#swing scene 4.0

[twistedeuphoria]

She takes the hit but swings back stronger than before Bathes you in spring sunshine Wipes tears dry and says I love you twice Seasons change, say you'll stay the same 'Cause I love you

Head: lel evox / BILLIE 4.0 (New! @ Skin Fair 2024) Hair: [monso] Ren Hair (New! @ Collabor88)

New! @ Anthology *new event Eyes: {S0NG} Juliet Eyes Eyeshadow: WarPaint* Juniper Eyeshadow (*layered with keikumu - modela eyeshadow + eyeliner) Clothing: Enfant Terrible - Eostre Dress Accessories: ANDORE x LEX - piercing MICHAN - Kirana Armlets

Pose: OMY Lonnie (New! @ kustom9)

Scene: Ariskea  Arbora (New! @ kustom9)

#kumuckyhara #second life #anthology #kustom9 #lelutka #monso #s0ng #warpaint #enfant terrible #andore x lex #michan #OMY #ariskea

[edithhaimbergernotebook]

A Day of Two Anniversaries: 75th Berlin Airlift/60th “Ich bin ein Berliner” Speech

On a sunny June evening, the John-F.-Kennedy-Platz in front of Berlin’s Schöneberg City Hall set the scene for a celebration of two significant anniversaries in Germany’s post-war history.

The flags of France, the UK and the US were flying in honour of the three Allied powers who occupied Berlin after World War II. Tents with benches underneath were fringed in matching white, red and blue bunting.

And underneath the flags of the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023 and of Ukraine, a stage was set up with musical instruments, an antique carved wooden podium, and a VIP area in front that seated about 180 special guests.

The massive steps of the City Hall were at first deserted except for a blue, white and red flower arrangement underneath two tarnished memorial plaques. Above it, the balcony.

Photograph: Scene in front of the Schöneberg City Hall, June 24, 2023. Photo: Edith Haimberger. Public domain.

After 5 p.m., guests trickled into the VIP area to be served water and Bouvet sparkling wine. Locals had gathered in greater numbers, standing and sitting in the square. A small wedding party drifted by from the registry office at the far side of the City Hall. And the US Air Forces in Europe Jazz-Band from Ramstein began playing jazz and swing music.

🎶 The Stars and Stripes Forever 🎶

🎶 A Tisket A Tasket 🎶

🎶 Straighten Up and Fly Right 🎶

🎶 Sing, Sing, Sing 🎶

In the VIP section, former and current city officials, as well as members of Germany’s Bundestag, took their seats.

Berlin’s current mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) was joined by predecessors Franziska Giffey (SPD; she is also Wegner’s governing coalition partner), Michael Müller (SPD), and Eberhard Diepgen (CDU).

Diplomats from Austria, France, Ukraine, the UK, and the US joined them.

Jörn Oltmann, district mayor of Berlin-Tempelhof-Schöneberg, greeted everyone in his opening speech. He paid tribute to the 87 people who died in the Berlin Airlift that began 75 years ago, delivering supplies to the half of the city that had just been cut off by the Soviet government’s land blockade.

The Berliners in the audience applauded warmly when Oltmann mentioned Gail Halvorsen. In the Airlift, Halvorsen was the US Air Force colonel who pioneered the ‘Rosinenbomber’ drops of chocolate, gum, and other candy for Berlin’s children.

It’s also the 60th anniversary of the “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech that John F. Kennedy held at the City Hall.

Oltmann said of the President, “You are still a Berliner in the hearts of the people of our city.”

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. - John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address (1961)

Mayor Kai Wegner took the stage next. [Two or three people booed. So perhaps he was being ironical when he said “Vielen Dank für die freundliche Begrüßung” (’Thank you very much for the friendly welcome.’).]

Wegner himself is too young to have been an eyewitness. Yet his father joined the almost 500,000 people who gathered before the City Hall to hear President John F. Kennedy on June 26, 1963. It was a troubled time, but Kennedy’s words inspired.

“Mein Vater verließ diesen Platz voller Hoffnung.” (’My father left this [City Hall] square full of hope.’)

Wegner’s conclusion: “feiern wir jeden Tag die Freiheit in unserer Stadt” (’Let us celebrate the freedom in our city every day.’)

Photograph: U.S. Ambassador Amy Gutmann speaking at the Schöneberg City Hall, June 24, 2023. (CC BY-SA 4.0)

US Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann signed the guest book of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. She received a small sculpture from district mayor Jörn Oltmann, as the US Air Forces in Europe Jazz-Band from Ramstein played another song.

In her speech, Ambassador Gutmann recalled the nerve-wracking, high stakes of the Cold War era with its bristling arsenals of nuclear weapons.

Like the other politicians on the stage, she seemed to be putting herself in the shoes of Kennedy and imagining what it was like to navigate the era as a statesman. Certainly Kennedy gracefully managed to conduct himself as a “global citizen,” in her phrase.

Thanking Berliners for “opening their homes and their hearts to victims of war.” she was likely referring to over 200,000 Ukrainian refugees passing through the city since early 2022.

Referring again to the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, she said that today: “’Wir sind Ukrainer.’” (’We are Ukrainians.’)

Caroline Kennedy, the sister of John F. Kennedy who is serving as US Ambassador to Australia, spoke in a pre-recorded video message. She translated the “Ich bin ein Berliner” message for the present day to “Slava Ukraini.”

Finally Timothy Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics and nephew of Caroline Kennedy, took the stage.

Lightening the mood and radiating charm to which the crowd responded enthusiastically, he reminisced about his experiences at the time when his uncle Kennedy visited West Berlin.

His mother Eunice had organized a “Camp Shriver” back in the United States, inviting children with intellectual disabilities. Three-year-old Timothy was playing amongst them; his only responsibility was ‘to have fun.’

But Shriver noted that while the Berlin Wall divided sibling from sibling, children from parent, etc., families were separated for more than one reason in the 1960s.

Children with intellectual disabilities might be secluded  from the family home, and from their communities, behind the walls of institutions.

The Kennedy family’s own experiences with institutionalization inspired Eunice to organize the Special Olympics.

In the meantime, the Berlin Wall has fallen. “The world can change.” But people with disabilities still face barriers when they participate in schools and in the workplace.

Photograph: Scene in front of the Schöneberg City Hall, June 24, 2023. Trees belonging to the Rudolph-Wilde-Park. Photo: Edith Haimberger. Public domain.

***

Recollections of then-mayor of West Berlin, Willy Brandt (d. 1992), after President Kennedy’s speech

“In der Geschichte Berlins war solch ehrlicher Jubel noch keinem Gast zuteil geworden.”

“Den Augenblick vor der Kundgebung, da er lachend in meinem Amtszimmer die berühmten vier Worte -- ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’ -- einübte, werde ich nie vergessen.”

“Den Dokumentarfilm über seinen Berlin-Besuch hat er sich wiederholt vorführen lassen; so erzählte es mir seine Witwe am Abend nach der Beerdigung.”

(Willy Brandt. Erinnerungen. Berlin: Ullstein, 2014)

(’In the history of Berlin, such honest rejoicing had not been shown to any other guest.’ ... ‘The moment before the speech, in which he laughingly rehearsed the famous four words ‘I am a Berliner!’ in my mayor’s office, I will never forget.’ ... ‘He asked several times to be shown the documentary film about his Berlin visit; that is what I was told by his widow on the evening after the burial.’)

Photograph of John F. Kennedy at the Schöneberg City Hall on June 26, 1963, by Cecil Stoughton. Credit: White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston

[julie-and-the-ghost-himbos]

Not me actually crying over the absolute peak chaotic energy in the swing set 4.0 tiktok

#Andi mack #swing scene 4.0 #tj and Cyrus the original himbos #tyrus #Luke Mullen #Joshua rush #tj kippen #cyrus goodman

[supergraphicultramoderngirl]

i think one of the funniest parts abt the vid is that josh just. got his line wrong. idk if it was intentional but he fucked up the line

#it’s SCARY BASKETBALL GUY not NOT SO SCARY BASKETBALL GUY #anyways. love them love this #andi mack #tyrus #cyrus goodman #tj kippen #andi mack cast #joshua rush #luke mullen #swing scene 4.0

[qintennie]

so we've basically all subconsciously agreed that the swing scene shall never be seen the same way ever again

(aLriGhT)

#fucking disaster wasn't it #and yet #so beautiful #pls the absolute chaotic energy that tiktok carried #swing scene 4.0 #joshua rush #tj kippen #cyrus goodman #luke mullen #andi mack #tyrus #tyrus andi mack

[illbeyourreasonwhy]

I CAN’T STOP LAUGHING THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER

#swing scene 4.0 #andi mack #tyrus

[iridescentkippen]

pls i’m crying it’s the zoomed in ✨ aLrIgHt ✨ for me

#why did they think this was a good idea #i will never shut up about this #i hope you all know that #andi mack #joshua rush #luke mullen #swing scene 4.0

[oreo-275]

We need a swing scene 4.0 to make up for swing scene 3.(N)0

#spoilers #andi mack spoilers #am spoilers #andi mack #tyrus #tj kippen #cyrus goodman #swing scene 3.0 #swing scene 4.0 #swing scene 3.(N)0

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Do you think that Animorphs could have been improved if morphing and demorphing didn't heal your original body? Firstly, it doesn't make a ton of sense, as your original form is kept in z-space, so demorphing should just return you that form without any alterations. Secondly, it would allow a couple plot points such as Tobias's wing in MM2 and Ax's sickness in #29 to be much more feasible. I'm not super well versed in the lore though, so I may be missing something.

I’m inclined to say it would not improve the series.  Because without a healing factor, Animorphs would lose a lot of its realism.

Hear me out.

If the Animorphs don’t heal between battles, but the series is still about superheroes fighting aliens, then there are only so many ways the series can treat violence.  And none of them are particularly realistic.

The Animorphs could face exactly as much horrific injury and very real threat of harm (amputation, disembowelment, and all) as they do in the series.  But if they can’t heal, then it’s gonna be a really damn short war.  Off the top of my head: Marco dies in #4 from shark bite, Jake and Cassie die in #6 from poisoning, Rachel and Ax bleed out in #7, and Tobias gets eaten by a raccoon in #13.

The Animorphs could have strictly “harmless” tactics against an enemy that uses “harmless” tactics against them.  Think Kim Possible, Transformers, or My Little Pony.  If it’s “laser beams set to stun” vs. “the predators that don’t do anything,” then there would be a dramatic shift in tone.  Kim Possible is a great series, but it would never be classified as horror, and it never contains any real threat of characters coming to permanent harm.  Animorphs would be different (more like AniTV, frankly) if the violence was never allowed to inflict damage, and it’d lose a lot of what makes it unique along the way.

The Animorphs could have the superhero Thing where they take huge amounts of damage and then just... get better.  Think like Firefly, where characters get shot and stabbed realistically but then are inexplicably running around a week later like nothing happened.  They get realistic short-term damage onscreen, but unrealistic insta-recovery between episodes.  I personally HATE this trope because it’s low-key eugenicist in its emphasis on Macho Men Who Feel No Pain.  But yes, Animorphs could do this, again at the expense of realistic depictions of bodily harm.

The Animorphs could be immune to harm sometimes and not others, depending on the tone of a scene.  Again, tons of superhero series do this, and again it’s a pet peeve.  In Umbrella Academy, bullets are harmless and fun when the Handler’s firing them at Lila in an upbeat training montage... and they’re horrible and deadly when they rip through the Hargreeveses two episodes later.  In Batman, Robin 4.0 can be shot in the torso three times and keep right on swinging, but Robin 2.0 takes one crowbar to the head and straight-up dies.  This treatment of injury drives me UP THE WALL because it a) makes light of gun violence and b) makes it impossible to know how seriously to take any given scene.  So Animorphs could do that, but personally I’d hate it.

The Animorphs could inflict lots of harm, but not have any done to them.  This is close to how the series does it, but without a healing factor there’d have to be practically no threat to the Animorphs themselves while they went around slaughtering controllers.  Think Doctor Who and the tendency for their annihilating entire alien species to be played for laughs, while the Doctor themself remains untouchable and rarely even rumples their suit.  Either the protagonists become Heroes in Name Only, or they become the villains.  If the yeerks can’t hurt the kids at all, but the kids still harm the yeerks as much as they do, then we’d go from morally-grey protagonists to irredeemable-asshole protagonists really fast.

So I think the healing factor serves a very specific purpose within a series that nailed the “superheroes, but realistic” trope decades before it became a trend.  The healing factor allows K.A. Applegate et al. to get way into the utter nastiness of violence and trauma.  It prevents glossing over the reality of what it means to kill someone (see options 2 & 4) or be seriously injured (see option 3), while also avoiding a fight that’s entirely one-sided (see options 5 & 1).  It draws attention to the mental toll of trauma through divorcing that from the physical toll.  It’s what makes Animorphs so profoundly, disturbingly anti-war.

Ergo: no.  I don’t think the series would improve if the healing factor was gone.

#animorphs #violence #animorphs meta #morphing #laws of applied phlebotinum #sci fi #superheroes #gore #sci fi negativity #asks #thespacehawk #sorry doctor who fans #that show is imperialist as fuck and this is the hill i will die on #to be fair to batman fans #damian wayne is made of MUCH sterner stuff than jason todd #do we see damian still bitching about heretic 10 years after the fact? #does damian decide to rename himself 'heretic' and kill off batman? #no #because damian is not a whiny pissbaby #unlike certain robins who were inferior anyway

[verfound]

WIPWed: Festering Folder Edition: Legally Blonde AU

@mintaka14 asked about the Legally Blonde AU, which the Disco witnessed the birth of and was briefly mentioned in the notes for "Move Like Jagged". So. Yeah. This is the latest crack AU I've been working on. 😂

See, for my last project for those unit classes I had to take for work, I was talking about different reasons conflict can pop up in your kitchen and how to deal with them. And one of the ways to deal with conflict is by staying positive - you can't control what other people do/what happens, but you can control how you react to it. And that got "Positive" from the Legally Blonde musical in my head, which got me thinking who would be who in a LB AU, and...it all just ran away from me so hard. We have a Plunny Adoption channel in the Disco, and I dropped it there because I did not want another WIP, and the next thing I knew I was 1700 words into the Bend & Snap scene and no one else had adopted the plunny come on guys. 😂

So. Yeah. This is happening. I'm maybe a third of the way through the outline with about three scenes fully written out. 😂

The setup: Marinette is an aspiring fashion designer in her senior year at UCLA. Her life is all set up: she's going to graduate and marry her perfect boyfriend Adrien Agreste, who's on his way to becoming a lawyer and future president of the United States. Everything's perfect until he suddenly dumps her, claiming he needs someone more serious. He moves back out East to start at Harvard in the fall, where he's now dating childhood friend and fellow Snobby Harvard Girl Kagami Tsurugi. Marinette realizes that if she's gonna get her man back, she's got to be someone serious, too - someone lawerly! Someone who wears black when nobody's dead! So Marinette follows him out to Harvard, where she's...let's face it. The laughing stock of the school. But with a little determination (and the help of her super sweet TA Luka Couffaine, who's convinced she's not as Dumb as the others paint her) she's going to show everyone she belongs there - and win her Adrien back in the process!

So Marinette's Elle, Adrien is Warner, Kagami is Vivian, and Luka is Emmett. I'm putting Gabriel as Callahan, with the idea that part of the pressure on Adrien is that his father is this super successful lawyer & professor at Harvard who's expecting him to follow in his footsteps. (Also there's a line in the finale of the musical that says "Warner quit / Says he makes more modeling anyhow!", so while he's at UCLA I have Adrien modeling on the side and he totally goes back to it. 😂) Mylène is Paulette and Ivan is Kyle (the UPS guy). Rose and Alya are Marinette's Delta Nu sisters/best friends, and Juleka is still Luka's sister; Rose and Alya come out and the end to cheer Marinette on at the final trial, where Rose and Juleka meet.

Jagged is Brooke. He's being accused of murdering Bob Roth, his former label owner. He's innocent, but he refuses to give Gabriel his alibi (he was...getting...botox). He was Marinette's neighbor back in LA, and she designed his favorite leather jacket - so he freaks when Marinette walks in with his Estranged Son as part of his legal team. Luka and Jagged have a...tenuous relationship. Jagged is Luka's father, and Luka used to love music/want to be a rocker. He toured with Jagged for a year or two when he was younger as his opening act, but it really disillusioned Luka to the Music Scene. So he ended up pursuing law (thinking he could get into the legal side of things, and Anarka's always in and out of jail anyway so she'll need a good lawyer?), and finds out he's good at it & really enjoys it? It wasn't the career he thought he'd have, but he's happy.

I'm still kicking stuff around & writing the outline, but that's the bare-bones. 😂 And as much as I love the LB movie, the musical is one of my favorites. There's...guh ok I'm not gonna start gushing on how perfect the musical is bc we'll be here all day. 😂 But it is absolutely perfect, and this AU is going to be a blend of the movie and the musical.

Case in point: the song "Take It Like A Man", where Elle repays Emmett by giving him a makeover. It's the scene where Emmett realizes he's fallen in love with Elle and absolutely adorable ("God, I love shopping for guys - watching them change right before my eyes!" "...stop watching me change.").

As for a scene y'all haven't seen yet...I think you've seen a handful of sentences from this one? It's all new for Tumblr, but I think I shared a few sentences on the Disco. 😂

“Hey, Luka, what are you doing tonight?”

Luka looked up, his eyebrows lifting at the smile Marinette was giving him. Her chin was propped in her hand, her eyes looking over him like…well, a little like she was undressing him, if he was honest, and he wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about that.

“Er…prepping for tomorrow?” he hazarded. “Big day in court? Opening statements? Have to make sure we’re ready so my dad doesn’t swing.”

She rolled her eyes, and then she rolled her chair over to his. He jumped when she laid her hands over his.

“You’re ready,” she said. She squeezed his hand, and he swallowed thickly as she continued to look at him like that. Why did his throat suddenly feel so dry? “Can we go somewhere? I…I want to do something. To thank you. For…everything, really. Please?”

“You don’t need to thank me, Marinette,” he said, wondering what exactly she had in mind. Maybe dinner? He was getting kind of hungry, and he’d be lying if he said he wouldn’t mind spending more time with her away from the law books…

“I do, though, Luka,” she said earnestly, squeezing his hand again. “You…you’re the only one who’s believed in me this entire time. You’ve done so much to help me, and…I just wanted to do something for you, too.” She took his hand and held it to her chest, pouting her lips and batting her eyes at him, and when had the heat kicked in? It was almost May – it shouldn’t be so hot in the old, draft library! “Please?”

“I…um…ok?” he finally squawked out. He cleared his throat when she hit him full-force with her mega-watt smile, hoping his face wasn’t as red as it felt as she squeezed his hand tighter. She gave an excited little squeal-giggle-bounce that had him smiling fondly. “What…what did you have in mind?”

“Well,” she said, releasing his hand and turning towards the table. She began gathering the files they’d scattered over the surface, tidying up. “You know I used to want to be a designer – you’ve heard Jagged go off about that coat.”

“His little frock star,” Luka snickered, and she gave him an exasperated little smile.

“If I had the time, I’d love to design you something,” she said, tapping the folders against the table to straighten them, She turned to him, hands on her hips. “But given we need you ready by tomorrow, that’s not possible. So, Luka Couffaine, I am going to give you…a makeover.”

That…was definitely not what he’d been expecting.

“Er…thanks?” he asked, because by the little hitch in his voice he was definitely asking, because he was definitely confused. A…makeover? But…why? Her expression fell a little, and he coughed as he reached up to loosen his tie. “I mean…it’s just…I didn’t think I needed one?”

And I was kind of hoping you’d suggest dinner?

“Luka,” she sighed, still exasperated. She grabbed his hands and hauled him to his feet before dragging him over to the fireplace. She gestured to the mirror sitting above the mantle, where he could clearly see his…ok, yeah, he looked a little disheveled, but they’d been in the library all day! He was expected to look rumpled! “Look at yourself.”

“I am,” he said, trying not to sound offended. She smoothed her hands over his shoulders, trying (unsuccessfully) to even out the wrinkles in his shirt. He tried to ignore the shiver that wanted to race up his spine at her touch. Focus, Couffaine, he thought. She sighed, turning him towards her, eyeing his clothes rather critically.

“Luka, you know I adore you,” she said, and he tried to ignore the way that made his stomach flutter, “but look at you. This is a high-profile, celebrity case. It’s going to be televised, and you’re going to show up looking like your only suit came from a Goodwill?”

“Hey,” he protested, weakly. He could feel the heat rising on his cheeks again. He looked at the floor and rubbed the back of his neck. “I have two suits, thank you very much, and only one came from Goodwill.”

He glanced up at her to find she had lifted one of those perfectly sculpted brows at him, and he grinned sheepishly before adding: “…the other came from Salvation Army.”

“Luka!” she laughed, squeezing his arms, and his grin warmed into a smile. He liked making her laugh like that. He… “That’s my point, you dork!”

Her laughter petered off, and she started fiddling with his tie. He glanced down at his outfit and tried to see her point, but he honestly thought he looked fine? Rumpled, sure, but that wasn’t anything a good tumble in the dryer or some ironing couldn’t fix. The gray slacks weren’t bad, and the white dress shirt with the thin, dark blue check matched his dark blue tie. Sure, his shoes were a little scuffed, but no one was going to be looking at his shoes. Marinette sighed again, and he looked back up at her.

“Luka, do you remember what I told you I did? Back at UCLA?” she asked. He nodded.

“You had a 4.0 in fashion merchandising,” he said, making her smile. “You wanted to design clothes.”

“So let’s just say this is something I’m actually good at,” she teased, and he frowned as he reached up to lay a hand over one of hers. He squeezed, making her look up at him.

“Hey…you’re good at this, Marinette,” he said. Her smile said she didn’t believe him, so he squeezed her hand tighter. “I mean it, Marinette. I may have helped you study, but all of this was you. You got Agreste’s internship all on your own. You went from the bottom to top of your class on your own. You put the work in, Marinette. You’re so incredibly smart, and you’ve got this…this…gift. You see things others don’t. You aregood at this.”

He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t for Marinette to throw herself at him in a bone-crushing hug. He stood there for a moment, dazed, but before he could move or think or respond she was already pulling away and wiping at misty eyes. She smiled up at him, and he wondered if it would be ok if he hugged her again. He kind of felt cheated out of the last one.

“Thank you, Luka,” she said, shaking her head to clear it. “Ugh, ok, but seriously! This is what I was originally good at – so let me shine, ok? Look. You’re good at this, too. You’re such a talented lawyer, and if Agreste gives you half the chance you’re going to blow them away in court – but no one’s going to be thinking about how brilliant you are if you show up looking like a bum. Luka, it’s…it’s me showing up to a costume party dressed like a bunny!”

He blinked at her, remembering all too well that night he’d bumped into her at the bookstore and she was dressed in nothing more than a one piece, bunny ears, and tail.

“The look is half the fight,” she said, taking his hands in her own. “Don’t give them a reason to judge you just because your shoes are old. Please? Let me buy you a suit. Let me do this for you, Luka.”

He still didn’t get it – not really, if he was perfectly honest – but when she looked at him like that…

“…ok,” he said, and the smile and second hug she gave him made it all worth it.

#miraculous ladybug #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #lukanette #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #wip wednesday #wip wendesday: festering folder edition #legally blonde au #lukanette legally blonde au #y'all know how this story ends #it may get an adrienette tag #but they're never endgame round here #I don't know if you've noticed before #but each time adrien walks through the door #your IQ drops down to 40 #maybe less #I've been smiling and sweet an thoroughly beaten blowing my chance #let's not chase 'em away let's face 'em and say #HEY PUNK LET'S DANCE #I'm so excited for this one #mintaka14

[salneedscoffee]

andi mackers rn waiting for josh and luke to post the swing scene 4.0:

#seriously can they give us a specific release hour idk #i just wanna know if i need to stay awake all night or not hdkshsj #andi mack

[ashxpad]

The Wonderful Widelux Panoramic Camera: Jeff Bridge’s Love Affair

It is rare that one brand of camera becomes seriously associated with a single celebrity as Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges is with his Widelux panoramic camera.

Jeff has been a master of the Widelux for years and has created an iconic, behind-the-scenes, super-wide, and inside look at the world of movie making. The Widelux has been the perfect format to photograph movie sets like The Big Lebowski, True Grit, and the Tron movies as the Widelux aspect ratio so closely mirrors our widescreen movie experience.

Here is some background from the introduction to his book, Pictures by Jeff Bridges.

For more than twenty years, on dozens of film sets, Bridges has perfected his own photography, shooting between takes and behind-the-scenes with a Widelux F8 camera. This fascinating, surprisingly candid body of work began as a personal project, as he recorded the arduous, emotionally intense, evanescent work of the film shoot in books that were privately printed and given as gifts to cast and crew. These are not traditional “Hollywood” pictures, but rather—despite the costumes and lighting, the crowds of extras, the stardom of the subjects—pictures of friends at work. Taken together, the pictures act as Bridges’ personal and professional diary, with actors, directors, and crew appearing as coworkers, all equal participants in the job at hand.

Jeff and Me

I have been shooting with the Widelux F7 model since the 1970s. Like Bridges, I saw the camera as a unique people and portrait camera. A camera that gives a very broad sense of space and, importantly, the environment to the personal portrait. A camera whose visual field of view closely mirrors how we physically see our world.

I became aware of Bridge’s work because of how rare it is to see people using this camera for portraiture. If you scan the history of Widelux photography, you will see the camera used primarily as a landscape tool. I always found this use unfortunate since the usual landscape-only approach felt very limited.

On a personal note, a few years ago I wrote Jeff to give him some kudos and sent along a couple of my Widelux portraits. To my surprise, I heard back from his assistant who asked me, then living in Oregon, if I ever made it down to L.A., as Jeff would like to meet me to talk about the camera. Wide guy to wide guy. The idea of going down to L.A. to meet Jeff thrilled my teenage daughter who was a mega-fan of “The Big Lebowski”. As fate would have it, whenever I was in L.A. on business, Jeff was on a remote set somewhere else in the world.

Going further down the filmmaker trivia road, Stanley Kubrick, the director of 2001: A Space Odyssey, was also a fan of the 35mm Widelux. It is notable that this highly spacial movie was made for the very wide screen and was filmed using 65mm film with a frame size of 70mm.

The Camera

The Widelux was introduced by Japan’s Panon Camera Shoko in 1958 and ended production in 2000. It has been produced both as a 35mm and a 120mm camera.

It is a mechanical film camera that uses a unique fixed focus 26mm swing lens with a slit that pivots and acts as the shutter. It has a 126-degree field of view (not the listed 140 degrees) with an image size of 24x59mm. The negatives are 2 times the width of a standard 35mm frame.

Widelux F7 with the back removed.

The Widelux is a very simple viewfinder camera as it has only three shutter speeds: 1/15, 1/125, and 1/250 plus f-numbers from 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, to 11. There is no exposure meter, focus system, or flash. In fact, the viewfinder is virtually useless. It is better to use your own field of vision and occasionally the arrows on top of the camera to shoot.

I bought my Widelux F7 new in the mid-1970s. It is one of a series of 8,000 that was produced between 1975 and 1988. In total, Panon produced approximately 21,000 units.

Today, a used Widelux in good to excellent condition costs approximately $1,000 to $1,500.

My Widelux F7

I immediately realized that a Widelux was a camera that could make a photographer stand out from the pack. While my friends were running around with Nikons and Leicas, I had a camera that often made people stare at me and ask, “What the hell is that?” Without question, this interest has helped me get to a more personal connection with my subjects.

In recent years, I have used the camera primarily in trips to Asia including capturing the tiny world of small retail shops in Japan, a series on the squatters who lived in Phnom Penh’s The White Building (where outdoor stairways framed every image), Muay Thai boxing in Bangkok, people on Hanoi’s railroad tracks and bridges where the industrial geometry framed every image. I also shot a magazine series at an indoor rodeo in Oregon where I could fill the frame with a bull and rider. The camera works well in tight spaces where every inch can be controlled.

Photo by Peter Levitan.

Photo by Peter Levitan.

Photo by Peter Levitan.

Photo by Peter Levitan.

The Pros and Cons of The Widelux

The pros far outweigh the cons for this special camera. However, this is not a whip-it-out camera like an iPhone. Using this mechanical camera takes some thinking.

Pros

The Widelux is seriously unique. Carry it and you will look like a pro.

It is gloriously simple to shoot. No menus of dozens of digital options that you will never use. You will usually need a light meter however.

It is virtually distortion free considering how wide it shoots.

It is a film camera, so it gives you sweet images.

You can look like a Dude just like Jeff Bridges.

Cons

The camera isn’t inexpensive. And film and processing can add up.

It has aperture and shutter speed exposure limitations. Shooting in low-light conditions is difficult, if not impossible. The only way to shoot outside of the camera’s exposure range is to use an LED light source.

The camera requires occasional service as it can show some banding if the slit does not rotate smoothly. This requires professional repairs and can get expensive.

The Widelux is a film camera. Despite film’s aesthetic benefits, film takes more time, and effort at that higher cost. Of course, if you are a movie star, you can just hand the film over to your assistant.

Back to Jeff Bridges.

I suggest you visit his website and watch his video on The New York Times Lens blog.

About the author: Peter Levitan began life as a professional photographer in San Francisco. He moved into a global advertising and Internet start-up career. Peter photographs people around the world using a portable studio and his Widelux. This is his excuse to travel and meet people.

Image credits: Widelux camera photographs by Kenneth C. Zirkel and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

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[meaninglessblah-writes]

“Wait, you thought I was a virgin?” RoyTim

Way to ruin the afterglow - “Wait, you thought I was a virgin?” 

“So,” Tim says, stooping to zip his boots up his calves. He hasn’t gotten around to buttoning his shirt yet, but his skinny jeans are on, so it’s a piecemeal victory. “What did you think?” 

From where he’s propped up against the headboard, wrists hooked behind his neck, Roy gives him a lazy grin. “I think that went pretty well.” 

Tim lets his lips curl into a smirk, and flexes his toes. The muscles down his legs protest, though Tim’s willing to concede the pain for the reminder of how hard he’d ridden the redhead last night. “Certainly sounded like you were enjoying yourself.” 

“I was going to say the same about you,” Roy replies, and shifts across the mattress until he can peel back the collar of Tim’s shirt, press a gentle kiss to his shoulders, those forest green eyes snaring his attention. Tim hums and watches those muscles roll beneath the smattering of freckles on the archer’s biceps. “Yes, I enjoyed it” 

Tim tugs at the hair tie on his wrist, scooping his long locks up into a haphazard ponytail. He’s got a taxi ride halfway across town before he can change into fresh clothes, but he wants to look at least half put-together for his walk of shame. “I’m glad.” 

“And you?” 

Tim offers him a demure smile as he rolls his shoulder from beneath Roy’s wandering lips, ignoring his reticent groan to thread his buttons with sharp efficiency. “I think it was an admirable performance.” 

The barest crease appears in Roy’s brow, not yet marring that crooked smile. “Admirable? What was so admirable about it?” 

“Well,” Tim hedges indulgently, and pushes to his feet, tucking his shirt into his waistband. “I think you performed very well, considering your experience.” 

There’s a beat of perfect silence, broken only by the drip of an unattended faucet somewhere. “My experience?” Roy repeats. 

Tim bends down to peck him on the jaw, and then snags his messenger bag where he’s discarded it beside the bed. “Well, yeah,” Tim answers, and casts around one last time for any stray belongings. While he’s certainly eager to spend another night with Roy, he’s had too many exes to leave possessions lying around anymore. “I came, what, three times? That’s not a bad start for someone who’s new at this.” 

Roy blinks. “New at this?” 

Tim looks up and meets his gaze, offering him a placating smile. “Three’s nothing to be ashamed about. Really, I had a great time. Love to do it again, actually.” 

“Wait,” Roy says with a shake of his head, as Tim heads for the door. He pauses to watch Roy swing his legs over the end of the bed, the sheets gathering at his waist. “You thought I was - what?” 

“A virgin?” Tim says, at the same time Roy intones, “Inexperienced?” 

He pales at the word, and Tim feels panic creep into his gut at the mortification on Roy’s features. “A virgin?” 

“I- well-” 

“Wait, you thought I was a virgin?” Roy accuses, and Tim offers him a sheepish shrug. 

“Well, yeah? Jason mentioned you were sort of new to the gay scene, so I figured-” 

“New, sure. But a virgin?!” 

“It’s not that big of a deal-” 

Roy pales. “Did you think it was subpar? Should I have made you come more?” 

Panic flares, and Tim rushes to salvage the situation. “No! It was fine!” 

“‘Fine.’” 

“It was great!” Tim amends to, nails biting into his bag strap to vent his mortification. “Really, Roy, I had a great time.” 

“But you thought I was inexperienced,” he says in a flat tone, looking hurt. 

Tim scrubs at his hairline and tries to summon the sort of diplomatic lingo he usually reserves for the WE boardroom. “There were… some areas for improvement.” 

Roy leaps on the suggestion with fervour. “Like where?” 

Tim winces. “Do we have to do this right now? I have to get home and change before my meeting.” 

“I think I deserve to know what qualified as ‘inexperienced’,” Roy says defensively, crossing his arms over his chest. There’s a blush seeping into his skin, and Tim tries not to be drawn in by it. 

He has to salvage this situation. 

“I’ve got a better idea,” Tim returns, and crosses the room to cup the man’s jaw. Roy softens immediately, staring up at him with those gorgeous eyes. “How about we do this again next Thursday, and we work on bringing your grade point average up to a 4.0?” 

“You’re an asshole,” Roy mumbles, but there’s a smile on his lips when Tim bends down to lick them open. 

They’re interrupted by Tim’s wristwatch, which begins to scream. He straightens with a curse and silences the alarm. “I’ve got to run. Next Thursday, though, yes?” 

Roy slumps back into the sheets to watch him sprint to the front door of the studio apartment, a coy grin on his lips. “Sure thing.” 

If you want to ask me more questions, check out my list of prompts and quote the 6-digit number in the tags :)

#tim drake #roy harper #roy harper/tim drake #i am verybusy #200601 #meaninglessblah answers

[live2d-e]

A look at Physics in 4.0

The old physics tutorials i was looking at was not up to date with I believe 3.3 and onward.

If you’ve found the older tutorial and find it doesn’t look like your physics menu, then I did my best to figure it out in the new one!

im not an expert, i dont know a lot about live2d, but there is a serious lack in english tutorials and a lot of people i asked for help would redirect me to tutorials i would need to translate, or outdated tutorials.

This is what the physics mode looks like in the version I am using. 

Quick notes:

I don’t really dabble in the actual animation portion of the program atm, I mostly rig the models for use in FaceRig.

Your animations won’t show up unless labelled properly in the ID.

For me, I name the layer the same as the ID to avoid confusion on my part. 

I follow >>this<< doc for facerig + live2d

IIRC, the old physics tutorial mentions Live2D’s physics is its own program as part of the package, but now it’s inside Live2D itself

to get your model to respond to you clicking and dragging, go into Preview > Settings of cursor tracking

Mine currently looks like this

Now for the full tutorial portion:

You will need to create parameters for your physics. 

these are just for swinging physics, i’ve rigged the ears to their individual swinging animations. not only do they move by being rotated, but ive deformed them similar to actual frame-by-frame animation.

kind of like this. this will just make it bounce more. these parameters don’t need specific IDs.

Hit add here, it will create a new physics rule.

underlined you can see  “input settings”, this is just the motion that will cause the swing.

the top right “add” here adds parameters that will *cause* the motion. i add in the physics one anyways.  the bottom left “add” is to add a pendulum.

Circle 1, make sure to pay attention to which ones are labeled “position” and “angle”. if you have an angle set as “position”, it will cause the object being moved to flip back and forth really quickly instead of swing.

Circle 2, this is how much the input will affect output. I believe the maxmimum % in total is %115. This means all the inputs must add up to 115 or less.

circled on the right is just the preview of the motion/swing.

Underlined is how the swing happens. duration how long the swing effects on average will last, shaking influence is just how much the object will shake [the max is 1.0], reaction time also effects how long the object shakes for, overall acceleration will change how much it shakes [also affects duration]. 

overall from what ive used it for, they’re all more or less the same, try tweaking it yourself to see how well it works. you can add more than one pendulum to one object, too. this is recommended for longer objects, like long hair.

i dont have a good example for two pendulums, so again i suggest trying it out.

next we click on the underlined part to get to output settings, this is the object/parameter that will be affected by the input. If you’ve tested your physics before adding this, you’ll notice nothing happened. basically, input = output happens [the shaking]

Arrow points to where you add your object being moved, if you have more than 1 pendulum, make sure to change “pendulum no” to the max pendulums you have. so if you have 3 pendulums, set this number to 3.

Circle 1 i dont really mess with. circle *2*, however, will directly affect how much your object is affected by the input. i set it to 100 first and then change it from there.

you’ll notice this portion just above your preview of the model.

1: if u have any animations made for the model, this is where you can select it to play here with your physics.

2: this will work even without animations and is what i use to test more movements.

3: pauses everything [except breathing]

4: replays the scene on loop

5: speeds up the scene [afaik doesn’t affect random pose i tried]

at the moment i dont have much else for this, and its just an overall view of everything from what i have learned so far, if i am wrong about anything, please add onto this post with corrections or additions.

finally, you don’t need to export physics settings if you export as moc3 [necessary for facerig]. it will export the physics with everything else, as well.

#tut #tutorial #physics #live2d #live2d cubism #long post

[supergraphicultramoderngirl]

yall josh and luke’s post is not gonna be swing scene 3.0 it’s swing scene 4.0

swing scene 3.0 is when we get the cyrus lookback in 3x15 how could y’all forget

#andi mack #tyrus #cyrus goodman #tj kippen #andi mack cast #joshua rush #luke mullen

[mooleche]

A Tale of Ink and Venom

A/N - It’s happening! I’m reworking the old story I was working on to hopefully build a better version in its place! Multi-chapter fic involving OC x Colossus where OCs story unfolds while trying to do a heroic act that ends badly and the chaos the unfolds in the aftermath. Might do a few chapters on here and then move over to AO3 fully eventually to keep from making super long posts but we’ll see how it goes! ( *’ω’* ) Let me know if you’d like to be tagged!

Also BIG THANKS to @leo-writer for proofreading, you are a saint ily! 

₍₍ (ง Ŏ౪Ŏ)ว ⁾⁾

Chapter One: The Video

Moments.

Buddha says that one moment can change a day, one day can change a life and one life can change the world.

I was never one for religion but I think he was onto something there. Look at heroes, for example, they’re faced with moments like these every day. Ones that will save a life and ones that will take them away the second you hesitate. Moments that will give you the upper hand if you’re lucky and others that will leave you flat on your ass if you're not.

 Or worse. 

Now, I'm no hero by any means, but I like to think that the moments I experienced today would help shape what was in store for me tomorrow. A moment that would maybe even help shape me into something more someday.

So with that, let me ask you this:

Just what moment was it that led me to witness the death of a real superhero in his time of need? And not just any run of the mill death either. I'm talking blood everywhere, in my mouth, in my hair. 

Everywhere.

How had it all gone so wrong so fast?

I suppose in order to know that we have to go to the beginning, back to the morning where my life was about to be given a serious overhaul into chaos.

Back to college.

-

It was late. Very late.

A judgemental 3:45 AM stared back at me from the corner of my laptop's screen and a sigh of defeat escaped me. The Witching hour no longer belonged to ghosts and demons, but to college students that waited until the very last minute to get their 10-page essays written before it was too late. I was no exception to this, sacrificing the last remaining brain cells I had left to crap out what I deemed a passable paper on the artists of old. 

At least that's what I had been doing. 

Now I sat with my legs drawn up to my chest as I stared with growing exhaustion at my laptop. The glowing screen was flooded with news reports of the latest superhero successes and the villains they caught around town. This wasn’t exactly an uncommon thing for a city like Brooklynn. In fact, it was because of this city being such a hot zone for criminal activity that we had things like ‘Top 10 Villain Blunders of the Week’ to begin with.

Then, strangely, my eyes spotted something that I hadn’t expected to see.

I lurched forward, immediately feeling my body protest as I inspected the article that had grabbed my attention. It was a few days old, a journalist touching base on a series of unfortunate events from almost 6 months ago. A superhero trainee under the name of Deadpool had landed himself in hot water after murdering an orderly from the Essex House for Mutant Rehabilitation in what was seen as a cold-blooded attack to the media. Just reading the name of the facility left a bad taste in my mouth, but the video it included to recount the moment made the sensation even worse.

It was old, I had watched it over a dozen times in the recent months and yet I still found myself glued to the screen with morbid curiosity. The cameraman who had been focusing on a tense-looking reporter at the scene now fumbled clumsily over to the main event, a stout looking teen who had earlier called himself Firefist. I’d give you three guesses why he called himself that but taking a look at his clenched fists answered it all too well. 

He stood separated from a cautious crowd of police and bystanders with hands that radiated heat strong enough to cause everyone surrounding him to keep their distance. That was if all the destroyed wreckage around him hadn’t given them more than enough reason to stay back already.

As many times as I had seen this, I still felt bad for him. He looked worn down and angry, but more than anything was the noticeable expression of fear he wore, like a trapped animal willing to do anything to escape. A feeling that I was once all too familiar with.

I sank back into my chair and sighed. No amount of times seeing that clip made that look any easier to see. It was one that hit so close to home and yet I couldn't pinpoint it no matter how many times I tried. I closed my eyes and listened to him continue to threaten the police ballsy enough to step towards him:

"Stay back, I'll burn you!"

The words didn't resonate, but the tone did. Somewhere in the back of my mind was a memory lurking that I couldn't quite touch no matter how hard I focused on it. A memory sealed away so tight that even thinking about it caused my thoughts to grow numb, but that panic in the boy's voice always caused it to stir. Sometimes I felt like I was close enough to grasp it, all I needed was to push a little farther-

A loud bang erupted nearby and my eyes shot open in a panic. Whatever unconscious soul searching I had been doing was broken as I scrambled to catch my headphones now threatening to fall off my face. I looked around, both frantic to find the source to the sudden noise and also hoping no one saw my embarrassing act only to be greeted with muffled laughter nearby.

"Buenos Dias, Princesa! Did I wake you?"

I rubbed my eyes haphazardly and looked to the side of the small room to find a redheaded amazonian grinning back at me from the window. To my utter surprise, the sun was now out and shining it’s smug rays straight into our dorm as I stood to greet the grinning assailant. My bones protested with various cracks in response before I shuffled to my bed and threw open the window to face her.

"That wasn’t funny, Ava! What are you even doing up so early?" I asked through an unavoidable yawn, but I already knew the answer. Ava Santana was a Dominican powerhouse of energy, a mysterious enigma that seemed to only love running, German beer and, for a few crazy months, me. When she wasn’t burning the candle at both ends to keep her insane track record and an intimidating 4.0 GPA up, she was usually creating some wild new building blueprints that she was proud to show off to you before stealing your girlfriend. 

I didn’t know how she did it all and at this point, I was too afraid to ask.

She lifted herself onto the windowsill before tossing her shoes inside, swinging her long tan legs onto my bed to join me all in one fell swoop. All I could do was blink in surprise, knowing I would have faceplanted halfway through if I even attempted this motion. Her gaze studied me curiously now. 

"We both know why I’m awake, or were you expecting someone else to carry our track team to victory?" She teased, her face close to mine with a devious smile planted on her lips. “What's your excuse though, Sleeping Beauty? Building more schematics? Spying on the police scanner? Or maybe staying up late to watch him again?”

“Me? What? Hah, no. Can’t a girl just finish her essay like a good normal college student?”

“You could...if you’re not Nina Knight,” another voice announced beside us and I turned quickly to see another familiar face smirking back at us. Her name was Bambi Banks and she was known as the bad influencer extraordinaire of our dorm when she wasn’t taking candid photos for the Daily Bugle. You thought you had a bad idea? She had 10 at the ready that would probably get you put on the Top 10 lists. Despite this, she was the best friend a girl could ever ask for. 

Even if she now held my laptop in her hands frozen on a very particular shot of the clip that caused my face to burn.

“I really was working on my essay!” I protested as I reached for it only to fall short as Bambi moved just out of my range and looked to Ava curiously.

“I don’t know, Ava. Does this look like an essay to you?”

“You’re the journalist in training, tell us what you see.”

“Well if I had to title this ‘essay’, I would say ‘10 Reasons I Want This Man to Sit on My Fac-’”

“Alright, enough! You caught me,” I protested as I made another attempt to grab the laptop and succeeded, cradling it in my arms with a frown plastered on my face. “I just wanted to hear the update on this story…It put a lot of people in hot water y’know.” I added before taking a seat back at my desk, ignoring their victorious snickers. As much as I did have ulterior motives for watching the clip I really did want to see the outcome of the nationwide fiasco. Despite both the trainee and the kid being taken to the Ice Box to be reprimanded the X-Men and mutantkind as a whole were put under fire for their actions and the remainder of the story fell to a hush to the media in the months after.

Bambi rolled her eyes and ran her hands through her hair, flecks of hot pink from her bangs peeking through her blonde locks as she gave an exasperated sigh over my earnest answer.

“I really shouldn’t be saying this but the guy that looked like he was a walking talking condom was in the right all along.”

“No bullshit? How?” I pressed, now fully taken by the sudden turn of events.

“I heard it from some guy at the Bugle. That Essex place was nasty for mutants, another conversion camp or something so the government was desperado to keep it under wraps.”

“Leave it to the government to try and kill the truth,” Ava muttered under her breath as she stood to leave, pausing to take one of my hands in hers to inspect it thoughtfully. The contrast was big between us; her hands were long and slender while mine were smaller and discolored to a sooty black at the tips. “At least this means you won’t have to hide anymore.”

I knew that she meant well but the words still caused me frown. Not many people knew that I myself was a mutant. Hell, when you lived in a society where people who weren’t old, white, or male were already frowned upon like the next bubonic plague it wasn’t something you wanted getting out. Throw a genetic mutation that gave you unusual powers into the mix and you were the plague. I was lucky to have people around me that knew and accepted me like I was normal, but the reminder still stung. 

Bambi seemed to sense this and absent-mindedly pressed the play button on the video once more as if to distract my thoughts and boy did it work. I felt my face grow warm once more as the clip played. There, once frozen on the screen had been the perfect back shot of a man sprawled over the trainee after his killer shot, a man that now stood a good few feet over everyone else as the police did the cleanup of the area.

A man covered head to toe in metal.

He went by Colossus, but his real name was Piotr Rasputin. At least this is what Google told me when I went super-sleuthing around after I saw him in action for the first time. When he wasn't saving the day with his ragtag team of heroes he taught at Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Learning, a sanctuary for mutants who wanted to feel safe while honing their skills to help mold a better tomorrow. 

I had met Xavier himself years ago on my own tour of the school with my parents. He was very nice and very bald. The school itself had been created in his families estate and transformed into the bustling safe haven that it now was, when it wasn't getting blown up by the villain of the week at least. Despite this terrifying fact I was always envious of those who could attend because I had always wanted to enroll myself. The only downside was that my parents didn't want a burnt corpse for a daughter in the aftermath. How selfish.

I threw my hands up to my face and groaned. “That could have been me on his team! I could have been hot for teacher!”

“And? What’s stopping you? If you like him so much why don't you just go to the school?" Ava called from our bathroom and I groaned again.

“It doesn’t work like that. You can't just go back to that school.”

“And why not? You’re a mutant right? You wanna meet other mutants, right? Maybe get some chrome dome in the process if you get my drift,” Bambi winked. 

I glared at her in response.

It was true, I was a mutant, and maybe I did want that chrome dome. But I had tried the whole superhero vigilante thing before. 

It didn’t go well. 

An ancient proverb once said ‘You can't swim, you can't dance and you don't know karate. Face it, you're never gonna make it.’ and you know what? I stood by that. It’s why I took my very particular set of skills and decided to waste away in one of Brooklynn's most prestigious art colleges -they're words, not mine- instead. It wasn’t ideal, with a dorm that I was convinced was made for ants instead of four people with questionable living styles, but I had friends and I finally felt normal. I didn’t need to mess it up by visiting that school again.

As if reading my thoughts Bambi frowned and took one of my hands in hers, inspecting my inky black fingertips with thoughtful blue eyes.

“I know you’re deadset on having a normal life here but you have a gift, Neeners. And you deserve to be able to show the world what you can do with it.”

“Yeah, I’m really going to turn the world around with my ability to control ink,” I scoffed before taking my hand back gently and sighing. As much as I wanted to bury that side of me I did want to meet others like me, be a part of something bigger and save the day once in a while. 

This? This life was boring. But it was safe. And I needed safe.

I looked up to her and smiled softly. “I...will consider going back there, if only to pay Mr. Xavier a visit and...maybe see how the school’s doing.”

“Code for visiting Mr. heavy metal man, got it.” Bambi winked while imitating a heavy Russian accent as she moonwalked poorly out of the room. 

“You’re a terrible influence, Bam,” I called through stifled laughter before standing and stretching. As much as I hated her pep talks sometimes she was the reason I kept using my powers, keeping them as fresh as I could in case the chance ever arose to use them. Even now the schematics that Ava had so casually mentioned as a joke were tucked away under my desk to play with on a rainy day.

I must have stared at them too long because I felt Bams hand gently touch my shoulder and I jumped in surprise.

“Did you hear Ava? Your alarm is going off,” she asked softly before nodding towards my phone. She was right, the soft tune alerted the room once more before I had the chance to turn it off and blinked in surprise. 

“Sorry, my mind was somewhere else...”

“Between Professor Colossus’ thick thighs we knooow. Don’t let that mans glutes cost you your job,” Ava teased before motioning for Bambi to follow her out the door. She held back and gave me a reassuring squeeze.

“Hey, don’t let our conversation from earlier freak you out. Baby steps, okay? No rush,”

“Right. Baby steps…” I whispered, my gaze falling back to my hands that I had begun wringing absentmindedly with growing anxiety. I looked back up to her and smiled. “Thanks, Bam. I appreciate it.”

“Hey, that’s what friends are for, right?” she grinned before disappearing behind the door. She was right. Friends were there to steer you onto the better path when you doubted yourself. This is what I tried to convince myself as I headed to the bathroom to prepare for the day ahead.

Now that I look back on it I was grateful for that peaceful moment of clarity between friends because after what happened later on, God was I going to need it.

#long post #fanfic #oc x colossus #marvelsona #oc shit #Nina Knight #vibrates off of tumblr #I'm mad shy abt posting this so #b y e