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itswavelengths · 2 years

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My Top Games of 2021

I spent a lot of 2021 oblivious.

When the year began, I did what I was supposed to: I got the shots. I kept my mask on. I got tested constantly. The moments in which I saw my friends and family were joyful if cautious events. But while hope began to forge a path forward towards what will be, every bit of me stretched backwards towards the way things were. For almost all of 2021, I refused to believe that I��d fundamentally changed as a person after what we continue to go through, but the acceptance of that fact has paved the way for a better understanding of myself and the media I consume by extension. The truth, dear reader, is that the year served to highlight that the kinds of connective experiences I found so poignant in 2020 have skyrocketed towards the top of my wishlist going forward. Animal Crossing: New Horizons allowed me to celebrate my birthday among friends within a virtual space that felt as much like home as the physical apartment in which I played it. Blaseball reinvigorated my previously dour Twitter timeline with each passing day, focused more on collaboratively fleshing out the fictional world of its generative players than the sport itself. While Hades was far and away the best gaming experience of the year, the collective discussion around it was as much a draw as the play itself. I have a continued fondness in my heart for the games that served as a platform for community and the expression of love across distance. When I consider 2020’s games, I think about the joy I felt when reaching outwards and the titles that allowed me do so.

It helps that this is a year with no clear front-runner, as evidenced by the disparate Game of the Year lists you’ll find in every publication, podcast, Twitter thread and conversation. 2021 has been transformative in the way we’ll discuss lists such as these going forward — the emotion-first frame of mind I found myself in while considering the year was weirdly freeing and is one I believe to be essential. Shedding expectation and precedent leaves a void that can be readily filled with earnestness and joy. This year, the thematic center of my list is emotional honesty and the community it brings together. I’m so glad to be able to share it with you.

10. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy | PlayStation 5

By: Eidos-Montréal

There’s a chasm between being an effective leader and being a good one. While a lifetime can be spent thinking “number goes up quickly” is an accomplishment, acknowledging and endearing oneself to the people who make it possible is the true reward. Good leadership is accepting that the skills of individuals make the whole stronger, understanding nobody should ever be considered “replaceable.”

And in that sense, Peter Quill is trying to be good.

One tragic backstory later and Peter is going by “Star-Lord” while daydreaming of being celebrated and feared throughout the cosmos in equal measure. He’s emotionally stunted, a thirteen year old boy trying to live vicariously through his own thirty-something body. Though charming enough to assemble a crew of would-be-heroes, he doesn’t quite have the chops to command them. Even if he did, deciding to call the group “The Guardians of the Galaxy” is in itself a sign of fantastical thinking, totally detached from the reality that all five members are outcasts in a society that spans countless star systems. As the player we begin our time in Peter’s rocket-propelled shoes making decisions and issuing commands to the Guardians in combat, but the dialogue frequently betrays the man he’s striving to be. His teammates clearly don’t respect him, and his own insecurities about this bleed out as rash decisions and laughably futile motivational speeches.

The next roughly fifteen hours tell the story of a group coming together, falling apart, and coming back even stronger. It dives into the mind of trauma and proves love is a more powerful force than revenge, camaraderie and individuality defeat subjugation any day. Mechanically we find ourselves getting better at commanding the team alongside Peter, who somehow earns the right to be called “Star-Lord” by the time credits roll.

Being “the one in charge” is never an easy task, and those who desire it most tend to be those least deserving. Although Peter begins his story trying to be effective as the captain of his crew and force himself into an idealized version of leadership, truly accepting himself and his circumstances paves a path towards being someone better. Someone good.

9. Lake | Xbox Series S

By: Gamious

I’ve never once been able to figure out where I want to be in five years. I’ve never made a decision about my own future with a long-term goal in mind. I’ve never decided upon a “career trajectory.” While taking photography classes and making vlogs in high school I decided to become a cinematographer in the exact moment a student councilor asked me if I knew where I wanted to go to college. After six months in film school I dropped out to move in with and join a band. After that came the last Blockbuster in New Jersey. Then a movie theater. A cafe. An office phone refurbishment company and then a circuit breaker refurbishment company down the street from the office phone refurbishment company. A tech start up. Comic book company. Ten years have passed since I entered the work force and even now I’m not sure I have a concrete idea of who I am in the context of who I want to become. After dropping out, the immediate need to pay off my student loans meant I’ve always said “yes” to circumstances and opportunities as they arose. Anything to dig myself out of the debt, out from the shame I hadn’t yet realized was coming from unfounded anxieties. I just wanted to prove I was more than a “college dropout” by working my way towards more and more impressive sounding jobs, as if that single choice defined me. That journey, that rejection of a mindless climb towards a perceived societal vision of “success” that’s grossly misaligned from actual human need is at the heart of Lake.

For two weeks in 1986 protagonist Meredith Weiss is tasked with delivering mail to the residents of Providence Oaks, the small and beautiful town in which she grew up. Having moved to “the big city” to pursue a career in the fast-paced world of software programming, she hasn’t returned home for an extended period in over a decade. Gameplay involves driving a United States Postal Service truck around the titular lake, slipping envelopes into mailboxes and occasionally hand-delivering packages when the need arises. As with any job that involves human contact, Meredith frequently gets into stop-and-chat conversations with the residents of Providence Oaks: An old friend from high school left behind, an acquaintance of her father’s with a shaky past, the owner of a local diner who still remembers Meredith’s “usual” — one slice of blueberry pie. These seemingly innocuous discussions pave the way for Meredith to reflect on her time spent away and consider the differences between the life she has and the life she’s slowly starting to realize she wants.

There’s an audacity to Lake in its command of subtlety: You’ll always be driving the speed limit around town, and there’s no run button to be found when you’re not sitting behind the wheel. Meredith’s daily route is slow and purposeful; her leisurely jaunt through Providence Oaks forces the player to sit with the weight of these decisions — it’s impossible to not ask yourself the same questions when given so much time. Most of my experience in-game was spent just as it was in high school: Disposable camera in-hand, driving around Meredith’s hometown looking for beautiful photographs while wondering about my future. At any point in life “who am I now” is as difficult a question to consider as “who do I want to be,” but given two weeks in a sleepy town with a few low-stakes tasks and the comfort of conversation with others, Lake helped me get slightly closer to finding answers than before.

8. Halo Infinite | Xbox Series S

By: 343 Industries

Halo Infinite’s campaign is messy. In a confounding attempt to bridge the narrative gap between Halo 5: Guardians and Halo Wars 2, 343 Industries have served up an almost incomprehensible mash-up of plot. When it comes to the struggles of Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, I just don’t care about the can-do platitudes, two-word responses, and “hoo-rah” mindset. Contrasted against Weapon — the ironically-more-human AI companion replacing Cortana this time around — or Echo 216 — a regular-ass dude who rightfully doesn’t want to throw himself into harm’s way to win a war that’s already been lost — Master Chief feels as empty a suit of armor as ever before. While playing, these characters almost feel like purposeful foils to Chief’s stoic roboticism, mirrors put in place to let him consider his own lack of humanity. Unfortunately this golden opportunity for a 20 year old series to get introspective goes wholly unexplored and feels like one of the year’s most high-profile fumbles.

And yet even though this failed addition Halo’s overarching narrative left me stunned in lethargy, Halo Infinite’s mechanic strides elevate it to not only compete with the current crop of first-person shooter monoliths, but absolutely trounce them with a heavy emphasis on fun and physics. At this point I would be comfortable saying this is the best Halo has ever felt. Weird!

At its core, Halo’s greatest strength is improvisation. In the compact corridors of previous entries we’d mosey our way from setpiece to meticulously designed setpiece, all the while swapping weapons as quickly as we could drain them of their ammunition. Every grenade was thrown within seconds of picking it up, every gun utilized to the last few shots and discarded — as it turns out, “evolved combat” means reloading takes more time than grabbing an already loaded gun off the ground. Miraculously, 343i’s decision to move Halo Infinite into an open world expands the opportunities for improv. Grappling between pine trees, hijacking vehicles, and discovering new weapons feels even better in an expansive physics-based sandbox than it did within the metal labyrinths of the series’ past. Even the spontaneity of the original trilogy’s more open levels pale in comparison to what can be accomplished when an enemy encampment can be squirreled away in any forest or quarry or atop any hill. And say you get tired of this “new” Halo and find yourself missing said metal labyrinths, all you need to do is head towards the nearest story mission to reacquaint yourself with the quality of level design that put the franchise on the map to begin with. Outside of its bizarre plot, Halo Infinite’s campaign is fun to exist within and poke at the edges of. Every whiffed grapple shot and every truck flipped off a cliff is just another opportunity for procedurally generative comedy, aided at its best by the all-too-serious in-game characters who don’t get the joke.

Crucially all of these mechanic improvements make their way into Infinite’s free-to-play multiplayer component as well, which has revitalized the series in a way most corporate executive freaks could only dream of. In the few short weeks since its “beta” release we’ve seen balance changes to the way experience is gained post-match, a suite of new and returning game modes, and multiple events. It’s absolutely enthralling. As of this writing I have played at least one multiplayer match daily for about a month. For years and years I’ve been on a hunt for “the one,” the one multiplayer game I can feel good about jumping into to clear my head or listen to podcasts or a new album.

Finally, Halo Infinite is that game.

7. Forza Horizon 5 | Xbox Series S

By: Playground Games

Including this one, almost every recommendation of Forza Horizon 5 starts with the same sentiment: “I’m not into cars.” And I think that’s probably a good thing! As a society, we would ideally be unified against cars as they exist today. I’m writing this sentence during the warmest New Year’s Day on record. The automotive and fuel industries have such a tight grip on the leaders of our planet that they’re willing to kill it — and us — in the process. Most days it feels like they’ve won, like cars have supplanted humanity as the dominant species.

Forza Horizon 5 presents, for better and for worse, the kind of romanticized fantasy Hideaki Anno has spent an entire career rebuking. Twenty-six episodes of television, five movies, and twenty-five years later, Anno and team have created what is paradoxically the most complex AND most poignant argument against escapism possible with Neon Genesis Evangelion. A franchise about teenagers using big robots to fight even bigger monsters is eventually revealed to be a vessel through which to tell viewers that it’s time to grow up — put it all in the box and experience the real world — horrifying as it may be. Societally cars are a status symbol, a mask we wear for others, and a means to express our freedoms all in one. Forza Horizon 5 rejects the reality of the industry and instead chooses to fully lean into the societal pedestals we’ve placed cars upon to create an escapist dream. What if, in this virtual space, it was all just okay? Not only does Forza revere cars in the way one might have in the mid-to-late 1950s at the birth of the US Interstate Highway System under Dwight Eisenhower, but it also can’t conceive of a world in which said highway system might have been a bad thing. In fact, Forza Horizon 5 frequently asks you to leave behind the act of driving a supercar 200mph on highways and roads for the even more thrilling experience of driving a supercar 200mph through some unfortunate soul’s farmland.

It’s through this “ignorance is bliss” lens that I have to be honest and say Forza Horizon 5 is one of the most joyful video game experiences you can play on Xbox Gamepass, or anywhere for that matter. It’s the ways in which Forza sidesteps the dissonance entirely and creates an automotive dreamworld that draws me to its absolutely gorgeous setting time after time. When I’m behind the wheel, rewards come as quickly as I can propel my car forward. An accidental donut in the middle of a city street here, an eviscerated cactus there, everything amounts to points I can put towards adding another car to the garage. Can I drift for an entire mile? How fast do I need to drive to launch myself off this cliff and clear the entire river? What would happen if you put a jet engine in the first-ever automobile? Playground Games has asked these questions, discovered the answers, and understands how to compensate you for your curiosity.

While the structured experiences and rewards therein provide enough pure adrenaline-based fun for most people both on and offline, it’s the open world aspect that always hooks me more than anything else. Despite devoting a portion of this piece to a “fuck cars” mentality, the truth is that the dichotomy I feel between this game and the reality of the automotive industry is one I’ve experienced for most of my life. I grew up in the suburbs of New Jersey and, just like the rest of the United States, it’s unfortunately difficult to exist without access to or the possession of a car. Like most teenagers I spent an inordinate amount time longing for the freedoms owning a car provided. To go anywhere, and to do it with or for others on a whim is the stuff of fantasy. I was fortunate enough to finally get one in my senior year of high school, it was a big red thing that sure looked like a truck but was definitely not a truck — I loved it dearly. It was in the years that followed I learned something very important about myself: No, I’m not into cars… but I absolutely love driving. I’d spend hours by myself with an iPod plugged into my tape deck blasting music through shitty speakers and weaving through the mountains in upstate New York to discover which songs paired best with which roads. I’d pack as many friends into the back seat as possible and, with the windows down, cruise to the beach for a day and marvel at the first moment you could smell ocean air from the highway. In the nights insomnia got the better of me I’d get out of bed in the early morning hours and roll around the neighboring towns as silently as possible, a passive presence among groups of grazing deer until I felt like I might be able to go back to sleep.

Sometimes, with the right song on Spotify and the right time-of-day and weather systems aligning, Forza Horizon 5 manages to get pretty close to recreating that feeling. Even while writing this I struggle to decide if I’d really consider it escapism at all. Was it escapism in 2013 when I couldn’t sleep? Was it escapism in 2017 when I wanted to see the leaves change? Is it escapism now when I want to drive as fast as I can with my friends on a road purpose-built for connective experiences? And even if it is, is that such a bad thing?

6. Metroid Dread | Nintendo Switch

By: MercurySteam, Nintendo EPD

Before release, Metroid Dread was pitched to the world as the conclusion of a “five-story arc that has been going on for 35 years” although specifically not the “ultimate end.” Speaking to CNET, series producer Yoshio Sakamoto stated that “as long as the character Samus exists, I think her adventure will continue.”

What a cruel fate.

I started my own journey with 2004’s Metroid: Zero Mission, the Game Boy Advance remake of the original 1986 genre-establishing classic. In it, bounty hunter Samus Aran is hired by a galactic federation to eradicate stolen biological samples from a group of space pirates. The samples are in fact creatures known as the titular “metroids,” a horrific jellyfish-esque parasite that feeds on the literal lifeforce of anything it comes into contact with. Throughout the game, Samus squares off against recurring series bosses like the big lizard Kraid and the big winged lizard Ridley, culminating in the first destruction of the space pirate leader Mother Brain. Sure!

One of the things I’ve always appreciated about Metroid as a franchise is that despite its very 1980s B-sci fi premise, the sense of atmosphere is palpable in its minimalist environments and sparse sound design. The strength of the games is perhaps best highlighted by the frequent choice to drop music entirely in some areas, leaving you with only the sound of Samus’ feet as she wanders with aimless purpose through metal corridors and forgotten tunnel systems. When the ambiance clicks in these moments, players feel the isolation inherent to the journey and settings therein — we get to experience the emotion beneath the armor, and that emotion is tense dissolution. Without the need for dialogue or explicit story, fans of Metroid have a firm grasp on who Samus Aran is as a person through an almost imperceptible excellence in the cohesion between art direction, sound design, and gameplay.

But to accept our read of Samus Aran as a person is to accept that for 35 years, she’s been through hell. As sequels to the original, Metroid II: Return of Samus, Super Metroid, and Metroid Fusion see our hero facing off against the same threats over and over and over again in the pursuit of her original goal: destroy the metroids. Even by the end of 2002’s Fusion, this goal has merely evolved slightly, though it still remained wholly unaccomplished. What it must be like to be trapped in such a cyclical nightmare, to never emerge victorious and only emerge alive; it’s no wonder the series slowly morphed from a focus on tension to a focus on horror.

Nineteen years later and we’re met with Metroid Dread, the end of a story that started with galactic federations and space pirates as an almost laughable scenario now repeated to the point of tactility and abject trauma for its protagonist. After all these years, Nintendo EPD and MercurySteam seem to have a firm understanding of the anguish and exhaustion Samus must feel knowingly heading down to the surface of a new planet to fight the same old threats all over again. But by allowing the game to be an ending from the outset, the developers are able to ask how Samus has grown as a person throughout her journey and how she’d react when thrust into both new and similar circumstances. A key component of Dread’s success comes from the subtleties in the way she’s animated — whether it’s killing a boss with her back turned or standing motionless in almost annoyed disbelief as one of the series’ recurring bosses emerges from the dark and lunges towards her — Samus has had enough of this shit. How has she changed since 1986? She’s become even more of a badass, thank you very much.

So isn’t it fitting that Dread is probably the best Metroid has ever been? Isn’t it almost too perfect that the catharsis and triumphant rage Samus feels when finally coming to the end of her journey also makes for the most emotive and expressive highs in the 35 years of the franchise existing? By taking its time and choosing to contextualize all of her adventures as one cohesive narrative, Dread delivers a chest-pounding and tense exultation with some of the most difficult gameplay Nintendo has ever committed to a video game in a mainline franchise. I was glad to see Samus hint at relief by the time Metroid Dread came to a close, because as with the palpability of isolation in the quietest moments of previous games, I too felt the same way. It’s done. It’s finally done.

But I return to that quote from Sakamoto: “As long as the character Samus exists, I think her adventure will continue.”

What a cruel fate.

5. Tender: Creature Comforts | iOS

By: Gideon Lazarus, Jie En Lee, Kenny Sun

2018 was a strange year for mobile gaming in that the Venn diagram of “games designed for mobile” and “games designed for everything else” were starting to overlap in a real industry-shaking way. Pocketable hardware was powerful enough to run modified ports of console-level experiences, but in my opinion the peak of mobile at the time came in the form of games designed around our devices’ specific characteristics and the ways in which we interact with them. That year, two mobile games had made it to my top ten list: The first was Florence, a visual novel that employed the various input methods we use daily like tapping, swiping, and more to tell an emotionally wrought story about love and heartbreak. The other was Twinfold, a brilliantly designed mash-up of roguelike and puzzle elements by developer Kenny Sun that I still believe to be one of the best games on my iPhone.

In 2021 while the aforementioned Venn diagram continues to shift closer to perfect fusion between the two circles, I found a different kind of fusion in the form of Tender: Creature Comforts. Miraculously, Tender is a visual novel that employs the various input methods we use daily like tapping, swiping, and more to tell an emotionally wrought story about love and heartbreak — this time by Twinfold’s Kenny Sun, along with collaborators Gideon Lazarus and Jie En Lee.

Tender takes the form of a fake dating service, and upon downloading the game you’ll be asked various questions about yourself to best inform perspective dates about your whole deal while also making the app feel more natural to use. What’s your name? How about your birthday? Do you usually capitalize sentences when messaging someone else, or do you write in all lowercase? Are you a “haha” person or a “lmao” person or even a “hjskdfhialf” person? Once this information is entered, the game begins, and it sure looks exactly like dating apps you might have used before. You’re presented with various creatures who have profile photos and short bios that are punchy or too revealing or say nothing at all, and it’s your job to swipe left or right if you think they might be interesting. And then you wait. And you wait for a while sometimes! Tender takes place in real time, which means it might take multiple days to match with someone, and even if you do it might take another few days for them to respond to your opening message. If you play your cards right and choose all the correct dialogue options in conversation, you might even be able to schedule a date which must also happen in real time. Tender will send you a notification when it comes time to “attend” the date, and what follows is a beautifully written choose-your-own adventure story about how you did or absolutely did not connect with this creature.

The genius of Tender is that everything I’ve described involves procedures and concepts and input methods you’re already intimately familiar with. We don’t need to be told how a dating app works in 2021. When “playing” comes so naturally that input doesn’t need to be taught, what’s left is artwork, storytelling, and emotion. More than anything else, Tender is a platform for character studies and the ways in which we can inform them through interaction. A couple you match with on Tender looking for a third might break up based on your innocuous questions to make sure everyone is on the same page. You might then see both individually in the dating pool the next week when they’ve each decided to get back on the horse. A seemingly innocuous invitation to visit the Museum of Humanity for a date might pave the way for some speculative science fiction twists that are both too horrifying and too hilarious to spoil — by the time you’ve finished reading the information around the exhibits you realize you’ve ignored the date entirely.

By taking place in real time, Tender asks a lot of its players. For the 10–14 days spent playing, you’ll also be signing up for near-constant notifications and emotional gut-punches at inopportune moments in your real life. The frightening heart of Tender is that it’s almost too good at being a facsimile of online dating. This can be a lot to handle, especially for those who are already using dating apps in real life. But at the end of the day the secret to Tender and the secret to Tinder are one in the same: Be honest with yourself, be open to new experiences, and at the very least you’ll have a story to tell.

4. Psychonauts 2 | Xbox Series S

By: Double Fine

In 2005’s Psychonauts, protagonist Razputin sneaks into a summer camp for psychics in an attempt to fast-track his way towards his heroes: The Psychonauts — a team of psychic spies as valiant as they are powerful. Throughout the game we jump into and out of the minds of counselors, fellow campers, and more with each mind boasting a unique platforming experience that presents a tight juxtaposition between theme and gameplay. All the while we hear tales of the Psychonauts’ triumphs on the world stage from Raz as he continues to get embroiled in a psychic conundrum of his own, eventually leading to his becoming a Psychonaut himself. It’s a good video game!

But it’s in 2021’s sequel that Raz discovers the minds of the seven founding members of the Psychonauts — the ones he’s idolized and whose adventures he’s memorized after a childhood spent reading comic book chronologies — are as susceptible to the struggles of daily life as the minds of those he’d explored in his own summer camp exploits. In a crucial acknowledgment of the real world’s greater emphasis on mental health awareness and acceptance since 2005, everything about the game’s subject matter and mechanics (including the very act of jumping into someone’s mind without consent) is both questioned and explored to its fullest extent. It’s an even better video game.

And I think “better” may be the perfect word to describe the difference between the two games. As much as I loved Psychonauts in 2005, it had a tendency to occasionally be mean and almost revel in mental health struggles to make its cerebral worlds more vibrant and exciting. A sequence of levels spent in “Thorney Towers Home For the Disturbed” feels especially troubling these days, sending Raz into the minds of various inmates struggling with a multitude of mental and behavioral disorders. The oft-cited and applauded “Milkman Conspiracy” involves wandering around the mind of a milk delivery man named Boyd who is suffering from paranoid delusion and lives in a world twisted into an almost indefinable shape. While celebrated at the time, it’s upon reflection that levels such as these admittedly lack the empathy needed to properly handle such difficult topics. Psychonauts 2 by comparison has empathy in spades, and marries that empathy with its design to be better than the original in every way.

Hope and irreverence permeate every decision of this game. Even in its darker moments Psychonauts 2 manages to strike an extraordinary balance between exploring mental health struggles in a way that takes them seriously, while also not crushing the player beneath their weight. It’s a tight-rope act that never once falters in its twenty hour story, and culminates in level design even more tightly constructed and considered than the first. While diving into the minds of the Psychonauts’ founding members, Raz finds himself face to face with versions of his heroes who have been hollowed out by time and the weight of the sacrifices they’ve made to repeatedly save the world. In its deftest moments, the game understands that acknowledging a struggle can be as difficult as seeking a path through it.

Thankfully, the core of Psychonauts 2 is a message that rings out confidently: No matter what you’re going through, it’s okay to ask for help. Raz, although imperfect in his own ways, is willing and able to be a supportive force at any stage of the healing process from forgiveness of the self to the forgiveness of others. The truth, brilliantly explored in multiple key moments, is that although antagonism and hate can come from within, these feelings alone don’t make an antagonist. In fact, they’re a natural part of life if accepted, understood, and managed with care. Psychonauts 2 wants you to know that your struggles doesn’t define you. Accepting others and accepting yourself are two sides of the same conflict, but by doing both you can set off a chain reaction that makes the world a better place — with or without psychic espionage.

3. The Forgotten City | PlayStation 5

By: Modern Storyteller

This review will contain very slight spoilers for a game best experienced with no prior knowledge.

There is a point in The Forgotten City — and this point can arise at almost any moment in your playthrough, or not at all — where you happen upon an old man sitting alone in a dimly lit cave. This stranger is surrounded by damp walls and artifacts of an ancient civilization strewn upon the stone at his feet, but he wears a soft smile, clearly happy to see another living being after so much time spent in solitude. He’s content, despite what you may or may not know about his circumstances by now. With your permission, he proceeds to ask a series of questions that — though undeniably expository — feel like a natural extension of the game’s underlying desire to have its players linger over their answers. This man, and The Forgotten City by proxy, is wholly obsessed with one query above all else:

“Would you say you know the difference between right and wrong?”

After waking up beside a riverbed in the modern era, The Forgotten City sends you back in time to a lost Roman city entombed deep underground. There you’ll come across the city’s magistrate who warns you of impending doom via what he and the other 20+ residents refer to as “The Golden Rule.” Put bluntly, if anyone in the city commits a sin, everyone in the city will die. The magistrate is certain someone will break The Golden Rule today, and has prayed at a nearby temple to unhook a traveler from time who can help find the culprit before they perpetrate a crime. So begins what is unequivocally the best timeloop game of 2021 and an experience I’ll hold with me for years to come, because as clear as the central Golden Rule may seem on the surface, careful consideration reveals layers of depth that spiral downward further and further towards self-examined moral standing.

“Better to know that you know nothing, than to know nothing and think that you know.”

The Forgotten City brilliantly ends your first conversation with the magistrate by giving the player their very first lead: He asks you to speak with Lucretia, a doctor in a nearby temple, to determine why she’s so upset. This early on it’s possible you don’t know the location of the temple in relation to the magistrate’s villa, and by wandering around with this one simple goal the player may find themselves subconsciously mapping the area in the process. While doing so it’s possible to stumble into most of the city’s other residents, who are all in some way involved with piecing together the larger mystery via smaller disparate side-quests and leads of their own. It’s in this way that the team behind the The Forgotten City manages to take a complex and seemingly daunting web of interactions, dialogue trees, and timing and use them to their advantage by taking it all one step further: If everything is connected, every player will discover a path to progress no matter what they do. Every conversation on the path towards one lead uncovers another lead in its wake, and suddenly the player is progressing on multiple fronts simultaneously. For a game about looping through the same day repeatedly, its clock-like construction feels as ironic as it is purposeful.

“If there is one thing I have observed about rules, it is that virtuous people do not need them, and evil people will always find a way around them.”

Lucretia, as it turns out, is distressed because her patient Iulia is dying. The only person in the city who holds the cure is a nearby merchant by the name of Desius, who has placed such an exorbitant price on the medication that it’s a certainty he is resigning Iulia to death. Players might assume this decision breaks The Golden Rule and wait for the thunderous voice of an angry deity to shout downwards into the city from the heavens, but the only audible sound is the soft cry of Lucretia as her patient slips away.

Desius thrives under The Golden Rule. Essentially a con-artist, he spends his time in the city considering various loopholes he can use to increase his standing and expedite his way to riches without breaking what he assumes to be any of the Rule’s core tenants. Personally, I think the sick freak finds it exciting to get away with murder beneath the nose of an unknowable cosmic force. Desius’ interpretation of the Rule is a dark reflection of what he presumes an honorable god would enact upon the city, using his conjecture to skirt around his imagined rules. After seeing his actions, players might start to challenge The Golden Rule themselves: If Desius can knowingly cause the death of another under Rule’s dominion, how truly just is this system?

“We must accept the sad truth that no human society will ever achieve the utopia for which it strives. Because the only way to create a utopia is through the ever-present threat of force, such as The Golden Rule… and life under tyranny is no utopia at all.”

Although real life doesn’t have a singular Golden Rule to follow, every era of human civilization has multiple moral ideologies. Depending on region, religion, or lack thereof, any individual might adopt or reject the societal code into which they have been born or raised. Reflecting on the laws of previous civilizations from our privileged position in the Now reveals entire eras of barbarism — how could they not have known their morality was so grotesque, so inhumane? The truth is that the same reaction will spew forth from any historian fifty, one hundred, or one thousand years from now when they too look back on our society as inferior.

The Forgotten City asks its players to consider the code they follow as a personal act, because righteousness from within spreads outwards into society and brings us closer to the aspirational utopia we can never truly grow into. And we shouldn’t grow into it, a humanity that has reached its apex is no longer humanity at all. Without constantly striving to better ourselves and others, we’ll languish as a civilization, like golden statues with nowhere to run.

2. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart | PlayStation 5

By: Insomniac Games

Oddly enough the closest 2021 companion piece to Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart comes in the form of The Matrix Resurrections, the fourth film in the franchise after an eighteen year absence that sees Lana Wachowski triumphantly returning to deliver a remake, a reboot, and a sequel in one tactful and considered swoop. In it, as with the first film, we’re reacquainted with our heroes Neo and Trinity as they endeavor on a quest to reemerge from The Matrix and fight back against their machine overlords. Unlike the 1999 original or the sequels that followed, Resurrections is wholly aware of the impact the franchise has has upon film and pop culture collectively — this is a Matrix film in which Thomas Anderson is a critically and commercially lauded auteur game developer after creating a trilogy of titles called (drumroll) The Matrix. As viewers, we’re asked to mull over our own relationship with this franchise and its key players as we watch similar beats play out in a new way. Simultaneously, the now iconic characters similarly contemplate their own place in the story and decide how much agency they would ultimately like to have over repeating themselves narratively. It’s an ambitious film that’s as much about examining our affinity for the franchise as it is about rejecting it whole-cloth, and deciding that love and the connections formed between others is more a radical and appropriate response to storytelling than any other.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart opens with a parade. The titular characters are being celebrated — again — for their past heroic deeds. Before the release of Rift Apart there were 16 Ratchet & Clank adventures, the most recent of which (not counting the PlayStation 4 remake of the original) came in the form of 2013’s middling Into the Nexus. Since then, Ratchet and Clank have been just kind of… hanging out? Both characters, though grateful for the fame and fortune heroism has finally brought them, can’t decide whether they’re bored of the same old “us versus Dr. Nefarious” routine, or so bored of doing nothing that they’d give anything to experience an adventure so rote once more. During an extended action sequence that involves the two once again fighting Nefarious — this time over a gun that can allow one to travel into parallel universes — Ratchet and Clank are separated in an alternate dimension where the villains always win. In this universe we’re introduced to Ratchet’s dimensional counterpart Rivet, a well-meaning resistance member whose altruism comes at the cost of victory, and Clank’s dimensional counterpart Kit, a defective Warbot designed by this dimension’s Emperor Nefarious.

It’s in this reframing of our heroes and villains that Rift Apart is not only in conversation with the legacy of Ratchet & Clank as a franchise, but with storytelling as a medium. Pick up almost any adventure from the shelf and being all-too aware of formulaic and repetitive “good triumphs over evil” endings has the potential to remove stakes entirely from the get-go. By setting Rift Apart in a dimension where the heroes always lose, the narrative finally goes into uncharted territory while still feeling familiar enough to not be off-putting.

Brilliantly, Ratchet is paired with Kit, and Clank with Rivet, meaning that each well-worn hero is able to impart some wisdom upon their new partners. In the very first Ratchet & Clank, Ratchet is a lone inventor on a backwater planet whose dreams of being a Galactic Ranger were dashed despite his aptitude for flight and combat. Almost immediately, he comes into contact with Clank, a defective Warbot who hopes to warn the Rangers of Dr. Nefarious’ evil plans. Both suffer from a lack of confidence, as Ratchet questions what failings led to his inability to join the Rangers and Clank wonders if his defect defines his life — and what it would mean were he to be “fixed.” Of course as with any good pairing, the two bring out the best in one-another and manage to canonize themselves in both the game’s literal Hall of Heroes and the pop culture landscape of everyone who paid attention to video games throughout the 2000s.

Rift Apart, by extension, follows a similar formula as we follow Rivet and Kit’s journeys through self-acceptance via the help of their extra-dimensional companions. For new and old players alike, these two prove to be the emotional heart of the story. Rivet’s constant failings against the too-big-to-fail Emperor Nefarious shatter her self-worth in the way it would anybody, though her drive to help others serves as a bedrock upon which she can build a healthy foundation towards heroism. Kit’s programming defect means she occasionally suffers from uncontrollable outbursts, her Warbot form causing her to become an accidentally destructive force against her will. Her inability to reckon with this side of herself has manifested in habitual seclusion — she spends most of her time on a desert planet, her only contact in the form of alien life practicing transcendental mindfulness. When paired with the titular heroes who have literally lived through similar struggles and know the best ways to be supportive of one another and themselves, Rivet and Kit eventually do the soul searching required to pull themselves out of their inner-strife. The game examines its new characters through the lens of its old characters, and in so doing informs players and itself of the nearly infinite, dimensional-spanning ways stories can be impactful for generations to come — even if it turns out good always will beat evil in the end.

It’s a remake, it’s a reboot, and it’s a sequel. It’s also the most beautiful game released in 2021, with perfect gameplay systems and an impeccable score by the legendary Mark Mothersbaugh… so there’s that too.

1. Monster Hunter Rise | Nintendo Switch

By: Capcom

Sat at the mouth of a serene underground river flowing far into the surrounding bioluminescent cave system, I aim my camera upwards towards a craggy volcanic plateau atop which two Wroggi sleep and a third keeps watch. I’m far enough away that the one watchful sentinel doesn’t see me slowly line up my shot and snap a few photos for research purposes — no need for the rule of thirds or precise framing here. One hour into my solo excursion and I finally feel like I have an idea of the topography here, the ways in which my companions and I can weave effortlessly in and out of the twisting and expansive natural tunnels in the heat of battle, and the places in which we can replenish our stock of items in a pinch. For the moment, at least, the area is calm. The sound of running water and the soft reptilian purr of sleeping Wroggi are only punctuated by the infrequent shifting and splashing of my canine companion in the river. When I return from my tranquil expedition I’m greeted joyfully by the denizens of the village, each with a request for materials that can be used to offer increasingly impressive services to myself and others.

Surrounded by three of my closest friends, things are not going according to plan. Magnamalo, a hulking tiger-like creature sporting purple-plated armor for skin, is making quick work of the four of us as its frenzied blows come faster than we can react. With every slow swing of our comically large weapons, the monster manages to dodge swiftly and retaliate with the swipe of its claws or purple hellfire from its jaws. Standing again at the mouth of an underground river beneath a craggy volcanic plateau, I shout to my companions that grappling upward and outward to heal our wounds and hope Magnamalo doesn’t follow is our best bet at survival — which is becoming more important than victory at this point. Before we zip into the sky, one brilliant mind among us takes the opportunity to throw a flash bomb at the beast, ensuring it won’t be able to see our escape plan as we clamber to safety. Atop the plateau, we eat steaks and drink health potions and sharpen our weapons and continue laughing the whole way through. Within the hour Magnamalo has fallen, and we all sign off until tomorrow’s hunts begin.

In my free time I find myself chatting with the residents scattered around the village of Kamura, taking care to learn more about them as people instead of as walking-talking vending machines. Yomogi, a young chef who runs the village tea shop, sees her constant menu expansion as an expression of artistry and the best way to serve her community. Iori spends his days surrounded by felynes and palamutes, and by using his unique gifts can help them grow in strength and resourcefulness. Both separately express to me their desire to do something more overtly cool, like becoming a monster hunter, but by utilizing and honing their talents they’re able to impact Kamura as much as, if not more than I ever could.

Monster Hunter has never been known for its story, despite the series’ multiple attempts to put narrative first. At best, entries have been innocuous to the point of forgettable, and at worst the franchise has a tendency to play into troubling colonialist attitudes dressed up with a fantastical albeit ignorant sheen. Rise though, more than any other entry, smartly focuses on the hub village itself as its emotional core. By endearing me to the place in which I find myself safe and at rest, I care more deeply when that safety is threatened by outside forces. I would never let anything bad happen to Yogomi or Iori or the many other faces of Kamura. For the first time in its seventeen years, Monster Hunter smartly centered every piece of its gameplay around the betterment of the community — both human players and NPC alike.

That focus bleeds into every decision and mechanic on the multiplayer end, where my time spent sitting at a table eating dango and talking with my friends can feel as fun as the hunts we’re ostensibly preparing for. In 2021, Monster Hunter Rise was my continued link to socialization in the ongoing pandemic-addled world. Just like Animal Crossing: New Horizons before it, Rise represented an on-ramp to the franchise for many of the people I hold dear. Although I always hoped Animal Crossing would realize its potential to catch on with mainstream audiences, I never imagined a world where Monster Hunter broke out of its “hardcore” shell. I recognize this wasn’t the norm in 2021 the way New Horizons was for just about everyone in 2020, but to see so many willingly toss themselves headlong into a title known for its complex mechanics and opaque design was a joy. As with most things, to be able to teach your friends how to play Monster Hunter is a dream come true.

But writing this in 2022, Kamura is less vibrant than it once was. Life in its natural state is a series of ebbs and flows, and the friends I once found myself surrounded by have since moved onto other adventures. Every once in a while, the most die-hard Monster Hunter fans among us will jump in for a hunt and a chat, but it’s nowhere near the nightly ritualistic experience we’d all briefly had at launch. Still though, I’m happy to knock out a hunt or two with my buddies when the timing is right. Every moment spent together, virtually or otherwise is a moment to be cherished. To spend so much time in a place as beautiful as Kamura is a privilege, and sharing that time with others is the best experience I had playing a video game in 2021.

⏆

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jmreyes9 · 1 year

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PC-Natalie (not Wood, my favorite actress, who I first saw in West Side Story, when I was in high school in PuC (Phil. Union College) in the Philippines. I just hope no faculty member of PUC Academy will read this because we were not allowed to see movies in movie theater (I saw the movie in Odeon theater in Manila) when we were PUC students...lol)--I hope I won't be retroactively disqualified from graduating in high school because of this misdemeanor!...hehe) my waitress at Patti's

BREAKFAST AT PATTI'S (NOT TIFFANY'S) SUNRISE CAFE

By Jesse Reyes

In 1961, the movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” an American romantic comedy film starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard was released. It is supposedly loosely based on the novella of the same name by Truman Capote. Hepburn portrays Holly Golightly, a naïve, eccentric café society girl, and is considered by many to be her most memorable and identifiable role. Hepburn considered it as one of her most challenging roles, because being an introvert she was required to play the role of an extrovert. It has been speculated that Holly Golightly is a call girl, which has caused some controversy.

On November 27, 2015, I braved the cold to have my second annual breakfast at Patti’s Sunrise Cafe in Burr Ridge, IL, not too far from my home. My wife, Beth, decided to stay home because of the cold weather.

So as I drove to my intended destination, I couldn’t help but marvel at the beautiful artwork that Old Man Winter (I wonder why winter is considered an old man…lol) had created—the snow-laden branches of the leafless trees and the snow accumulations on the evergreen conifers that made them appear like outdoor Christmas trees and the sheets and blankets of this “celestial confetti” called snow in people's yards and in the open spaces. I even stopped a couple of times to take some pictures of the lovely winter scenes.

The waitress at Patti’s Sunrise Cafe seated me on a table for one. I remembered the words of the song “Dear Heart” popularized by Andy Williams, “…A single room, a table for one, It’s a lonesome town all right.” I ordered a cup of coffee and told my waitress (actually she wasn’t mine—I should rather say, the waitress serving me…lol) I knew what to order when she asked me what I desired.

It was my usual egg whites only omelette that had broccoli, tomatoes, onions in it, two slices of toast whole wheat bread and sliced tomatoes with green onions and fruit—pineapple, blackberry, watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew. I had the waiter serving me take my picture with the food in front of me, for which she received a hefty tip from me…lol and I also took a picture of my food.

The guy sitting to my left was also alone like me. When he saw me taking pictures, he made a comment about the food cooperating with me and that started our conversation, which was mostly about golf, he being an avid golfer. He gave me some tips on how I could improve my game (as if my game needs improvement…lol.) As he left, we shook hands and I told him my name, and he told me his name was Ron.

Being satisfied with my healthy diet which was, by the way, delectable. I took a couple of pictures of the snowy scenes seen through the glass windows of the cafe. I made sure I did not use any flash, so people would not think I was taking their picture.

Even though it was bitterly cold today, I thought myself fortunate and blessed to be alive and able to enjoy life after retirement. Of course, I gave thanks to God who gives me everything that I now have and own.

Written on 12/3/15 in Chicago, IL. sent to Edna Cyberlink 1/2/21. Posted in FB in 2020. Posted in my blog 11/290/22.

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haikyu-boys-am-i-right · 3 years

Text

The opening ceremony

Characters: Oikawa, Hinata, Atsumu, Bokuto, Kageyama

Warnings: none

Requested: no

Summary: drabbles of the characters FaceTimeing Yn during the opening ceremony.

Note: so ever since I watched the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics I have wanted to incorporate yn and the characters. (In Oikawa’s I added the part with the Argentina team jumping up and down like they did at the ceremony because I could not help but think of Oikawa when I saw it on tv.)

This is my first Drabble fic so I hope you enjoy!

Word count: 1,424

Reblogs, Likes, and comments are appreciated but please don’t repost my works.

Disclaimer: I do not own haikyuu or any of the characters.

———————————————————————

Oikawa

Yn’s FaceTime rings at around 8pm just as she finishes up her dinner. She grins as she looks at the screen to see that it is Tooru who is calling her. She taps on the bottom to answer it and she hears loud voices echoing through by her phone. “Hello, Tooru can you hear me”? Yeah I can hear you loud and clear darling yn-chan”, Oikawa says. “What’s up I know that Argentina hasn’t walked out yet” yn asks. Oikawa grins. “Well that’s what I wanted to tell you, you see we are about to go into the arena and so I wanted to call you and let you join the team and I as we are about to be on global television”. Yn jumps when suddenly she hears loud music blast through her phone. “What the heck was that”?! “Guess that’s our cue” Oikawa says with a wink. “keep watching the screen my darling yn-chan this will definitely be a night neither of us will forget”!

She looks closely at the phone and she gasps to see that tooru has pulled his mask a little more tightly around his face and he is now waving at her with all of the Argentina team all jumping around him. He suddenly turns the phone around and she gasps as she sees in live time the lighting of the flame. “I Wish you were here in the crowd”, Oikawa yells so he can be heard over the other athletes. “I wish I could be there too but I’ll be watching every game and you count on that tooru”! Tooru grins and winks as he blows a kiss at the phone and he grins even wider as yn pretends to catch the kiss and she holds her finger up to her lips. “I Love you with all of my heart my dear and darling yn-chan”! Yn giggles as her cheeks heat up ``I Love you with all of my heart too Ru”!

———————————————————————

Hinata

when yn answers Hinata’s face time she is greeted with many people that are all standing around him. “hi Hinata-san”, Atsumu says loudly. “Hi yn”, Bokuto says with a wide grin on his face. “Hey yn” Kageyama says as he nods and waves at her. Yn smiles and she waves back at her phone as her husband’s teammates say hi to her over FaceTime. “I can’t wait to show you the arena honey this place is amazing and it is so much bigger than I imagined it would be”, Hinata says grinning widely as he jumps up and down.

Yn starts laughing. “Shoyo, you’re shaking the camera so much that I can’t see anything around you”. Hinata stops jumping. “Sorry about that”, he says as his cheeks tint a bright red. “But I’m so excited”! “I know and I am so proud of you”, she says as she giggles. Hinata sniffles. “Thank you for being my number one fan Yn”. Yn winks at him. “Hey I’ll support you all the way, now go show the world what you’re made of”! I Weill I romaine, hey get ready to see the torch lighting first hand”, Hinata says as he turns his phone around. Yn gasps as the giant flame bursts forth and lights up the arena, feelings proudness in her heart of the fact that Hinata will get to compete in the highest level of volleyball imaginable.

Atsumu

Yn hears Atsumu sigh as he brings his phone close so that yn can hear him. “I wish you could be here in person princess, the sight is incredible”, Atsumu says as he facetimes her during the athlete walk of nations.

Yn nods. “I know I wish I could be there as well but hey just so you know I will still be cheering just as loud at the television when you and the guys are on”. “You’re so sweet princess”, he says and she can tell that he is grinning underneath the mask he has to wear.

“I’ll do My best to bring home a gold medal,'' he says giving her a thumbs up. Yn grins. “Aww babe you are already my golden star especially with that hair of yours”, she says with a wink. She giggles as she sees a blush form on the top of his cheeks that is visible above the mask. “Whatever”, he says with a chuckle as he shakes his head.

Suddenly Atsumu gasps. “What is it Tsumu”?, yn asks. “It’s time”, Atsumu whispers as he turns his phone to show her the lighting of the torch. “It’s gorgeous”, she says. “Yeah it is,'' Atsumu says before turning the phone back towards him. “But not as pretty as you”. Now it’s atsumu’s turn to laugh as Yn blushes.

———————————————————————

Bokuto

“Hey, hey, hey are you seeing this babe, this view of the arena is incredible”, Bokuto yells as he turns the phone in every direction trying to show yn all of the sights that lay around him. “Koutarou you are making me dizzy”, yn says as she laughs loudly. “Sorry babe I just wish you could be here so you could experience this with me”, Bokuto says, turning the phone so he can see his wife again.

Yn sighs as she pouts. “I know oh kou I wish I could be there with you as well”. She places a hand over her heart. “But you must remember that I will be with you there in spirit”. “Of course you’re my good luck charm after” Bokuto says grinning widely as he places a hand over his heart as well”.

Yn blushes and Bokuto laughs. “You’re just as easy to tease as the day we started dating,'' he says. “Hey” she says with a laugh. Bokuto turns the phone. “Look” he whispers as his eyes light up in astonishment amd wonder. “It’s the flame”!

Yn gasps alongside Bokuto as they watch the runner finally light the flame to signal the start of the games. “I love you yn”, Bokuto whispers. “I love you too kou”, she says softly back to him. “I’ll make you proud be sure of that”, he says. “Kou, you make me proud every day”, yn says and she hears his breath hitch in embarrassment and she smiles as she watches the rest of the ceremony alongside her sweetheart of a soulmate.

———————————————————————

Kageyama

Yn smiled as she answered kageyama’s face time message. “Hi tobio”, she says waving at him. “Hey yn”, he says giving her a warm smile. “Hey is that yn on the phone”?, she hears Hinata yell. “Yeah it is so not so loud I can’t hear her over your yelling,'' Kageyama says. “I want to say hi to her though” Hinata yells. “Fine but just for a minute”.

“Hey what’s up yn”? Hinata asks looking at the phone Kageyama has in his hands while giving her a peace sign. “Nothing much I’m just so stoked that all of you get to compete on the global level”. “I know right” Hinata says with a grin. “Hey is that yn”, she hears Bokuto and Atsumu ask. “Hey I’m trying to talk to my wife” Kageyama yells. “We just want to say hi” they say. “Fine” Kageyama mutters as he hands the phone over to Bokuto while Atsumu peeps his head into view.

“Hi guys”, yn says waving at them. “Hey, hey, hey yn you better be cheering for us” Bokuto yells. “You got that right,'' Atsumu says. “Hey she’s going to be cheering for me,'' Kageyama says. Yn giggles. “Don’t worry I will be cheering for all of you”. Kageyama takes back his phone. “I’m really glad that you can technically be here with me yn” he says. Yn’s eyes soften. “I wish I could be there in person tobio”. “Will you really be rooting for us” he asks. “Of course” yn says with a grin. “I mean I also have to root for Argentina, I mean tooru is my cousin after all”. “But you will cheer louder for me right”?, he asks, smirking at the phone. “Of course”, she says with a grin.

“Woah look at this” Kageyama says as he turns the phone around. Yn and Kageyama gasp as they watch the flame light up the arena. “It’s really happening,'' Kageyama whispers. “Good luck out there tobio”, yn says. Kageyama nods. “I’ll do my best yn”. “Tobio”? “Yeah”? “I love “you. She sees tobio turn the phone to face him once more and she can see that he is smiling under his mask. “I love you too”.

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type1diabetesinfandom · 2 years

Text

Type 1 Diabetes in Fandom, Fandom Masterlist

Here we are, with the Type 1 Diabetes in Fandom AO3 collection having grown to 100+ fandoms and 300 fanfics!!!

If you’ve been following along with this blog/collection so far, hello again and thank you so much! If you’re new here, welcome! I’m not attaching links to each fandom here because there’s way too many, but you can find the collection’s link in the above paragraph, and search in there for the fandoms you would like to read.

I’ve listed the fandoms of both the works and the bookmarks in alphabetical order, for ease of searching. Have fun!

*Updated sporadically

All Included Fandoms, as of September 24, 2022: 123

*Apologies if any of these are entered incorrectly or duplicated; many of them are unfamiliar to me, so I did the best I could sorting through the AO3 tags.

9-1-1 (TV) and 9-1-1: Lonestar (TV 2020)

Ace Attorney

Ace of Diamond

Amphibia (Cartoon)

Animaniacs

The Arcana (Visual Novel)

Attack on Titan

Avatar: the Last Airbender

The Baby-Sitters Club

Be More Chill- Iconis/Tracz

Bleach

The Bobbsey Twins/Nancy Drew

Bungou Stray Dogs

Cabin Pressure

Check Please! (Webcomic)

Cobra Kai (Web Series)

Criminal Minds (US TV)

Critical Role (Web Series)

D.Gray-man

Dangan Rompa

Danny Phantom

Batman

DCU

the Flash

Gotham (TV)

Justice League (2017/Snyder Cut)

Legends of Tomorrow (CW)

Supergirl (CW)

Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson

Death Note

Divergent Series - Veronica Roth

Doctor Who (2005)

Ducktales (Cartoon 2017)

Far Cry 5

Fire Emblem

Five Nights at Freddy’s

Free!

Genshin's Impact (Video Game)

Graceland

Glee

Grey’s Anatomy

Grimm

Haikyuu!

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)

Harry Potter

Hetalia: Axis Powers

How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)

IT - Stephen King

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

Jujutsu Kaisen (Anime)

Julie and the Phantoms (TV 2020)

Jurassic Park (Movies)

Kingdom Hearts

The Last of Us (Video Game)

Law & Order: SVU

Line of Duty (TV 2012)

Lazytown

League of Legends

Lego Ninjago

Les Misérables

The Magnus Archives (Podcast)

Marvel

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

the Avengers

Black Widow (Movie 2021)

Captain America

Daredevil

Doctor Strange

the Falcon and the Winter Soldier (TV)

Iron Man

MCU

Spiderman

Thor

What If...? (TV 2021)

X-Men

Mass Effect

Megamind (2010)

Merlin (TV)

Miraculous Ladybug

Módào Zǔshī (Cartoon)

The Mortal Instruments series - Cassandra Clare

Mòxiāng Tóngxiú

My Hero Academia

NCIS + NCIS: Los Angelas

Newsies (1992)

Once Upon a Time (TV)

*Original Work

Osomatsu-san (Anime)

Our Flag Means Death (TV)

Pacific Rim

Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan

Power Rangers

The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin

Purple Hearts (2022)

Raven Cycle - Maggie Steifvater

Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston

Rockman.EXE | Mega Man Battle Network

RWBY

Scarecrow Series - Matthew Reilly

Seraph of the End

She-Ra and the Princess of Power (2018)

Sherlock (TV)

Simonverse | Creekwood Series - Becky Albertalli

South Park

Stargate: Atlantis

Station 19 (TV)

Star Trek

Alternate Original Series Movies

Star Trek (2009)

Star Wars

the Bad Batch

the Clone Wars

the Prequel trilogy

Rebels

the Sequel trilogy

Stranger Things (TV 2016)

Supernatural (TV 2005)

Teen Wolf (TV)

Twilight Series

The Umbrella Academy (TV)

The Untamed (TV)

Until Dawn (Video Game)

Voltron: Legendary Defender

The Walking Dead

The Witcher (TV)

Yuri!!! On Ice (Anime)

Zebrafish - Sharon Emerson

#T1D #type 1 diabetes #diabetes fics #AO3 collection #type 1 diabetes in fandom

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spideyanakin · 3 years

Text

the spider boy - masterlist

back to main masterlist

the playlist

SERIES

Hello There!

➾ Your ship crashed on earth after a dangerous mission, the Avengers see you as an Alien, Peter Parker knows exactly where you come from.

Time tells (Eternals!reader) ~ Completed

➾ After living decades of loneliness, you finally found a family, someone to love. But what will happen when the Deviants reappear, and you discover that your purpose wasn’t what you thought

Flight (Osborn!reader) ~ Paused

➾ daughter of the famous scientist, in MCU Peter’s universe you were the one Norman Osborn used for his experiment. When the red room wanted your father’s discovery, they blew the entire Osborn headquarters. In the end, you were left an orphan with powers just wishing to help the neighborhood. What will happen when Peter opens the door to the multiverse and you come face to face with your dad from another universe?

The World Isn’t Quiet Anymore - Lord Of The Ring Au ~ Paused

➾ Elf!reader // The quest to destroy the ring as started, but what will happen when you fall in love with a human like Peter Parker.

ONE SHOTS

Freaky Friday

➾ Peter’s acting really weird and you don’t know what’s wrong.

Le Vent Se Lève, il Faut Tenter De Vivre

➾ (guest appearance from Billy in wandavision lmao- I wrote this May 2020 and the fact that he arrived in wandavision LMAO) anyways -> The wind rises its time to try and live. Peter becomes Spider-Man and has to push you away. He realizes its the biggest mistake hes ever made.

Like Champions

➾ Ned forces Peter to take a lightsaber class with him, he’d never thought he’d see your there.

Take Me Home - Choose your ending -> Peter or Loki

➾ Collab with @waitimcomingtoo

Un Poco Loco

➾ Peter helps you with bullies because you make him un poco loco.

New Stars

➾ Rough Endings come with new starts

Fries and a Milkshake

➾ Peter doesn’t come to shake shack everyday just for the food.

Don’t Want to Fall in Love

Part 2 ~ Coming soon

➾ ‘What a wicked game you play, to make me feel this way’. Your heart had been so broken you never wanted to fall in love again.

Redemption P2 Recovery

➾ Barnes!Reader // Peter gets jealous when all you’re trying to do is make amends to the people you’ve hunted back as a winter soldier - but you’re too scared to open up to him

Once you've met someone... ... you never truly forget them

Alrighty Aphrodite

➾ Peter can’t stop staring at you

My Dear part 2: One dance

➾ Steve gets confused by his feelings for you when he hears you sing a song that reminds him a little too much of his past.

Photograph (no way home spoilers)

➾ Peter helps you remember

Thief

➾ thievery and sneaking around seemed to be the pillar of your relationship with Peter

Say cheese (no way home spoilers? I think?)

➾ when Peter starts to sell pictures of himself to gain some money, he doesn’t know he’s actually stealing your job.

One Jump

➾ sort of Indiana Jones au! // Peter and The Avengers are messing with your work.

Grand prix’s and Spider Bites (Spider power + f1 driver! Reader)

➾ You drive for the Stark Industry racing team, so well that Tony Stark suspects you're more than human.

Jokes On You (B99 Au)

➾ Jake is the only cop who’s ever managed to capture Spider-man.

Black Widow / Nat’s sister! reader fics

She can fight (no way home spoilers)

➾ you help Peter with his loss and the other spider man’s are impress with ur fighting skills

Home for Christmas

➾ Peter comforts you when you get sad about your first Christmas without your sister.

She dies at the end (no way home spoilers)

➾ Request - Can you do a NWH the reader is dating toms peter and during the fight the reader dies like gwen plz

BLURBS

Not So Easy

➾ Peter isn’t as good as flirting as he thought he was.

If I Could Tell Her (Musical Au)

➾ Peter has a hard time revealing his feelings for you

Starstruck

➾ Prompt: ‘my point being, Will Smith accidentally came by’

Snowflakes

➾ Prompt: ‘Can you stay?’

Hurt

➾ Prompt: “are you hurt? what happened?”

Spiderlove

➾ Prompt: “I don’t know if I want to yell at you or kiss you.”

Anonymous

➾ Prompt: “Is somebody jealous?”

Creep

➾ Prompt: “Why am I the one who always ends up getting targeted by the creep of the week?!”

I love you

➾ Prompt: “if it means anything i love you.”

Christmas (No way home spoilers)

➾ you and Peter pass your first Christmas alone

Phone Call (no way home spoilers)

➾ Witch!reader // You remember Peter after Dr Strange’s spell

Get added to my taglist

#peter parker x reader #tom holland #peter parker #tom holland x reader #tom holland x reader fluff #spider man x y/n #spider man x reader #spiderman #peter parker x you #peter parker x reader #Peter Parker imagine #Peter Parker x you #peter parker x y/n #spider man imagine #spider man x you #Peter Parker #Tom Holland

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path-of-my-childhood · 4 years

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The Story Behind Every Song on folklore - According to Aaron Dessner

By: Brady Gerber for Vulture Date: July 27th 2020

The National multi-instrumentalist spoke to Vulture over the phone from upstate New York a few hours after the surprise release of Swift’s eighth studio album. (“A pretty wild ride,” he admits, sounding tired yet happy.) He was clear that he can’t speak on behalf of Swift’s lyrics, much like he can’t for The National frontman Matt Berninger’s either, or the thinking behind Jack Antonoff’s songs. (Here’s a cheat sheet: Jack’s songs soar, Aaron’s glide.) But Dessner was game to speak to his specific contributions, influences, and own interpretations of each song on folklore, a record you can sum up by two words that came up often during our conversation: nostalgic and wry.

“the 1″

“the 1” and “hoax,” the first song and the last song, were the last songs we did. The album was sort of finished before that. We thought it was complete, but Taylor then went back into the folder of ideas that I had shared. I think in a way, she didn’t realize she was writing for this album or a future something. She wrote “the 1,” and then she wrote “hoax” a couple of hours later and sent them in the middle of the night. When I woke up in the morning, I wrote her before she woke up in LA and said, “These have to be on the record.” She woke up and said, “I agree” [laughs] These are the bookends, you know?

It’s clear that “the 1” is not written from her perspective. It’s written from another friend’s perspective. There’s an emotional wryness and rawness, while also to this kind of wink in her eyes. There’s a little bit of her sense of humor in there, in addition to this kind of sadness that exists both underneath and on the surface. I enjoy that about her writing.

The song began from the voice memo she sent me, and then I worked on the music some and we tracked her vocals, and then my brother added orchestration. There are a few other little bits, but basically that was one of the very last things we did.

“cardigan“

That’s the first song we wrote [in early May]. After Taylor asked if I would be interested in writing with her remotely and working on songs, I said, “Are you interested in a certain kind of sound?” She said, “I’m just interested in what you do and what you’re up to. Just send anything, literally anything, it could be the weirdest thing you’ve ever done,” so I sent a folder of stuff I had done that I was really excited about recently. “cardigan” was one of those sketches; it was originally called “Maple.” It was basically exactly what it is on the record, except we added orchestration later that my brother wrote.

I sent [the file] at 9 p.m., and around 2 a.m. or something, there was “cardigan,” fully written. That’s when I realized something crazy was happening. She just dialed directly into the heart of the music and wrote an incredible song and fully conceived of it and then kept going. It harkens back to lessons learned, or experiences in your youth, in a really beautiful way and this sense of longing and sadness, but ultimately, it’s cathartic. I thought it was a perfect match for the music, and how her voice feels. It was kind of a guide. It had these lower register parts, and I think we both realized that this was a bit of a lightning rod for a lot of the rest of the record.

The National’s Influence On Swift

She said that she’s a fan of the emotion that’s conveyed in our music. She doesn’t often get to work with music that is so raw and emotional, or melodic and emotional, at the same time. When I sent her the folder, that was one of the main feelings. She said, “What the fuck? How do you just have that?” [laughs] I was humbled and honored because she just said, “It’s a gift, and I want to write to all of this.” She didn’t write to all of it, but a lot of it, and relatively quickly.

She is a fan of the band, and she’s a fan of Big Red Machine. She’s well aware of the sentiment of it and what I do, but she didn’t ask for a certain kind of thing. I know that the film [I Am Easy To Find] has really affected her, and she’s very much in love with that film and the record. Maybe it’s subconsciously been an influence.

“the last great american dynasty”

I wrote that after we’d been working for a while. It was an attempt to write something attractive, more uptempo and kind of pushing. I also was interested in this almost In Rainbows-style latticework of electric guitars. They come in and sort of pull you along, kind of reminiscent of Big Red Machine. It was very much in this sound world that I’ve been playing around with, and she immediately clicked with that. Initially I was imagining these dreamlike distant electric guitars and electronics but with an element of folk. There’s a lot going on in that sense. I sent it before I went on a run, and when I got back from the run, that song was there [laughs].

She told me the story behind it, which sort of recounts the narrative of Rebekah Harkness, whom people actually called Betty. She was married to the heir of Standard Oil fortune, married into the Harkness family, and they bought this house in Rhode Island up on a cliff. It’s kind of the story of this woman and the outrageous parties she threw. She was infamous for not fitting in, entirely, in society; that story, at the end, becomes personal. Eventually, Taylor bought that house. I think that is symptomatic of folklore, this type of narrative song. We didn’t do very much to that either.

“exile” (ft. Bon Iver)

Taylor and William Bowery, the singer-songwriter, wrote that song initially together and sent it to me as a sort of a rough demo where Taylor was singing both the male and female parts. It’s supposed to be a dialogue between two lovers. I interpreted that and built the song, played the piano, and built around that template. We recorded Taylor’s vocals with her singing her parts but also the male parts.

We talked a lot about who she thought would be perfect to sing, and we kept coming back to Justin [Vernon]. Obviously, he’s a dear friend of mine and collaborator. I said, “Well, if he’s inspired by the song, he’ll do it, and if not, he won’t.” I sent it to him and said, “No pressure at all, literally no pressure, but how do you feel about this?” He said, “Wow.” He wrote some parts into it also, and we went back and forth a little bit, but it felt like an incredibly natural and safe collaboration between friends. It didn’t feel like getting a guest star or whatever. It was just like, well, we’re working on something, and obviously he’s crazy talented, but it just felt right. I think they both put so much raw emotion into it. It’s like a surface bubbling. It’s believable, you know? You believe that they’re having this intense dialogue.

With other people I had to be secretive, but with Justin, because he was going to sing, I actually did send him a version of the song with her vocals and told him what I was up to. He was like, “Whoa! Awesome!” But he’s been involved in so many big collaborative things that he wasn’t interested in it from that point of view. It’s more because he loved the song and he thought he could do something with it that would add something.

“my tears ricochet”

This is one of my absolute favorite songs on the record. I think it’s a brilliant composition, and Taylor’s words, the way her voice sounds and how this song feels, are, to me, one of the critical pieces. It’s lodged in my brain. That’s also very important to Taylor and Jack. It’s like a beacon for this record.

“mirrorball”

“mirrorball” is, to me, a hazy sort of beautiful. It almost reminds me of ‘90s-era Cardigans, or something like Mazzy Star. It has this kind of glow and haze. It feels really good before “seven,” which becomes very wistful and nostalgic. There are just such iconic images in the lyrics [“Spinning in my highest heels”], which aren’t coming to me at the moment because my brain is not working [laughs].

How Jack Antonoff’s Folklore Songs Differ From Dessner’s

I think we have different styles, and we weren’t making them together or in the same room. We both could probably come closer together in a sense that weirdly works. It’s like an archipelago, and each song is an island, but it’s all related. Taylor obviously binds it all together. And I think Jack, if he was working with orchestrations, there’s an emotional quality to his songs that’s clearly in the same world as mine.

We actually didn’t have a moodboard for the album at all. I don’t think that way. I don’t really know if she does either. I don’t think Jack... well, Jack might, but when I say the Cardigans or Mazzy Star, those aren’t Jack’s words about “mirrorball,” it’s just what calls to mind for me. Mainly she talked about emotion and to lean into it, the nostalgia and wistfulness, and the kind of raw, meditative emotion that I often kind of inhabit that I think felt very much where her heart was. We didn’t shy away from that.

“seven”

This is the second song we wrote. It’s kind of looking back at childhood and those childhood feelings, recounting memories and memorializing them. It’s this beautiful folk song. It has one of the most important lines on the record: “And just like a folk song, our love will be passed on.” That’s what this album is doing. It’s passing down. It’s memorializing love, childhood, and memories. It’s a folkloric way of processing.

“august”

This is maybe the closest thing to a pop song. It gets loud. It has this shimmering summer haze to it. It’s kind of like coming out of “seven” where you have this image of her in the swing and she’s seven years old, and then in “august” I think it feels like fast-forwarding to now. That’s an interesting contrast. I think it’s just a breezy, sort of intoxicating feeling.

“this is me trying”

“this is me trying,” to me, relates to the entire album. Maybe I’m reading into it too much from my own perspective, but [I think of] the whole album as an exercise and working through these stories, whether personal or old through someone else’s perspective. It’s connecting a lot of things. But I love the feeling in it and the production that Jack did. It has this lazy swagger.

“illicit affairs”

This feels like one of the real folk songs on the record, a sharp-witted narrative folk song. It just shows her versatility and her power as a songwriter, the sharpness of her writing. It’s a great song.

“invisible string”

That was another one where it was music that I’d been playing for a couple of months and sort of humming along to her. It felt like one of the songs that pulls you along. Just playing it on one guitar, it has this emotional locomotion in it, a meditative finger-picking pattern that I really gravitate to. It’s played on this rubber bridge that my friend put on [the guitar] and it deadens the strings so that it sounds old. The core of it sounds like a folk song.

It’s also kind of a sneaky pop song, because of the beat that comes in. She knew that there was something coming because she said, “You know, I love this and I’m hearing something already.” And then she said, “This will change the story,” this beautiful and direct kind of recounting of a relationship in its origin.

“mad woman”

That might be the most scathing song on folklore. It has a darkness that I think is cathartic, sort of witch-hunting and gaslighting and maybe bullying. Sometimes you become the person people try to pin you into a corner to be, which is not really fair. But again, don’t quote me on that [laughs], I just have my own interpretation. It’s one of the biggest releases on the album to me. It has this very sharp tone to it, but sort of in gothic folklore. It’s this record’s goth song.

“epiphany”

For “epiphany,” she did have this idea of a beautiful drone, or a very cinematic sort of widescreen song, where it’s not a lot of accents but more like a sea to bathe in. A stillness, in a sense. I first made this crazy drone which starts the song, and it’s there the whole time. It’s lots of different instruments played and then slowed down and reversed. It created this giant stack of harmony, which is so giant that it was kind of hard to manage, sonically, but it was very beautiful to get lost in. And then I played the piano to it, and it almost felt classical or something, those suspended chords.

I think she just heard it, and instantly, this song came to her, which is really an important one. It’s partially the story of her grandfather, who was a soldier, and partially then a story about a nurse in modern times. I don’t know if this is how she did it, but to me, it’s like a nurse, doctor, or medical professional, where med school doesn’t fully prepare you for seeing someone pass away or just the difficult emotional things that you’ll encounter in your job. In the past, heroes were just soldiers. Now they’re also medical professionals. To me, that’s the underlying mission of the song. There are some things that you see that are hard to talk about. You can’t talk about it. You just bear witness to them. But there’s something else incredibly soothing and comforting about this song. To me, it’s this Icelandic kind of feel, almost classical. My brother did really beautiful orchestration of it.

“betty”

This one Taylor and William wrote, and then both Jack and I worked on it. We all kind of passed it around. This is the one where Taylor wanted a reference. She wanted it to have an early Bob Dylan, sort of a Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan feel. We pushed it a little more towards John Wesley Harding, since it has some drums. It’s this epic narrative folk song where it tells us a long story and connects back to “cardigan.” It starts to connect dots and I think it’s a beautifully written folk song.

Is ‘betty” queer canon? I can’t speak to what it’s about. I have my own ideas. I also know where Taylor’s heart is, and I think that’s great anytime a song takes on greater meaning for anyone.

Is William Bowery secretly Joe Alwyn? I don’t know. We’re close, but she won’t tell me that. I think it’s actually someone else, but it’s good to have some mysteries.

“peace”

I wrote this, and Justin provided the pulse. We trade ideas all the time and he made a folder, and there was a pulse in there that I wrote these basslines to. In the other parts of the composition, I did it to Justin’s pulse. Taylor heard this sketch and she wrote the song. It reminds me of Joni Mitchell, in a way - there’s this really powerful and emotional love song, even the impressionistic, almost jazz-like bridge, and she weaves it perfectly together. This is one of my favorites, for sure. But the truth is that the music, that way of playing with harmonized basslines, is something that probably comes a little bit from me being inspired by how Justin does that sometimes. There’s probably a connection there. We didn’t talk too much about it [laughs].

“hoax”

This is a big departure. I think she said to me, “Don’t try to give it any other space other than what feels natural to you.” If you leave me in a room with a piano, I might play something like this. I take a lot of comfort in this. I think I imagined her playing this and singing it. After writing all these songs, this one felt the most emotional and, in a way, the rawest. It is one of my favorites. There’s sadness, but it’s a kind of hopeful sadness. It’s a recognition that you take on the burden of your partners, your loved ones, and their ups and downs. That’s both “peace” and “hoax” to me. That’s part of how I feel about those songs because I think that’s life. There’s a reality, the gravity or an understanding of the human condition.

Does Taylor Explain Her Lyrics?

She would always talk about it. The narrative is essential, and kind of what it’s all about. We’d always talk about that upfront and saying that would guide me with the music. But again, she is operating at many levels where there are connections between all of these songs, or many of them are interrelated in the characters that reappear. There are threads. I think that sometimes she would point it out entirely, but I would start to see these patterns. It’s cool when you see someone’s mind working.

“the lakes”

That’s a Jack song. It’s a beautiful kind of garden, or like you’re lost in a beautiful garden. There’s a kind of Greek poetry to it. Tragic poetry, I guess.

The Meaning Of Folklore

We didn’t talk about it at first. It was only after writing six or seven songs, basically when I thought my writing was done, when we got on the phone and said, “OK, I think we’re making an album. I have these six other ideas that I love with Jack [Antonoff] that we’ve already done, and I think what we’ve done fits really well with them.” It’s sort of these narratives, these folkloric songs, with characters that interweave and are written from different perspectives. She had a vision, and it was connecting back in some way to the folk tradition, but obviously not entirely sonically. It’s more about the narrative aspect of it.

I think it’s this sort of nostalgia and wistfulness that is in a lot of the songs. A lot of them have this kind of longing for looking back on things that have happened in your life, in your friend’s life, or another loved one’s life, and the kind of storytelling around that. That was clear to her. But then we kept going, and more and more songs happened.

It was a very organic process where [meaning] wasn’t something that we really discussed. It just kind of would happen where she would dive back into the folder and find other things that were inspiring. Or she and William Bowery would write “exile,” and then that happened. There were different stages of the process.

Okay, but is it A24-core? [Laughs.] Good comparison.

#Aaron Dessner #interview #vulture #about taylor #taylor swift #folklore album #folklore era #songwriting #producer #the national #bon iver

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yeojaa · 4 years

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❪ 💜 LAST UPDATED : ❫ 15 october, 2020

i don’t have set schedules for posting. i tend to get really into my own head so i’ll post three chapters in a day and then disappear for a week or two. sometimes, it’s an inadequacy thing and other times, it’s just writer’s block. if you really want to see something continued/pushed out, let me know. i live to please other people. not even joking!

all of my work can be found under this tag. but also, sometimes my tags work, sometimes they don’t.

ps. please note my works tend to involve named!readers but i’ll always indicate in the preface. sorry if this doesn’t appeal to you! 💖

pps. in the cases where the reader is named but it isn’t referenced (for instance, multi-part works), i’ll indicate with (named) versus named.

❪ ✔ ❫ complete ; ❪ ✘ ❫ wip ; ❪ ☽ ❫ oneshot ; ❪ ✰ ❫ series ; ❪ ⊗ ❫ drabble ❪ ☼ ❫ fluff ; ❪ ♡ ❫ smut ; ❪ ➳ ❫ angst ; ❪ ❁ ❫ crack ; ❪ ✱ ❫ social media

up all night ❪ i, ii ❫ - bodegas stock snacks & joon ❪ ✘ ; ⊗ ; ☼ ; ❁ ❫

↪ choke me, daddy - you ask joon for something new ❪ ⊗ ; ♡ ❫ ↪ f-f-fun-sized - joon reaches where you can’t ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ❫

should be sad - you miss him when he’s on tour ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ; ➳ ❫

↪ the one for me - you don’t mean to eavesdrop but... ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ❫

piece by piece - falling in love happens like this ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ❫

called a thousand times - late night phone calls ❪ ⊗ ; ➳ ❫

↪ no song without you - you just can’t quit him ❪ ⊗ ; ➳ ❫

not your fairytale - childhood friends to lovers ❪ ✔ ; ☽ ; ☼ ; ➳ ❫

What do you do when you’ve called your wedding off but forgot to cancel your cake tastings? Why, you ask your brother’s grouchy best friend, of course.

↪ my favourite clothes - yoongi comes to bed ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ❫

sweet magnolias - s2l with bad first impressions ❪ ☽ ; ☼ ; ♡ ; ➳ ❫

He was your unlikely muse; you were the weird girl in the park. Could you make it any more obvious?

reading rainbow - meet cute ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ❫

written in the stars - yoongi is a man of few words ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ❫

secret life of cats - meet cute ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ❫

↪ best of me - a few of his favourite things ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ❫ ↪ wrapped up in you - he doesn’t like your new shampoo ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ❫

see nothing but you - unrequited love ❪ ⊗ ; ➳ ❫

didn’t know me ❪ i, ii ❫ - you ask for his number ❪ ✘ ; ⊗ ; ☼ ❫

love her, leave her - "i still love you” type of exes ❪ ☽ ; ➳ ❫

You’ve loved him for as long as you can remember. He loved you once, too. But no one ever told you that sometimes that’s not enough. That sometimes, loving is the hardest part.

together, we’re screwed - idol!jimin falling in lust ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ❫

tell me i’m good - silk and gags and bondage, oh my! ❪ ⊗ ; ♡ ❫

loved you better - tae learns to love again ❪ ☽ ; ☼ ; ➳ ❫

You put your love and trust into people not things, you tell him.

They’ll leave, he says about humanity - about that precarious nature that both beguiles and terrifies him.

But they’ll love you back, you remind him.

to the moon and back - strangers to lovers ❪ ✘ ; ✰ ; ☼ ; ♡ ; ➳ ❫

You use your one brain cell for love. It doesn’t always end well. ft. jjk.

one of those nights - kim taehyung is shameless ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ; ❁ ❫

dear no one - marriage doesn’t equal happiness ❪ ⊗ ; ➳ ❫

sugar high - best friends to lovers ❪ ✔ ; ✰ ; ☼ ; ➳ ❫

You thought you’d known real love and maybe you had - it just wasn’t with who you thought.

↪ sweet lullabies - best friends in love ❪ ✘ ; ✰ ; ☼ ; ♡ ; ➳ ❫

You’re crazy in love and for once, so is he.

↪ a whole new world - touring with bts ❪ ✘ ; ✰ ; ☼ ; ➳ ; ❁ ; ✱ ❫

This is what happens when you go on tour with the Bangtan Boys.

to the moon and back - strangers to lovers ❪ ✘ ; ✰ ; ☼ ; ♡ ; ➳ ❫

You use your one brain cell for love. It doesn’t always end well. ft. kth.

ghost in my bed - rockstar!kook ❪ ✘ ; ✰ ; ➳ ; ♡ ❫

Sometimes, hating someone is the only thing you can do.

angels & airwaves - gamer!kook ❪ ✔ ; ✰ ; ☼ ; ♡ ; ❁ ❫

Jeon Jungkook has a big fat crush on a girl he's never met.

↪ someone’s someone ❪ i, ii ❫ - how-to: dating an idol ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ❫ ↪ best of me - being in love feels like... ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ❫ ↪ something comforting - celebrating the best holiday ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ; ♡ ❫

Jeon Jungkook loves Overwatch, drinking games, and Halloween. What he loves more than that? You.

↪ sweet nothings - the things he says in the dark ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ❫

roseraie - hanahaki!au ❪ ☽ ; ➳ ❫

What you had - so brilliant and beautiful and bright it was almost impossible to look at head-on - was what was tearing you two apart. It was your love that would be your demise.

velveteen rabbit - bunny!jungkook ❪ ☽ ; ☼ ; ➳ ; ♡ ❫

What do you get when you mix Thumper and Bambi? Answer: Jeon Jungkook.

devil in a new suit - jeon jungkook is a sucker ❪ ☽ ; ☼ ; ➳ ; ♡ ❫

Money’s something that makes the world go around. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with securing the bag. You don’t shame anyone for doing what they need to do.

That is, until you come face to face with the poor guy that’s being suckered out of both his heart and cash. You simply can’t let it go on.

↪ barbie world - barbie comes looking for ken ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ; ➳ ; ♡ ❫ ↪ stuck on you - green-eyed jungkookie ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ; ♡ ❫ ↪ home sweet home - you reach an important milestone ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ; ♡ ❫

finders keep hers ❪ i, ii, iii ❫ - idiots in luv denial ❪ ⊗ ; ♡ ; ➳ ❫

love you like i love you ❪ i, ii, iii ❫ - messy exes ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ; ➳ ❫

↪ the good place - jeon jungkook is the devil ❪ ⊗ ; ➳ ❫ ↪ be my baby - six years and counting ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ❫

blame it on me ❪ i, ii, iii ❫ - car rides w your crush ❪ ✘ ; ⊗ ; ☼ ; ❁ ❫

"i love you” read: 6:45 - hella misunderstandings ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ; ❁ ❫

↪ shark week - you hate shark week but love jungkook ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ❫

dancing queen - jeon jungkook is a drunk idiot ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ; ❁ ❫

can you see my heart? - soulmate!au ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ❫

take me down - don’t fall for your fwb ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ; ➳ ❫

wrong direction - falling for the fuccboi ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ; ♡ ; ❁ ❫

in the night ❪ i, ii ❫ - assassin!kook aka jeon wick ❪ ✘ ; ⊗ ; ☼ ❫

the gatorade incident - kook handles hangovers poorly ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ❫

if it isn’t you - pacrim!au prologue ❪ ⊗ ; ➳ ❫

nothing but a number - he just won’t leave you alone ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ❫

take a break - jeon jungkook is a sucker for you ❪ ⊗ ; ☼ ❫

#is my bias showing lmao #masterlist.zip

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yohankang · 2 years

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i saw people making list of the shows they watched last year so i decided to make one too 💞 i’m putting it under read more because i rambled too much

top 10 shows i watched last year:

the devil judge - yes, i decided to be honest with myself asdfghjs it is THE show of 2021 for me. yes, i know it has flaws, no it doesn’t matter to me <3 i love yoh- *one of my non tdj mutuals shoots me*

word of honor - wenzhou invented love, loyalty and devotion, also they saved my life 💗 this show changed the rest of the year for me, inspired me to start making gifs again and helped me survive the worst moments of 2021

the untamed (2019) - do i even have to say anything. i should’ve watched it 2 years ago!!!

my country: the new age (2019) - i’m forever indebted to anyone who recommended me this series. so heartbreaking and beautiful, it made me go insane </3 mutuals watch it pls

vincenzo - so refreshing!! it gave me my best friend hanseo 🥰 i'm forever in denial about that ending tho

move to heaven - so, so beautiful and important. i’d recommend it to anyone!!

prison playbook (2017) - PEAK BROMANCE. it was so funny and heartwarming, i would watch it for lee joonho alone

mine - KIM SEOHYUNG!!! WOMEN!!!! this drama was sooo satisfying, i loved the mystery and all the complicated relationships. also lesbian milfs

navillera - made me cry almost every episode lmao but i love crying so

a tale of thousand stars - last few eps were a bit underwhelming but it’s still my favorite bl of 2021. tian and phupha’s chemistry was insane!!

other shows i liked a lot:

run on - i’m just not a fan of romance dramas... but this series gave me lee younghwa 💕 i keep him in a jar next to my bed :)

d.p. - difficult to watch but i enjoyed it a lot! han hoyeol my beloved 💓

beyond evil - very solid series, would make it to top 10 if not for the fact that i had to watch it on 2x speed

to my star - so soft and comforting, i’m excited for season 2!!

shows i watched but didn’t enjoy:

kill me, heal me (2015) - i only watched it for ji sung, it was a bit too cringy for me and the incest part... wtf

guardian (2018) - shen wei my beloved <333 10 amazing scenes, the rest was crappy (but it’s still very dear to me)

strangers from hell (2019) - lee dong wook was absolutely amazing in this, but it was boring and felt like hannibal rip off...

shows i started in 2021 but haven’t finished yet:

kieta hatsukoi - ida!!!! best boy!!!! i will finish watching it soon, i absolutely adore this drama

bad buddy - i’m just not emotionally stable enough to watch it every week adfghks, i will catch up when it ends and i know it will be in my top 10 next year

bad and crazy - only 6 episodes aired as of today but i’m obsessed with it. i’m predicting it will be in my top 5 dramas next year. i just love pathetic men :)

shows i dropped:

lovely writer - uhhhh. i’ve seen so many thai dramas i developed standards, sorry

miss the dragon - i only started it because of the pretty main actor, dropped it after 6 eps </3

squid game - i don’t like violent and cruel stories, watched 2 eps and it was enough

the flaming heart - i’m sorry gong jun </3 i watched more than 10 episodes i think? it wasn’t bad bad but i just lost interest

you make me dance - too cringy :(

alice in borderland (2020) - i only watched it for machida keita so you probably know why i dropped it adfghjs maaaybe i will finish it one day because it wasn’t bad, idk

#k.txt #drama recs

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oh-boy-me · 4 years

Text

Demon Outfits Discussed

The wait is over :) thank you for your patience and all the lovely comments on the casual discussion!!

I feel like it got longer this time, so I hope it’s all an enjoyable read! Also, I apologize for the ugly pictures--it was the easiest and fastest way to both have all the design in one image and also prevent it from stretching so far.

Like last time, please don’t take this too seriously; we love these boys and Justin doesn’t know them but has no grudges against them. We’re just harping on their fashion sense. Absolutely no hate is intended towards the boys or the design team!

Participants in the discussion were

Jo ( @jodaneko ), our art major with storyboarding/character design experience, who finds they have more in common with Satan each passing day.

Justin ( @justinlester0629 ), our fashion expert, who dressed up and filled a wine glass with water for the occasion.

Noodle (Me), our untrained eye who owns the Barbie as the Island Princess video game on three different platforms. It’s not even that good.

Featuring emergency guest star Megan ( @maggo77 ), my sister who is physically near me as we look at the backs of their designs for the first time.

Edit: Distracted by the pretty jacket, we made a mistake when putting in Levi’s silhouette rating. It’s the worst. 2/10, not 6.

Lucifer:

“Boy looks like he’s about to swing open the doors of an expensive mansion during a debutante party and give some SCATHING NEWS.” —Justin

“Short shoulder cape and a long split butt cape lol” —Jo

Jo has realized that based on both outfits, Lucifer doesn’t want people looking at his butt. Possible reasons are: he doesn’t have one, or Diavolo someone was getting distracted.

His shoes match his outfit. After last time that’s all I care about.

A triple popped color, and how many layers is the middle one? Is that a book? Dude has like 27 collars.

The forehead diamond is very important and it’s great that there are diamond buttons to match it. But uh. How about those red diamonds on his sleeves. They. They sure are there. (I actually like the red accents and that they match his gloves; I just can’t take the diamonds seriously.)

Lucifer 🤝 Some Horses Diamond on the Forehead

The peacock motif is HERE and we’re all living for it. HOWEVER, the feathers on the cape and coattails should have matched, OR there should have been more lime green because there’s so little of that color.

The pants have a pleat in the front, which Justin says means he responsibly irons his clothes, and Jo says only heightens the fact that under the capes this is a marching uniform.

Can he fly? Jo says these are baby wings that can’t support his weight, and his cape has a hole for the top pair but blocks the bottom pair? Can’t believe Lucifer handicapped himself for the sake of fashion.

The red makes it regal and the wide flowy design makes it imposing. Good job, Lucifer! I might actually be intimidated if I saw you.

Definitely the classiest outfit. You can tell they put care into it.

Mammon:

“BITCH MY BODY CANNOT TAKE THIS KIND OF SEXY, I THINK I AM OVERHEATING! NO MORE FURTHER COMMENTS, YOUR HONOR. HAUTE AND HOT.” —Justin

The whole thing does amazing with only three colors. We’ve noticed the trend of black and white + one color, but I mean hey. It’s working so far.

Damn those pants sit low. No wonder literally all of you wear belts.

The leather jacket? The studs and harness? Bless. Justin calls it “the perfect blend of stylish and ‘I’ll see you tonight *wink*’”.

Kind of don’t like how the belts connect to the pants, though. It looks better in the back.

“He found a really cool jacket, but it didn’t pair with anything so he just didn’t wear anything.” —Jo

Honestly though? We’ve all made fun of Mammon for having big hoe energy in his outfits, but like, he knew he had wings and planned his outfit to accommodate for that. He’s the only one who didn’t cut holes in his outfit. Maybe Mammon was the smallest hoe after all.

Also if there’s a motif it repeats elsewhere, like the studs and diamonds on his jacket and pants. Did he and Lucifer have a “tastefully putting diamonds on my outfit” battle? Because Mammon definitely won.

One of the charms broke off the belt loop and he never bothered to replace it, and honestly thank god there isn’t two of those anymore.

Torn between wishing the boots were tighter to match the rest of the outfit and saying “yoooo they’re open in the back!!!”

Ok so so far we’ve said generally only good things, but there is one major issue with the design: Its gravity. Everything points down, his tattoos, the diamonds, even his wings. The center of gravity in the image is his shoes. Bitch loved his shoes so much he made his whole outfit point to them.

Either way this was universally considered the best and I mourn Justin who doesn’t know how far Mammon’s standards are gonna fall from here.

Leviathan:

Diagonal zipper

“Levi what the fuck.” —Megan

He looks like an e-boy.

Honestly it looks like he borrowed something from Justin’s wardrobe for Pride but he didn’t know how to put it on.

APPARENTLY the biggest hoe. Abs that he shouldn’t have coming through a mesh t-shirt. I thought Mammon’s pants were low, but Levi’s whole-ass ass is out. Ok Levi, I see you.

The shirt pattern is good but he probably leaves it partially unzipped because it’d look really dumb fully closed.

Justin loves the funky pants pattern and Jo likes the pants but not with the outfit. It’s because the devs were too coward to give him a thick tail base so his pants had to fill that role by sharing the pattern.

The shoes are good, and not just because they incited Justin’s deep-set hatred for Christian Louboutin and his uncomfortable red-bottom shoes.

Justin is offended that he’s hiding his suspenders; either show them completely or not at all, no in between. Jo’s not fully convinced it isn’t just one suspender. What are his suspenders doing? What are they attached to? Are they holding anything up? Apparently not.

Jo pointed out that if you squint the belt on his waist looks like fangs and the orange dots on his sleeves looks like eyes so it’s like theres a snake head on his outfit. Cute!

The gloves are throwing us off though. Why is Levi of all other brothers need gloves? I bet he has sweaty hands.

Ok really, does his sweater unzip all the way into two pieces? Or does it hang by that tiny thread underneath the tail hole? There’s even a button, just in case.

Can’t believe this antler-sporting, suspender-wasting nerd went diagonal zipper on us because we beat him at a trivia game. Should have just zipped his hood.

Satan:

HONEY.

“I hate everything about this.” —Megan

First of all, he’s straight up wearing Lucifer’s casual shirt. Does it only button down the back? Can he take it off?

Then he spilled bleach on his pants. Like I get what they were going for but with the white on black that is literally just bleach stains.

Incredibly differing opinions on the belt. He got it in the cowboy department. Justin adores it. Jo despises it.

And are those… athletic slip ons?

And now the elephant in the room. The ribcage made of ribbons. The ribboncage. The idea is great! I love that they gave him a skeletal theme without throwing him into a Hot Topic.

But if you take the ribboncage and feather boa off he’s literally just wearing a dress shirt and some nice jeans. And that’s the problem with Satan’s demon form. Not that it looks goofy. It’s that they took risks but then hid all the risks behind business casual.

Also Megan said that the back of the ribbons look like a rock climbing harness. Someone (probably Justin) said the front reminds them of the underbelly of a green cockroach. Ew.

The feather boa would look better if it was over something you wouldn’t literally wear at the office. (And also didn’t look so much like worm on a string.)

“He is going to Dragcon 2020 and is definitely going to take a picture and ask to lip sync, but accidentally start beef with Acid Betty.” —Justin

On a good note, loving how the tail fades to highly radioactive green. Feels dangerous. Megan pointed out that it’s a pretty wimpy tail, though. Jo enjoys the self-conscious posture it expresses.

That’s basically the only good thing we have to say, though.

I just????

Merry Christmas.

Asmodeus:

The kanji on the picture is just saying that the coattail is the same on both sides.

Ok now with that out of the way, HONEY.

I’m sure he says that to others but I hope he says it to himself too when he looks in the mirror.

Starting with the good. The wings? Adorable. The heart-shaped hole to accommodate them? Adorable. One of the only good adjustments.

And I love that the tips of his horns look venomous, like a scorpion tail!

We love a good floral design and a good twin tailcoat.

But once again, the shirt just has too much going on. The flowers. The buttons. The brick-pattern stitching. The brooch. The long collar. The fact that if he closed the last button it’d end in a diamond covering his crotch. Sometimes less is more, Asmo.

That scorpion brooch is the best thing to ever grace my computer screen and it shouldn’t have to share the spotlight with the rest of his shirt. It should have wrapped around his arm and been paired with some more jewelry. Then he could have ditched those giant cuffs.

The bleeding heart tattoos are a really good idea! But they should have been angled better and not like someone else put them on at the roller rink. And maybe they shouldn’t have been outlined in pink. Those aren’t tattoos, those are gaping holes in his arm. Is he ok.

I’ve been avoiding the pants, but. The pants.

“Oh dear god. Oh no that’s… I thought you were a designer…” —Jo

One side is buckled the ENTIRE way down, and then the other side is COMPLETELY plain. It’s too extreme on both ends. It should have been only half a leg of buckles. Not whatever this is. I still don’t think he can bend that leg.

The shoes are ok but they COULD have been a stiletto so.

Jo is DONE with these demons’ inability to wear socks.

We expected better from you, Asmo. I hope you have to fasten all those buckles every morning as retribution.

Beelzebub:

He said “how many belts can I wear on one outfit.”

Justin said it’s like Barry B. Benson and Post Malone had a beautiful baby boy, and Obey Me! is cancelled for creating a sequence of events that could lead to me hearing that with my own two ears.

The jacket? Stunning. “It’s steampunk mixed with Jack Sparrow, mixed with Billie Joe Armstrong,” says Justin. It’s got puffy sleeves! And there’s objectively too much going on with the jacket, but since it’s a leather jacket I can forgive it. Justin and Jo can’t.

I’m not sure why they keep giving him weird jacket collars but I prefer belt number 9 to fur.

“Why is it bucked in the back? Couldn’t it have just been a jacket?” —Megan

Good that the black tank isn’t only black, but he has so little color on his outfit that it would have been nice for it and the matching pattern on his boots to have been a color besides gray.

I don’t mind the belts down the leg because they’re not too in your face. Jo wants the white belt to be thinner. Justin wants him to just pick one and go with it.

Poor Beel, he can’t do his lil thigh pat pose without his right hand being assaulted by studs and that bear trap-shaped buckle.

Justin feels like the cowboy boots are too wide up top and it’s probably because they’re FAKE cowboy boots. I don’t know why he didn’t just get cowboy boots instead of putting fake coverings over his dress shoes.

Can’t fault the twin belt, though. And the wing hole isn’t terrible.

Idk I guess. They knew what they wanted to do at least.

That seems to be the pattern with Beel: they know what they want to do, but something weird happens in the middle of it.

Belphegor:

“I don’t know which Teletubby let their son go through the it’s just a phase mom phase, but they should be ashamed.” —Justin

A toddler who just learned how to cut holes in paper got a hold of his hoodie.

Is it a hoodie? A jacket? A poncho? The cow print actually isn’t terrible. At least it had the decency to be unique in its spotting. And the actual presence of blue is very appreciated.

On the topic of colors, Jo is calling the devs out on their apparent fear of color. “Put the pink elsewhere, cowards,” they say.

We actually don’t hate the horseshoe, and using it for the belt buckles is actually really clever. Even if 75% of them are doing literally nothing. Feel like he didn’t need that many. Could do without the bottom one, maybe even bottom two.

There’s a teeeeny tiny cowbell on the back? Megan apparently finds that VERY important. Why do they go to such great lengths to remind us that Belphie’s a cow? Beel doesn’t rub his hands together 24/7. Mammon doesn’t even get bird wings.

Just like Satan spilled bleach, Belphie has tar pants.

It’s nice to see a change in pant style, but. Am I biased because I hate harem pants? Maybe. Are these harem pants too short on him? Yes. Maybe they were supposed to be parachute capris? But it just looks he outgrew them too fast and Lucifer won’t buy him new pants yet. At least they look comfy.

If he puts his keys in those pockets will his pants fall down? Probably. That’s a problem considering his are the only pants that look like they could hold any keys.

The shoes are fine. I can enjoy a high topped sneaker. …Is that a security tag? Did he steal his shoes. Belphie stole his shoes.

On the tiny tail hole, I appreciate that Belphie went for modesty. But I hope it’s impossible to wear these outfits outside of demon form because I don’t want him walking around with a tiny hole right above his ass.

Honestly he doesn’t even look like a demon? He just looks like… a cow.

There’s one more aspect of their demon forms that I didn’t feel comfortable forcing into a smaller space than it deserved: Silhouettes. Jo puts a lot of weight on silhouettes and their role in character design. Is it dynamic? Is it recognizable? Jo ranked them as such:

1. Lucifer: 9/10. Care and effort were put into this design and it shows. 2. Mammon: 7/10. Points deducted for most of it being form fitting but otherwise still manages to get a passing grade. 3 (tied). Beelzebub: 5/10. His wings have actual mass but his horns being mostly hidden by his head reduce his score. 3 (tied). Belphegor: 5/10. Evens out since his clothes aren’t as form fitting as the others but they also kind of turn him into a blob. 5. Asmodeus: 4/10, and only because he’s got multiple wings and that his tailcoat breaks up the bottom half. 6. Satan: 3/10, for the fact HIS BOA carries most of the work in altering his silhouette. 7. Leviathan: 2/10. The tail and horns prevent this from being a total flop.

Our (surprisingly unanimous!) ranking of their outfits (not counting Megan her opinions deviated) were:

Mammon

Lucifer

Leviathan

Belphegor

Beelzebub

Asmodeus

Satan

In conclusion, any M-rated fic that doesn’t have it take demon Satan 20 minutes to take off his shirt is too unrealistic.

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alienoresimagines · 3 years

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Heart Meet Break | Eugene Sledge x Gender Neutral!Reader

Requested by Anonymous : Hi could you please write number 1 prompt list imagines “We’re not just friends and you fucking know it" with Eugene Sledge?

A/N : Here we are after 9 weeks without posting and more than one year after receiving this request!😂😅 Hope y’all didn’t forget about me 🤣 and that you are all safe for this holidays season To be honest I had written this in october but I’m posting it just now because.. well I have no idea but it’s here now ;) (actually I do and it’s because @inglourious-imagines kicked my a**) I started so many times and I’m not completely pleased with how it turned out but I hope you’ll enjoy! Also a big thank you to @punkgeekchic for beta reading, hope you’re doing okay darling see you in January!💙💙Title from Heart Meet Break de Liam Payne, also stream his songs please!😘

Taglist : @murphyism @mavysnavy @speirs-sexy-ass @order-of-river-phoenix @inglourious-imagines @liebegott @tvserie-s-world @stressedinadress @warrior-healer

Posted : 23/12/2020

Masterlist Taglist Prompts

-----

You could feel the beginning of a headache building behind your eyelids, and the welcomed pain in your feet after hours of passing on your bedroom's floor in a circle. Bringing a hand to your face to pinch the bridge of your nose and let out a long sigh, you let yourself fall onto your bed with a quiet flop. As soon as your back hit the soft sheet, the urge to go back to your feet and do something came back in a rush. A distraction would save your floor.

"[Y/N]! Could you take out the trash, please, dear?" Her sudden call startled you, too lost in your thoughts but you were quick to answer, knowing already there was only one good answer.

"I'm coming, mom!" You shouted back, putting on your shoes in a slow pace. A distraction was your floor's savior but definitely not your heart's or mind's. You could only pray you'd meet your neighbor while walking through the yard.

The stairs were cracking under your steps, as you still didn't know if you should feel nervous or hopeful. The twist in your stomach was a mix of both, the sweat on your palms said it all.

Always so thoughtful, your mother had put the trash bag just next to the front door, ready to be taken out.

"Ah, [Y/N], while you're out, could you bring this to the Sledges? Mary has been kind enough to share her pie with us, the least I can do is bake her one too." Your mother appeared at the door between the entrance and the kitchen with what you guessed was a plate wrapped in a clean cloth.

The years passing didn't do her past beauty's justice but her eyes hadn't changed, nor did the way she looked at your father.

"Sure, I'll go to the library after, do you know if Father needs anything?" You smiled, taking the package from her wrinkled hands carefully as she smiled at you, shaking her head in denial.

With the black trash bag in one hand and the white cloth covering the quite heavy pie, you went out, but not before kissing your mother's cheek.

The warm air of this beginning of autumn was like the wind of freedom after having spent the day in your bedroom like a lion in a cage. You were about to take a deep breath when you remembered the trash bag in your hand. Right. No matter how good and sweet your mother's pie was and smelled, your nose still felt attacked by the trash. When you finally had put the black bag where it belonged you started to walk out of your parents' property, heading to the house next door. His house. All the feelings and thoughts you had forgotten came back, overwhelming you and making your legs shake.

"Deacon! Deacon, where are you going?" Either your lucky star was laughing at you or pitying you. You'll decide tonight, hidden under your sheets with all your dreams and hopes.

Just a few seconds later, a small dog went panting at your legs, presenting his head for ruffles. You chuckled and kneeled down to his level, giving him what he craved for.

"Good boy aren't ya, Deacon?" Cooing, you couldn help the warmth that spreaded through your chest, and refused to acknowledge the man with the bicycle approaching you.

"[Y/N]! I didn't think I'd found you here." His tone was nervous and unsure as if he would've rather stayed silent. In some ways, you would've wished too.

"Fortunate we're neighbors, huh?" You heard him gulp and, with all the strength you could muster, you found in yourself all the treason, sadness, anger, uncertainty, confusion and hurt to finally face Eugene. Getting up, you looked at the sweet boy from next door in the eyes, searching for his thoughts.

"You've been avoiding me." He flinched. Your tone was harsher and colder than you intended, making you feel a pang of guilt but you didn't let it show. Instead, you crossed your arms on your chest, to protect yourself from things you didn't know.

"I- Hurting you was never my intention, it was actually what I wanted to avoid the most. But it'd seem I only hurt you more, I'm sorry, [Y/N]. " He was sincere, you could see it and it was harder to stay bitter about it. Your pride and feelings have been wounded, that much was a fact, but deep inside, you knew you simply couldn't be mad at sweet, loving boy Eugene. Heart and legal things.

"Can we be friends and not strangers again?" If you were in the right state of mind, you probably would've answered something witty and watch him laugh at you but you had enough of your games. The said and the unsaid, the little gestures and the avoidance.

"We're not just friends and you fucking know it, Gene. We've always been more and if you don't want anything to do with it, it's okay. But don't you dare act as if we don't know each other and the next day as if we were best friends. We're more than that, you are more than that to me." And I hope I'm more than that to you too. From the sad and wounded look on Eugene's face, your unspoken thoughts must've been obvious. Like a fish out of water, he opened then closed his mouth, furrowing his eyebrows as he fumbled over his words. Finally, he spoke a meteors shower over your fragile world, crushing and burning it down.

"I enlisted. I'm leaving tomorrow." Whatever was left from your previous anger died in your throat and your heart started beating faster and faster in your chest.

"What? When? What about your condition?" You blurted out, not believing what Eugene just said. He smiled thinly at you, like he didn't know if he should let you see just how happy and proud he was to finally be able to enlist.

"I went to the marines office two weeks ago; as soon as I knew it was gone." Tears started to well in your eyes, your entire body to shake uncontrollably.

"Oh. That's... that's good. You must be relieved." You forced yourself to add just a bit of happiness in your tone for him, for you knew just how important it was to him, no matter how much your heart was breaking. Eugene gave a small nod, his fingers playing with the handlebars of his bike. At your feet, Deacon was sitting still, his tongue out and his head going from you to Eugene, and from Eugene to you, as if he was understanding far more than he was letting you know.

"I'll do my part." There it was. The pride, excitement of a young man going straight into a wolf's open mouth. What felt like hours was in fact just a few minutes, not even 5 but your mind was replaying it like a movie in a theater. At that moment, it hit you like a truck. Two weeks. The last time you've both been yourself together also was two weeks ago. You swallowed back the knot in your throat and prayed your voice wouldn't shake as much as your hands were, hidden behind your back in an awkward formal position.

"When were you going to tell me?" His silence said everything you needed to know as he shifted uncomfortably, his head down in shame and sorrow. He looked at you again through his eyelashes, apologies and guilt in his eyes but you couldn't take it anymore. Eugene was too kind for his own sake, wouldn't hurt a fly and by wanting not to hurt you ended up harming you in one of the most twisted ways. It hurt because you couldn't be mad at him, that his intentions were good and genuine. You took a deep breath and made a step ahead, one hand clenching on Eugene's white shirt, looking at him in the eyes. If yours were narrowed and dark, his were widened and looking everywhere but at your face.

"You better not die, you hear me? You come back, in one piece and we'll sort it out. At all costs, you come back!" You almost shouted to his face, not caring if the whole street had gone out to see you. Eugene's gentle hands came over yours, squeezing it lightly. In your wounded pride and building fear, you refused to face him and see his reaction, knowing perfectly you'd find compassion, and sweet understanding.

Forcing the once forgotten home-made pie wrapped in a white clean cloth onto Eugene's chest, you've waited to see his hand cover it before you turned around, fighting the urge to rub your eyes so the moisture in them would go.

"For your mother. From mine." You whispered between two heavy breaths, nails digging into your palms painfully.

Before Eugene could fully apprehend what was happening and get out of the trance he was in, you were already in front of your house, looking at the floor.

"[Y/N], wait, [Y/N]!" You didn't look back, even though you ached to. But in a few hours he wouldn't even be in town anymore so what was the point? You just felt numb and empty, as if floating over your own body. Closing the door behind you, you walked up the stairs in silence and came into your room, your legs giving up on you as soon as the door closed.

You weren't sure how long you stood there, knees up to your chest, arms surrounding them and head buried in the safe spot it made. Your throat was still tight, making it hard to breathe.

Perhaps, it all would've been better if you hadn't spoken to him.

Silence would've been preserved, fragile but there. Now all you could hear were those words said with so much pride and relief over and over again.

I enlisted.

All you could hear was the sound of your heart breaking.

#the pacific fanfic #the pacific imagine #the pacific x reader #eugene sledge imagine #eugene sledge x reader #my writing

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clockworkgraystairs · 4 years

Text

Beg for me || Jurdan Dom-Sub One Shot

Jurdan Smut Week 2020 • DAY 1

@jurdannet @jurdannetrevels

Rating: M

Summary: “I need you.”

“Then say it. Beg for me.”

Masterlist • AO3

Thank you so much @slightlyrebelliouswriter23 for helping me betaing this, even when you’re sleep deprived, I have no words! 🧡

“Look at me, love”

Kneeled before him, Jude lifted her head slowly, her breath coming out in faltering huffs. A prickling sensation ran over her swollen lips. Surely a reaction to the punishing kisses he’d given her just seconds before. The moment their eyes connected, the intensity she saw there sent an anticipatory pulse down to her stomach.

“Do you know why I am doing this?” He said, cocking his head to the side and arms crossed over his chest. His words were low and honeyed.

Oh she definitely did. Yet, she tugged her lip between her teeth.

Arching an eyebrow he hauled the little chain that connected with the leather band around her neck, his movement soft but firm. Answer me, it said.

The corner of her lips quirked up a bit. The only sign of defiance she’d allow her body to show, or at least that’s what she tried. “Because I misbehaved… sir.” She quickly added at the change in his gaze.

He chuckled. “I might not be your boss at this moment, but I would appreciate it if you still minded your manners.” With another tug to the chain he signaled her to stand. “On the bed, dear.”

Heat creeped up her cheeks at the appreciative hum that left his mouth at the full sight of her. Black lace that barely covered part of her body, combined with high stockings framing her long legs. She’d bought it knowing he’d like it, but couldn’t get used to how much skin it showed.

It was almost unfair that he could keep his clothes on. However, she couldn’t really decide if she liked her boss better when he was completely naked, or just like he looked in that moment: bare feet, black trousers and loose white shirt, sleeves rolled up his arms. More than ready to play with her for hours.

The soft mattress sunk under her. Jude lay down, her pulse rose as he walked towards her.

“Hands up.” He commanded. A familiar clang reached her ears from the drawer he was rummaging in, sending a shiver down her back.

She swallowed before obeying. He had plenty of punishments in his repertoire, but only few include that artifact in particular. That narrowed the options.

Cold metal kissed her wrists and Jude gasped. With a small movement she felt the chain of the handcuffs firmly secured to the bed’s headboard. Her chest rose and fell with elaborated breaths.

She was officially at his mercy.

Turning her head back, she watched him loosen his tie and take it off. Popping the first buttons from his shirt open. His carefree movements, along with those mischievous eyes of his always took Jude off guard.

“Enjoying the view?” He asked.

“You know I do, sir.”

“Hmm.” Her boss purred. “Too bad it has to end.” At that he gently coiled his tie around her head, covering her eyes. He tied it tightly to keep it from falling but not enough for it to hurt.

Pulling away, he left her there, aroused and disoriented. Jude tried to sense where he’d gone. Focusing all she could on-

Jude yelped when something soft caressed her torso. A low chuckle came from the left.

The thing about being sight-deprived was that her other senses intensified in a terrible yet exhilarating way. And he knew it very damn well.

Whatever object it was, probably a feather, he used it to roam over every piece of uncovered skin. He trailed it down her arms, her neck, between her shuddering breasts. Dropped kisses here and there, nibbling at her sensitive spots. The sensation was too much and yet not enough, Jude was quickly losing all coherent thoughts. Every time he sucked low moans escaped from her throat.

She breathed his name as his mouth moved down to her hips. He continued his ministrations, carefully avoiding that hot and needy spot between her legs.

“Are you going to defy my decisions in front of my coworkers again?”

Of course she would, they were both aware of that. Especially if it lent to more sessions of this. It was all part of their game. She was brilliant at work, with her intelligence and sharp temper she had everyone around her finger in no time. And he, a promising talent on the rise, did everything on his power to conquer her. Even when it implied hiding it from the whole company.

It felt so good to quarrel in meetings. But it was better when he gave her that look, the one that signaled he would use that same argument against her later. Alone, and naked.

Jude opened her mouth to answer but felt as if her mind had forgotten how to form words. Fuck, she should be doing better than this, she scolded herself. Focus.

He sucked down on her inner thigh, really close to where she desperately wanted him and she cried out, arching her back. The handcuffs rattled against the board. That damned sound always remained to haunt her in her deepest dreams.

Hot breath caressed her core as he spoke again. “I asked you a question.”

She licked her lips. “No sir, I won’t.” He hummed, using his thumb to play with the lace of her panties and pulled them down just a fraction. Then he seemed to change his mind and dragged his hands up her sides earning a protest from her.

Jude felt the mattress shift under his weight, then hot bare skin pressed flush against her as he stretched on top of her. He still wore his pants and even with them, his hardness was evident. She tilted her hips up seeking some friction, but a strong hand held her hips still. She whined one more time and his fingers now grabbed her with enough force to leave bruises.

“What was that again?” His gruff voice was now against her ear.

She moved to put her arms around his neck but a metallic sound and a yank to her wrists reminded Jude of her position. She almost said the word she knew he wanted. But held back, huffing in frustration. “I need you.”

“Then say it.” He groaned, nipping her earlobe. The hand holding her down moved once more, soft fingers positioning on the edge of her underwear. Please, the word was there on the tip of her tongue. With a torturing pace, he slid them under the thin fabric. “Beg for me, Ember.”

“CUT! Excellent, I think we got it. Good work everyone!”

Voices burst around them.

Jude sighed, the air wavering. Seconds later cold air hit her skin as he moved away from her.

The tie was taken from her eyes and the bright light blinded her a moment. The handcuffs shackled again and were off a heartbeat later.

“Hey.” She turned to find Cardan, stripped down to only his trousers, with the offending artifact on his hand. “Are you okay?”

She blinked and sat up, taking in her surroundings. Filming set, not suite room. And Cardan, her co-star, not her boss. Sometimes she really envied Ember, her character. Getting the chance to live the excitement of a forbidden romance. A hot, forbidden romance.

At her lack of answer, he sat next to her and cupped her face. Worry filled his voice. “Jude? Did I overstep?”

“No, no.” Shaking her head, Jude grinned. “You were perfect, I’m just recovering my breath. I tried to put myself more into it this time.”

“I noticed,” Cardan chuckled. “If I’m honest, for a moment I almost forgot we were acting.”

Her heart skipped a beat at his words. Me too, she almost said. Instead she just looked at him. Even out of character there was something in his eyes that captured her in a way she didn’t believe was possible. He was kind, funny and incredibly respectful on and off of the set.

Jude couldn’t help the real fluttering in her stomach in every scene they shot together.

She knew romances weren’t unusual in their line of work, but since she was relatively new, this tv series her first leading role, she was still terrified to ruin it. Most of all, to ruin the friendship she’d built with Cardan in all those months.

Coats were given to them, observations from the director and the screenwriters too and at last, they could leave for the day.

Cardan walked her to her trailer, telling another of his weird experiences he’d had while filming. Tears fell from her eyes from all the laughing.

“I trust you’re laughing at the situation and not actually at me.” He teased.

“Oh I’m definitely laughing at you, no need to ask.”

Making an offended sound he ruffled her hair, Jude shrieking and pulling away.

“Jude,” He said, his tone more serious than before made her stop her mocking too. “Are you sure everything was okay with the scene?”

A blush covered her cheeks. “It was. You know I’m relatively new to this. I guess I’m just getting used to all of it.”

He nodded.

“But, thank you.” She added. “For making sure I’m ok, and...for all of your fun stories that make me relax after. It is...really nice from you.”

Cardan’s wide smile almost left her breathless again.

“It’s nothing.” He hesitated for a second. “I have more stories though… We could... go buy some coffee and I could tell you all of it. If you want to, of course.”

She stared at him, not quite believing his words.

He bit her lip and gave her an apologetic smile. “Think about it, will you? I’d really like to...go out with you someday.”

Jude smiled gradually, feeling her heart nearly jumping out from her chest. “I’ll think about it.” She said softly.

“Let me know.” He walked backwards and winked at her. “And Jude… just for the record, I enjoy being tied up too.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tags: @slightlyrebelliouswriter23 @sweetlyvillainous @aesthetics-11 @thesirenwashere @jurdanhell @nightbringer @b00kworm @mysweetvillain @thefolkofthefic @yafandomsdotnet @vanessa172003 @tessas-herondales

If you wish to be tagged/untagged (or if I forgot to tag you) please let me know!

#jurdan smut week 2020 #jurdan smut week #jurdannet #jurdan #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #tfota #holly black #tcp #twk #tqon #qon #the folk of the air #the cruel prince #judecardan #jude x cardan #tess writes

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bestofblackwidow · 3 years

Text

The "Let me go - it's okay," she told him the last time we saw the Black Widow, it was - to say the least - emotional. "Let me go - it's okay," she said to Hawkeye, plunging to her death on the arid planet Sleeping in Avengers: Endgame for the ultimate sacrifice to save the world. While the deaths in the Marvel Cinematic Universe go on - sorry, Iron Man - there was probably no more heart-stopping moment, since the former SHIELD spy who became Avenger gave her life to recover the Soul Stone.

Still, it left the MCU in a bind. For years, a Black Widow film had been mooted, right back to 2004 at Lions Gate Entertainment before the rights reverted to Marvel. When Scarlett Johansson first appeared as Natasha Romanoff - the former KGB assassin with a very particular set of skills - in 2010's Iron Man 2, it didn't take long before questions were asked about a solo outing. Marvel Studios conductor Kevin Feige even held discussions with Johansson, who was then only 25. But there was a caveat, he said. "The Avengers comes first."

While others - Thor, Captain America, Black Panther and even Ant-Man - had their moments in the spotlight, the Black Widow was forced to wait. And wait. And wait. Not that Johansson thought that her character demanded the same treatment; if she was going to be in front of a Marvel movie, there had to be a reason. "Is there anything exciting to do creatively, as an actor?" she says. “Will we be able to do something extraordinary and strong? And something that stands on its own? "It's what makes the independent Black Widow an intriguing prospect: an inauguration of Phase 4 of the MCU promises to step back in time before her dramatic death to answer the provocative questions that still hover over her Crucially, the script transports audiences back to the events right after Captain America: Civil War, after that huge internal confrontation of the Avengers.

Without relatives or an organization that employs her, the Black Widow is alone, says Johansson. "It gave us the opportunity to really show her when she's kind of out of her game, you know? Because of that, anything was possible." The actress was there "from the start" at the script meetings, as they began to figure out how to delve into Romanoff's origins. "You are trying to map all of this ... which is extremely stressful," she laughs, "because there are no guidelines."

Fortunately, Johansson was not alone. In another inspired choice for the MCU canon, Feige recruited Australian director Cate Shortland, best known for discreet dramas like Somersault and Lore. While she was surprised, Shortland was encouraged by the creative freedom that Marvel was offering. “They allowed me to be myself and encouraged me to make a movie that I was passionate about,” she says. "We were allowed to have a lot of nuances and make a character-oriented film."

After several Skype sessions with Johansson, who also receives producer credit, Shortland worked with a Russian researcher to embody Romanoff's dark story: "the red in my ledger", as she told Loki in 2012 in Os Avengers. As she sings in the trailer, "We have to go back to where it all started" - the promising teaser clips of Romanoff as a young man (played by Ever Anderson, daughter of Paul WS Anderson and Milla Jovovich) in a childhood that seems far from idyllic. That's what makes Black Widow a family reunion of the kind that only Marvel would have the courage to conjure. Joining Romanoff is Yelena Belova, a sister-sister and fellow murderer who trained alongside her in the so-called Red Room, the punitive Soviet facility that produced 'Black Widow' spies.

"Their stories intersect," promises Shortland. "They clash." Played by Lady Macbeth's British star Florence Pugh, Belova is more than a physical match for Romanoff. Still, emotionally is where it really matters. "What Yelena does is kind of point to Natasha's pain," says Pugh. “She is part of Natasha's story. And I think that's why we have an opportunity to look at Natasha's story, because Yelena has been knocking on the door and says, 'Hey, let's deal with this pain. ”As Johansson comments, Belova is not just a carbon copy of his own character.

"She is completely alone. She is strong and different. She is so different (from) Natasha." Beside them are Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) and Alexei Shostakov (David Harbor), two father figures whose own stories intertwine with Natasha and Yelena. "This is the coolest thing with this whole group of people. They all had parts of their past that they regretted," says Pugh. “They’re older. They’ve had more life experience. They know more about the system, about this world they’re all living in.” Harbor, the Emmy Stranger Things nominated star, managed to put an indelible mark on the muscular Shostakov, better known as the Red Guardian super soldier, the Russian equivalent of Captain America. "There is a gangster quality to him," the actor smiles. "And he's covered in tattoos. He's got a beard and those gold teeth. He's crazy." But after years of making bad decisions, he's also full of remorse.

"He's in a bad situation," adds Harbor. "And he needs redemption." Weisz's character, Melina, is another who experienced the rigors of the Red Room, a place that put her in contact with Natasha and Yelena. Marking his first dive at the MCU, Weisz acknowledges that the film addresses the idea of discovering his favorite family. "It's definitely about finding out where you belong and where you came from, and what your background story was, and who you really are, and what matters to you - your ideology, I think." Along the way, Feige made reference to The Kids Are All Right - the 2010 Lisa Cholodenko film about a same-sex couple raising two teenagers. "Which is so weird," laughs Johansson. "You would never expect that from a Marvel movie." no it was the only strange nod to the film. Harbor speaks of Shostakov in terms of Philip Seymour Hoffman's drama teacher in the dramatic black comedy The Savages.

Or even expressing "the pathos of a small town, independent, family-run, weird movie... like Little Miss Sunshine". More understandable cinema references include "things like Logan and Aliens and The Fugitive," says Shortland. "We saw movies like that." Certainly, it's easy to see comparisons between Sigourney Weaver's determined Ripley, from James Cameron's masterpiece Aliens, and Johansson's Romanoff, an Avenger who has no superpowers. "We saw it as a force," says Shortland, "because she always has to dig really deep to get out of shit situations." According to the director, everyone in the production invested in deepening Romanoff - even Scottish composer Lorne Balfe (Pennyworth, His Dark Materials), who replaced Alexandre Desplat's original choice. Balfe looked at the character's origins, says Shortland. “He said, 'I want to put it on the ground, because it has been dug up in the movies in the past. I want to give her that flesh and blood. 'And he created this soundtrack that is really Russian."

However, perhaps the real blow here is to recruit Shortland, the first female director to face the Black Widow (and only the second, following Captain Marvel co-director Anna Boden, to enter the MCU). "This film would not be what it is without Cate Shortland," says Pugh. "I think having her eye, and having her mind with this script, has taken her to a whole different realm." Johansson agrees. "" You can feel it was made from a female perspective ... cooked there. "Although Ray Winstone's casting as Supervisor of the Red Room Dreykov (whose daughter contributed to the abundance of red in Romanoff's book, according to Loki) add more to the psychological battleground that the Black Widow will explore, it also deals with victimization, a very pertinent topic in the current climate. The Red Room itself is where trainees are brutally sterilized. "You will see that these women are hard working and strong, and they are murderers - and yet they still need to discuss how they were abused," says Pugh. "It is an incredibly powerful piece."

Judging by the 2020 Oscars, where Pugh and Johansson had their own private relationship session on the red carpet, the two actors got along very well. "She has a really beautiful career ahead of her ... she's a very special person," says Johansson, excited when Pugh's name is mentioned. More specifically, Pugh may well have more Marvel to chew on, if it is rumored that her character will take on the 'Black Widow' mantle for new adventures. By learning Parkour, kickboxing and knife fighting for role, Pugh can safely cut things physically, though she's reluctant to claim that the Black Widow is just a setup for future outings. "Even though it is obviously where everyone wants to go and want to think - think about what comes next - this film never really seemed to be what he was trying to underline." According to Johansson, however, test the audience who saw the film thinks otherwise. "Her character and her performance are so dear." Now, after more than a year of pandemic-related delays to July 2021), it will not be just a few lucky spectators who will be able to see. Black Widow will even be the first Marvel movie to debut simultaneously on the Disney+ streaming site (with a 'main hit' fee), an understandable move considering the uncertainty that still exists around the world. And in fact, after the success of the Marvel TV shows WandaVision and The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, it doesn't seem like such a strange home. Johansson believes that fans will respond to Black Widow, with this flashback of an earlier part of her life, bringing more poignancy to the Endgame's outcome. "Our goal was for them to be satisfied with this story; that maybe they could have some solution, I think, with the death of this character, in a way. It seemed like people wanted this." Shortland agrees. "We felt that we should honor his death," she says. And the Black Widow will surely honor him.

#blackwidow interview #totalfilm black widow #scarlett johansson interview #cate shortland blackwidow #scarlett johansson #florence pugh #david harbour #rachel weisz

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twstarchives · 4 years

Text

Rook Hunt・Voice Lines

Additional Voice Lines: Dress-Up Groom Event Card

School Uniform - R

Unlock Card “Bonjour! I’m curious to see what kind of world you’ll show me.”

Groovy “Merci for making everyday so entertaining!”

Home Setting “How do I look?”

Home Transitions “Très bien! I’m excited. How will your choices change this school, and what kind of beauty will it bring?”

“I’m very interested in seeing every action you make. Would you let me follow you around for today?”

“You should see lots of sights and experience just as much. Refining your senses plays a large role in your beauty.”

Home Transition (Login Greeting) “Something about you is different than it was yesterday... Heheh, could you wait a moment? I’m trying to pinpoint what it is.”

Home Taps “Uniforms are something you’re only allowed to wear for a limited period of time. Isn’t that fleeting part of them just beautiful?”

“Tips for hunting? You need to observe your target very closely. Stare at them long and... deeply.”

“Learning broadens your world. There’s a beauty that you can’t feel outside of this school, after all.”

“The beautility these uniforms have is fascinating! Don’t you think so too?”

“Oh, are we playing pretend hunter? Heheh, then I can’t lose either.”

PE Uniform - R

Unlock Card “I’m very athletic, despite how I look. How about we play a game of cat-and-mouse?”

Groovy “It’s just like paradise here! Everywhere I look, everything is beautiful!”

Home Setting “Let’s both work up a nice sweat!”

Home Transitions “I’m confident about my endurance. That’s something you can’t go without when you’re hunting.”

“You think sweating is embarrassing? Non! Putting your all into something is a very wonderful thing!”

“I’m very well-versed in sunscreens. Vil would just die if he got a sunburn, after all.”

Home Transition (Login Greeting) “Why don’t you practice hunting with me? Hunting is a game of survival of the fittest, filled with survival tactics and natural beauty.”

Home Taps “Sports? They make everyone’s emotions all start to come unhinged... It’s wonderfully dramatic!”

“I always recommend wearing a hat. It’s hard to see your prey when the sun is in your eyes.”

“Beautiful souls lie in beautiful bodies. That’s why I train so hard.”

“Hm? Is there something you’re interested in? Alright; I'll satisfy your curiosity as much as you’d like me to.”

“Are you trying to provoke me? Heheh, how naughty. Disturbing your target’s peace of mind is a hunter’s favorite game.”

Lab Coat - SR

Unlock Card “Observing and analyzing... These skills are useful in both hunting and academics.”

Groovy “Now, it’s time for our ever-so-fun experiments!”

Home Setting “Now. Let’s work hard at our studies.”

Home Transitions “Focus on the task at hand. Well, I do understand the feeling of not being able to take your eyes off something beautiful, though.”

“If there’s something you want to know, you should keep asking until you get what you need. A determined look makes anyone look beautiful.”

“Dressing properly like this is just beautiful.”

Home Transition (Login Greeting) “The motivation to want to learn something is beautiful. I have some time today too—why don’t we spend some time together?”

Home Transition (Groovy) “I can smell herbs somewhere. These are... ah, I’m sorry. The sense of smell is very important to a huntsman.”

Home Taps “Vil never slacks off with anything, whether it be his studies or his training. That’s one of his strong points.”

“A person’s natural beauty is only static beauty; the ever-changing beauty that comes as you develop is dynamic beauty. I wonder, under which does your light fall?”

“You can study and study and study, but you will never know everything about beauty. That is why I’m so enraptured by it.”

“Do you consider me odd? Then perhaps you need to know more about me.”

“Ah, how lonely you must be. That’s only natural when you remember the situation you’re in. As long as you’re alright with it, I’ll keep you company anytime.”

Home Tap (Groovy) “Seeing something run away makes me want to chase it. You know what that means, right? If there ever comes a time when you run away from me, make sure you’re prepared.”

Ceremony Robes - SR

Unlock Card “It’s important to know what you’re getting yourself into before you jump in.”

Groovy “I feel like I could stare at that dignified profile of yours all day long.”

Home Setting “Sometimes it’s good to be under pressure.”

Home Transitions “Wearing these ceremony robes feels so sophisticated and mysterious... mm! I just can’t put it into words!”

“How elegant the silence of the Mirror Chamber is during ceremonies! This school is beautiful inside and out!”

“Ah, preparations took a long time to finish. But I'll be standing next to Vil as the vice dorm leader, so I need to put in all my effort.”

Home Transition (Login Greeting) “I was just thinking I wanted to see you too. What a coincidence! Or maybe this was fate?”

Home Transition (Groovy) “Can you tell I have a different fragrance than usual? Today I put on perfume. It's a nice smell, isn't it?”

Home Taps “I’m acting a lot more well-mannered than usual right now. There’s a beauty in that that stands out.”

“It’d be easy to get lost in the dark with these clothes on. Heheh.”

“There is beauty that some are just born with, but the beauty you work hard to achieve holds immeasurable power. Isn’t that right?”

“Your eyeshadow is a little smudged; it’s putting your beauty at stake. Would you mind if I fixed it for you?”

“Slow down, you’ll mess up your clothes if you keep playing around like that. You need to be good right now.”

Home Tap (Groovy) “Let’s put on some makeup that fits you better. What color goes well with your eyes...?”

Dorm Uniform - SSR

Unlock Card “Everyone is beautiful in their own way.”

“Welcome to Pomefiore! I’m very certain you’ll have a wonderful time here.”

Groovy “Can you see now what real beauty is?”

Home Setting “This must be it!”

Home Transitions “I had a feeling you’d be here. It seems my intuition was correct yet again today.”

“Oh no, are you drinking enough water? Your lips are a little drier than they were when I saw you earlier.”

“The Pomefiore uniform is just beautiful, isn’t it? It’s my favorite too.”

Home Transition (Login Greeting) “Hello, I was waiting for you. Where are you off to today? I’ll accompany you wherever you go.”

Home Transition (Groovy) “I’m always thinking about how I want to be someone befitting of these beautiful robes.”

Home Taps “Some might say the rules of our dorm are strict, but that’s only natural when it’s something Vil is particular about.”

“I believe it to be an honor that I was sorted into Pomefiore. Although, every dorm has their charms.”

“I would never do anything to embarrass our dorm leader. That is my pride as the vice dorm leader.”

“The insides of our uniforms are patterned with the Queen’s beloved apples. Take a look! Frightening as they are, you just can’t take your eyes off them. That’s what beauty is.”

“You don’t think I could hunt in this outfit? Hehe, famous last words.”

Home Tap (Groovy) “Oh dear, are you nervous? I can tell clear as day that your heart is pounding in your chest.”

Duo Magic Rook: I’ll show you how to hunt, Epel. Epel: Okay, Rook!

Birthday Celebration Outfit - SSR

This card was only obtainable during Rook’s birthday event (Dec 1 - Dec 6,, 2020).

Login on Birthday “Merci! That beautiful chirp of yours is the best present of all. I’ll always cherish those feelings you have.”

Unlock Card “What sort of beauty will I have the pleasure of seeing today...? I can’t wait.”

“Birthdays are one of my favorite events. Anyone can be their story’s protagonist on this day, and shine like an étoile.”

Groovy “This beautiful day is just like a glittering jewel... It’s nice spending this time with you.”

Home Setting “I’m getting ready to be the star of today.”

Home Transitions “Ahh, there was a shining smile on Vil’s face when he was eating cake! I couldn’t ask for a better birthday.”

“I like getting presents. It means that when you were picking out a gift, you were thinking of me.”

“‘What do I want for my birthday?’ Hmm... An art gallery just for me. I’ve been looking for somewhere to put all of my favorite things on display.”

Home Transition (Login Greeting) “Surprises are wonderful! Going all out just to make someone else happy... What a noble sentiment!”

Home Transition (Groovy) “People born in separate lands spending time together in the same place... Would I be overdoing it if I called this fate?”

Home Taps “Roi du Léon got awfully cautious of me when I told him it’s my birthday. I only wanted him to wish me a happy birthday.”

“Beauté! The tart Trey made is just gorgeous. It was too precious to waste; I didn’t want to eat it.”

“Ruggie came to my birthday party. I was so happy I got to see how a hyena eats up close.”

“Before coming to this school, I’d spend all day on my birthday watching plays. Matinée, soirée... and journée.”

“Heheh. You don’t have to keep wishing me a happy birthday over and over. I can hear you. I have excellent hearing.”

Home Tap (Groovy) “A dream space where everyone is celebrating... Maybe you’d like to document this scene with your Ghost Camera?”

Tutorial “Now, let's go together. Onward to our beautiful school building!”

Lv Up “Marvelous! This is truly spectacular.”

“Making progress is exciting, isn’t it?”

“Nothing can replace the time spent with good friends.”

Max Lv Up “There exists beauty that can’t be seen unless you’ve mastered an art. Très bien! I’ve been shown another new world thanks to you.”

Episode Lv Up “Non! Don’t say another word. I can tell what your heart is trying to say just by gazing into your eyes.”

Magic Lv Up “Now I’d be able to easily secure any of my targets. Could you try running away from me so we can test that?”

Limit Break “You’ve shown me new possibilities. This is definitely a first. Merci!”

Groovy “I’ve acquainted with a new version of myself. My heart is pounding knowing something wonderful is about to come!”

Select Lesson “Those with beauty have a duty of taking responsibility for any choices they make.”

“Beauté! I could stare at that ever-so-hesitant face of yours all day long.”

“Which subject are you best in? Tell me now; it will stay between us two.”

Lesson Start “Now, the starting bells are ringing!”

Lesson End “What a beautiful ending... Fin.”

Battle Start “Let’s begin. My time to hunt...!”

Battle Win “If I must fight, then I’m going to want to win beautifully.”

Other

Profile Quote “Oh, you’re more beautiful than anything on earth! I wonder, can you outrun my arrow of love?”

January 2020 Trailer “I’m waiting for you here. And I always will be.”

Countdown Poster “I’d love to show you my beautiful world.”

Login Bonus “Très bien! You’re much more beautiful today than you were yesterday! I’m so hopelessly excited to see how you are tomorrow.”

Player Birthday Wish “Bon anniversaire! Your birthday is a day for me to commemorate, too. After all, this is the day that something beautiful was added to this world. It’s truly a wonderful day.”

#rook hunt #voice lines

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