoxicating. Good vibrations indeed.

He also loves it when you’re vocal. No love song can compete with the way you cry and moan under his touch. He’ll make you sing for him all night long and into the morning hours.

“Damn, baby. I love you so damn much. Love the way you look cumming on my tongue. Think you can do it again?”

Eijiro Kirishima

SFW

Okay. This boy adores Valentine’s Day! Like it’s his favorite holiday.

And how can he not? Everything in the stores is red! He can stock up on red merchandise for the rest of the year in the span of a week. And believe me, he does.

This means his partner should expect a lot of the cliché gifts on the big day: teddy bears, heart-shaped boxes, and red roses to name a few. Oh, and he’s definitely got a stockpile of cheesy, punny Valentine cards centered around his and his friend’s hero personas.

His favorite is the one that says “I think you’re a Red Riot! Be my Valentine?” But maybe that’s partially because it came from you.

Kirishima doesn’t just shower you with crimson trinkets; he buys treats for everyone! Especially his closest friends. To him, Valentine’s is all about showing the people he loves most just how much he cares. And it’s honestly adorable to see him practically bouncing off the walls in excitement when he finds a little red treasure for this year’s celebration.

“Babe! Look at that red shark plushie. It looks just like me! So manly!”

*proceeds to buy seven of them: one for him, one for you, and one for everyone in the Bakusquad + Tetsutetsu*

But at the end of the day, once all the chocolates and stuffed animals have been given away, he’ll make sure you know there’s no one he loves more than you. He spends the final hours alone with you, eating a home cooked meal and cuddling on the couch. Times like these are his favorite, just being to hold you close and appreciate your presence in his life.

Fair warning though. You’ll probably end up watching some some cheesy romcom, cuz he loves those too.

NSFW

Of course, the red theme continues in the bedroom: red rose petals, red sheets, even a set of red lingerie he bought just for the occasion. Which he proceeds to rip apart minutes after you’ve gotten them on. Hope they weren’t too expensive.

Kirishima tries to be gentle with you, he really does. Savoring your pleasure and letting your orgasms crest and fall naturally. He wants to see you cooing and boneless by the end of the night.

But sometimes he underestimates his own strength and gets a little rougher than expected. Maybe he gives too sharp of a love bite, or squeezes your hips a little too hard. But it’s all done out of passionate love, so you don’t mind too much.

You might actually prefer it if he gets a little rougher.

However, if you wanna get kinky, there is one thing Kiri’s always down for: pulling you over his knee for a good, old-fashioned spanking. His quirk is perfect for it, hardening the palm of his hand just before it smacks down on the soft flesh. It’s like he has a set of built-in paddles. Trust me, if you let him get into a good rhythm, by the end of the night your ass will match the Valentine’s decor perfectly.

“Not pushing you too hard am I, beautiful? I know I can be unbreakable sometimes, but I never want to break you. I love you too much to do that.”

Mirio Togata

SFW

TBH, before he met you, Mirio was a bit of a player (which is kinda canon). Like “has a different date every year” player.

And can you blame him? He’s a total heartbreaker with that (le)million dollar smile and those baby blue eyes. He got so much Valentine’s chocolate from girls in high school, it was sickening! But with you, things are different.

For starters, he’s not so big on material gifts. Giving or receiving.

“How could I want anything more when I’ve got my sunshine right here?”

No, this sweet himbo is all about making memories with his partner! Sharing experiences and spending as much quality time together as possible.

So he plans everything days, sometimes weeks, in advance. Budgeting his time and money to squeeze as much love into a single day as humanly possible.

The moment you wake up on February 14th, he hits the ground running. Quite literally! He’s practically doing laps around your bedroom in his excitement to get the day started.

Valentine’s Day with Mirio turns out to be a marathon of couple activities. Bike riding to a local café for breakfast. Sight-seeing in Tokyo followed by ice cream in the afternoon. He even manages to sniff out a carnival for you to go to in the evening, letting you run amok on the rides and games. And yes, he definitely spends too much money trying to win you one of those giant stuffed animals.

By the end of the day, you’re thoroughly spent and just want to snuggle up next to him. And maybe have a late night snack of chocolate. Mirio is more than happy to indulge you, even offering to carry you home. Anything to be close to his precious sunshine.

NSFW

Despite your sleepiness and aching feet, Mirio insists he has one last surprise to give you. So he asks you to lay face-down on the bed and wait for him. Naked of course.

Once he finds what he’s looking for, he straddles your tailbone with his thighs and squirts something slippery onto your back. You yelp at the cold sensation and that earns a laugh from Mirio. He tells you it’s massage oil. One specifically designed to relieve muscle tension.

It’s like he knew you’d be sore after his day of non-stop adventuring. Almost like he planned it... What a smooth criminal.

It makes sense though. Maybe it’s because his quirk requires him to pass through things, but physical touch is his primary love language. Nothing grounds him quite like having you in his arms, worshiping every inch of your body.

He works you over, kneading at the muscles in your back, hips, and legs with steady pressure and prescision. He even rubs your feet, making the earlier pains melt away into bliss.

You’re almost too sleepy and relaxed to realize one of his hands is creeping up your body until it’s too late. Next thing you know, he’s curling his fingers into you, amplifying the pleasure of the massage in a new way. Like I said, Mirio’s a smooth criminal when he wants to be.

“Feeling good, sunshine? Yeah, I’ll bet you are. You always look so cute like this... just makes me want to kiss you all over. Maybe I will! But I think you’re still a little tense right... here.”

#hizashi yamada #kirishima eijirou #mirio togata #bnha headcanons #valentines #present mic #red riot #lemillion #bnha smut #mha headcanons #mha smut

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harpidiem · 3 years

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Hi, you and I seem to have very similar tastes in art and in other things and as a begging artist I would like to know your art journey and any resources you used such as books and things or where you get inspiration from, thanks in advance

Hello! I'd be happy to!

I've been drawing since I was a kid, but I only started drawing seriously when I was about 12 (I wanted to become an animator, I didnt know that jobs like illustration on concept art were a thing). I never took a formal art class, expect for one that was on acrylic painting, and I didnt really learn that much there, and it was only for 4 weeks. (Maybe I'll learn to love acrylic someday, but not today).

For inspiration, I write down favorite memories of mine, and sometimes unimportant ones (memories of sitting at a gas station on a hot summer day, waiting on my dad to buy some sodas so we can get going on our trip; walking under football bleachers at night), and most times I'm a little too scared to post these because they're personal, but im working myself up to it.

I collect moodboards on interest, just whatever catches my eye, even if the aesthetics don't match. When I'm out, I take pictures of places I would like to draw later (abandoned farmhouses, old mill houses, a lighthouse far off in the water alone, a stretch of road completely covered in graffiti).

Books! Ok so I have a lot of art books but few that have actually been beneficial, so I'll post those here.

Color And Light by James Gurney: A Guide For The Realist Painter; I cannot reccomend this book more!! This book is excellent, it talks about how to paint different light conditions, and how it effects light scientifically. Very easy to understand, and Gurney is a master painter.

Adorning The Dark by Andrew Peterson. Another excellent book, and one I don't think I'll ever be over. While this is a book from a Christian standpoint, and I don't know your opinions on religion, this book for me was unputdownable. I read it cover to cover in a day, and did the same thing the next day. Reflections on self and the creative process that takes place in the mind and spiritually, and how we effect others. A simply wonderful book. Id go as far as to say life-changing.

Any Ghibli art book (I own Howl's Moving Castle, and Spirited Away.) These are excellent if youre wanting to look into illustration or character design. It doesnt give much advice, but I find myself inspired every time I open the ghibli books I have.

Sketching From The Imagination: Characters by 3d Total Publishing; this book has many MANY artists of various art styles, and they give their process and advice! Little nuggets of "Oh! Yea that makes sense." are scattered throughout the book, at least for me.

As for fiction books, I read a wide range of genres, so I can't really make a HUGE list of books I reccomend, but I can give a few that I feel have been important to me personally the last few years.

Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach Trilogy, and Borne Trilogy. Rick Bragg's All Over But The Shout'n, and Ava's Man, Flannery O' Connor's A Good Man Is Hard To Find, C. S Lewis's A Space Trilogy, and Madeline D'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time. Comics like Batman: The Long Halloween, Calvin and Hobbes, and Minna Sundberg's Stand Still Stay Silent have been great to read as well!

Movies and TV shows are HUGE inspirations for me, but as a general guide, I adore movies like Alien, Fury Road, Pan's Labyrinth, Lord of The Rings, Oh Brother Where Art Thou?, and TV shows like Stranger Things, Over The Garden Wall, and The Twilight Zone. Video games are important as well, like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Kentucky Route Zero, and Death Stranding.

Anyway, heres what I have to say: Use everything. Dont be afraid to deviate from your "aesthetics". Yes, you'll feel a bit lost at times, like you have no identity, but thats a good thing for growth. When I was 12, I was dead set that my thing was extremely cartoon art styles, pokemon, and drawing dragons. While these are still great and huge inpirations, if I didn't branch out, I would be stuck in a rut.

It is not important to have a set aesthetic. Youre not an aesthetic Instagram page at heart! Find what you are drawn to, what imagery catches your eye, what symbols have meaning to you. I will change throughout my life, but my core values are still there. And I think its important to understand that, to loosely quote Andrew Peterson, that self expression is an endless, and often fruitless chase. You gotta shift your direction outward, and you'll discover things about you, good and bad.

Wow, this post is getting very very long. Apologies. Anyway, one more note. Just explore. Collect things, look for details! Note that swirl in the sand, a wrinkle next to an eye, get a feel for a place or thing. I have dozens of books that make no sense together (2 books on sharks, 1 on specifically waterplants, 5 on animal species, 2 on surgery, 1 on the history of medicine, 1 on car mechanics, 1 on martial arts, 3 cookbooks, and a book on the history of wood working.) Yes, I tend to hoard books. Get a book from the library on a subject you know nothing about once a week. Glance through it, take at least 20 minutes hopping page to page, even randomly. You'll find something! Just keep your eyes open, dont stop learning! I encourage wiki rabbit holes 100%.

And please, please dont be afraid to post new things. In the end it doesn't matter if your followers are unused to the new thing you like! As long as you are conveying meaning behind what you create, you'll find your way. Im uh, still learning this. People latch onto concepts more than skill, I've found.

So yea, thats just what I have to say. Sorry for the long, LONG post. I hope this helped!!

#asks #blindsighted581 #art help #art tips

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leverage-commentary · 3 years

Text

Leverage Season 2, Episode 11, The Bottle Job, Audio Commentary Transcript

Johnathan: Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Johnathan Frakes.

John: He’s the Director of this episode. My name is John Rogers, Executive Producer.

Christine: My name is Christine Boylan, I'm the writer on this episode.

John: Drinking left to right you have a screwdriver- a screwdriver, which is just a fistful of vodka with an orange in it.

[Laughter]

Johnathan: It qualifies as a screwdriver! Look where we are, we’re at a wake!

John: I've got a Guinness, and Boylan’s having a little baby Guinness. Boylan what is a bottle show?

Christine: A bottle show is a show that tries to save a lot of money by shooting on standing sets. And not adding too many bells and whistles that can get expensive.

John: Not very easy on a con show, but we managed to pull it off, and by far, this is one of my favorite episodes of the two years. Nicely done, both of you.

Johnathan: And the irony of this being a bottle show about a bottle is not lost-

John: Yeah it's- the puns were running thick and furious because we wrote it in 72 hours. Love this- now this is actually a room in the bar we have not seen before.

Christine: Yes, this is the back room.

John: The back room we built. And it was a great little idea. It's an Irish bar, it's an Irish wake, we built the con up from there.

Christine: Creepy storage area.

Johnathan: Oh Alan Smyth, the wonderful and talented-

John: Mr. Frakes, why don't you tell us about this villain? Cause this is a really interesting- it's an interesting reveal, interesting villain. It's not our usual type of guy. How'd you approach this?

Johnathan: Delightful guy, this guy’s been sent to Boston by his father from Dublin to check on his family's money, and how things are going. Decides to take things into his own hand, doesn’t know he’s gonna run into the Leverage team. He thinks he can muscle this poor girl at her own wake- her father's wake and-

John: Yeah, boy that's an asshole. We hate that guy.

Christine: I hate this guy.

John: This guy totally passes the ‘we hate that guy’. Now I'm gonna ask where this scene can run a bunch of different ways. It can run really creepy, it can run kind of light. Like, how do you design this when you're gonna shoot this?

Johnathan: This was as simple and clean as it can be. Here’s a set up, here's the teaser: he wants the money, you see where they are, we have the like this chick, which I think we do. This is Odessa Rae.

John: Yeah, she was fantastic for a character.

Christine: Lovely girl.

Johnathan: And a real redhead, clearly.

John: And it's really- we really kinda dig in on the Boson heritage in this one.

Christine: Yes, and it was important that she fight back, to me, that was a big one, just take that swing.

John: She didn't want to be a schlub. And Liam and Liam’s brother is my favorite bit. How did- Boylan, how did you wind up with the money borrowing aspect of this?

Christine: The money borrowing- I had watched a really fantastic documentary by...oh god, what's his name?

John: The Ascent of Money?

Christine: The Ascent of Money, Niall Ferguson, yes. The Ascent of Money talked about how loan sharks are alive and well all over the UK and in certain pockets of the US, allegedly. So I thought well let's do that, let’s take a little- let’s take the loan sharking and move it over. And also talk about the grand tradition of bookmaking as well, so we have all kinds of neighborhood cottage industries.

John: Yeah, and this is where we really dig into- this was important to do in the second half of the season, because we're really set-

Johnathan: We see every inch of this bar.

[Laughter]

Christine: Yes we do.

John: We see every inch of this bar. You shot the hell out of this, man.

Johnathan: Here's a standing set, and snow! Check out those windows. That's what makes you think you're outside.

John: And by the way, this was the hottest week in Portland on record.

Johnathan: Unbelievable.

Christine: 107 degrees.

John: 107 degrees.

Johnathan: Everybody in layers.

John: This is our Life on Mars flashback.

Johnathan: There we go.

Christine: Jimmy Ford.

John: This is Jimmy Ford and young Nate. And this was interesting, this was- we really need to establish just how close Nate Ford was to a criminal life, for us to do the season finale.

Christine: Yup.

John: And it was interesting for a show that really came out and just came out of the ether, you came back from shooting another episode with this idea, this actually wound up doing an awful lot of work for us for the season.

Christine: I really like to dig in on Nate, his backstory, his troubles, because he's a wonderful shade of gray for us, so I was-

Johnathan: This also the beginning of his fall off the wagon.

John: Absolutely.

Christine: Yes, oh yeah. A nice swan dive off the wagon, actually.

[Laughter]

Christine: With a graceful landing. I was up doing episode eight, The Ice Man Job, and I thought, you know, in between takes you’re sitting there, you're thinking how do- the challenge was, how do you do a bottle show? And I really wanted to do The Wire and we haven't been able to do the wire yet, so-

John: The wire is the classic con in the opening of this episode, where using a delay in sports knowledge, you're able to con somebody. It's the big con in The Sting.

Christine: Yes.

John: It is the big con that everyone uses when they are ripping off The Sting, and they're not telling you. And so we actually made a point of making it text that we’re doing the wire and we’re doing it in this amount of time.

Johnathan: And you can't do it in less than 4 weeks, or 2 weeks.

John: No, no it's a long con.

Christine: A lot of preparation.

Johnathan: It's a long con and we do it in-

John: Yeah. This was the fun of this episode was basically taking everything that was possible-

Johnathan: We do it in 17 minutes.

John: The fun of this episode was taking everything that is impossible in a con and heist show, and making it text that's impossible for the team to do.

Christine: It’s super meta because the Leverage team does what we did, which is do this really, really quickly.

John: Yeah. Really, really quickly. We broke and wrote this episode in 72 hours.

Christine: Yup, I flew up here right before my birthday. 107 degrees at the end of July, and we had a blast. We had a really great time.

Johnathan: Liam and Liam's brother.

John: It was also good to kind of nail down Nate’s- why Nate chose this bar, why Nate- and we kinda touched on it, but the idea that he's got some sort of family history. And it was a big deal too, when we were talking about this bar. Tim Hutton as they were building the set talked about the bar that his dad used to drink in, in Boston. And talked about, like, remembering the pictures of the Irish rebels up in the men's room, and a lot of that stuff we used when we were designing the bar.

Johnathan: Tim Hutton himself owns a bar.

John: Tim Hutton himself owns a bar in New York, that's right.

Christine: He does indeed.

John: And this is our classic vic scene, just a little bit later.

Christine: Yeah, she gave an amazing performance here, every take. Do you remember that? Unbelievable.

Johnathan: Fascinating girl, too; very interesting girl and a wonderful actress.

Christine: Yeah, truly a riot.

John: And you shot the hell out of the apartment. The apartment looks nice in this light. Actually, this was the one that made me want to shoot the apartment in this light on a regular basis.

Johnathan: Well this was Connell saying, if this is night and we can- if we can play the snow, we’ll turn the shutters down a little bit so we can see the snow. It’s- it feels like there's a fire lighting in here.

John: Yeah, it actually affected the way we shot a couple of the following episodes, because in the day, this- the great light wood gives you a lot of space, but it can feel a little too airy. This really made sections of the apartment look intimate.

Christine: The warmth is great.

Johnathan: Yeah, but also I think all of us have learned by this time if we isolate a section - like if we play a scene in the kitchen, it works, but keep everybody up in the kitchen. If you're gonna go down to the television room, we've gotta play that. Once we spread everybody out, you can't make your day.

John: Well Marc Roskin did something interesting in 213 where he used Nate as the hinge to follow people as they entered. But what he did was basically broke it up into mini scenes of that, as Nates starts the TV he's talking to Hardison, comes up at Jeri on the table, and then Parker and Eliot arrive, like on the fly, to land the move.

Christine: That's great.

John: But that- it’s the only time we've really pulled it off really, really well.

Christine: I will say that we did use the staircase a lot in this episode as well.

[Laughter]

Christine: A lot of running up and down the stairs.

John: A lot of running up and down the stairs.

Johnathan: There happens to be an interior staircase in the building that is very convenient for us.

Christine: Yes.

John: Yeah. And that was a great design idea, actually. I remember when we originally stuck that in there, like, we don't know when we’re gonna use it or how, but it's always good to have some circular stairs. No, this is a lot of- this is a lot of fun.

Johnathan: Are you talking about the staircase we see? I was talking about the staircase we feel.

[Laughter]

Christine: Oh.

Johnathan: Between the bar and the bar is literally downstairs in the building.

John: Oh of course, upstairs. That was a big deal was trying to figure out the geography of, like, how this bar’s connected to upstairs.

Christine: Oh here we go.

John: This is my favorite- damn.

Johnathan: And give it to- props to Jeri Ryan, unafraid to play it, fully committed.

John: And then-

Johnathan: Takes the shooter, goes to work.

John: ‘My name’s Trish and I'm lonely.’

Christine: ‘I’m Trish and I’m lonely.’

Johnathan: And I get the girls up and out and here we go.

John: Yeah. She-

Christine: We were all distracted by the way Jeri looked this entire episode.

John: I love Jeri for doing that. I love Jeri for doing that.

Johnathan: She was comfortable with it, embraced it, knows what she was there to play.

John: And it was- also says something about the character which is - you have given her precisely this much information; she is in a bar, she knows exactly how to run this con.

Johnathan: ‘Let me run with it, I got it, I got this one.’

Christine: What a gift the chemistry between Jeri and Alan was here. Fantastic.

John: Yeah, it's hard work flirting with Jeri Ryan. It’s all uphill.

Christine: Oh his days were terrible.

Johnathan: Poor thing.

Christine: He had the worst job ever.

John: I love also- again, we try to differentiate between the jobs everyone has. Parker always does the lift. You know, Chris can do a drop if he needs to - Eliot can do a drop, but you have to make sure when you've got a five-hander, everyone’s got their jobs.

Christine: I like the lifts in this one; we see some of them, and some of them are magic tricks. So it works out well.

John: And now we’re using the phone to scan which is something that you can do. They actually just created a food scanner for the iPhone.

Christine: Really?

Johnathan: A food scanner?

John: You take the iPhone, you run it over the UPC symbol on the outside of food, and all the nutritional information comes up - the calories, that sort of thing.

Christine: As if I'm not neurotic enough. I totally need that app. Yeah, that’s great.

John: There you go. Also I love the choice- and again, it was a virtue of us writing this really fast, and also wanting to do a bottle show which is so constrained, which is - he's just going to tell her he's a loan shark. We’re just gonna- we’re gonna try to take all the pipe, all the stuff you usually try to hide, and sell it.

Christine: He owns it.

Johnathan: Lay it out there, put it into the scene in act one.

Christine: There's something great about putting it forward like that.

John: It just moves. It just flies. And also, whenever you can give Hardison a recurring series of impossible tasks, it is inherently amusing.

Christine: Aldis is adorable in this.

Johnathan: Especially in a limited amount of time.

John: Well that's really what we've talked about on a couple of the commentaries; when you have the super team, it gets really, really hard to constantly challenge them. So it got more and more - how do we constrain them in time and space? And this is the ultimate example. You know, this episode runs essentially in real time.

Johnathan: It is; it plays in real time.

[Silence]

John: That's me drinking, pardon.

[Laughter]

Christine: A lift.

John: A little lift.

Christine: Lift and replacement.

Johnathan: That was the replace. Yeah, the great chemistry between these two actors.

Christine: Alan’s worst day ever.

[Laughter]

Johnathan: All day. All day with Jeri.

Christine: All day.

John: Sitting at a bar.

Johnathan: Sitting at a bar.

Christine: Could be worse.

John: It's interesting because we had episodes with bigger Tara Cole roles; this is actually my favorite one of the Tara- of Jeri doing Tara. Because you- this is one of the few times we cut her loose and let her do what she's supposed to do and really put her insolation.

Christine: And she’s really fearless, just fearless, which is great.

Johnathan: She’s a pro, pro from Dover and-

Christine: Seriously.

John: What does that mean?

Johnathan: She knows this character-

John: I'm disturbed. I like, by the way, the bar thing of like, ‘Yeah, we’ll miss our flight.’ They look over, it’s Jeri Ryan, ‘Yeah, ok. We’ll blow it off.’

Christine: Yeah, seriously.

Johnathan: ‘Ooh, ooh!’

Christine: Because this guy, not only is he gonna own it, he’s gonna brag about it.

John: What I love is we actually had a discussion in the room, for some people who didn't use to drink professionally, about the viability of some of the gambling and the money and everything in a bar. And I was like, I was a stand up comic-

Johnathan: That would never happen.

John: I was a stand up comic in a mob bar for a long time. Trust me - this was a Tuesday night.

Johnathan: This happens.

John: Yeah. I saw 20-30 grand go away at the bar several times on sporting events; just poorly thought out ideas. And this was a challenge for you, by the way, you were establishing geography that didn't exist.

Johnathan: Well that's what we just did by going out the back door. We all bought- we all drank the kool aid and said there will be a back staircase, otherwise this story’s gonna be dull as dirt.

Christine: Yeah, there’s gotta be-

Johnathan: Trying to get in and out the front door.

John: It's kind of Noises Off.

Christine: Yeah.

John: Yeah, we're kinda doing-

Christine: Everything I write is a little stagey.

John: Everything you write is a little stagey.

Christine: A little farce-y.

Johnathan: Here's more of our traditional 360, well used.

Christine: This is beautiful here, yeah.

Johnathan: Standing them up. Keep them standing. Always good advice.

John: The actors?

Johnathan: Yeah.

John: The actors’ energy is part of the energy, right, yeah.

Christine: Yeah this- I just got a thrill off of this, watching this being shot.

John: It's also- it’s fun because it was one of the purest versions. Again, because we’re in so fast of Nate Ford like ‘I am a genius. I am playing chess. I am playing speed chess.’

Christine: Yeah, right.

Johnathan: This is a great bit coming up this is- we come off this and we go back to Christian with the dart. He kept saying to me, ‘No, no, Frakes, I can do this; I can actually throw it.’ I said, ‘No no, you don’t understand Christain, it has to look like magic.’ ‘No, give me half an hour and I’ll make some- I'll make some bullseyes for you.’ I said, ‘No, no, no, I can do it as a special effect. It’s gonna look great; you're gonna look cool.’ I fought with him and fought with him. He said, ‘No, let me just look.’ I said, ‘The point is you don't look! You dont look when the dart goes in the wall!’

[Laughter]

Christine: Christians tough, because he's good at everything.

John: Well that's the trick. There’s- in a previous episode he jacks the slight on a gun and without looking catches the shell in midair as he’s doing dialogue. And it’s like- it’s hard to say no to him when he really wants to dig in in something, but yeah. This is also- I love- this is pure- this is pure threesome goodness. The kids are upstairs ripping apart dad’s apartment.

Christine: Triangles.

Johnathan: It also tees up the ending which is great.

Christine: And this- I, you know, this is for the fans.

John: The idea that they have utterly co-opted-

Johnathan: Nate’s house? Yeah.

John: His house, yes.

Christine: Oh, the cereal boxes.

Johnathan: They’ve all got stashed money.

John: And this, by the way, is a callback, this is why Parker’s always eating cereal; she's planting money in there on a regular basis and hiding it.

Christine: I think she likes the sugar as well.

John: She likes the sugar.

Johnathan: For anyone who’s watching closely.

John: And of course we finally solve the mystery of the picture.

[Laughter]

Christine: Her look right there is great.

Johnathan: ‘Are you kidding me?’

John: I love the idea that she- for once, cause we often play Hardison as the kind of emotional one, and for once we remind everyone, no he's a thief. Yeah. This is just his gig. He will even upset Parker, occasionally.

Johnathan: Woo he got down there fast, didn't he?

Christine: Oh yeah, that staircase is magical. Well he's very fit; he’s taking them three at a time.

John: Here's the thing: I don't think Eliot took the staircase; I'm thinking Eliot probably just went out the window.

Johnathan: He jumped.

Christine: He just jumped.

John: Went out the window, landed in the snow bank. I think that's probably the best way to play that particular transition.

[Laughter]

John: We don't- who cares about transitions? America is not sitting on their couch-

Johnathan: Great extras, look at these-

Christine: Look at these extras, they’re killing me.

John: Look at these extras. They’re great. This was a really- you know, it's tricky because we usually shoot the-

Johnathan: Comedy. Sight gags.

John: Big comedy. I'm not afraid of the comedy. You know what? No one has ever stopped watching a TV show because it made them laugh.

Christine: Look at all these wires.

John: Yup, you have no idea what they're doing.

Christine: Comedy wires.

John: By the way, that's roughly what the inside of my wall looks like; that's actually not bad.

[Laughter]

John: I like that you had him play the whole way through with the helmet, by the way.

Johnathan: Yeah keep the helmet- once you got the helmet-

John: But we actually-

Johnathan: How about the amount of wires? Come on, I’ve seen The Three Stooges!

[Laughter]

John: It’s perfect, there's nothing like a pulling wire gag.

Christine: Look at all the ends, that's great.

John: It was interesting, breaking this up we eventually wound up in little strike teams like, ‘OK, you figure out how the wire works; you'll figure out how the Tivo- this part of the Tivo delivery system works; you'll figure out what the crime scene is.’ Yeah.

Johnathan: Was this the writers room?

John: Yeah, this was basically, everyone got a piece of the script, come back in a day and tell me how it works.

Christine: We’re our own super team.

Johnathan: And you know what? It's one of the great things about this episode is the train leaves the station and there is no- there’s not much room for coming back and expositioning.

Christine: It's the express train.

John: I love when he-

Johnathan: It is the express train.

John: And that's the idea is, again- and this could've been a nice passing episode, the ability to set up everything in this. This might be the most important episode before the finale, because you really see who this guy is.

Johnathan: It's also nice to see this guy go toe-to-toe with Tim.

Christian: Yeah.

John: Yeah, it’s was like with Riegert with 210; it's great when you get an actor who's not intimidated by Tim, because Tim, you know, he's a very gifted actor. He's very famous and-

Johnathan: Yeah, he's fabulous. And this guy could carry a show and he was so happy to be here.

John: Yeah.

Johnathan: And Tim liked him, and it worked out and it was a-

Christine: They had a great time.

Johnathan: It was a win, win, win.

Christine: They had a great time, we had a great time.

John: No, this was actually born from the fact that in an old apartment building I was in, people used to pirate off the main satellite feed.

Christine: Like you do.

Johnathan: Yeah.

John: So- as one does. The idea is you do it backwards.

Johnathan: As you do. We'd never do that in college.

John: No, no. Of course not.

Christine: Never.

John: Well satellite, I mean, back when we were in college were those giant sputnik things that we used to battle the Russians in space.

[Laughter]

Johnathan: This is meant to be the Celtics, but what are- we found footage from the Canadian-

John: The Canadian basketball-

Christine: We went back and forth, we made up names.

John: You do not want to buy the rights from the NBA; it is very, very, expensive.

Christine: And that's not the point. The point is the betting.

John: The point is the betting.

Christine: The point is the characters.

John: Exactly, is the idea. And the only thing I'm kinda sad is, we run at 42 minutes and 30 seconds. There's an awful lot of stuff you would love to do, you just don't have time for. We had a great bit that we researched about the neuroscience of gambling, and how you can create-

Christine: Oh yes.

John: Remember? You can create feedback cycles with addictive behavior that- it’s very specific intervals of winning that hooks an addict in, in a way that they can't escape. And we were going to use that at the bar and it just, it just-

Johnathan: There was no room.

Christine: It's like the random praise you give the writers.

John: Yes, it's like the random- the writers- writers were distressed-

Johnathan: Boom.

Christine: Oh, look at that.

John: Yes, the writers were distressed to find out that I was using neuroscience on them. It turns out that you should never praise constantly or never, you should praise randomly.

Christine: Praise randomly.

Johnathan: There are not many physicists that are showrunners.

Christine: It’s true, it’s true.

John: I was explaining the random praise thing to them one day, and suddenly they realized ‘...wait that's what you do.’ ‘Well yeah, it's how you train a rat, so why wouldn't it be how you train a writer?

[Laughter]

John: And it’s great- also the big challenge in the episode to keep the vic alive, to keep it emotionally anchored, and because we’re where she works, we can cut to her a lot and-

Johnathan: We can cut to her a lot, and we put her in a lot of scenes that she wasn't originally in.

Christine: Yeah, just having her around.

John: It really just worked out. Cause you had her there, and you had the writer on set, makes a big difference.

Christine: So this is Brad Farwell and George Burich as Liam and Liam's brother, and George-

Johnathan: Not bad Irish accents for a couple of guys from the great northwest.

Christine: Pretty good. And I just had a drink with George in New York last week and he said, ‘Mention the toothpick! Don't forget to mention the toothpick.’

John: It's nice; it's a nice touch.

Christine: He's in love with that prop; adorable.

John: I remember how Liam's brother- Liam and Liam's brother was born, because we actually were trying to think of a name; it just hung in the room so long we were like, ‘Oh wait, that's the joke. This is Liam and Liam's brother.’

Christine: ‘That’s totally it.’

Johnathan: Worked on [unintelligible] for three years.

John: And beat, beat, beat. There you go.

[Laughter]

Johnathan: Eric Bates, our prop man, said, ‘Frakes, should I get out the good money for this show?’ I said yeah.

Christine: The good, good money.

John: There's gonna be a lot of close ups.

Johnathan: He's got two qualities of money. Yeah I said, ‘Tonight would be a night for the good money.’

John: We’re a heist show. We have an awful lot of briefcases of money, and sometimes you just need the tops and sometimes you need to count it, yeah.

Christine: A lot of cash.

John: And this was a nice beat and Tim really didn’t over play this. He really did a great job.

Christine: It's very subtle this episode.

John: He was really great and subtle.

Johnathan: Well, he's comfortable in a bar.

John: Yeah and-

Johnathan: And I think a lot of us are, and I think that's one of the reasons-

Christine: I don't know what you're talking about.

Johnathan: Well, I mean, you can tell people who spend time in there. Even the shooters behind the camera, everybody was comfortable in there, everybody knew the way it should look, everybody knew the dynamic, everybody knew what the stuff would be like. I mean, there's something about being in a familiar place with a crew that makes you move faster and move with it as a team.

John: And also we've lived in this set a bit more. We set decked a little bit more, and again, it was like usually we meet the clients during the day, and looking at this was like, we should be there at night all the time.

Christine: Yeah, it's gorgeous.

Johnathan: There's a lot to be said for night.

John: Night is cheap rain. Or rain is cheap night. I can never keep that straight.

[Laughter]

John: More great work by Derek, our visual effects guy. There's- it's really hard we do a life of computer gackery and it's really hard to make sure people understand.

Johnathan: Are we gonna go over the split screen again on the TV?

John: I don't know. No, no we're not gonna split-screen.

Johnathan: The big screen is- I've been watching a lot of these NCIS things-

John: The big screen, I think we're gonna go the big screen next year.

Johnathan: That, I think, is the difference.

John: You know what? We just didn't have the tech.

Johnathan: Yeah I know, that's what I'm saying. That’s what I’m saying, we do now.

John: Yeah this was really- although it worked well for this, because it's one of the few times we pop up a bunch of different windows.

Christine: They're multitasking almost.

John: I think next year we’re gonna- and again there's an awful lot of stuff we’re kind of inventing on the fly. Yeah.

Christine: The hell you say?

[Laughter]

Johnathan: It’s a TV show.

John: Yeah, it's like shooting a movie in 7 days, or 6 ½ occasionally.

Christine: 6 ½ in 107 degrees.

Johnathan: Don’t bring it up; don’t rub it in.

John: Now when you get two actors like this, you know, what's your job as a director? You go in, do you have a specific ‘I want to end this scene here’? Do you give them guidelines? Do you shoot-? What's your approach?

Johnathan: Well these guys both decided with our permission, your permission, that, you know, they would adlib. Here’s what needs to happen in the scene. If you have two good actors and you have the intention of the scene clear and you're at a bar and they're having a drink, and they're gambling, and they're watching, it’s safe.

Christine: It's nice to have actors who care about the rhythm of the dialogue. How it's said is as important as what's being said, and they will work with me every- the regular cast and the guest stars were happy to like grab me at any time. ‘Rewrite this. Can I say this? Can we do it that way?’ I love that.

John: Yeah, I know.

Christine: Woo, there's a lot of grabbing going on; very grabby.

John: Yeah we’re setting up Boylan; she's pretty open to it without all those lawyers getting involved.

[Laughter]

John: But here's the thing, there's a lot of showrunners, and a lot of writers, and everything it's like ‘say the words, say the words, say the words.’ And you know what? At the end of the day it's a television show with actors and it's gotta-

Johnathan: It's really- in the defense of both sides, you really have to use it judiciously.

John: Yes.

Johnathan: I think that you have to know- Timothy Hutton can adlib. Alan Smith, I'd done four shows with, I knew he could. But you don't want to turn everybody loose, because everybody thinks they're funny, and only some people are.

Christine: Exactly.

John: You have to be open to it.

Johnathan: You have to be open to it enough to judiciously use whats good and what's-

John: And just not- and I'm just saying, I'm not one of those writers where it's like, you know what? If you wind up with the better rhythm, the better line, that's what matters. Because TV is radio with pictures.

Christine: Absolutely.

John: You know, people listen to voices, people listen- they got their heads down, they're reading while they're listening to TV, you know, that's what drives television. It's nice when television is well shot, but well-spoken television works just as well.

Christine: Oh for me it works better.

Johnathan: They remember what happened.

John: Yes. It'd be nice if every now and then you thought about the fact that actors have to deliver your lines.

Christine: They love it.

John: Yes, they adore you.

Christine: I do think a good section of the writing process occurs on set, honestly. And it's something that I was lucky to learn in rehearsals doing theater: it’s gonna change every day and that's ok. Everybody’s gonna roll with it, it's gonna get better, and it has to be easy to say; it has to be easy for the audience to process and remember.

Johnathan: And also each character speaks differently. That's what happened in the second season in this show, is the characters have found their voices, the writers have found the characters’ voices-

John: Honestly we got lucky. They found their voices early, early, first season. They all had found their rhythms. Because we tend to pair them, and you tend to- and that's what happens is they find the rhythms of each other. That moment of celebration from Hardison is not just him, it's us for having pulled off the wire. Doing a con that most shows take an entire episode to do-

Johnathan: We do it in less than half.

John: And labor the freaking point about it. That's right, in Leverage you get 3 or 4 episodes of television per episode.

[Laughter]

John: And we've won, at this point- and again, this is a hook on Nate’s illness this year. At this point he should walk away.

Christine: Absolutely.

John: There is no reason for him to do this.

Johnathan: But now it's a bigger deal.

John: And it's not just justice, it’s obsession, you know, and it’s vengeance, and it’s control and it's- you know, he's starting to see himself as his father.

Johnathan: And it’s alcohol.

John: It’s alcohol.

Christine: Is it hubris or moxie?

John: Well what the alcohol has done is kind of- hubris or moxie. As we say in the writers room all the time.

Christine: That’s it; it’s very important.

John: Is it hubris or moxie? And with him it’s hubris.

Christine: Totally.

John: But we’re really- what the alcohol has done here is loosened up the reins he's had on what is a really- and what I love is Tim’s not afraid to play this is - Nate Ford is an unpleasant human being. He's condescending, he's sarcastic, he’s vengeful, he's judgmental. You know, I love the- and again Jeri-

Johnathan: And he's not afraid of that.

Christine: No he's not.

John: Yeah, and the fact that when he sort of loosens up, a lot of other shows have ‘Oh he's loosened up, I like him more.’ When Nate Ford loosens up you actually see him see an uglier side of him. The professional thieves are much more likeable on this show than the protagonist, which is one of the reasons I think it kinda works. I love that, that is a great beat. ‘I’m claustrophobic.’

[Laughter]

Christine: Liam's brother is claustrophobic.

Johnathan: What an absurd beat.

John: Well you know what? I'd just come back from Boston, I'd driven the Ted Williams tunnel to go to Logan.

Christine: It’s awful.

John: It's awful; you're underground forever.

Christine: It’s awful.

John: It's like, alright- that's one of the advantages of knowing the city you're actually writing about. Like, you know what, there's no other way to get to the airport.

Johnathan: But it's a wonderful thing to say about a character that has virtually nothing else.

John: Nothing to say. And that actor landed that look.

Johnathan: Exactly.

Christine: That's lovely.

John: Yes, and now we're giving Hardison yet another insanely impossible thing to do.

Johnathan: And we’re taking the leap that the audience knows what a green screen can do.

Christine: Yes.

John: You know what? I think everyone does now.

Johnathan: I think they do.

John: It really is- it’s always interesting to try to figure out, what do people know and not know and not know? And now a little something for the ladies.

Christine: Ahem, you're welcome.

[Laughter]

Christine: This was a fun day on set.

John: Yeah I can imagine. ‘Why are all the PA’s here?’

Johnathan: He's been waiting.

John: He's been waiting for a while. Dude should not have to work out that much and not be-

Johnathan: Exactly. I said, ‘Will you take your shirt off?’ He said, ‘On camera?’ I said, ‘Yeah’. ‘Watch me.’

[Laughter]

John: As opposed to usually where you're with actors ‘Will you take your shirt off?’ ‘Alright Mr. Frakes, if you want.’

Johnathan: ‘Can you really ride that motorcycle?’ ‘I said I could!’

[Laughter]

John: Oh god! Oh this is unspeakable, oh man, this is why we drink during these! I love Parker’s little beat there of, ‘Yeah, like there’s a safe I can't pick, c’mon’.

Christine: Seriously.

John: This is one of my favorites- and again, the second half of the season, we started pairing Eliot and Parker together.

Christine: It's a great pairing.

Johnathan: Yeah, and it changes the rhythm, but they are great together.

John: They're great together. And Chris and Beth are also getting to work together a lot and they- really whole cast really likes each other, so it was fun to watch.

Johnathan: Here's some comedy.

John: You know what, big comedy, half-dressed comedy.

Christine: Sexy comedy.

[Laughter]

Johnathan: Weatherman comedy.

Christine: Weatherman comedy.

Johnathan: Clothes are a little small because they're Nate’s clothes. Did we get that part?

John: Yeah, I noticed that. And also the whole idea that he could be pantless, you don't know.

Christine: He could be, they don't know.

John: No, this was an enormous amount of fun. This is just really one where we kicked back and put every con trope we can into this thing.

[Laughter]

Christine: And we got a lot of pleasure in the writers room of doing the ‘other side’ bit before it ended up in the script.

John: Other side.

Christine: ‘Seattle’. ‘Other side’

John: No this is- and again, it was a matter of controlling information. In theory, the bar- and it's tricky, cause, you know, much like earbuds have changed the way you write these shows in communication. When mobile phones start doing news better, we're gonna have to learn to write different stuff.

Johnathan: Yeah.

John: The ubiquity of information is something that all con and heist shows- controlling information is what that depends on, and you can control information less and less and less. But again, because we were in one location, that was the benefit; it forced us to do something that makes our lives easier.

Christine: I'm a fan of putting constraints on them as much as possible.

John: Yeah. It’s- otherwise they need obstacles.

Christine: Now forget the weather, he’s gonna do whatever she tells him. Look at her, please.

John: Pretty much I think he would probably kill Liam and Liam's brother at this point.

Christine: In full view of everyone.

Johnathan: ‘I don't care if they are claustrophobic!’

John: ‘Put them in a goddamn tunnel!’ No. No it's what - we're watching this with the sound off by the way - and it’s one of my favorite bits about watching these scenes, is you can actually-

Johnathan: You remember what happened.

John: You remembered what happened, but also I like watching- without the dialogue it's easier to see the emotional moments, the choices the actors are making. You can see the swing moments in the scene.

Christine: Oh yeah.

John: The acting- I actually enjoy it more with the sound off. Because you know what's going on here. With the sound off, you know how she’s reining him in, she's shutting him down, and then he’s pulling her in; she’s feeding his ego.

Johnathan: Look at how unafraid of her he is, which was nice.

John: That's also a big thing this year, is coming up with bad guys who were a little more physically confident, you know. It was a little too easy to have, like, old white dudes who were threatened by stuff.

Christine: See no tie. He's not wearing a tie.

John: No tie, he's not wearing a tie. We’ll have to remember that.

Christine: Leather jacket, no tie.

John: And then the stall almost works. And what I love is- Johnathan, you created an entire back to this bar between that drink room and the back room.

Johnathan: The drink room and the poker room.

John: And the magic area. There's no-

Johnathan: It’s huge back there!

John: It did not exist.

Christine: It’s so huge.

Johnathan: There's the whole first floor of that building.

John: Those sets aren't there!

[Laughter]

John: It was nicely done. And especially since you bombed in on short notice too right? Was I supposed to do this one? I was supposed to do this one.

Christine: This all came together very quickly.

Johnathan: Yeah, I think this was yours.

John: This was mine, and I wound up writing another episode, so I couldn’t direct.

Christine: What you missed the 107 degrees in Portland?

John: Yeah, I don’t know if I could’ve- there's no way in hell I could have pulled this off.

Christine: I don't think you would have made it.

John: No..

Christine: I'm just kidding.

John: No, no, no Johnathan has a lot of experience, he's really confident and really great with actors.

Johnathan: Oh please, John.

John: No this- a bottle show is the hardest show you can do on television. Period. The end. And it's the simplest looking one, they are- go find the bottle shows to your favorite television shows and watch how much they suck.

Christine: They're often audience favorites, because you get to play character-

Johnathan: They've often been sidled with flashbacks.

Christine: Oh, that’s true.

Johnathan: And pieces of other shows because they are short as well as bottled.

Christine: No clip show here.

John: No clip show here.

Christine: Just that special Life on Mars flashback to Nate's dad.

John: Nate’s brutally corrupt father.

Christine: Look at these guys.

Johnathan: Joe Ivy, Hank Cartwright, Ted Rooney.

Christine: Fantastic. Fantastic gentleman. Lovely, hilarious.

John: And this one keeps picking up on the entrances too. This really does run in real time, doesn't it? You think- there's a time dash in act four where we do the poker game, but that's it. Now I love- these guys were great. Oh my god, these guys were great.

Johnathan: Local again.

Christine: Local?

Johnathan: God bless the Portland hires.

John: Again Portland, we thought we'd be flying up 3 or 4 actors a week, we flew up one on average.

Christine: Yup, it's that Portland, and then access to Seattle; it's two cities just full of terrific actors.

John: Now they're scheming, now they are working together. These two guys were great, they were really telling their own story back there.

Johnathan: Well it’s again, once they were cast and they started to hang together, and you hang together for a week, and you're on location together, and you're in a show. I've done this, I've been that actor; there's nothing better, there's nothing better than being number 7, 8, 9 in the call sheet.

John: You've got their moments.

Johnathan: On hold. You get your per diem. You've got your moments, you're in the family for a week, it's a great thrill.

Christine: And everybody got really close. You know, it was a heat wave, we’re all in it together, everybody’s going out for drinks, everybody hanging out afterwards. It was nice.

Johnathan: I went home and worked.

[Laughter]

John: You did. You go home every night.

Christine: I think I saw you out once or twice, Mr. Frakes.

John: You went home to prep your shot list for the next day. Of course, you're brutally devoted sir, you are brutally devoted. I like the mislead here, this actually wound up- again, we jumped through so many hoops. ‘How do we put his poker game together? Where do we find it?’ ‘Oh wait, we’ll just establish it early and use all the available resources.’

Christine: And this is where the improv-ing really came into play during the poker game, it was kind of terrific.

John: Well also because this was based on bars where I used to hang out in Montreal where the cops- cause the place-

Johnathan: The cops were in the back.

John: Well, you know, where I hung out at- Montreal, that part was controlled by the Irish mob. So, it was a lot of Irish bars, a lot of cops, a lot of Irish mob guys hanging out in the same place.

Christine: Sort of neutral ground.

John: Yeah, exactly.

Christine: Or a neutral zone.

Johnathan: Newspaper recycling plant right here, ladies and gentlemen.

John: Don't do that.

Christine: Don't say neutral zone?

Johnathan: Right there that's all newspaper.

John: That's all newspaper? That's cool, where'd you find this?

Johnathan: In Portland.

John: No, I meant the-

Christine: Portland warehouse.

Johnathan: Portland warehouse. And that is a sugar, what they cut- What's it called?

Christine: Sugar cane?

Johnathan: They used to cut cocaine with it, it’s-

Christine: Oh.

Johnathan: Baby laxative.

John: Oh wow.

Johnathan: It’s put into-

John: Now I know. How do you know- wow it's almost like you were an actor in the 80s. How do you know so much about cocaine, Johnathan?

Johnathan: I'm just telling you what I learned on the location scout, they told me all these things.

John: All these things you pick up along the way in your long career.

[Laughter]

John: Things happen. And the fact that he is- and again, interestingly, if you go back and rewatch the back six episodes, just Jeri’s role, you can actually track her coherent decision points.

Johnathan: This is a good shot. Aaand boom.

John: And through the door.

Johnathan: We wanted to see the shots cause we know, it’s not really about the shots, it's about the story.

Christine: The shots support the story.

John: No, no, the episodes where Dean does commentary it’s all about the shots. With you, we hammer you with a story.

Johnathan: If you see the shots there’s a problem really, isn't there?

John: If you notice a shot, that means you're not paying attention to the story. But I love that. By doing that push in, you connected that door to a room that is actually on the other soundstage.

Christine: Far away.

John: You have to walk another 150 yards.

Johnathan: Another part of the world! It’s another day!

John: This room actually sold us.

Johnathan: Look at this stage, it’s setting you up for something this season. Look at that stage.

Christine: We got- seriously I got a couple pictures from that stage.

John: I’m sure you do.

Christine: Oh baby, do I.

Johnathan: Does it involve comedy? Cause John Rogers has not made it-

John: Oh no.

Christine: It involves musical comedy.

John: Musical comedy.

Johnathan: What about stand up?

John: Yeah, well I’ve worked that room.

Johnathan: That’s what I’m saying!

[Laughter]

John: Fairly sure I’ve worked in that room.

Christine: There's a flashback episode coming up.

John: Yeah- yeah, we do the writer's flashback, the audience would love that.

Johnathan: Nothing indulgent in here.

Christine: No one wants to see that.

John: No, I don’t think I'm going to go the Steve Cannell playing poker at the table route just quite yet.

Johnathan: Castle.

John: And I say that and the man is a walking god of writing, but no I'm not gonna go there.

Johnathan: And James Patterson as well.

John: James Patterson was there, too. We actually like those show- it's interesting it’s- you know, a lot of commentaries go out of their way to not talk about other shows.

Christine: We like other shows.

John: You have to be a fan of the genre to write the genre.

Christine: Absolutely.

John: You know you have to be. Otherwise you won't know when you're crossing the streams, won't necessarily have the toolbox.

Johnathan: Here's an example of what we were talking about earlier. We gave the three local cops, Alan, Tim, the poker game. Here's what has to happen, we have to have two cons that are positive, and a con that's negative. And we played- we played 6, 7, 8, 9, minute takes.

Christine: Oh yeah, we sat back and laughed our asses off afterwards, they were great.

Johnathan: Sat back and laughed, and cut it together and you go where we see it in the scene.

Christine: Some brilliant cutting here, actually.

John: It’s a really nicely shot poker game, actually. I'm watching it now, this is really really nice.

Johnathan: It’s because we had all the time in the world because we had- we finished the scene and what I needed was the poker game, and what we needed was the story points in the poker game. Instead of trying to find them I said, ‘Why don't we just play hands out?’ And so the camera men, to their credit, Connell and Camp-

John: And again, I love Beth bringing a creepy sexual vibe.

[Laughter]

Johnathan: A creepy sexual vibe to a safe.

Christine: It’s great.

John: Yeah, that's really nice. And she does the same thing- it's interesting. It’s kind of another beat that she played with Eliot in the Lost Heir Job where she knows violence is about to happen, and she gets a little buzzed by it.

Christine: A little excited about it. I don't know anybody like that.

John: Yeah that's not, not at all.

Christine: Not at all.

Johnathan: Isn’t that what you write? That's your strongest suit?

John: Creepy sexual violence, that's what Boylan-

Christine: I don't know what you're talking about.

Johnathan: That's the Boylan way.

John: No the-

Johnathan: By this time Nate is fully into the [unintelligible].

Christine: I mean he's just-

John: Boom boom boom.

Johnathan: He made the decision early, which actually we glanced over. That was a wonderful beat, which he did not overplay.

John: When he goes and gets the booze and brings it over? Yeah.

Johnathan: No no, in the bar when he decides to have the first drink.

Christine: The first drink.

John: Yeah. Well you know, I don’t think it’s in the script to look to Odessa? Just having Tim glimpse over.

Christine: That was all Tim.

John: That was- looking over he was like ‘Oh man, I have watched this little girl since she was 5 years old. I'm not gonna let her down now.’

Christine: Beautiful note.

John: Good fight here, too.

Johnathan: Good fight.

Christine: Great fight. Look at this guy. Oh my god

John: Yeah this is a nice- this is like a toe to toe. We don't do a lot of these.

Christine: This was the first day shooting I think?

Johnathan: Not only first day of shooting, this is-

Christine: Morning right?

Johnathan: This is doubled up with- weren’t we doubled up?

John: Yeah, another show was shooting.

Christine: Oh god we were. I blocked that out.

John: You guys overlapped.

Johnathan: We overlapped, and the crew was on its way to do another thing.

John: Oh wow, I didn't know that.

Johnathan: Remember that?

Christine: That's right we lost some of the crew.

John: Oh wow, nice snap. I don't remember seeing this version of the cut; this is great. Oh both good spins.

Johnathan: This is, what’s his name? This is Paul Bernard’s stunt buddy from New York; he did a great job.

Christine: He’s fantastic.

John: Yeah and Kevin, our stunt coordinator, did a fantastic job.

Christine: Great job, look at that.

John: That is a great fight. That might be one of- that's my favorite stick fight, and the fact that they're both very good-

Christine: Look at this guy, this guy’s the best.

Johnathan: Look at this guy. ‘Oh, oh no. Ahhh!’

Johnathan: Moe, Larry, Curly

Christine: Fantastic. Comedy, Frakes, comedy.

Johnathan: Second Three Stooges reference.

John: Yeah.

Christine: Oh boy.

John: Yeah.

[Laughter]

John: Yeah, and just Parker’s building frustration here.

Johnathan: Like, ‘Can you guys shut up?’

Christine: She does a great job. Beth is terrific.

John: As Chris just takes him apart.

Johnathan: This is exactly the tone of this show.

Christine: Oh.

Johnathan: Right here.

[Laughter]

John: Did she kick him?

Christine: The flick of the ponytail.

Johnathan: Yeah, she worked the heel.

John: Yeah, just fantastic. And- I'm- wow, this is a great sequence. This is the first time I've seen that fight cut. That was wonderful.

Christine: It's good cutting in there, too.

Johnathan: The good money.

Christine: The good money, the good, good money.

John: Brian Gonosey right? Brian cut the hell out of this.

Christine: Brian, yes. My friend Brian.

Johnathan: Repeat on the snow.

John: Yeah. You only have so much- so much snow.

Johnathan: I know we need to get some more Boston shots for next year.

John: Totally legally, of course.

[Laughter]

Christine: I don't know what you're talking about.

Johnathan: It takes place in Boston, right? Shot in Portland.

John: Yes it does. Shot in Portland.

Christine: Look at the look on her face.

Johnathan: How convenient is this? ‘She'll be here in a minute.’ Door opens, she comes in, she’s got a bag of money.

Christine: Only got so much time.

Johnathan: Exactly.

John: Hey 42 minutes. 42 minutes, kids.

Johnathan: 42 minutes.

[Laughter]

John: We’re moving.

Johnathan: It would've been cut anyway.

John: I know! It would've been cut.

Christine: I love how Alan just let the panic kind of- when we cut back to him, he just lets the panic kind of rise from his chest up to his face, essentially.

John: This was a big thing, too, figuring out exactly what the mark was, how-

Christine: Every mark I pitched was the most elaborate, most flirtily designed-

Johnathan: I know, in real life it should be the subtlest mark of all.

Christine: I was all over that.

Johnathan: It should be the most subtle mark of all.

John: Look at that, look at that.

Johnathan: This is a wonderful beat. This, and what Tim does after this, is fabulous.

John: And- but I love- just the way he just wipes his mouth as he gets up, he's like, ‘Alright, we're gonna have to do some violence.’

Christine: ‘We’re doing this. We're doing this.’

John: ‘Don't want to do this, but we have to do this’. And then the-

Johnathan: ‘Ok fine, let me talk my way out of it, if not-’

John: This is a man with a back up plan. Yeah, and Alan really dug in here, sort of just the rage of having his beautiful little plan taken away.

Johnathan: He's a stage boy. This is Eugene O'Neill stuff coming up.

John: Yeah exactly, park your cameras and let the people talk. And these guys were great.

Christine: These guys-

John: Also, great physical casting on these guys.

Christine: Second time he admits he's a loan shark right there, it's great.

John: They look like cops. I mean, it was really brilliant casting- they look like both cops and thugs, it was really nicely done.

Christine: They look like guys from the neighborhood. It worked out really well.

John: And again, one of the themes of the show is the bad guy is always hung by his own sin. You know, it's whatever sin you see him commit early has gotta be what shows up. Yeah, and this guy is fearless, I love this guy. I love them all.

[Laughter]

Christine: He's hilarious, look at that.

John: We have to bring these guys back.

Christine: We should.

Johnathan: They live there, they could easily-

Christine: I really think we should.

John: Actually, that was a problem, Odessa was from LA, and we want to recur the character and getting her up was impossible.

Johnathan: She wasn't from LA.

John: She was from LA.

Christine: Um, I don't know.

John: Pretty sure, yeah.

Johnathan: No no, she came in-

John: And I love he kind of drops the- he’s got that -

Johnathan: He’s like Muldoon.

John: He's got that long Dublin face. He's got the long, yeah.

Christine: He does, he's like a Joyce character, he's terrific.

John: He is.

Johnathan: No, she's a local who had moved to LA after.

John: That's right, that's right.

Christine: Oh that's what that was.

John: Yeah, he's got the Flanner O'Connell thing going on.

Johnathan: All three of these guys could easily come back.

John: Yeah.

Christine: Oh yeah.

Johnathan: It’s like Fred Guinn on the right, look at that.

John: Wow, you found the Portland Fred Guinn, amazing. This is one of the longer explanations- this is actually one of the longer flashbacks we do.

Christine: I love doing these flashes, and they- we always have to cut a whole bunch every time I write.

John: I know, I know.

Johnathan: This is a bleached bypass.

Christine: The first draft of this outline had so many flashes in it.

John: There was-

Christine: The handwritten one that I did-

[Laughter]

John: To be fair, Boylan, sometimes you will write an episode which is mostly flashes, with only two or three things happening in modern times.

Christine: I don't know what you're talking about. I'm trying to screw with your perception of time.

John: The theater thing sometimes gets a little out of control.

Johnathan: Well you milked that Guinness, didn't you?

Christine: What? It was a tiny Guinness.

John: It was a tiny Guinness. She is a tiny girl, it was a tiny Guinness.

Christine: It was a baby Guinness.

John: And this is- this is great. I love the fact that Nate becomes physically violent here.

Christine: Oh man.

Johnathan: Yeah.

John: This is- and I'm trying to remember where that came up in the room.

Christine: I forgot who pitched the finger breaking thing.

John: Cause it was originally the cops.

Johnathan: Tim got really involved in this. Tim was very excited about this part of the character, and this moment that's about- that we're all about to see.

John: I think I was the finger breaking, just because of the various times I'd seen it done.

Johnathan: Well no, it's a call back to the finger breaking, a callback-

John: No right, that's why we put it in the old days. But I was trying to remember exactly how we- we had multiple ways to get him out of this room. And then it was like, you know, we really- you really can't just chase him out.

Christine: Yeah.

John: You need somebody to lay the hurt on him.

Christine: He’s gotta have some damage.

John: And the person who has to do it has to be Nate. And that's great. Again, it backed into the whole- there's a seething angry vicious criminal under Nate Ford at all times.

Johnathan: Here it is- bam and bam!

Christine: Look at that.

John: He so digs in on the-

Christine: Look at Alan.

John: And Alan is so- cause I’ll tell you, and that was the advice I got back when I was in Montreal. A guy was in the mob, he was a bouncer, told me ‘You know what, all you gotta do is break a man's finger to get his attention for 5 minutes.’ I was like, wow.

Christine: That's good advice.

John: Really good advice. There's no pain like-

Johnathan: And ooh lights out.

Christine: He let loose with so many unholy screams during-

John: And there's something- actually important here, he breaks his finger at the end of the conversation.

Christine: Yeah.

John: That's an unpleasant thing to do. And the great bit, ‘You're exactly like your father.’ Ahh, that's so great.

Christine: Great breath there.

Johnathan: ‘None of us- I was at the ball game. Were you guys at the ball game?’

John: Huh? No.

Johnathan: That's what they're saying.

John: Oh!

Christine: Yeah ‘I was at the movies. Oh I was at the ball game’

John: ‘I was at the ball game.’ Oh, that's right

Christine: So the families can get the money back.

Johnathan: And then we tried desperately to get the snow to blow into the door on the exit. I’m not sure that we got it.

John: I don't think we got it. Why? ‘Cause it was 107 degrees in a warehouse!

Johnathan: It's 107, where are you guys going?

Christine: The backdoor to the alley, we covered it.

John: And the book, the ledger. And that was again, it's one of those things where you do research, how do loan sharks keep their records? They keep them in stupid coded legers!

Christine: Coded leger. It’s written in stupid pen and ink.

Johnathan: And here's the one of our regulars.

John: Yeah.

Johnathan: She's so reluctant to give up the money, it's brilliant.

Christine: It’s great.

[Laughter]

Johnathan: Here's a callback to the people in the beginning who have been ripped off.

John: He’s one of our regulars- if you watch, every episode he's at the bar. He's great; he's a local extra who kinda became the- mascot’s not the right word, but he really became, kind of, the extra heart, you know. And booze. Booze for everyone.

Johnathan: Shooters for everybody.

Christine: Hey, you know, end with booze we do get to [] here.

John: Somebody actually asked who drinks, who doesn't drink. Eliot drinks, Hardison doesn't drink well, Parker drinks but it doesn't affect her, Tara drinks a lot, and Nate of course is an alcoholic, just if you're keeping score.

Johnathan: What about Odessa?

Christine: Sophie?

John: Oh Sophie drinks but she only drinks girly- socially.

Christine: Socially. That's my girl.

Johnathan: You think?

John: Well when she's- yeah. She can put it away, but she prefers-

Christine: But she doesn't need to.

Johnathan: But she drinks neat booze.

John: She drinks neat booze. But you know, she's a woman who's trying to escape her past. You know, whatever she used to drink she doesn't drink anymore. I just- ‘No, no, I'm not gonna sleep with your niece at all.’ That was actually- in the original version was, she wandered off, you know, what you need to close up this beat. Yeah.

Johnathan: Ok let's sit down, we've-

Christine: Here we go.

John: She's great, she really is great. And the whole fathers thing here.

Johnathan: We even milked it with the look to the empty father’s seat.

Christine: Oh yeah, look to the chair.

Johnathan: Hopefully it stayed in the cut, let’s see.

John: I don’t know.

Christine: I believe it did.

John: They don't listen to you Frakes.

Christine: I don't know, we were both adamant about that.

Johnathan: Still doesn't matter.

Christine: Doesn’t matter.

John: We’re just puking up raw material for the brilliance of the editors.

Christine: The director was here and that chirpy girl, I don't know what they were saying. I think she was drunk, I'm not sure.

John: There's a lot about fathers in this season. Sort of looking at it there's a lot of- there’s Lost Heir, there's the season opener...

Christine: Every good show has daddy issues.

John: Wow that was a really weird voice you said that in; that’s a little disturbing.

Johnathan: My fathers the reason I'm here.

Christine: Aww.

John: Yeah, there you go.

Johnathan: Chair.

John: Chair, there you go you got the chair.

Christine: Cut to the stool. Dad’s office.

John: And he's gonna drink to it, yup.

Johnathan: Cause he hasn't had enough to drink today.

John: No he has not. Well once you start, really-

Christine: Really, what's the point of stopping?

John: Oh that's nice, they've cleaned up behind them, while they're talking.

Johnathan: High and wide.

John: High and wide.

Christine: Times out really nicely.

John: Nicely done.

Christine: Real time.

John: Anything you wanna say to the nice folks?

Johnathan: See you next season.

Christine: See you next season.

John: Thank you Mr. Frakes, that was wonderful. Thank you Boylan, that was wonderful.

Christine: Thanks guys.

John: And again an almost impossible show to do. Usually an impossible job on any show and- on any series and you guys made it one of the best of the 2 years, congratulations.

Johnathan: You're a gentleman and a scholar and a physicist.

[Laughter]

Christine: And a bit of a comedian as well.

John: Every now and then.

Johnathan: I can see you on that stage in the back room.

John: I'm not doing it.

Johnathan: What do you mean?

Christine: You are doing it.

Johnathan: John.

John: You know what? This screams for a Gilligan cut, ‘I’m not doing it!’

#Leverage #Leverage TNT #Leverage Audio Commentary Transcripts #Audio Commentary #Transcripts #Parker #Alec Hardison #Elliot Spencer #Nate Ford #Sophie Deveraux #Season 2 #Episode 11 #Season 2 Episode 11 #The Bottle Job

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cyberdragoninfinity · 1 year

Note

Kaito Tenjo

OK TO PREFACE im only about halfway through zexal rn (on about episode 82) so I don't have the full Kaito spectrum on my plate just yet, but here's my thoughts with what I've got from him so far:

favorite thing about them: like looking at everything about Kaito/Kite on the table, he is....an extraordinarily silly yugioh character, and I adore that about him. He's this weirdo 18 year old beefing with middle schoolers AND he has turbo bad dad problems AND he has a funny little robot sidekick AND he flies around on the robot AND he's a very very sweet big brother (I love his interactions with Hart especially, the way his whole demeanor shifts...really really good.)

least favorite thing about them: ok this one isnt really Kite's fault but oh my Fucking god galaxy eyes decks on duel links are an absolute un-nerfec NIGHTMARE to deal with to the point that every time i run into a Kite main i groan internally because I know the next eight minutes or so are going to Suck. konami nerf that fucking skill PLEASE.

favorite line: ok so in the dub which is what i watch, he only ever calls his father "Dr. Faker", like, exclusively. Except towards the end of zexal I when Faker's about to fall into the Barian Wormhole Black Hole Fuckery Whatever, and Kite says "Now where's my dad?" And that's just such a lovely subtle little choice there with the language, I really like it. I love ygo families so much.

brOTP: I love his relationship with Hart so much, but I also ABSOLUTELY LOVE TO BITS the dynamic he has with Quinton/V/Chris Arclight....like they really clocked me over the head with Surprise Surrogate Siblings Moments with the kite/quinton duel during the WDC and that has me BARKING AND HOWLING!!! MY TYPE OF CONTENT

OTP: idk if i have one rn?? Kind of vibing with aro Kite in general tbh. firing my beam attack (aromanticism)

nOTP: kite/yuma...... nnnnot a fan. You Are 18 Go Date Someone Who's Not a Middle Schooler. Please.

random headcanon: I feel like this guy definitely forgets to eat and will routinely keep like. a granola bar or jerky in his big stupid coat that he inevitably forgets is in there until it's been pulverized to crumbs post-flying around on Orbital adventure.

unpopular opinion: again dont really know whats popular and whats unpopular but kite's like....role in the story does perplex me a little (not in a bad way. just in a I'm Thinking About This Way). Like it's not uncommon for ygos to give the protag secondary rivals (hi jaden) but Kite and Shark are really like BOTH jammed into the Designated Rival slot and it's an interesting choice. wait hang on as im typing this im having the brain blast---is kite supposed to be ASTRAL'S rival, not yuma's??? HANG ON. SECTION CANCELED I NEED TO THINK ON THAT ONE.

song i associate with them: dont have one. maybe sometime after i finish the series....

favorite picture of them: i just really like how he looks here. luv when zexal characters have really tiny irises. <3 reminds me of my art style.

#i like kite well enough but im hoping z2 warms me up more to his character... i want to like him more #asks #angrykittenz62 #ygo posting

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katrinawritesthings · 3 years

Text

Jonghyun / Taemin; bridging parallels ; nc17

jonghyun and taemin live in the apartments across from each other and jonghyun has been watching taemin climb out of his window and sneak out of the house several times a week for years ever since they were both in high school

for summer of shinee 2021 : )

Him and Taemin text still. Not often, and when they do, it's never really a full conversation. Mostly just memes shared at 2 in the morning, small talk, happy birthdays. Look at that dog texted fervently at 7 p.m. On a Thursday dragging one of them at light speed to their window to obey. Taemin makes his way into one of Jonghyun's articles again, this time a little spotlight of his work as a choreographer for an entire show.

Jonghyun has known Taemin since they were kids. Apartment neighbors, kind of. Jonghyun is 408, Taemin is 718. The way the apartments are set up, Jonghyun can sit at his bedroom window, look outside, and see Taemin's bedroom window across the way and one floor down. They go to elementary school together, then middle school, and then high school. They have one or two classes together over the years. None of that really matters because they never really talk.

What was the homework texted here, our mutual friend both invited us to the same party there, look at that dog shouted into the space between their windows at 7 p.m. On a Thursday one time in 8th grade. Whatever.

Even when Taemin starts sneaking out at night, the summer after sophomore year, 15 years old, it doesn't magically make them have a speaking relationship. All it does is distract Jonghyun as he's sitting at his window sill, scented candle lit, summer reading program report under his hands. Distracts him and makes him drop his pencil four floors into the bushes that line the building.

He doesn't watch it long enough to see it hit the ground. He's far too interested in watching whatever the fuck Taemin thinks he's doing. He's clambering out of his window, his third-story window, nothing but a concrete drop below him, and then he's actually climbing up, up the wall, up the building, up three floors until he's hauling himself up onto the roof.

When Taemin makes it up there, he rolls out of view over the ledge, but then his head pops back over. He looks all the way down, and even from far away, Jonghyun can see the huge smile spread over his face. His hands slap excitedly on the ledge before he stands up, turns, and disappears again as he jogs away, the high kick of his ankle behind him as he stumbles a step the last thing that Jonghyun sees of him.

Until he sees him sneaking out again the next night.

It doesn't become a nightly thing, but it is still regular enough that, every night when he's at his window sill with a candle and some writing, he’ll glance up at any movement he sees across the way just in case. It doesn't stop when school starts back up again, either. Sometimes Jonghyun will watch Taemin clamber out of his window, up the building, and disappear on the roof one night and then watch him sleeping on the bus the next morning, wondering how many hours he actually got. Sometimes he'll be up late enough to watch Taemin sneak back in, a descent three floors down from the roof that stops Jonghyun's heart every time.

School goes on. Jonghyun takes storytelling electives; music, ceramics, creative writing, art. He reads comic books, watches anime, looks up walkthroughs of video games that he can't play himself. He gets detention one time for being late and a kid sitting next to him offers him some weed, which he tries but doesn't really like, but that kid helps him through some spontaneous crying a few weeks later so they become pretty close and he winds up being the designated driver to a bunch of stoners. His dad moves out, his sister moves out, his sister moves back in. He picks up a part-time job at a music store during his senior year to help with the bills.

He sees Taemin around every now and again. They have ceramics together, for one. Taemin sits at another table with his own group of friends, but he smiles and says hey to Jonghyun when they wind up in the glazing room together. He comes into Jonghyun's job sometimes, looking over new album releases and buying everything a particular band puts out.

Jonghyun sees Taemin dancing during school pep rallies, assemblies, during rehearsals and the big night for a talent show they're both in where Jonghyun almost cries on stage because he's so nervous to be playing one of his own self written songs in front of people. He cries backstage instead and they still don't talk, but Taemin offers him a quick hug as they pass, hand rubbing over his back, and then he's gone before Jonghyun even really realized he was there in the first place. Later that night, Taemin sneaks out and then back in again within an hour.

And that night is also the first night that Taemin notices Jonghyun watching him. It’s just as he’s putting his hands on his windowsill to hoist himself up that he hesitates and, for a reason that Jonghyun can't come up with, looks directly across the way at Jonghyun.

He jumps when he sees Jonghyun, like he's startled; Jonghyun waves, a little confused, a little amused. Taemin looks down, covering what has to be an embarrassed smile with his hand.then Taemin looks up, waves back, and clambers out of his window and up the wall like usual. After he reaches the top, he peeks his head over the edge for the first time since that first night. Jonghyun leans just a little bit out of his window to smile and wave again. Even with all of the distance between them, Jonghyun can see the flash of his smile as Taemin taps two fingers to his temple and flicks them off in a salute.

From that night on, everytime that Taemin sneaks out, they wave at each other.

They graduate; Jonghyun with okay grades and Taemin with probably the same. Jonghyun doesn't go to college or anything. He upgrades his job at the music store to full time and does some freelance work online writing articles about art events and festivals in the area while he tries to work on his own stories in his free time. Taemin doesn't leave town either, because he still climbs out of his window and disappears over the roof on a regular basis. It's not until Taemin comes into the music store one time to buy a new CD and Jonghyun recognizes the logo on his hoodie as belonging to the local dance theater that he figures out what Taemin has been up to lately.

And it's not until they happen to both wind up in the little corner store down the street from their apartment complex at the same time that they have their first real conversation.

Jonghyun is there because he wanted snacks and his sister wanted snacks and he lost the rock paper scissors to decide who would go out and get some. Taemin is apparently there to buy some booze because he's standing in front of all of the refrigerators and contemplating the selection when Jonghyun opens one next to him to grab a couple bottles of soda.

"Oh, sorry," Taemin says, glancing at him and stepping a little bit away, and then, brighter, "oh, hey Jonghyun."

"Hey," Jonghyun says back, pleasantly surprised to recognize him. "Party?" he asks, nodding at all of the liquor. Taemin shakes his head, tells Jonghyun that he's just looking for something fun and fruity to enjoy by himself in his room sometimes. For self-care, he says. Jonghyun tells him he gets that and taps the glass in front of one of his favorite fruity boozy drinks in recommendation. Taemin shrugs and takes his word, opening the refrigerator and pulling out the bottle without even really looking at the label or anything on it. Then, after a moment's hesitation, asks, "how old are you again?"

"20," Jonghyun tells him, smiling a little sheepishly. "Maybe I ask my sister to buy me alcohol. Don't tell anyone."

And Taemin's response to that is a snort, a broad grin, and a hand slipping into his back pocket and pulling out his wallet. "As long as you don't tell anyone about this," he says as he pulls out his ID card from its clear plastic flap, slots it in with all his other cards, pulls out a different ID card, and puts that in the flap.

The blunt casualness of that whole exchange surprises a laugh out of Jonghyun, one that sounds loud in the quiet little store. He doesn't try to stifle it; has never really tried to stifle his laughter. Still chuckling, he offers up his pinky to Taemin to promise. Taemin looks at him, looks at his pinky, covers his mouth and nose with the back of his hand for a moment, then links their pinkies together.

Taemin buys his alcohol and leaves the store before Jonghyun finishes picking up all of his snacks, but he sees Taemin ahead on the sidewalk on the way back and jogs to catch up with him.

"Don't go climbing out of your window after you drink any of that," he says, worried halfway through the sentence that maybe he's overstepping but finishing anyway. Taemin does that thing again, where he looks down and rubs his nose, and is the first one to offer up his pinky this time.

Taemin picks up a fashion for denim-on-denim, leather, spikes. Dark clothes, baggy hoodies, lots of rings. Beanies, worn-out shoes. Jonghyun attaches himself to big comfy sweaters, turtlenecks, bracelets cinching over the sleeves. Ripped jeans, snapbacks, boots. Taemin lets his hair grow out until it fans out around his face, soft and wavy, then cuts it short into a choppy bowl cut and a crisp undercut. Jonghyun tries out an undercut too, finds he likes it, experiments with dying his hair every couple of months. Taemin has some new piercings–shark bites, cheek studs, spikes through his ears. Jonghyun has some new tattoos–words on his arms, permanent bracelets around his wrists, planets on his side, a starscape on his back.

Jonghyun starts teaching guitar lessons at the music store to kids on the weekends. His mom gets promoted at her job. They stop struggling as much, settle into something almost resembling financial security. He keeps freelancing and in one of his articles he writes about a culture show the dance theater is putting on. In the picture that runs with the article, Taemin is standing on the end, smiling with his arm around a fellow dancer, doing a victory sign for the camera.

There's a queer club down the street from the music store that Jonghyun goes to sometimes. He makes new friends, has a couple of casual hookups, has a cute girlfriend for a while but things don't really work out. It's fine between them after. Taemin almost has a cute date friend one time, but that doesn't work out either. Jonghyun knows this because he watches the whole thing happen from his window sill.

He's there, writing notebook under his hands, scented candle next to his elbow, just like every night, and Taemin is suddenly there on the roof. Except, for once, he's not alone. Someone else is with him. A little taller, thick dark hair spilling out of a pulled up hoodie, and that's about all Jonghyun can see of them. The pair of them sit down on the ledge, feet dangling over nothing, close enough that their shoulders almost brush every so often.

Jonghyun doesn't mean to snoop, or eavesdrop, or anything. Taemin's love life is his own business. It's interesting, yeah, to watch them stargazing and talking together, but Jonghyun really is only glancing up at them every couple of minutes to distract his brain a little bit so he can focus on his writing without getting distracted a lot by something else. And it just so happens, that during one of those glances, Taemin tries to make his move.

It's not much of a move; a purposeful bump of their shoulders, a rub of his nose with the back of his hand, something said to make them look at him directly. More quiet words, a leaning in–not all the way, but enough to be clear–a tilt of his head like he's asking a question, and then.

And then. The other person leaning back, shaking their head, covering their mouth with both hands. Quickly they reach for Taemin's hand, holding it tight as they speak earnestly, as Taemin nods up and down and tugs his hair at the back of his head where they can't see.

They sit together for a little while longer after that, but a barely perceptible distance apart now, enough space that they don't accidentally bump shoulders anymore. Then the other person stands up, starts to walk away. Taemin turns and takes their hand, carefully, asks them something that they nod in agreement to. Taemin drops their hand, flops his own hands into his lap. The other person walks away, and then a minute later, Taemin falls back, sprawls himself out over the roof until all Jonghyun can see are his legs still dangling. They kick in the air for a few seconds before flopping limply back down in defeat.

Jonghyun looks back to his writing with a shake of his head. Poor baby.

He doesn't see Taemin sneak out for a couple of weeks after that. Then, another night, another candle, another page of writing, he glances up and finds Taemin sitting at his window, arms crossed on the windowsill, face nestled in his elbow, cheek smushed up as he pouts out at nothing. Jonghyun can't help it; he smiles at the image.

"Hey sorry about your heartbreak dude" is what he texts to Taemin once he finds his number buried in all of his contacts, an entry probably put in during high school for some project that neither of them remember. And then he just watches, waits, until Taemin leans away from his window. A moment later, Taemin returns, and this time he's holding his phone and looking up at Jonghyun. Jonghyun waves with an apologetic little shrug.

"Damn you saw that??? " Taemin texts back. Jonghyun replies that he did indeed see it and offers more condolences. Taemin's sigh is audible to Jonghyun even from so far away, but he replies anyway. They talk about nothing, really; Taemin asks what Jonghyun is always writing about and Jonghyun tells him. His book that he's been working on for a while. The one where he wanted to write a love story but wound up accidentally writing a breakup scene in the first chapter and then just went with it. Taemin seems to take some comfort in hearing about a failed romance.

The night after that, Taemin climbs out of his window again.

Jonghyun's manager gets fired for tax evasion or some bullshit and suddenly he finds himself as the manager instead. Not because he's super qualified for the job, but because he's worked there for the longest, almost 11 years, and the rest of the employees are mostly part-time high school kids. All of a sudden he has all of these duties and responsibilities that he doesn't know what to do with, on top of dealing with the mess that his old boss left him with. The first thing he does is give himself and all of the employees a raise, which at first gets him a serious reprimand from upper management of the store chain, but he doesn't give a shit and the next month he gets praised for reducing customer service complaints and boosting product sales.

One night Taemin comes into the music store to buy a new album from his favorite band a couple weeks later than Jonghyun was expecting him to. Usually he shows up on day one; when Jonghyun mentions that to him, he rubs his nose with the back of his hand and shrugs, mumbling something about a giveaway online and shipping problems. Jonghyun chuckles at that, mentions that the cardboard stand that they have in the store to promote the album is free for him to take, if he wants it. He's the manager. He can do that now.

Taemin's eyes widen behind his bangs, his teeth flash in a huge smile. He thanks Jonghyun emphatically, grabs the stand, and walks out with it, holding it in front of him as he goes and biting his lip.

Jonghyun finds himself thinking about that later in bed. Taemin’s teeth biting into his bottom lip. Digging into soft, plush pink. He looked different today. Something about his face, his nose. A nose job, Jonghyun guesses, something to change the tip of his nose from a cute soft hook to a cute round end. He dropped his shark bite piercings at some point and replaced them with studs. two silver squares on each side of his bottom lip, matching the ones that dimple his cheeks, the sets that outline the tips of his eyebrows. Matching the ones lined up below his collar bones. Jonghyun could see those in the dip of his v-neck.

The piercings won't leave his mind as he tries to fall asleep. Heavy silver, bold, striking, a statement of toughness outlining his delicate features. Jonghyun wonders how they feel, if he ran his fingers over them would they be cold or would they have absorbed Taemin’s body heat. He makes the mistake of wondering if Taemin has matching studs on his hips and realizes with a start that he's running his fingers over his own lips, imagining how it would feel if he were to drag his mouth over them.

Face hot, lips tingling, Jonghyun rolls over in bed and tries to think of anything else.

It works. For a little bit. Until the next day when he waves at Taemin as he heads out for the night. Then he's thinking about them again. Then he's thinking about what kind of noises Taemin would make if Jonghyun kissed his piercings. About how much deeper, huskier Taemin's voice sounded in the store. It had to have been that deep the last time they talked, the last time Taemin came in to buy an album, but–if it was, Jonghyun doesn't remember noticing or caring as much as he does now.

This new realization has him trying with all his heart to think about himself, what it means that he's gone his whole life without knowing that he had a thing for piercings, what it means if it's not the piercings and it's just Taemin, what it means if he suddenly starts lusting over the boy next door.

This lasts for about two more days until he gets tired of it and decides to just do something about it.

So the next time he catches Taemin about to climb out of his window a little bit after midnight, he waves frantically to get his attention. Taemin stops, looks at him, smiles, waves back. Jonghyun beckons towards him, trying to communicate that he wants him to come over without shouting. Taemin points at himself then over up at Jonghyun, tilting his head; Jonghyun nods eagerly, beckoning again. Without a moment of hesitation this time, Taemin nods and holds up one finger.

He climbs up his building, and then instead of disappearing away from Jonghyun, he walks along the edge. Jonghyun leans a little bit out of his window to watch him all the way down to where the parallel lines of their apartment buildings turn into a U for him to cross, until he gets too close to Jonghyun's side to see anymore. Then, a minute later, there's a crunch of shoe against brick outside his window. He moves his tealight candle out of the way and Taemin slips into his room feet first.

"Hey," he says. "What's up? Can I smell?"

A finger with chipped black nail polish touches next to Jonghyun's tiny candle. He has studs on the backs of his wrists too. Jonghyun lets him smell with a warning to be careful not to spill it, and then tries to figure out a way to say what he wants to say tactfully. He didn't think this part through. It's not really his style to come up with detailed plans, just to try things out and see if they work. Finally, after a bunch of starts and stops, half asked questions, an exasperated sigh, he just says, "do you want to make out?"

And in the silence after the question, in the dim light of his desk lamp, Taemin's tongue wets his lips.

"Sure," he says.

Nice.

Sure turns into Taemin in Jonghyun's lap, turns into Jonghyun gliding his thumb over the studs under Taemin's lip, turns into Taemin cupping his face and pressing their mouths together. Kissing turns into Jonghyun's hands sliding up under his shirt, turns into Taemin groaning the hottest noise Jonghyun has ever heard into his mouth, turns into him standing with his sweater half way over his head frantically whispering to Taemin that his bed is too squeaky and his family is trying to sleep.

He takes Taemin to the floor, sits on his hips and grinds down while Taemin fumbles with his own belt buckle, hands bumping Jonghyun's cock through his pajama pants. Jonghyun hadn't meant for this to happen, wasn't planning on fucking Taemin, but he doesn't want to stop.Taemin doesn't either, says god no when Jonghyun asks and that's enough of a reason to Jonghyun to keep going. He's pushing Taemin's shirt up while Taemin is trying to reach up onto his bed for a pillow, and it's rushed and it's messy, but Jonghyun discovers that Taemin not only has studs along the V of his but also one over his belly button, bars through his nipples, and, best of all, when he pulls Taemin's pants down, four of us small silver balls like an X around the head of his cock.

Lube from his desk, three fingers deep into his own ass, thumb tracing over every piercing on Taemin's hips, so hard it hurts, almost delirious with want, Jonghyun barely hears Taemin when he says, "I've always thought you were cute."

The piercings in his collar bones glint in the light, his skin glistens with summer sweat, the sharp angle of his jawline, the shadow of his adam's apple bobbing in his throat, the raw edge on his voice as he says, "I've always liked you, ever since we were kids, I've always–I don't know when it turned into a crush, but I–god that feels so good. Oh my fucking god." Halfway down Taemin's cock, Taemin grabs Jonghyun's hips and pulls him down all the way, knocks the breath from his lungs. "Jonghyun," he says, "more."

Jonghyun gives him more until he can't anymore, until his thighs are burning and his arms are trembling. Taemin removes the effort for him by turning them around until he's on his back. Taemin fucks him like that, tries to kiss him more but quickly gives up and buries his face in Jonghyun's neck instead. With "you're perfect, you're perfect, you're so fucking perfect, " breathed under his ear, Jonghyun hooks his leg around Taemin's back, pulls him in harder, faster, whispers his own pleads back, begs Taemin to bite him, bite his neck.

Taemin bites him, hard, and that's how he comes, body frozen underneath him until he goes all the way limp, only barely registering in some faraway part of his brain Taemin's choked breaths and the warmth pooling inside of him. He's weak, hazy, loopy, giggling, and Taemin's gentle hands are on him again, picking him up, putting him on his knees, and Jonghyun is glad to obey, glad to do whatever the fuck when he's this blissed-out.

Quiet curses as hands smooth over his back, the softest "oh, wow," whispered as fingers trace his constellations, and then the deepest groan as Taemin's tongue touches his skin. Jonghyun's eyes fly open, his voice rises three octaves, he slaps both hands over his mouth to stifle the noises he's making, noises he’s never made before in his life. The moment that he realizes that Taemin has a tongue stud is the moment that everything goes white, and then the next moment, everything goes dark.

The next morning he wakes up alone, in his bed, pajama pants back on, candle burned all the way down to nothing, window closed. He's not angry, or hurt, but he is a little grumpy all day long until he walks up to the entrance of the apartment complex after work and Taemin is sitting on one of the big potted plants outside the door.

He stands up when Jonghyun gets close to him, presses a large jar candle of the scent from last night into his hands, and, blinking a mile a minute, blurts out, "hey, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for last night when I told you I was in love with you and then fucked you and then panicked and left," to which Jonghyun, baffled, wracking his memory, replies, "did you tell me you're in love with me?"

Which kicks Taemin's blinking into overdrive, starts up a long, stammering babble that Jonghyun can confidently say he understands about 20% of. After a minute he realizes that Taemin isn't going to stop, so he interrupts him by asking, "Taemin, do you want to go on a date?"

A few days later, they share a mountain of fries on an outside table at some burger joint. Taemin, embarrassed, reading notes from his phone, admits that he's had a crush on Jonghyun for what feels like forever but was always too shy and infatuated to make a move. Jonghyun, embarrassed, scratching the back of his head, admits that he just got suddenly horny for the piercings one day and was a little too impulsive in making his move. Both of them, laughing, agree that it would probably be nice to work towards a middle ground together.

And it is.

#jonghyun #taemin #jongtae #fluff #nc17 #oneshot #this is equal parts dbsk love line and also Justin McElroy talking about geocaching #and also me making myself blush thinking about Taemin with all of those piercings #I started a sequel but I'm never going to get around to finishing it lamo but that's what Taemin is doing whenever he sneaks out he's #geocaching #sometimes he's doing cool skater boy stuff and the drugs but mostly it's geocaching #accidentally gave myself a new writing style with this one #Slow Burn but it's fast forwarded and also from the POV of the one that isn't in love the entire time #i don't remember what i was trying to do #I was trying to get past the childhood stuff quickly but then I kind of just carried that throughout the entire thing #and i really like it #ydw

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