#love island challenge casting call
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⋆.ೃ࿔lights, camera...*:･
actor!veneer x GN!jealous!reader
• one shot
• fluff
at this point in yours and veneers relationship, you’ve been pretty used to his fame and how the life of dating a celebrity is a bit challenging than you imagined. until one day, veneer is casted on a new netflix movie airing worldwide ! but, of course, it had to be a romance.
you were super supportive ! showing up to rehearsals, meeting the cast members, helping him out with lines, you really enjoyed it. though, it being a romance plot, you had to witness every. kissing. scene, with his romantic interest, Arden. reminding yourself it was all just for a plot, you push past the fact of how much time they spend together and worrying if he was falling for them.
what will be your breaking point in order to prove he was unattainable?
*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ
“if you want to be as famous as me, you gotta work, gotta work, gotta -“
in the middle of washing your dishes, you picked up
your phone and held it against your shoulder when
you answered it.
“hello?” you forgot to look at who was calling, so you
stuck with the automatic basic greeting.
“Y/N! hi, hi, uhm so i’m on my way over, i still really
can’t believe that, yknow… you know !!” veneer
exclaimed, not having to second guess that it was
him from the way he squealed your name at the
beginning. smiling to yourself, you rinsed off your
hands and turned around from the sink to look out
the living room window.
“i can’t believe it either! and it was only yesterday !
im so happy for you. are we going out to celebrate ?”
there was a pause.
“mm, not exactly. we’re going out, but it’s kind of like
a get together with the cast members, so we can all
get to really know eachother.” veneer explained, and
you furrowed your eyebrows slightly.
“oh, but didn’t we already do that? i met everyone.”
you took the phone in your hand.
“well that was different , like , a basic meet and greet
slash first rehearsal. this is a little more like a loose ,
flowy, have-a-drink-make-someone-laugh type of
deal.” he seemed to have trouble with his
description, but you just laughed, leaning against
your island.
“i like how you describe things.” you blurted
randomly, and you felt him smile on the other end.
that was odd, but you just knew.
“i’ll be there in a minute, love you flower.” he
responded. blushing, you dropped your head.
“i love you too ven.”
hanging up, you went to your room to throw
something on half decent to wear. you weren’t
trying to impress anyone but your own boyfriend,
but you were trying to prove a point to veneers
romantic interest in the movie, Arden, is their name,
that their relationship was strictly for the screen and
nothing else. when you had first met them, they were
actually sweet and funny — but that’s what scared
you. there was nothing that you feared more than
you ending up being just a test subject for veneer , as
he was just famous and hungry, and being pushed to
the side as soon as he tracks down another
person significantly better than you.
pulling on a nice dress shirt, you looked at yourself
in your full body mirror. you knew most of that
definitely— probably, wasn’t true. but that sickening
feeling in your gut pulled your heart closer to your
stomachs depth. you shook it off, swallowing the
lump in your throat. then you heard a horn honk.
rushing out of your room, you opened the front door
to veneer in his car, one hand on the steering wheel
and the other around the head rest. he grinned at you
from afar and you rolled your eyes, scurrying over to
the passenger side and getting in.
“veneer, you’re gonna give me a stroke one day and
it’ll be all your fault.” you shot at him and he laughed.
“mhm, sure, aaaaaaand i’m slowly building up your
fight or flight reactions so one day you can whoop
major ass when you need it.” he replied as he put
the gear in drive and started his way up your
neighbourhood. you shook your head with a smile.
once you two arrived to the actual set of the movie,
which was just a mansion as of right now, you both
exited the car and made your way inside. you were
slightly nervous, though you’ve met everyone before,
but having to see people after already meeting them
once is weirdly even more awkward. once inside,
your arm intertwined with veneers, you were blinded
by spotlights and a huge chandelier over your head.
you saw a tall, tan person, who you remembered as
Arden, wave at venner who he waved back at, and
that’s where he dragged you to go. you made sure to
keep my arm tight around his.
“arden! you remember y/n,” he started, gesturing his
head towards you. you smiled with a nod and they
did the same. “yes, of course. both of you look very
nice.” they looked specifically venner up and down
and you bit your cheek.
“oh well thank you! you also look great. where’s
Lucas?” veneer asked, who you knew as their
director.
you zoned out as they both talked, but keeping an
eye on Arden, making sure their expressions weren’t
too exaggerated or incase they tried to make a
move on veneer. you obviously weren’t worried of
veneer reciprocating, but it still icked you
nonetheless. you then noticed someone approached
the little group, who you recognized as Lucas.
“ven! it’s nice to see you. and y/n, i’m glad you
showed up. veneer always needs his number one
supporter.” Lucas laughed and so did the rest of
them. you smiled and nodded. “it’s nice to see
you as well.” you were quiet as you were just lost
in thought a moment ago.
“anyway, veneer and arden, i was thinking as a little
teaser for the gram..” you cringed at his abbreviation
of “Instagram.” veneer and arden smiled
simultaneously.
“we could post a snippet of your guys’ hot scene…”
you felt your heart beating quickly as you shot a
glance at veneer then back at Lucas. did he really
just suggest that in front of you?
Arden clapped their hands together once and looked
to veneer. “oh, yes! imagine the fame that would
flood because of it !” they exclaimed, but veneer
expressed a face of uncertainty, but plastering a
smile.
“oh, i..” trailing off for a quick moment he looked to
you and you intervened.
“he would love to.” you said monotonously but with
a slight grin spreading on your lips.
no, no he wouldn’t, you told yourself, but oh, yes he
did, your tease told you.
veneer shot you a look of surprise but also distress,
but Lucas has already walked away while whistling.
“get the cameras UP!” he yelled enthusiastically.
swiftly pulling you to the side , veneer stuck his head
out at you and gestured his hands in a “what is this”
expression. you couldn’t help but laugh a little.
“i’m not going to stop you from having fun. just
go do it, it’ll be a core memory for all of you.”
you explained, him biting the inside of his lip.
“i don’t really get you. just a moment ago you were
clearly uncomfortable…” he trailed off and shook
his head, but shot a smile at you. he kissed you
gently as his right hand ran through your hair,
then ran off to the others.
you watched the whole scene happen. the tension
between veneer and arden’s characters , the slight
touching , and of course, the kiss. that rose
dangerous flames in the pit of your lungs. you had
been digging your nails into your palm without even
nothing , which turned your knuckles white.
once the shitshow was over, you let veneer mingle
amongst his peers before you gave him “the look”,
which signaled you wanted to go. without thinking
twice, he started ;
“this was fun, but me and y/n have to get going.
photoshoot tomorrow.” that was always the excuse,
a photoshoot. and it always worked.
“ah, of course. it was nice seeing you two.” Lucas
replied, and Arden looked straight at veneer.
“i’ll see you soon, ven.” they said quietly. your
teeth grit and veneer took your hand.
after all the goodbyes, you and veneer exited the
house and got into his car. without exchanging any
words, he started the engine and revered out of the
parking spot, looking over his shoulder whilst
putting his hand on your head rest. you watched
him in the corner of your eye and felt your body
tense at this simple yet effective sight , and you
swallowed with a dry throat.
on the highway back home, you still felt fury in
your chest.
“pull over,” you said out of nowhere , veneer
looking to you, back to the road then at you again.
“what, why? are you gonna be sick?” he sounded
panicked and you looked at him, that being all
it took for him to put on his signal light and pull over
onto the shoulder of the road. he parked the car.
throwing off your seatbelt and pushing the buckle of
his, you threw your legs over to the driver side and
climbed atop him, left hand on his shoulder as the
other reached down to recline the seat. this all
happened so suddenly, he didn’t have time to react
until the brief 5 seconds you gave for you two to look
at eachother. his hands that were in the air slowly
lowered down onto your waist as his eyes scanned
the view in front of him. looking back into your eyes,
you crashed your lips against his with your hands
gripping the collar of his dress shirt.
both of you had craved this all night — veneer
more than you, actually. having to touch someone
else that wasn’t giving him the satisfaction of
what you gave sort of drive him mad. you noticed
his hands grew tighter on your body and his kiss
moved from gentle to hungry, you inhaling his low
exhales felt like taking a drag of a much needed
cigarette.
the cold surrounded around you disappeared as his
hands started to disperse on your back, running
up to your hair so he could pull your head back and
press kisses to your neck and collarbone. your
throat managed a sound you couldn’t explain,
and you let your eyes fall closed as you felt his lips
dragging slowly on your skin.
you loved how patient he was with your body, how he
took his time to explore what made you gasp and
breath out his name , like it was his only purpose to
do so.
pulling away, he looked up at you and pulled you
close to him by your waist, simply just gazing into
your eyes.
“i will never get sick of you.” he whispered , his voice
seeming to travel in the wind around your head.
you felt a smile quickly spread on your lips and you
cupped his face in your hands.
“i’d like to see Arden try and get that from you.” you
joked and he shook his head with a chuckle.
“they could never. no one could ever.” a moment
of silence sat between you two.
“i love you , y/n,” he kissed you again, pulled away ,
“my flower,”
another quick kiss to your lips concluded the closure
you needed. he loved you, and you loved him, and it
wasn’t just for show. ♡
*･῾ ᵎ⌇ ⁺◦ ✧.* *･῾ ᵎ⌇ ⁺◦ ✧.*
a/n: FINALLY. i am so sorry. i’m so stressed out
but i love you guys pls eat my scraps 😞🩷
#trolls#trolls band together#trolls veneer#velvet and veneer#veneer x reader#fluff#oneshot#trolls 3#trolls fandom#trolls fanfic
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Sea Change
A follow up commission for Settle by the lovely (and very patient) 🐦 anon
Oikawa Tooru x female reader
w.c 5.4k
tw: non/dub-con, pregnancy, breeding kink (kinda), yandere themes, threats of violence, stockholm syndrome, nsfw, smut
When you were younger, you dreamed of a life spent travelling.
Beautiful sunsets, the melting pot of foreign cities, stretching out on the shores of breathtaking, glittering beaches. Wandering ancient ruins and immersing yourself in the local culture, never growing stagnant, never feeling trapped.
Paradise.
In some way, that lingering desire was what pushed you to go and study in Argentina in the first place. Sure, it wasn’t the carefree, whirlwind adventure you’d imagined as a child, but that didn’t matter. You were leaving home, standing on your own two feet for the first time in your life.
The language was tricky, it took you months before you felt even somewhat confident carrying a conversation. The customs weren’t what you were used to – tiny differences that always left you feeling slightly out of place. Undertaking college in another country brought its own set of challenges, and you were lost and unsure, not knowing whether the course you were on was the right one and terrified of making a mistake.
Still, it was everything.
Argentina stole your heart. San Juan, with its sleepy, historic atmosphere took root inside of you. It felt like home, almost from the first day you spent there. Even when you were stressed, near broke and drowning under your course work, you were utterly enamoured, enthralled by the vibrant city and its beautiful people.
You’d joked once on a call back home that it’d take a small miracle to pry you away from Argentina; you loved it here too much.
Then you met Tooru, and for a while that seemed like a dream come true, too.
It seems cruel, that you’ve been gifted everything you’ve ever dreamed of – and more – with no way of giving it back. Like the universe is laughing at you.
Across the glistening ocean, the sun’s beginning to rise. Perched at the end of the old, wooden pier, your feet dangle off the edge, high tide bringing the ocean up to lap at your ankles. The sky, awash with pink and orange and a smattering of clouds, casts a warm glow over the water, the sea taking on a wine-like hue.
Two seagulls circle overhead, and you smother a bitter laugh, resting a hand atop your swollen belly.
Another beautiful morning in paradise.
A little ways down the shore, the port is already thriving; fisherman returning, others heading out. There’s yachts and whale watching tours and on the far side of the port, a cruise ship, docked for a few days while tourists explore the beaches and the nearby islands, the sight sending an odd pang through your heart.
Here, however, out on the pier in front of the beach villa you’ve made a temporary home, it’s calm. There’s not another soul in sight, no sound but the gentle lapping of waves and the rustle of the breeze blowing through the palm trees.
You’ll take what peace you can get, even if it is at ridiculous hours of the morning. God knows you’re never blessed with it for long.
Just as you think it, and much like the proverbial devil summoned by a mere thought, an elated cry shatters the morning’s tranquillity.
“Mama! Mama!!”
You have only moments to brace yourself – the tiny pattering of footsteps quickly approaching – before two little arms are thrown around you and Hatori buries his face against your shoulder.
You’re supposed to smile. Turn to pull him into your arms, a flurry of sweet kisses while he giggles and kicks in response.
Instead, you stare at the distant port, the cruise ship with its thousand windows.
Five more minutes, you want to plead. Just five more minutes.
But a warm laugh sounds, heavier footsteps following down the pier. “Careful, buddy. You’ve got to be gentle with your mama. You don’t wanna hurt the baby, do you?”
Little Hatori, clutching at your clothes, shakes his head, “Sorry, mama.”
When you can avoid it no longer, you tilt your head towards him, mustering up the required smile. “It’s alright,” you reassure him, smoothing down his windswept locks. “I’m not that fragile.” Though sometimes you feel it; big and bloated, unable to so much as bend over to tie your shoelaces.
He beams at you, his eyes so much like his father’s.
The same father who leans down to press a lingering kiss to the crown of your head. “We woke up and you weren’t there,” he says, voice deceptively mild as he settles beside you on the edge of the pier, pulling Hatori down to sit on his lap.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
Which is the truth, technically. Between Tooru’s smothering embrace and the fetus the size of a small pumpkin rolling around and kicking your insides (with an apparent fondness for your bladder) a good night’s sleep has become somewhat of a rarity.
And, because you feel his stare boring holes into your profile, you feel compelled to add, “It was stuffy inside, I wanted some fresh air.” He can’t fault you for that, can he?
Tooru hums. Uses the arm not holding Hatori to nudge you closer, curling it possessively around your pregnant belly.
“…I don’t like waking up without you.”
To Hatori, barely paying attention as it is, it probably sounds like the halfhearted grumblings of a husband hopelessly in love with his wife. You, who remember all too well the nights spent with the cold bite of metal around your wrist, know better.
You say nothing, your head falling to rest on his shoulder, watching as the sun continues to rise over the ocean.
—
“Mama, look! Crab! Crab!”
Keeping his little hand in yours, Hatori crouches to study the rock pools. Sure enough, scuttling across the rock face a grumpy looking hermit crab avoids the toddler’s pointed finger.
“It’s a hermit crab, buddy,” Tooru interjects, watching the two of you with what you can only describe as a fond expression. You used to find it endearing, sweet, even. Now, it earns a far less positive response –muscles tensing, discomfort sweeping through every vestige of your body.
But you shove that discomfort aside, doing your best to lean down, mindful of your pregnant belly to talk to the excited boy.
“Did you know that hermit crabs change their shells? Mhm, when they find a new shell they like, they’ll all come out, line up, try it on and then swap with each other, biggest to smallest.”
Hatori stares up at you, mouth softly parted, eyes wide and wondrous – understanding little, spellbound all the same.
“Though sometimes they think bottle caps and other rubbish are cool new shells and try to move into those too, which isn’t so good for them.”
Hatori’s a month shy of two and a half, and there’s three things that can hold his attention for hours at a time; the construction site across the street back home, the volleyball Tooru had given him on his first birthday, and the sound of your voice.
Tooru calls him a mama’s boy, looking thoroughly pleased each time he says it, much to your quiet dismay.
The reality behind his son’s attachment isn’t nearly so touching.
Hatori clings to you like a mother because you’re the only one he’s ever known. His own abandoned him, and Tooru’s never let anyone else get close. He adores the sound of your voice because there were days where for hours on end, he’d be the only company you had, and talking – even to a babbling infant – was the only thing that kept you from falling to pieces.
You’ve been tempted to resent him for it.
After all, if you’d never taken that babysitting job, if he hadn’t become so attached – if his father hadn’t been so charming and besotted, and you so naive – perhaps you might’ve walked away.
Maybe you’d be back home, in the midst of planning your next adventure to escape the boredom of day to day life.
But Hatori’s innocent in this.
A baby – well, toddler, now. One day he’ll be older, and perhaps he’ll begin to notice that mommy and daddy’s relationship isn’t like the ones his friends' parents share. That mommy isn’t allowed out of the house and daddy’s affection comes off a little strong.
Until that day comes, though–
“Your mama’s a clever one, isn’t she, Ha’rii?”
The toddler nods, bright eyed and beaming, and Tooru winks.
“C’mon, let’s go see the waterfalls.”
He helps you back to your feet, grinning when you quietly – begrudgingly – murmur your thanks. Not one to let you off the hook so easily, Tooru taps the side of his cheek with a finger, an expectant gleam in those soft, brown eyes.
He wants a kiss.
Won’t move until you comply.
It shouldn’t be a big deal; he’s forced you into far more degrading positions, a simple kiss on the cheek shouldn’t faze you in the slightest. Certainly not when you’re six months pregnant with his kid.
Such a small, inconsequential act of affection, and yet he takes great pleasure – judging from the wicked delight curling at his lips at your poorly concealed hesitation – in coercing those performances from you, and greedily reaping the rewards.
Bastard.
Swallowing down the bitter taste in your mouth, you lift yourself up, arms encircling his neck – his own steadying your waist, stroking at your skin – to place a chaste, fleeting peck to his jaw. The bare minimum (you hope) that he’ll accept.
At the last second, though, his head turns and your mouth instead meets his. His grin widens, smug and satisfied, deepening the kiss the moment you try to pull back.
– you’ll play along for Hatori’s sake, even if it means losing pieces of yourself along the way.
—
“I was thinking maybe we could head into town for dinner? I saw a few restaurants on the waterfront when we drove in that looked nice.”
Back at the villa, Hatori down for his nap, it’s just the two of you alone in your bedroom.
“O-or maybe tomorrow for brunch? Ha’rii might enjoy seeing all the fisherman and the boats and stuff…” you trail off, trying not to fidget the longer he stares.
Tooru smiles, perhaps a touch indulgently, walking over to where you sit on the edge of the bed. Slowly he drops his knees, presses a soft, languid kiss to each of your knees and one to your stomach – the baby rolling beneath the strangely reverent touch – caressing you like you’re made of glass.
It’s an effort not to shudder, even now.
For someone in such a public arena, he’s remarkably adept at hiding the depth of his obsession. His sickness. Even around Hatori, he likes to play at being a normal father, a loving husband.
But there’s no need for masks in the privacy of your bedroom.
“Mm, but I have something special planned for tonight.”
You swallow, changing tracks, “What about breakfast, then?”
He pauses his ministrations, chin tilting to the side, “Why? You don’t want me to make you breakfast in bed?”
You can’t remember the last time you ate out, the last restaurant, or cafe, or bar that you actually sat down in–
“No! No, it’s not that, I only thought that it might be a nice change. We’re on vacation, right? You deserve a break, too. A-and the walk would be nice, a chance to see the sights and everything.”
Your smile wavers as the seconds tick by.
And then, all of a sudden, the tension breaks, Tooru chuckling with a fond shake of his head,
“Silly girl.” He rises then, tilts your chin up to kiss you again. “Why don’t you lie down for a bit? It’s been a big day, we don’t want you over-exerting yourself. Or the baby.”
It’s never a suggestion with Tooru, and the door shuts with a quiet click that echoes throughout the room.
—
The three of you eat on the balcony overlooking the ocean. The food is amazing, of course. Not the sort of take-out you used to get back when you were living alone, with food piled high into cheap, plastic containers, presentation pushed aside in favour of ease of transport.
No, each plate is as beautiful as it is delicious, with artfully smeared sauces and garnishes arranged just so.
Idly, you wonder which restaurant he had prepare and deliver it, why you couldn’t have just saved them all the effort and gone to eat it in person at the restaurant itself.
(Not that Tooru would ever allow that. How foolish of you to believe otherwise.)
There’s three courses, four if you include the bowl of bread and dips you’d started the meal with. Champagne (non-alcoholic, of course) and your favourite dessert, which your husband took great pleasure in feeding you while you sat unwittingly on his lap.
It’s a fancy enough affair that you’d be tempted to believe that this was what Tooru had in mind when he’d told you that he’d had something special lined up for the evening.
You’re proven wrong, however, when you return to the bedroom after settling Hatori down to find a ribbon wrapped box set atop the bed.
“I bought you something,” your husband murmurs, coming up behind you to envelop you in another embrace. His lips ghost along the delicate line of your throat, brushing up against your pulse point. “Try it on for me?”
You force yourself to nod.
The box itself carries no brand or name, yet the matte finish and flowing gold bow tied perfectly screams opulence. Your fingers tremble as they brush along the lid; it’s beautiful, undoubtedly high quality, but you’d sooner throw the box into the sea than open it.
Your stomach churns.
“Thank you.”
Funny how such an innocent object can bring about such a visceral reaction.
You barely register Tooru leaving. He likely wants this particular unveiling to be a surprise – a gift of his own to unwrap and enjoy – but you’re grateful for the privacy nonetheless.
Slowly, you pull the ribbon loose and lift the lid, setting it aside. Laying carefully folded between layers of black tissue paper is a lingerie set, a blue lace babydoll with matching panties.
What else?
If it were jewellery, Tooru would’ve put it on you himself, taking the opportunity to gush over how beautiful you look, how he loves spoiling you, seeing you draped in precious metals and pretty diamonds.
You would’ve preferred jewellery. You would’ve preferred nothing.
You’ve heard of husbands losing attraction to their wives during their pregnancy. Pregnancy glow may be a real thing, and your tits have gone up a full cup size, yet with the added weight gain, your baby bump and stretched skin, the puffy ankles and ugly marks around your stomach and breasts, there’s nothing sexy about this.
Far from being disgusted by it – by you – seeing you pregnant and swollen with his kid seems to have unlocked some insatiable desire within your husband. It’s a rare night that he keeps his hands to himself, this– this is just the cherry on top.
Numb fingers work at the buttons of your sundress, the fabric hitting the floor with a quiet thump. Your panties are next, kicked aside after shimmying them off.
Mindlessly, you dress yourself in the pretty lingerie.
And it’s fine, it’s fine until you make the mistake of looking in the mirror.
Seeing your reflection, bloated and fat, the grotesque roundness of your stomach, clad in scraps of fucking lace–
You’re hideous. Fat and ugly and hideous and horrifically pregnant.
A sob claws its way up your throat, your legs giving way beneath you as you sink to the floor. You never wanted this, never asked for it. Kids were a part of the plan, yes – one day, maybe, when you found someone you loved and you were ready to settle down and start a family.
But this has been forced on you, like the ring on your finger, like the sweet boy sleeping down the hallway. You draw in a shuddering breath, curling in on yourself as much as your belly will allow. You’re disgusting. This baby – this innocent creature with no say in its creation – you’d rip it out of your stomach with your bare hands if you could.
You hate it, loathe this soul sucking little parasite feeding off of you, almost as much as you hate Tooru for putting it inside of you.
Almost as much as you hate yourself, and this gross, jiggling body you had no say in.
Tears fall, anguished and heart-wrenching, the cries muffled by the back of your palm. And still, your cradle that disgusting bump.
Time passes, you can’t say how much, but enough that Tooru’s impatience wins out. The door to the bedroom creaks open, and you hear the quiet, “Oh, baby,” as his footsteps approach.
You don’t look up as he wraps you in a tender embrace and kisses your hair, don’t acknowledge him all. You hiccup and cry, fat tears rolling down heated cheeks.
“Stand up for me.”
You hate him, you hate him, you hate him–
“Baby,” a hint of a warning, now.
Taking the offered arm, you shakily crawl to your feet, refusing to meet his eye. You feel exposed, vulnerable. He’s seen you naked more times than you care to count, but this is different. Every flaw, every ugly part of you on display beneath the ridiculous outfit he’s forced you into.
You’ve never felt less attractive in your life.
You want to curl up and disappear, for the ground to open up and swallow you whole. You don’t want him looking at you as he is, lips softly parted, pupils dilated and simmering with desire.
“Fuck, you look amazing.”
Even his voice is deeper than usual, thick and heady. You shiver with revulsion, but words are still beyond you. He tilts your chin up, wetness clinging to your lashes, trails of it running down your cheeks. He thumbs at the glistening droplets. Inhales sharply. Unsteadily.
“So pretty for me,” he breathes.
He kisses your lips then, surprisingly chaste. Cradles your face like it’s something precious, and that sick, disgusting feeling bubbles away inside of you. You can’t stand it; the feeling of his hands on you, the sickening love in his eyes, the unignorable evidence of his arousal pressing against your swollen middle.
“Don’t–” your voice wobbles – a pathetic, miserable sound, “don’t touch me.”
He ignores you, as he usually does, reaching down to cup your swollen, tender breasts, squeezing them with an appreciative hum. “They’re getting bigger.”
“Please, Tooru,” you sniffle, hating that he’s brought you to this new low. “Please not tonight.”
You don’t have the energy to explain that it hurts. You’re sore and hormonal and revolted with yourself, and you can’t bear the thought of him touching you. Raping you.
Because that’s what this is, right?
There’s no use sugarcoating the truth. You might not kick and scream every time he fucks you, but that doesn’t make it a consensual act. He drugged you, stole you, raped you, kept you, and now he’s knocked you up and put a ring on your finger and he’s all that you have. Him and Hatori and the unborn, innocent child inside of you – they’re what’s left of your world.
And you can’t stand it.
“Don’t,” you choke out.
The plea goes unheeded, capturing the hand that weakly swats at him and pressing his lips to your wrist, a heated smile curling at his lips. “Mm, but you look so good like this. Think I wanna keep you in it while I fuck you.”
“Hatori–”
“Is asleep. Now are you gonna lie back and let me take care of my lovely, pregnant wife, or are you going to keep being difficult?” his voice changes then, a hard edge where there wasn’t before.
He’s never hurt you. Not really, nothing beyond a warning slap – with a fraction of the terrifying strength you know he’s capable of.
There was one night, though, when he’d come home to find Hatori screaming and you in a fit of tears, your nails broken and bloodied, that damnable lock around your ankle without so much as a scratch. He hadn’t hit you then, either, only picked up his son to calm him, his eyes fixed on you as he rocked the boy back to sleep.
It was only when Hatori was down once more, and your tears had dried that he came to sit beside you on the bed. He’d asked to see your ankle – the one you’d been so desperate to free.
The terror that gripped you then, watching as he rolled and flexed the delicate joint in his hands (the same hands you’d seen smash volleyballs with the force of a cannon going off) under the guise of studying your self inflicted damage, humming to himself all the while – it’s seared into you.
All it would take was a sharp twist to snap it, he’d barely break a sweat. As his eyes, a deep, dark brown, had met yours, he’d smiled at you. Like he knew exactly where your mind had jumped to, and wanted you to remember that feeling.
‘Are you going to behave, cutie?’
He wouldn’t dare risk anything that would hurt the baby, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a thousand other awful ways Tooru can express his dissatisfaction.
You can’t help it though. Your hormones are swinging wildly out of control, the cracks inside of you fracturing like spiderwebs, and you shake your head, biting down on the pleas that threaten to undo you entirely.
And he sighs. “Baby, c’mon. Work with me here.”
You’re still crying when he ushers you back to lie on the bed, legs parted as he sinks down to his knees between them.
Tooru’s always held a strange fixation with your thighs, noses lovingly at the smooth expanse of skin.
They’re trembling, goosebumps rising to the surface as the warmth of his breath tickles the plush softness there, and you can’t help the gasping breath you suck in through your teeth when his mouth follows suit, sucking a hot, languorous trail towards your panties.
You try to dissociate, chest heaving, cheeks still wet from your tears. Your fingers clutch at the soft, white sheets beneath you while you stare at the ceiling fan above, lazily stirring the balmy summer night air. Anywhere but here. You can be anywhere but here if you close your eyes tight–
Tooru’s teeth nip sharply at your skin. Not hard enough to draw blood, mind you, only to pull your attention back where he wants it. That wicked, awful tongue of his is quick to soothe any hurt, though, laving at the abused flesh, a kiss pressed affectionately over the bite. Distracting you – almost – from the way he toys with the scrap of lace barely preserving your modesty. Fingers stroking and teasing at your folds.
He chuckles when you whine, your legs trying half heartedly to push him away. There’s no illusion of control here. Your husband wants, and so he’ll take.
That’s how it’s always been, from the moment he decided, unbeknownst to you, that he wanted you. It’s the way it’ll always be.
Tonight is just another reminder, hammering that message home.
“There’s my girl. Let me make you feel nice,” he purrs, squeezing at your hip when you shudder with another choked back sob. “Let me take care of you, hm?”
Nudging the seat of your panties aside, his hot mouth descends on your cunt without waiting for a response.
And you gasp, fingers tightening in the sheets. He’s in no rush, tasting your sex with a languid drag of his tongue.
If there’s an art to eating you out, it’s one your husband has taken great efforts to master.
It’s embarrassing how easily you fall apart under his ministrations. How your hips jerk when the pink muscle laps and strokes at your pussy, delving into your core in search of the spots he knows’ll drive you wild. The way your back arches, whole body tensing when he sucks your clit into his mouth and flicks at it with his tongue.
He brings you right to the brink, stroking himself through his shorts as your hips buck to meet his eager mouth. It’s easier to give in, to lose yourself to the pleasure he’s generous enough to bestow. And you feel it building, hot and burning, electric as it surges through your body.
More, more, more.
Every moan is dragged unwittingly from your lips, and they may as well be gold for how Tooru chases them.
Your hands yearn to shove him off of you, to scrub the memory of his touch from your skin. Your fingers itch to grab him by his stupid hair and hold him in place so you can ride that dizzying pleasure forever.
The tears fall quicker; you hate him, you hate him, you hate him and you hate yourself even more, but you don’t want him to stop, not when you’re so close. And the moment you begin to tip over the precipice, to hurtle over the edge with him– he pulls back to quickly rid himself of his clothes and wipe off the slick smeared across his jaw.
It’s unfair, you think, how attractive he is.
Sun kissed, golden skin. Taut, well defined muscles. And that pretty face, so lovely for someone so utterly heartless.
“Relax,” he laughs, naked now as he climbs onto the bed to settle between your thighs once more, “I said I’d make you feel good, didn’t I?”
Your cheeks burn, and childishly, you turn your face away.
“… I hate you.”
“No,” he denies, kissing your calf as he lifts it to rest upon his shoulder. “You love me. My pretty wife.”
And he fucks you gently, mindful of your swollen belly, and the baby. Takes his time stretching you out on his cock, slowly sinking into your warm, welcoming pussy, filling you to the brim with every roll of his hips.
“You love me,” he repeats, dark eyes greedily drinking down the sight of you in your pretty lingerie, pregnant with his baby.
Wholly his, and falling apart for him once more.
“You love me,” fingers circling at your clit, the walls of your pussy tightening around his cock.
You bite down on your bottom lip, desperate to keep yourself from giving him the satisfaction of hearing you cum.
“You love me,” he grunts.
And you truly think he believes it.
—
Tooru snores lightly beside you, dead to the world.
At the end of the week this little vacation of yours – the babymoon, as your husband had jokingly dubbed it – would end, and you’d go back to San Juan. Life will return to normal; days spent trapped inside the villa, waiting for Tooru to come home from training, from his games, from press conferences and fancy, promotional events.
Maybe this time he’d take you with him. A breath of fresh air, a night out. You could play the role of loving wife well enough, right? For a few hours, at least.
And there’d be Hatori to take care of, and the baby due in a few months. Then Hatori’ll be a big brother. He’s likely too young to truly understand that, but he does perk up when the topic of his soon to be sibling comes up. He likes sitting in your lap and cuddling your middle – a move which admittedly has become slightly more challenging as the baby bump grows.
You’d love them, love them both despite everything. And you’d be loved in turn.
That’s the truth, isn’t it? Tooru couldn’t love you more if he tried. Warped and poisonous and all consuming, you’d suffocate under the weight of it, and he’d follow you even then.
There’s nothing for you back home, you haven’t spoken to your family in months. You’d had to beg for that privilege on your knees, the burn in your throat and the bruises on your knees sticking with you for days afterwards.
And he’d stood there while you spoke to them, arms folded across his chest, face pinched and unhappy, the timer on his phone counting down. They don’t know about the baby, and if Tooru has his way they’ll never meet her.
Their granddaughter. Niece. Cousin. You’ll never go home.
And as if he’s cognizant of the ache in your chest, your sleeping husband draws you closer, mumbles softly into the crook of your neck, nuzzling you.
No, you’ll never have a home that wasn’t carved by his hands.
… But it isn’t just you that that’s true for anymore, is it?
Tooru’s content with locking you away from the world like a dragon hoarding gold, why should his children be spared that possessive insanity?
Ha’rii’s young, still. So, so young, but it hasn’t slipped your notice that there’s never been any mention of daycare or playdates, you’re hardly able to take him to the park without Tooru getting all huffy.
And your daughter (a girl, you’re having a baby girl), you can’t imagine he’ll loosen that leash for her. Kids need socialisation. They need friends.
They’ll suffer for it, this love of his. Your family. Your children.
Rolling over – away from your husband’s oppressive hold – you stare out the window, the glittering lights of the distant port just barely visible.
It’s so easy to be brave, daring, when you have nothing to lose, and a safety net regardless. Strength was never one of your defining traits to begin with. You broke so easily for him. So quickly.
You gave up.
Played with quiet resentment as if it were resistance, and now you’re nothing but a hollow, broken shell of the girl you used to be.
There’s nothing waiting for you beyond the home he’s built for you.
Your family haven’t heard from you in months, Tooru says that they’ve moved on. If they truly cared, they would’ve looked for you. Your uni friends have long since forgotten you. You dropped out. Disappeared off the proverbial face of the earth. It happens.
You have nothing to your name – and even that he’s taken from you.
The crashing of waves outside the window calms your heart. In a few hours, it’ll be dawn.
In a few days, you’ll return home to San Juan. In a few months, you’ll give birth to Tooru’s daughter, and that little girl will tie you to him for the rest of your lives far better than chains ever could.
Bit by bit, carefully as to not disturb him, you crawl out of bed. A wrinkle appears on your husband’s brow and he shifts with a grumble, subconsciously searching for the warmth you’ve taken with you. But he doesn’t stir, and you breathe a quiet sigh of relief.
Your clothes from yesterday lie forgotten on the floor, numbly, you slip them back on.
No one else will want you, not now that you’re a mother, pregnant with his child. No one else could ever love you as much as he does.
And you need him. You think that somewhere deep down, buried beneath the layers of bitterness and self loathing, you might even love him.
He’s given you no other choice.
A steady inhale, and you glance back at his sleeping form once more. For all his faults – for all that he takes from you, greedy and demanding and wholly unrepentant – he does provide for you. You, Hatori, your daughter, you’d want for nothing.
(Nothing, except your freedom.)
It won’t be long before he notices your absence and wakes to seek you out, and so you silently pad from the room.
Unlike his father, Hatori stirs when you push the door wide and step inside. “Mama?” his tired voice mumbles, eyes sluggishly blinking open.
You smile for him, reaching out to smooth down those pretty, dark curls of his. “Shh, go back to sleep, sweetheart,” and you kiss his forehead, pulling the blankets up to tuck him back in. “Mama loves you, remember that.”
He’s fast asleep by the time you reach the doorway.
You have nowhere to go. No money. No passport. No way back home and no guarantee that anybody’s waiting for you there, anyway.
He loves you. More than anyone. More than anything. You’ll never be cared for and adored like you are when you’re with him.
You need him.
… Your daughter needs you more, and it’s that thought alone that spurs you onwards.
There’s some cash in Tooru’s wallet that you slip into your bra, a jacket of his that you pull around your shoulders.
A little ways down the shore, the port is beginning to wake.
#yandere haikyuu#yandere oikawa tooru x reader#yandere oikawa#yandere oikawa x reader#yandere oikawa tooru#tw: noncon#tw: dubcon
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Personal Tech Support
Pairing: Donna Sheridan x Fem!reader
Summary: You upgrade a few items around the island. Making Donna have to relearn technology.
Word count: 993
You've always been the tech-savvy one in your relationship with Donna. From the moment you first met, it was clear that while she had the charm, creativity, and charisma to run her small hotel on the Greek island of Kalokairi, she was a bit challenged when it came to modern technology. You, on the other hand, had a knack for all things electronic and mechanical. So, when you decided to surprise Donna by upgrading a few things around her hotel, you knew it would make her life easier, even if it did come with some comical challenges.
The hotel, though full of character and history, had its fair share of quirks. The plumbing was ancient, the electrical wiring was a patchwork of DIY solutions, and the Wi-Fi, well, it was more of a "Wi-Maybe." You couldn't stand to see your girlfriend struggle with these everyday issues, so you set out to modernize the place without compromising its rustic charm.
One of your first projects was installing a brand-new espresso machine in the hotel's café. You figured it would be a hit with the tourists who frequented the place. The sleek, stainless steel beast looked like it belonged in a spaceship compared to the old, sputtering coffee maker it replaced.
The morning after you installed it, Donna stood in front of the new espresso machine, her brow furrowed in confusion. "Love, how does this contraption work again?" she asked, casting you an adorable, bewildered look. You chuckled, walking over to her. "Darling, I've shown you this at least five times. You press this button for a regular espresso, this one for a cappuccino, and this one for a latte."
Donna blinked at the array of buttons. "But which one makes a regular coffee?"
You couldn't help but grin. "The one that says 'espresso,' Donna. It's the first button."
She nodded, clearly trying to remember. "Right, the 'ex-press-oh.' Got it."
You watched as she carefully pressed the button, and the machine whirred to life, making all sorts of futuristic noises. Espresso poured into the cup, and Donna beamed triumphantly as if she'd just solved a complex puzzle. You couldn't contain your laughter. "Don't worry, love," you said, ruffling her hair affectionately. "You'll get the hang of it."
Over the next few days, you introduced more upgrades. You replaced the old landline phone with a sleek, cordless model. You set up a modern sound system in the hotel's courtyard for music during the evening gatherings. You even convinced Donna to ditch the ancient cash register in favor of a user-friendly tablet-based point-of-sale system. With each new addition, Donna's confusion seemed to grow. She'd call you over for help, even when you were just in the next room. "Sweetie, can you come here? I can't get the music to play."
You'd sigh with faux exasperation, setting down whatever you were doing to assist her. "Donna, remember the app? You just select the playlist and press play."
"I know, I know," she'd reply, rolling her eyes at her own forgetfulness. "But it's all so...fiddly."
As much as you teased her about it, you couldn't deny the joy of watching her adapt to these newfangled devices. It was endearing to see her navigate the touch screen of the tablet POS system with determined concentration, making transactions for guests with a sense of accomplishment.
One evening, as you both sat on the terrace overlooking the azure sea, Donna sipped a glass of wine and turned to you with a mischievous glint in her eye. "You know," she began, "I think you're secretly enjoying being my personal tech support." You chuckled, tracing circles on her hand. "Well, it does give me the chance to hold you close and whisper sweet nothings in your ear."
She laughed, leaning in to steal a quick kiss. "You do have a point there."
As the summer days passed, Donna's tech anxiety began to wane. She'd proudly tell you about how she had successfully made a latte without any assistance, or how she'd mastered the art of Bluetooth pairing for the speakers. She even dared to experiment with the espresso machine, trying her hand at creating intricate latte art.
One morning, you walked into the café to find her diligently working behind the counter. She held up a cup with a heart-shaped design in the foam. "Look at this, my love!" she exclaimed. "I made a heart!" You couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "That's fantastic, Donna! You're becoming a pro."
But just as you thought her tech-related troubles were a thing of the past, a new challenge emerged. You had upgraded the hotel's Wi-Fi, and while it was now faster and more reliable, Donna couldn't quite grasp the concept of network names and passwords.
"Darling," she called from the reception desk, "what's the code for the Wee-Fee again?"
You sighed, resigning yourself to another round of explanations. "It's Wi-Fi, Donna. And the password is 'KalokairiSunshine.'"
"Right, right," she replied with a nod, jotting it down on a piece of paper. You couldn't resist teasing her. "Donna, I've told you the password at least ten times. It's 'KalokairiSunshine,' like our beautiful island."
She laughed, folding her arms and giving you an impish look. "Well, maybe I just enjoy hearing you say it, my tech genius."
You shook your head in mock exasperation, but deep down, you cherished these moments. Donna's quirks, her playful nature, and her ability to embrace change, even if it came with a learning curve, were all part of what made her so special to you.
As the sun set over Kalokairi, casting a warm, golden glow across the hotel, you couldn't help but feel grateful for the chance to be Donna's partner in both love and technology. In your eyes, she was the heart and soul of the hotel, and you were more than happy to be the one who helped her keep it running, one espresso at a time.
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Theory: Valentino was the famous 1920s actor Rudolph Valentino, the "Latin Lover".
Who was Rudolph Valentino?
Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed the "Latin Lover", was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred in several well-known silent films from 1921 to 1926, including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle, and The Son of the Sheik.
Valentino was a sex symbol of the 1920s, known in Hollywood as the "Latin Lover" (a title invented for him by Hollywood moguls), the "Great Lover", or simply "Valentino". His early death at the age of 31 caused mass hysteria among his fans, further cementing his place in early cinematic history as a cultural film icon.
Valentino was born in Castellaneta, Apulia, Italy…unable to secure employment in Italy, he departed for the United States in 1913. He was processed at Ellis Island at age 18 on December 23, 1913. Valentino never applied for American citizenship, and retained his Italian citizenship.
Arriving in New York City, he supported himself with odd jobs such as busing tables in restaurants and gardening. Around 1914, restaurateur Joe Pani who owned Castles-by-the-Sea, the Colony, and the Woodmansten Inn was the first to hire Rudolph to dance the tango with Joan Sawyer for $50 per week.
Eventually, he found work as a taxi dancer at Maxim's Restaurant-Cabaret. Among the other dancers at Maxim's were several displaced members of European nobility, for whom a premium demand existed…Valentino left town [in 1917], and joined a traveling musical that led him to the West Coast.
[…] With his dancing success, Valentino found a room of his own on Sunset Boulevard, and began actively seeking screen roles. His first part was as an extra in the film Alimony, moving on to small parts in several films. Despite his best efforts, he was typically cast as a "heavy" (villain) or gangster. At the time, the archetypal major male star was Wallace Reid, with a fair complexion, light eyes, and an All-American look, with Valentino the opposite; he eventually supplanted Sessue Hayakawa as Hollywood's most popular "exotic" male lead.
[…] With the Douglas Fairbanks type being the supposed epitome of manhood, Valentino was sometimes portrayed as a threat to the "All American" man. One man, asked in a street interview in 1922 what he thought of Valentino, replied, "Many other men [say they] desire to be another Douglas Fairbanks. But Valentino? I wonder…"
Women in the same interview found Valentino, quote, "Triumphantly seductive. He puts the love-making of the average husband or sweetheart into discard as tame, flat, and unimpassioned."
Some journalists were still calling [Valentino's] "masculinity" into question, going on at length about his pomaded hair, his dandyish clothing, his treatment of women, his views on women, and whether he was "effeminate" or not. Valentino hated these stories, and was known to carry clippings of the newspaper articles around with him and criticize them.
In July 1926, the Chicago Tribune reported that a vending machine dispensing pink talcum powder (face powder) had appeared in an upscale hotel's men's washroom. An editorial that followed used the story to protest the supposed feminization of American men, and blamed the talcum powder on Valentino and his films. The piece infuriated Valentino, and he challenged the writer to his choice of a boxing or wrestling match, since dueling was illegal. Neither challenge was answered.
Shortly afterward, Valentino met with journalist H. L. Mencken for advice on how best to deal with the incident. Mencken advised Valentino to "let the dreadful farce roll along to exhaustion" (i.e. "do nothing"), but Valentino insisted the editorial was "infamous", [and must be answered for in a one-on-one fight].
After Valentino challenged the Tribune's anonymous writer to a boxing match, the New York Evening Journal boxing writer, Frank O'Neill, volunteered to fight in his place. Valentino won the bout, which took place on the roof of New York's Ambassador Hotel.
Heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey, who trained Valentino and other Hollywood notables of the era in boxing, said of him: "He was the most virile and masculine of men. The women were like flies to a honeypot. He could never shake them off, anywhere he went. What a lovely, lucky guy."
Mencken found Valentino to be likable and gentlemanly, and wrote sympathetically of him in an article published in The Baltimore Sun a week after Valentino's death:
"It was not that trifling Chicago episode that was riding him; it was the whole grotesque futility of his life. Had he achieved, out of nothing, a vast and dizzy success? Then that success was hollow as well as vast—a colossal and preposterous nothing. Was he acclaimed by yelling multitudes? Then every time the multitudes yelled, he felt himself blushing inside…the thing, at the start, must have only bewildered him, but in those last days, unless I am a worse psychologist than even the professors of psychology, it was revolting him. Worse, it was making him afraid…here was a young man who was living daily the dream of millions of other men. Here was one who was catnip to women. Here was one who had wealth and fame, and here was one who was very unhappy [in spite of that wealth and fame]."
[…] Valentino was also the "sex symbol" of his time in the 1920s. The sheet music cover for "Rodolph Valentino Blues" written in 1922, to quote the lyrics, "Oh Mister Rodolph Valentino / I know I've got the Valentino blues / And when you come up on the screen / Oh! You're so romantic, I go frantic at the views!
[…] [Prior to his death], Valentino was fascinated with every part of movie-making. During production on a Mae Murray film, he spent time studying the director's plans. He craved authenticity and wished to shoot on location, finally forming his own production company, Rudolph Valentino Productions, in 1925. Valentino, George Ullman, and Beatrice Ullman were the incorporators.
[…] Valentino once told gossip columnist Louella Parsons that: "The women I love don't love me. The others don't matter." He claims that despite his success as a sex symbol, in his personal love life, he never achieved happiness.
[…] In 1919—just before the rise of his career—Valentino impulsively married actress Jean Acker, who was also [romantically] involved with actresses Grace Darmond and Alla Nazimova.
Acker became involved with Valentino in part to remove herself from the lesbian love triangle, quickly regretted the marriage, and locked Valentino out of their room on their wedding night. The couple separated soon after, and the marriage was never consummated [on account of Acker being a lesbian].
The couple remained legally married until 1921, when Acker sued Valentino for divorce, citing desertion. The divorce was granted, with Acker receiving alimony. She and Valentino eventually renewed their friendship, and remained friends until his death.
[His second marriage to actress Winifred Shaughnessy, known by her stage name, Natacha Rambova—an American silent film costume and set designer, art director, and protégée of Alla Nazimova, his ex-wife's lesbian lover—ended far more poorly.
The two married in 1922, remarried in 1923, and divorced in 1925. Towards the end of their marriage, Rambova was banned from his sets by contract. The end of the marriage was bitter, with Valentino bequeathing Rambova one dollar in his will.]
[…] From the time he died in 1926 until the 1960s, Valentino's sexuality was not generally questioned in print. At least four books, including the notoriously libelous Hollywood Babylon, suggested that [Valentino] may have been gay, despite his marriage to Rambova. For some, the marriages to Acker and Rambova, as well as the relationship with Pola Negri, added to the suspicion that Valentino was gay, and that these were "lavender marriages".
Some claim that Valentino had a relationship with Ramón Novarro, despite Novarro stating they barely knew each other. Hollywood Babylon recounts a story that Valentino had given Novarro an art deco dildo as a gift, which was found stuffed in his throat at the time of his murder. It is believed that no such gift existed.
There were also claims that he may have had relationships with both roommates Paul Ivano and Douglas Gerrad, as well as Norman Kerry, and openly gay French theatre director and poet Jacques Hébertot. However, Ivano maintained that it was untrue, and both he and Valentino were heterosexual. Biographers Emily Leider and Allan Ellenberger generally agree that [Valentino] was most likely straight, [though others have disputed this].
There was further supposed evidence that Valentino was gay; documents in the estate of the late author Samuel Steward indicated that Valentino and Steward were sexual partners. However, evidence found in Steward's claim was subsequently found to be false, as Valentino was in New York on the date Steward claimed a sexual encounter occurred in Ohio.
[Valentino died on 23 August 1926, at the age of 31, due to complications from perforated ulcer surgery, resulting in sepsis (bacterial poisoning), a collapsed lung, and other fatal conditions.]
#hazbin hotel#hazbin hotel theory#hazbin hotel headcanon#hazbin hotel fan thory#valentino#hazbin valentino#hazbin hotel valentino#the vees#the vs
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I was invited as a contributing illustrator for Singapore’s National Day art competition held by the local museum. The prompt was to draw something reminding me of Singapore with the little red dot in the centre integrated into the illustration. A lot of people usually go with food or big landmarks / the skyscape, which I felt were very human things (ew @ the Anthropocene lol) and i was going through a bird phase and dealing with c*vid so i ended up focusing on birds.
I was also going thru a small riso print obsession bc of that one tutorial floating around tumblr in July 2022 and really really really wanted to emulate the CMYK riso print process digitally, it was a super fun challenge and i think one of the few times i had felt excited about art in a long time.
The pandemic offered a chance for everyone to slow down, and I’ve observed more of my friends exploring the natural side of Singapore. In the last few years, I’ve found myself trying to pay attention to the different birds in my neighbourhood. My hope for Singapore and Singaporeans is to develop a greater appreciation for the little natural spaces we have, and to increase our collective respect and protection for the other residents of the island that were here before and alongside us.
For my artwork, I've chosen to cast a spotlight on the Asian Koel, with its bright red eyes and signature calls—the bird that you either love or hate to hear in the early mornings. While many (including myself) have never seen it in person before, it’s a bird I strongly associate with our local soundscape.
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ruby yew is not for the faint of heart. for the last four years she has lived off the land-- her current campsite is next to an active volcano. dating prospects around active volcanoes are...slim. ruby wants a life partner who can keep up with her explosive (heh) lifestyle.
so the natural next step was to trick six sexy singles into competing for her affections on national tv! for the duration of the challenge, ruby and the potential lovers will camp out on a private island. and by “camp,” i mean camp. each competitor will be expected to fulfill their fair share of chores-- cleaning, cooking, laundry, fishing, gardening, repairing all of the things that will inevitably break...and so on. with so much work to do, will the sexy singles have time to find.....love?!?!?!?
read on for rules/requirements! and if it wasn’t clear: this is a casting call hehe
contestant requirements:
1. diverse sims are highly preferred-- ethnicity, gender identity, body shape, etc etc etc. i love sims that feel real! bonus points for identifying any quirks or oddities that can be used as a storyline in the challenge. give them negative traits, give them weird hobbies..whateva
2. cc can definitely be used but please try to keep it somewhat minimal/be okay with the fact that i will add/change outfits and may potentially swap skin overlays to match my game. please list cc used thank yewwww
3. must include tray files, sorry if that’s a problem! you do not/should not include the cc used. i do not have access to the gallery :(
4. you don’t have to give your sim skills, but please give me a general idea of their talents and interests so i can assign them skills accordingly!!
5. occults are okay, but ruby IS afraid of two kinds of occults so it’s like russian roulette.
3. please tag me in your sim’s post, and if i don’t like or reblog it within a day or two, send me a message!
okay take a breath
basic rules of challenge:
1. each cycle will last 3 days. i will aim to go on at least one solo date and one group date during each cycle. the “rose ceremony” happens on the night of the third day. one contestant will be eliminated during each rose ceremony.
2. eliminations are entirely vibe-based. i will take into account ruby’s relationship with the sim/the sim’s relationships with the competition, their attraction/general affinity, and the events of their dates. i’m going to try to let autonomy take over as much as possible, so i’m going to take special note of their autonomous interactions.
3. solo dates may be chosen at random or (more likely) as a prize for winning a competition. competitions will be based games as well as homesteading tasks, like...who can harvest honey without angering the bees. and so on. the sims will remain at camp during the entire challenge, but dates will take place off the lot.
4. i reserve the right to create more rules as needed HAHA
excited to see ur sims!!! terrified that i will receive no sims HAHA in which case...you never saw this this never happened
I FORGOT TO ADD: ideally submit sims by the night of sunday jan 1st but if you need an extension just lmk!! i want to start playing before my semester starts LOL
#ruby yew bc#ive never done one of these before i am definitely in over my head#but its so fun look at my CAMP#ts4 bachelorette challenge#im going to tzr this like 50 times sorry in advance#ts4#simmies
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Now that I've finally had time to sit down and read it, please allow me to recommend Stars, Hide Your Fires by Jessica Best!
A gloriously multicolor sci-fi queer romance accurately pitched as "Knives Out in space", this book has a cast of characters all worthy of their own spin-offs and a cleverly ticking mystery at its heart.
You can read the plot bits elsewhere, I won't get bogged down in em. Here's what I love: this is sci-fi with a beating heart. In Stars, Hide Your Fires no one is an island, even in space; I was strongly reminded of Becky Chamber's Wayfarers, with its complex and complicated communities of people who are just trying to make it through the day. (The space day. It is, still, a sci-fi novel, with delightful diversions on the food they eat, the way transit works, interplanetary commerce, and of course, space cussin'.)
Our hero is charming, and practical, and relatable, and funny sometimes to her own detriment, and has some growing to do. Our romance is complicated For Plot Reasons, but built on mutual respect and admiration and food-sharing (not how you'd expect!). Our perspective is one in which we have all the clues, if we can put them together fast enough-- for one delightful moment I was one step ahead of Cass as I called a plot twist, only to realize with dawning horror exactly what that meant for the narrative--
Our story is one with a satisfying ending and room still for expansion. I know I'll enjoy going back to this one again and finding all the hints I missed, and just living in this universe for a little while.
Recommended for: Fans of The Starship Iris (duh), Becky Chambers readers, people with intense feelings about AOS Jim Kirk, anthropologists disappointed by lazy sci-fi cultures, lesbians with a competence kink, cosplayers who enjoy a challenge, and you, if you're reading this.
Oh, why is this an audio post? Because this is a song based on the book we recorded and I thought it would be neat. :)
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Let's talk about Jill! I love her. You love her. She has ProblemsTM, and no one talks about her enough.
Jill is the most skilled S.T.A.R.S member, and the most adept at dealing with bioweapons post RE3. Sure, Chris got his ass beat by Wesker and killed Alexia in Code Veronica(a kill Claire should've gotten), but they still don't compare to all the various fucked up forms of Nemesis who Jill had to kill again, and again, and again mostly by herself.
From that point on it's Chris and Jill working together if you want to count the manga segments, but let's touch on her character beats. Like her insomnia. Or her untreated PTSD. Or her depression. Actually, I'm going to tackle the most fun thing about Jill when it comes to handling her various brain problems and that's how she deals with them.
She gets really mad.
Why is this fun? Why is this different? Why is this valuable? Well, the simple answer is a lot of women characters aren't allowed to show ugly, visceral anger when they're given mental illnesses. If they do, it's to the villainize them. The same way goes for men not being allowed to cry more than a single tear down the cheek when they're depicted as sad. If they do more than this, they're considered weak and feminine which is also a way to villainize anything deemed feminine, but we are staying on topic.
Jill gets pissed off when she's challenged, and it's great and refreshing because tools in the narrative justify her anger. She slaps Carlos in the face when he implies they should kill themselves instead of getting eaten by zombies or blown up by the bomb because how dare he suggest giving up after all the effort they put into surviving? It's on sight whenever she so much as sees Nicholai in the novelization. She's snippy, and annoyed, and cussing in RE3 Remake and none of it is framed as cutesy. She's fucking tired, and she's mad about all this shit blowing up in her face all the fucking time! That's why people were calling her mean in the remake, and it's like! Good! I'm glad she's angry and "mean" in one of the worst times of her life!
It's a little sad to see some of that frustration drop in Revelations I, but god Wesker capitalized on her blinding rage when he put her under mind control. Still an extremely stupid arc to give her. Will never forgive them for it. But my girl was so fucking mad, and you know what they didn't do when Chris saved her? She wasn't crying or sobbing or weeping. The anger was still there, but as much as the mind was willing, the body was too weak to employ it. She pushed Chris away to yell at him to save the world. If she was just a modicum stronger it might've been a harder shove or a slap, but that's all she could do.
And we get a mere snippet of this anger in Death Island when she's in the shooting range talking to Chris. The truth is she's not handling being back on the field well at all, but she built her entire life up to S.T.A.R.S and past that proving that she's not weak to other people. It's too hard of a habit to break because it's a defense mechanism. To Jill, being viewed as weak even for a moment will lead to being taken advantage of, and she never wants to be taken advantage of. She needs to have control over her life and herself, doubly so after surviving Wesker. So she's going to keep that control even if it means accidentally biting the hands that reach out to her to help. This kind of depiction is usually only given to men, and Jill gets it. She gets it! And she's not evil for it! And it's so so so soo good when it's employed well! (Unfortunately this is also why in newer iterations they keep trying to tone this down by making her appear sexier, because she's too intimidating otherwise. Yes, it's just as bullshit as it sounds!)
Unlike Claire, Rebecca, and even Ada who can't show more than two emotions, Jill can shoot and kill and stab and tear and destroy with all the anger she wants, and she can still get a nice date if she wanted before the rest of the RE cast! This anger is allowed to be hers without it being framed as masculine with that "one of the boys/i have three brothers" nonsense and without vilifying her womanhood for daring to express her anger as ugly as anger can be! And that's why she's great, and I love her, and someone for the love of god please get her into some decent hands for whatever she's in next.
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Reclamation - Prologue
CW - none
Cut for length. Enjoy.
Hisui.
A land of extreme beauty and extreme harshness. A fickle mistress that provided and deprived at a whim. Those that did not respect her ways would find themselves in dire straits. Or worse.
This place, as harsh as it was, was still home to many people. Some had been born on this island and knew no other land. Others came from across the ocean and settled in hopes of finding a new life and learning of all Hisui had to offer.
Some had been forced to traverse time and space to settle here.
Warden Ingo sighed as a gentle breeze blew over the Coronet Highlands. The mountains usually carried a harsh chill from the frigid air drifting down from the peak. The seasonal shift between Spring and Summer offered a brief respite from this. It was one of the very few times that Ingo could shed his coat and bask in the sunshine. The leaves rustled a soft melody and the grass felt soft beneath him as he laid on the ground, his hat and coat folded and stacked neatly by his side. His eyes drifted closed and he began to let himself sink into the currents of dreams.
It had been a few years from his estimate. He couldn't be sure. The beginning was a blur as he struggled to adjust to this new location. He owed his life to the Pearl Clan. They did not have to take him in when they did. He was a stranger with strange clothes, a strange accent, and strange mannerisms. They could have very well cast him out into the cold. However Ingo found himself being treated as one of their own and eventually had the honor of becoming a warden to one of the noble pokémon It was a grand task that very few ever had the privilege of undertaking. These pokémon were sacred to the clans and deserved the greatest of respect.
When the Galaxy Expedition Team showed up, he once again found himself being valued for his skills. Commander Kamado wasted no time in recruiting him to train his people to use and interact with pokémon Irida allowed it on the condition that it did not interfere with his duties as Warden. He took up a role that felt all to familiar to him as he battled and coached the inexperienced recruits.
All in all, Ingo felt content. While the memories he lost still scratched at the edges of his awareness, he could not say his life was poor. He had a home, loved ones, and a general purpose. One could dream for more, but he felt little need to.
For now, Sneasler had been far more successful in her hunts and needed little to no aid in caring for her kits. The dojo saw fewer challengers due to the between season clean up and the preparations for the rainy season that usually rolled in with the summer heat. Ingo was not needed. Work would undoubtedly pile up on him later but for now it was a time for relaxation.
The sound of footsteps approaching yanked Ingo from his sleep. The wilds had conditioned him to react in such a way to such sounds. One could never know if a pokémon saw them as a potential meal or a bandit saw them as a potential target. It was a fool's game to assume one was ever completely safe. A game that Ingo had played many times. Thankfully only his clothing had paid the heavier price while he got away with few injuries. His own scars and the tattered tail of his coat were a constant reminder of harsher days.
Ingo scrambled upright to see Irida walking toward him. He was quick to rise to his feet and place his cap back atop his head. She was young but Ingo looked at Irida as his savior. She had made the decision to take him in. He knew there were nay-sayers that had pressured her to turn him away. He would forever be grateful to her for not listening to them and allowing him a chance to prove his worth. She was the leader of the Pearl Clan. His clan.
His home.
“Lady Irida! To what do I owe this visit?” Ingo called out to her. His eyes focused in the bright sunshine enough to realize that Irida's expression seemed uncertain. Somber even. Her steps were heavy as they carried her up the hill to his location.
“Lady Irida?” Ingo felt a tightness in his chest as Irida stopped just before him. Irida was not one to keep her gaze down. Her head was always held high with a look of steely determination. What had happened? Was someone hurt? Was someone dead? These were not rare occurrences but they were still heart wrenching all the same. Tragedy was not something one could get used to. Even in a land where it was all too common.
Irida was silent for a moment. Her eyes seemed resistant to meet Ingo's. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, unable to conjure the words she needed to say. The wind picked up. The rustling of leaves grew louder. The cacophony pulled Irida's quiet words to the wind but Ingo could hear what Irida said loud and clear.
He could not believe it. His eyes widened. He felt as if his chest would explode from how hard his heart started to pound. It took everything he had in him to keep himself upright as the world threatened to spin around him.
“W-What!?”
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If there’s a third season in the future, what do you hope to see?
Mine are:
1. More Mkulia. And they somehow find a way to gain control of their team.
2. Raj and Wayne got separated into two teams, I want to see how they deal with their own team and their thoughts of compete against each other.
3. Add two more characters and make it 3 teams with 6 person.
4. An unexpected villain arc for a originally good character and let them win. (I kinda want to see Damien got one after he knows Total Drama well enough.)
gonna ramble about my s3 wishes under cut. i'll probably come up with more as the days go by:
i just think we deserve a girl vs girl finale. too many missed opportunities for one. i need to see girl success.
i love julia, but let's give the main antagonist role to someone like, oh i dunno, the contestant who has sworn vengeance on this cast during both of her eliminations maybe? (i'm looking at you scary girl. keep your word! make it to the dang merge and make their lives hell! i've written an analysis for you and everything!)
i don't even care if nichelle wins anymore (and that's saying a lot coming from me), but can we PLEASE just PLEASE get her to the merge at least? i am so sick of people calling her niche-L like STOP 😭 can we TRY with her character instead of making it into a gag? just a little attempt?? for me??? (as you can see, i am staring hard at the only two contestants from this gen who didn't make the merge in both seasons)
give us a challenge at night. give us a swimming challenge. give us alt outfits. give us new settings. give us some creativity and fun. we deserve it. the island is cool but imagine if we were quite literally anywhere else. your ratings will peak.
i would also like to see the hockey bros on separate teams, especially after wayne has seemingly gotten over his fear of being on a different (hockey) team than raj. it would be interesting for their characters imo!
no central romance plot i BEG. put that big binder AWAY. not saying we can't have a romance plot (i think they can be cute and nice!), but let's just make sure it isn't the central plot or i'll lose my mind <3
make mkulia canon you cowards. i know i just said no central romance plot but like. we can still make this a subplot if we try hard enough.
i need more drama in total drama. like. let's make the drama STICK instead of having it rushed and solved in the span of an episode. long lasting tension leaves the audience gagged and wanting more. if we gotta make longer seasons then so be it! (oh how i miss the longer seasons...)
if y'all don't make emma and bowie talk next season like........... do not separate the besties like this! bring them back!
and speaking of my fav white girly—we need her to get some plot. i do not ever want to see her eliminated the way she was ever again. that was heartbreaking!
if we can't make a world tour/musical season happen again, first of all, BOOOOO THAT SUCKS, and second of all, can we at least squeeze in a musical episode? i gotta hear them sing, i'm sorry... my musical phase is never-ending i fear
you know that one intern? the one with the really good design? it would be soooooo cool if they made her a contestant to fill in a contestant quota or something. it would be sooooo cool 😇 don't you guys think it would be sooooo cool?
#screw it we main tag#total drama#td spoilers#total drama spoilers#ask quackle#hhytheking#i wouldn't be me if i didn't ramble 💪🏾
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🌊 Love Island Casting Call — { CLOSED } 🌊
Hello hello~
I want to start a new, sort of casual challenge here on my blog and I’ve been watching Love Island, so ... why not? I made the host and built the mansion, but I’m still missing some very important things...YOUR SIMS! I’m looking for sims to live in this mansion and try to find love and maybe win a little bit of money.
Application open throughout AUGUST 11. 💕
The application form is under the cut!
Rules:
Maxis Match hair only, please. That just makes editing easier for me so I can get posts out faster.
Feel free to go crazy with cc. I love cc.
On the other hand, if you don’t have cc, that’s fine, too!
Please give your sims a backstory so I can properly portray them.
This challenge isn’t going to be EXACTLY the same as the show as this version will be host to all sexualities. That will make couplings a little different, but I’ll figure something out.
Your sim has to be a young adult and human.
Feel free to add preferences and things in CAS.
Please please write a biography for your sim. Short or long, I just want to know as much about your sim as possible!
Make sure your sim has everyday wear, formal wear, sleep wear, bathing suit, and hot weather wear!
If your sim is not in the original group, they will probably come into the mansion later on!! I may start this before the end of July, but you can still send sims in until then!!
I want lots of drama, so I’d love to have a variety of personalities in the mansion.
I will message you for the download link!
APPLICATION FOR YOUR SIMS:
Name:
Age:
Occupation:
Hometown:
Sexuality:
Ideal Type:
Why Are You Applying For Love Island?:
What Do You Hope To Get Out Of This Experience?:
#ts4 love island#ts4#ts4 challenge#sims 4#ts4 story#ts4 screenshots#the sims 4#s4#!!#i'm excited for this heheheheh
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we love supporting small streamers ;) so here’s a highlight of katy’s stream with nick as a guest!
nick might cosplay as re4r leon, he’s too busy right now
he loves doing emotional scenes
nick got to write a lot of his lines in re4r (this kind of tracks that some of the lines may have been different from what was originally written in the script, but he implies that the lines he was allowed to write were more of the one liners)
two of his favourite lines were (that he wrote), “you wanna get ugly, let’s get ugly,” and “tell someone who gives a shit.”
he was in japan recently for 8 days (just for fun)
he does a lot of travelling for fixers tv (to help with villages or towns, there are 30 episodes or so)
he(Nick) was not approached to reprise the role of Leon for Death Island (he thinks it makes sense to get Matt Mercer for Death Island since it’s a sequel to Vendetta and Matt played the role then)
he’s into metal
he is trying to get into a convention in ireland (but it is not confirmed)
he is trying to get into conventions, they (the cast) are not getting invited as much as he thought they would. he thinks that he will be in more cons in 2024 as most of the guests for 2023 were asked back in 2022.
he has a con in a sacramento and maryland coming soon (most cons that are inviting him are anime related so far)
he loves doing motion capture and he gets to see a version of leon when he’s working
nick likes oreos and will eat an oreo whenever he or the person playing dies lol (44 minutes in ish)
he did the hot ones challenge (it was for charity) it took him about a day to recover (he almost went to the hospital that night)
he googled “can you burn a hole into your stomach with hot sauce” “can i die from hot sauce”
he does not want to do another hot wings challenge
he gifts some subs at 51 mins
ronnie shows up and asks a question at around 58 min (the cosplayer) to ask about fine arts
1hr02 while they’re having a nice speech about being true to yourself
nick is not a dancer
nick thinks if leon was a gamer, he would be good at survival horror games lol (he said maybe he would play fortnite but he’s not into it)
(yes they save the dog)
he has slowed down with his art and hasn’t felt inspired in a while. he’s not sure if he would do an art stream because he feels like he draws so slowly
he does struggle with streaming and talking to chat, so that’s why he also has mods and other guests to keep the stream more lively
he might be interested in doing streams with wood work
he likes peanut butter and mint oreos right now
1hr14 he talks about durian lol he says it tastes like a creamy garlic spread
(he really sounds like a foodie which is nice, yes he will try almost everything with food)
nick is a big coffee drinker and he likes dirty martinis and negronis (slightly bitter)
he lives with two cats and he pets them, he would call himself a dog person though
he says for his one year on twitch he will maybe do a 24 hour stream
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J.T. Walsh is great at being a villain
Actor is ubiquitous as the bad guy in ''The Client,'' ''Nixon,'' ''A Few Good Men,'' and more
ByKate Meyers
Published on August 23, 1996
First, you recognize his face. Then you think: bad guy. If you’ve seen The Grifters, A Few Good Men, The Client, Outbreak, Nixon, or Executive Decision, then you’ve seen J.T. Walsh portraying, in his words, ”ethically challenged” individuals. Not that it bothers him. ”It’s better than doing the ‘he went thataway’ roles,” he says. His characters, which tend to be middle-aged buttoned-down authority figures, drip with what he calls ”a little juice.”
Hard-pressed to think of a nice guy he’s played, Walsh, 52, easily recalls the lowest — the porn producer having an affair with his daughter in 1991’s Defenseless. Represented on video this week by the thrillers Black Day Blue Night and Sacred Cargo and in September by the indie comedy The Low Life, Walsh says he has no problem accepting low-profile projects. ”My motto has always been, Do whatever comes next,” he laughs.
Born in San Francisco, Walsh was raised in Germany, where his father served in the military. After graduating from the University of Rhode Island, Walsh worked for a decade as, by turns, a teacher, salesman, journalist, restaurant manager, and social worker. But those became just day jobs when, at 31, the self-proclaimed hippie began acting in regional East Coast theaters. In 1974, Walsh hung out at the Theater at St. Clement’s in New York City, where he met an unknown playwright named David Mamet. Cast in the role of Bobby in American Buffalo, he made $100 for the six-week run. Ten years later, Mamet picked Walsh for the Broadway production of Glengarry Glen Ross, which was ”the pop” that got him into the movies. Walsh moved to L.A., where he’s been evil ever since.
Married briefly in his 20s, the unattached Walsh (”Who wants to go out with the bad guy?”) lives in the San Fernando Valley with his 22-year-old son, John. He’s currently playing — surprise — a morally ambiguous Navy colonel on NBC’s sci-fi drama Dark Skies. ”As an actor he conveys the attitude of the guy you call if you need a job done,” says Bryce Zabel, the show’s executive producer. ”You wouldn’t want to ask him how he got it done, but you’d call him.”
”Sure, I want bigger parts,” Walsh says. ”I call Sharon Stone and say: ‘Gimme a break. I just wanna make love to you.’ She doesn’t get back to me.”
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NCIS: Los Angeles may have wrapped last year after 14 seasons, but fans are still getting a double dose of Daniela Ruah (who played Kensi Blye) on April 15: She guest stars in the franchise’s 1,000th episode, airing on NCIS, and directed the franchise’s 1,001st episode, with Hawai’i.
Ruah’s no stranger to being behind the camera for the NCISverse. She directed six episodes of LA (seen above) and one of the mothership earlier this season. “This [Hawai’i episode] was a bigger challenge than the other ones, I think, because it was an incredible storyline, and add to that, that it was a new cast and crew for me, but it was, oh my gosh, I had the absolute best time,” she raves to TV Insider. “I called my husband after day one. I was like, ‘We have to move here. I want to keep working with these guys.’”
In the aptly-titled “The Next Thousand,” when a Marine is murdered during training on the Big Island, the team tracks the suspect deep into the woods and discovers a disturbing secret. Below, Ruah talks about directing this episode, reuniting with her LA co-star LL COOL J (who’s a special guest star on Hawai’i this season), and more.
It’s wild that we’re on 1,001 episodes and counting of the franchise.
Daniela Ruah: I know! And by the way, I am so honored to have been given Episode 1,001. I mean, that’s insane.
When we spoke for one of the episodes of LA you directed, you said you like directing both action and character-driven moments and you get both with this Hawai’i episode. What excited you most about the story when you read the script?
First of all, the case itself really takes you in one direction, and then the episode about three-quarters in kind of flips on its head. … You take the audience on a journey in this episode, for sure.
The fact that we got to shoot in forestry and jungle areas, just the production value, the richness of that was really exciting. And then add to that, the sort of volcanic barren area that you get to contrast that with diving into Tennant’s [Vanessa Lachey] past is also really interesting. Showrunners Matt Bosack, Jan Nash, and Christopher Silber, who wrote the episode, did an exceptional job, not only with the story, but also the dialogue. And oh my gosh, our guest cast was absolutely phenomenal, and they carried this episode just as much as our main cast.
The case takes everyone in different directions so you got to play with different pairings.
Oh, yeah, absolutely. I have to say, I think Alex [Tarrant] and Noah [Mills] are so charming together. Those guys really love each other in real life. So watching their chemistry, they’re so different. Alex’s character Kai is so zen, and he’s so connected to the island. And then you have Noah’s character, who’s not originally from that area. So that contrast is really cute to play with.
And then, yeah, Kate [Tori Anderson] and Sam [LL COOL J], I loved watching those two together, to be honest with you. The guy who’s so comfortable with himself and is used to using his gut to solve things as well as obviously facts and science, and she’s by-the-book and still learning to kind of relax into a case and just solve it with every tool you have, which includes your gut. So yeah, it was really cool to watch these pairings.
And then Vanessa was such a game player. She was so open to just diving into an intense emotional journey with these scenes that she had. Yeah, I love directing, and every time I direct an episode of something, I’m extremely happy. And this latest one just made me fall in love with directing even more.
You also reunited with LL COOL J and directed him again. And this episode really lets Sam be funny.
I know. I love it when Kate walks in and she’s got all these files and he’s got parfait. [Laughs] Yeah, working with Todd, it is like we never skipped a beat. It’s like no time had passed between seeing him at the end of last year on our show and seeing him now. I mean, in his own words, we’re homies. He’s my guy. It’s been 14 years of growing next to him and finding my stride as an actor and finding my stride as a director. And he’s been nothing but supportive and gracious and kind and open. Yeah, I mean, it’s Todd, it’s Uncle Todd to my kids.
Now that you’ve directed NCIS, NCIS: LA, and NCIS: Hawai’i, is there something you specifically enjoy about directing each one?
I love directing on our show because obviously it’s where I started. It’s the show where I was the most comfortable. I knew the characters, the tone, the rhythm, the crew, the cinematographer who I worked closely with. There were no surprises there. And I had a team of people who knew me so well that they weren’t going to let me fail, if I forget something because I’m new at it and it’s a lot of multitasking. No one was going to let me drop the ball at anything. So I really had that support. I would say that actually goes for all three shows, but that was just where my passion for it all began.
And then the mothership is an incredibly well-oiled machine. I definitely knew the cast from before, not just from crossovers, but our characters got introduced on their show. So I knew a lot of the crew members as well, and the producers and people who started off on set and rose up throughout the years into being into the production office. So there was a big comfort level there. And being a fan of NCIS, I had watched a bunch of episodes prior to that. So I just feel like I knew the characters really, really well, and that brought a lot of comfort to me as a director. I just felt like I was coming home. It was interesting. As soon as I walked onto their set, I was like, “I feel like I’m home.” And this wasn’t even my show.
And then with NCIS: Hawai’i, you have so many exterior scenes—the mothership is set in D.C. but it’s shot in Santa Clarita, so you actually have to be very careful about how you shoot exteriors, not to make it look like you’re in California, you have to make it look like you’re in D.C.. So there’s actually a lot of sets that are built and that you’re inside for. And in Hawai’i, it was more similar to our show where you’re actually shooting where the show is set so you can shoot as much as you want of the outside, and that really visually enriches their show. But also they’re in Season 3, so they’re still finding their characters, and I think it’s really, really fun to be in that process with them of finding new things that they haven’t done before. So, yeah, I just love the NCISverse, let’s face it.
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Multiverse News: Week 1
Greetings, fellow travelers! It’s your favorite hot mess speaking! 🖖
In the new year, I wanted to make an effort to share more about my writing progress and give you guys better (and hopefully, weekly) updates on some of my WIPs that I’ve been working on during that time.
So, for the curious among you, it’s a great opportunity to get some insight, and for me, it’s awesome because I get to share some of my excitement about current projects with you guys. And you know the rules here, questions are not only allowed but welcomed. Let me know if you like this idea and if we should continue it. In the future, I could also add fic recs of what I read that week if that would be something you’re interested in. So, without further ado, let’s get started! 🖤
Fine print: Updates may contain small spoilers, which are announced in italics! 😜
Series Updates:
DBM: Finished three chapters this week. Spoilers: First part takes place in the reader’s past with chosen moments throughout the first three seasons. The chapters are called: Lemons, Salt, Tequila. Cas and Jack also finally make appearances 😇
TBH: Finished up and ready to go up until 30. I still hate them. They keep sacrificing themselves and dying or do something insanely stupid. They won’t cooperate with me, but I’ve worked out quite a few kinks! 💪
PH: Finished until 18. Oooooooh, do I love writing this thing! Spoilers: Intense jealousy and anger management problems in parts 17 and 18. God, they’re idiots! Also, have I mentioned the smut in 13 and 14? 🔥 No? Well, there you go…
Planned Miniseries:
Cast Away: So excited for this one! It’s a hate to love, with one part already being piningly in love, and everything happens on a deserted island because of a stupid witch spell (haha cast away… Get it now? 😂). Also, there might be some Peter Pan elements in this. Be surprised (and if you send me an ask about it, I might send you snippets of the first part) 😉
Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You, Baby: This is actually a part two to a Jensen x Reader one-shot I did in June. I said back then that I want more of them, and I still do. This has been sitting in my drafts for months again. Edited so many times I can’t even count and still not finished. But I had one final idea on how to fix what I don’t like, so we’ll see. I’m quite happy with the direction it’s taking 🙃
Upcoming One-Shots:
Mercilessly: Demon!Dean x Soulmate!Reader fic. Not gonna spoil too much about it because it’s posting soon for a challenge 😈
Everything I Wanted: The alternate ending to On The Beach aka the one I deleted because it was depressing, angsty and devastating. Anyways, who wants their hearts to be broken? (Also, I titled it after the Billie Eilish song because the lyrics and video always make me fucking bawl my eyes out 😭)
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First Look Wrap-Up - The One With Karens, Tiles, and Day Dreams! Oh My
Hey, y'all! Another First Look Friday in the books with some really fun games to talk about. Keep in mind the games below are DEMOS and are in the early stages of development. My thoughts will be on the demos as is with the knowledge that things may improve and change as the game gets ready for release.
And hey, this is our first official First Look Wrap-Up post on Tumblr, so please enjoy and share and comment down below.
So let's cut the chat and get to talking about some games!
Attack of the Karens - Studio Primitive
A dangerous pathogen of unknown location has spread through the world and transformed four people of questionable intent into deadly-ranging cyborgs bent on asking for the manager. It's the Attack of the Karens BABY, and it's up to us to take them to Twitter jail (hrmm) and cancel them forever in this wildly exciting roguelite shoot 'em up.
Give The Assistant Manager A Hug
Attack of the Karens is what it says on the label: a roguelite shoot 'em up. Challenging gameplay that pushes you to learn and adapt as the cards are stacked against you is sharp and snappy. But this never takes away from the fun and your progress as you are given tools in the form of powerups and pre-match ship upgrades to realign the scales. Combat is random and procedurally generated, keeping you on your toes and making each run and replay a new puzzle to understand.
Design-wise, the game is wonderfully delightful in a satirical romp that will make you smirk as things like expired coupons fill the screen. The game design is delightful in every way, from character design to color palette to sound design. It's a feast for the senses that is easy to get lost in and it's a bummer that we're only playing a demo because I want more.
I Want To Talk To Your Manager
Is it all wine boxes and Instagram tablescapes? Not really. Even with the wonderful design and lovely color scheme, I find myself a bit lost at times, with lighter-colored enemies getting lost in the sky background. It's not horrible, and I love the design, but I did find it hard at times to keep track of that random bullet or sky mine.
Powerup text is a bit long to read and you have no time to read what's on the screen when trying to dance among the field of bullets and enemies. I would love to see a tab to read and learn what powerups look like and do, even if it's before a match.
Call Of The Wine Mom
Attack of the Karens is filled with so much lovely false nostalgia for games like R-Type or Zero Wing. I feel like I've played this game before completely knowing that's a total lie and I should go to jail. Attack of the Karens is a side-scrolling shoot 'em-up filled with the feeling of a classic but seasoned with a modern sensibility and design. This is what modern game design should be like, capturing what was loved about the games in sticky, coin-smelling arcades but honed and evolved to a sharp point. It's an easy add to my Wishlist and I look forward to its 2023 full release.
Wishlist on Steam // Twitter
Land Above Sea Below - Glasscannon Studio
With this Razer Basilisk v2 mouse, I will build the most beautiful island and keep the rising water at bay. In Land Above Sea Below we are island architects tasked with building our ever-sinking island to protect our Tree of Fall that's the heart of everything. But with randomly generated tiles and a ticking season tracker that hails the coming of the next flood the game tries to stop us at every turn.
Waiter There's A Puzzle In My Soup
Land Above Sea Below comes in the form of a tranquil tile-laying game with a dangerously complex puzzle at its core. Much like the fan favorite Dorfromantik, Land Above Sea Below touches its finger on a calming want and need to make lovely things. Every tile layer is unlocking a burst of good feels and fields and forests unfold around you. It's a magical spell that you and the game are casting as the whispering calm clouds your mind into the game's safe embrace. Is it though?
Like a lurking monster in the shadows ready to rip you apart, Land Above Sea Below hides a complex and challenging puzzle to steal away the happy trees of your land. With every tile placed is a ticking time bomb of poor choices ready to sink everything at the end of the season as you try to build tile combos to keep things afloat. Planning and keeping track of your lowlands is key to survival. The game engine hums once you get the balance of when and where to place and tile and use your limited power cards. It takes time to find it, but the world is peaceful and calming to bring you back for it.
A Sinking Land
There is very little to dislike here about this game. Land Above Sea Below brings a love game style with a complex puzzle to unwrap. The lack of tutorial was understanding due to its state of development, but I do feel it's hard to convey to new players what they might need to do with walls of text. I'm sure this will be fixed, but be aware when diving in.
The part that bothered me (harsh, I know) the most was the right-side progress bar. The white text and lines became hard to track even when focusing on it. It's not the end of this beautiful world, but may be a challenge when you are trying to keep track of what's happening.
Let Me Walk Among The Tiles
I love tile placing games from the physical, like Carcassonne, to this lovely entry that is Land Above Sea Below. It dances brilliantly between beautiful biomes and a maddening puzzle craft. I ask myself with every tile, what's the neighborhood like and when can I move in, soon it gets swallowed by the cold hands of the ticking seasons and I push forward. With a planned early access in Q4 of 2022 and a target of Spring 2023 for the full game, I'm on pine cones and needles waiting to add this to my cart but for now, it will be warm and comfy in my wishlist.
Wishlist on Steam // Twitter
Day Dream: Forgotten Sorrow - Frozen Line and Ravenage Games
In the darkness lurks a rotting hand reaching for something that we hide. With the power of friendship, we guild Griffin and his stuffed bear Birly through a strange surreal world of puzzles and dangers. We find a world of life and sky whales that feel lived and old. The partner mechanics work well and add to the charm of a kid and their bear.
Light In The Darkness
Daydream: Forgotten Sorrow finds itself in a family of some amazing dark fantasy puzzle adventure games. Though the skeleton is similar and well worn we find ourselves thrust from the dark moody worlds of shadows and creaking cities plunged into nightmares into a bright and vibrant world of light and distant lands that Finn and Jake would be proud of. The creepy nightmare still haunts the halls but it's about the hunt more than the isolation of a nightmare. The world feels like we live because of it instead of the world built around Griffin and Birly.
The puzzles are sweet and fun to overcome, directing Birly to pull a lever or push a box is intuitive and works. The platforming feels solid and even on pipes I don't feel like we're tightrope walking, but still watch your step. It's delightful and charming and offers just enough challenge to slow your pace but allows you to solve them and feel accomplished.
Darkness In The Light
Lurking under its lovely exterior is a bear who at times proves to be as clever as a stuffed bear can be. Birly, the key to many puzzles can be unruly at times opting to get in the way when making a daring jump or trying to solve a puzzle, opting to freeze up or fall from a ledge. Nothing that will hurt the experience but, for me, has led me to toss our cuddly friend into one too many pits.
In adventure puzzle games there is a balance that needs to be found between how to lead the player to the solution. Daydream: Forgotten Sorrow finds this well for the most part but I did find that at times I was following Birly more than it was following me. It's lovely to have a friend, but at times I feel like the bear was rushing me when all I wanted to do is take in the beauty of the ornate bedroom.
Tossing Friends Over The Ledge
Like a lucid dream, the world unfolds into a vibrant display of sights. Following the framework of its predecessors Daydream: Forgotten Sorrow allows the world and environment to tell the story. This demo is a story of friendship and beauty and the slow dread of a rotting hand in the shadow. With its target release of Spring 2023, I look forward to many nights of tossing Birly off so many ledges. until then I will be adding this daydream to my wishlist and waiting for its awakening.
Wishlist on Steam // Twitter
Well, kids, that's the end of my first, First Look Wrap-Up post on Tumblr! I hope you enjoyed it as I loved thinking more about the indie games I play on stream. Sometimes it's too easy for me to play a game on stream and say "hey I like this". Stopping and putting my thoughts down have given me more love and appreciation for the art that is gaming and the work developers put into it.
If you like this and the work I do follow this channel and check out my other accounts. I also stream and post gameplay videos of these games and more on Twitch and YouTube. If you want to support what I'm doing please consider checking out my Ko-Fi and buying me a coffee. Until next time - Keep your heart open, and rolls twenty.
Twitter // Twitch // TikTok // YouTube // Ko-Fi
#indie games#indie game review#game review#small streamer#twitch streamer#indie game dev#small streamer community#wholesome games#cozy games
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