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bird-inacage · 9 months

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Only Friends: Episode 3 Preview (aka Boston's Reign of Madness)

So this week's upcoming instalment is where this train to hot-mess-ville is well and truly about to kick off. Boston is really gunning for first prize in the chaotic red flag olympics for fuckery and shit-stirring. We get a brief but loaded glimpse into the many possible showdowns and throwdowns.

Boston VS Mew (Competition)

In Episode 2, Boston pointedly stares at a photo he took of Mew and Ray. From what we see, he chooses to incriminate his two best friends purely in a bid to drive a wedge between Mew and Top.

I really can't decipher what Boston's end goal is here. Is this purely, 100% egotistical, petty jealousy due to Mew 'one-upping' him for once, when he's usually the person who gets all the action? I don't necessarily think Boston wants a boyfriend in Top, so this is a lot of chaos to cause for very little, especially as Top seems rather indifferent about Boston other than sexually. I think Boston's absolutely right in that he and Top are two peas in a pod - they love being at the 'top' of their game, and they hate being bested. If he thinks this is going to get him exclusivity rights to Top junior, he's insane. He's clearly not bothered that his two best friends may end up as collateral in the process.

Top VS Ray (Rivalry)

This is a classic case of we both hate each other but we're trying to keep it on the downlow for Mew's sake. Ray's jealousy is more valid, because it's partly fuelled by genuine concern around Top's motives. Whereas Top's jealousy feels possessive. The way he interacts with Ray is a clear indication to 'back off, you're stepping on my property'. With Boston's false intel, he's only going to feel more justified to be combative with Ray.

Top also makes a comment about Sand's band which sounded derogatory. Either a snide little dig at Ray (already knowing he invited Sand), or just a plain dig nonetheless. If so, I'd highly welcome Ray to defend his boyfriend's honour. This is an altercation I would truly love to see. I want Ray to go full feral on this man. Because I swear to god Top, if you try to hurt my son, I will yeet you into the goddamn sun. (Force is doing a stellar job of plastering that incredibly punchable smug-ass expression across his face. My hands are itching to smack him one).

Sand & Ray (Friends or Boyfriends?)

The preview is cut to look like Nick finds Ray and Sand kissing in the car. But the shot of Nick is at the hostel. Whereas Ray and Sand are kissing in the garage outside Sand's apartment. It's unlikely anyone is watching them at that location.

Ray drives Sand home after being slighted by Top, and tries to seduce him (and unsurprisingly succeeds). This is also the scene where Sand says "I'll never take someone like you as my boyfriend". (Pretty presumptuous of you to assume Ray would want to take you as a boyfriend, unless he's the one to suggest it? Unlikely). If Ray's proposition breaks his personal rule of "I've never slept with anyone who's not my lover more than once", then in Sand's head he's going to start thinking of them that way, even if he agrees to just 'one more time'. This conversation is potentially where the two really muddy the waters on what on earth this is.

It's also going to get more interesting when someone from the group finds out about their relationship. Worst case scenario would be Boston finding out. Because the last thing we need is for him to have more leverage to pull strings in this tangled web.

Boston & Top (Lust)

Notoriously, we're going to get our two resident red flags committing adultery together. This happens the same night as the pool party. Something happens between Top leading Mew away from Ray, to Top vouching for some rigorous car seat action with Boston. Mew is seen taking a call in the preview, and it wouldn't surprise me if Boston has something to do with this. He sees Top lead Mew away, and potentially intercedes with a ploy.

Can we talk about how Boston is acting all sweet with Nick and kisses him on the cheek (in the same car) earlier in the day and then proceeds to bounce the living daylights out of Top that same night (in the SAME car)?? This boy doesn't give a shit.

Nick VS Top ('The Favourite')

Nick finds the photobooth strip of Boston and Top. Now if I was Nick, this does speak volumes. Boston comes across as very blasé about his sexual partnerships. He takes a lot of photos of other people (including Nick), but from what we've seen, he's always the one behind the camera. Which also maintains this unconscious power dynamic he exerts over most of his lovers. Whereas the photobooth shots feature Boston with someone else. He's not the observer, he's the subject. The fact that he's kept this memento, with the caption 'hot night' means it was so memorable that he held onto it. This is pretty clear proof that no, Nick is not 'his favourite' as he was led to believe. And yes, Nick is slightly naïve to believe that in the first place, but he's seeing through rose-tinted glasses.

Nick's jealousy is tricky, because he's backed himself into a corner by trying to play it cool and going along with being just a 'fuck buddy' and nothing else. He knows he'll risk affronting Boston almost immediately if he starts demanding for more.

#only friends #only friends the series #ofts #only friends ep3 preview #ray x sand #sand x ray #top x mew #mew x top #nick x boston #boston x nick #khaotung thanawat #force jiratchapong #first kanaphan #neo trai #book kasidet #mark pakin

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raining-tulips · 4 months

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hi! i just found your blog :) love your commonplace book scans! if you don’t mind me asking, could you give a more in-depth explanation of what commonplacing is exactly and what your process is? i’m intrigued and considering getting into it but i wouldn’t even know where to start! thanks a lot xx

Absolutely! So my commonplace is specifically all movies, qoutes, articles, tumblr/Instagram posts, book excerpts, etc. that either resonated with me or I think I'll want to reference later. That is the heart of what common placing is - saving things for later physically rather than digitally.

Some of these just pop up in my feed, and I'll hit the like or save button. If it's an article, it usually first pops up as a preview on my Instagram and I'll open the full article on my desktop than bookmark it in a specific folder for common placing.

Sometimes, when I want to actively find something out (say, about if perfume is really bad for the environment, or I want to look at author interviews because I just loved a book) I will go out and search for that information.

Then, usually once a week I compile everything I'd like to print - i print the sources bc my handwriting is messy - into a word document formatted for two columns. I try and hold off printing until i have a full page worth, or two full page worth.

For images, I have another word document (these are printed in color, and i usually have to jigsaw to fit as many images on the page as possible, so different word document). Same thing, I try and wait until I have a full page to print. Usually x2 a month. I sometimes will print with an HP sprocket but the quality is really bad and the pictures are thick so, it's for when I'm out of printer ink or I think a photo will look okay with a sorta...uneven look.

I use just a Staples brand journal, TruRed. Cheap and easy. I draw a line at the top so I can write the date, and in the future if I want to tag it with a colored sticker or something, I can. My layouts usually include divided space on either the left or right of a page. The article goes in the bigger open space, and then the source (always write your source!!) and any commentary goes in the smaller margins.

Commentary is usually why I wanted to print it, what it reminds me of or makes me think about, etc. What I think the argument was missing, etc. Can be as little or as much as you like. As emotional and deep or as plain-jane as you like. There are no rules!

I trim printed text and images with a 12 inch trimmer bc I've got wobbly hands, but some people just use a little (blanking on the name) exacto knife? Any 12 inch trimmer will do mine is expensive but I also scrapbook so I use it all the time.

I paste things in using a tape runner (again, because I scrapbook and found a tape runner and my mom sells scrapbook supplies they're very accessible to me). Some people use tape, washi tape, glue sticks (liquid glue I've never seen).

And yeah, then I just decorate and play around. It doesn't have to be pretty. It can be really pretty if you want - I'm motivated by aesthetics, so, I like mine to be a little pretty.

If you'd like to see how I actually put it together and why I print certain things, my YouTube channel is the place to go.

Some people tape in movie tickets, receipts from where they shopped or ate, pictures from daily life. Some people mix common-placing and journaling, so including diary entries about their day or about a topic they love, or their thoughts and feelings (I keep mine in a separate journal, explained in this video). Some people mix common-placing with bullet journal or planning. Some combine all three!

At the end I just use a printer scanner (HP Envy 5500, cheap) and post them online that way bc I love the look.

People who have other styles you might try and look at are @petite-gloom (an OG who inspired me and many others) @fakelavender , @teddybearsticker .

#answered #commonplace #commonplace book #commonplace journal #journaling #journaling community #stubyblr

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transformers-mosaic · 8 months

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Transformers: Mosaic - "The Oregonian"

Originally posted on June 23rd, 2008

Story - Iván Mas Edits - Jana Illa Translation - Rafael Polanco

deviantART

wada sez: This is the first of three strips created by Iván Mas which were rejected by Mosaic editorial for whatever reason—in this case, because it has neither original artwork nor a comic-strip format. I’ve been a little unsure about what the hell to do with these rejected strips, because there’s no good place to put them; I’ve actually already shared one of the rejected strips as part of this archive, as part of the behind-the-scenes material for “Shogun”, which it appeared to have evolved into. The core stylistic idea behind “The Oregonian” would similarly evolve into another strip by Iván Mas, which is coming up in just a couple of days, so as a prelude to that strip I’ve decided to share the other rejected ones now. If you think this is giving Mas’ work undue precedence, all I’ll say is that TFNation this year I got talking to a chap about Mosaic and one of the first things he said was something like “I just remember those strips by those Spanish dudes. Those rocked.” So there. The idea here is pretty similar to that used in Dreamwave's first Generation 1 series, for an in-universe newspaper article; this one's set in Sunbow continuity, before the Transformers become public knowledge. The meteor which splits in two is in fact the Ark and the Nemesis, the Autobot and Decepticon spaceships locked in mutually-assured destruction. The loss of fuel at the oil rig is down to the Decepticons, as it's the one they raid in the very first episode of the cartoon. "I. Sam" is an anagram of "I. Mas", while the other namedrops are his usual collaborators: "Carlos O" being Carlos Oliveros, and "R. Yáñez" being Rafael Yáñez. I've no idea who "Philip Theblack" could be a nod to, though. See below for a preview and a machine translation of Mas being an absolutely massive diva in the deviantART description for this piece. Never change!

Well, this Mosaic has been rejected for being "unclassifiable" because apparently Mosaics have not been made from photos .....

That is to say, they haven’t taken photos, they have been filtered by photoshop and have been put inside squares, apparently not .....

Sure ... according to this rule of three, this is not valid, because .... is not a comic page, of course, it can not be a splash page of an open newspaper ... with some leaked pictures ... of course....

And it is not a page with a commemorative illustration with 50 robots ....... of course.

So sorry ... I can have a mosaic about the movie, a sappy one, a black and white one, a landscape one, a couple of Japanese transformers, and some other etc. .... but not one that is a photomontage, ... because of course ... as you can see I have tried, but I have tried with a justification and a style ... obviously I refuse to take photos of the dolls in pose and filter them for obvious reasons ...

Anyway, this makes me think about finishing several mosaics, a bit "experimental", that why not?

why not ... I think they could be good ... because I say ... why limit ourselves to make a simple and plain comic page ?! why not try other things that fans can be attracted to or like even more than a simple page which we lose 2 minutes to look at ? why not push boundaries and media ? .... well ... because it is not possible, because apparently there are unwritten rules and known only by a few privileged people, that being said by the way ... could make them public to know what to expect and why not ... save us the time.

So they would be "UNCLASSIFIABLE" ... but personally I think that for a long time categories should have been established for each one to be more identifiable, so I do not see why there could not be one where it says "Unclassifiable".

So it gives me the sensation that some limitations are marked, I do not understand very well because .... I suppose that it will be the best thing.

Well in short, as they command to keep your head down, this is the result.

In any case Jana and Rafa did a good job, although perhaps there are people who do not appreciate it, I imagine why, but I prefer not to say it, congratulations and thank you!

#Transformers #Transformers Mosaic #Maccadam #Sunbow Transformers #unpublished #Iván Mas #Jana Illa #Rafael Polanco #Sunstreaker #Cosmos #Starscream #Thundercracker #Skywarp

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tickle-her-senseless · 2 years

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Reblogging vs reposting - a rant…

I wonder how long it’ll be before a certain someone decides to save and re-upload my latest bunch of gifs 😒 All I seem to see around here these days are re-uploads of my old gifs by the same person, usually with hundreds of notes on them. When their blog initially appeared, the majority of the owner’s posts were just copypasta of my gifs from the previous few years - not reblogs, to be clear. Giving her the benefit of the doubt (she was new and pretty young), I sent her a friendly message:

As you can see, her response was to block me with no reply - but it hasn’t stopped her from continuing to rip my gifs off, going way back to the days when I was still learning and didn’t know how to make them without a big “makeagif.com” watermark at the bottom right 🙄 I guess she either sees them in reblogs (which is how I see her posts everywhere) and saves them, or she views my blog in a browser window without signing in. I just had a look at hers using the same trick, and there are asks saying things like “where did you find that video? I’ve been looking for that for years” and she replies along the lines of “oh, it’s not available on the site where I found it anymore”. I doubt she’s ever even seen most of the videos I used to make the gifs. They were just lifted from my blog.

“But Swift, why get so precious about it? Aren’t you stealing from the original videos when you make gifs anyway?”

One or two people have asked me similar things over the last several years. My take on gifs can be broken down into 5 parts…

1. They’re ubiquitous on the Internet and seem to get a free pass as low-quality glimpses lasting a couple of seconds with no audio. Major entertainment studios tend to enforce copyright restrictions with an iron fist, but you never see them going after gifs. Official accounts can be seen posting humorous gifs that others have made of their films, shows, music videos etc etc. They’re just part of Internet culture at this point. I’ve seen gifs others have made of me tickling my friends out there online … I’ve even seen a couple of me being tickled, God help me 😱

2. I believe that enough work goes into making a gif for it to qualify as transformative content. Most of it is actually the time spent watching a video like a hawk (usually with the sound off for context) and waiting for a brief spike of beauty or intensity or excitement. Then I’ll replay it a few times, screen record it, crop out any black bars, trim it (sometimes trying to make it loop as smoothly as possible), convert it to a gif while adjusting the size, FPS, format etc, optimise it to get the file size down and finally post it with a caption. All of this was learned through trial and error … which is plain to see in my earliest posts 😅 If reaction videos fall under transformative content from which some people make a fortune, my little non-profit tickle gifs are OK by me.

3. As a hard rule, I never make gifs from videos that aren’t already available to view somewhere online. A lot of them are actually from preview clips posted by the studios themselves, since they put all of the best moments in there anyway! I’ve been known to pay for tickle videos, but I never use them as gif material.

4. I spend a fair bit of time telling people where gifs are from when they ask eg. “Oh, it’s from a free preview of this video by this studio, full version available on Clips4Sale here.” I reckon I’ve actually directed a lot of traffic towards creators by this point.

5. I’m just continuing a convention that pre-dates my involvement on Tumblr and will probably carry on for a long time. When I arrived here, I was more interested in well-drawn art, well-written stories and community meet-up/session videos which warmed my icy heart and really made me want to be a part of things here. To my surprise, the engagement on gif posts dwarfed every other type of content, even videos. Ironically, I don’t actually get much pleasure from them myself, I find them empty without the audio. I always want to hear how much the lee is suffering, sue me 😁 Still, I figured that learning how to make gifs would be the most effective way to integrate myself here - and I was right, it was 😉 I do think it’s crazy, though, that a gif of mine could get hundreds of notes in 24 hours when I was posting regularly, but talented artists and writers struggle to get a few dozen in total. They’re the real content creators.

Anyway, yeah, there you go. It’s also true that content takes on a life of its own to some extent once you upload it. I see a bunch of my stuff on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok … people regularly upload it to Discord servers that I’m in (or even help to moderate) and I just smile to myself and don’t say anything. Posting a gif on a different platform is one thing, but I do think that posting literally dozens of them on the exact same platform is shady as hell when the reblog button exists. Especially when I reached out amicably and was blocked with no response.

It’s been one of the factors behind my activity dropping off so much in the past year - motivation to make gifs is hard to find when you know that someone’s waiting to help themselves to anything you throw out there. The only reason I haven’t named this person is that she’s on the young side, although not a minor (as you can see, my original message to her was sent over a year ago and I never said anything in public to spare her any flaming that might ensue) but I have to admit, it’s beginning to grate on me - especially when I see people tagging her blog as the source when they incorporate the gifs into their own posts…

#tickle community #tickling #tickle gifs #reblog don’t repost #losing the will

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quinntamsin · 2 years

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Her Fea sings to another, and yet she cannot sense it. A light on the periphery of her power, and thus she rested. Cuinn, the Dunedain called her, the "One Who Gives Council" in a rough form of Westron. Her amber lacquered armor shined in the new day as she walked the gates of Rivendell. The sword astride her hip newly sharpened as she prepared to join the Host of the King. As the thunder of orc feet came rushing she raised her shield and braced herself.

"Aure entuluva!" the rough erupted from the people of Lindon. "To the Light of Elbereth! In the Elder King's name!"

As the orc bodies crashed against her singing shield as the wave against the bullwark she smiled. Finally, after long years of dread, she would have her revenge. === Holy shit this is happening. LOTR - Rings of Power Ep1 "A Shadow Of The Past" opens with a dark screen. A group of elves play in the fields of the Far West, and thus we see young Galadriel. This has to be Aman this is before the reappearance of Melkor in the East. The beauty of the line of Finwe is strong in the Nis as we watch. And yes, I will be using FUCKING QUENYA and SINDARIN in this. Shit, they actually created Aman, the Westlands of Beauty and where the Elder King, Manwe sits far above all. Another Bonde elf, holy shit I think its....Finrod. A short haired ef is weird, Noldor usually are depicted with long hair. I wonder if this was to avoid the iffy wigs we see in HoD. Watching Finrod, one of the brightest sons of Finfarin. And holy shit....its - they actually made it. The city of the Noldor and the two trees. They are sowing the Noldor and Beleriand. The fights of the Noldor and the Sindar. Dragons fighting eagles...dammit its the Battle of a Thousand Tears! I see now why they spent so long in this. preview is amazing. The tall pile of elven helms and the rise of Sauron as the dread Captain of the Dark Lord. Hmm we are suddenly in the far north, and the Elves still hunt for the Vampire and Shapechanger. This particular scene near the frozen wall of ice and a waterfall nearby is beautiful. The company is weakened and they question the Captain, you can see how they never saw the fall of the trees. No, evil persists even in the light as it can hide in Shadow. I like how they dpeict evil as cold and even being powerful enough to quench the living flame of a torth. Leaving only its bare light. This show is so damn pretty, yes, its dark in the beginning but compared to the end of GoT it has colors. WE know that there is something of the Shasow in that fortress as we had a shot of something moving not of the company of Galadriel. There are Yrch in this place. Even worse of Frost Troll. Damn it looks epic. Watching Galadriel take out the troll was...so fucking epic. And, her entire company turns on her. The fools. Okay nice opening. We are suddenly now in Rhovanion, a pair of hunters travel home with great elk wracks upon their backs. WE hear of the stories of Harfoots of how dangerous are proto-Hobbits are. ANd, yup it's a fucking hobbit in a hole. An entire field of Harfoots! I like how they went with them being a hidden people and ehtier entire town and camp hiding in plain sight. It makes the smials that develop in the shire all the more awesome later on! And we get to meet one of our major Harfoots, Nori. Heh, this is adorable with the various littles. They appear to be playing in some sort of ruin where there are berries abound to gather and eat. They find a footprint - wargs. Wild wargs. There have to be orcs nearby for a pack this big. WE switch to Rivendell who appears to be keeping a record of sort. They bar him from the Elven council of Lindon (he is half-elf, Peredhel), and Galadrial has returned from Forodwaith. She's basically his great - great aunt if you need the basics. THe harfoots return with Nori being confronted by her mother and speaks to her mother. IT's good to see how the hobbits in this period of Arda act. I predict the Warg pack will attack revealing orcs sending shit out into the world. In Lindon Gil-galad is holding a ceremony to celebrate the fall of the Enemy. This is where you can see that the Elves are still foolish in this age. They still think they are powerful, but their fall is coming. The High-King speaks of sending the survivors of the company and Galadriel back home across to Aman. Fools, they are complacent in the face of the Enemy's return. The graves of the elves cared into living trees is...reflective. It makes sense, and honest, I feel like that this scene with Galadriel is a foreshadowing of her time in Lothlorien. "Evil does not sleep - it waits." This is probably one of the best lines of this show so far. I love this scene between Nephew and Aunt, and family tied by long years of hardship. Now, we travel away from Lindon east here in the southlands the men work the fields. These are Northmen, people who didn't fight in the War of Wrath and thus were not of the Edain. Here a group of men fight with Arondir, who I'm guessing is some sort of far ranging patrolmen. Arondir's friend decides to pester him and as the call to remove the garrisons comes. WE will see the fall of the land which will become known as Mordor. Arondir returns to the woman and we see the cow is exuding black milk. Bronwyn joins Arondir and Bronwyns son pulls out a morgul blade. A FUCKING BLADE CAST OF the evils of Morgoth. Fool. The kid is now infected with the power of the new Dark Lord. Switching back to Lindon we get Celebrimbor takin on Elrond as his apprentice to work on a "New Project". WE see that the Harfoot ssee a strange set of stars in the night. Arondir and Bronwyn get into an argument about what could be happening in Horndern, and yeah well that town no longer exists. Its burned to the ground. In our ending we see the ship about to enter the Blessed West as everyone watches a great red falling meteor strike the ground. WE even see a group of Ents. As the company passes into Aman Galadriel jumps from the ship and awaits in the water. Which makes me wonder how she plans on getting back to dry land. I mean... And in Lindon the tree above the High King stars to die with a horrendous black blight filled with the lore of the Dark Lord. The fool, the Shadow has returned. And a man sits in the middle of the fire which makes me wonder who the hell he is. This might be an Istari, a fucking Wizard. LETS DO Episode 2 now! "Adrift" and now we get to see the opening. Oh, I like how its particles of stone forming various designs and symbols. At the impact site Nori is found out by Poppy and we see something strange. A tall mostly nude man (he had a loin cloth thingy) with a large white beard. This has to be a fucking wizard! Yup shit gets all floaty then the fire goes out. When he blacks out again the fire reignites. Yup this has to be a fucking Maia coming down from Valinor. Poppy and Nori use their sneak skills to bring the gain bearded man out of the creator. "That's a tomorrow problem." Yup, this is a fucking quest opener. Except the Wizard came flying out of the sky. This guy is either Saruman or maybe Gandalf. I mean he's obviously a wizard, hell he was recused by fucking Halflings! Qw xomw to Hordern where Arondir and Bronwyn are pulling apart the remains of the entire town. Down a hole they find a massive set of tunnels. This has work bullshit all over it. Switching to Eregion it's nice to see an entire Elf city in the open. Celebrimbor and Elrond fawn and discuss the hammer of Feanor. The greatest smith to ever live and we can see that Celebrimbor is unsure of his craft and lore. Seems we have an idea to make the rings and a magnificent forge is a nice start. Oh and damn I love the show of Khazadum! Holy shit its the gate from I think its the gate that opens for "Friend". And the Dwarves speak like their Scottish. Goddamit. Heh, he speaks fucking Khudzul! I like all the Dwarves in their armor, it feels nice to see how it mirrors the hard gaze of Durin or their people. Khazadum is glorious! This is what I've wanted from a Warven kingdom and city for years! Yup, this show wins so much fantasy points for these images. Especially the tiered farms grown in the light of openings above. Heh, it's great to hear the Dwarves speaking Khuzdul. Inad durinul! Heh, this is amazing. I adore how all the Dwarves have Longbeards as they should! I like how they have a literal rockbashing ceremony. This entire group feels like a bunch of drunk fratboys. Perfect! Back to Nori, okay she ventures to check on the Strange, of course, he's gone. Apparently doddering about trying to figure himself out. Wait no, he's drawing something. His literal word causes what appears to be a magical reaction, yup this is an Istari - a wizard. Nori speaks to him and he appears to be learning from her words and sussing out the world. Nori and the man seem to be trying to communicate. Nori's father's foot gets broken and we see an issue with the Harfoots migration. And...Galadriel is swimming across the ocean like a woman possess. This is Nolda of high power and lore. If anyone besides fucking Laurendil could could swim that far. And we see a ship on the back of a giant fucking sea dragon. Holy shit, yup we are upping the monster scenes in this show as the think is massive and proceeds to attack the ship remains. After the ship tosses her back out into the water our girl seems to figure something out or appears ready to just accept the embrace of Ulmo. Whoever the weird man is that remains of the ship crew he seems a little bit creepy. Back in Khazadum, Durin gives his former friend an earful. IT makes a point, Elves and those elf-like Peredhel experience time differently than the other peoples. Durin sets a limit and suddenly out comes Disa, and I love how they did her hair. ANd out come the kids playing with giant dwarven face helms. Gods they are so damn adorable. Damn, I love Dias she has such damn good sense of being a Dwarf. I gods, this entire fucking thing. Durin and his wife are so in love and are just happy. It's good that we get this. Heh, hear a swear to Aule was good. Damn, this show hits all the nice little lore spots with me. Harbrand and Galadriel get off to a fairly bad level of relationship. He speaks of Orcs destroying his homeland which makes me think maybe he's a man from the Southlands. One of those fools who live near Tirharad. Makes me wonder if those fools were from a place farther east than Hordern. The people keep mentioning a king which makes me wonder who this King is. He's obviously not linked to the ORcs. or Harband would have said something about them. This level of horror is upped as we seen an Orc watching beneath Bronwyn's home. And Arondir seeing them creeping in the tunnels beneath Hordern. Even the rats appear to be fleeing from what is coming. This entire scene was so damn claustrophobic. When he's grabbed he's just gone. Bron returns to her home to see Theo hiding from the ORc he saw. It comes scraping out of the hole. Massive clawed hands and its sickly greasy body making it appear as a mix of fucking flayed skin and some strange weird leatherface look. Theo stabs the thing which gets him in the arm as it fights like a bloody gollum on steroids.It takes a stab full through the body and a blade in the neck and it goes down hard. Said Orc head makes proof of problems and so they leave the town hopefully. Galadriel and Harband in meanwhile fight the storm. She is dragged overboard and Hardy boy decides to stop being a shit and saves our girl. Nicely done! Nice to see the racism between the Southers and the Elves getting to be a bit less shitty. Nori and her friend return to see the strange. Who seems a bit more lucid now than before. He appears to use the fire flies in their lanterns for something that changes to a pair of stars. We see all of the fireflies die after he does his craft. Which makes me wonder about a lot of things. It appears that our Dwarven friends have a Simaril perhaps we see something as King Durin speaks to the prince. And Theo does some weird shit with the sword which appears to be remaking itself with the touch of his blood. We watch all of the town of Tirharad flee for the watchtower. Both Galadriel and Harband drift and find themselves waking up in the sun. Above them stands a man on a ship, my guess is he's a Numenorean. Gay Thoughts Okay, wow this was hard. But seriously, Celebrimbor and Elrond are an interest pair one could use. Honestly, with Galadriel it wouldn't be hard to have her marry Celebrian and have someone else. But gods I'm too focused on OCs for this idea! Hottakes

Holy shit this series is pretty.

Like how fucking pretty is this shit!

That intro was almost right up there with the ones from the OG trilogy. Hobbit one still beats it out.

I like how they are really setting up this build up to the rings. And the return to Sauron as well.

Costuming is a little drab, but I do like the armor I'm seeing.

Ho-shit that Frost troll was awesome.

Both Lindon and Eregion are very pretty and so is Khazadum.

We need more DWARVISH! Moar Khuzdul!

Hmmmmm Disa was a bloody treasure.

Prince Durin is a good kid.

Khazâd can fucking party!

Can we get some woodelves please?! All we are seeing are hoity-toity fucking. Silvan and bloody Noldor. Some Nandorim would be niiice!

Strange is likely some kind of maia spirit.

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gameguides · 1 year

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Dwarf Fortress Guide & Walkthrough

Welcome to our Dwarf Fortress Guide & Walkthrough. A plain-speak guide for folks starting a new Dwarf Fortress. We know that there are people who have a hard time finishing the Dwarf Fortress game. If you are one of those who find it difficult to finish the game, let's take you to our Dwarf Fortress guide. #DwarfFortress

Dwarf Fortress Guide & Walkthrough

A plain-speak guide for folks starting a new Dwarf Fortress. World Generation

Step one will be to create a world. The menu is all very straightforward here. I find the following settings are usually exciting & not too slow to make: Medium World 100 years Medium civs High & of sites Beasts & Savagery should be to your taste, I like both Very High. Mineral Occurence: Frequent is pretty good. This will generate around 60,000-100,000 individual alive (The survivors of 100 years of terrible history) NPCs with entire lifespans, goals, victories and defeats, struggles and memories which shape their personality and their social interactions. This has a gameplay effect on the simulation of their mood as well. All that should generate in about a minute. Now, when your world is generated you can preview it and choose to save it. Once the world is saved, you're also able to view it in Legends mode from the main menu. This allows you to read the histories of the realm. I love the new Legends viewer! Embark This section is about choosing an Embark site and provisions.

When you enter the embark screen you'll be offered a Tutorial. I haven't played it yet, this is about choosing a site. Right away, you can click "Find Embark Location" to search for somewhere with "NO" aquifers of any kind. Anything else is to your taste or can be left alone to quickly take a look. The search will sluggishly (progress shown) return green-colored areas of success. TIP: From this point, you can to quickly close any windows or views. Recommend: * Rivers are great for water and fish. * You can settle between two biomes or more, for more ores below! * 4x4 area recommended for performance * Choose your Starting Civilization, it will show you where they are too. When you place your embark rectangle, next you'll be offered to Quick Start or prep carefully. Both are fine. Preparing Carefully In this mode you can Name your fort and group, create a symbol, and skill your 7 starter dwarves. Assigning skillpoints: - Professions can be intermingled with some caveats. - Need: a Woodcutter, a Miner (Keep them separate for AI Logic reasons) - Need: a Cook, a Brewer, a Butcher - Need: an Herbalist, a Planter (they can also get the array of livestock skills here) - Need: a Carpenter, a Mason - one of whom should also have Mechanic - Optional: A Hunter or Fisher (Never assign both to one for AI Logic reasons) - Optional to support fisher: Fish Cleaner+Dissector - Optional to support hunter: Butcher/Tanner/Leatherworker - Optional: a leader with the organization skills (can be learned natually) of "Appraiser, Organizer, Book-keeper" - Optional: a fighter with the skills Dodging, Fighting, Armor Usage, Blocking Trading Items - This can save 100-200+ in points! * Immediately look for cheap spider silk or other material alternatives to your bags, ropes, cloth. * Add a bit of raw wood and raw stone for initial workshops, it's very cheap * You can also pick animals in Prepare Carefully mode (you also get 2 yak/random wagon animals) (Deadly Pro-tip: If you don't craft what you downgrade here, it can be lethal!) * Downgrade wheelbarrow (cost 50) for logs (cost 3!) and craft them on-site instead. * Same for buckets, but this is very dangerous Do you feel prepared? Basic Gameplay Guide for Dwarf Fortress

You will now receive an Embark message telling you about your mission to survive and the local animal predators. Heed it well and hit ok. Now make sure it's PAUSED (top right by map shows II or >) will pause and unpause. Our first goals by Winter will be to have working Defenses, Kitchens, Beds, and a Trade Depot. But how do we make this happen? In Dwarf Fortress, you do not directly control the dwarves. Instead, you create tasks. Then Dwarves will perform jobs which fit their "Labor." For example, when a stockpile is created, a Job is created for any dwarf of the appropriate Hauling Labor to take a specific item there. That job is completed and deleted when done. In this release they've made it a lot easier to get started, too - Dwarves are Generalized until you say otherwise (You should be able to start with a few specialists) To get things done: - + Create Zones, where work happens automatically if resources and workers with the correct labors enabled are available (buckets, step-ladders, fisherdwarves, animals & animal-handlers) - + Create Designations, for Mining or Tree Cutting for example, or for item Dumping. - + Create Orders at any level (Workshop level for specific or one-time orders, Manager level for repeating tasks) - + Create Stockpiles where goods are moved by an assortment of Hailing labors. - + Place buildings - Beds, Tables, Chairs and a Well are important first items. Also how Traps are placed. - + Assign Nobles, who are required for some functions and make your life bettworse - + Assign Militia Commander in nobles, who allows for Squads creation. So now, take a look at your UI . This series of windows and their many tabs within are your keys to the kingdom. At this point, the UI is laid out so that "If you click every tab and window here before un-pausing, you'll be in a good spot"

So before your very first unpause most of this can be done, except maybe you can wait for the first migrants before you have a free guy to assign Sherrif or something. Seeds Stockpile - It can be helpful that you have seeds ONLY allowed in stockpiles where ZERO barrels are allowed. This way barrels are used for drinks and planters are not hauling heavy barrels around. Kitchen Setup There's a few important things to remember about the Kitchen menu. - Seeds are sometimes only given when processed or Brewed. So, Forbid the cooking of anything which can be brewed! - You can keep some fat/tallows forbidden to cook, to use for soap instead - Don't cook seeds First Steps As described above, you'll want to make pretty much one of every zone available because they all have a function (dont worry about clay/sand though) then you can un-pause to get workshops built. Now all those labors you learned about? They all have workshops. "Masons" and "Carpenter" workshops are most important to build first for blocks, doors, beds & barrels. "Crafter workshops" are also versatile and important for buckets. Mechanic shops can build mechanisms for drawbridges which can be a vital first line of defense. Most importantly of workshops, create a "Kitchen" and a "Still" ASAP. This is how you get food n drink. Each of these workshops can either produce things once as a Task, or it can be automated to a dizzying level of detail as a Work Order. For example to always have food, make a Work Order at a Kitchen workshop for Easy Meal, you can say this should only be done when ingredients are available. The bottom of the work order screen will have suggested parameters. Example of making bolts:

Squad Creation First you need the Militia Commander Noble assigned. You will probably start with a militia commander squad with one poor sod as your first Squad. Labor X Military Caveats Maybe this is fixed, but if not it must be known. You should never assign a Squad to a Dwarf who has the following labors for AI Logic Reasons: - Fishing - Hunting - Wood Cutting - Mining - Hammerer (Loyalty Cascade warning) Squad Schedules Any month, any amount of Squads can be assigned multiple orders. For example "2 dwarves of Squad A train and 2 Dwarves of Squad A will patrol and 4 of them will guard a certain spot in X month" Tip: Rotate your Squads! Dwarves should ideally get 2-3 months off, every 2-3 months of duty. Tip: You can have 2-3 schedules so that different months, any squad is always on duty. Squad Training Training requires a "Barracks" zone or room which is assigned to the squad, and also contains either a cabinet or Archery Targets (Advise a full set of 10 Archery Targets for archer rooms) (Archery Target facing direction must be set after placement) Squad Uniforms - Each body part on a dwarf has layers. So you can cover each part in a soft and hard layer. - You can also specify that the hard pieces be made of metal. - Until you have a full set of armor for everyone, I recommend that "Uniforms are worn OVER clothing" in the early game. Armor Set for Militia example - Hood with metal Helm - Cloak with metal chain shirt and metal breastplate (or cloak and leather chest armor) - Trousers with Greaves - I am not sure if the tip "You need to add both twice for both feet/gloves protection" applies still but: - Glove(s) with metal Gauntlet(s) - Sock(s) with High Boot(s) - A shield - A weapon of their choice - - Defenses Refer to the build menu for available Traps, or the wiki's articles for the myriad of creative examples again but I'll say that the standard Year 1 defense can be a smooth wall + drawbridge. In conclusion, Brew everything at a Still right away, get plantin' & build that Trade Depot before Autumn. Dwarf Fortress - Industry & Workshop Guides Workshop Examples

Industry Flow Chart

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housebeleren · 2 years

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Throne of Eldraine Limited Card Re-Evalauations

We’re almost ready to go nuts with Theros Beyond Death, but before we do so, I want to wrap up Throne of Eldraine. One of my favorite parts of evaluating every set as they preview is revisiting them as the format is winding down to see how my assessments changed. In some cases, I’m just plain wrong, and that’s almost the most fun. Since I rate cards on a 5 point scale, I won’t bother with anything that only changed half a point in my assessment from the start of the format to now. Only cards that I missed by a full point or more. Let’s go.

Initial Rating: 1.5 New Rating: 2.5

I... don’t really know what I was thinking here. My only guess is that I was too distracted by it being more expensive than Raise the Alarm and had too much memory of Sworn Companions being mediocre to think about it properly in context. But Instant speed makes this incredibly more playable, and I frequently used it as a combat trick to take out opposing X/1s or just gain some life then chump block. Plus, the go-wide deck in Green/White was real, and this card was great there. Now watch as I completely overestimate Omen of the Sun...

Initial Rating: 2.0 New Rating: 3.0

I got too caught up in the 3/1 for 2 mana trope, and didn’t appreciate just how good Adventures were going to end up being. This card is playable in almost every deck, but it was straight up nuts in a dedicated Green/White Adventure build, where it could save a creature from removal, let that creature go on its Adventure again, and still come down to trade with something else. The card is flexible and cheap in all modes, and that total package was just greater than the sum of its parts. (In direct contradiction to what I said in the initial rating.)

Initial Rating: 1.0 New Rating: 2.5

Whew, I was quick to dismiss this one. Turns out, the format was grindier than I anticipated, making all aspects of this card better. Ramp was totally viable, and jumping from 3 to 5 mana often put you cleanly ahead of your opponent. I think I’ve gotten a fresh hand off of it at least once every time I’ve drafted it, and that’s pretty impressive for what initially looked like a Commander gimmick. It also has the benefit of being an Artifact, which several Blue cards care about. I’ve had it not work, but usually I’m pretty happy to see it, and it’s quickly become one of my pet favorites in the set.

Initial Rating: 2.5 New Rating: 3.5

My initial rating on this card is entirely due to the triple-Black mana cost, and my assumption that it would be harder to draft monocolor (or heavily skewed 2-color) than it turned out to be. Mono decks are completely viable in this format, as are 10/7 Land splits, making Ayara completely viable if you pick her early. In mono-Black, she’s more like a 4.0, because she just does so much, but I think the new rating of 3.5 is correct, given the constrictions needed to make her great.

Initial Rating: 1.5 New Rating: 2.5

I don’t feel too bad about this one, since a lot of people underestimated what turned out to be one of the most reliable Black finishers in the format. It has a lot to do with how grindy the games could go, since this definitely is not what you want to see against a blazing fast start. But most games went pretty long, and the card advantage netted by this was very real. Sure, you wouldn’t play a 4/5 for 7 mana on its own, but coming with a discard spell attached is a surprisingly powerful package.

Initial Rating: 0.5 New Rating: 2.5

I really missed this one, didn’t I? It went on a roller coaster, first being pretty ignored until people started playing against it, then it became all the rage once people saw how it performed, to the point that many people overdrafted it. And it eventually settled somewhere in the middle. Not every deck wants it, but several do, and it has the potential to just grind the game to a halt. To be clear, this card is severely unfun, and was a contributor to the fact that there were games that ended in natural decking simply by drawing every card you have, one at a time. At first blush, it looks like Blood Reckoning, which is mediocre for sure, but the life gain tacked on makes it so, so much more frustrating, since it effectively gives all your creatures -1/-0 on offense as well. Let’s hope there aren’t any sleeper asshole cards like this hiding in the next set.

Still salty about the design here. I desperately wish this card were White and granted Lifelink & “can’t be blocked by creatures with power 3 or greater.” (Aka turns your creature into a Beloved Princess. I will die on this hill.)

Initial Rating: 2.0 New Rating: 1.0

As far as how it actually performs, this was the first card I dramatically overestimated rather than underestimated. My hunch is that I expected the format to be much faster than it was, and that Haste would matter more than it did. As is, the format lent itself towards long board stalls, and the value of this as a way to push through extra damage diminished significantly.

Initial Rating: 2.5 New Rating: 3.5

I correctly estimated that any power in this card lie pretty much entirely in its ability to generate Food. What I failed to estimate is just how good that would be. The Food deck was one of the best decks in the format, and if you were lucky enough to draft this dumb bird, you’d be completely set, as it both ramped you into your big Green threats and enabled the Food payoffs. But even in a deck with zero Food synergies at all, it effectively reads 3G+Tap: Gain 3 life. And that is a pain in the ass card if ever I’ve heard of one, especially in a format prone to stalls.

Initial Rating: 4.0 New Rating: 3.0

RTFC for fucks sake. I totally misread this and assumed it drew a card for every non-Human creature that hit, instead of being capped at one per combat. Make no mistake, it’s still good as-is, but the format proved especially harsh to mister leaf kitty here. By the time he came down, the board is usually already cluttered and the removal was abundant. In Green/Blue, he goes up a half point, since there are fliers to help get through, but he so underperformed my initial expectations in general. Mythic Uncommon, this is not.

Initial Rating: 2.5 New Rating: 1.5

We end this with a Land, which is unusual since they’re usually pretty easy to evaluate. The thing with Tournament Grounds is that its restriction is really actually a major drawback. Not being able to use the colored mana to cast removal or non-Knight creatures turned out to be a liability, and it was especially punishing with Adamant in the set, as most of the good Adamant cards were Instants & Sorceries. Lastly, given how much monocolor was drafted, very few 3 color decks actually got made, and I found I’d usually rather have more basics than a conditional fixer land that didn’t work with half the cards in my deck.

So that’s it. I grossly misvalued 10 cards for Throne of Eldraine Limited. Which is actually pretty decent, if I do say so myself. I had 12 for Core Set 2020 and 16 for War of the Spark. Let’s hope I can get even better for Theros Beyond Death!

#MtG

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retphienix · 2 years

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Oooo~

These are some fun musou characters to play as.

I was impressed with how they blended some persona stuff into combat, but honestly Joker's very "average" playstyle wasn't doing much for me.

The coolest thing I experienced was finding out changing personas altered the spells cast during his basic combos (so you could be aggressive but have dia spammed on you for instance, all without actually pulling up the spell casting menu).

But now that I can actually mess around with my party members, I really like their individual gimmicks :) And the game's built on having your party with you and being able to baton pass to them at will, so that's cool too.

Ryuji can charge his special attacks for added effects and damage, Haru can hold special to do extended combos (and oh boy if her gun isn't much more interesting in the context of a musou rather than the main game), Yusuke has counters which I haven't played with as of typin' but he also just does really sick swordplay- like the classic "Steady sheathe into million cuts that unleash as I slowly click my sword back into its sheathe" deal. I believe that's his counter, but it also just procs on time.

Makoto feels EXTREMELY familiar to me, as she has a flow to her normal attacks that infinitely loops like some other musou characters in the past, usually monks as well if I remember right. Also, just like Ryuji, she incorporates some installs- where he can give himself poise- she can add nuclear affinity to her attacks- neat stuff.

Morgana can

which, with me just mashing buttons to see who I like playing as, I don't know the purpose behind it yet. Maybe he can hit shadows. I do know it's also his aerial special and THAT looks like an actual good attack with some nice AOE as he slams down as a car.

Ann seems to be a pretty general whip user- she also has an install where she buffs her whip with fire damage, but mostly she just seems solid and plain- lots of big "Put fire over there!" moves.

Buddy if Sophia isn't the obligatory Technical character.

She links her combos for better damage (and range? effects? Better.)

Her moveset seems genuinely fun and the timing is rhythmically pleasing, but also, no. No I don't feel like timing releases in this game so I don't think you're on the party. Partially because I like rhythmically tapping the attack buttons and pressing "special" at the animation I know will next include my intended special attack in musou, and partially because this isn't a title I feel obligated to use a direct feed to play- so I'm playing through my capture device preview- which does add the slightest delay.

Not enough to really see, but you play for a bit and you kinda sorta notice- it's enough for me to not use the preview for shooters or serious action titles- like Monhun or a souls-like. Musou is fine, sorry Sophia lol

#Persona #Persona 5 #P5 #Persona 5 Strikers #P5S #RetPlays

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martinevev881 · 2 years

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20 Fun Facts About couples swinging

The Best Solution For Swingers Events As Possible Learn About Today

He also found that The Lifestyle comes with a social hierarchy that took him some time to figure out. Single women, similarly, are like unicorns and have carte blanche. In a role reversal that is surprising to outsiders, it is the single men who tend to lack power in the swinging subculture, and are the most likely to only be tolerated.

The Best Solution For Swingers Events Today That You Could Learn

” but one of the big ones asked was what it was like to see their partner with someone else. For the people being interviewed the decision to get into swinging was very much a mutual decision between both partners. Some of the past participants include former cult members, drag queens, transgender people, strippers and, in the latest episode, swingers. Not only should you not pressure your lady into doing anything she doesn't want to do, you should pretty much let her decide what YOU get to do as well.

Those new to the LifeStyle often find that their preconceptions about the LifeStyle were way off. Swingers are not the middle-aged, overweight 1960's rejects as the stereotype suggests. They are normal people, the same people you see everywhere. They go to the grocery store, to the baseball game and to the movies. Perhaps in a few years, it will be the "in thing" to be a swinger. Today, the LifeStyle is evolving and becoming more mainstream.

Alerts & Newsletters

Making friends might lead to you being invited to a party where you do want to do so. You need to keep in mind that everyone has their own uncertainties and insecurities – so it is very important to be courteous and polite. At swinger parties, you can’t be running around like the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, yelling about how late you are. Keep these in mind, as they help ensure that every party is safe and enjoyable for everyone present. "I'm Catholic. I go to church. That's not who I am. People who look for that stuff have alternative lifestyles. I don't look for it. That's why I don't know about it," Schiappa said.

"Tess was the first woman I ever kissed in my whole life. So you always have an innate curiosity about 'How would another woman feel?' I no longer have that curiosity," Bob said. On the hit ABC show "Desperate Housewives," cheating destroys marriages because spouses lie and get caught. To ask other readers questions aboutTHE ULTIMATE BEGINNERS GUIDE TO THE SWINGING LIFESTYLE FOR COUPLES,please sign up. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of THE ULTIMATE BEGINNERS GUIDE TO THE SWINGING LIFESTYLE FOR COUPLES by Adams Gate. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

youtube

If you lucked out and happened to live near a swingers club, it probably wasn't a very attractive or "upscale" place. Michael, as usual, was supportive and caring, calming me down from across the world with reminders that this was what we had set out to experience. I was scared that he would change his mind about being with me after I followed through with it, a feeling that took years to subside.

The Plain Fact About Swingers Events That No One Is Telling You

Over the years it has been expanded to take in other alternative lifestyle club listings. You may want to temper your expectations of swingers events. You and your partner won’t always find someone you like, and there is also a chance that you may get rejected. This is a very important guideline at any swingers event you attend. You and your partner will arrive as a couple and leave as one.

Ashley Winters, twenty, is currently attending the University of Maine at Farmington and majoring in creative writing. Most of her time is spent writing or thinking about writing, and the rest is spent reading or fangirling about people who don’t actually exist. She loves God, her family, her friends, many, many fictional people, and pretty much anyone who makes a pun. You can do all the Internet research you want, but you’re not going to really understand what it’s like to be in a swinging environment until you’ve been there.

Schiappa said a hotel manager told him about social media rumors about the alleged "adult activities." The manager said the rumors were inaccurate and harmed the business' reputation, Schiappa said. BURR RIDGE, IL – In February, Burr Ridge Trustee Tony Schiappa denounced "inaccurate rumors" on social media about alleged "adult activities" at a local hotel. A group of swingers have given a rare and honest insight into the inner workings of the taboo lifestyle, revealing the truth behind people’s common misconceptions. Like everything in a relationship, swinging won’t work if you don’t communicate.

Many neighbors may be interested in the LifeStyle but have never done anything of the sort before. If they only knew you were in the LifeStyle, perhaps they would seek your advice or counsel. We have helped to introduce many that were interested in the LifeStyle, but needed a gentle hand to guide them. Thanks to ethical non-monogamy, Michael and I are excellent at identifying and resolving conflict in all aspects of our lives. We’ve been able to reach a point where we don’t even have to establish any rules because kindness comes first in every decision we make—from choosing to kiss a new lover to borrowing each other’s car.

The majority of Las Vegas lifestyle venues and clubs allow solo males into their parties so there are a lot of options for them including the Red Rooster, a classic and famous swingers party. Whispers is a venue and party for Couples and Single Ladies only and remains the only club in Las Vegas dedicated just to Couples. Swinging is also known to take place in semi-public venues such as hotels, resorts, or cruise ships, or often in private homes.

But don't the couples worry that their spouse will find they like someone else better? Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

#whats a swingers club #Youtube

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svrarchived · 2 years

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THIS IS NOT HOW I IMAGINED MY FIRST DAY, featuring @motleyrams as wren fletcher: “ it means we’ve got something in common … ”

passers-by at celeste's café have no reason to pay the two girls sitting at one of the outdoor patio tables, shaded by a signature purple umbrella. to the outside and unassuming world, they're old friends catching up over cappuccinos; maybe they're college roommates, or maybe they've known each other since preschool and this is an annual occurrence, maybe they found out through facebook or twitter or whatever social media platform is "it" right now that they're both living in philly and can save on rent if one of them takes the vacant room in the other's apartment. it's a pretty picture, one more palatable than the sharp reality of the situation.

jordan can't find it in her to pretend to need a drink of her iced mocha as she looks at photographs of an all-too-familiar face, knowing every line and crease of it, knowing the person so well and not at all. no amount of sweetness in her cup will cut the bitterness saturated on her tongue. the rest of philadelphia is beginning to relax a little, let their hair down, take in calm breaths as the mark of the philadelphia ripper has dialed down. stories on the front page of the philadelphia inquirer have shifted from tales of dismemberment and slaughter to the usual coverage of local festival previews, staffing changes in the police department and a new boutique opening downtown, none of the bylines bearing zach delucci's name. but jordan can't forget, not as easily as the rest of the city. not when she remembers so vividly the depths at which this man, who both is and isn't zach delucci ( according to her brunch-time company ) who is danny johnson ( a plain and ordinary name, flows well but blends seamlessly in with a sea of plain and ordinary names, its identity hidden in plain sight by that fact alone ), who is probably, more than likely, most definitely the philadelphia ripper, who absolutely helped jordan hide a body that one time the fight in fight-or-flight kicked in and elliot martin lay dead, bleeding out of several stab wounds she inflicted, definitely not a case for self-defense given the severity, the intensity of all.... ten? fifteen of them? that's what he had said. she remembers it vividly, word for word, remembers the process of breaking body down and scattering remains, ensuring that no piece would ever be found and no trace of jordan's involvement ever be discovered.

she lets wren's words marinate in her mind, loathing the weight that sinks in her stomach, pulling her back under the surface. the hole she's dug gets bigger by the moment. inside she's unraveling at the seams; outside, she's perfectly composed, as she has been for the past few weeks. her apprehension about whether or not the city is safe again has matched those around her, and it's ebbed along with them. matching the energy of the people around her was a skill she always seemed to possess, inherently, from theatre, but it's hilariously and bitterly ironic to think about the fact that it's been expertly honed all thanks to zach delucci, presumably danny johnson, supposedly gone but she's not keen to lean into such a comforting thought. instead, she'll sip an entirely too-sweet drink, feeling more smothered than relieved by it, and give a small shake of her head.

❛ I can't imagine how hard you've worked to follow that trail. ❜ empathy, carefully treading the line, not wanting to give any hope that wren is absolutely on the right track here, because part of her is still clinging to the hope that this is all coincidence, and the other part can see the path that leads to a murder charge and twenty to life if things happen to go worst-case-scenario, which these days seem like a safe bet. ❛ but I just don't think we're talking about the same person. I'm sorry. ❜

#motleyrams #motleyrams feat. wren fletcher.#act i. answered. — in character.#hi :)

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bluejeanlouis · 3 years

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FIC PREVIEW: We Were Such Fools by kiddle

(M, chaptered, time travel au, coming soon!)

Rule #1: The Rewind Machine cannot be used to change the past, only to experience it. History will reset itself to the original timeline every 24 hours.

On his fiftieth birthday, two things are consuming Harry’s mind: what he’s going to make the kids for dinner tonight, and the fact that his marriage is crumbling at his feet.

So, when his best friend gifts him the trip of a lifetime, Harry chooses to venture off to the summer that set his life on its course—all the way back in 1987.

It only took him one summer to fall in love the first time around. How hard can starting all over really be?

(subscribe here to be notified when this story gets posted!)

Preview under the cut:

They strolled the midway, mouths greasy with fryer oil as they chewed the crunchy bottoms off their corn dog sticks. Harry ordered his with mustard, but Louis liked it plain. Every time Louis spoke, Harry had to remind himself not to stare at him. It shocked him every time he turned his head to see his husband shrunk down nearly thirty years. Even his voice was just slightly higher. Melodic, even.

Before he left, Harry was worried that he may feel older than everyone else, like an intruder in his own life. But being in his younger body felt so natural, so real to what he remembered. Somehow, this was real. He may have kept the experiences of the fifty-year-old he was deep down, but here he was twenty-one. Every other part of him felt as young as he looked. Was this why some people didn’t want to go back?

“The beauty and evil of carnival games is they are always smarter than you think you are,” Louis explained as they stood in front of a ring toss, a healthy distance away as they watched a man try to win his girlfriend a stuffed bear that she surely didn’t care about.

“But someone has got to win eventually,” Harry argued. “Even if by pure luck.”

“Not even,” Louis clarified. “Only. The only way anyone ever takes home one of those stupid giant stuffed animals is by pure dumb luck, usually after blowing a hundred bucks just to increase the odds. You know what kind of fancy dinner you could take your date to with that kind of money? And all this poor girl is gonna get is a five-dollar bear that she’ll have no clue what to do with when she gets home.”

“Maybe he’s got good aim,” Harry shrugged.

“That won’t matter. Those rings are made so thick that they barely fit around the bottle. Have you ever felt one of them? They’re as light as a fuckin’ balloon. As soon as the ring makes contact, it bounces off in another direction. If you’re lucky, it bounces directly over another bottle. And that’s it again: luck.”

“Okay, but the games can’t all be like that. If they were impossible to win, no one would play them.”

“And that’s where the mind of a casino owner comes in. Follow me.”

They walked three stalls over to the balloon dart game. Harry’s chest fluttered like he was rewatching a scene from his favourite movie.

“Look at the wall of balloons back there. You see how they’re different sizes?” Harry nodded. “They’re filled up to different capacities because it changes the tension of the balloon. The shinier the outside, the thinner it is and the better chance you have at popping it. Problem is, you have to pop five balloons to win. Only two out of every five on the board are thin enough to pop, even with a pretty good throw. The odds are against you, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get lucky and hit five thin balloons, or hit an angle that makes the thick balloons pop. But how would you even know when you’re throwing from ten feet away?”

“You couldn’t,” Harry gave in.

“So, if you get a taste of winning, you feel like you can hit the jackpot even though you spend so much that you barely break even with your prize. Not to mention…” He jogged around the corner and asked the girl running the booth to hand him one of the darts. Harry followed, feigning reluctance just for fun.

“This dart,” Louis held it up to show Harry, then poked it into his palm. “It’s dull.” He turned around and threw it at the board. It bounced sideways off a purple balloon and tumbled to the ground. “My point exactly,” he said.

Harry nodded, looking between Louis and the dart as if he was almost impressed with the throw. “Would’ve been pretty sick if you popped a balloon just then, though,” he admitted.

“I know,” Louis scoffed, shedding his confidence. “For the sake of my pride, I’m going to tell you that I wasn’t trying.”

“Is every game rigged like that?” Harry wondered. They kept walking, tossing their corn dog sticks into a nearby trash can.

“Don’t say the ‘R’ word in front of Todd, but pretty much, yeah. That basketball throw over there? The hoop is small and shaped like an oval, so the ball can barely fit through. Plus, it’s taller than a standard basketball hoop, and the ball is under-inflated like those damn balloons. I’m telling you, the odds are always against you.”

“You ever feel dirty when you get people to play your booth, then?”

“Not when I’m running Skee Ball. Of all the carnival games, that one has the highest skill to chance ratio. A skill, which I may say, you do not have.”

“I do have luck, though,” Harry pointed out. “It tends to always be on my side.”

“Not today, it wasn’t,” Louis laughed.

Harry just smiled. “I beg to differ.”

#hello hello i'm writing something new!!!#we're heading back to the 80s this time around with a time travel au babey #it's still a few months out but I wanted to share a little bit of what I've been working on!#larry fanfiction #larry fics

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thepriceisrizzoli · 3 years

Text

hello yes it’s me trying to write again

I’m working on a new not yet titled fic and am here to gauge interest and hype myself into writing more of it. for your consideration:

jane has Issues post hoyt

maura is pilot maura, new on the job

jane/dean/maura energy from the pilot except delete dean and aim them at each other

they aren’t friends right away

ace jane / queerplatonic rizzles or something to that effect

so it’s not smutty

here’s a first chapter preview. are we into this?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Whoa. That the new M.E.?" Frost juts his chin.

The first person Rizzoli's eyes fall on must be the one he means. She attracts the eye, standing out with the electric aura of a celebrity in a crowd of average slobs.

Everything about her drips wealth. Blonde hair highlighted, cut and styled so immaculately as to almost be severe, as if there’s a salon chair in the Mercedes she just emerged from. Blood-red overcoat and black stilettos in a squalid Dorchester alley at 2AM. Her look could be summarized as I could kill you, get away with it, and make the cover of a magazine in the process.

It's not like there's a second person around here who might fit the little nicknames that've been floating around the precinct - Rich Bitch, Her Majesty, Queen of the Dead.

"Must be."

"Wonder where she just came from," he says as a uniform scurries to lift the tape for her.

As they watch her making her way toward the body, Rizzoli tries to figure out what strikes her as odd about this woman. It's that she's alone. She's certainly attracting attention, but usually somebody who looks like that comes with an entourage.

"Poor thing. We must've interrupted a photo shoot," she mutters, turning back to the blood droplets at evidence marker 6.

Her fingers worry absentmindedly at the sleeve of her own plain black overcoat where it's just beginning to fray. It isn't shabby. She's just had it a while.

"Hey, Sinclair," she says to a passing evidence photographer, "Can you make sure this blood gets-"

"Hang on," he says breathlessly, not breaking stride from his jogging beeline to the doctor. Rizzoli watches him arrive at her side and eagerly brandish his camera, awaiting her orders to photograph something she points at.

"Oh, brother," she grumbles.

"Well.. we oughta..." Frost begins to suggest, shrinking a little at the expressionless look his partner turns onto him. "I mean, to get the time of death and all."

They already checked out the body before the M.E. got here. Pretty fresh; two shots; wedding ring; no wallet. Once they ID him they'll look at the wife first, but it's not going to be the wife, at least not directly. Not many women would set foot here at night, even armed. This'll be a guy shooting a guy over money or drugs. The most boring murder.

"Mm-hm." He falls in step with her as soon as she moves.

When the detectives approach, they do so silently and from behind the doctor's back - and yet she somehow senses to rise and turn to them.

"You must be Detectives Rizzoli and Frost." She strips the nitrile glove from her right hand. "I'm Dr. Maura Isles, Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."

Rizzoli almost does the yeah, yeah, speed it up gesture with her waiting hand by the time she gets to the word Examiner.

"Evening, Doctor."

"Barry Frost," her partner adds, all teeth, sticking out his own hand. "We've been looking forward to working with you."

She shoots him a sideways glance. Easy, bud.

"Likewise," Dr. Isles answers him calmly, though with her eyes on Rizzoli.

"Time of death?" She asks, slipping her cold hands into her coat pockets.

"Liver temperature indicates death occurred between 10 and 11 PM. The gunshot wounds would appear to be the cause of death, but we'll know more tomorrow." The doctor picks up her bag and turns to one of the techs, discussing removal of the body while the detectives give the area another looking over.

"I'll begin the autopsy tomorrow morning at 9." The detective wasn't planning on looking up, but something in the tone that lingers after the doctor's voice demands it. She appears to have been addressing her specifically, and adds with completely unwarranted silkiness, "Come if you like."

Refusing to appear thrown, Rizzoli holds the eye contact impassively until she is gone - then narrows her eyes at the empty space.

"Just me, or.. ?"

"Nope," Frost answers from behind her, hitching his pants to squat and examine some shell casings.

Deadbolt. Chain. Keys, badge, wallet on top of the piano.

Rizzoli reaches her hand down for a lick, before remembering in stark silence that there hasn't been a dog in this apartment for months.

Jo Friday was sort of a "maybe caring for an animal will cure your PTSD" gift from Korsak. It was nice coming home to something living, but her schedule wasn't fair to the little mutt. She gets more attention now at her mother's house.

The bathroom light makes her wince, and she squeezes toothpaste on her brush with a squint. It's the one act of self care she promised herself she wouldn't skip no matter how bad things are.

Washing her face she'll skip, though, because it'd get her sleeves wet, and she's too cold and tired to take her coat off. She wasn't wearing makeup anyway.

She pulls the tie out of her ponytail. Her hair is long and flat and oily, thanks to yesterday's plan to wash it tomorrow. One of these days she needs to go get a real haircut again. She's been trimming it herself, and it looks that way. It's not the cost, or even the small talk. She doesn't like people close to her face with shiny sharp objects.

But who cares if she looked like shit? The other cops had been unshaven, rumpled, half-asleep. Nobody looks amazing at a 2am crime scene.

Well. Almost nobody.

The case seems safe to close on Dr. Isles being into women, and it seems an awful lot like she assumes that's mutual. She certainly wouldn't be the first.

Despite every piece of valid circumstantial evidence that twenty years of rumors have been based on, Rizzoli isn't.

The man she was seeing most recently (no longer recent at all, actually) jealously referred to her job as "her husband" after it caused her to postpone the same date too many times. In the middle of yelling at him, she realized he had a point, and they went their separate ways. Her quest for a relationship had been on the back burner to begin with, but at that point, she switched the flame off entirely.

That's the first reason why you never see her with a man. The second is that three years ago, Charles Hoyt killed her.

No, she didn't die like with a funeral. But something about who she was got irreparably broken. Eventually she realized that if she was ever going to escape the endless loop of emotional crises and mandatory therapy, and get back to work, she would have to let go of who she used to be. She would just have to abandon herself, still pinned to that dank basement floor, and go on like her own ghost.

Fourteen months of panic and anxiety and all it took was one decision to just... be someone else. There was an eerie sense of power in the immediate calm it brought her.

She boxed up all the Jane things her apartment - the pictures on the walls, the family photos, the fly ball she caught on her 22nd birthday, grandma's bundt pan - and moved. The new place has generic decor, solid colors, sparse surfaces. It looks like the set of an apartment. Anyone could live there.

She did the same with her personality. She's not Jane anymore. Just Rizzoli. Blank, generic. Safely empty. Like if anybody tried to touch her, their hand would pass right through.

Rizzoli is nobody, apart from being a homicide detective. Having emptied her life of everything else has made her the absolute best one around. The only downside is the way that tends to result in recognition. She told the Lieutenant that the attention is a punishment, not a reward, and that if they want to decorate her, they can mail her that shit. He didn't like that, but what's he gonna do? Fire her?

Personal relationships of any kind are off the table. Not women, not men, not anyone. Not friends. It's easier and safer not to know anyone.

If that blonde doctor has something in mind, that's just where it'll have to stay: in her mind.

Phone and gun go on the nightstand. Rizzoli rolls on top of her unmade bedsheets, fully dressed. She sleeps in her clothes most nights. It's easier to fall asleep knowing she can get up and fight. Pajamas and bare feet are weak.

She stares up at the slats of light that the gaps in her blinds throw across her ceiling.

Gaps are dangerous. This one, between getting into bed and falling asleep, is the most dangerous part of her day, because unoccupied minds can wander.

Sometimes, late at night, unoccupied, alone and in the privacy of her own home, she's tempted to be Jane again, just for a minute. But then all that same old bullshit would start up again.

She forces tonight’s crime scene into her mind and visualizes it until she falls asleep.

#ok sharks who's ready to invest #fanfic #rizzles #rizzles fanfiction #gotta hurry or i'll be late for the rizzlessaince #be honest is qpl or half ace rizzles going to make people not read it #this wouldn't be my usual fluff/smutfest #my stuff

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cosmicsierra · 3 years

Text

Springtime - Professor Obi-Wan Kenobi x afab Reader

pairing: professor!obi-wan kenobi x afab!reader

word count: 1.2k :)

warnings: mature!! 18+ professor and student romance, smut? kind of? sexual tension

preview: In reality, Obi-wan wasn’t worried about whether or not his lesson made sense, it was simply a review of the week before. He knew that you were staring at him all class. He knew you had no idea what the lesson was about. He was being bold and shameless, trying to get you to admit what he knew.

notes: pls take this, i couldn’t stop thinking about professor obi and i needed to break and write slight smut to take some thirst out of my obi-wan longfic. slow burns killll me

masterlist

Diligent clicks from students frantically typing echoed off of the vast walls of the university’s tiered lecture room. You closed your eyes and put your elbows up on the desk. Settling your head in your hands, you ran one hand through your hair and sighed quietly. Your keyboard was the only silent one; every other student in the class was typing in an alarmed frenzy.

You, however, could only focus on the professor.

Usually, that would be a normal and productive habit of a university student of your level, but you weren’t focusing on his words, no. It was a warmer spring day. The lecture room class was being held in didn’t have the luxury of air conditioning, so the hot air snuck in through the windows and consumed the room. You, already dressed for spring weather, were in a knee length floral dress with a turtleneck underneath. Not only were you overthinking the turtleneck part now, but also you noticed your Professor must have been overthinking his outfit choice.

Professor Kenobi, always known for being well put together and gracing the room with a well energized presence (except for when he spent the night grading essays), was now brushing locks of strawberry blonde hair from his forehead. He wore a button up shirt with a simple vest and tie, but the sleeves of his button up have been progressively rolled up throughout class. You jiggled your leg.

His arms. Every time he reached toward the whiteboard to write out another big concept or a learning target about god knows what, the rolled up sleeves of his button up revealed a little more muscle. His muscles moved as he pressed into the marker to craft words in a beautiful cursive on the plain whiteboard. You wished you could pay attention to the content in class, but Professor Kenobi was absolutely killing you.

Before you knew it, students were standing from their seats and leaving the humid classroom as soon as they could. Some rushed off to their next class, and others lingered to chat with friends. Quickly snapping back to reality, you folded up your laptop and went to shove it into your bag. Swinging your school back over your shoulder, you stood up and walked down the tiered levels to exit the room, but you were stopped by Professor Kenobi’s voice. He usually conversed with you after class, as you genuinely did care about the content and wrote really well crafted papers for his class. However, you thought that the professor would want to get out of the class quickly, evident of his rolled up sleeves and slightly sweaty forehead.

“You’re just going to head out then? I assume you’re not a fan of this either.” Professor Kenobi chuckled and gestured to the windows.

You smiled. “I like it quite a lot, actually. It’s refreshing.” You pulled at the hem of your dress and fanned it out a bit, to show him that you did indeed enjoy the warmth. His gaze briefly held onto the hem of your dress. You couldn’t tell whether he was admiring the pattern, or if he was admiring you. Blushing, you gently let the dress fall back to normal and instead put your hand on your school bag.

“If you enjoy it so much, how come you are flushed?” Professor Kenobi smirked at you, teasing you. Your mouth dropped a bit. You swore he knew. He had to. There’s no way he hadn’t felt your eyes on his forearm all class. Jeeze, you needed to go and touch some grass. “Anyway, why don’t we head to my office to discuss your most recent paper. You made some pretty big revelations that I’d like to discuss.” His smirk turned into a smile, almost as if he suddenly remembered his role as a professor. You nodded. “It’s also air conditioned in my office,” he spoke, “so you shouldn’t be so flushed once we get in there.”

He turned to the lecture table to grab his own leather book bag. He swung it over his shoulder and it rested nicely on his hip. The strap was worn from so many uses carrying class materials all over campus. Holding the door open for you, he gestured for you to leave the room first. He propped the door open behind himself with a wooden doorstop.

Finding himself catching his gaze on your figure in the dress, he tried to focus on the vast stained glass windows in the hall as you two walked.

He spoke again, purposefully avoiding eye contact, “How was today’s lecture? Do you think the class was engaged? Did you feel engaged?”

Your heart dropped. Here he is asking you about the lecture, and all you paid attention to the whole class was his forearms. Hands starting to feel clammy, you stuttered out, “It seemed like the class was pretty focused. Everyone was taking notes.” You smiled up toward him, trying to hide your nervousness. You knew that being a college professor could be overwhelming, and that when students didn’t engage in class it became exhausting. You hopped he wasn’t falling into a phase of burnout, he was truly a wonderful professor.

He finally caught your gaze, finally stopping in front of his office door and unlocking the door, his eyes on you. “What did you think about the topic of logical fallacies?” In reality, Obi-wan wasn’t worried about whether or not his lesson made sense, it was simply a review of the week before. He knew that you were staring at him all class. He knew you had no idea what the lesson was about. He was being bold and shameless, trying to get you to admit what he knew.

You put your arms behind your back, and he gestured you into his office. It was neat, like always, only the stain from the outline of a coffee mug on his light desk, and a leather bound book, sitting open. You took your normal seat in front of his desk. He shut the door.

With your back to him, you answered, “With all due respect Professor Kenobi-”

“Please, call me Obi-Wan.” He interrupted. He smoothly walked over to his desk and sat in his chair. His elbow propped up on the desk, he leaned into his arm.

You gulped. “Okay, Obi-Wan, I had trouble focusing in class because of the humidity and heat in the room.” You were the one beginning to get sweaty, now.

At your words, a smirk formed on Obi-Wan’s face. Leaning ever so slightly closer, he looked into your eyes. “Is that so? Didn’t you just tell me you enjoyed this weather?” He had you now. Out of all of the teasing and his little quips, this was the first time you were at a loss for words.

Reaching over his desk and taking your chin gently between his first finger and thumb, his voice dropped to a whisper. “Or were you enjoying that the heat was making me so bothered in class?” You swore you had stopped breathing at this point. His hands were soft on your chin. Feeling an all too familiar sensation between your legs, you squeezed your legs together tighter.

“Darling,” his voice dripped like honey, “you don’t need to hide it. I know.” His opposite hand reached underneath the desk and gently laid in your knee. You slowly relaxed the muscles in your thigh.

You’re definitely changing your major to English, now.

#obiwan x reader #obi wan kenobi #professor obi wan #star wars x reader #i cant even explain #i need to go touch some grass pls #professor au #obi wan kenobi x reader #student reader #my thirst knows no bounds #obi wan smut

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neonacity · 3 years

Text

Black Daisies: Chapter 3

Preview:

“Only the dead have seen the end of war.”

An NCT mafia AU with OT23. Summary: Working for the mafia comes with many layers. There’s excitement, violence, loss, and betrayals. Yet there’s also friendship, family, loyalty, and code. The last thing it needs? Love and all the complexities it brings.

TW: violence, death, mentions of drugs and other illegal activities. If you’re uncomfortable with any of these, feel free to skip. Author’s note: This is purely a work of fiction. In no way am I supporting all the illegal activities and behaviors that might be mentioned in the story nor am I implying that any member of NCT acts whichever way I may write them here--they’re all sweetiepies that need to be protected!

Chapter: 1/ First Stage

Chapter: 2/Overture

“What’s your favorite flower, noona?” The girl, barely the age of ten, looked up from her spot on the grass at the boy across from her. Her fingers slowed down from wreathing the buds of blooms she had gathered on her lap as she mulled over the question.

“Hmm… I like daisies.”

The raven-haired boy turned his head slightly to the side as if surprised by her answer.

“Daisies? Why?”

“Why not?” The girl asked with a lilting laugh, her hands working again to finish her wreath.

“I dunno… I just…” His nose scrunched as he tried to look for the right words. For someone so young, he sure is someone who takes great care of what he says or does.

“Daisies are so plain… They don’t fit you.”

“Hey, that’s not true.” The girl moved to tuck her legs under her to find a more comfortable position. “They’re very pretty. Simple, but very pretty,” she bit the inside of her cheek for a bit as she remembered something. “Also, Mama told me they mean new beginnings. I like that very much.”

“Mm…”

She looked up again at the apparent dissatisfaction of her playmate. He can be so stubborn sometimes. Even though he’s still a kid, he loves acting like a grown-up, especially in front of her. Still, she looks at him like a precious little brother so she decided to smile and humor him for now.

“What kind of flower do you think will fit me then?”

The boy looked at the stalk he was playing between his fingers thoughtfully before giving a quiet answer.

“A rose.”

The silence enveloping the room was deafening. The situation was the exact opposite of the energy of the headquarters just an hour ago, with everyone looking so tense in their seats. I tried to look as small as possible on the quiet spot next to my computer, the best place where I can look as invisible as I can be. I felt the seat next to me creak and barely managed to break a smile as I looked up at the boy who took it.

“Hey, Jaehyun.”

He gave me a slight nod, his dimples showing just a little bit as he quirked his lips into a tense smile. Even he looks nervous, and he’s not usually one to be affected by anything.

“Can I sit beside you?”

I gave a feeble wave of my hand to tell him yes, not really minding the quiet company for now. He’s usually such a calming presence to everyone, though he does seem a little off today more than usual. I saw his gaze move towards the front of the room where the woman in red was currently standing, her expression composed as usual. Nobody knows her name, only her alias, but even then, her face is a prominent one in the family.

From her looks, one can assume her to be in her early 30s. She had the composure and air that can rival the most cold-hearted of ice queens, evident from years of being trained in whatever she was designed to do. But while her face and presence are something that can make any man fall on their knees, she remains untouchable in a few ways.

“It must be serious, huh?”

I looked back at the boy next to me in surprise. I was so deep into my thoughts I almost forgot he was still there.

“I’m sorry?”

His gaze didn’t move from the woman standing in front of the room. “It must be serious for her to be here… the mistress of the Don.”

My jaw tightened a little bit at the truth behind his words. The Don is not one who often shows his presence to everyone. Usually, it would be his advisers who will get in touch with any of us, a power move that has kept his presence—and that of his family—almost detached from the criminal empire he has built. Whenever he would call the rest for a meeting, however, she would always come first to herald his arrival, like an Angel of Death opening the paths for the Devil himself.

“Yeah… must be,” I croaked, barely finding my voice. As if on cue, the steel doors of the headquarters opened, causing everyone to either freeze on their seat or slightly flinch. I tried my best to keep my head down, my peripheral vision barely catching the black coat of the man who walked into the room with a choking presence.

For a moment, no sound other than heavy footsteps were heard on the expansive floor. Nobody dared to breathe until the Don spoke. He took the spot in front of the room, his mistress moving slightly to the side to give him way.

Eyes like a hawk scanned the cluster of men and boys in front of him. His eyes barely touched the spot where I was, but I knew… I knew that was more than enough.

“I called you here today to give an important announcement,” he finally spoke, his voice steady, commanding. He need not raise it with how quiet everyone was.

“As all of you know, this family has a long history. My leadership was passed down to me by my father, and him, by his father before him. As much as I take pride from being its head for decades, the time has finally come for some new blood, if I must say, to run it.”

Cold seeped into my veins at his words until they sank to the pits of my stomach. Around me, all the members started giving subtle confused looks at each other.

“I have come to announce that I am stepping down from my position as Head of the Family.”

My heart raced, blood pumping loudly in my ears. The members did not dare say anything, though the glances they exchanged told me they’re much in shock as I am. Unfortunately, that’s not the only bomb that was about to be dropped tonight.

“I’m sure everyone here is aware of the tradition of our family. By our law, leadership shall be automatically passed down to the ruling head’s heir,” he stopped, his stern gaze sweeping over the crowd in front of him again. “To my great disappointment, however, my successor refused to accept their birthright.”

My heart started racing faster than it had already been, the organ working so hard it felt like it would burst through my chest.

“Because of that, I am opening the position to all members of the family. Capos, generals, and soldiers alike. Each and every one of you here is a candidate to be the next head of the family.”

...until it stopped working altogether.

For the first time since he came in, my eyes snapped towards the man in front of the room. I was not the only one giving him the same look—everyone was shocked to silence as they processed his words.

“The rules are simple. If you want to be considered, you should come up with something that can bring glory to the family. Add to our wealth, our influence, or power, I do not care. But it must be done with discretion, so that our identity is not betrayed to normal society and our rivals. Other than that…you are free to do anything you like.”

At that, his mistress stepped a little closer to him once again. She spoke in a well-rehearsed tone, devoid of emotions. For a half-second though, her eyes seemed to flicker with something else. I'm not sure if it was just my imagination, but her gaze momentarily stopped on me and Jaehyun before snapping back to the rest of the crowd.

“Everyone here has two months to work on whatever plan they have in mind. We will deliberate who will take the position of the head after that.”

“Wait—”

Taeyong, who has barely moved a muscle on his seat since the announcement, finally stood up. His perfect features looked strained with worry as he addressed the woman.

“When you say… you can do anything you like…” his gaze moved towards the Don, but it was the female who gave him his answer.

“Anything you like. The family code is waived for the next two months."

"No betrayal… or death of a brother shall be held against any of you.”

Chapter 4: Crescendo

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nasty-psd · 3 years

Photo

Texture Collections (unsplash.com)

Hey everyone ! Back at it again with the resources recs, with a whole bunch of textures this time 💚 All the pics are from Unsplash, so everything's free for personnal use, comes with instructions for professional use + with ways to thank the photographers 🥰

I've sorted these first 12 collections to show you the kinds of textures i like the best in my own edits & even professionnal works - with categories either being the medium that they're made with, or an abstract concept they fall under. Click on the names below to access the collections, on the source to access all my collections, and on the read more for quick summaries of how/when i use these !

Detailed descriptions & how to use under the cut ! (obviously, i do not claim ownership over any of these pictures)

1 - Photographs | link here This collection gathers textures that aren’t the easiest to use, but please don’t be scared by them, the following . How i use them : You can use the mockup type of pictures and “insert” your own pics of your friends, characters, etc - which means you must know how to create a basic mockup file (creating fake polaroids is a great way to learn or to train on your mockup skills by the way !). For the scanned images of films, you can also paint over them to integrate your own pictures. What i prefer to do though, is to create a mask layer around the burnt areas with a soft-edge brush, and then copy and paste it onto my edits. It allows more room for creativity but requires quoi color correct the burnt areas so they fit perfectly onto your edit’s colour scheme.

2 - Clouds | link here These one are simple ! I love them as background on edits, as overlays to bring out a little How i use them : With layer modes, as colour palettes references, as backgrounds with a collage of pictures on top - you can go ham with these. They’re also perfect for complex photomanipulations as Unsplash photographers offer multiple sizes options when downloading their pics.

3 - (dry) Paints | link here These paintings are not all necessarily "dry" paints, but rather artworks that show of their painting mediums' natural textures. They're "grungy" in an acrylic's or in a gouaches way. Some may be oils too but i'm not sure. The textures are created with brushes or painting knives, sometimes with spray paints. How i use them : So, as they're pretty dense, i prefer them in backgrounds, or as barely visible overlays. Once again, they’re great for photomanipulations, but you might need to edit them a little so they’re usable or repurposable.

4 - Oil | link here "Oil" is pretty straight forward : these are either oils (liquids with rainbow gradients/reflections) or very liquidy paints. The focus on this one is colours mixing with more or less of success, the "brutal" contrast between them, and the movement they create. (And also : ios background bubbles.) How i use them : they make for perfect overlays, background, references for color palettes or bases for a dispersion filter. They’re complex though, and you might want to stay careful to not go overboard with them, as they can tend to make your edits unreadable.

5 - Typography | link here Typography, yay ! It’s something many of us avoid in edits where it’s not a dire necessity - but growing as an adult into a graphic designer’s world, i learnt to love it. Every character has its own character (lmao geddit) personality, which can be of great support in your edits :) How i use them : as background, as “overlays” in collages or to simply get the inspiration going. You could also reuse the quotes in your edits with different fonts, or the panels in you photomanipulations.

6 - Mineral | link here Minerals & rocks are essential if you plan on editing complex stuff, like photomanipulations in the outer world, in space, or whatever your heart desires. That’s why i tried to gather as many diverse resources that fell under that category. For a finer research, i’d recommend finding one picture approximately resembling what you want, then checking out the recommended pics that will appear under the share & info buttons, or visiting the photographer’s profile as they may have multiple pictures of varying angles of the same object. How i use them : The pics with perspective i’ll use as elements in photomanipulation, while the “flat” pics will be used as overlays in elements to bring out more textures - the possibilities are endless, what you want to do you will be able to !

7 - Vegetal | link here These one aren’t especially complicated to use, but will require a little bit more work. Most of them are on plain background so it’s easier for you to cut them out and insert them in edits or photomanipulations. There’s tree, branches, mushrooms, leaves - everything i could think of that might be useful in edits. How i use them : The “flat” textures could be used purely for “aesthetics” or to add textures in edits, but the “full objects” pictures are mainly there for photomanipulations purposes.

8 - Liquid | link here Anything that has to deal with water, bodies of water, or overall liquids. Landscapes, also, that include lakes, seas, ocean, waterfalls, etc - always a need in photomanipulation. How i use them : as always, it depends on the nature of the texture itself. If it’s flat, i could be used solely for aesthetics, or as a way to add texture to a plain surface in photomanipulation. When it has some perspective, or shows a complex scenery, they could be used in photomanipulations & edits of all kinds.

9 - Paper | link here This collection has some of the most diverse pictures : it can be old papers with or without writing on it, sceneries of "blank" papers for you to put your edits on, or decorative pages/maps. How i use them : For the "flat" textures : these are mainly for overlays (all over you finished edits sir it looks like it's printed) or in some cases, for mockups. For the pictures with a bit of "scenery" : these would be great for background, but absolutely perfect for mockups. For the pages with maps or texts on them, it can be used as your usual textures/background.

10 - Lights | link here This collection includes every kind of body of water (or other liquids) i could find. You'll find waves, lakes, rained on windows, bubbles, watercolours, etc. Anything for your edits or photo manipulations. How i use them : Most of them will look their best as overlays put on top of all your other layers (or not, depending on the nature of your edit obviously). They get also easily be animated for gif, or colour corrected to fit your aesthetic.

11 - Space | link here A really specific collection ! This one will mainly be useful if you plain on editing space-ish photonapulations, moodboards, etc. Combined with the others collections, you could create a whole other worldy edit :) How i use them : Mostly how they’re logically used. Stars textures will mainly be editing onto a sky (but could also be useful to create “grunge” textures”), planets will, etc. But always think creatively, and outside of the box ! For example, these circling stars could be used as the texture of a vinyl record.

12 - Plastic | link here My personnal faves, the tricky & busy plastic textures. Plastic is a pretty broad name, and most of the pics aren’t technically plastic, but they have the same folds, turns & reflections. How i use them : mostly with a dispersion filter (which makes everything awesome). They can be overlays, or blurred to create pretty interesting gradient textures. They could also be used as background in your collages - you can basically do what you want with these. They’re awesome.

bonus 13th for the curious ones - Urban & Cities | link here Silly didn’t add the thirteenth collection on the preview, so here it is as a surprise ! This collection is the most diverse of them all, with lots of architectural elements, grungy walls textures, graffitis, etc. How i use them : Mostly as background

That’s all for today, hope you’ll enjoy using these ! please give lots of love to these photographers, and see you soon 💚

#Resources #textures #photography #unsplash #unsplash collection #unsplash collections #nasty resources #nasty art

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