#(FRONTIER CHOSENS CORES ARE GOOD)

[egg-emperor]

You know what's funny? Frontiers actually does have a TINY moment that humanized Eggman without compromising his core characterization!

In one of the Egg Memos, he voices his resentment and jealousy towards Maria because everybody venerated her after her death and completely ignored him. Jealousy, resentment and a desire for attention are all human traits as well, and it serves as a nice bit of indication that Eggman had an overinflated ego even in his childhood

Yesss I love that because it works perfectly with how I've always imagined Eggman feeling towards Maria and it's why he previously never even mentioned her once outside of her name being the password. He was bratty and egotistical and felt entitled even as a child too, he was mad that he wasn't getting all the attention and praise.

Despite Maria's condition and how she was liked because she was a good person with a good heart and Ivo surely being the opposite all along, he doesn't see what the big deal was, especially not after she was gone and they still talked about her because he was right there, he's smart and talented and he deserves all the attention instead!

It makes a lot of sense to be apathetic towards her condition and wonder where the special treatment like that is for him instead, as he had a lack of empathy while seeing even his grandfather's death whom he actually admired, and hearing about Maria's. And it hints that desire for attention and a rude way of looking at it was always part of him.

It works so well with headcanons of young Ivo of mine that I've had for a long time and that delights me! It even implies that he is indeed 50+ years old since while he does immediately go on to talk about after her death, he still clarifies he never really knew her, which seems like he was indeed alive the same time but felt he didn't really know her despite hearing about her a lot because he never actually met her.

I questioned it at first but after thinking about it, I've also chosen to think of his comparison of Sage to Maria as being a way he can take pride in Sage even more specifically because she'd seem great to people and be talked about a lot like Maria was, which is in turn is giving him attention as creator in yet another way along with how she's an impressive life-like creation. Because it does come right after talking about how everyone loved Maria. 👀

Personal insights on Eggman's thoughts and feelings in ways like that particular memo, SA2, and Shadow 2005 are the best and ideal ways of exploring and humanizing him to explore his thoughts and beliefs. Because they are indeed very human traits, even if they're not the conventional ones. And it's always really interesting to delve deep in his mind and perspective and what he believes, thinks, and feels on the most intimate personal level for that.

[katyspersonal]

KATY!!

I bring snacks for the sleepover 🧀🍞🥐🥖🥨

Tell me your headcanons on beasts!! Anything from little observations to even your own little designs too!

BIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is such a good ask, dear god. You ask this, but I had a very elaborate Kin headcanons post some time ago ( x ), and I should have done the sibling Beasts one post, but I just never could compile thoughts as well. :') I have more ideas by now, though!

⚡ There was a Great One almost up to the level with Flora, named Fauna! Fauna is based off the name mentioned in cut content about “living livers” ( x ), as well as the cut content boss Great One beast ( x )! He is actually a very important element in my Bloodborne timeline and history of beasthood and Pthumerians, but the core of the conflict was their different views on how to handle the mortals? Flora was one control freak even before her corruption arc, embodying the light one should look up to for her guidance (Moon and Star); meanwhile, Faune embodied the sources of light that mortals could utilize and use to explore the world by their own means (Fire and Bolt)!

🔥 Most beasts will fall for very obvious sexual dimorphism, like actual animals! So: male and female Beast Patients, male Cleric Beasts (Laurence, Cleric Beast of the Bridge) and female Cleric Beasts (Amelia); male Loran beasts (Abhorrent Beasts) and female Loran beasts (Loran Silverbeasts), male Pthumeru big beasts (Blood-Letting Beasts) and female Pthumeru big beasts (Blood-Starved Beasts). I also don't know if you've seen this ( x ) post already, but I've tossed some theories on lack of assymetry in Amelia and Ludwig's beast forms!

⚡ Beast-Possessed Souls are pok3mon evolution next transformation stage of Loran Clerics!

🔥 I like the theory that Blood-Letting Beast is Laurence's restless corpse sealed in the dungeons, but by now I've chosen to not follow it. For me, they're to Pthumerians of Pthumeru Ihyll what Cleric Beasts are to Yharnam! And so, Darkbeasts were this type of beast to Loran!

⚡ However, I do like the idea that Laurence had the parasite within him further in his transformation, as my version of him still has Loran heritage. The parasite seen in Bloodletting beast, in Loran Silverbeasts at Nightmare Frontier, in the toxic cave in Forbidden Woods and in that pit near Cainhurst is, like... Well, you know how Phantasms could live within people with certain affiliation with the cosmos (Milkweed rune suggests it)? Parasite Larvae are roughly the same creation, albeit twisted. But remember that Fauna was a Great One himself, so beastly evolution could never be 100% separate from the cosmos!

🔥 I also do like the idea that in later stages, Laurence would be able to protrude the parasite from his mouth to consume someone's Insight like darn Brainsucker. I ALSO want it to be written in protocol that I think so because it makes sense and seems cool, and not because I am a simp.

⚡ In my headcanons, Laurence's fires and lava blood are not punishment of the Nightmare, but something natural to him. Watchdogs of the Old Lords have the same thing going on! His beast form has Ponyta logic, though, where his fires would not hurt a person or even feel THAT hot if he chooses to not harm them.

🔥 Fire is more natural for beasts in general... And that's why many of them will fear it! Loran Clerics, Beast-Possessed Souls (what an interesting name, huh!), Loran Silvebeasts and Watchdogs can use pyromancy on their own, after all! Overcoming fear of fire would mean giving into beasthood not only with body and mind, but with soul, like, truly succumbing to it. That's why the only beasts we see being like that are pretty 'ancient' ones. Their civilizations simply overcame the stage where they still held onto their humanity more!

⚡ Ludwig is a beast with Kin features, but Flora is a Kin with beast features. Basically, whether they're normally mutually exclusive, they CAN be combined in some cases!

🔥 All in all, beasts as reactive to what they're treated with as Kin, hence why there are types of beasts! Beast Patients are poisoned ones (the Old Yharnam ones received venomous blood of Blood-Starved Beast), Loran beasts come from.. well, Loran's equivalent of blood communion and consumption, Cleric Beasts have altered blood type in one way or another and they consume it in a different way than hunters, etc.

⚡ Interestingly, Loran Beasts seemed to have had branching between electric ones and fire ones! It was more common for them to pursuit one of the affiliations over the other. Abhorrent Beast is electric, but Beast-Possessed Soul is fire!! Yet they are equvalent. Darn pok3mon jokes everywhere again aaaaaaaa!!! Surviving Silverbeasts are caught in the middle a bit, using both but excelling at none, not to mention their missing guts, Arcane spills, parasites and dropping THIS ITEM:

That happened since 'Flora's curse' caught up with Loranites eventually. The sin against Flora happened within Loran, when Fort (another cut content name) helped Fauna to overpower Flora and consume her; you can see her abdonmen area missing, like Silverbeasts'! You recall that Great Ones do want to have children, that Flora no longer can, and since the very first communion carried not only Fauna's blood, but also the sin against Flora within it, the curse evolved in the end, striking those who were capable of giving birth. They've stopped messing with evolution entirely when the risk of their whole kind going extinct became too apparent, but in most cases, it was a bit too late.

🔥 Henryk's family is amongst survived 'electric' Loranites! Henryk was almost completely spared of the effects, but his younger brother (Afflicted Beggar) and his father (the "Night of celebration!" door NPC) were not. I think Beggar is his brother since they're both relevant to Loran, seem to be the same race and most importantly, share exactly the same slider data for the mole on their nose. This detail is so EXACT despite their faces being rather different, that there is no way I'll buy it was not an implication x) Here is the weird door NPC tho:

^ He is the only door NPC that remains not just alive, but eloquent even after Bloodmoon, and that lower area in Yharnam is strange in general! You kill a Beast-Possessed Soul on the way to it, and it is full of butchers of the same type that Madaras Twins were. I think it is a perfect place for the people who wanted to hide some sort of heritage.

🔥 Laurence, on the other hand, descends from fire Loranites!

⚡ I've noticed that some beasts show loss of 'hair color'. Look at the image below, like, you see that the hair (fur?) closer to the skin has no color, it is just dark grey?

This inspired me to elaborate it into my designs that one of the earlier worrying signs would be starting to lose color like that. Hence why my Laurence, who had dark brown hair at Byrgenwerth era, has simply black hair as a Vicar in later days, and why Amelia and Cleric Beast of the Bridge have the streaks like this:

🔥 Red eyes for beasts are indication of the blood getting particularly sullied with human dregs or other kinds of curse and "filth". The Old Hunters that drop Vermin have red eyes and Scourge Beast that deals poison damage has red eyes (there is only one in the game, in Old Yharnam).

⚡ Like I stated before, human(oid) body will be reactive to how the blood is received, and how often! So, left arms of Cleric Beasts and Huntsmen are bigger because this is where blood ministration is received, and superstition that beasthood creeps from the right leg appeared because hunters kept injecting blood vials in their right leg!

🔥 Cainhurst nobles, descendants of Pthumeru Ihyll, actually have not had transformations into "real" beasts for god knows how long; Bloodlickers are their equivalent of beasts!

____________________

Alright, I think I've got out the most of my ideas here so far! I am absolutely sure that I've forgotten at least something because it is 3 AM in my timezone and I do a little dying from coughing and sneezing dfsjhhdfds WORTH IT THOUGH xDDD Thank you for the ask!

[thebookbin]

Cataclysm

Lydia Kang

Publisher: Del Rey, RandomHouse Genre: sci fi, fantasy, star wars Year: 2023

This book perfectly encapsulates the danger of writing prequel series. And although I will be the first to tell you that I believe collaborative storytelling is the next major frontier, Cataclysm manages to make every mistake possible to make when being a part of an endeavor like this.

This book is just... bad. There's no other way to put it. It's heartbreaking to be a Star Wars fan, particularly someone who loves the High Republic era and get this as an offering.

Where to even begin... Let's start with inconsistent characterization. Gella, the independent Wayseeker in Convergence is nowhere to be seen. In her place is a simpering idiot who makes every mistake in the book, is manipulated at every turn, and worst of all gets her partner killed. Why? Oh, because Axel Greylark is pretty, of course.

In case you're not fully up to date, in the first installment, tenuous interplanetary negotiations keep getting sabotaged at every turn, things go horribly awry, and thousands of innocent people die. The main cast discovers that it is Axel Greylark, hiding among them, who is responsible for this, and he is sent to prison.

If I ever read the phrase "she had to clear her head" or "she tried to focus" because apparently just being in the presence of a single (1) bourgeoisie mass murderer who is a bit pretty is enough to rattle Gella to her core. Seriously. This is a major plot point. Part of me genuinely wonders if Lydia Kang was chosen for this installment specifically to fend off accusations of sexism. The misogyny in the Star Wars fandom is already so prevalent, this honestly felt like a kick in the teeth. Especially because there are absolutely no other relationships that Gella holds as dear, even ones she's had for far longer--even ones that are more meaningful (I'm basing this on the fact that her attachment to Axel is based on the events of the first book, and he never said a true thing in that book, ergo her affections are based on a lie). When she gets a mentor in the form of a senior Jedi, who gently tries to prod her away from succumbing to her emotions, she goes around and immediately gets him killed. This does not affect Gella for more than 3 paragraphs. Meanwhile the only person she sheds tears for the entire novel is Axel Greylark, who, at the end of all this, must carry out his actual prison sentence. He gets tears, but Master Orin Dargha, killed by Axel Greylark, does not.

If you couldn't already catch on, this is an Axel Greylark hate account. There is absolutely nothing wrong with his character, I don't mind evil characters. It's the fact that he is narratively wasted. I was hoping for this book to be a corruption arc so desperately, but I could tell how much Kang wanted us to like him just because. Despite being a coward, despite getting people killed through inaction, and directly through his own actions, despite causing the deaths of thousands of innocents, Axel Greylark is narratively redeemed because he gets injured in battle and goes to jail at the end. Now first let's talk about the injured thing. This book was so hard to read because for some reason Axel is favored by the writer. Here is a list of things he somehow survives: getting blown up hard enough he goes unconscious, shrapnel to the chest (which he pulls out), a lightsaber slice to his shoulder that somehow didn't cut off his arm, strangulation, and drowning. This is all within hours of each other with no medical attention in between. Then when he switches back to being a "good guy" (I use the term loosely) it's because, and I am not joking, when the cultists he killed Orin for realize he's useless they make him do grunt work instead of being a Leader, and he doesn't like doing the grunt work. This man is selfish to his core. I thought for sure he would die in the battle in some bullshit Anakin-esque move that would "redeem him" because he made one right choice at the end of a decade of truly terrible choices, which I was going to roll my eyes at. But no! Not only does he survive, he gets to go to cushy white-collar criminal prison at the end of the book, and THAT is supposed to be enough. I want to throw him off a bridge.

Then came all the narrative blunders. The tension in the Eiram and E'ronoh and the not-so-subtle hints in the first book that the leaders were being manipulated into war, yes, but that manipulation was easy because of the old and set ways of their respective rulers, which is what Xiri and Phan-tu were supposed to mirror in the younger generation that solves it, but the politics of the first book are completely erased in this one. There is no resolution to this plot point, just a quick scene of a new treaty being signed in the postscript.

Another is Binnot Ullo, the orphaned street rat taken in by the Path who befriends the aristocrat Axel as a child. Where Axel literally has everything, and his entire selfish motivations stem from "my mom doesn't pay enough attention to me and I'm sad my dad's dead" while being lavished in every whim he could think of, Binnot had to earn his way his entire life. And while Binnot's story is truly a tragedy: an orphaned child with no family taken in by a Force-user hating cult. He has to suppress his Force abilities his entire life, because if he makes a slip the people around him will kill him. No, we can't be sympathetic to him, what about Axel! Binnot's death would have been so poetic if he was killed by a Force eating beast. In his last moments, he would be forced to confront his own hypocrisy and discordant world view. He would be forced to acknowledge the people he considered family--in his messed up sort of way--would throw him away in an instant. Narratively, we would understand that the "weapon" meant to kill Jedi has been unleashed, but anyone could fall victim. But we don't get any of that. Why? Because Axel needed to look cool. Axel kicks Binnot so that he... accidentally strangles himself with his poison glove? It seriously makes no sense. Binnot has a glove with retractable needles in the fingertips. He is reaching for Axel. Axel kicks his hand. Now, in my mind the needles are still facing away from Binnot's body, he was reaching out to use them against someone else. That does not explain how his own hand got around his neck after a single kick. I digress.

Now for the weird continuity things. Kang introduces another of Yoda's species, a female little green alien, who I kid you not, is named Master Yaddle. The weirdest part is: Yoda still talks like Yoda in this timeline, hundreds of years before the movies, but Yaddle talks like everybody else. I was hoping it would just be a cool linguistic quirk of the species but if Yaddle speaks normally, then Yoda's famous form of speech is... because he's just Like That. What?! Also, we know from the Mandalorian that there are more of Yoda's species, but Yaddle's presence is just baffling. There's no real point to it, besides the interesting tidbit she is also a caretaker of younglings. Honestly the whole time I was thinking of thee 1980 Empire Strikes Back puppet with a red wig on.

The whole point of Phase II was supposed to be an exploration of how and why Marchion Ro came to lead the Nihil and shed more light on their intentions in Phase III. Because Phase II takes place two hundred years before Phase I, it's like going back in time from going back in time. In Phase I we were introduced to this incredible weapon that turned Jedi into husks (Bell Zettifar, my boy, needs so much therapy). This same weapon is in Phase II HUNDREDS OF YEARS BEFORE PHASE I, and how does Kang explain why Jedi hundreds of years later fight the same enemy and have them still not know anything about it? The LAST SCENE OF THE BOOK is Yoda and Creighton Sun decide to just not talk about it until they "know more."

WHAT. You mean Loden Greatstorm died because Yoda JUST FORGOT TO MENTION the Force-eating monsters?! It's inconceivable. It's laughable. I just imagine Yoda going "Oh ya. Those guys. Bad news, they are." Because the book ends where it does, there's no investigation into these monsters, and we've already read Phase I in which they are a surprise, so we can surmise as the audience that, yeah. Yoda just forgot about the Force-eating monsters, after he and another Jedi decided to keep them a secret (despite multiple other Jedi coming face-to-face with them so literally how is it a secret between just them two?) and decide NOT TO KEEP ANY RECORD OF THE FORCE EATING MONSTERS and just NOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS?!

Also, this duology really revealed absolutely nothing about the Nihil, Marchion Ro, or anything super relevant to Phase I. I am left thinking "what was the point of all this needless misogyny?!" IT WAS ALL FOR NOTHING?! WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THIS?!

Honestly. This book is terrible. Just so bad. Poorly written, nonsensical plot, lack of continuity, and no clear purpose. At this point my recommendation is you can skip Phase II entirely.

storygraph | bookshop.org | local houston

★ don't waste your time on this mess star

[thetoxicgamer]

Superb strategy game Against the Storm on sale as playable Foxes join

There may have never been a better time to play the fantastic Against the Storm than right now. Since it sprang onto Steam Early Access in November of last year, the dark fantasy city-building game has garnered attention for its masterful UI, engaging strategic decision-making, and roguelite features. Against the Storm is currently on sale on Steam for the lowest price ever, just as the fan-favorite playable Fox species is added to the game's roster. The Sentinels of the Forest update for Against the Storm introduces the fifth playable species, the Fox people – who were chosen to be next to join the game as part of a community vote held in February. These fantastic Foxes come with their own set of new buildings, perks, abilities, and much more. They’re expert scouts, as you might expect, but they’re also adept at working with technologies that utilise rainwater. That’s an incredibly useful boon given the rain-soaked lands of Against the Storm, where your attempts at progress are routinely impeded by the arrival of colossal deluges. The different species are core to your settlement management in Against the Storm. Each has its own set of likes and dislikes, and specialises in performing certain tasks. That means striking a good balance among your population, and assigning them in the places they’ll be most effective while keeping them satisfied, is key to success. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf9xqem1n0U The Foxes’ natural affinity with the forest means they’re the perfect choice to explore new glades, which is the main way you explore the map, gather new resources, and expand your base in Against the Storm. Their calming influence on nature will reduce the hostility you face when exploring a new area, making it a much less scary process to undertake. Also included in the Sentinels of the Forest update are passive abilities, which have been assigned across all the species. The Foxes will reveal nearby geysers, for example, while Beavers extend the available trade offers you get from each neighbouring town. There are five new buildings, too – the Fox House, Tea House, Distillery, Beanery, and Tea Doctor (sign me right up for that last one). Against the Storm’s Sentinels of the Forest update goes live on April 13 at 9am PT / 12pm ET / 5pm BST / 6pm CEST. In even better news, publisher Hooded Horse, which is also behind other great indie strategy games such as Manor Lords, Falling Frontier, and Terra Invicta, announces that Against the Storm is on sale on Steam from April 13-27. With 25% off, this is the cheapest price it’s been since launch, making it a great time to pick the game up if you’ve been considering it. If you need more convincing, check out our Against the Storm preview to read why it captured our attention with its approachable interface, rich strategy, and gorgeous art direction. Alternatively, take a look at more of the best RTS games on PC if you’re a big fan of that sort of thing. Read the full article

[izzyizumi]

Digimon Frontier AMV ~ Warriors Originally Sung by: Yuichi Izawa {from the originating series: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters}, Opening #5 (Japanese Version)

Summary:

In the wavering facade, our {Wish} is eternally endless

This AMV covers mainly episodes 1 through 5, but does go lightly into the ending episodes, so all the Frontier Chosen Children will briefly appear!

To live unnoticed, I deserted a happiness That was relying {with pretense} on, … and {dancing} to what was merely an illusion

At the edge of my sight with {My eyes ‘closed’},

I was {searching} for — {your smiling face —}

{Chorus}:

We embrace our dreams and run through the wavering facade, that’s right This thought — (that I’ve kept shut in my chest since some other day, I’ll grip it once more NOW…)

{Warriors} who {finished?} fighting flocked together tonight How many times do we overcome, will we find 'the answer’?

{Final Chorus}

While still being guided by the wavering facade, let's run through That's right, this thought that I've kept shut in my chest since some other day, I'll grip it once more {Now} In the blinding times, surely we will go and {Walk} from now on, too

...{Will we?}

full lyrics here!

Digimon Frontier Series © Toei Animation

Disclaimer: I do not own DigiAdvs. This is FAN-MADE. No $$$ is being made off this fan-work.

Me: “ What if I try remaking one of the ACTUALLY very FIRST

... Digimon AMVs i ever made literally pre 2010 fandom days ”

a.k.a: i’ve been in this fandom Making AMVs for A While and It maybe Shows

this version is still a Preview until I can Edit A Bit More In but it’s KIND OF MOSTLY Done TM at least this one has the full song!

[backtothefanfiction]

WHAT BENNY DOESN’T KNOW | Chapter 3

A TRIPLE FRONTIER STORY

Summary: When you find yourself stranded at a bar, Will is luckily on hand to take you home.

Warnings: Mature 18+ ONLY!!! The smut train is back kids, you have been warned. This chapter features strong language and scenes of a sexual nature. (oral male receiving, unprotected sex {you know the old saying kids, don’t be silly})

Word Count: 4815

A/N- This ones for the Will Miller fans. I’ve just come from a very chaotic work shift so I cannot wait to get all your wonderful feedback as always to make me feel better. I also want to take a moment to give some unspoken subtext for clarity due to some of the aspects of this chapter. Reader is very open about their body and so all TF gents are aware of birth control situation and that reader is protected in that way. Also I have never been on a motorbike so take this chapter as creative license and forgive me. I also just want to say I have written the Italy chapter which will be coming to you Monday. It is a fucking monster (pardon my language) and I can’t wait for you all to read it, but for now enjoy chapter three.

PART THREE | 6 MONTHS LATER

You and Santiago's had both gone on missions mere days later which saw you away from home for a good six months. When you got back you found that Santi had come back for a few weeks about a month ago but had had to take off again before you'd had a chance to see him.

You had been back for a couple of days and decided to organise an evening at your favourite local bar with your sister for a catch up. You sat on the bar stool waiting anxiously, the bar tender giving you looks of pity ever couple of minutes. You're phone, which you had placed on the bar top pinged and you eagerly checked the text on the screen. 'Sorry, something came up with Jared and I'm not gonna make it. Can we take a rain check?' you slammed your phone back onto the bar top as you let out a small animalistic grunt of frustration.

“Well you look like you're nights going just as well as mine is.” came a familiar voice from beside you. You looked up to find Will taking the seat beside you. “When did you get back?” he asked an arm coming out to wrap around you, pulling you into him.

“Two days ago.” you said into his ear, your head resting comfortably against the top of his shoulder as you hugged him. “What are you doing here?” you asked him as you pulled your arms back, shifting yourself on your bar stool to get a better look at him.

“Shitty date.” he said.

“I didn't realise you were putting yourself back out there.” you said, your fingers reaching to fiddle with your glass in front of you.

“Yeah, well I can't mope around forever.” he sighed deeply. “You want another one?” he questioned, pointing to the now empty glass in your hand.

“Uh, I was supposed to be meeting my sister but she bailed on me.” you began to explain.

“Shitty husband?”

“Shitty husband.” you confirmed. Will was well versed in your family drama. He'd once had to break up a fight between your sister's husband and Benny at a BBQ when Jared had gotten drunk and decided to challenge Benny. It had not been pretty.

“Still you want to stick around for another drink with me or...?” He let the question hang openly in the air between you.

“Sure.” you said. “I mean it'll probably take a while before I can get a taxi home anyway.”

“I've got my bike outside if you want me to give you a lift back, save you spending money on cab. I mean if you don't mind the bike that is?”

You thought about it a moment looking back down at your glass before looking back up to meet his eyes again. “Uh yeah, okay. That'll be great. Thanks.” you said. He turned and gave the bar tender a nod, grabbing you two more drinks.

“So what have I missed?” you asked.

“Well, Pope came back last month. I hadn't seen him since we all went out for Benny's birthday.” you raised your eyebrows in disbelief. “Yeah. We hung out with him a bit while he was back. Kept going on about some girl he'd slept with that night, saying it was the best sex he'd ever had. Brought it up any chance he could get.” you snorted and choked slightly as your drink went down the wrong hole, the statement leaving you shocked. “Hey, you okay?” Will said, a hand gently patting your back.

“Uh yeah. I'm fine, just went down the wrong hole.” you coughed, wiping at your face with your sleeve. “Um did he say when he was coming back next.”

“No. I think he said maybe four months but he said it could be longer depending. What about you? How long you back for?” he questioned.

“Not sure yet.” you replied. “Until the next assignment comes in I guess.”

You carried on talking like that for another 40 minutes, the conversation flowing easily. “Hey you ready to go?” he asked when he noticed you'd finished your drink.

“Uh yeah, of course.”

You followed Will out the front to where his bike was sat waiting. He handed you his spare helmet. “You bring this just in case your date went well?” you teased him, poking him with the helmet before you began placing it on your head.

“Yeah, something like that.” he said, giving you a sheepish grin. He hooked his leg over the bike and you climbed on behind him, your arms wrapping tightly around his torso. “When's the last time you were on a bike?” he asked you as the bike roared to life beneath you.

“Probably Columbia, two years ago.” you shouted over the noise. You felt his body shake as he let out a laugh. He was about to enjoy this.

He took off quickly, speeding out of the parking lot, catching you off guard making you let out a squeal as you took a moment to find your balance. You felt his stomach move beneath your fingers as he let out another chuckle at your expense. You gave him a playful slap before resting your head against his back, easing into the feeling of the air around you and the hum of the engine between your legs. You wrapped your arms tighter around him and buried your nose into him, breathing in his smell. Will always smelt good. He took a hand off one of the handle bars, brushing the back of your hand gently, reassuringly, before securing it back to the bike. The feeling had sent a buzz through your skin and you couldn't help but be aware of the way it passed through your body. You felt a fluttering feeling between your legs and you bit your lip. Uh Oh. No, no this was not happening, this couldn't be happening. You were getting turned on by this.

You quickly adjusted your hold around him, trying to focus and ground yourself but your hand ended up brushing against his crotch. It had only been a brief second but it had made you flinch in embarrassment and you wrapped your arms around him even tighter, pulling yourself forward on the bike, grinding into his butt between your legs. Shit! If he hadn't felt your hand brush against his cock he had definitely felt that. You braced yourself as he stopped at a red light, your breath held tightly in your chest. You nibbled your lip anxiously, your eye's squeezing shut waiting for him to do something, mock you or chastise you. What he did do next surprised you.

He took his hand off the handle bar again, his fingers searching for yours across his abs. He wrapped his hand around them, lifting it gently away from where you had been holding him and intentionally moving your hand down, placing it over the growing bulge in his jeans. You lifted your head up to look at him, but he kept his eyes forward. He let go of your hand, reaching to run his fingers along your thigh, resting against the side of the bike. You licked your lips nervously. What was happening right now?

The traffic light before you turned amber and Will placed his hand back on the handle bars, revving the engine of the bike in preparation but also sending a flood of extra vibrations through the bike that buzzed against your core. You couldn't fault the Captain, he knew exactly what he was doing.

You still had one hand around his waist and one hand over his cock, when he pulled up outside your place. There was a sudden silence as the engine cut out and he climbed off the bike. You couldn't help but watch him intently. Will was more of a man of action than a man of words. He took off his helmet, threading it onto the handle bars, before turning towards you and leaning against the bike. His arms folded before you as he waited for you to gingerly take your own helmet off, not once breaking eye contact with him.

“So what do you wanna do?” he finally asked when you had decided to remain silent. You licked your lips as you thought over the best way to respond.

“Do you want to come in?” was the line you finally decided on, but your voice was timid, it lacked conviction. You wanted him to take control. He nodded slightly before taking a step back, allowing you some room to attempt to get off the bike as gracefully as you could. You placed the helmet on the seat, while Will put his hands in his pockets. He fiddled with his keys as he attempted to hide his nervousness.

He'd be lying to himself if he had said he'd never thought about you in that way before. Seeing you in a bikini when you had all taken a trip to the beach. When you had gone out dancing for his birthday and chosen the skimpiest dress in your closet to wear. On lazy Sundays when you had stayed over at his and Benny's place, your tiny pyjama shorts riding up as you reached for things off the top shelves of their kitchen cabinets. That's exactly where his eyes fell now as he followed you up to your apartment. Your jeans hugging your ass just right as you walked up the stairs ahead of him.

You gave him a sheepish smile as you unlocked the door, ushering him inside. The silence was filled with the clicking of light switches as you began to switch on lamps, creating a cosy atmosphere. He was so stealthy you hadn't notice him come up behind you until you turn and was faced with his chest. You slowly lifted your eyes up, your head tilting to allow you to look at his lips, then up further to his eyes. “Just tell me if you want to stop.” he said before placing his finger under your chin, guiding your face closer to his.

You couldn't even call it a kiss the way his lips barely grazed yours but it was electric, sending shivers throughout your whole body making you want to throw yourself at him. He whispered your name against your lips, a question, he wanted you to answer the previous statement.

You gave your head a slight shake. “No.” your voice was quiet. “No, I don't want to stop.” you closed the gap between his lips and your own, your hands snaking up to wrap around his neck. He wrapped his arms around your lower back, pulling you closer to him, deepening the kiss. You exhaled deeply through your nose as you let out a breath you hadn't realised you'd been holding.

Will brought one of his hands up, to brush away the hair that was falling over the side of your face, getting in the way. He tucked it behind your ear, before letting his fingers rest around the base of your head, his thumb grazing your jaw. You found yourself moaning hungrily into the kiss, but then a thought crossed your mind that made your rapidly break away. “Wait, wait.” you said breathlessly. He dropped his hold around the back of your head and leaned back to get a better look at you. He waited silently for you to continue as you caught your breath. “There's something I have to tell you.” you said licking your lips, already missing the feeling of his against them. You relaxed your hands from around his neck, allowing them to rest on his shoulders and you were glad when he didn't try and pull away. “I was the girl Santiago slept with after Benny's birthday.” you said trying to make your words as calm as possible.

Of all the things Will was expecting you to say, it was not that. He raised his eyebrows in surprise. He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth as he lowered his head slightly shaking it. You weren't sure if it was a grin on his face or a grimace. “I just thought I should say. I don't want to make things complicated between you guys.”

He took a step back from you, a small huffed chuckle escaping his lips as he ran a hand up through his hair. Your face fell to the floor. Shit you'd fucked this up. You shouldn't have said anything. “Does this change everything?” you asked timidly to the floor.

Will chuffed in disbelief. “Are you kidding me?” he asked stepping forward to you, making you look up at him. “If you heard the way he talks about that night. You think I'd give up the chance to experience that?” Your eyes looked at him hopefully. He closed the space between you, smashing his lips into yours, his hands planted firmly either side of your face, not allowing you to get away from him. You flung your arms around his neck and he dropped his own hands down to cup underneath your ass. He lifted you up into his arms seamlessly and began carrying you towards your bedroom.

He took a seat on the edge of your bed so you were straddling his lap. You broke off the kiss, reaching down to lift your shirt up over your head, throwing it across the room, Will following your actions quickly took off his own. He took a moment to take in your boobs, his hands reaching up to grab them, leading your body back closer to his so he could attach his lips to yours again. You fixed your hands around his shoulders, pushing them backwards towards the bed. Your lips followed his the whole way down, your hair falling around both your faces.

You reluctantly broke your lips away, leaning back to flick your hair out of the way, but also to give your hands the space to move between your two bodies as you began to unbutton his jeans. You slid yourself backwards off of Will and the bed, your knees hitting the carpet as you pulled both his jeans and pants down at the same time, his hips lifting slightly allowing you to get them off easier.

You pulled the items of clothing off of his ankles throwing them behind you. You were aware of him shifting slightly on the bed and looked up to find he'd propped himself up on his elbows to get a better look at you on the floor before him. His gaze made you pause a moment, fully taking him in. All of you had been out of active service for years but Will looked exactly the same as he had at the height of his career. You knew his younger brother took good care of his body, what with him now having a ‘somewhat’ career as a prize fighter, but you hadn't realised just how well Will had maintained his muscular physique.

You let your eyes drop from his piercing eyes, letting them trail down the defined lines of his chest then abs, until finally they landed on his half ready member. You looked back up to his eyes, keeping eye contact with him as you sat yourself up properly again, his legs adjusting slightly to allow you a better position between them as your hand slowly raked up the muscles of his thighs until they reached the prize that lay patiently waiting for you at the top of them.

You watched intently as Will's head dropped backwards, his eyes closing in bliss at the feeling of your hands wrapping around his cock, your gentle grasp slowly working him up.  A small grin began to take over your face in reaction to the feeling of his member growing and getting ever harder under your controlled touch, a sensation of power taking over you.

Will let out a breathy groan of satisfaction as he suddenly felt your tongue, swipe up his entire length. “Fuck.” he exclaimed as he pulled his head back up to look at you, one of his arms reaching out to place a caring hand around the side of your head, guiding you as you began to take his length into your mouth. You both made an effort to keep eye contact as you bobbed up and down on his dick but Will lost it when you took him to the point he hit the back of your throat and you gagged slightly. His eyes closed as his head hung back in bliss again. For a moment it felt like he'd died and gone to heaven and it took him a second to put himself back into the room. He couldn't believe this was happening.

You pulled back, allowing yourself a moment to breath, as you used your hand to continue working at his saliva covered cock. Will looked down at you once more and before you had a chance to take his length into your mouth again, he was sitting himself up, reaching his hands out for your face, pulling you into a deep kiss instead. He made you stand up straight and you had to let go of his cock as his fingers brushed down your body until he reached the waistband of your pants. You stared down at him in silence as his fingers began undoing the buttons of your jeans. He leant forward to leave kisses across your stomach as he gently pulled down your jeans and underwear at the same time, just like you had for him. His lips tickled against your skin and you found your hands reaching out to steady yourself against his shoulders as your eyes closed, head relaxing due to the sensation passing from his touch that sent a fuzzy feeling all the way up to the very tip top of your skull.

You felt the fabric pool thickly at your ankles and you maintained your hold on his shoulders as you pulled your feet free from the tangle of denim that engulfed them. He tossed the jeans out of the way with one hand, the other taking a firm hold of your hip, his thumb circling across the bare skin. “Will.” his name fell breathily from your lips and he looked up to take you in, his other hand coming to rest on your other hip, his hold becoming firmer.

“Come here.” his voice came back, gentle yet commanding as he pulled you back onto the bed on top of him as he lay back against the mattress. His hands came up to grasp either side of your head, his fingers tangling into your hair as he pulled your lips down against his own. You felt his tongue brush against your lower lip and you happily relaxed further into his mouth, your tongue coming out to gently melt against his.

You felt his hips grind up into you, his erection rubbing against your clit sending a sensation through your core and you sighed into him. He used the opportunity to suck your lower lip in between his lips, pulling at it slightly, only intensifying the feeling growing between your legs. You felt one of his arms reach around your lower back and before you could even acknowledge the feeling of his other hand becoming firmer on the back of your head, you found your whole body being flipped round, Will settling himself on top of you between your thighs.

He manoeuvred his arm out from under your back so he could run his hand up the length of your leg, encouraging it to wrap around his side. You broke away from his lips to look intensely into his eyes in anticipation. He brushed his thumb across your cheek with the hand that still cradles your head while his other hand lines himself up with your entrance. You exhale sharply when you feel him drag his cock through your slick folds, the tip nudging your sensitive clit. You feel the hand against your cheek grow firmer as he forces you to keep eye contact with him as he gently eases himself into you, your mouth hanging open in a silent gasp as you adjust to his size. You pursed your lips together and you watched as Will's eyes followed the movement before he smashed his lips back against them, his hips rolling himself deeper inside you. You let out another gasp against his lips at the sensation. “Ah fuck.” you breathed the words against his mouth as he gave you a moment to adjust, the hand against your face smoothing your hair back.

You began moulding your lips to him once more and he took that as his sign to begin slowly thrusting his cock in and out of you. He was in the perfect position without even trying, his cock dragging against your gspot with every agonisingly slow thrust. You brought your hands up either side of his face and pushed his forehead into your own as your mouth hung open, breathing becoming laboured. His pace was torturous, controlled, making you feel every motion his cock made inside you. He forced you to continue looking at him, his eyes watching your every facial expression carefully, forcing you to stay in this moment with him, to be aware of every sensation and remember who it was who was making you feel that way.

This wasn't just some quick shag or one night stand, this was a friend making love to another friend. Just like Santiago before him, Will didn't know if this would ever happen again between you and he wanted to make sure he savoured every second. Wanted you to know the love he had for you. He wanted to make you feel good. He wanted you to remember this moment and how he made you feel in it.

Your hips began to squirm as your orgasm steadily built in your core, desperate for something more, desperate for that release. “Will please?” you breathlessly begged against his lips. Will grunted at hearing you begging for him to make you cum, but he didn't want to rush this. He felt your back arch as you tried to change the angle slightly, drive him deeper, reach that release. He snaked his arm around your back, pulling you tighter to his body, lifting you from the bed. Your hold around his neck became tighter and you buried your head into his shoulder as he lifted you up, his cock still deeply inside you.

He turned you both around and he sat on the bed, pulling you down even further onto his cock. The new position really allowed you to grind down into him but forced you to maintain the slower pace Will wanted to keep. “Oh my god.” you groaned into his neck, your head still firmly buried into the crook of his neck. He kept both his arms firmly around your back, forcing your body to remain tightly to him, guiding you as you moved up and down on his cock. The feeling that had built inside you was fit to burst and when he lifted his hips and thrust up into you, you lost out. Your orgasm was shattering and you buried your head even deeper into his neck, your eyes firmly screwed up, tears threatening to spill out of the corner creases from how sensitive you felt.

Will continued to slowly thrust up into you, his arm wrapped around you tightly making you maintain the slow steady rhythm you had created together. Your clit dragged across his skin from how close your bodies were and it did nothing but increase the orgasm taking over you. You're moans of pleasure came out stuttering between breaths as you felt yourself clamped tightly around his cock. You were so earth shatteringly aware of everything.

You forced yourself up straight, wanting to look directly into Will's eyes, allowing him to see the devastation and bliss he was causing you. His lips attached hungrily to yours at the sight. He felt your overstimulated body stutter and freeze, desperate for a break but he wasn't done with you yet. As you tried to take a moment to let your orgasm pass and compose yourself once more ready to do it again, Will lay himself back down upon the bed. With you're arms still wrapped tightly around his neck you happily let your body relax with him, resting against him, your head finding a home in the crook of his neck once more, taking in deep breaths.

He had allowed you maybe two seconds to appreciate and acknowledge your come down before his arms tightened around you, holding you in place against his chest as he brought his legs up onto the bed. He dug his heels into the mattress and began thrusting up into you at a rapid speed. Your fingers clawed at his skin as you felt another orgasm rapidly building inside you once more. You cried out as the sensation took over you once more, your body practically going limp. You attempted to use his shoulders as leverage to prop yourself up, hoping a change in angle would lessen the sensitivity in your fluttering cunt. Will reached up to take your face in his hands. You're arms went weak and gave out slightly and you were grateful that Will did have a hold of your head, to keep it up right.

He maintained each devastating thrust and watching as your eyes became unfocussed, completely cock dumb for him. It was one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen. “Ah fuck.” he grunted as his thrust became sloppy, his own release so fucking close with how you were looking at him like that. You whispered his name and he lost it completely, his thrusts stuttering as he quickly pulled out, his own release over taking him as he closed his eyes, pushing his head back into the mattress.

He gently released your head from his hold and you relaxed it against his shoulder, your back arched inward, your breathes heavy and laboured as you worked through your come down. Will let out a deep breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding and turned his head to try and get a better look at you. Almost like you sensed what he was trying to do, you lifted your head to meet his eyes. A goofy grin broke out across his face.

You attempted to climb off his lap but your legs were spent and wobbled like a new born deer. He laughed at you as you collapsed onto the bed beside him. “That was,” your voice said heavily beside him, you laughed a giddy feeling from your orgasm washing over you. He propped himself up to look at your face but you just turned it away from him, burying it into the bed, bashful. He laughed at you again before mustering as much energy as he could to stand and go find something to clean you both up with.

When he came back into the room, damp cloth in hand, he watched you intensely, a smile plastered across your face, as you still struggled to make eye contact with him. Your still overstimulated core was making you rub your legs together in an attempt to channel the energy there. He let out a chuckle, he had never had this reaction from being with a girl before and the fact it was you made him feel even more special.

You finally met his eyes and smiled back at him. He felt like you were reading his mind and he too now felt bashful. He tossed the cloth he'd been fiddling with between his fingers at you in an attempt to stop the silent conversation that was going on between you. You caught the rag between your fingers, your body rolling slightly and relaxing as you took him in, your gaze softening.

Neither of you needed to say anything. You both knew what this was. It was a comfortable curiosity. You were his best friend and he was yours. There was no doubt of the platonic love you had for one another and now you just had a greater appreciation for each other.

You cleaned yourself up as Will pulled his boxers back on, before climbing back onto the bed with you. You tossed the cloth across the room, aiming for your hamper but it missed landing on the floor as Will wrapped an arm around you. You cuddled into him, your head resting against his shoulder, his fingers drawing lazy circles across your skin. “I love you.” you said softly but confidently.

“I know.” he said back, leaning down to place a kiss on the top of your head, a content smile fixed permanently to his face.

                                      -------------------------------------------

Hope I didn’t forget to tag anyone and as always if you want to be added to the tag list just pop it in writing and I’ll add you for next time. As always if your tag doesn’t work properly I’m sorry.

@icanbeyourjedi @theshiningharmony @darnitdraco @kesskirata @wyn-dixie @rosiefridayrogersunday @actual-spawn-of-satan @clydesducktape @asta-lily @honey-hi @heythere-mel @heidi-toevs @wigofokoye @choricenter @goodgriefitsawildworld @lostgirlheather @d0uwannkn0w @justdrawings101 @nicotinebirds @bisexualolympus @babyratt19 @cookiecat22 @peterhollandkait @a-bang-for-your-bucky @asta-lily @codenamewife @lazyunknownwerewolf @emmy626 @natura1phenomenon @fanfics-that-hit-my-feels @fangirl-316 @thisisthewaytofiction @rosiefridayrogersunday-reads @aficwhore @slayerx147 @alberta-sunrise​ @itspdameronthings @nano-pax​

[flashfuture]

hello do you mind explaining all the amazons?

All of them????

Okay uh I'll break down the ones i at least know about anyone who's deeper into the WonderFam please jump in I don't really interact with them that much.

But we've got

Diana Prince: Wonder Woman

Our Golden Age Princess of the Amazons. During the Golden and Silver ages she came from Paradise Island. She was truly animated clay here and several hundred years old by the time of WWII. During the Golden Age Diana married Steve Trevor and they had a daughter named Hippolyta "Lyta" Trevor. (My break down of Lyta would be an essay in itself and she's not really an Amazon so). Diana was a member of the JSA here.

During the Silver Age Diana also married Steve but no kids. She rescued Donna Troy from a fire and sent her to Paradise Island to be raised by Hippolyta making Donna and Diana sisters. This is the first timeline to mention Ares is her grandfather technically as he made Hippolyta. Diana lost her powers at some point. She got really really good at martial arts and then two years later got her powers back. She supposedly died during Infinite Crisis but then you know didn't. During Convergence she killed a vampire Joker. That was fun. In this timeline Diana was a founding member of the JLA.

Okay and post crisis New Earth Diana is the first one to say Diana is from Themyscira. It was still called Paradise Island sometimes. She was molded from clay. Diana in this time was not a founding member of the JLA but came to America after it was founded. (I think Infinite Crisis retconned her to be a founding member but idk) Diana has become a member of the Trinity alongside Batman (Bruce Wayne) and Superman (Clark Kent). 

The Prime Earth Diana is the one from Flashpoint and onwards. She’s now the daughter of Zeus. In New52 if I recall right she was made much much younger like in her 20s and explored mankind in the modern era. The Doomsday clock thing reestablished her WWII origins. She was also said again to have been born during probably the Hellenistic Period (they said classical antiquity and that’s you know just a few thousand years) She just helped out in Death Metals and is now doing something with Infinite Frontier unclear I don’t really know what Prime Earth Diana has been up to lately. 

So on Earth-Two, Earth-One, and New Earth Diana was the granddaughter of Ares and as such her life span was greatly extended. On Prime Earth as the direct daughter of Zeus she is immortal. 

Donna Troy: Troia/Wonder Girl 

Donna is a tricky one. She was introduced real quick to fill the girl role on the Teen Titans cause the boys were getting a little too gay. So started Silver Age Earth 1. Okay so basically her origin kept changing but the one that’s ‘canon’ is she was created to be a playmate for Diana but was abducted and kept being cursed to live tragic lives in New Cronus. Right around the Titans era okay Donna was rescued by Diana and brought back to Earth. Donna was the one to suggest the Teen Titans name. Donna is a member of the Fab Five along with Robin/Nightwing (Dick Grayson), Aqualad/Tempest (Garth of Shayaris), Kid Flash/Flash (Wally West), and Speedy/Arsenal (Roy Harper)

Donna married Terry Long when she was 19 and they had Robert, got divorced, they died in a car crash. 

After Crisis on Infinite Earth Donna sorta realized all those ‘lives’ she led were other version of her which she was all of now. And also Donna was believed to be the Goddess of the Moon. She had to stop a sun-eater or whatever but failed (Hal came in with a clutch it it’s cool)

Donna also had to fix some shit during Infinite Crisis and ended up on a Universe Hopping road trip with Kyle Rayner and Jason Todd to find Ray Palmer for Final Crisis or something. She was killed by a Superman Android during the Teen Titans/Young Justice Crossover. (Edit thanks to that anon for this I legit couldn’t remember how she died)

And Prime Earth Donna was made to destroy Diana. She you know didn’t. 

Look I’ll be real I know next to nothing about what the New52 tried to do with Donna. I just go by her original origins of being Diana’s sister. 

On Earth-One and New Earth Donna’s life span was greatly extended and on Prime Earth she is stated to be Immortal as on Prime Earth Amazonian’s on Themyscira were granted immortality. 

Nubia: 

She is like Diana’s twin made from darker clay on Earth-One which is the silver age Earth. Nubia was actually slightly older than Diana but she was stolen as a baby by Ares who was going by Mars. Mars/Ares is Nubia’s grandfather and he wanted her help in taking down the Amazons. Nubia was raised on Floating Island (or slaughter island as Mars/Ares called it). Nubia fought Diana and hesitated to kill her leading to a draw. Nubia returned to Floating Island and at some point Supergirl had to save her life from poison of some sort. 

On New Earth she went by Nu’Bia and was just a random Amazon, her job was to guard the Doom’s Doorway which is an entrance to the River Styx. She was not Diana’s sister. 

On Prime Earth Nubia is the daughter of Hippolyta and the half-sister of Diana not her twin. Nubia went undercover pretending to work with Darkseid before Themyscira could recover and rally to fight. Nubia is currently the Queen of the Amazons. She was given the crown by her mother, Hippolyta during the Dark Metals event. 

As with Donna on Earth-One and New Earth Nubia had a greatly extended lifespan and on Prime Earth Amazons are immortal. 

Cassie Sandsmark: Wonder Girl 

She is a New Earth entry who was for the new Young Justice team. She is the daughter of Zeus and Dr. Helena Sandsmark. Here as Ares is Cassie’s half-brother and technically the father of the Amazon’s this means Cassie is Diana’s great-aunt. 

Cassie as a girl was able to request a Boon of Zeus who she didn’t know was her father at the time I believe and demanded real superpowers. Her mother Helena was able to turn off Cassie’s superpowers at the start as well. Cassie was trained by Artemis for awhile. Cassie became Wonder Girl in honor of Donna Troy who handed over her old suit. Cassie joined Young Justice as a teenager and would later be on the Teen Titans. Cassie has become a part of the Core Four for Young Justice alongside Robin/Red Robin (Tim Drake), Superboy (Kon-El/Conner Kent), and Impulse (Bart Allen). 

Cassie’s best friends outside of the core four are Supergirl (Kara Zor-El) and Cissie King-Jones (Arrowette). Cassie and Conner Kent used to date as well and she was in love with him before he died during Infinite Crisis. 

On Prime Earth Cassie is the daughter of Lennox and the granddaughter of Zeus. In this version Diana is Cassie’s aunt not the other way around. Cassie is still a member of the Young Justice team here. I don’t exactly remember what was happening during the New52. She was still Cassie unlike Kon and Bart who’d been replaced. But during Rebirth she went with the other members of Young Justice to rescue Conner Kent from Gemworld. She is currently still a member of the Titans. 

On New Earth as the daughter of Zeus, Cassie is an immortal who would not age further once she reached her prime age (like 27 or so). On Prime Earth as the granddaughter of Zeus and the daughter of Lennox Cassie’s life is extremely extended. 

Artemis Grace:

Artemis of Bana-Mighdall comes from a separate group of Amazons not on Themyscira or Paradise Island. Bana-Mighdall is a tribe of Amazons in Egypt who left Greece millennia ago. 

On New Earth Artemis left her home at 14 and wound up working for Ra’s Al Ghul before returning to her home. There was a competition to see who would be the next Wonder Woman as Hippolyta foresaw Wonder Woman die and wished to spare her daughter the fate. Hippolyta ensured Artemis won the competition. Artemis was shunned by most of the world including the Justice League who refused to see her as the true Wonder Woman. Artemis was also thought to be too violent. Artemis would later die in a battle with a demon fulfilling the prophecy of Wonder Woman dying. 

Artemis got out of hell eventually and was given the job of training Cassie Sandsmark by Diana and would later train Supergirl in combat as well. 

On Prime Earth Artemis was raised being told she would be Queen of the Amazons. She was desperate to prove herself and wanted to be the Shim’Tar of the Bana Amazons. Artemis’ best friend and lover Akila was chosen instead. Without Akila by her side Artemis felt her home had nothing left to offer and set out on her own. She helped stop an invasion of Qurac into Bana as well. 

Artemis then joined the Outlaws and worked with Red Hood (Jason Todd) and Bizarro, a botched clone of Superman. 

On New Earth Artemis had a greatly extended life span. On Prime Earth he Amazons were gifted immortality but those who left for Bana-Mighdall lost this gift so it is most likely that Artemis has the same extended lifespan from New Earth. 

Grace Choi:

Grace on New Earth comes from the same group as Artemis in Bana-Mighdall. Grace’s mother is an Amazon but her father was a Korean American. Grace grew up in America in the foster care system. She ran away at 9 but was kidnapped and sold into a child prostitution ring. She managed to escape at age 12 after her powers kicked in. Grace began fightining both for pay and for fun and worked as a bouncer at a meta club in Metropolis. 

Grace worked for the Outsiders for awhile at the request of Roy Harper an ex-fling and good friend of hers. She helped rescue Lian from the same child protsition ring she was in as a child and generally had lots of adventures with the Outsiders. 

Later it was revealed she had Bana roots but Grace refused to join them as they were currently you know sieging down the US. Batman was briefly worried about her loyalties but Grace proved she had no loyalty or ties to the Bana Amazons. 

Grace has returned to the Prime Earth in Infinite Frontier and in Festival of Heroes and it seems like nothing has changed with her so far. 

Grace has increased longevity of her life. She is listed as half-amazon because only her mother is a Bana Amazon but all Amazons only have their mother who are Amazons so I don’t really see why she isn’t a full Amazon. Anyways increased life span. 

Jason:

He is Diana’s twin on Prime Earth. He was sent away cause you know no men on Themyscira. Jason was raised by Glaucus who was a member of the Argonauts crew and worked under the original Jason of Greek Myth. Who Jason was named for. 

Jason was raised on the Aegean Coast by Glaucus and became a Fisherman. Jason was trained in his youth by his half-brother Hercules. 

Jason worked briefly with Diana but wasn’t sure how to be a hero. There was a period where Darksied’s daughter tricked him but Diana talked him down. And Jason saved Diana’s life during the Dark Metals event. 

He is currently in the Dark Mutliverse living with a boyfriend on the Aegean Coast. 

As the son of Zeus, Jason is an immortal. 

⚔️ Also for fun the Weapons:⚔️

Lasso of Truth: Wielded by Diana Prince

Originally imbued with it’s power by Aphrodite and Athena later after crisis forged by Hephaestus and powered by Hestia, this lasso forces the truth from whoever it has ensnared. It is indestructible.

Lasso of Persuasion: Wielded by Donna Troy

This Lasso forces someone to do what the wielder demands. This requires Donna’s or whoever wields the lasso to have a stronger will then who they’re using the lasso on. It is indestructible.

Lasso of Lightning: Wielded by Cassie Sandsmark 

This lasso was created by Ares and gifted to his half-sister Cassie Sandsmark on New Earth. This lasso channels Zeus’ lightning and can make someone experience intense rage if they are caught by the lasso. The power of the lasso is directly correlated to Cassie’s rage levels. 

Lasso of Submission: Wielded by Artemis Grace

Originally from Earth-3 this lasso has the ability to make someone obey any commands even those to inspire false love. After Superwoman (Lois Lane) of Earth-3 was killed Diana took the lasso and gifted it to Artemis. 

Bow of Ra: Wielded by Artemis Grace

The Bow of Ra was a gift from the Egyptian sun god, Ra to the Bana-Midghall Amazons. This bow goes to the Shim’Tar and forges a special bond with them. Those who are not the Shim’Tar cannot wield the bow and further if you are not a candidate to be a Shim’Tar the bow will harm or even kill you. The bow requires intense willpower to use or it can drive the wielder mad. Akila was driven mad with the power of the bow and had to be killed by Diana and Artemis. It is said to have the power to destroy stars so this bow is incredibly dangerous and powerful if not wielded by the right person. 

(Bonus Donna used to use a lasso that was golden but held no specific magical properties.) 

[aurumacadicus]

Spones + "outburning the stars"? 👀👀👀

OH THIS TITLE IS SO GOOD AND I JUST REALIZED I KNOW SO LITTLE ABOUT STAR TREK. (Not me waffling whether to use last names and titles or first names because I feel like they're all adultier adults than me😭)

Outburning the Stars

Dr. Leonard McCoy, for all intents and purposes, should not be on the Enterprise. Sometimes, Spock wondered at the fact that he'd chosen to be a doctor at all, let alone one on a vessel such as theirs.

Leonard had made it abundantly clear that he was not comfortable exploring the final frontier. The dark expanse of space, the loneliness of it, the uncertainty of what might happen or who might or might not come back when the crew explored new planets, he hated all of it. He was not a creature of uncertainty. He liked facts, knowledge, knowing things. By definition, space should be the last thing he was exploring, when it grated so much against his core being.

On top of that, his bedside manner with patients was atrocious. He wasn't unkind, per se, but he was gruff, impatient. Ostensibly, it was because he didn't have time to faff about when he was at the service of everyone on the ship, but sometimes he let his irritation get the best of him. Spock still remembered the time he'd slapped a pregnant woman, and while he could understand, logically, why Leonard had done it, it had still been shocking to see it happen at the time.

In fact, Spock might have even commented to Jim his concerns about Leonard, if he hadn't come across him one day, simply staring out of one of the viewing windows at the vastness of space. Spock hadn't interrupted him, but he'd watched, quiet, curious, because Leonard had never looked like that before. Leonard could be quiet, of course, but typically when watching things, he just looked politely interested, as if viewing a scientific experiment that only affected him a little. Now, though, he just looked... pensive. Quiet in a way Spock had never seen before.

He lifted a hand to put it against the glass, as if he was reaching out for something. "It's probably silly to you," Leonard said without turning away, and Spock forced himself not to jump in surprise, because he'd given no indication he even knew Spock was there. "Illogical, I guess. Too emotional. But I just feel, if a star is going out... someone should see it. Someone should watch and understand."

Spock was reminded, suddenly, of all the times he and Jim had gone into medical to check on injured crew members and found Leonard sitting beside a bed, quiet, staring. Sometimes he'd even have one of their hands clasped in his. 'I couldn't save them,' he'd say, not looking away from them until Jim had put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

Spock finally walked over to look out the window. He could see what Leonard was talking about--a spot of light so much brighter than the others. It had different names among many peoples, even on earth. Supernova. Burnout. Star death. Omen. Billions of years of existence condensed down into one last bright flash before darkness. The end.

"I don't think it's illogical, Doctor," Spock said quietly, remembering all the times he'd walked in to find Leonard bent over a body with a white sheet over it.

Staring. Witnessing. Helpless, but present. Outliving.

Outburning.

[leolamin97]

Invader Pink- The Pink Nightmare (Part 2)

(Note: HEY EVERYONE, bet you didn't expect more of this did ya. The second part to Invader Pink's begining. After 6 months of grueling travel Pink and her crew have decided on their first conquest. A small unsuspecting planet called Earth, and the pitiful Human race. Pink makes first contact with the species through an unlikely member and starts to form a plan or take over. But something else forms as well. Is she ready for it?

-----

“Doom, doom, doom, doo doom, doom, Doom, doom, doom, doo doom, doom, Doom, doom, doom, doo doom, doom, Doom, doom, doom, doo doom, doom, Doom, doom, doom, doo doom, doom, Doom, doom, doom, doo doom, doom-!” Spinel sang as everyone in the ship deck looked half brain dead

    Peridot and the Rubies were slouched over the control panels all of them wall-eyed, groaning, and drooling. Pink was on her knees also wall-eyed, mouth hanging open a drooling, letting out a long groan. Pearl was standing to the side a calm expression on her face though her eye did occasionally twitch. The sounds of groans and singing continued until a beep filled the room snapping peridot out of her brain-dead state.

“My Diamond we are approaching a gathering of planets, it might be a galaxy.” Peridot says as everyone snaps out as well

“OH, THANK THE STARS-I mean…... excellent Peridot well done.” Pink says relieved

“Yay! Were here!” Spinel said stopping her singing

“Yes, Spinel. Now why don’t we play the quiet game.” Pink says with a strained smile

“Ooooo, your favorite game!” Spinel says

“Why yes, it is Spinel.” Pink says with visible bags under her eyes

“My Diamond.” Sapphire says entering the deck

“WHERE THE HECK HAVE YOU BEEN?” Pink yells noticing her

“I’ve been below deck sitting next to a pipe for the last 6 months.” Sapphire says simply

3 Months Earlier

    Sapphire was sitting in a dimly lit room that was filled with crystalline and metal pipes moving various stuff around. She was sitting next to a pipe with a latch on it. She reaches for the latch and pulls it opening a small part of the pipe where noise came out.

“Doom, doom, doom, doo doom, doom, Doom…”

Sapphire closes the pipe and goes back to sitting in absolute silence

Present Day

“Either way my Diamond I think we should discuss, our actions moving forward to this new galaxy.” Sapphire says

“Very well. Pearl with me, Spinel stay here.” Pink says as she and Pearl exit the room with Spinel standing in the center smiling goofily as everyone glares at her

“I could do it right now and I bet she wouldn’t care.” The eyeball ruby says glaring at Spinel

“No.” The Ruby leader says

---

“Finally, here on a new frontier of possibilities, isn’t it exciting.” Pink says

“Yes, it is my Diamond.” Pearl says

“Yeah, sure. My Diamond, I am unsure of the fruitfulness of the galaxy. I have peaked into a few possible futures and have not seen anything of promise. I believe it would be best to keep moving.” Sapphire says

“WHAT?! But we’ve been travelling for so long. And you’re telling me there’s nothing?” Pink says

“From, what I’ve seen my Diamond. I see a lot but not everything. The final decision is yours.” Sapphire says

“Well my Diamond there’s no problem with just checking a few worlds.” Pearl says getting a suspicious look from Sapphire

“That there isn’t, we came this far it’d be a waste not to check.” Pink says looking out the window to the void

“Very well my Diamond, I can check some possible futures for worlds that may have anything of value and-.” Sapphire says

“There.” Pink says pressing her finger to the window

“What?” Sapphire and Pearl said looking at her

“Don’t you see it the little blue one?” Pink says looking out to the void. Sapphire and Pearl look closer and see far far in the distance was a small blue orb almost having a glow to it making it stand out

“Are you sure my Diamond, it’s quite far. Aren’t there closer planets to inspect?” Pearl asks

“Yeah, yeah, we can later, I just…... I just wanna go there. I have a feeling in my gemstone, just go with it.” Pink says almost in a trance as she walks away Sapphire following

    Pearl was ready to follow as well until her gemstone started to glow. She lets out an eep and ducks behind a corner, making sure no one saw her. She then extracts something from her gem in a brilliant light. A beeping Diamond shaped device came out and fell into her hands. With a quick twist of the top it came on showing a screen.

“Pearl, what is Pink’s progress?” Yellow Diamond says appearing on the screen

“My Diamond, we have finally reached a new galaxy.” Pearl whispers

“Oh good, at this rate she was gonna get bored and turn back.” Yellow says

“How is she? Is she alright? Is she happy? Was she hurt?” Blue says coming into the frame worried

“She is fine my Diamond. There was a…… bit of a dip during the 3-month period. But she bounced back well enough.” Pearl says

“Pearl, has Pink started to select worlds?” Yellow says pushing Blue aside

“Yes, she’s chosen this small blue world deeper into the galaxy for some reason.” Pearl says

“Yeah that’s Pink. Keep up updated on Pink’s progress and the worlds she discovers.” Yellow orders

“I knew it was a good idea to send you with her. Pink is still so young, and even if this is a game she still needs protection. As soon as things get difficult for her, we’ll be there for her.” Blue says

“If I may say my Diamond, based on Pink’s behavior and temperament if you were to do that Pink would be rather upset.” Pearl says

“It’s all for her own good. We have to the protect her from all threats, even the ones she doesn’t think are threats. Like those Jabba’s. Dirty Jabba’s, trying to Jab Pink out of her pebbles, blew all those clods to hell I sure did!” Blue says growling the last part

“Wait is that why we annihilated with the Jabba’s planet, you said they had WMD’s?” Pearl asks confused

“PEARL WHERE ARE YOU KEEP UP!! You come up to my side you should be faster than Sapphire!” Pink yells from down the hall

“Just keep us updated.” Yellow says before turning off the screen. Pearl inserts the device back into her gem before rejoining Pink and Sapphire

“Sorry my Diamond one of the panels were unsymmetrical and I had to correct it.” Pearl says

“You pearl’s and your need for Symmetry.” Pink says with a giggle as the doors open to the bridge

   They were then greeted by a scene of the commander ruby trying to hold down the eyeball ruby. Eyeball having her knife raised as she clawed her way to an oblivious Spinel, the commander having her in a choke hold trying to stop her movement. The two then notice Pink and quickly get up dusting themselves and going awkwardly back to their stations.

“We just were…... checking your control pad.” The commander said

“……. Right. Anyway, we have our destination, Peridot set our course to the little blue planet in the distance. That’s where we begin our expansion!!” Pink says stepping on the pad and pointing forward as Peridot salutes and starts working

Pink steps on her control pad and starts to get ready as Pearl stands to the side.

“Um…... my Diamond, do you know why we destroyed the Jabba Homeworld?” Pearl asks sheepishly

“Because they had WMD’s duh, Blue told me. Funny thing before that war announcement I almost lost some pebbles to Jabba’s in a bet. I mean I got them back, but man was that stupid I walked right into that. I felt so bad after putting them through that, luckily Blue was there to listen to my woes. Why you ask?” Pink asks

“No reason.” Pearl says worriedly

   Just then the ship took off towards the blue planet. Stars and planets flew past them and within a matter of minutes they arrived. Before a beautiful planet of blue, green, and white floated before them.

“Ooooooo, pretty~” Spinel says looking at the planet

“Sweet-stars-above. Peridot give me a cursory scan of the planet, what do we have?” Pink says amazed

“Yes, my Diamond!” Peridot says as she launches a probe from the ship, after 10 minutes the probe returned and Peridot projected a hologram of the planet in the center of the bridge

“My Diamond this planet is known as Earth, it is made up of 71% water. Core of the planet is molten, multiple climates detected and I am unable to give a clear definition. However, this planet is extremely rife with resources.” Peridot says

“Give me a list.” Pink says, just then Peridot did so. A Massive list appeared before pink and began to scroll down through thousands of resources Pink’s smile growing every second.

“So much on this little orb.” The Commander says amazed

“What this? What’s this? Oh, what’s that? And what that mean?” Spinel says poking the various sections on the list

“It means we hit the JACKPOT!! YES, FIRST TRY!!” Pink says ruffling Spinel’s hair

“Congratulations my Diamond. I’m sure Yellow and Blue would be happy to see your new colony once you call-.” Pearl says

“Um, my Diamond there is also the dominant species on the planet.” Peridot says

“Species?” Pink says

“Yes, the planet is filled with organics, however the ruling species seems to identity as Human.” Peridot says as a Hologram of human man walking down the street.

“Aw, look at them walking around. They think their gems.” Pink says looking at the image with a small smile

“Semi-Intelligent, but nothing compared to us. They should be fairly easy to deal with.” Peridot says as Pink continues looking at hologram with interest

“Well I’m sure Yellow will come up with a proper plan on how to approach this. We should call them and ask-.” Pearl says

“Belay that call Pearl. We aren’t calling them yet.” Pink says

“WHAT?!” everyone asks surprised

“This is the moment I’ve been waiting for, the planet I’ve been waiting for! I can finally show them that my plan can work!!” Pink says excited

“What plan?” Peridot asks

“The one she told me 154 times, while we were in the classroom. I can repeat it verbatim.” Spinel says

“We are going to take over this planet ourselves, and subjugate the populace. Do you know with every passing year we go through colonies faster and faster? Soon there won’t be any planets left for us to colonize, we are being to wasteful. We are not properly utilizing these resources to their fullest potential, the biggest one being the species on the planet. We usually just wipe them out, when instead we should be using them. With the proper leadership these races could be brought under the Gem Empire and work with us in maintaining the colony. Not only will that lower the number of gems made, but also allow the planet to prosper longer.” Pink says proudly as Spinel stands behind her mimicking her movements and speech

“I’m…... sorry you want to use these…... things? Look at them they’re useless! We should call the other Diamonds.” Pearl says

“She’s not gonna.” Sapphire says

“Nobody’s useless pearl. I mean they probably can’t do much, but they can do stuff.” Pink says pointing to the hologram

“I have to agree with the Pearl, my Diamond. Such an operation has never been done.” Peridot says

“Well there’s a first time for everything. It’ll make it all the greater when I rub this in White’s face. When I call them and tell them not only did I takeover a world by myself, but that the idea, THAT THEY SHOT DOWN COSNTANTLY, worked” Pink says with a grin

“My Diamond, I am not doubting you. But you can’t believe we can conquer a whole world by ourselves.” The Ruby Commander says

“Well not if we try fighting. That’s why were gonna outsmart these Hue-mans! We’ll pull control of the planet right from under their fleshy noses! They won’t know what hit them!” Pink says proudly

“My Diamond I have to advise you against this action we should call the Diamonds.” Pearl says

“Well then it’s too bad you’re not in charge. We’re not calling them until we takeover.” Pink says

“My Diamond I-!” Pearl interjects until

Clack

“What was that?” Pink asks

“Just some space debris, nothing to worry about. It’s too small to do any damage.” Peridot says

“What if it was bigger?” Spinel asks

“How big?” The Ruby commander asks

“That big.” Spinel says pointing to the window and a massive satellite flying at them

    Everyone let’s out a panicked scream as it smashed into the bridge breaking the window. A Blow out happened as things began to get sucked out and everyone hanged onto something. Peridot pressed a button as a forcefield began to cover the hole. But Pink who was standing in the middle on her control pad was pulled out of the bridge and off the ship before the forcefield went up.

“MY DIAMOND!!!!” Pearl screams as she watches Pink tumble towards the planet becoming a fireball as she entered the atmosphere

Beach City, Late at Night

    On the beach of the small town three small houses stood before the waves. Two of the houses had ‘FOR SALE’ signs on them and were dark. The center one however had none and the lights were on. Inside the house was various moving boxes some open some closed, a TV and couch sat in the living room. And on the couch a boy with black hair, a star T-shirt, and flip flops sat. An open box sat by his side as he pulled out a phone and checked his messages having one

Will be home late Steven, just have to get some last-minute stuff finished at the wash. Get ready for your first day of school tomorrow love you

   Steven smiled and typed Love you too. He sighed putting away his phone and reaching into the box. He then pulled out a bear with an MC chain necklace, and picture frame. In the frame was him a smiling balding man, and a large woman with large curly black hair. He smiled putting the frame on the table and getting up. He walked out of house onto the beach and sat on the sand looking out to the ocean.

“This place seems nice and all. But I still miss, my old town. It’s a whole lot of new things I gotta deal with, I gotta make friends in school. I wonder what it will be like, I hope I’ll make a good first impression.” Steven says looking up into the sky

   Then with a sparkle he saw a shooting start streaking across the sky. He let out a surprised gasp with a smile and closed his eyes tight as he held his hands together.

“Shooting-Star I wish…… I wish…… I wish I can make at least one friend in school. This is all very new and kinda scary for me and having one would make things a lot easier. Maybe you could send me an angel to be my friend, the nicest, most generous angel ever…… Nah it doesn’t have to be the nicest one. I really just want someone’s who ready to listen and willing to take a chance with me. I’m not like most kids and I just want someone that understands and will be patient with me. If you grant my wish, I promise I’ll be the bests friend to them ever. And take your time, I can wait.” Steven says as he opens his eyes and looks up at the star smiling

    Then he heard something it sounded like a scream and it was getting louder. He then noticed that the shooting star was getting bigger, looking like a fireball heading his direction. He watched wide-eyed as it slammed into the ocean before him. Then from it something flew out and began to skip across the water towards him. He heard pained grunts and yelps as it got closer to him. Once it reached land it hit hard and flipped into the air before landing on its feet before him.

“THANK YOU, ALL MY GEMS YOU’VE BEEN WONDERFUL!!” Pink yells her eyes bouncing in her head as her body swayed clearly not all there mentally

“Uhhhhhh.” Steven says looking up at the Giant Pink woman

“THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT!!” Pink yells before falling face first onto the sand unconscious  

“……. Oh wow!” Steven says amazed looking at the downed gem

    He slowly approaches Pink looking at her with intrigue and amazement. Just then a loud CRASH filled the air making Steven yelp. Just then it started to rain rather heavily on Steven and Pink. Steven shielded his face from the rain looking at Pink, making his decision he grabs Pink and starts dragging her across the sand.

   It took a lot of work but Steven managed to get pink up the stairs and into his house. It was easier than he thought given how big she was but still took a lot. He grunted as he flopped the Pink woman onto the couch which barely held her, her legs coming off the side. Steven sighed in relief taking a moment to shake the rainwater from her hair. He leaves Pink for a moment grabbing some towels from the bathroom. After drying himself he brings some towels to the still unconscious Pink.

   He is a bit unsure put drapes a towel over her upper body. He holds another towel and looks at Pink’s massive hair water dripping from it.

“Wow, it’s almost as big as moms.” Steven says amazed looking at her

“It looks really poofy, I wonder how deep it is.” Steven asks looking at her

   Extending his index finger and then pushed it into the Pink mass of hair. It was as soft as it looked as it went to his wrist. And then his elbow, and then his shoulder, until he finally touched her head his face slightly in the hair now

“Wow, that deep.” Steven says amazed pulling his hand out as he did he grabbed a small metallic device. He examined it curiously before tossing it on the table beside Pink.

   He then examines her again looking at her face and how peaceful it was. He looked at it deeply as if he was trying to remember something.

“She looks familiar, but I don’t remember from where.” Steven says looking at Pink, his eyes wandering down to her body and eying the gem. Steven let out an “Ooooooh” as he marveled at the gem, he touched it feeling the smoothness of her gem noting how it sparkled under the light.

And the Pink woke up

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!” Pink screamed looking at Steven

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!” Steven yelled looking at Pink who began to flail as she tried to stand up

“HOW DARE YOU-!!” Pink yells standing up only to hit her head on a ceiling fan

   She yelped holding her head stumbling forward only to then slam her leg onto the table. She shrieked holding her leg and jumping back flipping over the couch and rolling back. Steven peeked from over the couch at Pink who was nursing her leg until she locked eyes with Steven.

“HOW DARE YOU TOUCH A DIAMOND YOU-!!” Pink yells in an intimidating voice standing up not realizing she was in an open doorway slamming the top of her head on the frame

“AAAAARGGH!! STUPID, STUPID!!!” Pink shrieks falling on her rear. Steven watched as she held her head screaming through gritted teeth. She then let out a small sniffle as she held her head looking a bit sad.

“Oh, are you okay?” Steven asked coming over the couch

“Y-Y-you stay right there you-!” Pink says frantically trying to stand up

“The doorway.” Steven says making Pink realize she was going to do the same thing again, so she scooted back and then stood up.

“Stay right where you are you-!” Pink says until she realized she was taller than the door frame and Steven could not see her face. So, she ducked under and stood her full height before Steven

“Just stay right there.” Pink says exhausted

“So…... did the shooting star send you?” Steven asks

“What?” Pink asks annoyed

“The… shooting star… I wished on. Did it send you?” Steven asks cautiously

“Why would a star send me you fool?” Pink asks with a hint of disgust

“Cause I wished on it.” Steven asks smiling

“…….. you’re a human aren’t you.” Pink asks looking at him for a moment

“Yyyyyesss.” Steven said a little unsure with the answer

“Oh, my stars, this will be easier than I thought.” Pink says with a giggle

“What?” Steven asks

“I WAS NOT SENT BY ANY STAR HUMAN!! I AM THE RADIANT PINK DIAMOND OF HOMEWORLD!! MEMBER OF THE GREAT DIAMOND AUHTORITY, LEADER OF THE MIGHTY GEM RACE!!! AND FUTURE RULER OF YOUR PITIFUL WORLD!!! You may bask in greatness.” Pink say proudly hands on her hips nose up turned

“Oh-kay.... I like your little skirt it’s pretty.” Steven says pointing to it

“Oh well, thank you.” Pink says embarrassed not expecting the compliment

"GAH-I-It's not LITTLE," Pink gasped in offense. "It's aerodynamic, and glamorous!"

“Are you an alien?” Steven asked

“HOW DID YOU KNOW?!!! WHO TOLD YOU?!!” Pink yells in a panic

“You just did say your apart of the gem race. And that you wanted to rule Earth. Plus, your 11ft tall and Pink with a rock out of your belly.” Steven says pointing to her gem

“It’s a Diamond. And yes, I am, a clearly superior being from your small (and admittedly adorable) fleshy forms. I have come to conquer your world in the name of the Gem empire. Submit yourself to me Human, resistance is futile!” Pink says sinisterly leering at Steven who looked at her confused

“…….. You?” Steven says taking a moment to look at her head to toe

“Yes.” Pink says

“You are going to take over the world?” Steven says

“Yes.” Pink says

“By yourself?” Steven asks

“Of course, not you fool! I have a team of my planets most elite gems. Unstoppable, terrifying, a single one could decimate a dozen your flabby race with only a finger!!” Pink says grinning evilly

“Where are they?” Steven asks

“Well they are…….” Pink says proudly before stopping taking a moment to think leaving the two in silence

“WHERE ARE THEY?!!!” Pink screams going in a panic

“I FEEL OUT OF THE SHIP!!! I’M LOST, THEY’LL NEVER FIND ME!!! I’M ON AN ALIEN WORLD ALONE WITH NO HELP!!! SPINEL, PEARL, SAPPHIRE, ANYOOOOONE!!!!” Pink cries falling to her knees in hysterics looking like she was on the verge of tears

“Hey, Hey it’s okay. I’m sure your friends will find you.” Steven says reaching out for Pink only for her to recoil

“Don’t touch me human!” Pink yelps with a bit of fright in her voice

“Steven.” Steven says

“Huh?” Pink asks

“My name isn’t human, it’s Steven.” Steven explains

“So, you’re a Ste-van not a human?” Pink asks confused

“No, I am human, my name is Steven Quartz Universe. Nice to meet you.” Steven says

“Name? Oh, you mean your designation. Use the correct words, you simpleton!” Pink says

“Heh, I’ll try to. Would you like to sit down, do you need help getting up?” Steven asks reaching out for her only to recoil

   She looks at him suspiciously, but looks in his eyes and sees nothing that means any harm to her. It was like how Blue would look at her, but somehow different.

“I do not need help from an organic. However, I will give you the pleasure of touching me. Feel honored you will be the first and last of your race to do so.” Pink says holding out her hand

    Steven smiles taking her hand and helping her up. He guides her to the couch past anything low enough to hit her head. And sat her down, she got comfortable (or as comfortable as she could get bringing her knees up. As Steven sat across from her with a smile.

“So, Ste-Van are there other Ste-van’s like you on this planet?” Pink asks

“Well I’m sure there are other people named Steven, but I’m the only Steven’s that’s like…… well me.” Steven says with a laugh

“OH! So, your rare?” Pink says slightly amazed

“Oh well thank you.” Steven says blushing

“Hm, your dominical is primitive but possesses charm.” Pink says looking around

“Domi-Oh you mean my house? Yeah, it’s okay, though I missed my old house. But dad got the car-wash running and wanted to be close to his job, and Mom’s still close to, but still.” Steven says sadly

“So why don’t you go back if you miss it so much?” Pink asks scratching her head

“What I just can’t go back, my parent’s decision is final. I just can’t do stuff without asking them, what would I even do if I got there?” Steven asks

“Ugh, sounds like Blue, Yellow, and White.” Pink says still scratching her head

“Those…. Were colors.” Steven says

“AGH WHY IS MY HEAD SO ITCHY?!!” Pink yells digging into her hair and scratching, until she felt something. She got a grip of it and pulled it out of her hair and held it before her.

Meow

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!” Pink yells as she tosses the Pink creature in the air only for it to flip in midair and land gently on Steven’s lap

“Oh, there you air Lion.” Steven said with a laugh

“WHAT THE BERYL IS THAT THING?!” Pink yells recoiling in her seat

“This is Lion, he’s my cat. Isn’t he cute, he was a gift from my mom?” Steven says as he holds out the Pink furred feline who looked at Pink uninterested

“That thing attacked me!” Pink says fearfully

“Nah, he probably just thought your hair was a pillow. It looks really fluffy.” Steven says hugging his cat

“MY HAIR IS NO RESTING PLACE FOR A FLITHLY 4 LEGGED ORGANIC!!” Pink shrieks holding her hair

“He’s not filthy I cleaned him before I moved in. Isn’t he cute?” Steven asks as he snuggles the uninterested Lion

“KEEP THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!!!” Pink shrieks

“Okay, but I can’t promise anything Lion always does his own thing.” Steven says as Lion rests on his lap. Pink scowling at the cat who could care less

“So…... why do you want to take over Earth?” Steven asks

“For glory of course, your pitiful planet shall be the first of my galactic conquests!” Pink says proudly

“First? You haven’t done this before? Conquering worlds?” Steven asks

“Oh…... well…. N-no, but I have all the necessary skills needed to complete operation. This will be my first and greatest triumph of all time. When I rule a million planets millennia from now all will look back and see this moment Pink Diamond showed her true greatness to all.” Pink says proudly

“So, you want a million planets?” Steven asks

“Or ¾ of a million, I’m a humble diamond.” Pink says

“Sure, you are.” Steven says deadpan

"My fellow diamonds always go on about their entire galaxies. How they have billions of gems who praise and worship they're rule...." Pink began to faulter a bit as she looked down sadly.

“How I should be more like them if I wanna be a Diamond like them. How if they can do it, I can do it to.” Pink says sadly

"Must be nice, being so perfect and assured." Seeing how sad she looked, Steven got an idea and got onto his knees.

"Oh, great and powerful Pink Diamond," He saluted, putting on a deep voice in an attempt to praise her. "Thank you for your rule over us!"

Pink eyes widened as stars appeared in them. "My first minion!"

“I mean-of course you would do that. You realized that it would be best to be on the winning side before my inevitable victory.” Pink said trying to correct herself

“Well since your team isn’t here, I figured you would need some help until they show up.” Steven said with a kind smile that made Pink blush

“…….. Thank you.” Pink whispered quickly

“What?” Steven asks

“NOTHING! WHAT?! SHUT UP!!” Pink yells defensively

Knock Knock

   Pink yelps upon hearing that jumping on the chair taking a defensive position. This made Steven laugh as he got up.

“Relax that’s probably my dad.” Steven said going to the door

“Da-ad? What is that? Some kind of human?” Pink asked

“Yeah he is. He raised me. He may be weirded out when he sees you, but he’s seen weirder. He used to be a band.” Steven says as he opens the door

“SEE’S ME? Wait I don’t-!” Pink says as Steven opens the door to his house

      Steven opens the door and finds nothing but ocean. He steps onto the porch looking around confused letting out a ‘Huh?’. Just then four red blurs slammed into him pushing him into the house. Pink immediately shot up from the couch to see what was happening. And before her four of the rubies each grabbed Steven by one of his limbs and lifted him off the ground pulling on them.

“WAIT WHAT ARE YOU-OW-STOP IT! THAT HURTS!!” Steven yelled straining

“RUBIES?! What are you-?” Pink said jumping over the couch

“MY DIAMOND!!” Pearl yells as she runs to Pink and hugs her

“Pearl!” Pink said gratefully

“Oh, thank the stars your okay! Peridot was right in her calculations for where you landed. I was so worried!” Pearl said burying her face in Pink gems

“Oh, come on Pearl, I’m an almighty Diamond you think something like a little tumble from orbit would hurt me?” Pink said

“Owowowowowowow!!!” Steven yells

“Wait the Human!” Pink says looking to Steven

“Did that disgusting thing hurt you? It trapped you in this horrible place for stars know what!” Pearl says hysterically

“Don’t worry My Diamond we’ve got this handled.” The commander says approaching the restrained Steven

“Oh-um-h-hi I’m Steven, would you please-?” Steven asks only to be stopped by a finger to the nose

“SILENCE YOU FILTHLY ORGANIC!! You think you can keep our Diamond imprisoned in your pitiful hut.” The commander says

“She landed on my front lawn.” Steven says worriedly

“I SAID SILENCE!!! You touched our illustrious Diamond with your stinky flesh stubs. Any last words before I end your sad short existence in the name of Pink Diamond!” Ruby says as a metal gauntlet forms around her hand as she raises it

   Steven was silent looking up at the gauntlet, and then the commander, and then the rubies holding him down that all looked the same, and Pearl who was still hysterically holding Pink, and then Pink who was looking at him.

“……… You have got to be kidding me.” Steven says in disbelief

“Strange words.” The commander says with a shrug but the prepares to punch Steven

“HOLD IT RUBIES!!” Pink yells grabbing the commander by the arm

“MY DIAMOND!!” The all yell as they drop Steven to the ground

“You are not to harm this Human!” Pink says

“But my diamond it-!” the eye ruby says

“What he hurt me? Look at me I’m fine? And do you truly think something like that could harm an almighty diamond. Look at him! He so small and squishy, it hilarious.” Pink says pointing to Steven with a chuckle

“Hey.” Steven says offended

“My Diamond, even if it’s not dangerous other humans can be. It will with no doubt tell the others of its species of this encounter putting us in danger, it must be eliminated!” Pearl says

“Heh heh, there’s no need Pearl. He has already become my minion.” Pink says

“Wha?” Pearl asks

“Just a few minutes ago he swore loyalty to my perfect self. See one look at me the humans know who’s in charge.” Pink says proudly

“I thought you said you were a humble Diamond.” Steven says until getting lifted up by the arm Ruby

“What’s your game fleshy? Is this some kind of trick trying to keep us here before the rest of your kind shows up? How did you know where we’d be?” arm ruby asks

“I didn’t I just moved in here. And Pink was panicking and really scared and I just wanted to be nice.” Steven says defensively

“Is this true, my diamond?” the commander asks

“Well, I mean it’s an obvious exaggeration. Cause I would never be scared or panic is any situation…... but that is in decent but not to close proximity to the truth.” Pink says sheepishly

“My Diamond why would you accept help from this thing?” Pearl asks

“Steven, my name is Steven.” Steven says

“Because this is all part of my plan, to take over this world.” Pink says

“Falling out of the ship was apart of your plan?” the leg ruby asks

“Eeeeeeehhhhhhhhhh…. Anyway, he has been an excellent source of information. Like how his name is Steven and there are many Stevens, but he’s a rare Steven.” Pink says

“Not exactly true but alright. Can you please put me down, I have school tomorrow and I probably should be heading to bed?” Steven says

“What is this Skool? Some kind of base?” Pearl asks

“W-well it’s a place kids like me go to learn stuff about the world.” Steven says

“The world?” Pink says intrigued

“HA, you guys need to learn. You don’t just come out knowing thing?” the belly ruby says

“Um, no.” Steven says sheepishly

“Put him down Ruby.” Pink commands the arm ruby who does so

“So, are you all called Ruby?” Steven asks

“Steven, I need to keep our meeting a secret. No other humans can learn of this, for the sake of the mission.” Pink says kneeling down

“Oh well okay, if you say so. It’s a promise.” Steven says sticking out his pinkie

“Wha-what is this? Do I take it?” Pink asks

“No, it’s…. well it’s something humans do to show that we keep promises. It’s symbolic.” Steven says smiling. Pink hesitates but extends her own pinkie wrapping it around Steven’s

“Now you have to keep a promise for me.” Steven says

“YOU HAVE SOME NERVE ASKING OUR DIAMOND FOR ANYTHING!!” Pearl yells

“It’s okay Pearl. What do you want?” Pink asks

“I want to be able to see you again. You seem really nice and I want to get to know you.” Steven says

“That is something I can do.” Pink says smiling

“My Diamond we must return to the ship.” Pearl says as Pink let’s go and exits with the other gems to the porch

   They and Steven walk out where Steven see’s Pink leg’s ship hovering over his house in all its splendor.

“What do you think? Pretty cool huh?” Pink asks

“Uuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh…...” Steven says gawking at the fact there was a giant pair of legs hovering over his house

“Look at him taken, by superior gem technology. So cute.” Pink says smiling as a Pink light engulfs her and she and the rubies begin floating to the ship. Pearl however stays behind

“You do know Pink wants to take over your world and enslave your people correct?” Pearl asks

“Yes, she was very up front about that despite saying it’s supposed to be secret.” Steven says

“Then you truly wish to avoid the oncoming conquest?” Pearl says

“Eeeeeehhhh, is it oncoming though? Pink doesn’t really scream evil space tyrant to me, I mean she has the mouth of one, but doesn’t really seem…... scary.” Steven says

“Are you insulting my Diamond?” Pearl asks

“No, no! I just mean she’s nice. I like nice. Nice is Nice. Plus, she seems like she needs a friend, though it looks like she has a lot of them.” Steven says

“We are not friends, we live to serve her.” Pearl says

“You think that, but the way she was freaking out earlier makes me think she views you as something more.” Steven says surprising Pearl

“……. Sorry for inconveniencing you.” Pearl says as the light takes her

“No problem, have a nice night.” Steven says waving as the ship begins to float up out of sight

“Well…... that was something. It will be wild if this was all a dream.” Steven says entering his home and closing the door, just as a car pulled up to the house next to his

----

“PINK’S BACK!!” Spinel yells jumping on Pink’s head

“Hello spinel.” Pink says simply as her friend’s arms wrap around her face

“Was Steven as nice as the vision said.” Sapphire asked

“You knew that was going to happen?” Pink asks

“Yes, but some red fools didn’t want to listen.” Sapphire says looking to the rubies

“Great to have you back my Diamond I’ll get us back to space so we may gather ourselves.” Peridot says

“Change that Peridot. Bring us to low orbit, enough to avoid detection. And keep a pin on that area we’ll be going back.” Pink says stepping on the control pad

“What why?” peridot asks

“Also look up any information with any Earth School’s near the area I crashed. And Pearl pull up and image of Steven I know you recorded him.” Pink says as Pearl and Peridot nod and do as they were told

“But again, my Diamond, why?” Peridot asks as Pink Examines the hologram of Steven

“Steven says school was a place that humans go to learn about the world. That seems like the perfect place to gather information on the earth and getting a firsthand experience of human-society.” Pink says as she kneels down to look at the Steven hologram

“That sounds…... wise, my diamond. But how do you seek to achieve it?” Peridot asks

“That’s simple Peridot, INFILTRATION!!” Pink says proudly as her body began to glow

All the gems marveled as they watched Pink’s form morph and change shape

“MY GEMS THIS WILL BE THE START OF OUR CONQUEST!! For when their star rises we become THE ENEMY!” Pink says as her eyes glow maliciously

(TO BE CONCLUDED)

------

Part 1- https://leolamin97.tumblr.com/post/187983280106/invader-pink-the-pink-nightmare-part-1

[ireddeadredemption2pc-blog]

Red Dead Redemption 2 PC

Red Dead Redemption2 PC

The old west feels brand new again.

Oh Jesus Christ, what have you done? “Thomaschen 978 wants to know why a dozen carcasses and a couple of horse corpses are placed on rail tracks bordering the early industrial city and are the New Orleans stand-in St. Denis.” You killed half. village.” PC Games For Free

We are on round two of the recurring corpse pile. My poses got the idea to jump in front of the train after a few rounds of Lose Your Friends and Toss Them in the Sea in the Couple Friendly Strangers. Like GTA 5, Red Dead Redemption 2 has its own bowling minima, we explain to Chen in a roundabout way that provokes his fear. Die in the shared open world of Red Dead Redemption 2 and you’ll react fast enough to move your corpse around. Best RPGs games pc

The boy is in line with us. We should make it bigger. As the train comes around again, another pose tries to take us out. The chain defends us but does not bring it back to the tracks. He goes away screaming. Death of a true warrior.

Red Dead Redemption 2 could be the biggest, most humble videogame ball pit for an annoying story about impulsive children, the forced disintegration of the community, or simply a quiet and reflective hiking simulator. It’s just about what you need it to be, and it’s good at it.

Just hours before the corpse-bowling, I was alone through the icy forests, stepping into the long shadow cast across the snow by the rising moon. I heard a gunshot from a distance. The tracks of some wolves marked snow in the same direction. I saw them who won. Anytime I pay attention and look closely, RDR2 is the result of my curiosity. Best Racing games on pc

The mind-numbing expanse that makes up the vast world of RDR2 speaks to the creative force of a development team with an intense, obsessive dedication to realism (and all the money and time needed to do so). Like how my friends’ characters flare up when I fire a gun at them, how animal carcasses disintegrate over time, how NPCs react according to a sloppy or bloody outfit, how to stir through a doorway. Scares everyone everywhere.

It is hard to believe that RDR2 is so deep and wide and is also a harmonious, playable thing. I was already playing it for days worth the console version. This is why I am particularly disappointed that it ended up on the PC to some extent.

For every non-taught multiplayer adventure, disconnect or crash on the desktop, desktop. The rock star’s best storyline and character so far has been filmed through Frame Hutches’ slideshow and addressed over the launch weekend.

RDR2, one of the best Western games and one of the best open-world games I have ever released with enough stability issues, is recommended for the hard way until everything is completely smooth.

Morgan trail

EVERY PRETTY VISTA IS SOMETHING TO LOSE THROUGH ARTHUR’S EYES.

The story genre of Red Dead Redemption 2 follows the dying days of the Wild West. The sprawling industrial world faced the bandits and social downtrodden of Arthur Morgan’s small band, an imperfect but loyal, loving and self-reliant community.

Capitalism is reducing its value as resources to humans. Indigenous USA America is driven from the plains to make way for ‘civilization’ and commerce. The forests are brought down for timber, the hills are cut down for coal, and Morgan’s chosen family is caught in the middle, forced to flee, assimilate, or respond with violent protests is done. They do all three.

This is Rockstar’s most serious drama, and it’s really, really long. If you are running, the story ends after 40 to 50 hours and then continues for 10 to 15. The main story missions of Red Dead 2 feature distinctly rockstar fare: ride to a destination that is talking to everyone, tightly scripting though, entertaining things, riding, and chatting to the final destination.

Missions are often thrilling action sequences or artificially mundane pictures of wrench labor and trade, full of long-winded Bespoke animations, and outstanding performances. They are only hopelessly harsh, to the point where it feels like I am following the stage directions rather than playing the role of a vagabond in the Old West.

Step out of line in these campaigns and this is a failed situation. As opposed to Red Dead Online, there are very few of them that encourage players to think for themselves, each designed to advance the story. The RDR2 show is at least a spectacle of the slow pace of life in the Old West.

This is not the death and theatricality of a lifetime; My favorite missions include shoveling, drinking wine with a friend, proposing an old romance and riding a hot air balloon. Working through a greater rut, stricter tasks are considered meaningful in the end anyway, inspired by extraordinary, ambient world-building and characterization.

Side missions, minigames, small activities, and random world events — whether they hunt great guns, capture a play, or stumble upon a woman trapped under a horse — all set Arthur’s character and setting in subtle, rich ways. Please inform.

Nested in the third act of a fully animated and voice theatrical performance, something like 10 minutes, it is possible that the response button is pressed after an artist has included a telephone. Arthur would shout, “Hell with the telephone!” It is an optional activity, a long one, and an option is to react in that short window. I think most players will remember this, but this is Canad Response 1 through 3 because this is something Arthur would say, a rageless goofy set his way in the right way.

He would write complete, real diary entries about the 50-hour campaign, sketching memorable scenes and depicting the state of affairs of his chosen family, which people once knew changed their fortunes between hope and despair. It is meant to be a completely alternative reading, but a refreshingly intimate take on a masculine figure that unsettles many doubts and hopes as to the next person.

He sings himself on a lonely ride and lowers his old body in the mirror. He will have an exciting conversation with the horseshoe woman as he gives her a ride into town, both commenting on the troubles of working for wealthy, ungrateful men as a growing necessity. I feel it all. Best horror games on pc free

Hillbillies can capture him after making the camp, a couple may try to rob him after inviting him to dinner, a man with snakebite can come out of the forest by stumbling and tell him to suck venom is. These haphazard encounters portray brutal life on the fading frontier, as nature pushes back against inner poppers who want to change it. Arthur is the perfect vessel to see it

This is because Arthur Morgan is one of the darkest human characters I have played during a great turning point in American history, playing a playful, cruel and compassionate role according to differing theories.

The game world, beautiful as it is, is made more beautiful and tragic by how it is ready to play it on every occasion. Every beautiful vista has something to lose through Arthur’s eyes, power lines and train tracks, cut through the skies, and the rest of his life is slowly filling with factory smoke. Just about everyone sees a sad end in RDR2, too. This is a story that I might not sustain every moment, but I will not forget its brutal arc or the man in the middle of it all. God damn is it sad? An apocalypse that led to this.

Ren Der Reflection

Assuming that you are able to run it at high settings, the biggest strength of RDR2 is how it exquisitely renders the Old West setting on PC, drawing more attention to the nuanced details that make it. This is one of the best looking games I’ve seen and a rare experience that justifies a new GPU or CPU.

Better draw distance and a greater range of vegetation detail were added, making some vistas look photographic. Long shadows vary from walking or roaming between places to rides, to cute nature tours. Due to animal attacks, bullet holes, rain, mud, or rapid flow of blood, the markings on the clothes are caused by very high-resolution textures, which tell a very little story about your friends.

A new photo mode makes it easy to share those moments of amazement. The way the player rides on RDR2 for just sightseeing and sounds is an important feature. I am desperately trying to get an artistic portrait of my horse’s silhouette to sit against the moon, yet another self-proclaimed goal was tolerated by this ridiculously large complex game.

With 2080, i9-9900K and 32GB of RAM, I can run RDR2 mostly on ultra settings with some resource-intensive settings completely off or switched off. But some hardware combinations are proving troublesome for RDR2, leading to random crashes in some APIs and, more recently, to a hotfix, leading to hitching problems for some 4-core CPUs.

During the first weekend, I couldn’t spend more than an hour without crashing on the desktop, though Vulcan switched from DX12 (which gives me better framerates) back to static stuff. Sometimes the UI malfunctions and I cannot select a select or purchase option, the map fails to appear, or I get paged unexpectedly from game servers.

The graphics settings are almost too much as well, and probably confusing. In our test, only a handful of settings affected performance by more than 1-2 percent. Large residuals, the mapping between MSAA, volumetric lighting, and parallax occlusion, affect performance by 5 to 25 percent. Most of them don’t make a big visual difference anyway and are best left out.

The way the settings are presented is made to feel underdeveloped: a huge list with unclear presets that require tinkering to make RDR2 run in a satisfactory framerate. It is hard. The PC should be the best place to play, not the best place to play, after all, after a few patches. It’s a shame for a game to look good. upcoming pc games

Cowboy poetry Red Dead Redemption 2 PC

Like in singleplayer mode, in Red Dead Online I can make my goals reasonable and watch them. The problem is, it is basically hamstrung by a frustrating multiplayer leveling system that locks basic equipment and cosmetics behind long XP requirements that can meet hours, perhaps days,

The option is spending gold, premium currency, items and clothing to unlock them immediately. A fishing pole is not available until level 14. A damn fishing pole in an outdoor recreation game. This is not spectacular and is a terrible way to invest players.

out a basic suite of tools (fishing rod, bow, varmint rifle, nice hat, etc.), Red Dead Online opened up widely. I have largely ignored traditional matchmaking modes such as gunfights and horse races, cheap thrills, I will play much better versions in different games, to have fun. It led to the most inventive, serene, real, and sometimes buzzing echo I’ve ever had.

I once walked into the middle of a fire in Blackwater and took the player corpses one by one to the church cemetery. Some were captured and participated in the ‘burial’ of their friends. A corpse thanked me for the gesture. Later, in an extended streak of criminal activity, my pose and I caught another player and instead of killing them on the spot, we rode into the swamp and threw them into the garter infected waters. I got the idea to act like a friend. Best pc games 2017

On a less absurd note, I set myself a constant goal of earning strictly enough money from hunting to buy cool-weather gear and a fine rifle. I am going to hike in the mountains and find the best way to hide there, a wild mountain man adorned with animal skins, which almost touches the floor.

In the meantime, I’m stopping gunmen across the city by running through the streets and calling for a parley. I am participating in an eight-player ballroom. I am living the life of a normal cowboy in the best shepherd game. I hope it clears up soon.

RDR2 PC System Requirements

OS : Windows 7 SP1 64bit

Graphics   Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 2GB / AMD Radeon R9 280

Processor:   Intel Core i5-2500K / AMD FX-6300

Memory:    8 GB RAM

DirectX:   Version 11 Or 12 Support

Storage: 150 GB

[maxg-longform]

Outer Wilds

A new frontier for the interactive experience

Moments in gaming which are truly ground-breaking are rare, and they are only getting rarer. A dual axiom of diminishing technological returns achieved by the jumps between console generations and the rampant predatory monetisation of the games as a service modal have had many despairing and looking to games that denounce photorealism and market trends for inspiration , in much the same way those in the art world despaired at the first cameras. As they could no longer make art more detailed technically, meaning and artistry moved from technique to statement. Why is it not photorealistic? The question posed today is the same. You could make a game that is an accurate reflection of life – or a biased reflection of a certain kind of life (Military-industrial complex funded shooters I’m looking at you) – so why have you chosen to instead create something with a particular art style? What is the combination of your narrative and design choices trying to say? 

In the case of Far Cry 5, when particular attention is paid to the fact that the cultists are under the influence of drugs for the game’s entirety in addition to Obsidian’s claims that their new game concerning corporate exploitation of space colonies is written apolitically with empathetic and ‘good’ characters on both sides, the aim is all too often to actively stop you from drawing any meaningful conclusion at all, or at the very least to give the impression that there is nothing to draw.

What is the aim of this spiel then? In reality, you don’t need context to enjoy Outer Wilds, but only within the nexus of the modern games industry can you see why I’ve grown to love it so much. It also lets me talk about the game in more abstract terms without spoiling it – as it is very hard not to spoil it in talking about it, as knowledge is the only progression system within the game. The game itself, mechanically, is very stripped back. You have a spaceship to explore the solar system with, a spacesuit with thrusters for exploring each of the planets you can land on, and a translation device, which allows you to understand the language of an ancient alien race which inhabited the solar system many years prior. The story orients you as the first of your race to explore the stars with this new translation device. Explorers has previously visited each planet in the solar system, but contact with them has been lost, and they cannot translate the language there. Your objective, insofar as you are given one, is to find them and learn about the ancient aliens. In an age where open-world games have quest markers and some, such as Skyrim, have a spell which paints a trail on the ground in the direction of the next objective, the handhold-free nature of Outer Wilds is charming and arresting.

Whenever you discover anything important, it is stored in your ship’s log at the back of your small spaceship. In a way, it reminded me of Morrowind, one of Skyrim’s forebears, with the journal giving hints as to where you ought to look, but no real help beyond collating what you already know so that you can easily reference it in future. You are free to explore any of the planets at any point, and follow any lines of inquiry you see fit. In a lesser game, this would lead to a disjointed narrative experienced so out of order that it would give Tarantino a headache. However, this leads me into talking about the level design. I could not laud any higher the way in which the planets are designed. Every planet has a dynamic twist to it you need to learn in order to be able to understand how to access information on it and each planet has areas that require you to piece together learnings from around the solar system in order to access. In every sense, the game rewards exploration and understanding as a means of progress, rather than giving you new tools and telling you how to use them. This is evident in each of the planet designs – which I will briefly explain in the order I visited them (there is no ‘proper’ order).

 Giant’s Deep 

 A swirling, green water planet with four islands, which are continually tossed around by an endless stream of cyclones which make the planet hard to navigate. The pole is protected by a ferociously large cyclone and a strong current prevents underwater exploration of a porous, but fiercely electromagnetic core. The sheer size and oppressive atmosphere is compounded by the strong gravity making it almost impossible to jump, incentivising careful exploration.

 Brittle Hollow

A hollow planet built around a black hole and beset by fiery meteors from its volcanic moon. With an inhospitable surface, much of the challenge comes from discovering how others adapted to these conditions previously, and how to use the gravity of the black hole to navigate a planet that slowly falls apart and disintegrates as the game goes on due to the constant meteor bombardment.

 The Wanderer

A frozen comet with an elliptical orbit that takes it within a lethal range of the sun, and covered in mysterious ‘ghost matter.’

 The Hourglass Twins

Two planets orbiting each other as they orbit the sun. One starts as a bare rock with many caves to explore; the other as a perfectly round desert planet, with absolutely zero to explore. Then, a large column of sand starts flowing through space from the desert planet ‘Ash Twin’ to the bare one, ‘Ember Twin.’ This means areas of each planet are only accessible at certain times, and you need to beware of the sand level when exploring caves.

 Dark Bramble

A planet consisting purely of thorny branches wrapped around a core that pulses with white light. Enter the hole, and caverns that bend the laws of space and time fill massive areas within. A Tardis of horrors, this planet scared me like no jump scares could. A truly eerie vibe – a memorable and haunting level unlike anything I’d ever played before.

 While every one of these planets is in its own way unique and memorable, as are the moments when you discover how to access parts of them you couldn’t before – the best example of the game’s genius comes in the form of a location known as the Quantum moon. Before you go to this location, there are three pieces of key knowledge you need. Without them, you shouldn’t even be able to land on it. Nevertheless, I accidentally managed to land on it early in the game. However, because I hadn’t yet solved how to get into the tower of Quantum knowledge on Brittle Hollow, I didn’t understand how to access where I wanted to go. The moon has a secretive ‘Sixth Location’ you wish to explore, but every time I tried to leave the control room, the way was blocked by rocks until the moon moved back to one of the five locations in our solar system. It wasn’t until a few hours later, when I was following a different lead on another planet that I figured out how to avoid the rocks, and also where I needed to go once I had made it out.

The game is filled with eureka moments, and the lack of handholding makes you feel like you have genuinely accomplished something when you solve a puzzle. For example, I discovered a much quicker shortcut to a key area called the Black Hole Forge. The game doesn’t penalise you for this; much of the beauty of the game comes in the journey. Translating the alien scriptures in each area contains hints as to the overarching story – which I won’t in any way spoil, except that it is moving, inspiring and heart-breaking in equal measure – but also contains deeply personal stories about the people who made these structures, these homes, these technologies. The tension among the clan as they tried debated their plans to achieve what they came to our solar system for. The romance and feeling amongst those who worked on their projects. The jubilation of breakthroughs and the let-downs of defeat. The struggle for life and the joys of overcoming the hostile worlds of the system. The heart-wrenching story of the Quantum moon. All pieced together in bitesize chunks, out of sequence, displaced. Abstractions anthropomorphised because we don’t know enough about them to truly contextualise them. You never even find out what these aliens looked like. But you discover their hopes, their aims, their dreams and their death – as you, the traveller from an antique land, stare at the vast and trunkless legs of stone.

Rather purposefully, I have been abstract in my descriptions and generalised the experience. In a game where knowledge is the means of progression, and real detail would be a spoiler, and its best to come into this game blind. So, I’ve chosen to focus on the feeling the game instils in you. It has a charming art direction, understated yet distinctive music that complements every area perfectly and a real warmth and passion that oozes from every pixel. In a world where every new innovation is immediately copied and run into the ground by every game in the same genre – the camp clearing from Far Cry 3 is now a chore in every vaguely open world game- or climbing the conveniently placed towers to gain map vision a la Assassin’s Creed – or that very same game series doing its very best Witcher 3 impression in Origins and Odyssey – there is an incorruptible heart to Outer Wilds. There will be games inspired by it, no doubt, but there won’t be other games that weaponise knowledge in quite the same way, or use it to explore the same themes. It’s a game about futility, about facing death but choosing to explore and challenge yourself and improve and, most importantly, to enjoy the little things and cherish the detail, to find pieces of light in that endless, futile dark.  

Games like this have always been few and far between, and are becoming even rarer now. That’s why it’s essential we cherish games like Outer Wilds. There is no formula for creating a masterpiece but when a game really connects with you, you know it, you feel it. My list of favourite games I’d consider a masterpiece is quite incongruent – SSX 3, Tony Hawk’s Underground, Assassins Creed 2, Halo 4 to pick out a few of the rather different ones –  but Outer Wilds has topped all of them, and I only spent around 12 hours with it. It strips gaming back to its essentials, while bringing new ideas to the table and presenting them in charming and arresting ways. You will never have another 12 hours like it. Its heart, soul and message are inimitable, and I sincerely urge you to open up to it and give it a try.

10/10

Played on Xbox - the game is available through Xbox Game Pass

@CoreLineage on twitter

[pinoyscientists]

Meet Maria Corazon (Cora) De Ungria, molecular biologist and forensic geneticist

1) What do you do?

I am a molecular biologist who has chosen to focus on studying genetic variations across human populations. I apply this knowledge in forensics to assist criminal investigations, aid in the identification of disaster victims, and help resolve issues of parentage and kinship. 

In addition, I am interested in studying the genetic variations that exist across different Philippine populations, including indigenous people/indigenous cultural communities (IP/ICCs) in order to contribute to the discourse regarding our origin/s as a people, as well as the process of evolution of our DNA over time as a response to the rapid changes in our environment and way of living.

2) Where do you work?

I am the head of the DNA Analysis Laboratory, UP Diliman Natural Sciences Research Institute (www.dnaforensic.org). This laboratory continues to promote the development of forensic DNA technology in the country. 

I hold the rank of University Researcher V which means that I devote most of my time planning/conducting research and extension services for the community. 

Research projects include the generation of the database of the Filipino population across the regional centers and indigenous communities, validation of methodology for collection and analysis of forensic samples and involvement in actual forensic cases as requested by the university, government agencies and private clients. 

In addition, I have volunteered to work with UP Faculty in the College of Science towards the development of relevant forensic subjects to cater to the ever growing interest in different fields of forensic sciences, particularly forensic genetics.

3) Tell us about the photos.

[Left:] Here I am with a typical set-up for DNA extraction in a molecular biology laboratory. This process involves using chemical reagents to release the DNA contained in the cells obtained from single source samples, or as part of the repertoire of evidence that were submitted for analysis. The DNA product/s are subsequently used for downstream analysis such as DNA profiling and/or Massively Parallel Sequencing (MPS).

[Right:] This is a group photo with the participants and resource persons of the 4th Forensic Science Symposium held in Baguio City, Benguet this year. Talks on forensic DNA technology, wildlife forensics, sexual assault investigations, law enforcement, forensic pathology, and human rights investigations revolved around the central theme of how forensic science can strengthen the rule of law in the Philippines, which was consistent with the conference title - “Forensic Science at the Frontier of National Issues”. 

4) Tell us about your academic career path so far.

I was born into a middle class family living in Metro Manila. My father, Remigio De Ungria, was a chemical engineer who worked for Meralco, the nation's lead energy and power distribution company. My mother, Segundina Abogado, was a dentist who had given up her career to become a full-time housewife. Starting from a young age studying in the UP Integrated School, my parents repeatedly reminded me of the value of education that should be an integral part of the foundation of my future life. 

At the age of 11 years old, my application to study in the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) was accepted and I transferred to a new school, leaving my comfort zone in UPIS in order to start again. PSHS or “Pisay” students as we call ourselves then, were referred to as 'scholars of the state'. The diversity of students that the school took in every year represented a microcosm of Philippine society – a celebration of the country’s demographic diversity and limitless potential as embodied in its youthful population.

Upon graduation, I enrolled at the University of Philippines, where I expected to major in Zoology as a pathway to becoming a medical doctor. Studying zoology was then viewed as a prerequisite for applying to medical school. But after two years of study, I realized that my true ambition was to become a research scientist. Doctors, of course, belong to one of the world’s most noble professions. But I knew that laboratory research, not patient care, was my calling. I also believed that my chances to have a broader and more lasting impact on a society through my work would be enhanced if I pursued a career in research where I would be at the forefront of exciting discoveries that could potentially help improve the lives of the Filipino people. I was 17 at the time, and already the sight of children begging in the streets, the poor person without a home and helpless faces amidst the injustices brought about by the increasing gap between the learned rich and the uneducated poor was pushing me to find meaning in my life.

So I left the Philippines to study in Australia in 1988. I didn’t anticipate then that I would be gone from home for more than a decade – first to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with Honors from Macquarie University in 1993 and then to earn a doctorate degree in Microbiology from the University of New South Wales in 1999.

Upon completing my degree, I was tempted to remain abroad. However, I ultimately chose to return home. The reasons for this decision were simple and non-negotiable. I profoundly missed my parents whom I had visited only a couple of times since leaving for Australia because the cost of travel was high. I also felt a responsibility to give something back to my country. Taxpayers had covered large portions of my education since secondary school. Government funding that paid for my education for four years, monthly stipends and study fellowships – all gifts, in essence, given by strangers – had enabled me to obtain a very good education in the Philippines and abroad. My degrees would undoubtedly serve me well throughout my life as tickets to a rewarding career. I was thankful to be the recipient of such generosity, and I strongly believed that I had a duty to apply my knowledge and skills to address critical problems within my own country in the hope of improving the lives of all Filipinos.

I also believe that chance plays an important role in a person's life. A clear factor in a person's success is therefore one's ability to maximize the opportunities that chance brings in order to achieve one's dreams. Upon my return to the Philippines, I met Dr. Saturnina C. Halos, the founding head of the DNA Analysis Laboratory, who offered me her former position. Within a month, my appointment papers were ready and I assumed the role of the head of the DNA Analysis Laboratory on 19 February 1999, which would later pioneer the development of forensic DNA technology in the Philippines and would be one of the driving forces behind the drafting and subsequent promulgation of the Rule on DNA Evidence. This judicial rule now governs the presentation and use of DNA evidence in Philippine courts. And everything else is history.

5) Anything you’d like us to share.

In a plenary talk which I was asked to deliver recently on the challenges of doing forensic science in the Philippines today, I reported three major challenges which include the 1) lack of recognition on the vital role of forensic DNA science in disaster victim identification (DVI) and criminal investigations; 2) over reliance on testimonial evidence compounded by lapses in investigations in some cases; and 3) the eroding Rule of Law.

I ended on a reflective mode and stated a very important challenge in doing forensic science in the Philippines, which I would like to share here. It is the need for scientists of all agencies--universities, private agencies and law enforcement--to recognize and to value the social impact of our work. We need to remain apolitical and to stick to the core values of a true scientist--objectivity, ingenuity and excellence--leaving no stone unturned because we recognize that underneath the science that we do are the lives of real people, many of whom are desperately calling to us for help. 

Scientists need to share our knowledge and our passion to find order where there is none, to find creative solutions to seemingly hopeless situations, and to discover the common and shared humanity, across individual diversities manifested in different cultures, languages, spiritual beliefs and social status. Only in doing so can we say that we truly made use of science in order to serve the Filipino people.

[faithfulnews]

Dangerous Disconnects?

Dangerous Disconnects?

By Massimo Faggioli

December 23, 2019

Conversations about the future of Catholic ministry tend to focus on the new frontiers—think married priests and the female diaconate. By contrast, very little is happening when it comes to reconsidering priestly formation.

At their fall meeting, the U.S. bishops adopted the sixth edition of the Program of Priestly Formation for U.S. dioceses and religious orders, which doesn’t provide a new model, but represents only a step in the transition to a new model, and thus doesn’t advance things very far. Meanwhile, there’s a good argument from certain quarters of the church that seminarians should receive training on how to work with the lay ministers they’ll be working with once they’re ordained. It’s not just a question of breaking the barriers between the formation of the clergy and the laity. It’s also a matter of calibrating the relationship between seminary formation and what I’ll call the “contemporary world of knowledge.” After the council of Trent, when the seminary model for priestly formation was established, those two things were essentially one and the same. Religion informed the general culture, and it was assumed that seminary candidates came from Christian Catholic families; the seminary was the next step in the development not only of religious knowledge, but also of literacy and the intellect. Today that model is almost inverted. Seminary life is more about personal, psychological, and spiritual formation apart from the contemporary world of knowledge than it is about the preparation of candidates for the significant intellectual challenges of preaching and witnessing the Gospel in a time when the Church faces such strong headwinds.

The problem, in short, is how to provide seminarians with this intellectual formation, and where. In the United States, this inevitably raises the issue of the role of Catholic colleges and universities. In some countries, lay theologians, seminarians, and young priests in formation study together in state universities where there is a faculty of Catholic theology; seminary formation takes place in a seminary building separated from, but close to, the university, and is about community, life of prayer, and training for pastoral ministry. I experienced this twenty years ago, when I was studying in Germany and lived for one year, as a lay student, in the seminary of Tübingen together with Catholic seminarians. This is clearly not the model in the U.S.; public universities don’t have Catholic theology departments, and Catholic colleges have become largely independent from the Church.

Early in 2019, around the time a group of Boston College faculty published their proposal for the reform of seminary formation, Thomas Reese wrote in the National Catholic Reporter that “American seminaries are usually in cities and connected to universities, but the mentality of keeping seminarians separate remains. Their classes are often separate from other students.” Now, Catholic colleges and universities can choose to remain uninvolved with the formation of priests, or they can try to be part of the solution—playing some role, with a degree of academic freedom and autonomy from the hierarchical Church. (Here it’s worth recalling that exactly forty years ago, in December 1979, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith withdrew Hans Küng’s permission to teach; he is one of the theologians who has not been rehabilitated during the pontificate of Francis.) The debate on the reform of seminaries should therefore include questions about the future of academia, since the challenges that they face are also challenges for the institutional church.

Where does theology fit in courses of study increasingly built around professional preparation?

First: if seminary formation is too cut off from the real lives of Catholics, then I think (and I realize that I am generalizing here) the same can sometimes be said for academic theology. Yes, there are numerous examples of theologians who clearly have an ecclesial intentionality and do wonderful work for the people of God. It is not an issue of personal intentions, however, but of the systemic position of academic theology in an endangered Catholic intellectual ecosystem, one in which the magisterium and theologians in the academy also have to compete with the “teaching” found on Catholic blogs and websites and various other outlets.  

The institutional Church needs to change its approach to formation and ministry, but academic theology needs to change something as well. The theological academy needs to be in contact with the people who will constitute the coming generations of Catholic clergy and lay ministers. To be clear: theology should not be done only to advise and support the bishops and the magisterium. But total separation is not good, unless Catholic universities want to have no role and no voice in the formation of those who will provide an education in the faith to the Catholic students who keep our Catholic universities going. The question for theology departments on Catholic campuses is today is whether they see themselves with an ecclesial vocation and want to claim some responsibility in the formation of the future clergy (I am referring here to the 2011 document of the International Theological Commission, Theology Today, much more than to John Paul II’s Ex Corde Ecclesiae).

Second: what’s happening with theology and religion at Catholic colleges and universities is related to what higher education in general is becoming. Universities are themselves now seminaries of a sort for the formation of candidates in the high priesthood of capitalism, and for the minor orders of the service economy. How does this reconcile with the need for Catholic universities to be the locus for constructive theologizing and the transmission of the theological tradition? This is not a liberal or conservative issue, but an issue of viability of academic theology. Theology survives mostly as a piece in the core curriculum of required courses, and even then it’s not so easy to “sell” it as something a student needs. Where does theology (indeed, the other humanities as well) fit in courses of study increasingly built around professional preparation? What is the curricular rationale? How to think about this in a time when world faiths aren’t so much the debate on campus as is the conflict between religious and spiritual worldviews and the “technocratic paradigm” Francis describes in Laudato si’?

Third: Catholic higher education is largely in denial about the fact that we could be in an undeclared process of disestablishment of Catholic theology from Catholic higher education. Catholic academics have every right to critique the inadequacy of seminary formation in the Catholic Church today. We should also be aware that we academics are working in institutions that are, and at a steady pace, getting rid or trying to get rid of theology requirements—not counting the significant number of small Catholic colleges that have closed, are closing, and will close before mid-century. This is already impacting today’s seminarians, who upon their arrival have had much less exposure than their predecessors to theology in an academic setting. At the June 2019 meeting of the Catholic Theological Society of America, a special session on “Catholic Theology and the Contemporary University” revealed the gap between theology faculty and their administrators. On the one side, today’s Catholic university decision-makers are chosen for their expertise in areas other than theological (this is clearly an understatement). On the other, academics tend to repeat that they are not teachers of the Catechism but professors of theology. This refrain worked at a time when there was a relatively thick understanding of the Catholic tradition among students. This understanding, to put it mildly, can no longer be presumed.

We should be concerned about seminary formation that is isolated from the contemporary culture. We should be equally concerned about the isolation of academic theology that constrains its ecclesial vocation to contribute to the formation of the Church’s ministers. These issues are inextricably related, and thus critical to the future of Catholic clergy, the future of the Catholic intellectual tradition, and the future of the Church itself.

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[saltineofswing]

The Garden

This was done for @destinyweek day 1: Ghosts! In which, a little more about Euclid's relationship with Constant is given a little more attention than usual- it has a little more turbulence than most might assume at first glance.

“Constant. Constant? Constant!”

The Ghost glanced up from the console it had been flitting back and forth in front of to see its Guardian standing amidst a significant collection of dead Vex. Euclid-319’s gloves were smoking with the discharge of so much Solar light, and the molten embers of his Radiance were still glowing enough to provide an additional layer of lighting to the long-abandoned lab complex. Constant’s aftsegments contracted slightly and its eye flitted back and forth between Euclid and the console as Euclid spoke again. “Are you finished downloading the files?”

“Yes. I got distracted.”

That drew a tinny chuckle out of its Guardian as Euclid moved to take a step over a fallen Minotaur, and floated across the small pool of machine corpses to land silently at Constant’s side. “That is ordinarily my line.” Euclid tapped a few command lines into the console and then fried it, ensuring no Vex would acquire the same data they just had. “Are you alright? Your processing core has displayed an unusual amount of lag time in the past seven hours and twenty minutes. And you have out-and-out become distracted for the first time in…” Euclid paused to calculate, and Constant felt a grating irritation that prompted it to roll its eye and vanish with a hushed hiss of particles disassembling. “… Approximately eighty-three years, if I remember correctly.”

“The ever-looming possibility that you don’t remember correctly is nothing but a comfort to me,” Constant muttered. It was true, though; the Ghost was distracted, distracted by the data they had harvested from the console in the lab. They’d been trying to track it down for months; admittedly they had probably put it on the Vex’s radar purely by virtue of searching for it so hard, but ultimately the search was worth it. “I got the location. It’s in the building, just as we suspected. I’ll transmit it to you.”

“Excellent! It is possible that-” Euclid was a gusher even on his worse days, and Constant used the sudden exposition spilling like an especially ornate word fountain from his vocoder to zone out again. It felt… peculiar to be back here on Venus. There was a certain tug, somewhere in Constant; something deeper and brighter than his crimson shell, something that stretched all the way back to Earth. Something that made it feel tense all the time now. As if something was… coming. Euclid had sensed Oryx’s arrival; Constant couldn’t help but feel as if something… similar was happening.

It wished it had some guidance. That deep unknowable Something inside of it was quiet. At times maddeningly so. Constant found itself tangled in the strings of an indiscernible everything, feeling the trembling vibrations of something it could not see or understand. It supposed Euclid felt similarly at times… but the difference was, Euclid had Constant to guide him. To refocus him, to remind him, to stabilize him. Constant? Constant didn’t have anyone to look to for guidance. Constant was alone.

“Don’t you agree?”

The question shook Constant out of its reverie and it re-materialized without bothering to look at Euclid as he walked. “Mm hmm.”

“It should work, right?”

“Yes, Euclid.” The Exo stopped walking and Constant turned. “What are you doing?”

“Just trying to confirm,” Euclid said slowly, “That you think it’s a good idea.”

“Yes.”

“Okay then.” Euclid kept moving, mouthlights strobing an innocent smile. “When we get back I’ll paint your shell bright, neon purple.”

Constant froze for a moment, the lights in its eye shrinking to a pinprick as it realized what had just happened; then it let out a blustery sigh and spun its foresegments in irritation, following after Euclid. “Alright. I wasn’t paying attention,” It admitted, tart and snide and bristling at the idea of such a brazen coloration. The crimson Frontier Shell it wore served both form and function. It took paramount pride in its appearance, unlike the disheveled robes and oft-forgotten helmet of its Guardian. “You caught me. Let’s just get this done, alright? I’d like to get back.”

“Do you want to talk about what’s wrong?”

“You left your helmet on the ship again.”

“That is a deflection.”

Constant buzzed in irritation and started to dart out ahead of Euclid, but the Guardian slipped around in front of it and put his body in Constant’s way. “Wait,” He said, holding his hands up. “P-please. Talk to me. We’ve been together for… for how long now?”

“One hundred and seven years,” Constant responded; it lifted its gaze to Euclid’s face.

“A very long time,” Euclid murmured. “I remember when Andal Brask was the Hunter’s Vanguard.” He turned and glanced back down the hall. “And I remember, ahh, how, how much you were hoping for a Titan. Or a H-hunter. Someone sturdy, someone s-strong. A front line warrior, someone to wage direct war on the Darkness.”

Constant was silent, following its Guardian down the hall as they progressed deeper into the forgotten laboratory. This had been a point of contention between the two of them, to a certain extent, for a hundred years. Constant did not regret much, but Euclid had been so unstable when he’d resurrected the Exo, when he’d chosen his Guardian; and then he’d become so flighty and anxious, so reluctant to socialize and be a part of the Traveller’s world. So far from what it had wanted to find.

Constant regretted every moment he’d spent treating Euclid like a chore, and not a partner.

“The garden,” Constant finally admitted. “I’ve been thinking about the garden.”

“Ah! Me too. I believe that we’ll make it something great. I know it is somewhat smaller than our garden here on Venus- no rock garden on the Tower- but the herbs are coming along nicely, aren’t they?”

“Hmm. You’ve done well at regulating the temperature and humidity.”

“I think so. I am quite glad Ikora afforded us the spare room for it; some of the other Warlocks enjoy meditating around the smell of the Venusian Blackgrass.” Euclid pressed his palm against the keypad of the door they’d been traveling towards, their ultimate destination. There was a flash, a gout of smoke, and the sizzle of fried electronics as he cooked the entire panel with a burst of Solar light, and the seams of the door sizzled and pried apart at Euclid’s whim.

Inside, Euclid took a small, excited breath; walls and walls of seed packets and hanging flora from before the Collapse. The room was severely overgrown, vines choking the directory and every table.

“It’s still here,” Constant said, unable to hide its incredulity. “I can’t believe it. The Fallen, the Vex… untouched. Euclid, we found it.”

“Th-the lost greenhouse of Doctor Arkand Breunner,” Euclid whispered, voice bubbling with glee and awe. “Records and seeds of pre-collapse flora dating back to the earliest days of the Golden Age.” Euclid turned to look at Constant, beaming in lights. “Good job, my friend.”

For a second Constant found those feelings of incumbent harm- that tug, somewhere deep in a fathomless place much bigger than the red shell it resided inside- fading into nothing. Euclid gently cupped the bell of a bright orange flower, humming and leaning in to give his olfactory detectors a chance to analyze the smell. “I would love to live in a garden,” Euclid murmured. “I find them so soothing. There’s something about a garden that is endlessly invigorating. So much life.”

“Do you think that’s what the Traveler sees us all as?” Constant asked before it could stop itself. “As a garden?”

Euclid hummed. “I don’t know. I suppose I wouldn’t be all that surprised.” He sighed fondly and let go of the flower, then began packing up seed packets. “Come, let’s get these stored away. I suspect we won’t have an abundance of privacy.”

“Of course,” Constant said. Before long the two of them had completely cleared the room, and Constant was initiating the process to dematerialize the both of them back to orbit.

“Euclid.” The Guardian looked up from his notebook at his Ghost. “I’m sorry I don’t talk to you more often. I mean, just casually.”

Euclid paused, the lights at the very back of his throat flickering faint, uncomfortable, unsure. “O-oh. Er, it’s alright.” He was silent for a moment, scribbling out one last note. “… You know… I-I am grateful.”

Constant’s primary foresegment dipped in confusion, its entire shell quirking quizzically at the sudden statement. “What? Why?”

“For everything you do for me. For everything you have done for me.” He gave the orange flower-bulb a final, gentle brush with his fingertips before he strode over to where Constant was floating. “You have helped me so much. I know I’m not exactly what you wanted but… you are the reason I am as stable as I am today. Bringing me back to life in the first place notwithstanding.” He chuckled.

Constant let his gaze linger on the Exo, but before he could say anything else, the countdown finished. Both Guardian and Ghost were gone, whisked away into the vast immateria that connected the two of them together and to the Traveler, and to every other Ghost and Guardian in existence; Constant supposed, in a way, it was its own type of garden. Cultivated and maintained in a self-sustained system. A greenhouse in its own right. Being there, if only for a few moments, made Constant feel at ease.

[lisboabeat]

15.10.19 EUROPA Pedro Khan - Pink Monday - Lgbti✚ Party at Europa 

facebook.com/pedrokhandj soundcloud.com/pedrokhan facebook.com/clubeurop

15.10.19 LUX FRÁGIL ANIVERSÁRIO LUX 20 ANOS

16.10.19 EUROPA Freaky Fiction - Dance Waves Trymbaka Adrenaline Rush Morphling

Próxima QUARTA 16 vamos ter mais uma futurista e carismática Freaky Fiction @ Europa. Para o LIVE ACT vamos contar com o Tryambaka, o qual nos vem apresentar todas as suas últimas produções, que irão ser editadas muito em breve na Locobot Records. Numa vertente mais delirante e melódica, vamos poder ouvir um Dj Set do Adrenaline Rush, o qual nos promete 2 horas bem quentes e fortes...para o Warm Up vamos ainda ter o Morphling, numa vertente mais progressiva e viajante. A deco e projecção ficam a cargo da Free World Productions

17.10.19 EUROPA Conclave by Release Sustain w/ Himan & Trigger

In the few years of Release Sustain functioning as a record label, we have learned to be purveyors of good music. We have concentrated in discovering new sounds and artists, not to be attached to trends and be mind opened to our personal quest to find great audible elements, basically just to bring out great music. However, we couldn´t have made it until here if we haven´t been watching and listening inspiring artists from around the world. Artists so great in their craft, that with their magical touch were capable of lifting us around in different rhythmical states at all times. Release/Sustain has carved out quite the reputation over the past years with it’s London and Berlin, based Conclave event series welcoming DJ’s like XDB, Losoul, Vakula, Marshall Jefferson, Jay Daniel and many others over the years and the imprint featuring revered underground acts such as DJ Aakmael, Basic Soul Unit, Fred P and Chaos In The CDB onto its roster. Trigger is the next step in Tiago Nabais´s (aka Master Soul) life and the culmination of all his experiences up to this point within electronic music, his chosen style is unique form of Techno, fusing his love for melodic, heavy grooves with big irresistible basslines. Together they are known for stunning back to back sets that span a wide variety of house and techno, from dance floor classics to cutting edge unreleased material. See you guys there for another CONCLAVE. Trigger ✚ Himan Conclave - Release/Sustain Showcase Europa Club

17.10.19 LUX FRÁGIL Comet Is Coming | Gig Club Lisbon

The Comet is Coming is the soundtrack to an imagined apocalypse. In the aftermath of widespread sonic destruction what sounds remain? Who will lead the survivors to new sound worlds? Who will chart the new frontier? In a warehouse somewhere in London 2013 a meeting would take place between three musical cosmonauts. They would pool their energies to build a vessel powerful enough to transport any party into outer space. Together they chart a path based on the encoded language of Sun Ra, Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix and the BBC Radiophonic Workshops from which the band's name emerged. It is after the end of the world, the stage is a spacecraft, the mic is an accelerator. brace yourself for The Comet is Coming.

18.10.19 Micro Bites & Beats KILU CAMBOJDA

O fim de semana começa ao som do “finger drumming” de Dellafyah. Como acompanhamento, há Camboja nos decks. #microbitesandbeats #microbeats

18.10.19 EUROPA Lolah (Au) ✚ Tânia Pascoal // Europa's Core 

facebook.com/listentololah soundcloud.com/lolahmusic facebook.com/taniapascoaldj mixcloud.com/tânia-pascoal facebook.com/clubeuropa

18.10.19 5A CLUB André Cascais

18.10.19 LUX FRÁGIL Danny Krivit x DJ Al

Começamos isto com a História do Disco? Ele esteve lá. Paradise Garage? Ele esteve lá.

Quando David Mancuso começou o Loft em 1970, Danny Krivit tinha 13 anos e ainda não sabia que esse clube iria ser o centro da sua vida por uns anos.

Não como DJ mas como base e escola onde se tornou próximo, por exemplo, de Larry Levan e François Kevorkian. Ou começamos com a História do Hip Hop? Danny tocou na noite inaugural do Roxy, um dos primeiros clubes em Nova Iorque a levar a sério a cultura hip hop, e foi residente por 4 anos. 

Nesse contexto, tinha enorme vantagem sobre outros DJs brancos: sabia fazer scratch. Por fim, House, esse género fundamentalmente descendente de Disco. Um dos pontos identificadores de Danny Krivit é o seu trabalho de re-edits para pista de dança, música já existente que ele afina em estúdio para maior impacto nos clubes. Muito activo nessa frente desde o início da década de 80, Danny esteve lá também nesse percurso formativo da cena House. 

Tornou as batidas mais sincopadas, estendeu grooves que precisavam de mais tempo, transformou por exemplo "Trans Europe Express" dos Kraftwerk num mantra hipnótico de percussão metálica.

Em 1996, com Joe Claussell e François Kevorkian, abriu a hoje lendária noite Body & Soul. A lenda afirma que tocou todos os Domingos durante 6 anos, quando, já neste século, o clube anfitrião fechou.

Body & Soul é talvez o ponto do seu percurso onde, num mesmo fluxo, se encontra finalmente toda a música a que foi exposto desde que, nos 60s, o seu pai era manager de Chet Baker e os contactos lhe permitiam receber discos das mãos de James Brown. Danny Krivit é importante para a música há mais anos do que aqueles que muitos de nós viveram na Terra. Texto: José Moura (Flur Discos)

18.10.19 MINISTERIUM CLUB 99999999 live | Disturb • Acid Machines 

Disturb • presents 999999999 live, for the first time in Portugal, supported by our clan Holldën, Fúria and Claudio Gomez Music. Tickets available here: http://bit.ly/disturb999999999xceed Get ready for the Acid Machines!

19.10.19 FUSE RECORDS Fuse Matiné: Kollektiv Turmstrasse Heartbreakerz Nox The Slum Vagabunds Pedro Duarte

Prometemo-vos uma viagem com o duo Kollektiv Turmstrasse, e a 19 de outubro levantamos v uma viagem com o duo Kollektiv Turmstrasse, e a 19 de outubro levantamos voo. Abrimos a porta do Palácio de Exposições e viajamos no tempo: tomamos balanço para desfrutar do momento presente, enquanto aceitamos o passado e abraçamos o futuro. Lembramos que todos os bilhetes, excetuando as devoluções, são válidos para esta nova data. Basta apenas apresentar os mesmos na porta, como habitual. We promised you a journey with the duo Kollektiv Turmstrasse, and on October 19 we’ll take off.  We open the door of Palácio de Exposições and travel back in time: we take a swing to enjoy the present moment, while accepting the past and embracing the future. Please note that all tickets except refunds are valid for this new date. Just present them at the door as usual.

Palácio Das Exposições do Instituto de Agronomia Bilhetes/ Tickets: fuse.pt/matine #stepinside #fuserecords #fusematine

19.10.19 Fuse Matiné: After Party  MINISTERIUM CLUB JIGGY GILVAIA NOX VITOR PEREIRA

A descolagem para uma viagem onde o céu é o limite está marcada no Palácio de Exposições, e a aterragem também já tem sítio. Retomamos o equilíbrio desta jornada atribulada no Ministerium, onde estarão Jiggy, Gilvaia, Nox e Vitor Pereira prontos para vos dar as boas-vindas de volta a solo terrestre. A entrada é livre até às 00h30.

19.10.19 EUROPA Carpet & Friends #41 w/ Brother G (Rawax / UKR) Jorge Caiado Miguel Melo

Monthly party involving new and old djs (some needing experience and exposition, others more known with who we can have the pleasure to count with), new and old friends born from genuine music relationships, but most of all people from our community that share the same passion and values that we do at Carpet & Snares Records shop/family - true love for Music! Artwork by Adília Lima www.carpetandsnares.com

19.10.19 5A CLUB Fernando Martinez | 5A 

[wlreports-blog]

IMS People - India's Fastest Growing  Company 2019

              IMS People - India's Fastest Growing  Company 2019

Category Chosen: Management Services Specialisation: Offshore Recruitments IMS People

Offshore Recruitment and Offshore Accounting Services IMS People is an Offshore Recruitment Services Company. It is in the business to provide recruitment and accounting services on demand, meaning IMS People's well-trained and highly successful recruiters serve as an extension of the client’s recruitment and accounting team. Additionally, the flexible service offerings allow the clients to quickly respond to fluctuations in client demand, confidently take on significant new opportunities without adding staff, or accommodate changes in internal staffing levels caused by employee vacancies.

IMS People is positioned to help optimize the client’s work force, reduce operational costs and risks, and allow the client’s recruiters to focus on their core skills and expertise.

Country: India Company Vision: To achieve global recognition for continuous innovation that provides clients with powerful staffing solutions and strengthens their human resources value chain. Company Mission: PEOPLE? POSSIBLE! – IMS People believes in approaching challenges head on, and when these challenges relate to human resources, we relish the opportunity to innovate solutions. Ethos of the brand: The brand is founded on the ethos of I CARE, elaborated as: I – Integrity and Innovation C – Care and Commitment A – Accountability and Ambition R – Respect and Responsibility E – Equality and Enthusiasm Total Number of Employees in the Company: 915 employees What would you define as the unique value proposition of the product: the functional, emotional and differentiating product benefits that have contributed to providing an enduring brand experience to customers? Outsourcing recruitment, accounting or property preservation services, provides functional benefits to our clients. They observe about 50% of cost savings as compared to doing the same activities in house, as the cost of outsourcing is lower as compared to having a team inhouse and investing in infrastructure, or resources. Additionally, it allows them to grow their business without adding additional staff as the team at IMS become their extended team giving our clients complete peace of mind.

Amit Somaiya and Ashok Vithlani, IMS People   What are the physical, character and personality attributes of the brand that have evoked and inspired consumers’ self-expression and personal identity?  The brand’s personality has the attributes of trust, stability and professionalism. Our brand colors, our presentation at the conferences and the personality of all representative show these attributes. Please provide an insight into the brand marketing strategies that have effectively penetrated consumers’ psyche, established a meaningful relationship with the target audiences and ensured positive brand perception. The below brand marketing strategies have led to effective penetration of the brand in the consumers psyche: Newsletters and Eshots: We have regular newsletters and emails that are being sent out to our list of prospects. The email shots carry details about our services and how it can benefit the client. Blogs: We have an active blog on our website www.imspeople.com with a subscriber base of over 20,000 recruitment industry contacts and growing. Social Media Marketing: We have an active presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and You Tube, where we post news and updates about IMS People and IMS one world. This has allowed us to reach out to 15% more people as compared to our newsletters or website.  Guest Blogs: Our CEO often writes for popular magazines and articles in the USA and UK. Online publications like Staffing Stream, Global Recruiter, UK recruiter and so on Events: We participate in recruitment industry events in the USA and UK allowing us to have an opportunity to meet our prospects and clients How has the brand extended its' presence to the frontiers of internet advertising and social networking? As mentioned in the earlier answer, our client base is situated in countries like Australia, Africa, Middle East, New Zealand, USA and UK and hence internet advertising and social networking are the two key tools for us to market and advertise our services. We have active presence on social networks like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and You Tube where we engage with our prospects, clients and candidates. In addition to it, our CEO writes for various online publications. Please outline few key marketing endeavors in the past decade that you feel have been landmark initiatives in reinforcing the legacy of the brand’s promise to influence consumer intent and enhanced the brand’s propensity to drive affirmative consumer action. Participation in Events: Regular participation in events has allowed us to meet our prospects face to face allowing them to build their trust in our brand Newsletters: With an attempt to build thought leadership, we send out newsletters every month. This contains all our blogs and we also share updates about IMS People – case studies, awards we have won, our compliances etc. This has allowed our prospects/clients to build a trust such that they know we understand the industry and the services Social Media posts about company and culture has evoked a sense of trust and positivity to in our candidates.

IMS People receiving India's Fastest Growing Company for Management Services in London How has the brand derived strength from innovation as a sustainable differentiating strategy adding to long-term brand equity? Please provide few instances of measures implemented towards this goal. We are exploring the possibility of adding automation to the recruitment process. We are in conversation to implement a software which can conduct first level of screening of candidates. What is the key leadership value that drives the brand? Our brand is driven by the values of Integrity, Trust and Sustainability. Our services allow our clients to have a growth that is sustainable. Our clients trust us to deliver what we promise, and we ensure that our services match their level of expectation. The way in which we do this is by setting expectation levels in the sales call that we have with our clients; we manage the client satisfaction in the calls that the service delivery teams have with their clients to understand their feedback on a weekly and monthly basis. If the feedback is not appropriate, the service delivery teams work to understand where there are gaps and what can be done to correct them. This entire process increases the trust of our clients in our services and the process. What type of employee satisfaction programs are conducted by your brand? Annual Conference and Gala Evening: Each year we organize an annual conference to commemorate IMS’ inception. Each year we have a theme, a message from the management to the employees, which is carried forward in the form of activities for a period of one month and culminates into a cultural evening where employees perform on various dances. The top performers of the year are awarded on the same day. Incentives and Rewards: Regular monetary incentives, awards and recognition for target achievement, recognition of tenured employees and car incentive scheme for managers. An active grievance redressal cell to ensure that we are listening to employees’ feedback and concerns and find a solution for the same. Fully equipped recreation room to allow employees to take a break during work hours and learn a new sport. An open and friendly work environment where any employee can approach their senior and share their concern, experience and suggestions. How much does your brand emphasise on employee training & development, kindly elaborate. At IMS we consider training to be an important aspect of an employee’s journey. We have incepted an academy called Ignite People for training. Under the aegis of the academy, each employee undergoes the below trainings: Induction: Process Training Soft skills and communication training Case Study Sharing Subject Matter Expert training In addition to this, each employee who gets promoted to a managerial role is given training and supported through the transition of being an individual contributor to a manager. The management also sponsors leadership and people management skills training programs like VANTO and Landmark Forum and invites trainers from outside to train employees on sales skills, communication skills and so on. What are your brands' most effective intangible motivational tools for employees. The following are our most effective intangible motivational tools: Bell Ringing: We have a bell that is placed on each floor of our office. Every time an employee achieves a target or meets a milestone, their team manager rings the bell to make the announcement and the entire floor applauds. This is a way to recognize the employees work and motivate them. Team Celebrations: With a young workforce, each team manager ensures that the milestones like target achievement, placements made etc are celebrated by pizza parties, music and dance on the floor, celebrations and bell ringing. Bring your parents to work: This unique initiative is something we started three years back. We invite parents of employees to come to work and find out where their children work and what do they do. Session with the CEO, a very interactive session where the CEO of IMS People meets all the new joinees and answers their questions. This is a regular monthly activity. Kindly elaborate on your existing & potential CSR activities. We have incepted a foundation called the People Possible Foundation. All our CSR activities are carried out under the aegis of this foundation. Our focus of CSR activities is in the fields of Education, preservation of heritage and supporting the greater good. This year we have carried out the below activities: We partnered with a local NGO called Making a Difference and carried out the below activities: Blood Donation Drive – 156 units of blood were donated Notebook Distribution – Distributed 1000 notebooks to children in the underprivileged area Girl Child Education – the foundation sponsors the education of 2 girls Charity Garba – supported a fundraising garba event, the proceeds of which will be used for making and distribution of winter jackets for the needy Drug Abuse prevention – We participated and donated in a marathon organized for drug abuse awareness and prevention Which area of social responsibility is more significant for your brand As an outsourcing company the areas of Education and preservation of heritage is the most significant for our brand. Read the full article