#but the actual content looked like it was developing in a different direction
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that feeling when you're noping out of a fanfic and you accidentally hit the kudos button
#to anyone who might see my name in the kudos list and take it as a good sign#sorry about that#the tags looked like it might be good#but the actual content looked like it was developing in a different direction#and as I was deciding to give it another chapter before I gave up#I hit the wrong button#fanfiction
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𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐛𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐜𝐤
𝐈𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥, 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬.
Thomas Shelby x Carleton!Reader
Warnings: Smut, slight size kink, Tommy attracting posh girls as always
“Are you fucking my sister-in-law?” were the very first words that came out of the young socialite’s mouth. They were directed to the man dressed in the grey suit with the flat cap, as he caressed the grey filly in front of him.
“Such crude words from such a lovely young lass, eh?” the man looked rather amused at her choice of words, much less, her more than direct approach of interrogating him.
The words she’d spoken weren’t quite what he had expected from a girl of her caliber, she seemed far too proper to opt for such language.
But she held her ground that girl, with her fashionably short bob and her velvet dress that would probably fetch enough pounds to feed a small family for a week in Small Heath. She didn’t waver under his icy stare, nor did she retreat her questioning glare. In fact, to his surprise, she arched her carefully sculpted eyebrow, as though prompting him to explain himself.
She must be a London girl, he noted, such brazenness could only mean that she must've lived a sheltered life, never having to put her guards up in fear of gangsters and certainly never having to do anything with filthy old Birmingham.
No, all she had to do was look pretty and polite and pop open bottles of champagne, dancing the night away to the Foxtrot and Charleston. She didn’t have a clue who he was, didn’t have a clue what he did and certainly didn’t have a clue as to why he always kept a Webley MK VI in his gun strap.
Tommy found it quite refreshing. He couldn’t remember the last time someone talked to him so incredibly audaciously, if it wasn’t to barrage him with threats to his life.
“I believed I asked you first, Mister” came the reply from her tinted red lips, looking rather displeased that her question was met with another.
“Well, a lady like you shouldn’t worry about adult matters.” he replied as he fished his pockets for the metal cigarette case. “Anyways, she's your sister-in-law you say?” he offered her a cigarette, a habit of his which he’d developed from constantly being surrounded by chain smokers.
“She is, or she was.” she took him up on his offer, as he lit it up for her, “Ian was my brother. His passing was hard on all of us; for her more than anyone else. So, I come up here any chance I get to keep her company, but now I see that’s no longer needed of me.” she said as she eyed him from head to toe, sizing him up almost.
“Don’t let me be a bone of contention now.” he replied, his couldn’t possibly add another trouble to his list, the Epsom and Major Campbell were already a handful, to say the very least.
“Actually, it’s quite the opposite.” A hint of surprise glazed over his eyes as he looked at her delicate features. “I’m quite relieved she isn’t shutting herself up." she trailed off, "And you’re certainly not the worst pick for a suitor.”
“Now don’t go sizing me up for a wedding suit, Miss.” he said taking another drag of his cigarette “May and I are just.... acquaintances. She’s training my horse for the Derby, this beauty over here, you see.” he motioned to the grey horse behind him.
“Oh.” She looked at him with an abashed humour in her eyes. “Then you must pardon my poor choice of words. I’m sure you won’t take the silly musings of a girl to heart.”
She flicked the cigarette bud to the ground, stomping it lightly with the heel of her dainty Mary Janes.
“I’m Y/N. Y/N Vera Carleton.” she extended her hand to him, her lips adorned with the most dazzling smile he’d ever seen in his entire existence. He took her hands in his, their sizes differing starkly. “I’m Thomas. Thomas Shelby.”
“Well then Mr. Shelby, now that the previous fiasco is behind us, I must be off. My friends will be waiting for me, I’m afraid. There's a new club in the city called the Babylon, you might’ve heard of it, they’ve invited this jazz band from the Colonies. My friends say it’s all the rage these days.” she explained to him.
Thomas knew she was one of those girls. The ones that never had to worry about a thing in their lives, except for what they’d wear to a social dinner or what diamonds to pair with what dress and he knew that a part of him wished he could be as carefree as them. But life had other plans for him, a runaway father, a suicidal mother and a fucking war to top it all off.
But now with the Shelby Company Ltd. and his copious side ventures, he hoped that one day, his children, if he ever found a woman that is, would have a life that mirrored that of the captivating girl in front of him.
“All right then, Miss Carleton, you have a good night now.” he bid the girl farewell as he watched her leave the stables. Her dress swaying with every step she took, she looked very frail, he noted, but not the kind that you’d see in the streets of Watery Lane, more so the kind of frail that was in vogue amongst the ladies of London.
As the night progressed, it became abundantly clear that May Fitz Carleton and Thomas Shelby weren’t just acquaintances, although, that should’ve been clear from the moment he accepted her proposal to stay the night in the manor, more like a fucking castle, he thought.
As night fell, Thomas found himself striding to the doors of his gracious host's, she’d left it unlocked, of course. Neither were novice adolescents; they knew what they wanted, and they certainly weren’t abashed about it. Their business was completed rather quickly though, she seemed unable to fully open her heart out to the deed and he had a myriad of thoughts occupying his mind.
Breakfast was a rather lovely affair. May chose not to bring up their late night discretions, for which he was rather thankful for. In fact, she seemed content with it being a passing liaison, finally someone that’s on the same page as him, he mused.
The lavish spread of food in front of him was overwhelming and he resigned himself to an Earl Grey and a toast. It seemed it was just May that occupied the house, seeing as though they were the only two to grace the table. Their conversations were pleasant, ranging from their shared love for horses to the ones they would be up against at the Derby, when lo and behold, the doors to the room sprung open to reveal a particularly chirpy Y/N, what she would be so cheery for, this early in the morning, he didn’t know.
“Morning, my dearest. Hope you had a lovely night.” The older of the two woman remarked as she kissed her cheeks. “I’ve told Louisa to prepare those Vienna rolls you so love. She should bring it out any minute.” she stated as the maids served the new occupant with a steaming cup of tea.
“That would be lovely, God knows I’m terribly famished.” she strutted into the room, smelling of daisies as she walked past him and kissed her sister-in-law. “Morning to you, my dearest Mayflower.”
She took the seat opposite to his, paying him no mind and absentmindedly blowing into her tea. “Y/N darling, this is Mr. Thomas Shelby, he’s my guest. I'm training his horse for Epsom. " She motioned to the gentleman. "Tommy, this is Y/N, she’s Ian’s sister and the youngest of the Carleton bunch.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Shelby.” quipped the younger girl, pretending as though they were truly meeting for the first time.
“The pleasure’s all mine.” Tommy went along with her play, opting not to reveal their meeting the previous day.
“Madam, there’s a telephone for you. It's from Sir Ascot.” May was quickly ushered out of the room to attend to her business, leaving the unusual pair together.
“So, are you going to keep staring or will you tell me what’s on your mind?” Y/N remarked as she forfeited the staring game they’d had going on.
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.” the girl in front of him was intriguing for sure, and she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. Tommy didn’t know other women besides Ada and Polly that would speak so nonchalantly with him, and he found himself quite enjoying this refreshing exchange.
“Well, you’ve basically been undressing me with your eyes, since yesterday. So, shall we do it in my room or yours?”
This. Tommy wasn’t expecting.
He'd expected a whole lot of other things but not this.
The girl didn’t bat an eye as she said those words, simply sipping on her tea, as though they’d only exchanged pleasantries with each other. Tommy was about to respond when a maid brought a plate of Vienna rolls to the table and diligently served her young Miss.
As soon as her departing figure left the room, Y/N’s eyes darted back up to his, sucking slowly on the gold cutlery as she did. She seemed to be waiting for his reply and Tommy wondered how she’d react if he told her 'No'. Surely, such a girl as lovely as her wouldn’t be used to hearing those words of refusal. All she’d have to do was bat her pretty lashes, pout her soft lips and no one would dare refuse such a divine creature.
And Tommy was by no means a saint. A posh girl like her asking him to fuck her wasn’t something that happened on the daily. And again, Tommy might be a man with great restraint, but he was a man after all.
He'd be lying if he said his pants hadn’t gotten the slightest bit tighter at the sight of her sucking and licking on the spoon, that when he was balls deep inside May the previous night, all he thought about was the girl in front of him. Even now, as she sat in front of him, in her lace dress, he could see the slightest imprint of her breasts against the fabric of the dress.
Tommy took in a deep breath, setting the teacup back on the porcelain saucer, when finally, he muttered “You don’t know who I am, do you, little girl?” For if she did, she wouldn’t have uttered those words, much less, even sip her tea so peacefully in his presence.
“Should I care?” she asked in mock concern, “All I know is that you’re a well dressed gentleman that’s got a nice deep voice.” Truly, that was all she looked for. If a man had a deep enough pocket and an ever deeper voice, she’d go weak in the knees, and she knew May wouldn’t associate herself with a man that didn’t have the former.
“Y/N Carleton, you’re truly a work of art, eh?” he chuckled, genuinely in awe of her intrepidity.
“Well, that amongst other things.” came her quick reply, flashing him a cheeky smile.
“Do you think she’ll notice? If were both absent from the table, that is.” he asked in reference to May, she sure as hell wouldn’t appreciate his advances towards her sister-in-law.
“Don’t you worry, Sir Ascot is a hard fellow to deal with, he’ll talk her ear off for hours.” she stated unconcerned as she took strode out of the room, glancing back at him.
“In fact, forget about the bedroom, there's a storeroom over there that’s unfrequented. God knows your staring is making me wild as it is.” She turned and left the room, the gentle sway of her hips beckoning him to follow her. And follow he did.
Thomas fucking Shelby following after a girl, his brothers would’ve had a field day had they learnt of it.
But he didn’t care. All he knew was that he wanted her.
He wanted to fuck her till she screamed his name.
He wanted to fuck her till she couldn’t walk.
He wanted to fuck her till she was a crying mess.
The storeroom was quite spacious, like most of the rooms of this manor. But he wasn’t here to admire this. No. He came here for her. As soon as the latch to the door was shut closed, their lips crashed together.
Oh! He could have had her then and there, her lips were so incredibly soft and moulded with his so fucking perfectly. Her hands found themselves in his hair and she tugged lightly, making him crazy at her touch, while his hands kneaded her supple buttocks. She might’ve been slim, but she was certainly well endowed in just the right areas.
She soon broke the kiss and quickly worked to unbutton her dress, looking at him as he did, and that smile. That fucking smile of hers. Thomas didn’t know anyone more lovely than her.
She stripped down to her chemise, her garter bands visible underneath. He couldn’t control himself at the sight of her lovely frame. His hands soon brought the straps of her flimsy cover down, exposing her delicate brassiere which was also discarded on the floor.
She looked glorious standing in front of him, in just her garter bands and stockings. He would fuck her with those on he decided. The sight of her thighs in those were making the tent in his pants so painfully obvious.
She undid his suspenders, kneeling down as she pulled his trousers down, freeing his throbbing red cock from it’s tight restraints. She blushed a little at the obscene sight, sure she’d seen her fair share of cocks, but none as majestic as his. Tommy Shelby had drawn him to her because of his deep voice, but his huge cock, now that was a brilliant surprise. The London chaps she’d been with just couldn’t compare.
She licked the precum that was dripping from his tip, making him shudder in anticipation and little by little she licked the length of his entire shaft, making sure to drag her tongue along every crevice. She held her cock in both hands, it’s sheer size making her marvel. As Tommy looked down, the sight below him was eliciting a dark reaction inside of him, her little dainty fingers wrapped around his manhood. God! She looked so very small.
She sucked his cock, trying her best to take in as much as she could. She was diligent, for sure, doing her best to make him happy, taking small breaths, accommodating her throat for his dick and working her hands constantly along his shaft or his balls.
“Fuck, you’re perfect.” he breathed out raspily. She was an angel.
An angel sent just to fuck him. He didn’t know any woman or whore that was doing the things she was. But here she was, a little thing like her milking his cock like a good girl.
He grabbed her hair, lightly bucking his hips inside of her mouth. She seemed to be suffocating almost, his big dick choking her. Almost.
“Just like that baby, just like that.”
Fuck! She was such a good girl, holding her cries till he released his load inside of her mouth. “Swallow.” he commanded. She was a glorious mess, doing as he commanded her.
Her eyes were watery, and her mouth was thoroughly abused, but she still looked at him with devotion laced in her beautiful eyes.
He lifted her off the ground and laid her on the table like surface. He spread her legs wide open with his hands and marveled at the sight. Her throbbing cunt, glistening in arousal looked so warm, so inviting. He kissed her on the lips once more and dove in to eat her out, but a small hand covered the entrance.
“She might be done soon, so, please just fuck me.” she cried, so obviously starved for him.
He wasted no time and rubbed her clit, making sure her entrance was slick enough, and she was, so incredibly wet for him. He lined his dick to the entrance of her pussy and thrusted lightly. Just the tip he moaned. Just the tip and she was already on the verge of tears.
“Just breathe, love. Just breathe for me, eh?” he cooed in her ear as his hips thrusted in small motions to enter her tight cave, rubbing her clit as he did. And then with a final thrust he entered her pussy.
God! She felt so good. Her tight walls caved around his cock, stimulating him in ways he didn’t think possible. His motions became faster as her cries became louder.
“Tommy!” she moaned over and over again, seemingly unable to formulate any coherent sentences, her brain clogged with the intense pleasure of his cock ramming into her.
“You fit me so well, Y/N. I’m never letting go of you or your tight fucking pussy after this.” he moaned in her ear.
The constant slapping of skin and unbridled moans didn’t leave much to the imagination of the maids and butlers that might’ve overheard, but they didn’t care. All they knew was that they were nearing their release and it just felt so fucking good.
“Tommy, I’m close.” she managed to stumble out the words.
“Wait for me, love. You’re gonna cum when I tell you to.” he groaned as he fastened his pace, evidently nearing his release.
And with a final thrust, he whispered in her ear and they let go. They were quite the pair to look at. Him, with his trousers on the floor, his hands gripping onto her waists and his eyes never leaving hers and she, with her damn naked body, her tear streaked cheeks and her smudged lipstick.
Tommy gave her a sweet kiss to her forehead and wrapped his arms around her naked body as they remained in the warm embrace. Their heartbeats were gradually returning to usual, and their panted breathing became steadier.
He retrieved a handkerchief from his pockets and delicately cleaned her sore entrance. The evidence of their lovemaking spilled lewdly on the floor; it was to be someone else’s problem, not theirs. He slipped the stained handkerchief into his pockets and helped her dress. She seemed incredibly satiated as she stared at him with sheer fondness in her eyes.
Tommy knew that he couldn’t let go of her now. Not after this.
She was his, even if she didn’t know it yet.
“We best get going now, love.” he told her as he waited for her to gather herself together.
“Wait, silly, you’ve got lipstick on your nose.” she giggled as she rubbed the scarlet red lipstick off for him, standing on the tip of her toes.
She moved to open the door, but her steps felt awkward. He chuckled at her attempt to walk and offered his hand so she may lean on him. The walk back to the table was interesting, with her uncharacteristic gait and lipstick that seemed to have been smudged clean, and his hair that had been slightly disheveled and lips that held the faintest smile.
Both looked nothing like they had a few moments prior. If the maids noticed the obvious change, they didn’t comment on it as they dutifully carried out their tasks, making the most possible effort to not offend the pair as they walked through the halls.
May arrived a few minutes later rambling about how much she would’ve loved to cut the call halfway, had Sir Ascot not been an influential member of the Board. She had been so engrossed in her rant that perhaps, she didn’t notice the obvious change in the mood.
She also didn’t notice the fact that Thomas Shelby’s eyes never once left her sister-in-law who insouciantly continued drinking her tea that was far too cold by now.
“Well, May, my stay here has been lovely, but I best get going now.” he uttered at last, the business back at home didn’t wait for no one, especially not for him to fuck posh girls.
“Indeed, I assume you must have your work cut out for you and oh! I forgot to tell you this morning that I’ve had your car stocked up with engine oil, so, it’ll be a smooth ride home.”
“Thank you for that, May.” he put on his coat and thanked her for her gracious hosting.
“Tommy.” she called out as he stepped into his vehicle. “Will I see you again?”
“I’m sure we’ll cross paths again, Miss Carleton.”
Miss not Mrs. because his eyes, as he spoke those words weren’t on the woman in front of him, but rather they were on the girl that stood at the doorway, a mischievous smile dancing on her lips.
Ah! That smile.
The drive home was brisk, his mind occupied with the image of her and that darn smile. He may have been back in Birmingham, but he knew that apart of his mind had been left behind with a particularly charming girl in the Carleton Estate.
#tommy shelby x y/n#tommy shelby#tommy shelby smut#tommy shelby fanfic#thomas shelby fanfic#thomas shelby smut#thomas shelby x y/n#peaky blinders smut#peaky blinders imagine#cillian murphy smut#cillian murphy fanfiction
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Hi, genuine good faith question if you'd like! How is TOS racist? It was my understanding that the OG Series was like, huge for equality in media?
I’m speaking primarily about the content of TOS itself, not its historical impact - I understand it had various historic firsts in terms of having characters of colour in respectable roles, which I’m not dismissing. My experience with the discourse on here surrounding the show is that people front-load these character representations as emblematic of the show’s progressive politics. Which, if we want to go that route, TOS was contemporary to the US civil rights movement, which provides us with a handy measuring stick to see how TOS actually grapples with race, not just the presence of characters of colour themselves. I'm going to be kind of defensive in this explanation, not towards you specifically, but because I have had this conversation with people online many, many, many times, and so any defensiveness on my part is in anticipation of arguments I know will come up as a result of making the basic claim that a show made in America in the 1960s is racist. I'm also going to be copy + pasting from an older post I've made on the subject since it's been a while now since I've watched TOS so some of the details are fuzzy.
Like okay, the premise of TOS is that the Enterprise, as an ambassador of Starfleet/the Federation, is seeking out new alien life to study. The Prime Directive prohibits the Enterprise crew from interfering with the development of any alien culture or people while they do this, so the research they collect needs to be done in an unobtrusive way. I think this is the first point at which people balk at the argument that TOS is racist or has a colonial conception of the world - the Enterprise’s mission is premised on non-interference, and I think when people hear ‘colonial’ as a descriptor they (understandably, obviously) assume it is describing active conquest, genocide, and dispossession. Even setting aside all the times where Kirk does directly interfere with the “development” of a people or culture (usually because they’ve “stagnated” culturally, because a culture "without conflict" cannot evolve or “develop” beyond its current presumed capacity - he is pretty explicitly imposing his own values onto another culture in order to force them to change in a particular way), or the times when the Enterprise is actually looking to extract resources from a given planet or people, I’m not exactly making this claim, or rather, that’s not the only thing I’m describing when calling TOS racist/colonial.
The show's presentation of scientific discovery and inquiry is anthropological - the “object” of analysis is alien/foreign culture, meaning that when the Enterprise crew comes into contact with a new being or person, this person is always read first and foremost through the level of (the Enterprise’s understanding of) culture. Their behaviour, beliefs, dress, way of speaking, appearance, and so on are always reflective of their culture as a whole, and more importantly, that their racial or phenotypic characteristics define the boundaries of their culture. Put another way, culture is interpreted, navigated, and bound racially - the show presents aliens as a Species, but these species are racially homogeneous, flattening race to a natural, biological difference that is always physically apparent and presented through the lens of scientific objectivity, as "species" is a unit of biological taxonomy. Basically species is a shorthand for race. This is the standard of most sci-fi/fantasy genre work, so this is not a sin unique to Star Trek.
Because of this however, Kirk and Co are never really interacting with individuals, they are interacting with components of a (foreign, exotic, fundamentally different) culture, the same way we understand that a biologist can generalize about a species using the example of an individual 'specimen'. And when the Enterprise interacts with these cultures, they very frequently measure them using a universalized scale of development - they have a teleological (which is to say, evolutionary) view of culture, ie, that all cultures go from savage to rational, primitive to advanced, economically simple to economically complex (ie, to capitalist modes of production). And the metrics they are judging these cultures by are fundamentally Western ones, always emphasising to the audience that the final destination of all cultures (that are worthy of advancing beyond their current limited/“primitive” stages) is a culture identical to the Federation, a culture that can itself engage in this anthropological mission to catalogue all life as fitting within a universal set of practices and racial similarities they call “culture.”
This is a western, colonial understanding of culture - racially and spatially homogeneous people comprise the organs of a social totality, ie, a society, which can then be analysed as an “object,” as a “phenomenon,” by the scientists in order to extract information from them to produce and advance state (ie Federation) knowledge. The Enterprise crew are allowed to be individuals, are allowed to be subjects with a capacity for reason, contradiction, emotion, compassion, and even moments of savagery or violence, without those things being assigned to their “race” or “culture” as a whole, but the people they interact with are only components of a whole which are “discovered” by the Enterprise as opportunities to expand and refine the Federation’s body of knowledge.
Spock is actually a good example of what I'm talking about, because he is an exception to this rule - unlike the others in the crew, his behaviour is always read as a symptom of his innate Vulcan-ness, where his human and Vulcan halves war for dominance in his mind and character. Bones (the doctor, one of the main cast) constantly comments on Spock's inability to feel things, that he is callous and unsympathetic, ruled by Vulcan logic to such an extreme that his rationality is a form of irrationality, as his Vulcan blood prohibits him from tempering logic with human emotion and intuition. Now you can argue that Bones is a stand-in for the racists of the world, that Spock proves Bones wrong in that he is able to feel but merely keeps it under wraps, that Vulcans are not biologically incapable of emotion but merely live in a socially repressive culture, but this still engages in the racial logic of the show - Vulcans are a racially-bound species with a single monolithic culture, and Spock's ability to express and feel 'human emotions' is the metric by which he is granted human subjectivity and sympathy.
And on the flip side you have the Klingons - a “race” that is uniformly savage, backward, violent, and dangerous. In the episode Day of the Dove, where Klingons board the Enterprise along with an alien cloud that makes everyone suddenly aggressive and racist (this show is insane lol), the Enterprise crew begins acting violent and racist, but the Klingons don’t change. They aren’t more violent than before (because they already were fundamentally violent and racist), and they don’t become less violent when the cloud eventually leaves (because they are never able to emerge from their violence and savagery as a social condition or external imposition - they simply are that way). Klingons are racially, behaviourally, psychologically, and culturally homogeneous, universally violent and immune to reason, and their racial characteristics are both physical manifestations of this universal violence as well as the origin of it. The writers and creators of TOS are explicitly invoking the orientalist idea of the “Mongolian horde,” representing both the American fear of Soviet global takeover as well as blatantly racist fears about “Asiatics” (a word used in the show, particularly in The Omega Glory where a fear of racialised communist takeover is made explicit) dominating the world.
This is colonial thinking! Like, fundamentally, at its core, this is colonial white supremacist thinking. Now this is not because TOS invents these tropes or is the origin of them, it is not individually responsible for these racial and colonial logics - these conceptions are endemic to Western thought, and I am not expecting a television show to navigate its way outside of this current colonial paradigm of scientific knowledge. I’m also not expecting an average person watching this to pick out all the intricacies of this and link it to the colonial history of Europe or the colonial history of western philosophy/thought. But this base premise of Star Trek is why the show is fundamentally colonial - even if it was the case that the crew never intervened in any alien conflict, never extracted any material resources from other people, this would still be colonial logic and colonial thinking. The show has a fundamentally colonial imagination when it comes to exploration, discovery, and culture.
I think a good place to end is the opening sequence. The show's first line is always "Space! The final frontier." I do not think the word frontier is meant metaphorically or poetically - I think the show is being honest about its conception of space as an infinitely vast, infinitely exotic frontier from which a globally Western civilisation (which the Enterprise is an emblem of) can extract resources, be they material or epistemic
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YANDERE HP GOLDEN ERA: SLYTHERIN BOYS X DORMMATE READER
continuation of my previous post (i got caught up in getting out my anthony goldstein headcanons was it obvious). okay so full disclosure, i haven't read the fanfictions lorenzo and mattheo are from (i only read yandere is it obvious) (i see their faceclaims and cannot. exclude), so if i'm not portraying them correctly shout at me. but just for a moment, imagine having the 79-80 liner slytherin boys yandere for their dormmate? (okay there is a loophole i'll write for male readers/darlings if asked).
maybe they've known the reader/darling since childhood, and the sudden close proximity magnifies the possessive and obsessive tendencies they were developing towards the darling. or, the darling could suddenly get sorted into slytherin and now they have a roommate they did not expect to have. for the second scenario i don't think the darlings personality would matter much - either way, they're all apprehensive about this really cute kid they suddenly are dorming with.
maybe they give the reader a hard time at first (although this is only really likely to happen for a darling in a different house, or a muggleborn darling) but whoo boy if anyone else thinks of teasing the reader, they'll get hell from our dear slytherins here. actually, anyone who the reader pays mind to becomes a target of torment and bullying by draco and his gang. especially potter. please, reader, for potters own sanity and the good of the wizarding world, do not approach, think about or even look in the direction of harry. it ends in an ugly tantrum from draco, prolonged sarcasm from theodore, silence from blaise, aggression from mattheo and teasing from lorenzo. crabbe and goyle won't be carrying your books for you for the next week either.
when they get like this, it'll be the darling that'll have to make it up to them, or risk having it all drag out until one of them gets over it naturally.
GREGORY GOYLE & VINCENT CRABBE (cast josh herdman, jamie waylett):
they're all horribly possessive and jealous by default, but generally, crabbe and goyle are the easiest to deal with, they both have a soft spot for their darling, and are pretty used to being bossed around, the second choice and having to share. they're also the easiest to appease, putting food on crabbe's plate is enough to make him happy, and paying goyle any mind will go a long way.
they don't need constant attention (draco), validation (draco), and affection (draco), from their darling, and are content just being in their life.
BLAISE ZABINI (cast louis cordice):
after them, i honestly don't know who's worse. going in alphabetical order, blaise appears to be calm and uncaring when it comes to his darling, but do not be fooled, he's not going to sit back and let his darling get whisked away by the likes of a half blood (sorry mattheo), spolit daddy's boy (apologies draco), spolit mommy's boy (soz enzo) or someone who's one lab accident away from becoming a supervillain (blaise's words not mine theo).
blaise tolerates the rest of the slytherins for now, but if any of them think he'd ever fully agree to sharing with the likes of them, they are wrong. he fantasises about taking his darling away from the world after graduating, and probably has his mother trying to arrange a marriage the moment he decides they're his.
DRACO MALFOY (cast tom felton):
unlike blaise, draco is not even a little bit subtle about his possesiveness over his darling, he only see's the other slytherins as tools to ensure his darlings safety and happiness at hogwarts, and does not bother to pretend like he isn't planning to kidnap move the reader into malfoy manor the minute they graduate. actually, he couldn't wait that long.
he'll look for any opportunity to have the malfoy family gain custody of his darling. all the more better if his darling comes from a dysfunctional household. but either way, he'll make sure his family is all they have to turn to.
all i know about lorenzo is that he has mommy and daddy issues so i'll have to piggybank off that. he'll present himself as the 'sane' one, if his darling is complaining about the behaviour of the other slytherins, enzo wholeheartedly agree's with them "i don't know what's wrong with all of them - you sure you didn't slip any amortentia into their drinks?" he becomes a safe haven from the possessive obsession his dormmates seem to share for their darling.
LORENZO BERKSHIRE (fancast louis patridge):
lorenzo acts the most normal, but don't be fooled, he's just as obsessed as the rest of them. enzo is just better at hiding it. he too, frequently thinks about whisking them away, but is much less finite about it; holing his darling up in his house isn't the end goal. he could honestly live with sharing them with his fellow slytherins, but this is all assuming that the reader takes well to his attempts at becoming the 'sane one'.
if enzo isn't able to successfully befriend them, he'll have to settle for being the 'mean one'. teasing and humiliation follows his darling, as does he. it's not severe, but it's probably the push the reader needs to fall into deep depression and anxiety. so please, take the sane bait.
MATTHEO RIDDLE (fancast benjamin wadsworth):
mattheo doesn't exactly have a family reputation to uphold, blaise, draco, enzo and theo would want to keep up a respectable reputation, whatever that is in pureblood society, but mattheo? the dark lords son? he's entirely unhinged.
if lorenzo is the 'sane one', mattheo is the 'crazy one'.
he doesn't really care what his darling, or others, think of his behaviour. if he wants to spend time with them, he's going to. he'll pull them out of class, drag them away from the other slytherins, just to skip rocks in the black lake with them, or raid the kitchens. he doesn't really bother hiding his yandere tendencies, he'll actively tell his darling not to talk to certain people "because i said so" "stop asking questions", and will refuse to elaborate further. sometimes, there will be disturbing moments of honesty between him and his darling; he'll admit that he's obsessed with them, and threaten to attack people they pay attention to. and he'll tell them that they belong to him.
sometimes it's frightening and sometimes he'll come across as sweet. he is both predictable and unpredictable, which puts his darling at unease around him.
THEODORE NOTT (fancast lorenzo zurzolo):
theodore uses guilt to garner his darlings sympathy, all the more easier if they are childhood friends. he'll make sure they know about his harsh childhood, and make them feel responsible for his wellbeing. he's the only one to create a sense of dependency not built upon threats. out of all the slytherins, he gets to know his darling the best, he'll use guilt, emotional breakdowns and dark secrets to create a sense of obligation towards him.
theo is the most comforting of the slytherins to be around, he's quiet and the only one who they can spend time with without feeling much pressure. he demands the most of their attention, and is by far the most possessive. whilst i can see the other slytherins finding a way to deal with sharing their darling amonst themselves, if the rest don't back off eventually (stop dreaming theo) (they won't), he's the most inclined to just get rid of them - he can't stand it when his darling is around anyone but him, he wakes early to walk his darling to class just so they won't get caught up in the busy halls, where eyes can wonder and other people can have a chance to interact with his darling.
theodore pairs with them for every project, which leads to some ugly arguments between him and blaise, who only really get's his fill of his darling by sitting next to them in class. and draco, and mattheo and enzo and even goyle who was hoping the reader would help get him a good grade for once.
out of all of them, draco, goyle and blaise are the most patient. they want their darling to love them, not see them as monsters to flinch away from.
theodore, lorenzo and mattheo will take whatever they can get. lorenzo in particular doesn't want his darling to fear him but won't let them get away with trying to escape or disobedience. mattheo doesn't mind being the villain if he must be, but his heart clenches when his darling acts so obviously distrustful of him. theodore is the least patient, and if his darling starts to shy away from him, he snaps. at them, at the rest of the slytherin boys. but he's also easy to keep content, so long as his darling is always by his side.
similarly, blaise just enjoys being in the presence of his darling, and doesn't feel the need to cuddle up to them constantly like draco and enzo do. mattheo is a loose canon, and sometimes is fine being near them, other times he wants skin to skin contact 25/8.
they're hopeless at sharing, and only really get along for the sake of their darling. there are only really two ways this can end; theodore finally snaps and tries to off the rest of them after graduation, or they somehow come to an agreement on sharing, maybe they each get their own day a week
monday for draco, tuesday for blaise, wednesday for theo, thursday for enzo, and friday for mattheo. goyle and crabbe probably aren't taken seriously enough to get given their own day, so then the weekends are spent sharing (fighting).
the only time the boys will work in tandem is when someone attempts to take their darling and their attention, away. best example, darling starts dating someone. which is already pretty improbable, considering they give the reader no alone time whatsoever. but let's just say the darling here is going on a date with cormac mclaggen (get a grip, darling), any grudges they've been holding against each other are off, mclaggen has just signed his death warrant.
mattheo and theodore do most of the dirty work, whilst lorenzo distracts the reader. draco and blaise cover up their tracks, so it seems like whatever they did to mclaggen was an untimely accident. or have it blamed on someone else. goyle and crabbe intimidate anyone who tries to get close to the darling from then on.
they might hate sharing with each other, but they truly despise sharing with an 'outsider'.
#yandere harry potter#yandere draco malfoy#yandere blaise zabini#yandere theodore nott#yandere mattheo riddle#yandere lorenzo berkshire#yandere goyle#yandere crabbe#yandere slytherin#hp#draco malfoy#blaise zabini#theodore nott#mattheo riddle#lorenzo berkshire#gregory goyle#slytherin boys#golden era#hp writings
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My Five Biggest Fears for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is highly anticipated by BioWare fans. At one point, I would consider myself to be excited for it too, however, unfortunately the long wait with zero information about the game has only wrecked my personal anticipation. Will my hype return once we actually start to get some regular news about the game? Most likely. But until that time comes, all I find myself doing is just… worrying.
These are the five biggest things I worry about.
5. Big, beautiful maps of nothing
In both Dragon Age: Inquisition and Mass Effect: Andromeda, most of the open world maps are very… empty. Instead of creating an adventurous feeling of excitement to explore, it just makes travelling those maps a tedious task. Games like The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim or the new Baldur’s Gate 3 have open maps too, but those developers actually made use of their space with level designs. Skyrim is full of caves, ruins, etc. content to stumble upon. So is BG3, as well as introducing new dynamics to a fight depending on which direction you approach the encounter from. These games prove an understanding of how to best equip an open world concept that BioWare has only executed in a few maps across both their most recent RPGs. I do not want to see Dragon Age: Dreadwolf be yet another case of luscious forests where developers spent far too much time making look visually beautiful, and not enough time actually filling with game content.
4. Shoddy attempts at retcon
For those of you who don’t know what “retcon” means, it is short for “retroactive continuity”, and refers to the phenomenon of fiction introducing new information that is inconsistent with past information. The purpose is to revise old material. Dragon Age: Inquisition had more than one attempts at retcon that were terribly executed. For example, the player is told not once, not twice, but three different times—as if repeating it enough will erase all the extensive lore up to that point saying otherwise—that the Dalish get rid of their mages if they have “too many”. This is despite the previous games and extended materials showing that the Dalish practically revere their mages.
Now, not all retcons are bad. For example, in Marvel Comics, the superhero Karma’s real name was recently retconned to be Xuân Cao Mạnh, a real Vietnamese name, after spending years and years with the made-up Vietnamese name, Xi'an Coy Man. This is an example of how retons can be used for a good purpose, like fixing a long-lasting mistake. But what exactly is the mistake in saying the Dalish are good people who don’t hate mages like most of Thedas? That was just a cheap, transparent excuse to villainize both elves and mages further.
Cheap, transparent excuses like that make me lose faith in BioWare’s writing. It concerns me with what other lore they view as needing “correcting” in order to reinforce their idea of Grey Morality™ where it doesn’t belong.
3. Imposter characters
One of the biggest grievances I had with Dragon Age: Inquisition, was how the Hawke written in that game was in no way the same Hawke I played in Dragon Age II. I understand that it would be impossible to capture the exact customized character, but the Hawke in DA:I was placed into the game with an anti-blood magic agenda, and wouldn’t shut up about it. This is hilarious, considering how many players chose to make their Hawke a blood mage personally!
With this in mind, I am terrified that my Inquisitor, who will very likely make an appearance in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, will be used for whatever new agenda needs to be pushed. I better not hear a single anti-Dalish comment from my Lavellan, is all I’m saying.
2. Whitewashing ahoy
For all the talk about #diversity values, BioWare has a very extensive criminal record when it comes to whitewashing their own characters. Almost every single one of their most prominent visibly non-white characters have had their skin lightened or completely washed out, as well as ethnic features erased, at some point or another. This is why I cannot share any excitement or desire for existing characters to make a return; the fear that we’ll have to see Zevran next looking like Chris Hemsworth next haunts me too much.
But this particular fear runs even deeper than individual characters. Why? Because we know that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf will be taking place in northern Thedas, which up to this point has been consistently depicted as having largely non-white demographics. I’m not saying there are no white people in Tevinter, Antiva, etc., but I am saying that if I see the same mix of 80% pale tones and 20% “everyone else” we’ve gotten from the last three games, I will absolutely flip shit. White characters should be in the minority for a change. Otherwise, what is the point of shifting focus away from the dominantly white countries in the first place?
1. This will end of the Dragon Age franchise
Is this the most likely to happen of all fears? No; it is probably the least. But after the pathetic failure that was Anthem and the lacklustre response to Mass Effect: Andromeda, I would not be surprised if BioWare is on thin ice in EA’s eyes. (Which is ironic, considering the demands made by EA to chase after multiplayer fads and micro-transactions are what got BioWare into such a mess in the first place.) Electronic Arts is a garbage company run by garbage people. That much has been proven time and again. The executives behind BioWare itself aren’t clean, either. Unfortunately it will be average employee that suffers the most punishment and blame if the game does not meet the likely very high standards set out for it. In some ways, they are almost set up to fail.
It’s not fair, and there’s not we can really do about it, because the gaming industry is run by selfish idiots. It’s because of this that if events come to pass that the Dragon Age franchise was put “on hold indefinitely” so BioWare can work on clunking out an Anthem sequel, I would be very upset, but not very surprised.
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Is this a concept-formulation that's already kicking around out there somewhere? It might well be. It feels like the sort of thing that someone would already have developed. But it's new to me, at least, so I'll muddle around with it as best as I can.
On one end of the spectrum, you've got the musical hook. A hook is maybe two seconds of music, if that. And when you hear it, if it's good, you get a concentrated spike of -- oh, yeah, that's the shit right there, this exact experience in this exact moment is fucking awesome. And then, as soon as it's come, it's gone. All you can do is wait for it to come back later in the track, or rewind a few seconds, or maybe just replay that tiny little scrap of music in your head.
The pleasure of a good hook is incredibly condensed. It doesn't even really extend into the rest of the song, let alone into the rest of your life. To experience it, you have to be listening to those exact few bars (if only in your mind). It has no penumbra, no shades-of-experience that color other aspects of your existence. On the other hand, well...when you're listening to those exact few bars, you know it, and it's great. If it's a good enough hook, you kinda just want to listen to it over and over again, like you're popping Pringles or something.
All the way on the other end of the spectrum, you've got something like a traditional-style TTRPG campaign.
Even when it's being run masterfully, a game like D&D has a very low proportion of that's the shit right there moments, and a very high proportion of tedious yak-shaving stuff. Every so often you get your critical success in a high-stakes moment, every so often you get your awesome monologue or your big-drama scene or whatever...but for every moment like that, there's a hundred moments or more of the other stuff. The commonplace D&D play experience is famous for its vast amounts of OOC joking-around, which is not how things look when people are deeply engaged with the art on a moment-by-moment basis. And, of course, not every campaign is run masterfully. Sometimes boredom, or eye-rolling, is what you get in almost every moment.
And yet people love their D&D campaigns, like really incredibly a lot, and are deeply affected by them, and not-uncommonly have their whole lives changed by them.
The correct model here, I think, is that the pleasure generated by that kind of TTRPG experience is super diffuse. It's almost all penumbra. The awesomeness doesn't inhere in any one moment, or even any one scene or any one story arc. It inheres in the broad strokes of the campaign, in the ongoing knowledge that YOU ARE YOUR COOL CHARACTER and you go on a million cool adventures, in the mythos and the running jokes that add up invisibly over time into magic. And it pervades the entirety of your existence. You can think about it when you're lying in your bed, you can chat about it with your friends over lunch, and the awesomeness is just as much there as it is when you're actually playing. Maybe more so.
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Once you start looking at art through this variable-diffusion-of-appreciation lens, you can see many different points on the spectrum.
It's obvious that a short story is more concentrated than a novel, which is more concentrated than a series; it's obvious that a movie is more concentrated than a TV show. But it's not just the choice of medium that pushes in one direction or the other. It's a million different choices concerning content and style. Lushly descriptive language, in prose fiction, serves to concentrate the reader's appreciation into the moment of reading -- it forces the expenditure of extra attention for the sake of creating a beautiful mental moment, which in the vast majority of cases will be gone and forgotten almost instantly. Abstracted and philosophical language does the exact opposite, pulling the reader out of the narrative for a little bit for the sake of giving him something to roll around in his head. Suspense, and surprising plot developments, are concentration techniques that can have their full effect only during the transition from unspoiled-to-spoiled (and they serve to emphasize and heighten the moments of that transition). Archetypical, iconic plots are diffusion techniques that trade predictability-in-the-now for satisfaction-in-contemplating-the-story-later.
Sitcoms strike me as being vehicles for diffuse appreciation, to a huge extent, even more than other TV shows of comparable length etc. Much of what makes them good is just the presence of the characters and their distinctive shticks in your mindscape, in a way that builds from episode to episode without any particular grounding in specifics. When I think about a sitcom that I like, I find myself concluding that I like the show overall more than I like any single given episode. Which is weird, right? You'd expect some sort of bell-curve thing where the best episodes, or even the best individual moments, rise up above the averaged-out mass of the whole. But no.
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Fannishness is, overall, a very diffuse form of appreciation. This is true in the very-obvious sense that you're enjoying the work during a time when you're not actually consuming the work, by dint of consuming/producing fanworks and talking with other fans etc. But it's also true in the somewhat-less-obvious sense that the enjoyment-of-the-thing usually ends up very unrooted in the specifics of the thing, the plot beats and characterization details and so forth. You have a big beloved vibe, with lots of bits and bobs attached, and you can take the bits and bobs you like best and rearrange them however you like best when you're engaging in fandom.
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I believe it is overall true that concentrated appreciation is much more legible than diffuse appreciation. More legible to artists and art theorists, more legible to marketers and consumers. When you talk about art being good or bad or successful or unsuccessful, it's very easy to think in terms of "what is it like to consume this moment-by-moment?", and much harder to think in terms of "how does each piece of the work pervade the whole of the work, and also the general thoughtscape of the consumer?" For this reason, concentration techniques are associated with prestige, and high-prestige analysis tends to focus on a work's ability to generate concentrated appreciation.
...I also believe that different people want to be appreciating art, in the ideal case, at different levels of diffusion. There are people for whom a good artistic experience means lots of crack-hit awesome moments, and others for whom a good artistic experience means getting to live in an infinite penumbra, and others who fall at every point in between.
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For reasons I may discuss later, I think this concept-suite is extremely valent to the construction of theater LARPs, and the tension between people who expect more-concentrated enjoyment and people who expect more-diffuse enjoyment is responsible for a lot of the Wars Over What's Good within that sphere.
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Most of my photos were from 2012 to 2016. I have learned a lot since then. My photo restoration hobby has improved my image editing skills in general. And I was curious if I tried editing one of my photos from scratch if I could improve upon my original edit from years ago.
This is my friend Nicole.
( @nicolebelongs I hope you don't mind being my guinea pig for this.)
This is just a direct output of the original RAW file. RAW files are typically flat by nature so you have more latitude when processing and editing.
This is my original finished edit from 2016.
I actually made a pretty big lighting mistake when shooting this photo. A beauty dish can cause harsh reflections on makeup and so Nicole's forehead bounced all that light directly into my camera. I was still learning back then and didn't know anything about makeup. All that was required was angling the dish a few degrees up or down, which feels like a pretty silly mistake all these years later.
And here is my 2023 edit. I did not reference the 2016 image until after I finished.
The main priority was the glare on the forehead, but I think this is much more balanced overall as well. I also tried to fix the weird neck shadow and the lack of light in the eyes. I probably should have used a reflector originally, but thankfully Photoshop has a solution to almost any photography blunder. I removed some vellus hairs on the edge of the face, as that is not something you would notice in real life, but the camera and lights can exaggerate them. I'd also like to say I love the new remove tool. Getting rid of flyaway hairs was such a monotonous pain in the ass before and that thing just zaps them with a click.
I am also trying to learn new editing techniques I was never good at. There is a retouching technique called "dodging & burning" that I had trouble with back in the day. Mostly because finding advanced tutorials can be difficult. Much of the content on YouTube focuses on beginner techniques.
Dodging & burning was originally innovated by Ansel Adams back in the days of film. He would block portions of his negatives for a second or two so those areas would develop darker. Or he would let sections expose longer so they would be brighter. It was basically analog Photoshop. You can see a neat video of his darkroom here.
While Ansel mostly did landscapes, portrait photographers of the digital age utilize dodging & burning to help bring out dimension in the face. It's quite similar to makeup contouring, actually. It is very hard to perfectly light every nook and cranny on a face and many portrait lenses are slightly telephoto. Longer lenses compress faces to remove distortion, but you end up losing three-dimensionality as a tradeoff.
My first attempt dodging and burning did not go well but I played with this photo for a few hours trying many different approaches and I think I landed on something I like. But I have been staring at it for way too long, so it is hard for me to look at it objectively.
I do wish we could all look at this on the same display. Green is notoriously difficult to keep consistent from screen to screen.
In any case, there are a dozen subtle things I did with my upgraded knowledge that may not be noticeable individually, but I'm hoping it all adds up to a better finished result.
And I guess we'll see if there is a consensus regarding the dodging & burning. Either good, bad, or just... different.
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This is gonna get a bit negative, but I don't understand how some say that they love the George Lucas movies but yet the Jedi were wrong and forbid love and family. Like how???
It's quite complex, Anon...
This has its origins in the way how fans reacted to Episodes I, II and III. When they did not get the young Darth Vader they imagined for themselves, they started to insist, the reason why Anakin Skywalker is nothing what they imagined, is because George Lucas cannot write and/or direct and Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen are terrible actors and they can't portray the character in the correct way. This resulted in that the idea, the story that you can derive from the actual movies is not the real story, embedded itself into popular culture, and it mutated into the idea that you have to "find out" the "real" story behind the fall of Anakin Skywalker.
This idea, "the Jedi were wrong and forbid love and family" is just the latest mutation of this phenomenon, and it fits neatly into the "good idea, bad execution" narrative fans perpetuate, but most importantly: some fans are more comfortable with declaring compassion being unconditional love and attachment as selfish grasping as nonsense and even unhealthy and malicious, than to accept, Star Wars is, in fact, challenging them to think about how they relate to their loved ones. So it makes perfect sense that they insist on this narrative. In addition, there is this cultural notion that you have this list of "must have" things that you need to be content and happy. Just look at Legends stories: they couldn't rest until Luke Skywalker got laid and ended up in a marriage with kids, because, "duh, that's how normal people are" and anything that deviates from that must be in need of a reformer, someone who enlightens/fixes/liberates them. When you add the even more central notion, that children "belong" to their parents because they "made them" and a "truly loving parent would never bear to be without their children" and the idea that when parents are making decisions for their children is somehow letting the children to decide for themselves, you end up with "the Jedi were wrong and forbid love and family" very quickly. And the biggest issue in the Star Wars fandom is that fans are so caught up in fanon that they're no longer able to tell the difference between what is actually in the movies and what they more or less agreed to be in the movies.
This reaches a new level when people are trying to impose this kind of narrative because they want one of the most popular stories of the globe to affirm their values and ideas and way of life, I wrote this about in detail here:
#sw negativity#fandom culture#fandom problems#star wars#George lucas#anon ask#jedi order#anakin skywalker#Darth vader
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hi let's talk about her
Honestly I have so much to say about her. so much. so here's some of it
-Asajj (NOT VENTRESS THAT'S HER LAST NAME ISTG PEOPLE JUST HATE USING HER ACTUAL NAME AND IDK WHY I GUESS IT'S A COOL NAME BUT ASAJJ IS ALSO A COOL NAME AND)
-Asajj was last seen in canon in the Dark Disciple novel. Where she died. I would never recommend that book to anyone so if you haven't read it yet please don't. In short, after becoming a Bounty Hunter in The Clone Wars she grew out her hair, got a cool yellow Lightsaber and for some reason teamed up with Quinlan Vos to try and kill Dooku. They didn't manage to do it. And Asajj died (was fridged) trying to protect Quinlan. The Bad Batch will not contradict that, as was said by the creators. So this is just a summary for anyone who hasn't read it because I wholeheartedly believe that book is bad
-I have not watched a single Bad Batch episode in my life. As a disclaimer. I started the first one, watched their TCW arc and saw memes screenshots clips and spoilers but I do not know this show. I will watch it now that Asajj's there tho
-She does not have the same outfit anymore! It's a change, and we haven't gotten a clear look at her new design so idk how to judge it yet. Might be to look less recognizable, but it has a very different vibe than any of her prior outfits. There's a leftover shoulder pad and probably some other stuff from her last design but I feel like they kinda clash with the new one and tbb's design language in general. The Bounty Hunter look has a very TCWish feel to it and this one is a sharp turn in another, much more casual direction. I'm not inherently against it but I guess we'll see how it looks in action soon
-In my opinion the hair looks like shit. I don't think she should have hair ever. I don't understand why she can't be bald. Why is she bald when she's evil and has hair when she's a padawan (good) and when she is "redeemed"? guess we'll never know. It's a leftover from the cancelled Dark Disciple TCW arc design (and the Dark Disciple cover and promotional material ofc) and it's bad if you ask me but to each their own and if you like it good for you
-Her Lightsaber!!!!! Same case as the hair in terms of irl development but I like it so much better. The yellow just fits her character and it's pretty. Would love for her to find another one and get back to dual-wielding (I know that won't happen)
-The bag and pouches make me so happy as a design element do you think she carries a (tooka) cat in there
-Now, visually she looks great and the animation style is smoother and nicer than TCW (as is the quality), but what about the direction the character's going in? I didn't like her being dead before, but I felt like it was somewhat better than her being shoved into being a cameo character in new content. If you can't touch her after a certain point, you also can't mess her up. But I do wonder where they're going with her. A few questions:
-Asajj in canon is a directionless character. Also, a partially nonsensical and inconsistent character in her choices and storylines. I've talked about it a lot but in short she just feels messy. What's her purpose in life? Her motive? Her origin story doesn't really make sense, even. She's a Bounty Hunter, sure, but why? If all she wants is revenge on Dooku and maybe money (which was pretty much the case in Dark Disciple), what's she doing after the Empire? And more importantly, why?
-Obviously, the question I haven't asked yet because I don't like it: How the fuck is she alive? Nightsisters have a weird relationship with death but seriously, how?
-She's a Force User after the Rise of the Empire now, so what does he do about that? Is she founding The Path? Fucking around and finding out? Making a not-Jedi-not-Sith order with other force users she finds? Is the Empire after her? Do they know she's live?
-What about her girlfriend? Is Latts Razzi safe? Is she alright?
-Why is she in The Bad Batch show? Are we making her into a cameo character or is there a purpose? Why'd they bring her back? For fun? What is she doing after the show? Floating in dead space? Cameo-ing? Will we have a book?
-OK enough for tonight but if we see Quinlan Vos in the show I'll become violent (/neg). We probably will (he might just get mentioned idk).
#daily asajj thought of the day#sw#star wars#ventress#the bad batch#asajj ventress#the bad batch season 3#tbb#star wars the bad batch#if you catch me watching only the asajj episodes of tbb and nothing else don't mind me#i still don't really care about that show#star wars the clone wars#tcw#if you read the whole thing thanks#i think i'm so interesting#this still feels unreal#need to remind myself it does not effect legends asajj in the slightest#to calm down#i'll draw some version of this design at some point#most likely
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First tyrannosaur fossil discovered with its last meal perfectly preserved in its stomach
Researchers have found a tyrannosaur’s last meal perfectly preserved inside its stomach cavity.
What was on the menu 75 million years ago? The hind legs of two baby dinosaurs, according to new research on the fossil published Friday in the journal Science Advances.
Dinosaur guts and hard evidence of their diets are rarely preserved in the fossil record, and it is the first time the stomach contents of a tyrannosaur have been uncovered.
The revelation makes this discovery particularly exciting, said co-lead author Darla Zelenitsky, a paleontologist and associate professor at the University of Calgary in Alberta.
“Tyrannosaurs are these large predatory species that roamed Alberta, and North America, during the late Cretaceous. These were the iconic apex or top predators that we’ve all seen in movies, books and museums. They walked on two legs (and) had very short arms,” Zelenitsky said.
“It was a cousin of T. rex, which came later in time, 68 to 66 million years ago. T. rex is the biggest of the tyrannosaurs, Gorgosaurus was a little bit smaller, maybe full grown would have been 9, 10 meters (33 feet).”
The tyrannosaur in question, a young Gorgosaurus libratus, would have weighed about 772 pounds (350 kilograms) — less than a horse — and reached 13 feet (4 meters) in length at the time of death.
The creature was between the ages of 5 and 7 and appeared to be picky in what it consumed, Zelenitsky said.
“Its last and second-to-last meal were these little birdlike dinosaurs, Citipes, and the tyrannosaur actually only ate the hind limbs of each of these prey items. There’s really no other skeletal remains of these predators within the stomach cavity. It’s just the hind legs.
“It must have killed … both of these Citipes at different times and then ripped off the hind legs and ate those and left the rest of the carcasses,” she added. “Obviously this teenager had an appetite for drumsticks.”
The two baby dinosaurs both belonged to the species called Citipes elegans and would have been younger than 1 year old when the tyrannosaur hunted them down, the researchers determined.
The almost complete skeleton was found in Alberta’s Dinosaur Provincial Park in 2009.
That the tyrannosaur’s stomach contents were preserved wasn’t immediately obvious, but staff at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta, noticed small protruding bones when preparing the fossil in the lab and removed a rock within its rib cage to take a closer look.
“Lo and behold, the complete hind legs of two baby dinosaurs, both under a year old, were present in its stomach,” said co-lead author François Therrien, the museum’s curator of dinosaur paleoecology, in a statement.
The paleontologists were able to determine the ages of both the predator and its prey by analyzing thin slices sampled from the fossilized bones.
“There’s growth marks like the rings of a tree. And we can essentially tell how old a dinosaur is from looking at those, the structure of the bone,” Zelenitsky said.
Changing appetites of top predators
The fossil is the first hard evidence of a long-suspected dietary pattern among large predatory dinosaurs, said paleoecologist Kat Schroeder, a postdoctoral researcher at Yale University’s department of Earth and planetary science, who wasn’t involved in the research.
The teen tyrannosaur didn’t eat what its parents did. Paleontologists believe its diet would have changed over its life span.
“Large, robust tyrannosaurs like T. rex have bite forces strong enough to hit bone when eating, and so we know they bit into megaherbivores like Triceratops,” Schroeder said via email. “Juvenile tyrannosaurs can’t bite as deep, and therefore don’t leave such feeding traces.”
She said that scientists have previously hypothesized that young tyrannosaurs had different diets from fully developed adults, but the fossil find marks the first time researchers have direct evidence.
“Combined with the relative rarity of juvenile tyrannosaur skeletons, this fossil is very significant,” Schroeder added. “Teeth can only tell us so much about the diet of extinct animals, so finding stomach contents is like picking up the proverbial ‘smoking gun.’”
The contents of the tyrannosaur’s stomach cavity revealed that at this stage in life, juveniles were hunting swift, small prey. It was likely because the predator’s body wasn’t yet well-suited for bigger prey, Zelenitsky said.
“It’s well known that tyrannosaurs changed a lot during growth, from slender forms to these robust, bone-crushing dinosaurs, and we know that this change was related to feeding behavior.”
When the dinosaur died, its mass was only 10% of that of an adult Gorgosaurus, she said.
How juvenile tyrannosaurs filled a niche
The voracious appetite of teenage tyrannosaurs and other carnivores has been thought to explain a puzzling feature of dinosaur diversity.
There are relatively few small and midsize dinosaurs in the fossil record, particularly in the Mid- to Late Cretaceous Period — something paleontologists have determined is due to the hunting activities of young tyrannosaurs.
“In Alberta’s Dinosaur Provincial Park, where this specimen is from, we have a very well sampled formation. And so we have a pretty good idea of the ecosystem there. Over 50 species of dinosaurs,” Zelenitsky said.
“We are missing mid-sized … predators from that ecosystem. So yeah, there’s been the hypothesis that, the juvenile tyrannosaurs filled that niche.”
By Katie Hunt.
#First tyrannosaur fossil discovered with its last meal perfectly preserved in its stomach#tyrannosaur#Gorgosaurus libratus#Citipes#Citipes elegans#dinosaurs#paleontologist#Alberta’s Dinosaur Provincial Park#archeology#archeolgst#history#history news#ancient history
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Do you/Lya/Lyah have any opinion on Avery? I don't think I've ever seen him come up on the blog before.
Right right, of course...
Personally, I feel Avery and the Great Hawk are the two most "lack of content" LIs. I don't know man, I just think Avery has so much potential, their social position, their status, how they have so much money, are they involved in the town's crime system, do they know about the UB or UF and if yes do they benefit from those?... So many questions and yet I can't seem to find answers in the game, at least with just the basic level of a perfect prized sugar baby that goes on a date with them once every week.
I know maybe Vrel had answered those questions somewhere on their blog, but that does not count. I want in-game content and the sole Cafe grand opening event is not enough. Avery has so much potential, I need to emphasize it one more time, and, if I could be so bold as to assume, by getting closer to them, PC can have more opportunities to discover the Town's government system. Big company? Fucking hell they can have a fucking helicopter to come to pick PC up from school, lol show off. Inside influential? Relationship with Quinn? Bla bla economic and political stuffs.
What I mean is, I guess, yeah pirate and Island sound nice, and yeah more religious mysteries and rank-climbing on the Temple server are nice too, minus we still can't fuck Jordan,... But I'm still quizzical at the political system of the town and how they decided to make Avery so unappealing... I will elaborate more about this later since my PCs have different opinions about Avery.
Even if the devs aren't planning on getting too deep into the political or economic sides, maybe I could at least expect something more... emotion-related kind of development? What's in there for me if I don't want the money, but to get closer to Avery and be an actual soulmate-lover-partner? If Avery is only there to be an emergency ATM then they don't necessarily need to be a LI?? What kind of "love interest" can make you stay so uninterested and emotionally detached like Avery? Or is that what actually is meant to be in a relationship with a middle-aged successful businessperson? Okay? If that's so I guess I placed my hope too high. Sorry Avery to me you'll be the first one out if this is a dating game show if you keep up that husband-who-going-for-business-trips-all-year-long-and-getting-cucked-because-the-wife-he-left-home-is-fucking-horny attidude.
Okay now that some of my bitching is over (lol not I can bitch forever) let's proceed on how my PCs see Avery through their POV.
Lya basically doesn't even know he exists. Mind you, her early game phase was confusing, she can't remember just some man she met only once at the Park? And because of the game mechanics, she only grew more and more confused because why the fuck does a man she had never spent time with one day just get out of his car and demand she get in or get beaten?? "I never knew you??" she thought to herself as she frantically reloaded the save file to go in another direction.
Then she came across the social tab only to see "Avery thinks you're insolent." in a tab she never really paid any attention to. No love, just 100% Lust, that's normal, the barbarian in the forest is the same. But there's another scary-looking icon - 100% rage. What? What did I do? He looked like any random man in a car, randomly pulled at her, and demanded an encounter. She never wants a car fuck, she hates car smell, she doesn't even get on a bus if not strictly needed even so she always... Oooooh, she sees, he's special, he has a place in the higher-up Social tabs, among other certain boys at school, this Avery person is a Love Interest, and she fucked up her potential relationship with him even before it started, without her knowing.
Oh well, whatever, he has a fucking "Rage" stat, he seems violent and has angry issues, so he's not a good person, like Robin or Sydney, and fuck it if he looks old enough to be her parent if she ever had one? Judging by his expensive suit and car, he's rich, so if he's so bitchless to the point of beating a young orphan because she refuses him, he can go fuck himself. Lya had more than enough to worry about.
But then stuff happened. The trauma Chobi was spat out, Whitney tried selling her, she saved him only to continue to be bully. She snapped. Lya's first phase officially ended, and she approached her second phase - the depressed phase. She sold Whitney, got Kylar's ass into prison, and then dismissed Avery too, and that's the end of the story. Even now, looking back, she has no regret. She never knows Avery.
Lyah has a more lenient view of fem Avery. He was born with Lya's experience and his creator's - my wish to explore more potential of the world so his attitude toward the LIs is more laid back. He knows how to benefit from them and handle them.
He sees Avery as a lonely older woman and is willing to accompany her as a rented escort, no more no less. And if she wants more sexual things, she'll pay higher, so there's no problem, he's willing to go with her flow. The only drawback of going on dates with Avery is he cannot sleep in Robin's bed those nights. But that's something he can work with, he needs to visit the Hawk sometimes anyway.
If you ask him what he thinks of Avery, Lyah will answer with something like: "I feel kinda sorry for her. She must have been too focused on her career when she was younger and now she's awkward with her own love life. Gaining that much power and wealth in this town as a woman is not an easy task, and she's willing to pay to have some little company, fair and square, is that how I should put it?."
Then he would stop to think a little, and chuckle: "Lucky me, never had a real "parental figure", otherwise it would be pretty awkward to be seen with her, I admit. But, I know as long as I act professionally she won't get mad and target Robin. Also even if she does she won't cause nearly as much trouble as Kylar so I don't see any problem going out with her once every week."
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So like, there's some really shitty video that this toy saw a while back about QoL mods in Terraria and how if you install all of them and then crank all of their settings up to the maximum, then the game basically plays itself. The whole video was weirdly hostile and vindictive and effectively just made fun of the concept of QoL features/mods as a whole. But it stuck in this toy's mind, not because the video itself holds any value, but because the core topic of how quality of life & accessibility features have a tangible impact on a game's design is really interesting and nobody talks about it with any kind of nuance.
So like, Terraria is obviously a very different game from what it used to be. But all of the raw content (hardmode, bosses, biomes, weapons, NPCs, etc.) that always gets the spotlight in updates only makes up a relatively-small portion of that outside of, like, the tinkerer’s workshop from 1.1, and damage classes being added in 1.0.6, both being relatively-early additions. The plethora of things that were changed/added to make the game look nicer also aren't the core thing responsible, obviously. So what is the biggest reason modern Terraria feels so alien when compared to 1.0.X versions, or even 1.1?
It's the quality of life features. Inventory management got exponentially easier/more efficient, you have a minimap at all times, smart cursor lets you expend far less effort mining and dealing with backwalls, there are special equipment slots for grappling hooks and light pets, grappling hooks are bound to a hotkey instead of being an item that you need to manually select and use, you can use items directly from your inventory instead of needing to place them in your hotbar and then select that hotbar slot, you automatically walk up 1-block inclines and open/close doors as you walk through them, there’s a plethora of features to make getting around the world trivial, the start of the game moves way faster due to the player getting access to better equipment faster, block-swapping exists… This toy posits that this is all why Terraria feels like a fundamentally different game. In old versions, it felt like you had to fight tooth and nail to get anything accomplished, but nowadays, everything feels all buttery-smooth. The main friction you encounter in progressing through the game is with boss fights, as Re-Logic obviously intends.
Now, obviously, it would be insane and stupid to claim that Terraria is a worse game, right now, than it was all the way back in the 1.0.X era, and it would be even stupider to claim that it’s worse because it has QoL features. However, this toy does not believe that every single QoL feature added to the game was inherently objectively positive or correct from the game's inception. Rather, they were natural, smart conclusions for Re-Logic to come to with the direction they decided to take the game in as it continued development. But this was not the only direction Terraria’s development could have taken.
There’s a very unique feeling to old-ass Terraria versions, and it sucks that tracking down and playing these versions is so goddamn hard. You only ever have a vague idea of where you are because there’s no map to use as reference so you’re heavily encouraged to keep most of your stuff on the surface, and to build infrastructure to connect important things underground/in the sky so you don’t get lost. Everything is so unwieldy that building a simple house and making it look remotely nice feels like a herculean effort, enemies kick your ass way harder earlygame due to decent gear being much harder to access, and there’s a lot more gravity to the choices you make in what gear you use, because it’s a lot harder to hot-swap your armor and accessories when you're not actually at your base, which is harder to get to/from due to the world being far more difficult to navigate, as a whole.
This all leads to an exponentially slower game than modern-day Terraria is, where every single thing you do needs to be deliberate and well-thought-out, and everything takes a much longer time to do. This toy remembers spending weeks as a kid building housing for the meager number of NPCs that were in the game back then, alongside farms for all of the potion-making herbs and a big obsidian generator, and all of that could be accomplished in a single play session in 1.4.X.
There is a universe in which Terraria saw minimal QoL updates and instead leaned really hard into this direction, making a slow, exploratory game where the player’s power level very slowly increments upwards and you’re encouraged to build largescale infrastructure rather than the (relatively) fast-paced boss rush where your power balloons out of control immediately and your infrastructure is a fast-travel teleportation network that takes minimal effort to set up that the game currently is, and that version of the game would not have been wrong, inherently. It would’ve been more niche, for sure, but it wouldn’t have necessarily been bad, or even worse than the current game is.
This is what makes this toy sad that old Terraria versions are so difficult to get ahold of, as well as what fascinates it so much about the retro Minecraft community. Speaking of, let’s switch gears and talk about Minecraft for a bit.
Minecraft, as it’s sure most of the people reading this are well-aware, has recently been having something of a renaissance in its retro community, the people who prefer alpha and/or beta versions of the game to the modern game. A handful of complete overhaul mods have come out for these versions (notably, Better Than Adventure and ReIndev) that put interesting spins on the game’s design, basically asking the question, “What if Mojang decided on a different direction for Minecraft to take from this point in time?”
A lot of these mods cast aside the instant-gratification convenience and linear progression of modern Minecraft in favor of slower-paced, more survival-ey gameplay, placing more emphasis on the act of exploring your world and gathering resources as the core gameplay loop as opposed to… Well, modern Minecraft really doesn’t have much of a core gameplay loop to speak of, and that’s sort of the problem, now isn’t it? This toy doesn’t want to get too far into all of this, though, as its thoughts on Minecraft’s game design are not the focus of this essay. Rather, it wants to put the spotlight onto Minecraft’s community.
An ever-increasing number of people have been growing more and more critical of Minecraft over the last 5 or so years. It’s obviously always had its detractors, but in recent time, there have been more of them that have gotten more vocal, and it’s become pretty normal to have the take that Minecraft has been getting worse lately. And a big culprit that people keep pointing to is QoL. One of the most common criticisms of Minecraft online is that quality of life features have made it way too easy to trivialize the process of blasting through the game’s content, getting obnoxiously overpowered enchanted diamond (or netherite) gear, reaching the End, and getting access to elytra and shulker boxes.
Despite both being excessively popular games that have been made far easier through their QoL changes and overall polish, that have both been in constant development for over a decade at this point, the critical responses to those features in Terraria and Minecraft could not be more different. This is amusing, and gets at something deeper with regards to game design that this toy doesn’t know it’s ever heard anyone actually say: Quality of life features are fantastic tools for reducing the noise that gets in the way of a game’s vision, but when you add them haphazardly and/or with no real vision for what you want your game to be in the end, you can very easily wind up accidentally removing a large portion of what could’ve otherwise become compelling parts of your gameplay loop. They need to be used intelligently, or they can, in fact, harm your game and make a significant contingent of your playerbase enjoy it less.
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A Reward: Diavolo/Simeon
Part Four of Special Bonus Content
Content Warning: name-calling, biting
Diavolo and Simeon are off in a corner, looking rather serious as they're whispering to each other. I know that they have a professional relationship resulting from a mutual desire to unite the three realms, but I didn't think they talked much beyond that.
Apparently, I was wrong.
The two of them approach me, stopping at the foot of the bed. Simeon looks like he's seconds away from bolting, but Diavolo rests a hand on his shoulder, making him stay in place.
And then it dawns on me.
"You're scared, aren't you?" I ask Simeon, who nods his head.
"It hit me all at once," he whispers. "It's one thing to think about doing this, but actually being presented with the opportunity is something else entirely. I mean, I know we're in the dream realm, but that doesn't mean there won't be real-world consequences, and I..." He trails off, swallowing nervously.
"He fears that he's about to fly too close to the sun, so to speak," Diavolo continues. "And he's not sure whether to risk the fall or not." That makes sense. Simeon's feelings towards me are intense, but at the end of the day, he's still an angel. He's been conditioned for thousands of years to not succumb to sin. If he follows through on any of the fantasies I saw, his life as he knows it is over. He no longer would be able to call the Celestial Realm his home.
"It also doesn't help that I was all gun-ho about it earlier." Simeon looks down in embarrassment. "I don't want to look like a chicken by backing out."
"Bro," Mammon pipes up. "None of us are gonna judge you if you change your mind, least of all MC. We might have chosen our fate for different reasons, but that doesn't mean it was an easy decision to make. I remember Lucifer and I going back and forth about it a buncha times before we even thought about our first move. So not knowing which direction you're gonna go in is completely normal."
"Didn't think Mammon had it in him to be insightful," Levi mutters, earning a hard jab from his brother.
"You know my position on this, but if you feel like you need to take a back seat or leave this dream entirely, then that's fine as well," Diavolo tells Simeon, making me raise an eyebrow in disapproval.
"Really?" I ask the prince. "We're playing into tropes now?"
"He's right." Simeon's statement surprises me. "If it weren't for the apple, then you wouldn't be here, and you're the best thing that has happened to me in a really long time." The next thing I know, the angel's straddling my lap.
"I hope you're ready, MC," he murmurs. "Because I plan on making the Celestial Realm seem like a cheap imitation of heaven by the time I'm done with you." Diavolo clears his throat, reminding Simeon of his presence. The angel merely smirks as he asks me,
"Think you can handle both of us, MC?"
"Well, only one way to find out."
The dynamic that quickly develops between Simeon and Diavolo is insane. With only brief glances, they're able to communicate in a way that rivals the twin telepathy of Beel and Belphie. Between the two of them, they're able to work me up in a matter of seconds.
"This isn't fair," I whine. The two men chuckle.
"Did you really expect us to take it easy on you?" Simeon whispers, grinning wickedly. "You should know better than that, MC."
"Perhaps they're not as smart as we thought they were," Diavolo adds in a teasing tone.
"Or maybe being fucked by multiple men has made them temporarily stupid." Simeon pinches my chin between two of his fingers. "Is that it, MC? Have all the thoughts in your pretty little head been wiped clean and replaced with the sole desire of receiving as much dick as you possibly can?" Diavolo tightly grips my thighs.
"Answer him," he hisses. I manage to stammer out a "yes".
"Well, I'll give you this: at least you're honest," Simeon responds. "I suppose if you want to act like a needy whore, then we have no choice but to treat you like one." He glances at Diavolo, who nods in agreement. The next thing I know, my back's pressed against the prince's chest, my wrists restrained by his hands. Simeon nearly towers over me as he begins stroking himself.
"Are you ready?" he asks me.
"For what?"
"This." With that, he begins pounding into me relentlessly. Diavolo, meanwhile, bites down on my neck and begins sucking. The combined sensations are making me rather lightheaded, but not necessarily in a bad way.
I feel like I'm in a state of pure euphoria.
Taglist: @lost-in-time-wanderer, @fuzztacular, @dianedancer18, @sweetbrier2908, @flare-love, @completelyshatteredbrokenmschf, @thunderlightning351, @l3v1chan, @anxious-chick
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HEYY can I get uhhh a vanilla bean sugar cone with candy pls? 🎀
(And they’re both shy and blushy heheh)
Order up!! One vanilla bean sugar cone with candy for Tay!!
Sky's Summer Fall and 250 Follower Event!
☾ Pairing ➼ Armin Arlert x gn!Reader
☾ Content/Warning ➼ fluff, modernau, mutual pining
☾ A/N ➼ hi hi bby!! :3 thank you for sending a request in. i actually had one completely different planned but for the time, i had to move it and decided to go in a different direction. worry not though, i do plan to write that other one eventually!! because it's so cute. ANYWHO. have a cute armin hehe reader isn't too blushy but she is on the inside! i hope you like it!! happy birthday to the babiest of all babies, armin <3
☾ Wordcount ➼ ~2.2k
Armin Arlert spent his whole life busting his ass for a successful future. At a young age, he lost his parents from a plane accident and since then it's been just him and his grandfather. Due to his grandfather's old age, he did what he could to step up as soon as he was old enough – working odd jobs despite his long hours in school during the day.
With great persistence, he worked hard enough to get into a decent college off the coast to pursue an education in marine biology but of what focus, he wasn't sure. Regardless, to say Armin was tired would be an understatement.
With his program came multiple opportunities to gain experience in his field. At first, he dabbled in small research groups, taking samples of the local corals and sea water – but it wasn't nearly as satisfying to him as when he got to volunteer once a week in the aquarium just a few miles south of campus.
It took a few semesters to gain the necessary certifications and log enough dives to qualify. But eventually, he was able to start working as a diver, helping observe animal behavior and cleaning what was needed.
Armin has loved the sea for as long as he could remember, something his grandfather had instilled in him as a distraction from his deceased parents. It wasn't until his late teens that he was able to actually visit one, let alone live by one. Nothing could have prepared him for how much he would love it.
Even more so when he was underwater, whether it be in a tank or the wide ocean. There was nothing quite like the warbled silence that comes with diving deep in the fish tanks in full gear, nothing but various sea life and bubbles floating around him. But even with all of the beauty that surrounds him, nothing compared to the person that walks by the tank every shift with a gaggle of young kids and their chaperoning adults following behind.
You, the tour guide who worked every Saturday and a student who sat two rows ahead of him in the organic chemistry class you both shared.
In class, you were studious as ever. Attentive to every word the professor said. Typing away with nimble fingers at every comment and question proposed. Every day you would walk in like you were floating on air, a bright smile on your lips that matched the same shine in your beautiful eyes. There have been a couple times that you shot him one of those smiles and he swears he could have dropped dead then. He doesn't know when he developed this crush on you, but it was all consuming.
So he watches as he always does, you coming down the ramp with that smile and your arms flying around animatedly as you talked about the next tank – the one he was in. Like clockwork, you raise your hand and look over to him then wave prompting the little ones to wave as well. Armin waves back, as he always does, but his bright blue eyes don't leave your face.
Just as quick as you came, you ask your group a question before starting off in the next tank's direction. On your way past, you look up to where Armin still floats and offer him another small wave, this time your gaze lingering on him. If his face wasn't covered up, you would have seen the warmest pink flush his face.
The conversations between the two of you remained professional for the most part, whether it be about the aquarium or the coursework load. Armin would love to extend that conversation with you, but he was always too nervous around you. He was lucky to get more than thirty words out before choking or having to pull away for air. There was something about you that was just so intoxicating and Armin had no idea how to navigate that, never mind the fact that he hadn't had time to even think about dating ever with his busy schedule.
But one day, you made it easier for him.
Sometime during the late fall months, you found Armin in the break room propped up in the back corner with a book in one hand and sandwich in the other, half eaten. His blue eyes are practically glued to the page with his mind in another world, so much so that he doesn't even hear you come in. You take a moment to inspect his face. His eyebrows are furrowed in concern as his gaze flits across the words.
“That must be one hell of a book.” You joke as you walk over to your work locker. You miss the way Armin jumps at your sudden voice, but settle down quickly because he realizes it's you.
“I didn't hear you come in. It really is! Have you read it?” His soft voice responds back.
You look over your shoulder to see Armin holding up his book with a small smile. At first glance, you notice the big Stephen King across the top of the cover. Under that is a picture you know all too well with the title, ‘The Institute’. The biggest smile pulls at your cheeks as you see Armin holding your favorite book at the moment.
“I love that book! I've read it at least a few times!” You exclaim as you grab your belongings and sit on the chair next to him. Armin's heart leaps into his throat at your sudden proximity. Your faint honey-vanilla perfume dances in his senses as you lean over to get a better look at where he was at in the story.
“Oh you’re just at my favorite part, too!” Armin has to pull back so that you don't bump heads with him. He's never been so close to you before, but now that he is, he takes in the beauty of your face and complex coloration in your eyes. You raise an eyebrow at him, and he just now realizes that you've asked him something.
“W-what was that?” He squeaks out, feeling his face warm even more.
“I was asking how you liked the escape scene. It's so thrilling right??” You lean back finally but Armin still feels like he can't breathe from being near you.
“I- yeah. It's stressful for sure.” He smiles back at you, cautious but sweet.
“I'm sorry for getting so in your face, I'm just so excited to see someone I know reading that. It's easily my most recommended read.” You dig in your bag as you continue on, searching for the cool metal of your car keys that must be buried deep.
“What was your favorite part, if you don't mind me asking?” Armin carefully closes the book, making sure to place his bookmark in the right spot before doing so. Your excitement and happiness radiates off you like the sun.
“Oh my gosh, I love questions! It's gotta be when Nick and Kalisha kiss! I shipped them for so long so when they finally did that, it was like it all paid off. Not to mention that it was placed during a high tension moment!! I love those kinds of kisses. And you never would have thought they would end up like that, you know? Like, it's one of those romances where they end up falling for each other due to their circumstances and what not. It's just so cute!” You rattle on, staring straight into Armin's crystal blue eyes with a large grin on your face.
Armin’s interactions with you were always brief that he never really knew you, so to see this side of you was surprising to say the least. Not like it was a bad thing though, he already had a crush on you but now he was enamored. He could listen to you talking about your favorite things all day, he thinks.
“You think it's weird that such a little moment would be my favorite, don't you?” You tease, not a hint of distress in your tone.
“No! Not at all! Different, perhaps. But interesting for sure!” Armin waves his hands in front of his chest in a defensive manner, the book's pages fluttering from the back and forth motion.
“Good, because I was about to tease you about how goofy you look in your diving gear.” You laugh, the sound of it reverberating off the break room's walls. It tickles his brain in a pleasant way.
“What's wrong with my gear?” Armin glances at the clock briefly and notices he only has a few minutes left before he needs to get ready to leave for his night job. He found it easier for himself if he brought everything he needed for the day instead of going back and forth from his apartment.
“Nothing, silly. I'm just kidding. You look rather dashing in it, if I may be so blunt.” You mutter as you force your face into your bag. You still haven't been able to find your keys. Because of that, you miss the shell-shocked expression gracing his soft face. It's gone though as soon as you pop your head out. “Ah-ha!” You pull out a keychain with various charms sparkling off the bright fluorescents.
“Seems like it's time for us to head out, huh?” You check the time on your phone with a soft sigh before glancing over at him. Seems to Armin that he's not the only one who noticed you both left at the same time most days.
“Hey Armin, what are you doing tomorrow?” You ask innocently as you stand up, slinging your bag over your shoulder then turning to face the blushy blonde.
“Um, well it's my day off so I'll be catching up on some school work.” Armin stands up too, and much to your shock, you notice how much taller he is to you. Whenever you talked to him or worked with him, he was always in the tank or sitting at his desk. He wasn't towering per se, but you absolutely had to look up to keep his gaze.
“There's this bookshop that I've been dying to visit and I heard it has some published research journals I think would be great for our end of the year project.”
“Oh, uh. That's awesome, you'll gave to tell me what you think of it in class on Monday.”
“Well, why don't you come see it for yourself. Shopping is always fun with people you know, right? Do you have about an hour or so to spare?” You adjust the strap of your bag, mainly out of the sheer anxiety that floods your veins. You kept up a solid front, but inside you were churning.
“Yeah!-“ His voice jumps an octave before clearing his throat in a way to compose himself. “I can make time for that, sure.”
“Awesome! I think I still have your number from that homework assignment a few months ago so I'll message you when I'm ready tomorrow, yeah?” Another wide grin pulls from your cheeks, your stomach somersaulting at his cute expression. You were nervous around him but he was just so adorable, it made everything easier.
His heart quickens in pace as he fumbles with putting his own things away into his bag and zipping it tight. There's a pause as he watches you give him one more smile before turning on your heel for the door. He reaches a hand out as if to stop you but he hesitates. Is this what he thinks you're asking? If you were anyone else, he wouldn't have been so bold but there's something about you that makes him want to be a little more brave. So he calls your name to get your attention.
“Wait! Is this… is this a date?” His voice cracks ever so slightly.
“If you'd like that, yeah.” Your upper half turns in his direction as you throw him a cheeky smile.
“I would love that, actually.” Armin shuffles his feet, looking down at them only for a second before meeting your eyes once again. You're met with a shy smile and the softest shade of pink lighting up his face.
“Great. Then I'll see you tomorrow for our date.” And with that you're out the door, the lingering scent of your perfume the only proof of the interaction he just had with you. His hand closes in front of him, as if to grab hold of this moment.
On his way to his car, an inkling of a voice telling Armin he didn't have time for something like this creeps up on him. He had homework to catch up on, and not to mention the school week started up again so soon. For once though, he finds himself being able to overpower that voice so much so it turns into a whisper. He was allowed something like this. And if part of his day off included you, well. Working harder to make up some things would be worth it.
#sky's summer event#armin arlert#armin x reader#armin arlet#armin arlert x reader#armin arlet x reader#x reader#attack on titan#aot#shingeki no kyojin#snk#fluff#modernau#asked#answered
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I’ve wanted to properly say my personal opinion on this in an actual post for a while, now’s a good time as any
I realized a few weeks ago that I do not feel capable of adding to the admingate conversation, especially in regards to abusive workplace treatment involving the unions & how various international laws play a role. It’s way out of my league.
like I admit with my full chest I came here to watch cubes and don’t know about all these complex topics, and I have no time I can give to researching all of them. that’s why I’ve personally taken a rather distanced stance. this is complex and emotionally heavy stuff that needs careful attention, I’m not able to speak about it well within my experience/knowledge as I’d like, so I don’t feel comfortable or that it’s my place in doing so
I do take a pretty wide outlook on the situation with the time and energy I can allocate to it. the things I’ve heard from admins involved say it’s not looking any better, while others in the project say it’s being improved in a good direction. It’s different opinions on every side- and that’s pretty usual for a situation like this with lots of people and moving parts. in the end we as the onlooker fans can’t know anything except what we’re shown.
In the same way, I think you guys are valid to your own opinions and interpretations, whether it be negative or optimistic, neutral or what be you. I am aware of how you all feel, and like. it’s your own blogs post however you want
The approach I’ve found myself taking here is “support the admins. hold tentative hope for the project to be handled in a proper manner.” thus I continue to primarily send my appreciation and gratitude to admins who have suffered greatly & unfairly, who have worked hard, and I continue watching how the server is being handled with the hope it can be improved in better conditions.
I think a day where the QSMP permanently shuts down burns dies in a fire and explodes + everyone I enjoy on it leaves would be the day I release my final hope for it and leave too. but I don’t think I’d leave qsmpblr forever, you’re all too awesome :3
I truly want to see it get better. In no other place would I get to watch people on opposite sides of the globe like YD and BBH who don’t know each others native language at all meet and become best friends. those two have given me joy recently :’)
so I will keep a close eye observing, waiting to see how it develops the coming months/year
Lastly, I’ll make something clear.
As I touched on earlier, chances are I’ve heard all about something even if I don’t post on it. If anyone expects replies from me talking about the workplace abuse, management privilege, international unions & laws, again I reiterate- I know I cannot give an educated reply on that and would end up poorly regurgitating all the same stuff we’ve already heard hundreds of times the past month which isn’t me helping anything. I truly wish I could somehow make things better for myself and everyone by doing that, but I can’t. and it won’t.
so like if you’ve sent asks, thank you. and I know. but topics like this in my inbox likely won’t get a response. dw it’s not on you guys ❤️
I hope any members of our community who may read this are doing well. I know it’s difficult to be in this odd, frustrating limbo situation and have a lot of complicated mixed feelings about whats going on with this media that means a lot to you. You felt what the beautiful highs of the QSMP are like, and now you’ve become aware of the lowest lows. I get it, it’s been hard
if you want to stick around with your streamer and see what happens next then sure you do that. if you need to take a step back, disengage from the content for a while or just leave entirely then sure you do that.
do whatever is right by you, take care of yourselves okay? hugs 🫂❤️
#qadmin situation#qsmp discourse#simply wanted to get my thoughts out into the void ^^#there wont be another post like this from me#explains it well enough I think
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Hi Shima! You have a lot of Pokemon content on your page and I’m sorta curious about the like, world of Pokemon, so would you have any recommendations on what like game I should start with or what I should watch first? Thanks!
!!! YOOOOO OKAY I GOTCHU ANON. Buckle up bc my 20 years of being a Pokemon fan is about to kick in
As for where to start with the games--this is all really depending on how your own personal playstyle! Do you like games that are more easy going and light on plot? Or do you like ones with heavy amounts of story? Or do you prefer games that are a perfect blend of the two? Pokemon's got a mixed bag of all of the above so you really can't go wrong
If you're into that really nostalgia feel I'd recommend starting out with the first Pokemon game I ever played as a kid, which was Pokemon Emerald! You can actually play this for free by downloading a Gameboy Advance emulator and the Emerald ROM. I have a lot of fond memories of Emerald and it's still one of my favorite games to date. I actually even prefer Emerald over its remakes (Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire) bc it just doesn't quite hit the same lol. I think even without having played Emerald as a kid it'll just spark that nostalgic feeling? It's that kind of game, at least to me :")
Going off of that if you REALLY want to hit nostalgia central and start where it all began, Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen is also a good game to start out with. It's a remake of Pokemon Red/Blue, which were the first ever Pokemon games that were made. Personally I'm not a super huge Gen 1 fan bc I feel like it's been WAY overdone at this point (it's had two remakes already) but if you've never played a Pokemon game again it's definitely a good starting point. It's barely got any plot so it's really a game you can just dive into and enjoy without focusing too hard on the story. AND as an added bonus, Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver is the direct sequel to Gen 1 (and a remake of the original Gold/Silver/Crystal) so I'd definitely play that one as well, it's lots of fun!
Of course I will also recommend Pokemon Black/White and Black 2/White 2, which is generation 5 and my FAVORITE mainline Pokemon games of all time. BW released right before the transition to the 3D games so it still has sprite art. It's a GORGEOUS game honestly and I think it's really well balanced with story VS gameplay. It's got great characters and fantastic design elements (with everything honestly like the Pokemon designs are great, the character designs are great, the city/town designs are great, etc) and the most KICKASS soundtrack ever (looking at you Driftveil City AKA Toothless dancing meme music). I could go on and on and on about Gen 5 for hours lmao I really hold it near and dear to my heart. Also it's one of the very few games that actually has a sequel which I LOVE. BW2 takes place two years after BW and I love the story and character progression 🥰
Shouting out Pokemon Platinum as well, I know it's a huge fan favorite and honestly I also love it very much!! Platinum came out before BW did so it's got that early DS era feel to it. It's got a decent plot and classic fun gameplay elements. Also Pokemon Legends Arceus which ties directly into Platinum as its prequel (but you should play Platinum first? I know it's confusing lol). PLA is SUPER fucking fun, it's got a completely different gameplay style and mechanic than regular Pokemon games, and it ties in with Platinum so well.
And to my last few recommendations -
Pokemon Sun and Moon!! There's mixed feelings about this one from a lot of people but it's one of my personal favorites...I think people dislike that it's so plot heavy, there's a LOT of dialogue even when starting the game so if you're not into that I wouldn't go with SM. But I LOVE games that are heavy with plot and SM just does it so well. The characterization is really well done and I love watching Lillie go through her development arc 🤧 But yeah it's SM NOT Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon which are like. The same games but Worse. USUM took SM's plot and stomped all over it so I would not go for those lol
And, of courseeee. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet! These are the most recent mainline games to release and ohhh my god. Is the game laggy and bugged out as hell? Yes. Is it also fucking FANTASTIC and has made me cry multiple times? ALSO yes. If you don't mind occasional shitty graphics then please please PLEASE play SV. The open world aspect is a ton of fun, the new Pokemon designs are so charming, the characters are wonderful, and the STORY??? The plot literally blew my socks off the first time I played it. SV endgame you will always be the king of my heart. It's definitely heavier than any previous Pokemon game and it had me reeling for DAYS after. The story is just. So so so good. And we get a continuation of the story kicking ass in the DLC. I love SV to death it really redeemed Pokemon after the disaster that was gen 8 for me (and it's REALLY fun to shiny hunt in).
And LAST but certainly not least. My favorite Pokemon game of all time period ever in the history of Pokemon. Not a mainline game but a side/spinoff game--Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky!! If you want the classic Pokemon experience I probably wouldn't start with this since it's so different from the mainline games but I'd 10000% play it after finishing your first Pokemon game. It's a dungeon crawler, you get to BE a Pokemon, the music is phenomenal, the gameplay is phenomenal, the story is PHENOMENAL, everything about it is incredible and I will love this game until the day I die. I CANNOT recommend it enough. It's so so SO good and it means so much to me I can't even. Please play PMD Sky this goes to everyone who hasn't played it I prommy it's worth it
So basically:
Easy games with no/light plot: FRLG, Emerald, HGSS
Games with a perfect blend of actual gameplay and plot: BW/B2W2, Platinum, PLA
Games that hit HEAVY with plot/storyline: SM, SV, PMD Sky
Honestly you really cannot go wrong no matter where you start out. Even if it's with one of the games I DIDN'T personally recommend, all the mainline games have their own unique charm and each generation has its die hard fans (UNOVA GANG RISE). I've played all of them and they're all enjoyable!
As for the anime, my personal recommendations are the XY saga and the SM saga! The SM saga is my ultimate favorite, it's really cute and charming and fun, with some heavier plot arcs sprinkled in so it's a good blend between lighthearted stuff and more serious story. XY is VERY plot-heavy especially in the latter part, there's a lot of character development and crazy stuff going on, so I'd go for that one if you want to get hit hard with Feels. I haven't watched as much of the anime so I'm sure other people would recommend other seasons (I know the original saga, the Hoenn saga and the DP saga are fan favorites).
I'd also recommend watching the sub instead of the dub,, especially if you haven't grown up watching the Pokemon anime like me the dub is VERY hit or miss. I prefer subs as well bc the dub actually cuts out a LOT of stuff? I know for SM they had fun extra little bits at the beginning and ending of each episode that the dub just. Didn't include. For some reason? Like they'd cut out entire scenes. Idk. It's up to you either way tho ^^
And that is my introduction to Pokemon list.........if anybody has anything to add feel free! These are just my personal recommendations based off of what I like so naturally not everyone will agree lol. If you have any questions anon don't hesitate to ask, I'm always down to talk Pokemon. And I hope you have lots of fun playing whichever game you decide to go with!!
#Shima answers questions#Long post#Pokemon#Sorry I word vomited there LOL can you tell Pokemon has been my hyperfixation since I was 7#It is Everything to me <3#ANYWAY HAVE FUN ANON!!! So glad I managed to catch your interest with my Pokeposting lmao
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