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bewarethecircles · 9 months

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After a vacation in Alpha Centauri, Gabriel and Beelzebub come back to earth and move in together. They proceed to be the worst and most baffling neighbors anyone in the neighborhood has ever experienced.

They introduced themselves as Bee and Jim, but immediately started laughing about it, so people are pretty sure those aren't their real names.

Neither of them seem to have jobs, but they must be rich, because their house is massive and they're always wearing fancy clothes, and their wallets are bursting with money. Maybe they’re in the mafia?

Speaking of fancy clothes, “Jim” is always wearing designer suits. There is an ongoing game where people attempt to take a picture of him in any other clothes. One time, an enterprising teenager went so far as to sneak over in the middle of the night to look into his bedroom (hoping he’d be in pajamas), and saw him still in a suit, Standing on Top of the Bed, eyes wide open and Smiling Brightly. (Gabriel has not gotten the hang of sleeping yet.) (The teenager refuses to go near the house ever again.)

The short one, “Bee,” is consistently trailed by flies. This is alarming to everyone. They say that they're a “fly-keeper,” but people are pretty sure that's not a thing. Do they carry rotting meat around or something?

Bee also seems to be constantly changing appearances. One day they have a buzz cut, the next day their hair goes to their mid-back. Their eyes are a different colour every time you see them. People have set up cameras to take pictures of them on different days, and upon comparing them they are Definitely almost 6 inches taller this week. Even their facial features shift.

It gets to the point where people decide Jim must just have multiple partners, and be lying about it. (“Multiple partners that all look similar and are never seen together?” the opposition will point out. When asked if they have a better theory, they can never answer.)

The two of them will have romantic moments Anywhere, including standing in the middle of the highway staring into each others eyes. By all rights they should have been run over, but in a bizarre coincidence every car in the area ran out of fuel and stopped moving at that exact moment. People want to blame Jim for it (he did make a strange hand movement, after all), but that would just be absurd.

They use the absolute worst pet names for each other. A list of overheard ones is being recorded. “My rotten cabbage?” “My hell-bringer?” “Dearest packet of crisps??”

You cannot let them notice that you're disgusted by their lovey-doveyness. They will either get exponentially more cringey, or straight up insult you until you run away crying. Or both.

“Everyday” by Buddy Holly will be audible to the whole block at all times. Do they know other songs exist? Don't they get bored of this one?? Why is it so loud???

There’s a statue of Jim in the front yard. Its 20 feet tall and definitely a HOA violation, but people are too scared to mention it. Both Bee and Jim will come out at different times and spend hours staring at it dreamily.

People would hate them, but ever since they moved in the weather has been perfect, crime is at an all time low, and there’s little trucks that go around selling hot chocolate, and those things Probably cant be because of them, but still...

Plus, Jim doesn’t understand how money works at all, so he’ll give you $300 for a bag of chips. It's endearing, even if he is sometimes a jerk.

Bee does seem to know how money works, but they’ll frequently pay even more than Jim, especially if the person seems overworked and the place is under-staffed. They say they have experience with it.

After a month of them living there, most of the neighborhood is in a group chat created to discuss the two of them. Beelzebub is secretly in the chat, and reads their favourite theories to Gabriel.

A rumour starts going around that they're an angel and a demon in disguise, but no one can agree which one is which.

Beelzebub is the one who started the rumour.

If anyone writes a fic with any of this by all means tag me I'd love to see it!!

#ineffable bureaucracy #gabriel x beelzebub #beelzebub x gabriel #good omens #good omens spoilers #good omens 2 #is all of this in character? Maybe not #but the dynamic they have in my brain is hilarious so it's what I'm going with

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elvensorceress · 20 days

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In all the excitement about bi!Buck, (which— yay! Amazing! Very exciting! No notes!) I think there’s a part of this story we’re missing. I haven’t seen anyone talk about it, so have some rambling.

It wasn’t just Buck who looked at this experienced, older, queer man and wanted to know him. It was also Eddie.

We have never seen Eddie go so hard, so immediately for anyone. To the point his best friend of years felt like he was being ignored by him. Yes, Buck wanted Tommy’s attention for obvious reasons. But he was also slighted by the perceived lack of attention from Eddie.

Suddenly, Eddie is spending multiple times a week going out with this man. Going to Vegas with this man. Working out with him, working on his car with him, doing karaoke and trivia night with him? Asking his alleged girlfriend to babysit more than once so that he can go out with Tommy? Obviously, it was from jealous!Buck’s point of view, but seriously. If Buck felt ignored, what is Marisol even thinking? Did Eddie bother to make time for his new girlfriend? What spare time would he even have if they work several 24 hour shifts and he’s also gone out with Tommy at least three times in one week? And is probably planning more?

Not that I think Eddie’s feelings for Tommy are necessarily in the same vein as Buck’s feelings for Tommy. But my gosh, Eddie giggly and kicking his feet and twirling his hair while on the phone with Tommy was so very loud. And actually a pretty neat contrast to being distracted and trying to text Marisol “hey mari it me eddie” to ask her out. Eddie’s sudden infatuation with Tommy was a thousand times more than anything we’ve seen from him for anyone. Considering that what he stated he wanted was the magical chemistry he’d found when he and Shannon got together, like… is that not what he just found with Tommy?

Again, it doesn’t necessarily mean Eddie has any explicit romantic or sexual attraction toward Tommy. I suppose he could? But the point is more that wow, there is some kind of intense draw pulling Eddie to him even if we interpret it as platonic.

Buck says at the end of the ep that they met this guy and he was so cool and Buck wanted to get to know him. Which makes sense given that Buck is canonically crushing on him and going to be dating him. But Eddie was actually the one who got there first. Eddie also had a reaction somewhere along those lines of “he’s really cool, I need to know him” to the point where he’s all of a sudden spending most if not all of his free time with him.

And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this person Eddie wants to spend time with is an experienced, out queer man who is comfortable in his own sexuality and his own masculinity. (He has so much in common with Eddie! They have so many similar interests! They have a magical click together that makes Eddie want to be around him all the time! There’s so much they can do together!)

Eddie might not have even known it, maybe in the same way Buck also didn’t know it, but Eddie definitely latched onto that, too. Which is very interesting, no? Very— queers finding each other and bonding over shared experiences even before they know that’s what they’re doing.

It can easily be someone who is likely confused about their own feelings but knows they are having certain feelings just not the names to put to those feelings, and consequently seeking guidance and reassurance that there are other people who are just like them who have these feelings as well. It’s realizing how they can be themselves, that they can be queer in a way that fits who they are instead of what they might conceptualize as queer because of stereotypes and preconceived notions. It’s learning you can be you and also be queer. That there are people like you out there.

Eddie found something with Tommy that he hasn’t been shown to have found anywhere else. It’s a new and different thing for him, too. And if it were just about excitement over a new friend, why is it so much so quickly all at once? Eddie’s a social person. He’s a friendly, charming, charismatic person. He has friends. But it feels like this is a very different sort of friendship for him.

And the fact that this is the same man who just gave Buck his bisexual awakening is verrrry inch resting.

Also regardless of what kind of feelings Eddie and Tommy might have been having for each other, they were so going on dates. Flying someone to Vegas because you have tickets that have been sold out for weeks to something they enjoy? Like damn Eddie. You pulled a sugar daddy.

Anyway. Eddie is queer, too. Double sexuality awakenings, ready go!

That is all! 💕

#911 #Eddie Diaz #911 on abc #911 abc #911 meta #yes I'm an Eddie girlie(gn) through and through

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rosipuree · 4 months

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What you need.

⇢ ˗ˏˋ notes ࿐ྂ Emo!Choso x stoner!reader, smoking, drinking, Oral, Female receiving, Strangers to lovers?, creampie, p in v. characters are ooc! Not proofread. I'm taking request so please send I'm running out of ideas smh...

.ೃ࿐

"You’re going–whether you like it or not.” Nobara applied some lip gloss, checking her outfit one more time. The last place you ever saw yourself was at this frat party. Nobara on the other hand begged you to go. Ever since you met Nobara, she pursued you to open up more. Going out to clubs, parties, and even just shopping, which you still hate doing. You were just really lazy, never wanting to leave the dorms. As Nobara would say, a rotting potato.

“Give me 5–” “No this is gonna take more than 5.” She grabbed your wrist and threw you into the bathroom. Nobara does your hair cutely while you gulp down a very much needed energy drink. She grabs a pair of jeans that still had the tag on and gives you a judging look.“Seriously y/n?” She chuckles while you look confused. She chucked the pants at your face, now looking for a perfect top.

“You look—mwah perfect!” She claps her hands together proud of the outcome. Different from your usual hoodies and plaid pj pants look topped off with a messy bun. You grab your purse and spray a bit of perfume before exiting the door with Nobara.

You take a hit from the small pink disposable. You only hated parties because you weren’t good with crowds, so taking a puff of the weed pen definitely always helped with the stress. Nobara was always against it but at this point she gave up, only leaving the windows open in her car to fume the smell out. “It’s not gonna be that bad, I promise.” She gives you a reassuring smile.

“I promise, my ass.” You mumble walking through the crowd already parted ways from Nobara. You weren’t mad that she left, because who were you to stop her from having fun. Your body was already fuzzy from the indica strain you hit less than 10 minutes ago. “Y/n what the hell?” you turn to see Todo with Yuji by his side. You softly smile as Todo leads you to the back where it had been quieter and less abrupt.

“We honestly never thought you’d come to one of these.” Yuji says passing you a drink filled with god knows what. “No offense but couldn’t even tell that was you, you look amazing.” Todo wraps his arm around your shoulder. “ouch—” you clench onto your chest as if you were hurt by his words.

“Wanna join us? We’re about to play cup pong inside.” Yuji asked. Going back in there would be hell, but out here was filled with people making out and a little smoke circle. “I’ll be there in a few, I’ll stay out here for now.” They shrugged it off and walked back inside to the real party. You sat with the little circle of people who had been passing around a blunt.

“You know my little brother?” you turn to look at who’d been talking to you while you waited for your turn. His eyes were sunken and dark, but red due to the weed. His voice was deep and his head leaned on some random freakishly hot girl. “Um–who?” you questioned who he’d been talking about. He cleared his throat before picking his head up to get a better look at you.

“Yuji.” He passes you the joint. Yuji? Had an older brother? An older brother that was 100x hotter than him. Not even looking remotely similar. “Oh..yeah.” you take a deep puff before passing it onto some other person. “Y/n, seriously?” you turn around to see Nobara rushing to pull you away from the group. “What?” You look back at the circle as Nobara pulls you inside.

“Not Yuji’s brother, he and his friends are weird.” She closes the back door while leading you into the kitchen to grab another drink. “Listen, I'm just trying to have fun like you told me.” You were a bit surprised at why she pulled you away, wouldn't she want this?

“They're weird, like a cult kind of…” she giggled, fixing her makeup on her little hand mirror while you took a sip from the red cup. Nobara was very judgmental though, judging people before she even knew them.

Now you stood in the kitchen alone. “Where’s that little friend of yours?” Yuji’s brother spoke, catching you off guard. He was inches away from you hovering over you. You noticed how he had some piercings, an eyebrow piercing, a lip piercing and some ear piercings. His finger nails were painted black and to top it off he smelled amazing. The strong cologne taking over your nose, mixed with the smell of the weed. “Somewhere.” You yelled due to the loud music.

“She doesn’t like me.” He laughed bringing the red cup up to his face for a sip. “I assumed.” you dryly respond looking everywhere but his eyes. “Wanna get out of here?” stranger danger? You didn’t even know his name yet, and he’s asking you if you wanted to leave with him. “Kamo Choso.” He held out his hand finally introducing himself, seeing the uncertain look on your face.

You softly shake it, “Y/n..L/n” What could be the worst to happen? After all, you weren’t even enjoying yourself here.

“Fuck~” a whispered moan coming out of your mouth, tugging onto Choso’s hair. Hearing the lewd noises coming from his mouth as he slurps the juices from your aching pussy. His tongue explores places you never knew of. One hand grasping your waist as the other wraps around your thigh. You couldn’t help but close your thighs tightly around Choso’s head, the pleasure overstimulating you. “I’m gonna cum–” Your hands pressing Choso’s head deeper than he already was feeling your high getting closer and closer with each movement in Choso’s tongue. The milky substance droops down Choso’s chin as he pulls away. Deeply breathing making his way on top of you.

One minute you two are laughing about some random shit and the next he’s eating you out in his brother's bedroom in the noisy frat house. The music was muffled. His lips intertwined with yours, tasting the cum from your pussy on his tongue. His hands roaming your body, you slide off his shirt having the perfect view of his light 6 pack.

He breaks the kiss to slide his black sweatpants, his long cock springing out hitting his stomach. “I don’t have a condom…” he huffs looking at you. You point at your arm as your breath is unsteady. He rubs the tip of his cock onto your clit, teasing you. The pathetic moans escaping your mouth as you grab his face, leaving sloppy pecks on his lips. “Where the hell were you all my life.” He watches your lips form into the ‘O’ shape while he slides his cock against your folds. This was pure perfection to him. You were a drug to him. Once his eyes landed on you, there was no turning back. “Want me to fuck you?” He whispers leaving a little nibble on your ear. He was getting ready to slip himself into your wet cunt before you stopped him. “What’s the matter—we can stop if you want…” He worriedly looked at you. He was respectful too? “No–I wan’t ride you.”

“Fuck y/n…” He whimpers as you jump up and down on his dick. His hands tightly gripping your hips while his eyes travel to your boobs bouncing up and down.Your head leaned back as you moaned. Feeling you hit the spot every time you pounced. “Let me see that beautiful face, yeah?” His hand leaves your waist as his thumb rubs the bottom of your lip. Slipping his thumb into your moist lips. Sucking his finger as you bounce on him persistently.

You feel his cock splurt out his jizz inside your pussy, still hopping on his like a bunny as you feel your high reach. Finally you throw yourself next to him while the white mixed liquids run down your cunt. Both of you breathe in sync trying to process everything that just happened. You grab your clothes and change the bathroom of Yuji’s room while Choso cleaned up the mess.

“Want to head back to my place?” Choso recommended in hope of you saying yes. You followed closely behind him as you two were making your way out of Yuji’s room. You smiled and grabbed his hand, “Why not?”

The door opened revealing Yuji getting ready to open it with some girl behind him, His eyes wide watching you and his brother leave his room. Hair messy, runny makeup and the atmosphere was just so clear. You two didn’t bother to explain, leaving Yuji dumbfounded.

#jjk #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen #jjk smut #smut #choso kamo #choso x reader #choso jjk #jjk x y/n #jjk choso #choso #kamo choso #kamo choso smut #choso smut #choso x you #rosipuree #choso x y/n #choso x female reader

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alotofpockets · 3 months

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Out of reach | Mary Earps

Pairing: Mary Earps x Reader

Request: Mary x taller R where they have to keep helping her reach for things

Masterlist | Woso masterlist | Words: 1k

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You were browsing your local supermarket for dinner inspiration after a long work day. The day had been filled with important meetings, and you were still dressed for the part. You ended up in the pasta aisle where you saw a woman trying to reach for a jar that was slightly pushed back on the top shelf. Without a second thought you walked towards here, “Let me get that for you.” You say and reach for it.

The moment you hand the woman the can, is the first time you see her face. You were mesmerised by her beauty. “Thank you, it was just out of my reach.” The woman said with a beaming smile. Her words snapped you out of staring, “Of course, no problem.” The woman in front of you looks between the two of you and starts laughing. “Look at us, full suit versus full tracksuit.” You hadn’t realised the stark contrast in your outfits until she pointed it out but laughed with her once she explained. “Your outfit seems a lot more comfortable, and I definitely switch to something similar when I get home once I figure out what to eat tonight.”

You weren’t usually one to talk to strangers in a supermarket but something about the woman in front of you made it feel like you weren’t strangers at all. She was easy to talk to, and you felt yourself not wanting the conversation to end. “Well, I was going to make some spaghetti bolognese, would you like to join me?” You were intrigued by her offer but also didn’t want to impose. She seemed to notice your hesitation in answering, “Please, let me thank you for helping me.” She managed to get you to set your doubts aside. “Okay, let’s do it then. I’m y/n by the way.” The woman holds out her hand for you to shake it. “It’s nice to meet you, y/n. I’m Mary.”

“Great, I just need to get something for dessert.” She hadn’t let go of your hand, so she used it to guide you towards the dessert section. “Since I chose dinner, you can choose dessert.” You head to the front of the store once you’ve picked out desserts, and after Mary made sure you didn’t need to get anything else at the store. With a bag full of groceries, you walk out of the store together. “I live like two blocks away from here, my friend dropped me off at the store, so I was planning on walking home. Are you okay with walking there?” You nod over to your car a few parking spots over, “Or we can take my car?” Mary smiles, “Perfect.”

You get into your car and look down at your outfit, “Do you mind if we stop by my house? I would love to get out of this suit.” Mary buckles up, “Or I can lend you some trackies and we have a cosy date.” Her eyes widened, “Wait, sorry, I never clarified it as such.” You shake your head and laugh, “A cosy date sounds lovely.”

After setting down the groceries in Mary’s kitchen, she leads you upstairs to get you a comfy outfit. She opens her closet, and you don’t think you’ve ever seen that many sports clothes together outside of a store. You notice the Manchester United, and the England crest on many of them. “You’re a big football fan then?” You let your eyes go over the many jerseys.

Mary smiled at your comment, it was a nice feeling that the stranger at the grocery store liked her for her and not because she was a fan. “You can say that.” She says with a laugh. You turn to face her with a furrowed brow. “They’re my jerseys. Mine as in I wear them when I play for United and for England.” She pulls out one of the jerseys showing the back. “Earps, that’s me.” She says proudly. “Wow, I had no idea. That’s really cool. So you get to wear comfy stuff for work every day then, maybe I should consider a career switch.” You both laugh.

Your first date with Mary was a big success, she was easy to talk to, and while your careers differed immensely, you had a lot in common with her. She walked you back to your car, where you shared your first kiss. Mary was standing on her tippy toes, with her arms around your shoulders. The kiss was short and sweet, with a promise to more since you had already planned your second date.

After a few dates, Mary had asked you to be her girlfriend, which you had happily said yes too.

One month into your relationship you found yourself amongst the crowd at Leigh Sports Village, where you watched Mary play for the first time. She had explained the basic rules of football to you while watching a match on the tv together one night. Now that she wasn’t by your side to explain what was happening, it was harder for you to follow but that was okay. Whenever you didn’t understand what was going on, your eyes went to her in the goal.

Mary met you in the family and friends lounge when she was done, she introduced you to a couple of her teammates before taking you back to your place. Since your first date was an at home dinner that you prepared together, you wanted to create the tradition to do the same for your anniversaries. So, starting off with your first month anniversary today, you went to the store you had met each other in to pick out the ingredients.

Ever since you started dating, you would get everything from the top shelves for Mary, but now you turn around from the pans on the stove to find Mary climbing on top of the counter. “Baby, what are you doing?” You laugh. “I’m just getting some wine glasses.” She said innocently. You take the glasses from her, before you help her down from the counter, and spin her around a couple of times. “You know I couldn’t easily grab those, right?” She pecks your lips. “Yeah, just a habit I still need to break.”

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1maryearps just posted

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1maryearps: Creating traditions.

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fan1: Omg mearps is dating someone??

ellatoone: Cuties

fan2: they are so cute!

fan3: who is she with?

alessiarusso: Finally someone else that can cook a proper meal

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#mary earps #mary earps x reader #mary earps imagine #woso #woso x reader #woso imagine #manchester united women #man united #engwnt x reader #engwnt imagine #england lionesses #muwfc x reader #muwfc imagine #mearps

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embracing-the-ineffable · 5 months

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The Ineffable Detective Agency presents more Ineffable Discontinuity and Suspicious Moments: Hawaiian Shirt / Pub Table Guy

Introducing... the extra/background character who makes Aziraphale do THIS, and then immediately has his table at the pub miracled away:

Jon Dan Duncan's imdb profile doesn't list Good Omens, not even as "uncredited" - which seems strange, because his profile does include the above photo of him. Since the actor isn't credited in GO, we don't have a character name or know anything more than what we can see onscreen. So, what DO we see?

First of all, when Aziraphale sees this person, he definitely has A Reaction. We were probably all too distracted by Azi stroking the thin dark duke to notice (as an aside, IS Crowley a Duke? Of what? Hell? Something else??), but after the 90th rewatch, it gets a bit easier to focus on these background details that are probably critically important to the story in ways we just don't understand yet. Look at this:

Did he mouth "stop" when he's supposed to be saying "sherry"? Maybe. These LOOKS, though:

We all know that Michael Sheen's expressions, no matter how tiny or fleeting, are very intentional. Who IS this mystery person??! Immediately after taking his table:

After whoever-he-is loses his pub table, he lingers nearby, and there's an interesting "ineffable discontinuity" - what he's holding in his right hand abruptly changes twice between camera cuts (sound on, if you want context for this small zoomed-in part of the screen, and try watching from your browser if the Tumblr app is cutting off the right edge of the image):

So far, our best explanation for the "ineffable discontinuities" - things that inexplicably and improbably change, like which hand is holding his drink or (coming up next) when he's behind Gabriel and then suddenly in front of him - is that we're seeing multiple timelines that are being knitted together in production to make them look seamless - but who knows? We'd love to hear your ideas! (Also, see the appearing Honolulu Roast sign in the coffeeshop, or Crowley's tattoo and sideburns, or the fandom's newest discovery (from @kimberleyjean and @bbbitchvibbbez) about Gabriel visiting his statue with "both" s1 and s2 Beelzebubs, plus the way the statue's cross is sometimes missing - just to name a few!)

Was the point in this scene with Hawaiian shirt/pub guy's right hand to draw our attention to this page of his newspaper?

"Unearthed mysteries of sealed library basement" - when Crowley told Shax that Aziraphale was "stock taking in the basement", was it true that there IS a basement in the bookshop? Basements apparently aren't that common in most of the UK, but London is famous for having "iceberg" buildings (where the basements are actually bigger than what's above-ground).

"Government approves funding for citywide charging stations" - We don't know, but it makes us think of all the electric cars used in s2 (it was an indoor set) and of Crowley throwing lightning in the street.

And the smaller headline on the right ... Hmmm. Can you read it? 😅 Maybe "Neighbor says New ------ park gate is ' too --- ' "

And it's not just the pub during episode 2! This mystery character is everywhere!

E1: He somehow starts out behind Gabriel, and then ends up in front of Gabriel with another extra on his arm:

E2: In addition to his appearance in the pub, he's also watching when Saraqael, Uriel, and Michael arrive:

E3: Our mystery character is there again when Crowley makes it rain, wearing his e1 shirt:

E4: We didn't spot him in this episode, but there are only a few minutes of present-day SoHo. Did anyone else see him?

E5: He has a doppelganger in a different Hawaiian print shirt! (Notice the different facial hair, among other things.)

Later in e5 he does actually make an appearance in the bookshop window for a quarter of a second (!!), wearing his e2 pub outfit, and maybe it's his presence that elicits this similar-to-the-pub reaction from Aziraphale?

E6: And back again to his black e1 and e3 shirt with the red flowers, while in line behind The Metatron, and then sitting at a table on the sidewalk, where he remains with the person in the turban who was in line behind him (and who also shows up quite a lot during s2) right up until Crowley drives away:

So, why have him wear such a noticable black shirt with red flowers on what are supposed to be three different days? Is he connected, with his Hawaiian print shirt, to the appearing Honolulu Roast sign? Why does he get a doppelganger in e5 - to distract us from his presence outside the bookshop before the ball? Why does Aziraphale react like this - TWICE - upon seeing this person?? (Much to Crowley's great confusion!)

And why does it seem that Aziraphale is keeping this person's presence/ identity/ importance a secret from Crowley?

As always, we'd love to hear your ideas!

Also, here's an earlier post from @theastrophysicistnextdoor about him, with gratitude for the inspiration to write all this up.

With appreciation for contributions from @noneorother, @thebluestgreen, and @embracing-the-ineffable at the @ineffable-detective-agency

Want to see more interesting posts, plus Good Omens clues and metas from all over the fandom? There's a huge collection here!

#ineffable mystery #good omens clues #Ineffable discontinuity #Good Omens extras #good omens meta #good omens analysis #good omens season 2 #good omens #Jon Dan Duncan #Ineffable Detective Agency #aziraphale good omens #crowley good omens #crowley #aziraphale

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cy-cyborg · 4 days

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Dealing with Healing and Disability in fantasy: Writing Disability

[ID: An image of the main character from Eragon, a white teenage boy with blond hair in silver armour as he sits, with his hand outstretched. On his hand is a glowing blue mark. He is visibly straining as he attempts to heal a large creature in front of him. /End ID]

I'm a massive fan of the fantasy genre, which is why it's so incredibly frustrating when I see so much resistance to adding disability representation to fantasy works. People's go-to reason for leaving us out is usually something to the effect of "But my setting has magic so disability wouldn't exist, it can just be healed!" so let's talk about magic, specifically healing magic, in these settings, and how you can use it without erasing disability from your story.

Ok, let's start with why you would even want to avoid erasing disability from a setting in the first place. I talked about this in a lot more detail in my post on The Miracle Cure. this line of thinking is another version of this trope, but applied to a whole setting (or at least, to the majority of people in the setting) instead of an individual, so it's going to run into the same issues I discussed there. To summarise the points that are relevant to this particular version of the trope though:

Not every disabled person wants or needs a cure - many of us see our disability as a part of our identity. Do difficulties come with being disabled? absolutely! It's literally part of the definition, but for some people in the disabled community, if you took our disabilities away, we would be entirely different people. While it is far from universal, there is a significant number of us who, if given a magical cure with no strings attached, would not take it. Saying no one in your setting would be disabled because these healing spells exists ignores this part of the community.

It messes with the stakes of your story - Just like how resurrecting characters or showing that this is something that is indeed possible in the setting can leave your audience feeling cheated or like they don't have to worry about a character *actually* ever dying. healing a character's disability, or establishing that disability doesn't exist in your setting because "magic" runs into the same problem. It will leave your readers or viewers feeling like they don't have to worry about your characters getting seriously hurt because it will only be temporary, which means your hero's actions carry significantly less risk, which in turn, lowers the stakes and tension if not handled very, very carefully.

It's an over-used trope - quite plainly and simply, this trope shows up a lot in the fantasy genre, to the point where I'd say it's just overused and kind of boring.

So with the "why should you avoid it" covered, let's look at how you can actually handle the topic.

Limited Access and Expensive Costs

One of the most common ways to deal with healing and disability in a fantasy setting, is to make the healing magic available, but inaccessible to most of the population. The most popular way to do that is by making the services of a magical healer capable of curing a disability really expensive to the point that most people just can't afford it. If this is the approach you're going to use, you also typically have to make that type of magic quite rare. To use D&D terms, if every first level sorcerer, bard, cleric and druid can heal a spinal injury, it's going to result in a lot of people who are able to undercut those massive prices and the expense will drop as demand goes down. If that last sentence didn't give you a hint, this is really popular method in stories that are critiquing capitalistic mindsets and ideologies, and is most commonly used by authors from the USA and other countries with a similar medical system, since it mirrors a lot of the difficulties faced by disabled Americans. If done right, this approach can be very effective, but it does need to be thought through more carefully than I think people tend to do. Mainly because a lot of fantasy stories end with the main character becoming rich and/or powerful, and so these prohibitively expensive cure become attainable by the story's end, which a lot of authors and writer's just never address. Of course, another approach is to make the availability of the magic itself the barrier. Maybe there just aren't that many people around who know the magic required for that kind of healing, so even without a prohibitive price tag, it's just not something that's an option for most people. If we're looking at a D&D-type setting, maybe you need to be an exceptionally high level to cast the more powerful healing spell, or maybe the spell requires some rare or lost material component. I'd personally advise people to be careful using this approach, since it often leads to stories centred around finding a miracle cure, which then just falls back into that trope more often than not.

Just outright state that some characters don't want/need it

Another, admittedly more direct approach, is to make it that these "cures" exist and are easily attainable, but to just make it that your character or others they encounter don't want or need it. This approach works best for characters who are born with their disabilities or who already had them for a long time before a cure was made available to them. Even within those groups though, this method works better with some types of characters than others depending on many other traits (personality, cultural beliefs, etc), and isn't really a one-size-fits-all solution, but to be fair, that's kind of the point. Some people will want a cure for their disabilities, others are content with their body's the way they are. There's a few caveats I have with this kind of approach though:

you want to make sure you, as the author, understand why some people in real life don't want a cure, and not just in a "yeah I know these people exist but I don't really get it" kind of way. I'm not saying you have to have a deep, personal understanding or anything, but some degree of understanding is required unless you want to sound like one of those "inspirational" body positivity posts that used to show up on Instagram back in the day.

Be wary when using cultural beliefs as a reasoning. It can work, but when media uses cultural beliefs as a reason for turning down some kind of cure, it's often intending to critique extreme beliefs about medicine, such as the ones seen in some New Age Spirituality groups and particularly intense Christian churches. As a general rule of thumb, it's probably not a good idea to connect these kinds of beliefs to disabled people just being happy in their bodies. Alternatively, you also need to be mindful of the "stuck in time" trope - a trope about indigenous people who are depicted as primitive or, as the name suggests, stuck in an earlier time, for "spurning the ways of the white man" which usually includes medicine or the setting's equivalent magic. I'm not the best person to advise you on how to avoid this specific trope, but my partner (who's Taino) has informed me of how often it shows up in fantasy specifically and we both thought it was worth including a warning at least so creators who are interested in this method know to do some further research.

Give the "cures" long-lasting side effects

Often in the real world, when a "cure" for a disability does exist, it's not a perfect solution and comes with a lot of side effects. For example, if you loose part of your arm in an accident, but you're able to get to a hospital quickly with said severed arm, it can sometimes be reattached, but doing so comes at a cost. Most people I know who had this done had a lot of issues with nerve damage, reduced strength, reduced fine-motor control and often a great deal of pain with no clear source. Two of the people I know who's limbs were saved ended up having them optionally re-amputated only a few years later. Likewise, I know many people who are paraplegics and quadriplegics via spinal injuries, who were able to regain the use of their arms and/or legs. However, the process was not an easy one, and involved years of intense physiotherapy and strength training. For some of them, they need to continue to do this work permanently just to maintain use of the effected limbs, so much so that it impacts their ability to do things like work a full-time job and engage in their hobbies regularly, and even then, none of them will be able bodied again. Even with all that work, they all still experience reduced strength and reduced control of the limbs. depending on the type, place and severity of the injury, some people are able to get back to "almost able bodied" again - such was the case for my childhood best friend's dad, but they often still have to deal with chronic pain from the injury or chronic fatigue.

Even though we are talking about magic in a fantasy setting, we can still look to real-life examples of "cures" to get ideas. Perhaps the magic used has a similar side effect. Yes, your paraplegic character can be "cured" enough to walk again, but the magic maintaining the spell needs a power source to keep it going, so it draws on the person's innate energy within their body, using the very energy the body needs to function and do things like move their limbs. They are cured, but constantly exhausted unless they're very careful, and if the spell is especially strong, the body might struggle to move at all, resulting in something that looks and functions similar to the nerve damage folks with spinal injuries sometimes deal with that causes that muscle weakness and motor control issues. Your amputee might be able to have their leg regrown, but it will always be slightly off. The regrown leg is weaker and causes them to walk with a limp, maybe even requiring them to use a cane or other mobility aid.

Some characters might decide these trade-offs are worth it, and while this cures their initial disability, it leaves them with another. Others might simply decide the initial disability is less trouble than these side effects, and choose to stay as they are.

Consider if these are actually cures

Speaking of looking to the real world for ideas, you might also want to consider whether these cures are doing what the people peddling them are claiming they do. Let's look at the so-called autism cures that spring up every couple of months as an example.

Without getting into the… hotly debated specifics, there are many therapies that are often labelled as "cures" for autism, but in reality, all they are doing is teaching autistic people how to make their autistic traits less noticeable to others. This is called masking, and it's a skill that often comes at great cost to an autistic person's mental health, especially when it's a behaviour that is forced on them. Many of these therapies give the appearance of being a cure, but the disability is still there, as are the needs and difficulties that come with it, they're just hidden away. From an outside perspective though, it often does look like a success, at least in the short-term. Then there are the entirely fake cures with no basis in reality, the things you'll find from your classic snake-oil salesmen. Even in a fantasy setting where real magic exists, these kinds of scams and misleading treatments can still exist. In fact, I think it would make them even more common than they are in the real world, since there's less suspension of disbelief required for people to fall for them. "What do you mean this miracle tonic is a scam? Phil next door can conjure flames in his hand and make the plants grow with a snap of his fingers, why is it so hard to believe this tonic could regrow my missing limb?"

I think the only example of this approach I've seen, at least recently, is from The Owl House. The magic in this world can do incredible things, but it works in very specific and defined ways. Eda's curse (which can be viewed as an allegory for many disabilities and chronic illnesses) is seemingly an exception to this, and as such, nothing is able to cure it. Treat it, yes, but not cure it. Eda's mother doesn't accept this though, and seeks out a cure anyway and ends up falling for a scam who's "treatments" just make things worse.

In your own stories, you can either have these scams just not work, or kind of work, but in ways that are harmful and just not worth it, like worse versions of the examples in the previous point. Alternatively, like Eda, it's entirely reasonable that a character who's been the target of these scams before might just not want to bother anymore. Eda is a really good example of this approach handled in a way that doesn't make her sad and depressed about it either. She's tried her mum's methods, they didn't work, and now she's found her own way of dealing with it that she's happy with. She only gets upset when her boundaries are ignored by Luz and her mother.

Think about how the healing magic is actually working

If you have a magic system that leans more on the "hard magic" side of things, a great way to get around the issue of healing magic erasing disability is to stop and think about how your healing magic actually works.

My favourite way of doing this is to make healing magic work by accelerating the natural processes of your body. Your body will, given enough time (assuming it remains infection-free) close a slash from a sword and mend a broken bone, but it will never regrow it's own limbs. It will never heal damage to it's own spinal cord. It will never undo whatever causes autism or fix it's own irregularities. Not without help. Likewise, healing magic alone won't do any of these things either, it's just accelerating the existing process and usually, by extension making it safer, since a wound staying open for an hour before you get to a healer is much less likely to get infected than one that slowly and naturally heals over a few weeks. In one of my own works, I take this even further by making it that the healing magic is only accelerating cell growth and repair, but the healer has to direct it. In order to actually heal, the healer needs to know the anatomy of what they're fixing to the finest detail. A spell can reconnect a torn muscle to a bone, but if you don't understand the structures that allow that to happen in the first place, you're likely going to make things worse. For this reason, you won't really see people using this kind of magic to, say, regrow limbs, even though it technically is possible. A limb is a complicated thing. The healer needs to be able to perfectly envision all the bones, the cartilage, the tendons and ligaments, the muscles (including the little ones, like those found in your skin that make your hair stand on end and give you goose bumps), the fat and skin tissues, all the nerves, all the blood vessels, all the structures within the bone that create your blood. Everything, and they need to know how it all connects, how it is supposed to move and be able to keep that clearly in their mind simultaneously while casting. Their mental image also has to match with the patient's internal "map" of the body and the lost limb, or they'll continue to experience phantom limb sensation even if the healing is successful. It's technically possible, but the chances they'll mess something up is too high, and so it's just not worth the risk to most people, including my main character.

Put Restrictions on the magic

This is mostly just the same advice as above, but for softer magic systems. put limits and restrictions on your healing magic. These can be innate (so things the magic itself is just incapable of doing) or external (things like laws that put limitations on certain types of magic and spells).

An example of internal restriction can be seen in how some people interpret D&D's higher level healing spells like regenerate (a 7th level spell-something most characters won't have access to for quite some time). The rules as written specify that disabilities like lost limbs can be healed using this spell, but some players take this to mean that if a character was born with the disability in question, say, born without a limb, regenerate would only heal them back to their body's natural state, which for them, is still disabled.

An external restriction would be that your setting has outlawed healing magic, perhaps because healing magic carries a lot of risks for some reason, eithe to the caster or the person being healed, or maybe because the healing magic here works by selectively reviving and altering the function of cells, which makes it a form of necromancy, just on a smaller scale. Of course, you can also use the tried and true, "all magic is outlawed" approach too. In either case, it's something that will prevent some people from being able to access it, despite it being technically possible. Other external restrictions could look like not being illegal, per say, but culturally frowned upon or taboo where your character is from.

But what if I don't want to do any of this?

Well you don't have to. These are just suggestions to get you thinking about how to make a world where healing magic and disability exist, but they aren't the only ways. Just the ones I thought of.

Of course, if you'd still rather make a setting where all disability is cured because magic and you just don't want to think about it any deeper, I can't stop you. I do however, want to ask you to at least consider where you are going to draw the line. Disability, in essence, is what happens when the body stops (or never started) functioning "normally". Sometimes that happens because of an injury, sometimes it's just bad luck, but the boundary between disabled and not disabled is not as solid as I think a lot of people expect it to be, and we as a society have a lot of weird ideas about what is and isn't a disability that just, quite plainly and simply, aren't consistent. You have to remember, a magic system won't pick and choose the way we humans do, it will apply universally, regardless of our societal hang-ups about disability.

What do I mean about this?

Well, consider for a moment, what causes aging? it's the result of our body not being able to repair itself as effectively as it used to. It's the body not being able to perform that function "normally". So in a setting where all disability is cured, there would be no aging. No elderly people. No death from old age. If you erase disability, you also erase natural processes like aging. magic won't pick and choose like that, not if you want it to be consistent.

Ok, ok, maybe that's too much of a stretch, so instead, let's look at our stereotypical buff hero covered in scars because he's a badass warrior. but in a world where you can heal anything, why would anything scar? Even if it did, could another healing spell not correct that too? Scars are part of the body's natural healing process, but if no natural healing occurred, why would a scar form? Scars are also considered disabling in and of themselves too, especially large ones, since they aren't as flexible or durable as normal skin and can even restrict growth and movement.

Even common things like needing glasses are, using this definition of disability at least, a disability. glasses are a socially accepted disability aid used to correct your eyes when they do not function "normally".

Now to be fair, in reality, there are several definitions of disability, most of which include something about the impact of society. For example, in Australia (according to the Disability Royal Commission), we define disability as "An evolving concept that results from the interaction between a person with impairment(s) and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others." - or in laymen's terms, the interaction between a person's impairment and societal barriers like people not making things accessible or holding misinformed beliefs about your impairment (e.g. people in wheelchairs are weaker than people who walk). Under a definition like this, things like scars and needing glasses aren't necessarily disabilities (most of the time) but that's because of how our modern society sees them. The problem with using a definition like this though to guide what your magic system will get rid of, is that something like a magic system won't differentiate between an "impairment" that has social impacts that and one that doesn't. It will still probably get rid of anything that is technically an example of your body functioning imperfectly, which all three of these things are. The society in your setting might apply these criteria indirectly, but really, why would they? Very few people like the side effects of aging on the body (and most people typically don't want to die), the issues that come with scars or glasses are annoying (speaking as someone with both) and I can see a lot of people getting rid of them when possible too. If they don't then it's just using the "not everyone wants it approach" I mentioned earlier. If there's some law or some kind of external pressure to push people away from fixing these more normalised issues, then it's using the "restrictions" method I mentioned earlier too.

Once again, you can do whatever you like with your fantasy setting, but it's something I think that would be worth thinking about at least.

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lab1rynth · 1 year

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YAN!PRETTYBOY

(100 FOLLOWER SPECIAL)

Yan!Prettyboy who you saw one day while scrolling through Tumblr, he had posted a Yandere x Reader that had honestly captivated you. You loved the character and you had wanted more content like that, so you clicked follow and binged all of his fics.

Yan!Prettyboy who you started interacting with more often, you became a regular! Talking to him through anon almost every single day when you could, just doing check ups and flirting with him here and there, sometimes sending in requests. You had gotten quite close to him, he was basically apart of your daily routine at this point.

Yan!Prettyboy who you dmed and talked to for a bit, before figuring out, wow you guys live nearby each other! He was a 30 minute drive away from where you lived, which had honestly excited you. You could probably stop by, if he'd allow you, of course.

Yan!Prettyboy who you met a few months later at his farm, he showed you around and let you see all of the animals, the sheep, chickens, horses, bunnies, cows. Hell, he even introduced you to his cats, which you could tell were honestly quite spoiled by the way they acted around him.

Yan!Prettyboy who was honestly a lot taller than you expected, you new he was 6'8 but you couldn't exactly comprehend it until you stood next to him. It was similar to his accent, you couldn't really comprehend how he'd sound until you heard him, his deep, yet loud voice mixed with his country accent making you blush every time he spoke to you.

Yan!Prettyboy who takes you out to dinner so you can eat before your car ride home, he made sure to pay for the dinner, despite your protests. He's the one who brought you there, after all!

Yan!Prettyboy who decides to give you his number before you leave, giving you a big hug before you enter your car and drive off. The next day you ask if you could visit again, why would he say no? You guys met up again and just went for a walk, the town center was nearby so you both just strolled along, talking to each other and looking at the different stores.

Yan!Prettyboy who you see almost everyday for the next few months, if not face-to-face, then over the phone. He tells you that you are one of the closest people to him now, that he honestly enjoys your company. You feel quite honored and tell him the same.

Yan!Prettyboy who after being bored all day, decides to try to find your social media's. With a little work, he found most of them, he would definitely use them to do stuff you enjoy with you! You post something about your favorite restaurant, he's taking you there. You post something about a hobby of yours, he's into the hobby too. You post something about someone else that you like, he's finding their social medias and sending them a few 'friendly' messages.

Yan!Prettyboy who shows up to your house one day with a basket of baked goods, fruits from his farm, and candies, handing them to you for you to eat. He told you that they were just a symbol of gratefulness towards you for being such a kind friend to him, you smile and accept the gift basket that he made you.

Yan!Prettyboy who starts writing about you, every time he writes a yandere story he keeps you in mind as the reader, he thinks of you as the person his characters would fall in love with, you're just so...perfect.

Yan!Prettyboy who decides to confess to you after a while, telling you how you're the only thing that's been on his mind, the only thing that matters to him. That surprised look on your face frightened him, and honestly his fingers were crossed, he hoped to the gods that you loved him back.

#x female reader #x fem!reader #x gn reader #male reader #x male reader #x male y/n #yourprettyboyswriting #x masc reader #x f reader #x female y/n #x m reader #x gender neutral reader #x gn y/n #yandere x you #x y/n #yandere writing

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laura1633 · 1 month

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hi! i’m pretty new to f1 and please ignore this if you’ve talked about it already but i’m pretty curious about the similarities and differences between max and charles driving styles. from what i’ve seen and heard, they both like oversteer and have a pretty aggressive driving style. is that common amongst drivers or a unique thing? and do you think a car made to fit one of them especially (like the rb20) would be a good fit for the other?

Hi anon, thanks so much for the ask and welcome to the world of F1, I hope you are enjoy it.

There is definitely a split amongst the grid over those that prefer oversteer and understeer. I'm not sure about everyone's preferences but there was a short video here that explained it a little bit.

Both Max and Charles are drivers that prefer oversteer. To me the thing that makes them special is the level of oversteer they can handle in the car. A lot of oversteer can make the car extremely twitchy and hard to handle but if you can handle it then it can be super quick. I think if Charles were to drive the RB20 he would be perfectly capable of competing with Max and (again just my opinion) but you wouldn't see the large gap between teammates like you do with Max v Checo (That isn't meant to be shady at Checo but it's because Checo has a different driving style to Max). I support Max but I think that if Charles was in the other RB20 seat Max would not be running away with championship in quite the same way.

In terms of aggression, I guess you could consider that a few ways. One way would be in regards to aggressive breaking styles. There is an interesting article here about Max's "unique" driving style but what I find interesting about the article is that after describing how Max is able to extract more than others through aggressive breaking and handling oversteer the article ends by pointing out that this is something Charles is also very good at. So I think there are a lot of similarities in the way they drive. Personally I would love to see them in the same car to compare them like for like.

You could also look at aggression in terms of overtakes. Max has been criticised in the past for being "too aggressive" (something I disagree with if you look at him comparatively to other drivers) but I find it interesting that when Charles talks about Max's aggression he often talks about it in a positive light. I think that is because Charles is also willing to be as aggressive when it comes down to it and enjoys racing wheel to wheel. They are both hard but fair racers and will push things to the limit in my opinion.

Sorry, I hope at least some of that made sense. I am not always the most technical and some of this is just my opinion but if you have any questions about any of it let me know and I would be happy to at least try and answer.

#max verstappen #charles leclerc #Lestappen

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nsves · 8 months

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blender lighting tutorial + tips.

requested by @thecrimsonsimmer + recommended viewing: youtube video one, two, three, and four. this post will be dealing with newer versions of blender (2.8+) and cycles since that's what i'm more familiar with + commonly used for rendering. this is coming from me as an artist with some dabbling in photography and things i've learned in college!

references and setting the mood

are you basing your render on an existing photo? study the light source and what direction it's coming from: that's what's going to tell you your set up for a similar effect. if you're not basing it on an existing piece, a good start is knowing How you want to set your subject (your sim) up - do you want them to be in the spotlight? are they in a specific environment that has neon lights? are you going for moody or something fresh, bright? definitely look up colors and their meaning (color theory, movie screencaps, etc.) to create a stronger image!

using resources to start the set up

it's always a good thing to mix your tools with different communities, such as the art community! many have lighting tools to figure out how to color their subject, such as this free-to-use head figure that depicts where the lighting source should be placed.

there's also the photography community and teaching people how to set up their lights for certain setups. video three and four linked in the beginning are from photography viewpoints.

spot? area? point? sun?

let's think of the lighting types as objects - a spot is like a plain lightbulb, area is a reflective sheet, spot is a flashlight, and the sun... well is the sun!

a spot is similar to an area light, but triangular/a cone. think of a helicopter search light, it's focused on a small area with the most light concentration. these can be used for lamps with lampshades, car headlights, or a lighthouse.

an area light is great for lighting up technology. a phone screen, tv screen, tablet, anything that's an LED screen emitting from a surface. the light is not as concentrated as a spot and is meant to cover more flatly (hence the rectangular source)

a point is best used for small pops of colors such as candlelight, lamppost, lightning bug tail, etc. a small source that has nothing covering it.

a sun covers the entire area and can be used as the overall mood setter. it can create filter over the entire render by just shifting the color like you would see in a movie. you'll be given a line with a sun light that gives the direction of where the sun is coming from. basically a spot light just on a much larger scale LOL.

power + coloring

this screenshot is mostly what you'll only use to start off with. watts is the unit of measurement and the higher you go, the brighter the light will be. examples with a white colored point light 10W-20W: general portrait lighting 30W-50W: bright source, close flashlight for example 60W+: blinding

coloring is just like the system for in game lights for ts4. shift it to whatever you want it to be (click the white bar, that's the color preview) and mess around with the vibrancy. the darker, more intense color, the less it's going to appear on the sim.

closeness and intensity

similar to what's shown in the head lighting tool shown earlier, the closer the light is, the more that specific area is lit up. go too close and your sim could be completely washed out. it helps to change the size of the light (change with the radius slider) to better imitate what you're wanting. the larger the radius, the more diffused and softer the light source will be. close + small = very clear of the light source shape, can obviously tell where it is in relation to the subject far away + large = soft lighting, more of a hazy lighting of the color you choose.

to quickly adjust the light, press "G" and hold down your middle mouse button to adjust which axis you'd like to edit along. green is the x-axis, blue is the y-axis, and red is the z-axis. you can also press "G" and type the letter of the axis you want to use. drag the mouse to change the placement on that specific axis to however you want. if you want to freely edit the placement, just press "G" to move it out of the axis bounds.

world lighting

take this step as setting your canvas color before you start painting. in order for the values to look their best, change the world color to the same hue of the color you are mostly using. for example, this is set in a red-toned environment:

this is essentially changing the cast shadow onto the sim. the default is gray and will muddy up your undertones if not changed properly. for this instance, if you were to still use the same red point light in a gray world color it'd look like this:

of course, this will be based on if you have an environment image or not that can affect your lighting overall. this post is based on the fact there is no environment image and what not! if you need a visual demonstration on how to mess with the world lighting, check out this short video.

i hope that helped anyone beginning to render or wanting to light up your own scenes! i'm no rendering expert, but here's some of the helpful tricks i've learned and collected over the years<3 if you have any other questions feel free to send an ask!

#ts4 blender tutorial #sims 4 blender tutorial #ts4 render tutorial #sims 4 render tutorial #lighting tutorial #lyko posts #tutorial #long post

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pensat-i-fet · 11 months

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An unbearable fan (Rúben Dias x Reader)

**So I was requested this the other day and it's kind of funny huh? Me writing from the POV of a Madrid fan. Just in case you didn't know it was fiction, this is the definitive proof 😅 anyways, it’s just banter and a bit of angst and fluff for all of you to hopefully enjoy! ❤️**

Word count: 1238

Masterlist

Wattpad

There were downsides to any relationship and that included a relationship with a football player. All the travelling, all the emotions that went up and down depending on the result of that specific day…it could be a lot. But when the player didn't play for the team you loved with all your heart, things could get a bit messier.

Luckily for you, Rúben played in England. Your team played in the Spanish League. So the chances of him playing against Madrid were so small…but there still was a chance.

And so when Madrid beat Chelsea and City beat Bayern, it was time for a second semifinal in a row between your team and your boyfriend's. And you hated it.

For the first leg, the teams played at the Bernabéu. Being back there was special for you. And it helped you daydream about Rúben playing there in the future…but for the home team. A girl can dream.

The match ended in a draw and Rúben should have been given MOTM because he drove your attacking players insane. They don't call him "the wall" for nothing.

"Just 1-0 at home, and we're in the final".

"Yeah, good luck with that", you said, rolling your eyes. "My boys were just warming up yesterday. They saved all the magic for the Etihad".

"You lot are really into saving the magic for the last minute. It gets annoying, you know?"

"Not to us!", you shrugged.

The banter continued during the next week but what changed was the nerves you felt. Rúben being in the final was great but you couldn't just root against your team. They had already been in a similar position the previous season and it broke your heart. But also, you were happy he lost and that made you feel like a horrible person. You tried not to show it in front of him but he wasn't dumb.

"Are you wearing that?", he asked, pointing at your outfit.

"Yes. What's wrong with it?"

"You always wear my shirt to matches. But I guess you're just making it clear again you want me to lose".

"It's not that but, it's my team…imagine Madrid and Benfica played each other! You'd want Benfica to win and I wouldn't blame you".

"You don't play for any of the teams. That makes the difference. I get you want them to always win but you should make an exception when they play against me!"

"I'd be happy if you win…".

"I doubt it".

You didn't want to say more because it'd only make things harder to fix later. But driving in silence was going to make you go insane.

"Good luck".

"It almost sounded like you meant it".

"Rúben, I do mean it".

"You mean you want me to do well while my team is destroyed. But it's a team sport. What I do means nothing".

"Tell that to Benzema".

He ignored your comment and left to join the rest of the team without saying goodbye.

Why couldn't they draw another team instead of yours???

Rúben wasn't completely wrong. Whatever happened, you wanted him to be the best player on the pitch. It could be someone else who messed up when your team scored.

And he was one of the best…but then again, so was Bernardo who scored a brace. And Julián only needed a few minutes on the pitch to seal their pass to the final. 4-0, how did that happen?

Apart from Rúben doing well, you wanted just a simple 0-1. No team needed to be humiliated this time. But yours was and it was against one of your biggest enemies. Pep.

When you saw Rúben waiting for you by the car, you noticed his smile and that pissed you off. So you couldn't want your team to win but he could laugh after humiliating you? Bit unfair, that.

"You feeling ok after that?"

Your response was to look inside his trousers' pockets, which confused him. "Did you take Karim out already? Nice, he needs the fresh air".

"You're joking?"

"It's that or telling you to go to hell. I'm trying to be diplomatic".

The day after the match, you were off work so sleeping in sounded like the best way to start your day. By the time you woke up, Rúben was long gone and so you made it to the kitchen expecting it to be empty.

And there was no Rúben there but it looks like he had time to buy, and print, all the newspaper articles about the match before leaving to train. He even checked the Barcelona press to find the most insulting headlines.

But two could play that game.

"Did you read the news today?", he asked when he got back home.

"I've never been a newspaper person. I prefer to get my news from Twitter".

"From Madrid fan accounts? I bet they are real objective".

"Are you a comedian now?"

"Come on…", he said, hugging you. "Forgive me for annihilating your team".

"Should we talk about last season, Dias? Stop it!"

"Such a sore loser", he laughed.

"Well, I'm not used to losing unlike others".

The weeks that passed between the semifinals and the final had helped you two forget your little fight. But you were still petty and had a surprise saved for Rúben.

"It's so tiring to pack for just a couple of days. I've checked the weather so many times to bring the right clothes".

"You can always use that as an excuse to go shopping there".

"You're right. But…can you help me? I don't know if this outfit is right for the match?"

When he got there, his smile disappeared.

"I can't stand you".

"Is it good or not?"

"When did you buy an Inter shirt?"

"When I saw the newspapers you left for me".

"It was a joke", he said, annoyed.

"This is a joke too".

"A joke is supposed to be funny".

"Really, Rúben? So you thought I would laugh at what you did to me?"

And it was back to square one. But at least this time you travelled separately. And, even if he pissed you off so much since he beat Madrid, you still wore his shirt to the match. You didn't even wear a Madrid one to the semis and he really thought you'd wear an Inter one now? Silly boy.

But all the jokes and digs meant nothing when you saw him lifting the trophy. Your eyes watered immediately and you couldn't wait to hug him.

"You…you won", you said, sobbing and hiding your face in his neck.

"Yeah, sorry about that".

You both laughed and he held you tighter while you cried.

"I'm really proud of you, you know?"

"Even if I beat your team to win the trophies?"

"Yeah", you said, looking up at him. "Even then. Seeing you after you won just…I didn't expect it to mean so much".

"It means a lot to me that it means a lot to you".

You hugged in the middle of the pitch, forgetting about everyone else.

"Besides, you still have a long way to go to catch us so…we like doing charity work and letting others win every once in a while".

Rúben laughed and shook his head. "You are the most unbearable fanbase in the world, you know?"

"I know. But at least you managed to get one of us to be happy you won today".

#ruben dias #ruben dias imagine #ruben dias one shot #ruben dias angst #ruben dias fluff #footballer imagine #footballer one shot #footballer angst #footballer fluff

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homunculus-argument · 2 years

Text

I still really want to see a story-driven game that would incorporate language learning into the game mechanic. Starting with singular words and simple sentences, Duolingo-style, with all kinds of minigames where the goal is to either construct a sentence, understand instructions, being able to recall the correct words at the right time, but it's set into a story that you play through.

This could be a whole genre of games, with different locations based on what language you're learning, but the basic format would be pretty similar each time. Your character has been dropped in the middle of a completely new place where they don't speak the language at all, you meet characters who quickly realise that you don't have a way to mutually communicate, and start teaching you as you tag along to whatever they are doing.

There would definitely be a learning curve, but as the characters understand that you don't understand, they start with simple sentences. "My name is Aila. This is my daughter. My daughter's name is Lena. What is your name?", and once you've figured out the very basics, they progressively get more advanced.

Naturally it wouldn't be only grammar tests and vocabulary quizzes, there would definitely be more tasks and more standard game puzzles in it as well, but the instructions you are given are also in the target language. The whole point of having a plot is being immersive, and weaving the learning into the game.

Like the party you are travelling with needs you to get inside a house to fetch a specific item, and you are told - in the target language - what to do, where, and when. "Go in through the second window on the back. The book is in the living room, on the table. There is a dog, do not wake it up." And whether you accomplish the mission is about equally about the challenge of the mission itself, as how well you understand and remember the instructions.

Maybe also quick time events, when you're supposed to say something correctly within a very limited time range, and the fate of your party depends on whether you can quickly pick the right dialogue option. A car is coming and you've got 30 seconds to pick a word or sentence from 3 options, if you well " a car is coming!" they'll have more time to act than if you choose "look out!" and if you either do nothing or choose the completely wrong one and yell "monday!", you lost.

Every once in a while you also overhear dialogue (considering the added difficulty of hearing comprehension, I think the game would need to be largely text-based, or at least have subtitles) or find letters/notes/etc that you don't understand at all, which can work as foreshadowing or worldbuilding - understanding anything out of these wouldn't be vital to progressing the game, but trying to deduce some their meaning on a hunch is rewarded in some way, as an added bonus or easter egg.

Very early on in the game you get the dialogue option of asking "what does _____ mean?", and the characters try to explain it to you, point at it in the environment, or use a notepad to draw what the word means. Every character explains the same word slightly differently, so you can ask every single member of the party the same question if you don't understand the first one.

As the story progresses and the language gets more complicated, you may also notice that different characters have a varied amount of knowledge about the same things, and give a different amount of detail about the same things - if you ask one of them what [word] means, one of them says "it's a gun", while another one will tell you that it's a specific kind of shotgun, and draw you a picture of two shotguns, circling the one that is the specific type.

Considering the nature of language learning, the genre of the game would definitely be mystery - as you start to understand more and more of the language, you also start to pierce together the answers of your own story. Where are you, and how did you end up there? Who even are these people, and what are they trying to do? What are they trying to achieve with these tasks you have been helping them with, and why are they helping you in the first place?

A game like this would definitely have the risk of becoming mentally draining, so there would need to be a lot of in-between breather parts, the option to regularly go explore, craft and do stuff that requires no boring grammar tasks or word memorisation, but which still includes little things in it that keep the learning process fun and rewarding.

Like hey, while exploring this place you found a tin box with two words written on it and a picture of a lemon. You don't know the other word but you know the other one is "tea". You correctly deduce that this is lemon tea. You bring it to the character who mentioned liking tea, and she is delighted. Your friendship meter goes up.

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podcastkevin · 6 months

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Hello, hope you're having a good day/night

I was wondering if I could request BAU Team x Male read who's immortal (He likes Hotch but is afraid of what would happen if he or anyone really found out about his secret)

I was thinking what if on a case the unsub was killing people who looked similar to reader but left behind images of a man from different eras and they all look strikingly the same to reader. But before they can do anything seeing as its obvious the Unsub for some reason is fixed on reader, the Unsub captures reader.

Maybe sends a video or a stream of torturing reader and talking about I'll prove that he can't dye.

Maybe reader's origins come from the medieval era? His view on immortality is it's a curse. You can 'dye' over and over but you always come back you don't forget anything.

Would the team be worried? Would the team still except him?

My first request and honestly it’s nerve wracking, I hope this turns out how you imagine. This is my first time writing using M/n 😅

I added that reader can be wounded like a normal human but can’t actually d1e, he is immortal. I’m sorry if the ending was a bit rough, I was struggling on how to finish it off.

⚠️: Torture, kidnapping, murder but can’t die, stalker activity, usual criminal minds stuff, Not a warning but Hotch is adorable 😂 I did have M/n and Hotch end up together at the end…

H/C: Hair Color | H/L: Hair Length

S/C: Skin color | N/n: Nickname

“This is SSA L/N, I’m currently unavailable…”

The message taunts him. M/n always answers his phone when it’s one of them, it’s rare for him to not answer.

After pulling his phone away when the message ends, he stares at his phone. Hotch debates whether or not he should call him a fifth time. This cycle only started because the male was late, he’s never late, and definitely never by an hour, he was growing worried.

A knock at his door has him looking up, JJ standing there with files in her arms. “There’s a case.” “Is it important?” “It’s been going on for years…” “How are we just now hearing about it?” “It’s just now becoming apparent.”

“The Hillbert family has now made its self known. It first started off, unbelievably, in the 1800’s.” JJ started. “You’re joking.” Derek scoffs with an amused smile. “Not at all…This family, for generations, has had history of stalking, insanity, and a little while later, murdering.” “Why are they now making themselves known?” “That we don’t know. They’re going after older victims, late twenties it seems, H/L H/C, S/C, and recently photos have been appearing next to the victims along with “Freak” Carved into their stomachs.”

“What are the photos?” “Um, the ones that have been found so far-“ “Put them on the screen.” Hotch interrupts and JJ does so. “Wait, the victims look like M/n…” Reid points out after staring at them for a moment before looking at the photos left at the crime scene. “So do the photos…” He stands up and gets closer, looking at all the details. “This one looks like film from a flash camera from the eighteen-hundreds…this one looks to be from a disposable camera…and this one seems to be printed out, guys all these pictures are from different moments in time.”

It was pictures of what looked like M/n, the later times are him posing, seeming like it was a voluntary photo taken by a Hillbert descendant and while the photos age, they become more stalker like, candid photos of M/n sitting outside a shop or sitting in a park. They’ve never seen a stalker like this before. “I think M/n is in danger.”

Suddenly a link appears. “Garcia.” The analyst already had her computer open and the link appeared on her laptop too, she clicked it and it appeared on the big screen as well.

—-Hours before—-

M/n usually woke up early, he liked the early morning when the sun has barely risen and he can relax as he walks to work, undisturbed by the loud hustle and bustle of a normal morning with cars driving by and people cluttering the sidewalk.

He liked this moment of normality, imagining his life as a normal human. He’s glad he has the BAU and the people he’s met but he fears the end, when they all leave him and he’s still there, cursed to never leave and watch those he’s grown attached to slip through his fingers.

He’s so distracted in his daydream that he doesn’t realize he’s being shot then dragged down an alley way. He clutching his side, looking up at his attacker only to be met with the barrel of a gun. “No where to go now, L/n. After decades, I finally got you. My dad would be so proud of me to know that I caught the freak, M/n L/n, that drove my family mad.” The gun cocks and M/n tried not to look afraid. “Don’t worry…You’ll come back. You always do.” He says with a wicked smile and pulls the trigger, the world going dark for M/n as George removes and pockets his badge, gun, and phone before dragging him to the van across the street, throwing him in the back.

The link opens and George Hilbert greets them with a smile. “Hello everyone.” It’s a video, the only lighting source coming from a window and a poor lamp in front of his face behind the camera. “You may or may not have figured out that my family seems to have an obsession with a certain someone.” He steps aside and reveals M/n, chained to a chair, his shirt missing as his head leans back against the chair. “For years…” George starts, “My family has been following M/n here. You may be wondering why. Well, it’s because we know about a little secret that he has. It all started with my ancestor Albert Hilbert, long ago, he was a friend of M/n’s and he continued to be a family friend for ages. Kinda weird, huh? The more my family saw that M/n would live and look the same while many of them died, the more my family grew to insanity. How can someone live for years upon years and never change? Never die like the average human?”

He suddenly draws a knife and plunges it into M/n’s stomach, the male groaning as he doubles over the best he could over George’s arm. He pulls the knife out, watching as M/n struggles. “He must not be able to survive if I…do this-” He stabbed him in the chest, right at his heart and the team flinches, most of them with tears in their eyes as they watch. “Right? Or…” He pulls a gun out and aims it at his head, wordlessly pulling the trigger making Garcia, JJ, Emily, and Hotch flinch.

The video ends but oddly enough, another link comes up, this time a live link. “Hello again. Decided to make it live, to show in real time that this man is a freak, a monster living his best life at not being able to die.” “I-It…It’s n-not a g-good thing…” “Oh look, He lives!!” George cheers sarcastically.

“Go on, M/n. Tell your buddies who you really are.” He shakes his head, “I don’t have anything to tell them.” “You lying motherfucker.” He stabs him again, in the stomach. “You literally came back to life after I stabbed you in the heart and shot you in the head. How can you sit-“ He twists the knife, “There and lie about being immortal? Huh? It’s the best power anyone can wish for.” “It’s a curse! I-It’s n-not good…” “How?” “I g-get t-to live…Wh-While others die…I can nev-never kill my self…when I do, I just c-come back…as if I fell asleep in-instead of dying…”

The team was conflicted. How could he never tell them about this? There was confusion and shock but no anger. They were just worried for him now.

“I-I found him…” Garcia mutters as she watches M/n fold over himself. Although he can’t die, he still feels the pain. The knife George has suddenly enters his shoulder and the blade twists. “Where is he?” Hotch asks immediately but he doesn’t let her answer. “Just send me the location, I’m going to get him.” “W-Wait, Hotch-“ But he was already running out the door before Derek could stop him.

When the team caught up to Hotch with the swat team and ambulance, George stood cuffed to his porch but Hotch was no where in sight. They took George away and the team walked into the house to look for their boss.

After Hotch found him in the basement, he unchained M/n and helped him to the floor, holding his head on his lap. M/n was weak, he had a lot of wounds and he was constantly in and out of consciousness.

“I’m sorry, Hotch…” The male hushed him, just brushing his hair out of the way. “C-Can I tell you something?” “Yeah, just stay awake.” “I’m not going anywhere…I can’t…” Hotch resisted the urge to laugh but his smiles. “I’ve been like this for centuries…Cursed for as long as I could remember…my time alive, I’ve only had three partners…I don’t want to see them die while I get to live…” “Why are you tell me this?” “C-Cause I-I don’t want to live…while eventually you have to die…” Hotch sighs, leaning down to rest his forehead against M/n’s, shushing him quietly as he tried to stop him from crying. “It’s okay…” “I-I’m sorry, Hotch…” He sobbed.

“M/n, use my name…it’s okay, N/N…I don’t care.” M/n opened his eyes, tears blurring his vision as he looked into Aaron’s eyes and the amount of care he saw in them made him break and he reached up, wrapping his arm around Aaron’s neck as the other male wrapped an arm around M/n’s shoulders, a hand cradling the back of his head, and the other wrapping around his lower back, hugging him tightly but not too tight to aggravate the wounds that still ooze blood but neither of them seem to care. Aaron kisses the top of M/n’s head and he pulls back. “I-I’m gonna pass out…” He mutters, slumping into Aaron who never let him go. “You’ll wake up, right?” M/n smiled up at him, bumping his forehead into Aaron’s again. “Always.” and he goes limp slightly, almost as if he fell asleep.

He picked him up, walking past Derek and the others and took him outside to the paramedics. He’s never felt this way since Haley, it was weird, but seeing M/n in that position he can’t even care enough to process M/n and his ability, He’s just glad he has him now.

This is the longest M/n has been out, or at least it feels like it’s been awhile.

He groans, the scratchy hospital blankets uncomfortably against his hands but he’s distracted by the soft fabric that covers the rest of him. His eyes fluffed open and he groans, the artificial hospital lights are off but the blinds are open to let in the sun.

He looks around, Reid is sleeping on the couch in front of windows, Derek laying opposite the young genius and hilariously cuddling with Reid’s leg making him chuckle. He looks down, noticing the comfy clothing on him instead of the hospital gown. To his left, Aaron was resting his head on his arms, free of a suit but instead in a t-shirt. It was odd for M/n to see him not wearing a suit. Aaron was holding his hand, and if M/n strained his neck, he could see Aaron wasn’t asleep but watching his own hand, his thumb slowly moving over M/n’s knuckles.

M/n tightens his hand over Aaron’s and he looks up, smiling softly and standing up to kiss his forehead. “Hi…” His voice was dry and rough, Aaron walks away to get a cup of water and help M/n take slow sips. “The nurses and doctors that helped you are shocked you’re not dead…” He smirks, chuckling at the memory of the nurses jaws dropping when they saw the stab wound to his heart and the bullet wound in his head, but a clear heart beat.

“Aar?” He hums, sitting back down and taking M/n’s hand. “Are you sure…that we could be a thing?” “Yeah…” “I’m not sure I can live through-“ “Don’t think about it.” He smiles. “Just live in the moment, don’t think of the future. You have me now, okay?” M/n nods, his head relaxing onto his pillow as he stares at Aaron with a soft look on his face.

“Why are you staring?” M/n smiles. “I have a secret.” “More than being immortal since the fourteen hundreds?” M/n’s jaw drops. “The kid did some research.” He says casually with a smile. “U-Um, no, I have a different secret. Come here.” Aaron stands again, still holding M/n’s hand as he got closer. “Closer.” He rolls his eyes with a smile and leaned closer.

M/n hesitantly reached up, his hand resting on the side of his face as he pulled him down and kissed him. It was a quick peck but they smiled, Aaron resting his forehead head against M/n’s with a bigger smile as the male giggles.

“Y’all done being cute? I’d like to say hi to my friend.” They look over to see Derek sitting up before getting up to walk over the the hospital bed. “You looked comfortable hugging Reid’s foot. Kind of upset I didn’t get a picture.” M/n raises his arms to hug Derek who chuckles. “Don’t worry, I got a couple.” Aaron mentions and Derek groans. “I won’t live that down.” He says, dragging another chair over to start talking to M/n.

He’s surprised the team isn’t freaked out or upset. Later on, they expressed that what M/n had was cool and Reid and a couple others wouldn’t stop asking him questions about different times the male lived in. After they found out, M/n tried to use his curse for good but them team always denied his attempts of being a human target during dangerous cases. Just because he’s immortal doesn’t mean he can always sacrifice himself.

Jack adores M/n making Aaron’s heart swell whenever he sees the two interacting or even when the two fall asleep during movie night. The both of them lived in the moment, enjoying each other and ignoring the inevitable because right now they have each other, and that’s all M/n cares about.

…………I hope this is okay…

I actually did enjoy writing this and I hope it’s to your liking. This is my first request and typing something from someone else’s idea and honestly I was nervous while writing this cause I wanted to put enough details to make it acceptable.

I also love Aaron a lot and may have projected a little bit of adoration that me, myself, has towards him.

#Kevin's Query #criminal minds x male reader #Aaron Hotchner x male reader #immortal male reader #x male reader #criminal minds fic

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totowlff · 1 year

Text

beware the trap

➝ request: could you right a short fic of toto telling the reader everything will be okay and it will all work out, don’t beat yourself down?

➝ word count: 3,6k

➝ warnings: mental breakdown

➝ author’s notes: i haven't written a one-shot for a long time and i was particularly inspired this week. the poem toto is referring to is called beware the trap by kelly mistry. I read it this week and it touched me deeply. finally, remember: do not fall into the trap.

As you stretched after hours of being slouched in front of the computer, your eyes found the clock in the corner of the screen. You ran a hand over your face and rubbed your eyes a bit, because you were sure you weren’t reading it correctly. It was not possible that it was already this late. A second look was enough for you to make sure you weren’t seeing things.

It was past midnight.

You pressed your palms into your eyes and took a deep breath. You were supposed to have left hours ago, when the rest of your team left. But, there you were, sitting at your workstation in your cubicle in the wind tunnel building, which was part of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team complex. You’d stayed late, but hadn’t meant to stay quite this late. No reason to leave now, though — it didn’t make any sense, with all of the work you had to do.

“You made us throw a whole year in the bin”, you remembered Mike, your boss, telling you that morning. You leaned back in your office chair as his voice echoed in your head. On the monitor in front of you, the dorsal view of a 3D car model made something feel tight in your chest.

When the new set of technical regulations hit your desk, you, as the chief aerodynamicist, made a point of studying them closely, along with Jordan and Giorgio, two of the best aerodynamicists on your team. Soon, you began to draft concepts, and eventually, your team narrowed it down to two radically different interpretations of the regulations. From the readings you were doing, it seemed that both of them had great potential.

After running models through the CFD software and running numerous simulations, everything pointed to the idea that you had — the concept of a low, flat sidepod, nicknamed the ‘zeropod’ — being the most efficient from an aerodynamic point of view. It was something definitely different than expected by John Owen, the chief designer, who believed that the car would follow a similar concept to that envisioned by the FIA.

However, the idea you ended up pushing was a bold choice. Your idea of placing the air intakes vertically and more or less glued to the cockpit, with the upper area of the floor designed to direct airflow to the rear wing. In all of the modeling, simulations, and wind tunnel testing, it generated the ideal amount of downforce.

The presentation of the concept was a success. You remembered James Allison smiling as you explained the design, along with all of the calculations and results of the testing that you and your team had done. Aerodynamically, it was your best work, the fruit of many long hours in front of the computer, many cups of coffee, and even the occasional cans of energy drinks that you usually preferred to avoid.

On the day of the W13 presentation, you were sure that you’d delivered your master work, that you would finally be able to make your mark on the team’s history.

But then, reality came crashing down.

During the shakedown, it was clear that something was wrong. The car was unstable, bouncing wildly and unpredictably. It was something that hadn’t shown up in wind tunnel testing and simulations.

You had it wrong. Your concept required the car to be run as low to the ground as possible, which caused the floor to scrape and bounce over every miniscule bump on the track, because the suspension also had to be incredibly stiff. The issue could be alleviated by raising the ride height, but that caused the car to run with far too much drag, eliminating its straight-line speed.

Your masterpiece had turned into a monster.

Every race weekend was torture. The questions, doubts, and stares from your team made you feel like you were in a court of law, going through the longest trial of your life. It was your decision that put the team on the back foot. As much as Toto liked to tell the press that everyone in Brackley and Brixworth was working “flat-out” to unlock the car’s performance, you could tell that your coworkers were losing motivation. Lewis was suffering, George was suffering.

It was your fault. Only you could fix it.

You started working on the W14 by yourself, almost in complete secrecy. You would come home from work and sit in your office at home, doing calculations and making models for hours. You wanted to fix things, you wanted to offer the team a better car. You wanted to make your idea work.

When you pitched the project to Mike Elliott, he was skeptical. He didn't believe the concept was a good one, it hadn't worked up to that point in the season. You argued, you presented the differences, you showed the points you had reworked, especially on the floor. After reviewing the data and the simulations your had run with Frederik, he seemed more interested.

The presentation of the W14, with the sidepod design you had in mind, was an indication that the technical and sporting team still trusted you to create a car capable of winning championships. You had done it before, and you were sure that this time you had hit the nail on the head with the floor design.

And then, it all came crashing down again.

You took another deep breath and looked at your clock again, clenching your jaw. You hadn't eaten anything since lunch. In your mind, every minute of work counted, especially after what Mike told you that morning. At the same time, your body was begging for something, your stomach rumbling loudly.

You stood up from your chair, stretched your back and shoulders a bit, grabbed your phone and your work badge, and walked out of the aerodynamics offices, and out of the wind tunnel building. You were hoping the cool night air would refresh you, but as you walked slowly to the main building, you felt completely absent from your body. Your mind was too distracted, a swirling maelstrom of numbers from the simulation results of the new design. Your team had affectionately nicknamed the concept ‘WNewey’, as it took cues from the concept used by Red Bull’s car the year before.

Entering the main building, you nodded as you were greeted by the receptionist, and made your way towards the cafeteria, which was strangely empty. You approached the counter, where an employee was sitting, fiddling with her cell phone.

— Hi — you murmured. She stood up and slipped her phone into the pocket of her apron.

— Good evening. What can I get for you?

You looked around, trying to take in what was on offer to eat. Despite how hungry you were, everything just looked like blobs of colors to your tired eyes, and your stomach was churning too much to eat anything.

— Do you have any Monster, or any other energy drinks? — you asked quietly.

— We do. What flavor do you want?

— Dealer’s choice.

The woman went to the refrigerator on the back counter, took out a black can, and placed it on the counter. After scanning your badge and the payment terminal beeping to confirm your payment, you went to one of the tables and sat down. After opening the can and taking a sip of the sugary, syrupy drink, your gaze was lost on the table in front of you.

After a few minutes, you heard someone else walk into the canteen area, but didn’t look up until you heard a familiar voice.

— Good evening, Poppy. Could you make me an espresso, please?

You lifted your head and saw Toto Wolff, the team principal and CEO of the company, standing in front of the counter. He was holding his cell phone, in its fluro yellow case, in one hand, and his badge in another. His posture indicated that he had to be tired, too. His shoulders looked tense under the white dress shirt he was wearing. His sleeves were pushed up to the elbows, as they usually were.

— Of course, Mr. Wolff. You’re here late. Did you want that with milk?

— No, just sugar, thank you. And you know how it is, remote meetings with Crowdstrike executives in Texas — Toto replied. He turned his head slightly to the side, which allowed you to see his face. He was scratching his forehead with one hand, and scrolling through something on his phone with the other. He seemed tired. Poppy had just set his coffee cup down on the counter as he sighed deeply.

“Another year in the bin”, you thought, as you heard the sound of his badge scanning on the payment terminal. Then, you watched as he took his coffee and turned toward you with a small smile on his lips.

— Ah, good evening, Y/N — he said, his smile fading as he looked more closely at your face — Is everything okay?

You blinked, as you snapped out of your cycle of mental self-flagellation.

— Yeah, everything is… Fine.

He approached you, seeming to study your expression. His appraising look made you feel somewhat exposed, as if Toto was able to know exactly what you were thinking and feeling at that moment.

— What are you doing here at this hour?

You stayed silent for a few seconds.

— Working. Well, I came to get something to drink, but I'll be heading back to my office in a bit.

— Wait, weren’t you here this — he hesitated, glancing at the black and teal watch on his wrist — I suppose, yesterday morning?

— Yes.

— What are you still doing here? Aren’t you normally finished at five?

You sighed, pursing your lips.

— I'm working on the car.

— You can do that during the day. You don’t have to stay past midnight, you know.

You looked down at the floor.

— Yes, I do.

— Why?

— Because I — you started to say, but your voice cracked. You took a deep breath to try and compose yourself before continuing. — I need to save our year.

Toto put down his coffee cup and phone next to your drink can and pulled up a chair, sitting next to you. You felt a bit sheepish as you glanced up at him, noticing the concern in his expression.

— Y/N, you're not going to save our year — he said, in a low voice — Simply because there's nothing that needs saving.

You lifted your head, feeling your throat tighten.

— But the car…

— Of course, we're facing difficulties with the car, but it's not going to be one single individual that will solve all of its problems, especially working such long hours by yourself.

You let silence hang between the two of you. You could feel the misery welling up inside you, anger and anguish filling your chest. You felt like you were a ticking time bomb.

— It's all my fault — you stammered, your voice low, your eyes brimming with tears, and your lower lip trembling. He stared at you intently, seemingly trying to process what you'd just said.

— What?

— It's my fault — you repeated, before burying your face in your hands and starting to sob. The anger you felt at yourself for screwing up was painful. It felt like hot, acidic bile in your throat. All you wanted to do was prove yourself, but you threw away all of your team’s hard work, eight years of constructor’s victories, and seven years of driver’s championships, all because you were too invested in the idea of making your damn sidepod concept work, when every race on every circuit across the world was proof that it didn’t.

You were so deep in your misery that you didn't notice the moment when you were wrapped in a pair of arms, nor when a gentle hand came to the back of your head, pressing it into a broad, firm shoulder. You were surprised when you realized that Toto had pulled you into a hug, but it felt like a lifeline, something you needed. You’d been drowning in the feeling that you’d failed for far too long.

After a few more minutes of Toto letting you cry on his shoulder, in the most literal sense, you managed to pull yourself together enough to lift your face and look at Toto again. There was concern in his dark eyes as he gently brushed a strand of hair away from your eyes

— Feeling better? — he asked. His voice was gentle and quiet.

— A little — you replied, swiping the back of your hand across your nose as you sniffled.

— Do you want to talk about it?

— About what?

— Whatever is making you cry in the factory canteen past midnight.

Your throat tightened again, but you resisted the urge to cry. “Breathe”, you told yourself, as you struggled to get air into your lungs. After some time, you managed to find your voice steady enough to start talking.

— Well, for starters, the zeropod concept was my idea. I was the one who invested all of my time and energy into it, and convinced everyone to get behind it. Worse than that, I was the one who insisted that we continue working with this concept in the W14, even though it didn't work out — you said, looking at your hands — In the end, I guess Mike is right. I threw this year into the bin.

— What? Mike said that to you?

You looked up at Toto. His expression changed from concern to what looked like irritation. It was unexpected, especially in reference to someone he worked with so closely.

— Yeah, this morning. We were talking about Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and he said that the results were disappointing, and that he doesn't understand my insistence on this zeropod concept. I explained that the problem wasn’t the sidepods anymore, but the rear downforce — you hesitated for a moment — He wouldn't listen. He said I threw the team's year in the bin with this and that I should start thinking about doing something different next year.

Silence hung between you again. Toto flexed his jaw, looking thoughtful. It felt a little wrong to sell your boss out to the CEO of the company like that, but your frustration and tiredness was overriding your desire to avoid further conflict with Mike.

— Well, one thing I can tell you definitively is that Mike is wrong, Y/N.

— Toto...

— I understand his frustration, as he is the technical director and everything related to the design of the car comes down on his head. But, our performance this year and last year isn't anyone's fault in particular — he continued, grasping your hands in his — We're a team, Y/N. Everything we do, we do as a team. You came up with the idea of zeropods and presented them well. We couldn’t predict the issues with suspension and ride height, which did not help.

— But if we had…

— It's no use thinking about what could have been, Y/N. Of course, we would like to be further ahead in the development of the car this year, but we made a mistake. It’s okay to make mistakes, and it’s okay to admit you’ve made mistakes. The problem is not learning from it. And clearly you've learned, so much so that you're trying to make it right in the worst way possible.

— The… worst?

— Staying so late, especially when you arrive so early, is not the way to go about this. You think you have more time, but you will just end up burning yourself out, which will cause you to make even more mistakes. No mind, no matter how brilliant, is immune to weariness.

You took a few seconds to absorb what you’d heard, like you couldn’t believe it. Toto Wolff had just called you brilliant.

But why wasn’t it making you feel any better?

— I just wanted to stop feeling like this…

— Like what?

— Guilty — you whispered, ducking your head — I feel so guilty, all the time.

He sighed, bringing his fingers to your chin and gently lifting your face to look back up at him.

— A while ago, I read a very interesting poem. I can’t remember who wrote it or what it was called, but it struck me because it was all about how guilt implies that you have the power to change the course of things when, in fact, you may not actually have the power to do so. This ends up making the emotion of guilt somewhat of a trap. It tricks you into believing that you are always in control, when in reality, you are not.

You blinked, listening to his words and the way he was talking to you. It was strangely soothing.

— What I mean, is that no one has control over the consequences or impacts of their actions. What we can control, though, is our actions and intentions. And you had the best of intentions, Y/N. You thought outside the box, came up with an innovative solution and even gave us a win last year.

— One win out of twenty-two races, after eight winning seasons. It feels like nothing.

— It’s not nothing, Y/N. It’s proof that, working together, we can achieve our goals. It makes me very proud, not only of you, but of the entire team. At the beginning of last season, nobody would have expected us to get a 1-2. We worked as a team and proved everybody wrong.

His words immediately brought tears back to your eyes, and it wasn’t long before you started to cry in earnest again. Toto just pulled you back into hug, your head nestled on his shoulder.

You had always admired him, for his own resilience and mental strength. The way Toto always saw difficulties as a comfort zone made him an inspiration. You wanted to be like him, to become an even better person under adverse conditions, like graphite under pressure becomes a diamond.

Pulling away again, you ran your hand over your face, trying to dry the last of your tears. Then, you noticed that his shirt was wet from where you’d been crying onto it.

— Sorry — you said quietly, feeling your cheeks heat up.

— For what? — he asked, raising an eyebrow. As you pointed to the shoulder of his shirt, Toto smirked — No need to apologize, Y/N. I have a five-year old son, I've dealt with worse than a few tears on my clothes. Far worse.

His comment brought a small smile to your face.

— I can imagine — you murmured.

— Now, I want you to go to your office, get your things, and go home. And I don’t want to see you tomorrow… I mean, later today, at the office. You need to rest.

— Toto — you started, but he cut you off.

— Smashing your head against your keyboard is not the solution to our problems, Y/N. I insist. You will stay at home, off duty. If you think about showing up, you'll be stopped at the gates.

— You know that I can just work from home…

— Don't make me have IT revoke your access, Y/N.

— You wouldn't do that — you said, in a slightly indignant tone.

— Are you going to challenge me on that? — he asked, his voice teasing.

— No, Mr Wolff.

A satisfied smile appeared on Toto's face.

— Good — he said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear — Oh, and one more thing. If Mike starts again with this talk about you ‘throwing our year into the bin’, come talk to me, please.

His request made your stomach lurch. You liked Mike. He didn't seem as open to your ideas as James was when he was the team's technical director, but he had his own vision, which you respected. The relationship between you and Mike was always cordial, and he was willing to challenge you on your ideas, but it never had been so acrimonious as it had gotten that morning.

— I don't want to hurt Mike.

— You will not hurt him. He will be hurting himself if he continues with this behavior. He knows we have a zero-blame culture here, and why, and how seriously I take it. Please let me know if this happens again.

You nodded.

After a good-natured comment about his coffee, which, by that point, must have gone cold, you got up from your table and returned to the office, downing what was left of your energy drink on your way back to the wind tunnel building, feeling relieved, and strangely light.

You turned off your computer and left the factory for your flat, which wasn't far away. After taking a shower and changing into your pajamas, you laid down on your bed and became acutely aware of how tired you were. It was as if every part of your body was screaming at you to take a break, and you finally got a chance to do so.

After sleeping a good part of the next day, you took the afternoon to clean up your flat, relax, and cooked yourself a nice meal instead of getting takeaway or heating a frozen dinner. You avoided picking up your phone to even look at it, as Toto had sent you a message on the company Slack telling that he would confiscate it if he saw you online.

You felt much better the day after. You felt rested, and felt better about yourself and your work. You had hope for things to get better, for you to get more confident. You were trying your hardest, and it was being noticed. There was nothing better than that.

So you thought.

When you arrived at your desk, you noticed a cardboard to-go cup sitting in front of your keyboard. The coffee inside was still hot. There was a blue Post-It note stuck to the lid, the handwriting on it familiar to you.

“Beware the trap of believing you always have control - TW”.

You smiled as you stuck the note to the bottom edge of your computer monitor.

You would not fall into that trap again.

#toto wolff #toto wolff x reader #toto wolff x you #toto wolff fluff #f1 one shot #formula 1 one shot #formula one one shot #f1 x reader #formula 1 x reader #formula 1 fic #f1 fic #formula one fic #f1 fanfic #formula 1 fanfic #wlffog #oneshotwlff

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ultraviolet-cello · 4 months

Text

Today's episode analysis is number 7 - Wolfwood. Now from here on out I get wild abt theories so do watch out hehee

Spoiler warning for tristamp and trimax, general tws for most of those, and enjoy my analysis/details if you want :]

@tristampparty

TL;DR, there's still something fucked up with Livio and Razlo

I CANNOT believe this MOTHERFUCKER is wearing a seatbelt, but still reading a book and controlling the car steering with his mind. I hate him.

Okay so when Livio gets up here, he's been down for the count for a while, the mask has seemingly. Broken a little bit, his irises have contracted a noticeably amount, and the way he moves is different. So I could attribute that to just, whatever brainwashing EOM has on Livio is falling apart, but I think it's more likely Razlo is stepping into front in some way or another. If the remote-switch mask theory has anything to do with it, the breaking of the mask could be tugging them both into a rapid-switch state.

In any case; something is clearly different - Livio's fighting style as we've seen is very steady, holding the guns in place and just walking forward. Maybe-Razlo here just gets up and flings himself at Vash, starts running, absolutely whaling on the Punisher with the Double Fangs (Which is accurate to Trimax - if you read their pages closely, Livio and Razlo have very different ways of moving that then converge into a more semi-coherent style post volume 10)

Also like, it doesn't have to just be one thing. All of the things I point out here can also be interpreted as just the breaking free from brainwashing thing. Could be both!

I'm Not Done with this scene yet because then uh. Livio-Maybe-Razlo starts looking a little dizzy, starts wobbling, hands shaking. So with Dissociative Identity Disorder, the difference between that and OSDD-1b (Another type of system) is usually the dissociative aspect. When alters switch in, it's usually accompanied by a period of dissociation, which looks to an outsider like the person is dizzy, vacant, or blank. The dissociative period is also common in rapid-switching. I read Livio and Razlo as a DID system and it is definitely the most well-known type of system, so if Studio Orange is trying to portray them as a system, they'll most likely be characterized as DID.

MORE VASH FIGHTING STYLE STUFF!!!

So aside from being just a physical martial artist, I dabble in traditional okinawan kobudo (weapons) as well - one of these being the tonfa, which is a baton type of weapon. Vash in this scene is using his gun similarly - holding it by the handle and swinging the muzzle to block and strike. In the second image you can see him winding up to get the full arc of the swing in for more power.

These are what tonfa look like, so I especially appreciate how similar Vash's gun functions! You hold the handle in a loose-ish grip and can swing them overhead and around for extra Thwack Power

Oh you can actually see him spin it back in that blocking position (holding the long end against your forearm so you can just lift and block with your forearm, since the part of the tonfa is shielding you) here! Come to think of it, when blocking with the Double Fangs, Livio uses them similarly.

Once again Roberto calling out that Vash is not human - again he's had the longest time to Hear about Vash's reputation and now he's seeing it firsthand. Imagine spending all your life knowing of a legendary guy and then when you actually see him he looks. like 20, and at least some of his fighting prowess is true.

I guess I'm also curious about like. The mask has been breaking for a While now, and then when it completely powers off that's when Livio starts coming back to reality, which could lend to it being neural-connected in some way. I think it's really really interesting that EOM has specifically suppressed or trained Livio's mind so well that he barely recognizes Wolfwood - But how did that happen without Razlo's interference? Did he agree to this, was he manipulated into it, did Livio make that decision and it was too late for Razlo's protectiveness to kick in? Or is this a means to control both of them? Season 2 please please please ple

I'VE GOT MY ONE FRAME OF RAZLO EVERYONE GO HOME

Okay seriously though I do want to uh. Has Razlo just always had that idea of what he wants to look like or is there some kind of Very drastic change going on lmao. Because there is no way Stampede "Twink" Livio has the body to pull this off, no matter how much hair gel and tits out clothes Razlo can put on. If that sort of image was created by eom as an intimidation thing (because Razlo is Chapel's golden child) though, that's fucked up especially because like. Razlo and Livio struggle sharing a body enough by themselves.

Not grabbing a screenshot but it's uhm. Well. Livio shoots himself in the head specifically, which does seem to be the weak spot for EOM agents, which uhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Like we've seen Razlo foreshadowing Right There there's not a chance he's actually dead, but it's probably gonna fuck him up. Further. I wonder if there's gonna be some body construction fuckery going on later on?

Roberto just sitting down and giving up is kinda funny but also like. Yeah. What do you do in the face of such alien, incomprehensible odds and events. Roberto's very,,, chill about dying, which is an attitude that lots of people would have on Gunsmoke/NML (I know it's nml. but i like gunsmoke). He just wants to go out drinking on his own terms (which... well, he does.)

Meryl's decisions in the control room are so so fascinating. Meryl in Trimax is a little bit insane about Vash (following him, quite literally, through the apocalypse), and we're starting to see her belief and trust in him in this scene. She believes in him And in Wolfwood. and Roberto, Roberto who has always said that he'd take the path to live, believes in Meryl, enough that he's apparently ready to take the chance to die with her, even when given the option to leave by himself.

Meryl is also taking control of her own agency in this situation; she has been an extremely reactive character up till now, but here she gets to say what Meryl Stryfe would do in this situation. Not getting yanked around by people bigger and taller than her, not having to report to her seniors, just making a choice on her own that she knows might kill her. Women on Gunsmoke/NML aren't afforded a lot of agency (Rosa had to try and capture Vash for the bounty so Tonis could live, Meryl in any iteration deals with a lot of adversaries using her as leverage against Vash or taking control away from her, hell, Tristamp Elendira isn't being afforded the agency to grow up! She's been like that for 20 years there is definitely some fuckery going on, whether it's Tesla cells not allowing her to age past the point Tesla was when she died, or Conrad or Knives keeping her that age for some reason). It's nice to see Meryl's arc revolve around taking that agency for herself.

OKAY NORMAL AGAIN. the fucking MUSIC in this scene is insane, it's so,,, I don't know how to explain it but it's so Big and Vast. Also the ion cannon laser looks much like a Punisher laser. Which uh. Woag, if that's the case. And Razlo gets three of those bitches? forget the deadly weapons everyone's gonna just die looking at the light show.

A design element I really like for Legato is his hair and how neatly it's trimmed. I drew a parallel to Knives cutting off a slice of his hair when they first met each other, but I do genuinely think that Legato might be so meticulous about it specifically because of that. Knives means so so much to Legato, and Legato seems to reclaim his body from his past sexual abuse by devoting himself to Knives in an act of empowerment (or at least that's how I read it), which,,, I mean it's hair, but i really am a curtains are blue guy.

Tristamp Wolfwood is often. A tad shorter than Vash which is extremely funny to me. Nightow said Wolfwood's taller and everyone, including the guys making a 3d animated love letter to trigun, said no he isn't ^_^

I need to start collecting these fucking smiles that Vash gives Wolfwood. It's specifically,,,, Trimax and 98 Wolfwood call Vash out on the fake smiles. But Tristamp Wolfwood doesn't, because most of the true smiles we see from Vash are directed at him. Or something. Idk i'm normal

Wolfwood has been holding the Punisher like this all episode, and it's ~~really cute~~ (Tristamp Wolfwood gives me awful cute aggression) but also,,, maybe self-soothing. Keeping the Punisher directly in front of himself as a shield. Looking out over Hopeland as the Punisher acts as a barrier.

White Girl Wasted :pensive:

Vash's hair looks like a little flower here :]

Annnnd Vash down for the count!

So there's so many things, always, to do with these episodes, and I will Not be stopping lmao

Thank y'all who left nice comments on my last analysis post, i'm glad everyone had fun reading it!

#cli speaks #tristampparty #trigun #trigun stampede #cli analysis

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sonkitty · 24 days

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Crowley S2 Hair Post #13 Redone

(For reference: The Sideburns Scheme)

Crowley, Good Omens 2, Episode 1, The Arrival, before driving back to the bookshop

...

Sideburns Check

The sideburns have maintained their length from entering the Bentley and being summoned to Hell. Crowley's still a demon in his demon space with the car as his home. That's the given standard from the story until episode 6 with the exceptional circumstances of The Door Trick that leads into The Window Trick.

...

Brighter Red Streak Check

The brighter red streak can definitely not be found. The red overall is even more gone, making almost all of the hair look black. Whereas I could get something resembling brown before, this hair is darker with the only brown I can find with vastly increased brightness...near the bottom of the hair on Crowley's neck.

The car and supernatural zone around it did look to make Crowley's hair darker on Shax's visit earlier in this episode, so this change further confirms that idea.

...

Hairstyle Changes

In Hell, the hair separated into more obvious shapes above the forehead, especially on the left side. It also had a visibly strong contrast in color between right and left.

It seems the story wants the darkness of the hair and the setting to be the strongest point communicated about the hair. I can't see the top style without a massive increase in brightness.

Even then, I struggle to describe it. The right side is the most visible one with a right profile view, and style looks like it is up an arch. Compared to when Crowley was in the car with the flies, the hair is not as curled in places. From a front view, it overall goes up and tilts to Crowley's right. That's a bit similar to when first encountering Gabriel.

...

Earthly Objects

(For reference: Earthly Objects)

Point #1 for touching the sunglasses.

Point #2 for saying Aziraphale's name.

Point #3 for the question, "Aziraphale, what have you done?"

Even though Aziraphale is not around to answer the question, it looks like the point still counts with Crowley not saying anything else after it.

The touch on the sunglasses is quite interesting to a player like myself because it was actually a clue for me to solve The Sunglasses Trick (without knowing about the advanced pocket mechanics). It is not how most humans put their sunglasses on. It is also not a threshold-only touch. This touch is like touching the earthly parts of a door. I think this method is intentionally keeping the sunglasses in Door Mode. It helps as a clue for The Sunglasses Trick because that helps keep the number of threshold-only touches where they should be.

Crowley covers up the right end piece completely with his right hand, especially the palm. That is the same hand he used to remove them to begin with before the summon.

That's not all he does.

The left hand also avoids the usual end piece focus but in a different way. All of the hand is part of the touch but instead of the index finger and thumb, the ring finger and pinky are what touch the end piece. The thumb is visible, but the tip of the thumb is not visible. Furthermore, all the fingers and thumb are collectively slid back slightly along the temple.

Paying attention to the pockets, when Crowley starts to put them on, there is an extra shine on the left top rim of the sunglasses. Looking around for what might be important, there is a pocket formed between his right cheek, the right temple of the sunglasses, his blurry index finger, and his shoulder.

The area below the left eye gets a considerably stronger shadow over it compared to the rest of the face in the movement though part of the cheek itself is more shiny when the shadow isn't over it. The middle finger rises slightly more to help form yet another little closed pocket. With the left hand progressing in its touch, the middle finger pocket disappears. By the end of the touch, the left hand has formed a pocket that includes some of Crowley's left ear.

The watch is visible as this touch is taking place.

The lighting overall favors Crowley's left, as is often the case.

Tangentially related, I have started reading more Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman in a desperate attempt to improve my play. I've read The Color of Magic, The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book, and The Light Fantastic. I'm now re-reading Equal Rites.

...

Story Commentary

Besides the clue to an audience player for The Sunglasses Trick, why is Crowley keeping the sunglasses in Door Mode? Is it because he's going to touch the left end piece for his next touch in The Sunglasses Trick during the same episode?

Is it secret advanced pocket mechanics?

Is it so Saraqael can watch him from Heaven?

There is a top angle shot of the car as he starts to drive away. Saraqael is who the story will later show as looking down over Earth when the alarms go off in Heaven.

After Crowley puts his sunglasses back on, there is a slight glance to the mirror. That's another potential sideburns check as he gets ready for the drive.

It looks like the street is still wet with no rain known to have happened to make it wet.

...

That's it for this post. Sometimes I edit my posts, FYI.

...

Main post:

The Sideburns Scheme

...

Past version of this post:

Post #13 (before driving back to the bookshop)

#crowley #good omens 2 #good omens #good omens s2 #david tennant #good omens season 2 #good omens meta #good omens analysis #good omens crowley #crowley good omens #good omens theories #crowley s2 hair project #crowley sideburns

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