#ALSO i finally beat chronos last night

[safyresky]

This morning Richard and I had to go on a wee little drive to pick up some coins my dad bid on, and we ended up leaving late because my body hates me, anyway, a very Blinter interaction occurred betwixt the two of us and if I don't share it I think I will surely. Perish

[polskasroka]

I posted this fic on ao3 a couple of days ago and totally forgot to post it here as well, so here you go!

A Little Show

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hades (Supergiant Games Video Games) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Melinoë/Odysseus (Hades Video Game), Melinoë/Moros (Hades Video Game), Moros/Odysseus (Hades Video Game), Melinoë/Odysseus/Moros (Hades Video Game) Characters: Melinoë (Hades Video Game), Odysseus (Hades Video Game), Moros (Hades Video Game) Additional Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Smut, Shameless Smut, Threesome - F/M/M, Kissing, Exhibitionism, Voyeurism, Oral Sex, Face-Sitting, Blow Jobs, Hand Jobs, Fluff and Smut Word count: 4,428 Summary: Moros has been thinking about how exquisite spending time with Melinoë and Odysseus was. It's so stuck in his head that he finally musters up the courage to approach the tactician and, with some encouragement, tell him what's been on his mind for the last couple of days.

Read under the cut or on AO3!

During the absence of Hecate, the Crossroads are rather quiet. Even Eris, the real troublemaker, doesn’t cause much chaos or fuss when she stays at her usual spot. She’s not there now — she’s probably having problems with beating Melinoë up on the Surface.

There is no hushed (or not) chanting coming from the cauldron, either. Even the Shades of Hecate’s witches aren’t there. It is also one of those times that Nemesis isn’t at the Crossroads and everyone knows that she’s once more run off to try to find and slay Chronos on her own. It is, in fact, quite curious that only Hecate hasn’t noticed that yet.

Maybe she actually doesn’t mind.

Impossible, Odysseus thinks between one glance at a tactical map and the other.

Although they’re living in the ever-changing woods, some traits of Erebus are not too dissimilar in comparison to a regular forest. Odysseus has been gathering the data from Melinoë, regarding said shifting forest, to help her in her next runs. Anything to aid the goddess — or lessen the probability of her getting severely hurt during her trips.

She can’t die, true. It’s still hard not to notice the way she limps or cracks her arms to put them back in the correct place every once in a while.

If only Odysseus could, he would go and do what Melinoë does, so that she wouldn’t have to risk that much. What would it matter if he got trapped and frozen in time by Chronos? Nothing. Nothing at all, for he’s only a Shade. If it happened to Melinoë, though…

“Master Odysseus?” Moros speaks softly but still manages to startle the tactician.

“Ah! Moros, milord!” he still acts as if the god hasn’t just spooked him. “What brings you here, if I may ask? You see, you tend to stay by the Fated List of Minor Prophecies, so I wasn’t exactly expecting your visit, so to speak.”

“While waiting for the Princess to return, I begin to find standing there rather tedious and unhelpful. Thought I could help you out with, um… whatever it is that you’re working on. As long as it doesn’t disrupt anything.”

Doom’s voice is smooth and light, and a kind smile is present on his lips. It’s inviting and enchanting, Odysseus has to give him that. He’s been spotting such little things since the day (or night) that Melinoë asked Moros to join her and Odysseus in their so-called spare time.

When Moros had approached Odysseus at his table for the first time, the Shade was flustered quite a lot. All such embarrassment disappeared after that unforgettable night that Moros thought would be his only chance at getting to know both the Princess and the tactician so intimately.

Moros himself would love to repeat such a feat. That’s what he’s had in mind since the very start of this evening and he’s quietly hoping he will somehow convince Odysseus to indulge in bodily delights together. So, in order to achieve that, he pays a lot of attention to Odysseus explaining the import of all the maps that are currently spread over the table. Pointing to specific locations or spots worth mentioning, the Shade makes Moros’ gaze follow his finger and watch his broad gestures with awe.

At some point, Odysseus leans his hip against the wooden edge. His arms are folded but he’s waving one of his hands in the air, highlighting the points he’s making while describing the hindrances that the constantly altering woods create.

However, all that Moros can now focus on are Odysseus’ sheer involvement in the topic and his admirable knowledge of the situation, despite almost never venturing as deep into Erebus as Melinoë does on a nightly basis. The respect Doom holds for the Shade is shining in his violet eyes and said spark accompanied by a dreamy sigh aren’t overlooked by Odysseus.

“… and this is why anything that we can learn about the woods from our dearest Goddess has to be noted down, milord,” he ends his monologue that has been going on for some time now.

“It’s fascinating, Master Odysseus,” Moros admits genuinely.

“Well, I’d say it’s rather time-consuming and even boring at times but—”

“It’s fascinating how well-oriented you are when it comes to all this.”

“You’re flattering me greatly. But, all it took were only years and years of experience.”

“I’d assume so.” The corners of Moros’ lips rise for a brief second and then he breaks the eye contact he’s been keeping with Odysseus.

It was entrancing and he can swear that if he didn’t tear his eyes off of the Shade, he’d collapse right there and then. Everything inside of him is trembling just from listening to Odysseus speak. His chest tightens almost painfully as soon as he’s about to share any of his thoughts with the man in question.

“Is something the matter?” Odysseus’ eyebrow quirks up.

“My apologies but I… I didn’t exactly catch everything, I’m afraid,” the god’s voice wavers, no matter how hard he wants to steady it back to its usual state.

“Oh, is that it?” There’s something sharp in the way Odysseus says it and it makes Moros look him in the eye again.

Moros swallows and opens his mouth but his lips do nothing but tremble. He’s feeling utterly pathetic — he’s a god, Doom Incarnate himself, and he’s unable to offer some time alone to a Shade!

“Or is it something else that you had in mind when you decided to pay me a visit?” Odysseus asks more softly now. He looks around and then over his shoulder to make a confident step towards Moros. With no hesitation, he grabs the god by his chin and immediately enjoys the whole-body shiver it sends through him. “Nothing to be ashamed of, especially for someone like you. I’ll be honoured if you trust me enough to tell me what it is that you truly came here for.”

Moros feels as if he’s going to choke on the words that are to leave his lungs.

“You, Master Odysseus,” he replies shakily, prompted by Odysseus’ thumb swiping across his lower lip.

Once Melinoë’s returned from shadow, she isn’t expecting to stumble across what she stumbles across when she leaves her tent. She stops dead in her tracks and snaps her hand up to cover her mouth that’s fallen open at the sight.

Moros and Odysseus.

They’re both at the latter’s post, utterly immersed in the presence of one another. There’s Odysseus’ hand holding Moros’ jaw tightly, possessively, making him maintain the kiss they’re sharing. It looks as if the Shade… the Shade is establishing the hierarchy here, effectively convincing Moros to surrender and accept whatever there is in that what Odysseus has yet to offer.

A blush rises onto Melinoë’s cheeks as she bites down on her lower lip and slowly comes closer to the two men. Curiosity and thrill are sparkling in her eyes and while Odysseus can hear someone approach, Moros whines and insists on pulling back upon noticing the Princess.

Before their lips part, however, Moros’ ears are blessed with a low hum that builds up in Odysseus’ chest. It has his knees almost give up, so the Shade agrees to Doom’s silent plea and lets him draw back a bit.

“I didn’t mean to disturb, Lord Moros. Odysseus.” Melinoë bows her head, amused by the look of sheer embarrassment on Doom’s face.

“P-Princess, I, uh, we—” Moros tries but a squeeze against his jaw shuts him up.

“Just getting to know each other better is what we’re doing here, Goddess,” Odysseus says steadily, his eyes leaving Moros’ just for a second to make contact with Melinoë’s.

“I can clearly see that, Od. Do you want me to leave you two alone? If so, I’d also suggest finding a more secluded spot.” She shrugs innocently but the pale pink flush on her cheeks speaks louder than words. Odysseus knows everything just with a glance over the goddess.

“Do you want to leave us alone?” he challenges, rubbing his thumb against the side of Moros’ face. Doom swallows, focusing on the touch.

Melinoë casts her look to the side, staring at the ground, kicking her feet just a little. Her gaze lifts only when Moros can’t stand the waiting anymore and moves forward against Odysseus’ grip and presses their lips together. The action elicits a sigh of envy (!) from the goddess and she huffs, watching the two men kiss as they do, all fiery and passionate.

“I’d rather we all stayed alone together. In my tent, if you don’t mind,” she finally speaks, urgency in her voice.

“Do we mind, Moros?”

The way Odysseus calls Doom’s name without any titles nearly makes him forget to answer.

“No, Master Odysseus.”

Oh, the satisfaction that blooms inside of the tactician! It only grows greater when he suddenly lets Moros go, leaving him speechless and disappointed. Yet, Moros chooses to cling onto the prospect of sharing some intimate moments with both Odysseus and Melinoë.

It is with great haste that Moros’ and Odysseus’ clothes are sent flying once they’re all in Melinoë’s tent. Amazed, the goddess can’t tear her eyes away from these two who, in turn, seem unable to stay an inch away from one another for too long a while. She purposefully halts her own undressing only to watch them kiss and reach for one another until they end up on Melinoë’s sleeping mat and the blankets that surround it. Odysseus on top, Moros, despite being taller, underneath him.

Walking towards them, she undoes her gorget and leaves it somewhere on the ground, along the way. With a raised eyebrow, Melinoë approaches the Shade and Doom Incarnate from the side to take a seat on the blanket, on her haunches, above Moros’ head. From there, she can keep observing how these two are enjoying each other’s company.

The sight has Melinoë bite her lower lip and shift on her spot.

Odysseus is propped on his forearms, his legs on either side of Doom’s hips, while Moros is holding his face between his large hands, keeping him close, barely making any breaks for breathing (not that the Shade needs them). Low grunts and sighs escape their lungs, accompanied by Odysseus’ hum of approval when Moros rakes his fingers through his dark hair.

The action makes Melinoë tuck her own hair behind her ear as her eyes land on the tactician’s back. She marvels at how his muscles are moving. She’d love to run her hands up and down the hills and valleys of his broad frame but she doesn’t do that. Melinoë doesn’t want to interrupt anything. Instead, her watchful eyes follow Odysseus’ spine downwards. Melinoë would be lying if she said that she didn’t like that particular part of his body.

Hearing Moros moan, the goddess squeezes her legs. Unlacing her dress behind her neck, Melinoë gasps and lets her jaw hang loose when she sees Moros lift his knee, which sends a visible shudder through Odysseus’ body as it makes contact with his skin. Involuntarily, he shifts downwards a bit to grind against the new source of friction. Moros’ hand combing through his hair only adds to the sensation, which has him grip the blankets underneath and let a growl rumble in his chest.

“I wouldn’t recommend trying such things against Od, my Lord,” Melinoë speaks nonchalantly, shaking the dress off of her shoulders and then snatching the Shade’s headband.

“Our Goddess here knows a thing or two about it, of that I can assure you,” the Shade says, his voice raspier than usual.

“And what if I wished to find out myself?” Doom wonders aloud, quite boldly at that.

“If that’s a risk you’re willing to take, Lord Moros,” Melinoë continues, replacing her laurel wreath with the headband, “I’m certain that Odysseus will be glad to provide.”

“Correct as always, Goddess,” the man in question replies, words wavering only a bit as he rubs himself against Moros a couple of times more. “However, let us not forget about you.”

Once he lifts up his gaze, his breath gets stolen away at the sight of Melinoë’s bare chest and her flushed face. She averts her eyes only to lock them with Odysseus’ a moment later. Moros is overjoyed to see the tactician from this new angle, his features so perfectly sharp and refined. He then also attempts to look at the Princess but has no way to see her as well as Odysseus does.

“Your wish is our command, Goddess.”

The warmth and dedication in the Shade’s voice melts Melinoë’s heart and makes something inside of her flutter.

“Do you agree, Lord Moros?” she asks only a tad teasingly.

“I do, Princess. Whatever you wish for, you shall receive.”

Melinoë satisfies their curiosity.

Before they move on, Odysseus and Moros wait for Melinoë to take off her dress and accessories. But they’re not going to waste this precious moment, so they share a hot kiss once more. This and the movement of Doom’s leg elicits a shuddering exhale from the tactician and he briefly wishes they could go on like this. The prospect of pleasing the god underneath him is worth this sacrifice, though, and the thought’s soon long gone.

After that, the Shade plants a kiss or two on Moros’ jaw and relocates himself, so that he’s between the god’s legs now. His forearms are no longer supporting him against the ground, so he can lay his hands on Doom’s broad chest and roam them over his muscles. Odysseus also busies himself with leaving a trail of wet kisses and more or less gentle bites down the column of Moros’ neck. Although the Shade’s not breathing, Moros can swear that he feels a faint tickling against his skin anyway.

Knowing Melinoë’s intentions, though, Odysseus soon travels lower with his caresses. His fingers slide south until they’re tracing the mounds of pure physical strength on Moros’ stomach. He then grips Doom’s waist and squeezes, punching a guttural groan out of his throat. Odysseus himself purrs in contentment while licking long stripes atop Moros’ chest, purposefully applying pressure against his nipples.

The full body shiver that results from this encourages the Shade to move south again, making more room for Melinoë. And although Odysseus is focused on the god underneath, he casts an occasional glance up at Melinoë, needing to be able to see both her and Moros, no matter how greedy of him it is.

Moros’ stomach and firm muscles there receive just as much care as his chest did. A strained sigh leaves his mouth as soon as he feels the Shade’s lips brush against his skin and plant wet kisses on top of it. Odysseus’ hands soon follow and slide downwards until he can rub and scratch Doom’s hipbones. The whole view hypnotises Melinoë who forgets about her own needs for a moment or two. She could really just sit back and watch these two take care of one another. She might as well do so in the nearer or further future.

But then Melinoë snaps out of her trance and decides to finally receive some pleasure too. Seeing how busy Odysseus is with pressing kisses and leaving teasing licks over Moros’ lower stomach, she deems it the perfect moment to crawl forward and place her knees on both sides of Doom’s head. Her action elicits a startled gasp from him. Endearing.

He soon composes himself, though, and slides his hands up from Melinoë’s outer thighs to her waist. His fingers wrap around her slim midriff, embracing it whole. She feels heat rush through her body at the thought of how much smaller she is than him. It has her lightheaded for a second but Moros dragging her down makes her come back to reality.

Not to lose the balance, the Princess props her hands against Moros’ chest. It also draws her closer to Odysseus and everything that he’s been giving to Doom all this time. With a wildly beating heart, Melinoë whimpers faintly when the god beneath her kisses her soaked core all softly, paying attention to both sides and then the middle. Relief and satisfying sparks rush up her spine when he starts using his tongue and eventually slides it in-between her folds.

The sound that leaves Melinoë’s lungs then is irresistible and if only Moros could, he would lift himself up and kiss her. His lips and tongue are busy with a different part of her body, however, and he’s not planning on stopping unless he drives the Princess to her high. And it’d be too much fumbling around. He’ll make sure to kiss her later. He can do with just running his hands up and down her flanks for now.

Odysseus, on the other hand, doesn’t mind abandoning his current activity in favour of the goddess. The sound she’s made and all the other mewls that keep spilling out of her mouth effectively lure him in. The low noise of frustration rattling in Moros’ chest puts a proud smile on his face, which causes Melinoë to chuckle, despite the utterly riled up state she’s in. Her lips are then captured in an all-consuming kiss, one that she herself deepens as the coil in her lower belly keeps tightening. The melody of her continuous yelps and moans is drunk straight from her lips, savoured by Odysseus who’d rather hear this than any of the sirens’ songs.

“Take care of Lord Moros now,” Melinoë mumbles against the Shade’s lips.

“So that you can watch, aye?”

“Aye.”

It amuses him, so he laughs a husky laugh.

And he doesn’t hesitate.

Melinoë gasps when her eyes follow Odysseus, who dives back down. Her hands clench into fists when Moros moans right into her core, all because of the long and wet stripe that the Shade leaves from the god’s base to the very tip. Entranced, the Princess can’t take her eyes off of the way Odysseus licks off the arousal that’s beaded at the top. As if to add to her sensations, as if he knew the effect it’d have on Melinoë, he wraps his lips around Moros and sinks down, more than halfway down his whole length.

The raw groan it rips from Doom’s throat is worth it. It shoots through the Princess’ heat and up her spine, causing her eyes to roll back. Out of an instinct, she rocks her hips, grinding against Moros’ mouth and nose briefly, heightening her own pleasure by putting pressure against that sensitive bundle of nerves of hers.

All this time, Melinoë’s eyes are on Odysseus and, for a split second, she wonders if he’s done such things before. She can’t shake off the feeling that the answer would be positive, judging by how smooth and controlled his motion up and down is, how little gagging it causes each time he dares to take more.

It’s difficult to blame Moros for grunting right into Melinoë’s centre in this situation. And no one does. In fact, the way his voice vibrates through her draws her to the very edge. She hears Moros whimper a breathy “Princess!” and she can’t help but shudder; a full-body shiver has her squeeze her eyes shut and whine. From underneath, a growl of slight discontentment reaches her ears and she’s too blissed-out to see Odysseus hollow his cheeks on Moros and have him buck his hips up.

That is what makes the Shade choke and brings tears to his eyes but he withstands it. He doesn’t stop or withdraw, relishing the way Doom’s body quakes and his muscles tense as he spills down Odysseus’ throat. He swallows (of course, he does) and the sensation makes Moros finally groan the Shade’s name. In the blinding bliss that floods his whole being, he tightens his hold on Melinoë’s waist and pulls her down, as if to muffle his own cries of pleasure.

This pressure easily throws the Princess into her climax too. The knot in the pit of her stomach bursts with a white-hot power that spreads heat throughout her limbs until it reaches her toes and the tip of her head. A broken moan rips out from her chest and she trembles, crushing Doom’s head between her legs.

Melinoë composes herself just when Odysseus hoists himself up and they’re both facing each other. His eyes shine not only because of how satisfied and worn out the goddess looks, but also because all of his own neglected desire is catching up with him, probably more violently than he’d expected. Melinoë scoots closer to him, releasing Moros from her legs’ grip, so that she can cup Odysseus’ face and place a tender kiss on his lips. The taste of Moros sends a stray aftershock down her spine and then she proceeds to wipe the Shade’s chin dry of spend and drool.

“Touch me, please, Goddess,” Odysseus rasps out, his eyes almost painfully lust-lidded.

“Will you let Lord Moros touch you instead?” Melinoë asks, glad to see the Shade’s usual smirk appear on his lips again, albeit more tired this time.

“You’re too good to me.”

“And you deserve even more than that, Od.”

Melinoë’s kind words hold him in a tight grip that clutches his chest for a moment. At the same time, she pushes him back, so that he can sit back comfortably and lean against Moros’ firm front, with the god’s legs framing his. It’s no use wondering how and when Doom Incarnate materialised there — not when Odysseus’ own needs are borderline overwhelming at this point.

Moros weaves his fingers through Odysseus’ hair to tug ever so gently and nudge him to tilt his head, so that the god can lay his eyes upon the Shade’s faintly flushed face and then connect their lips in a hungry kiss. Melinoë marvels at the sight, at how much her favourite Shade is relishing this moment, as if the kiss were the air he once needed to breathe.

Doom’s other hand lands on Odysseus’ inner thigh and it’s enough of an encouragement for him to open his legs and allow the god to hook his ankles over his. It makes him inhale sharply, a tinge of fear poking at his consciousness. In need of grounding himself, he grabs Moros’ thighs, hoping it’ll give him reassurance and provide him with a sense of more control.

A whine soon passes the Shade’s lips, breaking the kiss. A whine that’s stained with strain and apprehension. He thought giving the reins to Doom Incarnate wouldn’t defeat him but here he is, doubting whether—

“Just tell us if it becomes too much,” muses Melinoë gently from somewhere on the side, having read the room, knowing that it takes a lot for Odysseus to hand his trust to someone else than her.

“Let me please you, Master Odysseus,” Moros adds and brushes his lips against the Shade’s. “But feel free to retreat at any moment of your choosing.”

“Is that alright?” Melinoë prompts.

“Aye,” Odysseus says simply, words escaping him completely.

Almost all the doubts become forgotten the moment Doom slides his large hand up the tactician’s thigh until he can wrap it around him. The Shade shivers and digs his fingers into the god’s legs, as if bracing himself for something but it’s no use bracing oneself for the pleasure that comes with the very first stroke. The slide is smooth thanks to how much he’s been leaking all this time, neglecting his own needs for both Moros and Melinoë.

Moros sets a rhythmical pace, one that elicits more shudders and grunts from Odysseus. The god swallows all of them, for his and the Shade’s lips hardly ever part. On the other side, Melinoë provides Odysseus with even more reassurance by planting occasional kisses on his arm and the side of his neck. His instinctive exhales come out ragged and quick.

By the time Doom Incarnate speeds up, gradually tightening the knot in the Shade’s gut, already leading him to the very edge of his impending ecstasy, the muscles of Odysseus’ thighs and stomach have started twitching. He’s also clutching Moros’ flesh so tightly, that he’s sure to leave bruises but the god doesn’t mind at all. And, so as to watch the Shade come undone, Moros draws back a bit and the tactician leans his head against Doom’s chest.

Then, it only takes a couple more of tugs and twists of Moros’ fist to have Odysseus arch his back and cry out the god’s name. What follows is a stream of low grunts as pleasure ripples through him whole. Moros, the kind man that he is, leads the Shade through his high, smiling and inwardly enjoying the shiver that bringing Odysseus to completion has granted him.

In fact, Doom Incarnate is a bit too eager in that and forgets himself for a moment.

“Enough,” Odysseus pants and grabs Moros’ wrist with one of his hands, overstimulation making each motion more painful than pleasant.

Melinoë also wanted to intervene but, seeing that Moros complies with no questions asked, she allows herself to let it go.

“My apologies,” says Doom placatingly.

Having wiped away the bodily fluids from each other, they all land lying on the blankets. Moros on his back with Melinoë clinging to his arm and Odysseus still between his legs and using his front as a pillow. Divinely exhausted, they’re basking in the comfortable silence that’s fallen upon them.

To add to the joint serenity, Melinoë pecks Moros’ cheek and rakes her fingers through Odysseus’ hair. The two men hum gleefully and stir a bit. A smile raises onto the Princess’ lips and her heart swells with utter love and adoration for both of them.

“So I take it that,” Odysseus croaks and clears his throat, “you enjoyed this little show of ours, eh, Goddess?”

He says it with such levity, that it both startles and embarrasses Melinoë and Moros.

“I promise I’ll leave you two to it next time,” the goddess quips.

“Oh, but I don’t mind you watching. Do you, Moros?”

“Not at all, Master Odysseus,” Doom replies, his voice quiet and weary but full of delight.

After all that’s happened, his usual calmness is back, though he still seems somewhat coy. Unnecessarily so. He even blushes slightly, which Melinoë notices. She stores the view in her mind.

In contrary to Moros, Odysseus’ smirk is plastered on his face again. Proud and contented, he lets out a deep sigh.

And Moros remembers to kiss Melinoë.

[bethagain]

@toasty-cowboy mentioned shipping Din Djarin with sleeping a full 8 hours undisturbed. Which led to @fanfoolishness and myself agreeing that that was, indeed, a very good ship.

And then, I couldn't sleep last night. So I took the opportunity to make sure that Din got some rest.

Story starts shortly after the end of Chapter 16.

Somewhere

He picked a system at least 12 hours away and nearly uninhabited, set the nav computer to come out close but not too close to the only planet with a city on it, and promptly forgot the destination. 

He was tired. 

This was just a scout ship, scavenged from the hangar bay of Moff Gideon’s light cruiser. Its two front-mounted guns were a joke, little more than decoration. But it had a hyperdrive, it had fuel, and it had a market value. First chance he got, he’d trade it in for something suitable. 

He was avoiding the question, Suitable for what? 

He had Fett’s comm code. If he wanted to use it. Bo-Katan had not been pleased when he told her that he had, as promised, considered joining her cause. No was not what she wanted to hear. 

Maybe he’d think more about it later. 

Maybe later he’d be able to think.

He re-checked the nav system. The readouts looked fine. No alarms, no flashing warnings. Just a diagram of the hyperspace route and a set of slowly changing coordinates, counting the way to--wherever it was he’d set the ship to go. 

He rose from the pilot’s seat and left the cockpit. It had become reflex to bend down on the way past the passenger seat, unclick the child’s safety restraint, scoop him up and hear him giggle as they slid fast down the ladder to the hold. But the passenger seats on the scout ship were empty. 

There wasn’t even a ladder. This ship was all one level. Its walls and floor met at right angles, clean and smooth. 

His gloved hand left marks on one of those walls as he used it to keep his balance, to keep from stumbling on the way down the short corridor to the cabin. Inside, two sets of narrow bunk beds took up most of the space. The bare mattresses were encased in flexplast, one end molded to serve as a pillow. They looked clean enough. 

He made use of the refresher in its tiny cubby. On the way out, his left shoulder clanked as it collided with the door frame, beskar pauldron banging into the lesser metal. He really should have stripped out of the armor, checked its integrity, at least wiped the pieces down if he couldn't clean them properly. He really should have cleaned his own body, checked for wounds. 

The thing was, he couldn't decide if, once off, he'd ever put the armor back on. What had it bought him, all these years? The right to chip off bits of his soul with every bounty, and then give the last piece away? 

He gripped the upright post of a bunk bed frame, leaning his weight on it, forehead resting against the cool surface. I don't really think that. I just need to sleep.

A handle set into the wall caught his eye. He heaved his body upright again and clicked open what turned out to be a shallow cupboard. Inside was a stack of neatly folded blankets, with the faint ozone smell of having been recently cleaned.

He laid one over the nearest flexplast-covered mattress and unfolded another to cover himself. He took an unsteady step back to the door to check for a lock, didn't find one, and reminded himself: You're alone on this ship. It's fine.

Then he half-sat, half fell onto the bunk, the familiar clank of his armor loud in the silence. He laid his body out in the narrow space, pulled the blanket over him. And slept.

The scout ship's life support system hummed quiet and steady. Down the hall, the nav computer did its job, guiding the ship through hyperspace, smoothly avoiding obstacles. The ship's chrono kept time.

Parsecs away, the Jedi carried the child on a forest path, toward a low wooden building where comfortable voices were laughing. Grogu reached out in the Force, looking for the shape of his father. He wasn't very good at this yet, but he found him, found him safe and sleeping. That was good.

The scout ship's computer made a tiny adjustment, shifting the trajectory to stay on the safest route. The hyperdrive engine whined louder for a moment, then subsided back to its steady vibration. 

The chrono ticked away another hour.

Far off, along another hyperspace lane, the former ruler of Mandalore and her first lieutenant continued taking inventory. The light cruiser had a wealth of essentials. Weapons, starfighters, rations. It felt like little without the Darksaber. Without a new plan.

Fans whirred in the scout ship's walls, moving air to keep it fresh. The map coordinates changed steadily as the ship slipped on through hyperspace, pinpointing its location even with no one in the cockpit to watch. 

On board Slave I, Cara, Fennec, and Boba traded war stories. They'd talk later about what happened, about the mission and the child and how long to wait before tracking down their friend. For now, they'd respect his own silence and match it with theirs. Not for too long though. A man needed people, even if he also needed space. It wasn't right to be alone.

The scout ship sailed on, computer and engines well maintained and working flawlessly. Moff Gideon's mechanics had known their jobs and done them well. They'd been expendable, anyway.

The ship's chrono counted, two hours, four hours, six, while Din's even breathing added to the steady, quiet sounds.

When he finally began to wake, the chrono marking well past eight hours, the first thing he noticed was the roughness of the blanket against his face. And then, the quiet, and the strangeness of the plain white walls. And then, that he was hungry.

Din sat up, the blanket sliding down from the smooth beskar breastplate. His whole body felt sore, battered, but he could remember now that he was alive.

He needed a shower. He needed to care for his armor, check the electronics in the helmet after the beating it had taken. He needed to eat. 

Food first, he decided, swinging his feet to the floor and, still a little bleary-eyed, using the pole of the bedframe to help pull himself up to stand. There were ration bars in the ship's narrow galley, and potable water. He'd at least had the presence of mind to check that before sealing the hatch and lifting off.

Food first, then get the rest of his body in order. 

And then, figure out where he'd told the ship to take him. And decide what happens next.

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh Season Zero: The Yo-Yo Crimes of Jounouchi Pt 1

It’s been a while since I visited the many times Yugi should have gone to jail, AKA season Zero, and I’m excited to visit it again.

If you just got here, this is Season Zero, which is very different vibe and a different direction plotwise than the other seasons and you can read the season zero recaps from the start in chrono order here: https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yuugi%20muto/chrono

So be warned, this is a 90′s anime, and it will do 90′s anime things, and I expect y’all reading this aren’t like 12.

Like I said in an earlier post, I wrote this out fully when I was going through the symptoms from my second dose--which PS, is worth it--but those symptoms knocked me out for 10 days. I was kind of a space cadet, and yo, I made some mistakes. Including writing this post out in full and then not clicking “save” on this post and then not realizing I had done that until several days later.

So long story short, I don’t remember what I originally wrote here, but lets all assume it was weird, and didn’t make sense and wasn’t funny. We’ll just assume this was for the best that it was deleted forever.

So this episode is about 2 things: Yo-yos and Jounouchi. Both get used as a tool for violence, and both need to get just a little bit cursed by Yugi to scale it the hell back. So, understandably, we start off this episode with Jounouchi, who has eagerly identified with this off brand yo-yo he apparently got out of a dumpster for being just a huge ass defect.

(more Yo-Yo crimes under the cut)

I see you dodging copyright infringement, Yugioh. Eireboy.

Also whenever I read “Eireboy” I do it in my mind in the same pacing and vocal tones that Pegasus uses to say “Kaiba boy.” Something about it’s conjunction to Yugioh, I see anything with “boy” at the end of it, and it’s voiced by a weird guy with one eye.

So I wrote these caps under the influence of my second dose, just assuming y’all understand the life I lived, but I realized writing this episode...traveling bands of yo-yo performers that go to your school and shill yo-yos with yo-yo shows in the hopes that it will get you so obsessed with yo-yos that you will not join a gang and do drugs and have sex may be just an American thing.

So when I saw a yo-yo episode I was like “Tight! Clearly, the yo-yo clowns have come to town!” and I assumed everyone in this class would be draped in yo-yos, because I just assumed that at some point at School you will get MAD OBSESSED with yo-yos for about 2 weeks.

But in this episode, everyone was like “Jounouchi, why are you playing with a random yo-yo?” and it didn’t occur to me until typing this out just now: only Jounouchi is doing this. He did this unprompted, without the encouragement of a bunch of middle aged performers doing tricks to techno music.

So instead, I have to think of Jounouchi as Ralphie in this scenario, and he just got a official Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot, range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time for Christmas, but he’s gonna shoot his eye out.

Because yo-yos in this episode are basically guns.

...Kind of like a duel deck was also just a gun...

...or the wands in Harry Potter...

...which honestly...I’ve probably said this before but where I’m from, we just use straight up guns in these elaborate analogies because we freakin have to make the point crystal clear. The moment Ralphie finally got his hands on a bb-gun, he very nearly shot his eye out and broke his glasses. And that scene will haunt me until my dying day...

...but fine, we can use yo-yos, I guess it works, although to me, yo-yo’s are just teachers hoping you’ll become such a dork that no gang will accept you (and then in this universe, it does the opposite? So freakin weird).

The beginning of this episode is Jounouchi trying do his best to impress with his skills, but in actuality, getting very close to clubbing Anzu with a yo-yo. And, while Anzu is the strongest person in Yugioh in the later seasons, I feel like Season Zero Anzu is another level. It’s a serious tempt of fate that Jounouchi is doing, so Honda wisely cuts him off from doing any more of that so she won’t end up strangling yet another person in broad daylight in the middle of school.

Remember your yo-yo safety, children.

Straight up, Honda’s version of yo-yo safety is to just Never Use a Yo-Yo and that’s the most gun safety thing ever that they’ve slipped into this Yugioh Episode. I almost expected Yuugi to pull a “well, actually, I use a hunting yo-yo to get enough venison to feed my family.” But youknow, he lives in a city, so while Yugioh is pretty weird and Yuugi has to worry about a lot of things--he doesn’t have to worry about that.

This is actually foreshadowing, which I only realized in hind sight, mostly because I just can’t associate a Yo-yo with crime. Joey knowing how to use a yo-yo was foreshadowing that he was absolutely part of this gang in a past life.

Yeah that one went completely over my head the first time and the second time and it really wasn’t until just now that I finally caught it. Hoo boy, sometimes I wonder why y’all let me analyze this show.

Jounouchi decides to confront the yo-yo bandits and everyone else is like “Silly Jounouchi, he’s not gonna do that. That would be stupid.” And...in S0, they don’t know him well enough yet to know that he really is that much of a well meaning dumbass.

I think a S1-5 Yugi would have been sprinting out the door to keep Joey from killing himself (again), but Season Zero Yuugi had hope that Jounouchi would just naturally tucker out and fall asleep or something.

And he was so wrong.

Anzu’s “New Tricks” line was from the dub itself and man that’s a good line. I love Anzu’s sass in Zero.

So, Honda decides to help them find Jounouchi so all of them together could give Jounouchi an intervention for skipping school. This is the same Honda that once skipped school to babysit a tomagachi and said it was because of “Maternity leave,” but don’t worry about the hypocrisy, because from this episode we learned that Jounouchi needs a very short leash.

So this episode is a great Jounouchi episode to explain stuff that still hasn’t been explained in 5 seasons of Yugioh. In S1-5, we don’t get much about his home life other than his Mom left and his Sister lives far away and is like sickly as hell. We know nothing else. But this is the episode where we finally get to find out why Yuugi and his Grandfather decided to basically adopt him from S1 onward.

Yugioh is tackling some pretty heavy territory, but I respect the show for not trying to magically change Jounouchi’s parents like they did to Dartz. Instead, the crew decide to reach out and try to find their friend who clearly didn’t go home last night (and won’t be going back for a while), by checking every alleyway in Domino.

Fun fact Yuugi drops this episode, Domino is one of the biggest cities on Earth. This makes the Battle City Tournament even more crazy when you realize Kaiba shut down several blocks but, it also makes a tiny bit more sense how we have so many Millennium items in one place. (Yet...it still doesn’t explain Bakura and Joey’s accent.) And, I guess if your city is just extra large, you get an extra large warehouse district, too.

Speaking of, they eventually find Jounouchi at his new (but also old) crime antics mugging some random stranger next to this Game store that I just realized was cropped so it looks like it says “GANG.”

Say hello to our crime clown. He’s sort of like a discount joker, and that beanie is...man it is green.

I forget this green exists sometimes, but Season Zero has it as one of their prime colors. Good ol’ Retro Kaiba green.

I’m a little tempted to swatch Season Zero a bit and figure out their full color scheme--it’s really saturated, which is interesting when you compare it to the later seasons which are a lot more muted since...the 00′s were like that, they greyed a lot of colors out. But I’ll do it later if I do, maybe another post for another day.

Jounouchi and Honda, before they moved to the school with Yuugi in it, used to go to the same school and up until now I just assumed they were close friends. But apparently they were a lot more distant than that. I’m sure they met up several times as Jounouchi destroyed stuff and Honda came along in his volunteer janitor outfit to put the stuff the hell back, and maybe that’s how they got to know eachother better?

But basically, Jounouchi was the freakin worst, and Jounouchi’s best friend was Hirotani--this 45 year old 15 year old with the blue pony and turquoise fade--and Honda has SO MUCH hot goss to say about it.

I really get the gist that Honda may not have liked anyone else at his old school, like at all. Like maybe Honda likes cleaning up trash so much because his school was just trash top to bottom.

As is tradition, Yuugi got his tar beat in by Hirotani. Another concussion to add to his list of issues to tell his future therapist that lives in that puzzle he wears around his neck.

I still expect him to do a double cross, but it seems they wanted to keep it a relatable and more realistic fall-out, where Jounouchi has just bounced on them without even a goodbye. He and his Dad had a bad fight, and Jounouchi was like “well so long to all of this and everyone that has anything to do with it.”

In later seasons, Joey is the one trying to save other people. He’s saving his Sister, he’s saving Mai, he’s saving Yugi, but in this season Jounouchi’s friends had to save Jounouchi from himself a few times now.

I like this depth to his character, I’ll be honest. I can understand why S1-5 don’t touch on it, and I don’t think it’s because they didn’t want to have an abusive Dad storyline, because they did that several times over with Seto Kaiba (man the Dad situation in Yugioh is DIRE.) Instead they probably just felt like Season Zero already did it, so why do it again?

It’s just a shame that it wasn’t talked about in the other seasons. Joey makes a lot more sense to me now because we get to see why Jounouchi is so hard set on saving people. S4 Mai Valentine, who ditched everyone and joined a gang? That’s basically a Joey move, and that was why Joey Wheeler was all over that.

Really would have added a lot to that particular arc if the show...actually talked about Joey’s history at all rather than assume I would have watched something that was never released in the States. Instead...it just looked a lot like he had only romantic motivations, which may not have been what they were going for.

Speaking of romantic, check out this sunset. Like the sun is exploding for some reason--just a wild sunset you only see for a still frame before a commercial break.

As Joey, youknow, takes on an entire rival gang single-handedly.

Hey guys, I lived near a pretty big city most of my life and I have been on a roof...once. Just the one time when I was doing an internship in SF with a painter and we needed to take a reference photo of his painting for a gallery (and it was hella sketch, and we weren’t exactly allowed up there). Who are all these people giving teens Roof Access? It’s so hard to get! Even if you live in an apartment of a tall building, I can count on zero of my fingers the amount of times I was allowed on that roof. But TV shows and movies--they freakin love roof gardens and roof hangouts and roof fights.

Am I missing out?? How did y’all get on the ROOF? I know I’m on S5 of Yugioh now and I have seen a lot of roof stuff, but like...is this normal for everyone else? I know there’s schools that have roof sport--that’s common in the city everywhere--but that’s like...specialized roofs with 30 ft chainlink fencing and really good supports to your body doesn’t fall straight through it when you jump too much. The hell is using their normal ass roof?

This gang should have their legs swinging halfway into the floor below them, is all I’m saying, if my roof couldn’t handle our solar heating, then a normal ass roof cannot support a gang fight.

But it does look really, really cool.

Anyway, Anzu does some offscreen snooping and finds out where the crime hangs out, and suggests that we step right into crime zone and just yank Jounouchi out of there. Which is something you would only do and say if you were Anzu and cannot fear death.

If it were Jay’s it would be with an ‘s. That’s how you do a plural Jay. But it’s the 90′s, so we put a “z” on the end of everything that should have been an “s” and that’s how you get the...

I mean, thank you, dubbers, for not saying “Jizz” but for reals...that be Jizz.

Please don’t flag me, Tumblr. (which, PS, I think they turned off the flagbot, Tumblr hasn’t flagged me in forever and I’m so thankful. Mods are asleep, we can talk about anime again)

So even though Honda decided that he was fed up with Jounouchi and didn’t want to save his ass, he decided to give it another go but complete with some new sash. He also did this without telling any of the others, who just kinda spectated him for a little while.

Honestly, if they weren’t laughing at him, I wouldn’t have known that this sash was any weirder than any of his other sashes. I don’t know really know what a school uniform should look like. It’s a shame, I feel like this series has a lot of jokes and puns probably soaring right over my head.

A little bit embarrased he was caught being vulnerable, Honda decides to give us a little more context to why he ever decided to give Jounouchi the time of day in the first place.

They had PE class once, and Honda apparently loves the hell out of PE. Jounouchi ran really fast in a straight line that one time, and that is why he’s trustworthy friend material. He just needs to stop joining gangs, and he’ll be solid.

I have no idea if the fandub put that in there or if that was native to the show, but Miho legit stans Honda/Jounouchi and acts as if she’s off to write some fanfiction about it. Honestly if she did, it would make her so much more interesting of a character.

And so, until next time, we shall have to wait and see exactly what Yami Yuugi is going to do with a freakin Yo-yo and I’m sure it’s all sorts of real effed up. Excited to get there, honestly. A shame it had to happen on the part that isn’t dubbed yet, but I’ve done these subbed before, it’ll be fine!

[wakaoujisenhime]

hello again! I'm the same anon that requested the story with the reader giving herself up to save Eri. I really, REALLY like the way that you wrote it, and I'd certainly love to see a part 2! You have such a talent for writing angst! ❤

A/N: Hi there once more! I’m really happy to hear that you liked it, since I was a little unsure of how it turned out (had to edit it quite a few times, till I was happy with my insecure ass xDD)! So as for now I’ll be featuring Aizawa, Nighteye and Fatgum (since Kirishima and Tamaki wouldn’t make much sense due to them being unconscious during the time I decided to write this in). Additionally I tried a new approach on Nighteye’s story, so I hope you enjoy these ones as well and thank you once again for the encouraging words! ❤

Oh and before I forget: (H/N) is once again your hero name while (L/N) is your last name ^^

Tags: Aizawa x reader ✅  Nighteye x reader ✅  Fatgum x reader ✅  SFW ✅  a lot of angst (once again) ✅

Setting this time will be after Mirio was shot and when he took Eli with him to escape, but before the girls fell through the floor. Only during Fatgum’s scenario the setting will be different!

☞ 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝟙

━━━━☆ ━━━━☆ ━━━━☆

Aizawa:

“Damn it all!“

Right now you were running all the way to what seemed to be the center of the battlefield where your boyfriend Aizawa was supposed to be fighting against Overhaul, the leader of the crime organization ‘Shie Hassaikai’.

Or at least that is what a very injured Mirio had told you just a few minutes ago. Nighteye had apparently given him the task to protect Eri and try to escape with her. Hoping to be of some help you tried using your quirk on him and successfully managed to rewind and heal the stab wounds around his torso.

You had a similar quirk to Eri’s and that was the exact reason as to why the pro heroes were against you joining the mission, so why were you here anyway? Well the answer was quite easy...you snuck in and tried fighting as sneaky as possible alongside the other heroes.

The reason why you decided to be a rebel despite all of the warnings you got from people close to you, was because of something Aizawa had told you just before he left for today’s mission.

‘There are things in life that only we can do, no matter how dangerous or unreasonable they are.’

That were his last words before he kissed your forehead and left for duty.

You knew that his words were meant to calm you down, but they actually did the exact opposite.

After he had left you thought about what you could do with your similar quirk and all you came up with was to sneak in, pretend you were a part of the mission and sacrifice yourself.

It was the worst possible plan, it was stupid and you knew all that but you were desperate. Desperate to finally free Aizawa from all the stress he had to endure for this mission. Sleepless nights, nightmares or even days on which he didn’t return home. You witnessed it all and it pained you seeing him like that...so you decided to put an end to his own and his colleagues’ suffering, by doing the only think you could do.

Sacrifice yourself...

“(Y/N)?! What are you doing here...?”

Nighteye’s question brought you back to the present.

You had finally arrived at the battlefield and watched the horror that unfolded in front of your very own eyes.

Nighteye was hurt, bleeding and lying on the floor.

Midoriya’s whole body was bruised and scratched while he fought against Overhaul.

And there, close to Midoriya was Aizawa who had his quirk activated but luckily enough, he wasn’t hurt as badly as the others.  

Before you could call out to him, you saw someone slowly creep up behind your boyfriend, but luckily...you were quicker.

“Eraserhead, behind you!”

Chrono unfortunately beat both of you to it and managed to pin Aizawa down while pressing a knife to his neck.

“Don’t move or he’ll die.“

That warning was meant for you as well as for Midoriya, who had to fall back in order to ensure his teacher’s safety.

Meanwhile Overhaul just giggled darkly at your failed attempt to rescue the black haired man. With a small nod towards his underling, the villain began a monologue on how he’ll get Eri to come back to him and that was your call.

“Overhaul, wait!”

This was the first time Aizawa actually turned to you and one didn’t have to be an expert to notice how mad he was to see you here, but that was the last thing on your mind right now.

With confident steps you slowly made your way towards the masked villain who eyed you from head to toe.

“(H/N)! What do you think you’re doing?!”

Completely ignoring the blade which was slowly piercing his neck’s skin, Aizawa’s eyes were glued to you and no matter what kind of comment he threw at you, you kept on walking and pretending not to hear his pleas.

“Now now...you shouldn’t interrupt (L/N) here, can’t you see that we’re striking a deal right now?”

You weren’t surprised to hear your last name coming from the villain’s mouth. He as well had done his researches...considering your quirk how could he possibly not do them?

He had played with the thought of kidnapping you as well (just in case that Eri’s body would give out some day), but he would’ve never expected to hear that exact same thought coming from the person in question. There was only one problem. You actually demanded for your comrades’ safety and Eri’s freedom. It didn’t seem like that bad of a deal, since Eri was just a child which makes her less durable than a full grown adult like you, additionally her powers have yet to achieve their true potential while yours were basically your second nature.

Overhaul nodded after a short while, signalizing his agreement. Fighting over a small and mentally unstable child wasn’t worth the trouble nor the casualties, so he didn’t want to prolong this conversation any further. He also didn’t know when you might actually change your mind, so for him the clock was already ticking.

“Don’t leave me! P-Please (Y/N)...”

You were just one step away from sacrificing yourself, but Aizawa’s voice finally reached your ears and what he had just said broke your heart in thousand pieces.

What am I doing...?

Overhaul saw the determination you had a few seconds ago, vanish from your eyes so he immediately grabbed your hand and pulled you towards him, making it harder for you to escape his grasp.

Now matter how much you or your boyfriend struggled against your opponents neither you nor Aizawa could escape their grasp. Midoriya and Nighteye couldn’t intervene and risk both of your lives, so they had to stand by and watch helplessly as the both of you were being separated from one another.

The only thing the two of you were able to do was to extend your hands towards each other and call out the other’s name. Tears falling down your cheeks, your voices slowly losing their high volume and when you guys noticed that there was nothing else you could do to escape this situation you guys said your last words.

“I love you...”

“I’m sorry...”

Nighteye:

“Sasaki! Oh my god, are you alright?!”

Nighteye had just closed his eyes for what seemed to be a few seconds, but these seconds turned out to be several minutes during which Midoriya’s injuries had doubled, Aizawa as well as Eri who was alongside Mirio were gone and you had apparently arrived. He felt your arms wrapped around his sore body, but what he didn’t feel anymore was his injury...he figured that that was your doing so he looked up at you with a thankful and relieved expression.

“(Y/N)...y-you’re here”

Your boyfriend was happy to have you here next to him, but considering the situation you guys were in, it would’ve been better for you to completly stay out of this fight. So he sat up and held onto your hand, determined to get you out of here.

“(Y/N) you need to go and call for reinforcements. I’ll be helping Midoriya out while you-“

“No Sasaki. I may have healed your wound, but you still need to rest so stay and I’ll help Deku out...got that?“

Nighteye looked up at you and saw your eyes glistening with something else than determination, he trusted you but he had a feeling that you had an entirely different plan than the one you had just suggested.

You saw how hesitant your boyfriend was to answer and you felt like the more time he used to think about it, the quicker he might catch onto your plan and that mustn’t happen.

Sasaki was surprised to see you get on your knees in front of him and holding onto his hands,your actions began to scare him a little.

“Do you trust me?“

His eyes visibly widened after hearing your question, the fear he had earlier slowly began consuming him. Nighteye wanted to nod, but he feared what you might do next if he said ‘yes’. That’s when he came up with an idea.

What if I used my quirk on (Y/N)...?

Luckily you had never been against it before, so he wasn’t as afraid as he thought he’d be to read your future but desperate times call for desperate measures.

He began concentrating and calming down his nerves so that he could calmly look into your eyes and see what your plan looked like...but you were quicker.

You slowly raised your hand, softly moved his glasses away and covered his eyes causing him to flinch lightly.

“Please don’t...not yet. Just trust me Sasaki.”

Before he could answer you kissed his lips ever so gently and soon you felt him kissing you back. After a short while you got up slowly and smiled at your boyfriend as you turned your back to him and began walking towards Midoriya and Overhaul.

——

What did she just say...?

Sacrifice herself...for Eri’s sake....?

What do you think you’re doing?

Don’t leave me behind like this...you mustn’t..

No..don’t look at Midoriya like that...not with that smile of yours.

S-Stop don’t...don’t turn to me

Don’t give me that look...

Heh, you were always bad at hiding your true feelings.

If you feel bad then don’t leave.

Why did you even come up with such a dangerous plan anyway?

Do you have any idea what he’ll do to you?

Midoriya, let go of me! Don’t intervene!

I’m going to stop you or did you seriously think that I was going to let you off the hook, just like that...?

(Y/N) think this through, please! He’ll tire out your body on purpose and who knows whose life he might ruin next with the help of your quirk!

He might even decide to target me next..

D-Don’t cry, please...

I know you want to protect us, but your decision is way to hasty so-

Hey! Get your dirty hands off of her!

No..!

(Y/N)!!!

I woke up teary eyed and completely drenched in sweat.

That dream again...damn it.

How many times does this make already?

Since Overhaul took (Y/N) away from me there wasn’t even one night on which I haven’t dreamed about that one moment.

The mission was considered a success in the end, but not for me...

Since I had seen All Might’s Future back then, I was afraid to look into anyone else's....but now?

After I’ve lost my most precious person...this is something I am going to regret not doing for the rest of my life.

I mean...what else can I do?      

Fatgum:

Your fist collided with a villain’s cheek.

How many does that make now?

To put it frankly, you just don’t know anymore...

These past few minutes you were running around beating up villains left and right, thanks to the order you had received to support any hero you came across and help them save Eri.

You knew that the girl should be your top priority at the moment, but you couldn’t deny the fact that the worry for your boyfriend Taishiro (also known as Fatgum) was way bigger than that for the girl.

“(Y/N)? Is that you?!”

Your boyfriend’s voice suddenly called out to you from one of the rooms, startling and making you stop in your tracks.

“Taishiro!“

Seeing him in his skinny form was something you weren’t used to since it only occurred when he used up too much of his power.

You looked around in order to catch a glimpse of his momentary situation. Him and Red Riot were fighting against two peculiar looking man whose appearance was clearly different than that of the other evil guys, they looked....stronger.

“Listen, you need to go and help with the fight against Overhaul!”

At your boyfriend’s sudden order your eyes went wide.

“W-What? You can’t be serious...I can’t leave the two of you alone! Look at yourself...you and Kirishima are badly hurt, so-”

“(Y/N)! This is not the time for worry, we’re on a mission right now. Concentrate on the important things!”

It surprised you to hear him sound that cold and it hurt your feelings a little, but you decided to suck it up. You had to admit that you were quite the worrywart when it came to your boyfriend and that was sometimes inappropriate...like right now.

With a small but hesitant nod you exited the room and once again began running at full speed, but now you at least had a clear goal in mind.

——

“Don’t worry Kirishima. You did an amazing job and deserve some rest.“

After fighting two members of the Eight Bullets and winning against them, Fatgum needed to take a breather and think about what to do from now on. So alongside his enemies, he went to the aid room and began taking care of his disciple while his thoughts wandered back to you.

He wondered if the things he said were perhaps to harsh and thinking about the possibility of having hurt you with his words, only made his heart drop.

If there had been another hero by his side right now, he wouldn’t have hesitated to run and look for you, but right now all he could do was wait...

——

After what felt like hours reinforcements had finally arrived and happily delivered the message of the mission’s success. Everyone was in good spirits and felt relieved and now, all Taishiro wanted to do was wrap his arms around you and kiss you all over.

So when he saw Sir Nighteye, Aizawa and Midoriya standing together while talking to an injured Mirio he just knew that you had to be somewhere close to them as well...so he began jogging in their direction, completely ignoring the pain throughout his body.

But he soon noticed that something wasn’t right...

When the trio saw him approaching, their facial expressions suddenly changed. Now they looked somewhat sad.

“Hey you guys! Have you seen (Y/N)? As far as I remember she should’ve been with you.”

“Well yes...she was”

Nighteye was the first to speak up. He took a quick glance at his surroundings and took a deep breath.

“In order to protect us and Eri, (Y/N)....went with Overhaul.”

After processing what the man with the glasses had said, Taishiro felt like he had been run over by a giant truck.

W-What did he just say...?

“W-Wait...you mean to tell me that you guys just stood by and let her sacrifice herself just like that?“

It was Aizawa’s turn to talk now so he stepped forward.

“There wasn’t anything we could do, we tried to talk her out of it, but she kept on insisting.“

“I don’t care if (Y/N) did! The two of you are pro heroes damn it, you could’ve sto-, no...you should’ve stopped her even if she resisted!“

They continued arguing back and forth, getting more heated with each passing minute. Mirio and Midoriya didn’t know if they should or even could do anything to stop them at this point, so they remained silent.

Suddenly Fatgum felt a gentle tug on his shorts which caused him to pause his argument and look down.

He found himself looking into a pair of big red eyes which belonged to none other than Eri, who was holding out a small pendant to him.

“The nice Miss that saved me, told me to give this to a big, cuddly looking and yellow dressed man...I think she might’ve meant you.“

A little reluctant he took it from her small hands and looked at it. 

He gasped as he realized what kind of pendant that was. 

“(Y/N)...“

Seeing the muscular man fall to his knees and gently caress the small object in his big hand was surprising and heartbreaking at the same time.

Between his silent sobs, he softly pet Eri’s head and thanked her several times.

The pendant he now held close to his heart was the first present he had given you. It had your and his name engraved on the outside and on the inside there was a small photo of the two of you cuddling.

When you received it, he made you promise him to always carry it with you...until the end of your days.

[zuffer-weird-girl]

Another Chisaki au scenario that came to my head!

Sleepless nights...

The cries of his four month's son seemed to echo in his head, even if he tried to muffle it with his hands.

"Why is he still awake and crying?!" He didn't liked to shout, but Kaito's cries were so loud that if he didn't raised his tone of voice, you wouldn't be able to listen to him.

"I don't know!" You whined in despair as you bounced the kid that finally stopped crying but didn't go to sleep either...

He didn't remember when it was the last time he or you had a good and health eight hours of sleep ever since you gave birth... the man also lost count on how many times he heard from his commurates, and some partners from the yakusa, asking him when was the last time he slept...

"Why is it so difficult for this kid to fall asleep...?" He grunted in his hands, almost letting out a desperate shout as you placed Kaito back on his crib.

"We should have know... you have a light sleep after all." You groaned, huffing at the glare your husband gave to you.

"So now is my fault?" He growled while you raised your hands up in defense.

"I didn't say that." You mumbled while he towered over you.

"It looked like it." You two glared at each other for a bit.

"Well then, you misunderstood oh mighty husband of mine." You grunted as his eyes narrowed before he widen then suddenly.

"Shut up." He mumbled, making you gasp in offense. You prepared to scold him before he muffled any sounds that you could make with his palm being placed gently on your mouth.

"Shut. Up." He whispered as he pointed with his gaze at the sleeping little baby on the crib.

"Holy shit." You whispered as Kai nodded dumbfounded, you looked up at him "Quick. Sleep while you can."

"On the floor?" He asked arching one eyebrow in disgust.

"If we open the door is possible that he wakes." It took a few seconds for your husband to look at the door before he nodded.

Mysophobia his ass, he needed to sleep with his wife. Urgently.

All of your hopes were broken when Rappa stormed the door with a desperate Tengai from behind trying to make him stop along with Chrono.

"OVERJERK LETS GO FOR A MATCH RIGHT NOW!"

You and your husband widened your eyes in horror before noticing that your son had his eyes wide open and started to cry out loud, alarmed and definitely scared to death by Rappa's shout.

You and your husband's eyes twitched, while Rappa noticed that he fucked up... just a bit.

"Rappa..." both of you growled, scaring the fuck out of the man when not only Overhaul death glared at him, but the usual sweet and calm wife of his boss that normally spared his life a bit did the death look as well.

"Master I apologize." Tengai sighed with a hand covering his head in dissaproval of Kendo's actions "We tried to stop him but-"

In one blink of an eye you had picked up your son with a desperate sigh to start boucing him again in your sore arms, while Chisaki just punched Kendo hard on the face, making the man fly to the opposite wall annd almost break it with his weight.

"I didn't sleep for four months. My wife doesn't as well. And I am not in a good mood to waste my time with your insuferable existence." He growled while aproaching Rappa, gloves already forgotten and with a psycho look on his golden eyes.

"And you still has the courage to demand a match, when my son finally slept, and woke him up and scare the fuck out of my four month child..." his eye twitched violently as he aimed for Rappa's head "Now you just snapped my pacience Kendo Rappa."

Rappa gulped before sighing in relief when you and Chrono made his up his mind, getting the fuck out of there along with Tengai when Chisaki growled animalistic for him to dissapear from his sign...

"You two look like crap, god..." Chrono commented, lifting his hands up in defence as a shen of nervous sweat formed om the back of his neck at seing both of the parents glares that seemed to catch him on fire... "Forgive me."

Mimic soon joined you four... all of you reunited on the living room as a boucing and electric toddler giggled and jumped a bit in your lap as he poked both of his father and mother's tired faces.

"You two tried those shit things on the internet or something?" You both shooked your heads as you handed Kaito to Kai due to your sore arms... the kid whined a bit before Kai placed him on both his and your thigh.

"Is not entirely faithful the information on those... and we tried almost everthing..." Kai muttered, completly exausted but still boucing his leg along with yours a bit to entertain his son, whose giggled were emmited as he patted you guys legs as a signal for more.

Chrono and Mimic could see how grave the situation was by not only you guys appearance... but by seing that. Chisaki Kai. Overhaul. Was with huge as fuck eyebags and the mist unusual thing of all...

Without mask... he forgotten his so adored and needed mask and wasn't bothered by his son poking his face... he was really tired for let this happen without a scowl or growl of dissaproval.

Mimic suddenly snapped his fingers, while pointing at the couple.

"Ya two tried to tiring the little punk unto unconsciousness?"

Kai shook his head numbly as you made a 'huh?' Noise... being patted by Chisaki's hand shortly after...

Irinaka and Kurono shared a look before Chrono asked if he could pick up Kaito, you just nodded tiredly as your husband waved at him.

"My old man used to put me on his neck and ride like a horse." Mimic said while Kurono did the same thing with Kaito in hesitantion, cringing when the kid accidentaly pulled his hair hard.

"No no no! Bad idea Mimic! BAD FUCKING IDEA!" Kurono shouted as Kaito giggled and pushed harder "How the hell your father did those things?! He is a masochistic or what?!"

"Nah. He is dead." Mimic monoustly spoked before out of the sudden Kaito stopped and his bottom lip lip trembled a bit.

Both of them followed the kid's gaze and found, surprisingly, you and Chisaki completely passed out on the couch... you resting your head on his shoulder while Kai was resting his head on both couch and yours head... both having lips parted and Chrono almost laughed at seing a bit of droll on Kai's mouth.

The kid whined before crying out loud, making both parents woke up immediately and jump out of the couch in allarm.

Kai almost yanked Kaito from Chrono's head as he started to bounce a bit the kid, while you hushed the baby with your hands carresing his chubby face.

When Kaito stopped crying you both sighed a bit in relief as Kurono and Irinaka looked at you two in pity... before noticing the time...

Three fucking a.m...

"Sorry boss but we've gotta go to the fuck sleep."

"I envy you two..." Chisaki growled before he dismissed both of his commurates... mumblimg a 'two good for nothing' angrily as he tried to make his kid go to sleep by hearing his heart beat.

Kaito just laughed and tried to reach those three piercings on his left ear.

"I am about to cry at any minute..." you said brokenly before looking up at your husband, whose look wasn't much different.

"We're on the same boat angel..." he said monotonously but you could see the way his eyes were almost breaking.

"Is it us..?" You teared up, immediately regretting when you saw your baby worried face and maiing grabby hands to you.

"Is my fault. I know it is. Is evident." Kai muttered while handing Kaito to you, whose pushed your hair a bit.

"Is not!" You whispered yelled, tearing up at your husband tired and defeated face.

"Drugging is out of question." He said with a sigh before dropping on the couch along with you.

"Agreed... as much as I wanted, but agreed." You both groaned while resting the back of your heads on the couch.

"Another sleepless night..." you moaned, your son giggling at the face of his father.

Pops entered the room for a bit, widening jis eyes at seing his sucessor and daughter in law with wide open eyes staring numbly at ceiling, as his grandchild were boucing on his mother lap playing with his father and mother's shirt.

He chuckled before walking towards the tired pair and crossing his arms with a smirk while looking down at the three. Kaito looking up and made a shriek noise with a big toothless smile at seing the elder.

"Father and motherhood being harsh on my favorite couple?" He asked laughing, noticing how neither of you or Chisaki blinked or changed your gazes from the ceiling.

"... is possible of dying when you dont have much sleep... i think its our case Pops." Chisaki hoarsely mumbled while his wife made a sob noise.

"We're the worst parents, we cant even put our baby to sleep..." you whined, making Pops smiled in sympathy at the couple before he chuckled and gently pry the baby out of you guys grasp.

"There is nothing wrong with any of you. Is just normal parenthood." He chuckled when the baby made coo noises as he touched his face.

"It feels like hell." Both of you sighed, the elder shaking his head in disbelief before he montioned for you two to get up.

"You two tried giving the kid a warm bath?" He spoke while walking, you two almost dragging your feet along due to your exaustation.

"Yes and he made a mess which I had to clean up... this brat is a demon." Kai mumbled ignoring your attempt of scolding him...

"Well, lets try something then."

Pops made his way to your guys room, turning on the lights only to go straight to you guys shared bed and place a squirming and giggling Kaito on the middle of it, covering him with the blanket.

"Pops, with all due respect. My son will fall from there. And where the fuck me and my wife should suppose to sleep?" He grunted tiredly before Pops grabbed on your hand to push you to the other side.

"Like the kanji for the river." He pointed at Kaito making grabby hands at the ceiling, soon mentioning to you both to lay down.

You and Chisaki changed looks before sitting down on your sides, looking at Pops like he grew another head.

"Babies love to sleep snug between their mothers and fathers." He turned his back to left the room with a yawn "Good night Kai and (Y/n)."

"Pff. Like that is going to work." You whispered still looking at the door.

"Indeed." Your husband nodded.

You both widen your eyes at suddenly hearing sleepy sounds and breaths and slowly looked down to see Kaito, face in bliss with eyes closed.

You two twitched eyes violently at the sign... you at least sighed in relief a bit after, but your husband still was glaring down at his son.

"This... brat. Such a futile and stupid technique and he-" you cutted your husband with sigh and pressing your fingers to his lips to shut him up.

"At least he is sleeping..." you dropped your head mercilessly on your pillow, Chisaki imitating your actions shortly after.

"Angel.." he grunted in his pillow, reaching for your hand to hold and sighing when he found it.

"Hm?"

"We're both idiots... and this rascal is a brat."

"Agreed. But not the brat part."

Chisaki lifted his head to look at you in disbelief.

"After all those months you still have the courage of-"

"Kai I love you with all my soul am life my debil, but please go to fucking sleep." You whined

Bonus:

Pops chuckled in unamusement with arms crossed.

Seing his sucessor with mouth completely open as he breath in and out in deep sleep as his child slept snuggly on the top of his chest and his wife snored with her head on his shoulder.

The three seemed in deep sleep, and Chisaki had a subconscious protective hold on both his child and his wife...

"Pops good mor... a miracle happened aparently." Chrono came up with Mimic, both widening their eyes at the sign in front of them.

Wait... since when Chisaki leaved his bedroom's door open?

"The kanji for the river never fails." Pops mused out loud, the three man turning their heads at hearing heavy footsteps of Rappa coming.

"Where's Overhaul-?!" Chrono and irinaka tackled the huge man to the ground, making him shut up while Pops widened his eyes at hearing the bed sheets moving.

"You're a fucking suicidal?!" Kurono whispered shouted as Mimic only glared daggers at the man, knowing that if HE shouted he was going to be the one overhauled.

Pops sighed in relief at seing that neither of the Chisaki's had woke up, only Chisaki who had closed his mouth and nestled his face on his wife's head.

"Everyone on this base is forbidden to come closer to this room. Understood?" Pops comented as he slowly closed the door.

Kurono and Mimic nodded, punching Rappa for trying to object.

[contrivedcoincidences6]

Obstacles

Continuing in my Dirty Hands series! Thank you as always to @otterandterrier​ for being my beta! And huge shout out to writer sprints aka the reason I finally was able to write. 

Han tossed and turned in his bunk, unable to get his fight with Leia out of his mind. The evening had started out so well. Leia’d had dinner with him, Luke and Chewie on the Falcon and it had been nice. Even nicer was how she left with Luke but circled back a few minutes later, jumping right into Han’s arms.

It was a rare quiet night for the rebels and she’d been giving him eyes all day. The foreplay of hidden looks had lasted all day, from the moment she’d greeted them at the Mako-Ta docks and until she’d snuck back onto the Falcon and finally climbed him like a tree. 

He’d been away for a week and seeing her made Han’s heart beat faster than he’d admit. The whole time they were away he’d missed her, which was against her very strict rules. 

She’d set the rules hours after their first time sleeping together, writing them up and handing them to him on a datacard to make it as impersonal as possible. He’d agreed, of course. No matter how infuriating he’d found the interaction after touching her, kissing her, being inside her, he couldn’t say no. 

She was worse than spice and twice as powerful. 

Han loved that he knew things about her that no one else did, that there were parts of her that would always be his. He wanted to find out all those hidden little secrets and collect them just for himself, to know Leia better than anyone; every scrap of information he found, he hid away for himself. 

Leia would have never admitted to missing him but he could feel in the way she held him. It was a big night in Han’s opinion—she’d surprised him by letting him be on top, which put them face to face for the first time. Han couldn’t get enough of watching her face as they moved together, unravelling so close up. This time, she hadn’t pushed him away as soon as they were done, either. 

Afterward she’d laid in his bunk with him and they’d actually talked. Han had asked her about what she’d done while he’d been away and she’d filled him in on some hilarious stories of the exploits of Luke and the other X-ing pilots. She’d been laughing at something he’d said when a lock of her usually neatly done up hair had fallen into her face. Before he could think about what he was doing, Han had pushed her hair back behind her ear. 

Something expanded in Han’s chest as she looked up at him with her large liquid eyes. He’d traced his thumb along her cheekbone and moved his fingers into her braids. Han had kissed her then, and she’d hesitated for just a moment before returning his affections. 

Their kisses had remained sweet and slow. Han’s fingers had moved on their own accord into Leia’s hair and he’d begun to undo her braids. 

She’d frozen and, after a moment, Han had stopped. 

“What?” he’d asked when she pulled away from him.

“Don’t touch my hair. Ever.” She faced away from him, holding her hair in place. She’d covered up her half-done hair the way most people would cover their nakedness. 

Han was without words while she’d dressed, but found his voice before she left. 

“Yeah goodnight to you, too, sweetheart,” he’d grunted out snidely. 

“If you can’t follow the rules I’ve set out, then this is over.” 

She hadn’t looked back before leaving the room, and a baffled Han, behind.

Hours later, he still couldn’t sleep. He rolled over and buried his head into his pillow before quickly throwing it to the ground and pounding a fist onto the bunk. 

It smelled like her. Stang, how did it still smell like her? 

Leia haunted him like a ghost. 

Knowing he was in for a long sleepless night, Han decided to take a walk, maybe train with his blaster for a bit, shooting something might make him feel better. 

Mako Ta was the fanciest base the Rebellion had. It was state of the art, fitted out with a gymnasium that catered to all manner of sentients, and Han, though not usually the most athletic type, decided he wanted to work off some energy. The simulated battle course would suit him nicely.

Despite how late (or early really) it was in ship time, the gym had a good amount of beings using its facilities. A pair of Mirialans jogged past him on his way in and he could feel their eyes on him as they passed. He looked back over his shoulder and one of them was still admiring him. She was pretty, with yellow skin and dark matching tattoos on her cheek. She smiled at him in a knowing way and he took a moment to admire her, wink, and pretend he was interested in anyone but Leia. 

He’d just passed a large swimming pool where all manner of aquatics were gathered when his attention was drawn to a growing crowd over by his planned destination. Han had no interest in running or swimming but he liked the obstacle courses that filled the back of the gymnasium. They required use of his mind, body, and blaster in concert, and exhausted him thoroughly. On this night, though, a small crowd was gathered around watching two people leaping and shooting in one of the holo simulations designed to look like a jungle from Yavin IV.

The course was set to look like the jungle planet and it featured holo Walkers and Stormtroopers, making the participants run through the simulated landscape while under attack.

Han stopped in his tracks when he identified the two humans as Luke and Leia. They worked perfectly together, almost like they were reading each other’s every thought. There were no words between the two, but they covered each other from the fake blaster fire as they ran on the fast treadmill turned jungle. 

The courses were beautifully done, created to feel truly real. The user could even add heat, cold, precipitation, and adjust the pain level for the blaster fire. Leia’s brow was covered in sweat, flyaway hairs plastered to her face, which was filled with intense focus, but also a type of exhilaration he’d come to look for in her. 

The Leia Organa who always acted so serious actually craved adventure and excitement. It was the look she wore when they were sneaking around, but here she was wearing a similar look as she ran the course with Luke. Han wanted to walk away, but the strange battle dance that she and Luke were performing was difficult to look away from. 

Leia in particular was a wonder as she leapt over surprise barriers and dodged oncoming hits like a born warrior. 

Force, he was falling for this woman. 

The end of the course was signified by two X-wings waiting in the holo hangar, and when they reached their goal the small crowd cheered. Luke and Leia waited for a score to come up and, unsurprising to all who’d been watching, they took the top spot. Leia let out an uncharacteristic whoop and launched herself at Luke, who spun her around. 

The onlookers moved forward to talk to them as Han decided it was time he left. 

She looked happy; he didn’t want to ruin that. 

He was so deep into his own self-pitying thoughts that he hadn’t heard the running footsteps behind him. 

“Hey, Han.” 

He was so shocked to hear Leia’s out of breath voice that he stopped fast. 

“Good performance out there, Your Highness,” Han spat out as she came into his vision. 

Her face transformed from curious, to irritated, to forced calm in a matter of seconds and he watched her take a deep breath to calm herself. 

“Listen, Han, I’m sorry.” 

Convinced he’d not heard her right, Han just gaped at her. 

“Did you hear me? ‘Cause I’m not saying it again.” 

After that he was sure he’d actually heard her and he rolled his eyes. 

“Look I’m trying to apologize, it’s just—” her voice lowered and she looked around, “Hair, specifically, unbraiding a woman’s hair, is very… intimate… on Alderaan.” 

When she realized she’d referred to her home planet in the present tense, she flinched. 

“Was intimate on Alderaan, and it’s still that way for my people. I realize that you were not aware of that custom, so, I’m sorry for getting angry.”

Her face was red from the running but he could tell the apology was also contributing to the blush, and hearing her actually talk about her lost homeworld caused a pang in his chest. 

“It’s alright, Princess, thanks,” he waved it off, as if he hadn’t been losing sleep over the whole thing. 

“Right, um, thank you.” 

They stood there distinctly uncomfortable for a few seconds, Leia still catching her breath, until Han hooked a thumb back over his shoulder, indicating the course she’d just finished. 

“I meant it, by the way, nice work out there. You guys are a good team.” He really hadn’t meant for the last part to sound bitter but somehow it left his mouth that way.

If Leia noticed the slight venom in his voice, she didn’t show it. 

“Yeah, well, it’s not really fair when I’m teamed up with a Jedi in training; of course he’s going to win.”

Han shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve seen Luke run that course with others and even alone, he’s never done so well.” 

He didn’t know why he persisted; it was like the need to push on a bruise or pick at a hangnail, he couldn't help digging his grave deeper. 

Eyebrows drawn, Leia looked away and said, “I guess.” 

They were silent again for another moment until Luke’s excited shout broke them out of their awkward spell. 

“Han, old buddy! How are ya? Did you just see that? Leia and I broke the record!” Luke’s face was pure joy and Han couldn’t help but return the smile. 

“Yeah, good work, kid, they’ll have to invent a new level just for you two!” 

“Join us next time! I bet with the three of us we can beat the trio round too!”

Han chuckled and didn’t meet Leia’s eyes. “Sure, next time.” 

Both Han and Leia noticed Luke’s eyes trail away to see Wedge entering the gym. 

“I’ve got to tell Wedge, he’ll be so mad! Night guys!” Luke looked down at his chrono and shrugged. “Or morning I guess,” he corrected, and jogged off. 

Han and Leia’s eyes met then. 

“I better….” 

“Yeah—” 

They nodded at each other and hurried off in random, opposite directions. Han looked back over his shoulder for just a moment to catch her retreating back, but he turned away before he caught her own last look. 

She’d be the death of him.

[shanethvarosa]

Music Review: 2020

My blog has been a lot of things over the years, but it did originate as something I used to publicly review music; especially in the Visual Kei scene. Since I began the blog so many years ago, I had actually been hired to review Visual Kei and J-Rock music for an actual website: VKH-Press.com, work I am very, very proud of to this day. However, with not much news to comment on or work to critique, I haven’t been as active. Plus, personal issues always seem to stand in my way. However, I always take the time to discuss my passions at the end of the year. There were so many incredible releases, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and so I wanted to take the time time to discuss my favorite releases and, maybe, the not-so-favorites as well. Quick shout out to Bastille’s Goosebumps EP and Megan Thee Stallion’s Good News LP as I did not get to listen to them before I wrote up my lists, but were still excellent releases. See my thoughts below! 

Overall, there were about 75 albums or groupings of albums I listened to this year and split them between various tiers. Starting with the bad tier, there were actually only ten albums listed here and mostly just because they were seemingly unnecessary collection albums. For example, another Satsuki collection? Rides in ReVellion releasing two greatest hits LPs after only five years of work? Beyonce releasing The Lion King: The Gift again? None of those felt like necessary releases. There weren’t many albums that really screamed bad to me this year, but I really could not stand Vanessa Carlton’s “Love is an Art” or Justin Bieber’s “Changes.” The only other albums on this tier were just underwhelming compared to what I know the artist is capable of, but the “best bad tier album,” in my view, was The 1975′s “Notes on a Conditional Form.” 

The mid-tier albums had all sorts of reasons for being only mid-tier. They weren’t quite bad or outright unnecessary, but are mostly by artists who put out work that was nowhere near the caliber of their usual work or were re-releases or other collection albums. For example, Tove Lo’s “Sunshine Kitty: Pawprint Edition” or Man With A Mission’s remixes/b-sides/covers albums. Nice to have with good quality music, but I wish we’d just have had brand new EPs or LPs. 

The good-tier albums were all really excellent releases, but didn’t hit home the way anything on the “God-Tier” list did. Here, I’d like to share a quick top ten: 

10. Taeyeon’s “Purpose: Repackage” & Japanese EP, “#GirlsSpkOut” 9. Charli XCX’s “How I’m Feeling Now” 8. Miyavi’s “Holy Nights” & “Holy Nights: 2020 Lockdown” 7. TK’s “Sainou” 6. PVRIS’s “Use Me” 5. Buck-Tick’s “Abracadabra” 4. Katy Perry’s “Smile” 3. Alicia Keys’ “Alicia” 2. Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia” & “Club Future Nostalgia” 1. Ava Max’s “Heaven & Hell

Without furhter ado, though, the God Tier Top 25: 

25. Acme’s We Are Visual Kei: Essentially a collection album of several songs that were b-sides that never made a full-blown album. This LP was loaded with some of Acme’s best work and shows that they are going to be here for a long time, despite Div not quite working out. Recommended tracks: Mononoke Requiem, Gekiyama Celluloid, Houkago no Shiiku 

24. Alanis Morisette’s Such Pretty Forks in the Road: Admittedly, a huge fan in the 90′s and loved her cover of Seal’s Crazy. However, before this album I didn’t really listen to much of her body of work and I can see why today’s youth might not listen to this album. It is very “adult” insofar as it deals with her struggles in marriage, parenting, religion, etc. Her vocal performance is exceptional and her song writing remains some of the best in the business. Recommended tracks: Smiling, Nemesis, Reasons I Drink. 

23. Niall Horan’s Heartbreak Weather: Not my usual cup of tea, but for some reason Niall’s music makes me feel softer than normal. He’s very cute and charming and his words are always so romantic. It feels more genuine than the music made by other members of One Direction and kind-of reminds me of earlier Taylor Swift writing, but from a male perspective. Recommended Tracks: Put A Little Love On Me, Arms of a Stranger, Still. 

22. K/DA’s All Out: I don’t even really understand what this is, but I love it. There’s something to do with League of Legends? Cartoons? International pop stars? Whatever it is, I’m totally obsessed. These songs just completely slap. Recommended Tracks: The Baddest, More, Drum Go Dum. 

21. Darrell’s Brilliant Death: This might even “officially” be a single, but there’s enough content to market it as an album. Darrell is a band formed from the ashes of Deathgaze and Ai’s solo project. Who knows why Ai didn’t just continue after his solo album, Confusion, but he decided to go back to the band-format with confusingly-named Darrell. This album is then, incidentally, mostly Deathgaze covers. It brings the production into the new era and gives you a lot of nostalgic love for old hits. Recommended Tracks: Brilliant Death, Evoke the World, Abyss. 

20. Alice Nine’s Fuyajou Eden & Kuro to Wonderland: Neither album was particularly long, in fact these were glorified EPs that could’ve been merged to one two-sided LP, but in either case... Both albums had something really special to offer and felt like a true comeback after years of name changes and finally going back to their original, kanji-styled name. Recommended Tracks: Kakumei Kaika -Revolutionary Blooming-, Testament, Replica, Glow. 

19. Mucc’s Aku: This album felt very long in the making after a series of weird singles that didn’t feel like they were going anywhere. Ultimately, a lot of those singles did not make the album including my favorite one: Taboo. The resulting album, though, did feel very cohesive and thematic and even featured one of this year’s heavy hitters: Hazuki. Recommended Tracks: Aku -Justice-, Memai, Ameria. 

18. Miley Cyrus’s Plastic Hearts: This person is absolutely one of my favorite people in music. I’m pretty sure they have comeout as genderfluid/non-binary, so I want to stick with safe pronouns, just in case. However, they’ve always been a favorite and as they’ve come out as such a champion for the LGBT, I love them even more. The album though gave me a lot of hype for something very 80′s rock, but didn’t quite give me what I expected. All in all, the music was fantastic, just a little off-beat from expectations. Recommended Tracks: Gimme What I Want, Angels Like You, WTF Do I Know. 

17. Rina Sawayama’s Sawayama: I didn’t expect to fall in love with this girl the way I did. My boyfriend recommended “STFU” to me as kind of a joke because the song discusses a lot of Asian racism that I’m always criticizing people in my life for falling into, but then the song was so bad ass I checked out the album. There were so many different types of music on it and she really did a good job with all of them. Then, with the deluxe edition coming out and the hardcore club banger “Lucid” being involved... Just really brought it all home. Recommended Tracks: Tokyo Love Hotel, Lucid, Fuck This World. 

16. Amber Liu’s X: This was just an EP, but every song on it was great. Amber Liu was from f(x), a K-Pop Icon Group, but she always seemed like the odd one out. She was such a tomboy, so silly and funny all the time, and didn’t really behave like other Korean idols. I mean, really, she isn’t actually even Korean. I believe she’s Chinese American. In either case, the EP really noted some of her own personal strugles in the business and also remaining pretty fun at parts too. I saw her live in Philly before COVID-19 and she was truly excellent. Recommended Tracks: Numb, Stay Calm, Other People. 

15. Blackpink’s The Album: Not much of an album at only 8 tracks, but that’s K-Pop for you. I bet next year I’ll be putting “Blackpink’s The Album: Repackage” on my top 25 list. The quality of the music was pretty dope though, all things considered. It was a very solid debut effort with all of their previous songs being somewhere in the same lane as this one. I still kind of believe they are a reminder of what 2NE1 could have been, but they’re doing well enough on their own. Recommended Tracks: Ice Cream, Lovesick Girls, Pretty Savage. 

14. Hazuki’s Year Over All: Kind of a weird way to word it, but Hazuki basically released two albums this year in different formats. His work with his band, Lynch., was pretty magnificent. I’m not one to usually dwell on a Lynch. album. Their singles or featured tracks are what I usually get into, but the actual album (Ultima) really did a good job of showing how versatile Hazuki can be. His solo album, Souen -Funeral-, was an entirely stripped down, gothic orchestral album of Lynch. covers and other J-Hard Rock artists. Hearing it done like this was almost transcendental. Recommended Tracks: Xero, Idol, Ray, D.A.R.K. 

13. Sam Smith’s Love Goes: They had me scared that their album wasn’t coming this year once they pushed it back, back in May. Then again, at the time, an album called “To Die For” was probably super tone deaf. In any case, literally every single released for this album had me in love. So, when they all got included in the final version, I was thrilled. Sam gave us a bonus song after the album as well, but I can see why that one didn’t get on. In any case, this is a huge step up from “The Thrill of it All,” which I didn’t really care for. Recommended Tracks: Another One, Dance (’Til You Love Someone Else), Forgive Myself. 

12. Troye Sivan’s In A Dream: I love this kid. He’s so gay and so not shy about it and it really makes me smile. The EP comes after his last LP, Bloom, where the title track basically talks about bottoming for the first time and this new EP deals with a few other queer issues over weirdly produced beats that just... make sense. Recommended tracks: Stud, In A Dream, Easy. 

11. Matenrou Opera’s Chronos: Unfortunately, this band just lost their guitarist again. Their original, Anzi, was basically the most consummate guitarist in the visual kei scene that wasn’t Hizaki and he left them. Their sound wasn’t quite right since and they seemed to just get it back with Chronos when Jay left them. I guess we’ll see what they do next, but I think Chronos could be their last great release. Recommended Tracks: Chronos, Silence, Reminiscence. 

10. BoA’s Better: A very recent release that hasn’t had much time for me to digest. This is strange for me to put it so high on my list for that reason, but BoA is one of my all time favorites. She never disappoints me. This album was no different. It wasn’t exactly up to par with “Woman” or “Watashi Kono Mama de Ii no Kana,” but it definitely gave us some new and very iconic Queen BoA bangers. Recommended Tracks: Cut Me Off, Start Over, Temptations. 

9. Kesha’s High Road: A semi-step down from Rainbow, only because a lot of the same melodic elements and, sometimes, even beats were used on this album too. However, her vocal performance was outstanding and she even gave us a new dirty-pop song with some interesting indie-pop tracks to go with it. Plus, who doesn’t love a Big Freedia feature? Recommended Tracks: Resentment, Raising Hell, Tonight. 

8. Lady Gaga’s Chromatica: Anyone who knows me knows I don’t really love Gaga anymore. After all the drama with Madonna and her experimentation with “Joanne” I didn’t think I’d ever like her music again. However, she definitely won back big points for me on Chromatica. It was finally fun, weird, dancey, and then simultaneously emotional and I was really able to get back into it. She’s always had the voice, but on this one it also showed us that she still has what made us love her. Recommended Tracks: Rain On Me, Plastic Doll, Enigma. 

7. Koda Kumi’s My Name Is... Angel + Monster: She is, very likely, my Japanese Pop Queen. She always makes these absolutely outlandish bangers of dance tracks that have such a great attitude and beat and when she released re(CORD)... last year? 2018? Who can remember... I thought she could never outdo herself. Then she released “Lucky Star” and I was floored. I was a bit disappointed when they were only to promote a “My Name Is...” collection album, but then, to my surprise, a full set of new tracks came out just after that just blew me entirely away. Guess the last 6 albums must be pretty great, huh? Recommended tracks: Killer Monster, Work It!, Alarm. 

6. Grimes’ Miss Anthropocene: I’ve never been a big fan of Grimes, but when Violence came out I was really looking forward to whatever album this was going to end up promoting. The song is actual fire, but then the LP ended up being some kind of experimental Gothic Pop with Asian Pop influences I never expected. I doubt I’ll ever find something she does this good ever again, but it was really a musical light in the darkness of this year. Recommended tracks: Darkseid, Delete Forever, Violence. 

5. Kylie Minogue’s Disco: Admittedly, my draw to Kylie has always been that she is like some kind of Australian Madonna. Madonna being one of my all time favorite artists... In fact, number 2 for all women I listen to, Kylie has some big shoes to fill with her sometimes generic pop that she puts out. However, I haven’t really truly loved a Kylie song since “Get Outta My Way” and then this album comes out filled with tracks to love for the rest of time. Recommended Tracks: Miss A Thing, Till You Love Somebody, Magic. 

4. Chanmina’s Notebook/Angel: I don’t have really any way of knowing how popular Chanmina is in Japan or if she is as popular in the Japanese Queer Scene as she should be, but god damn does she know what she’s doing. Her music is raunchy, bitchy, and condescending at it’s highest and deeply personal at it’s most mellow. There is no “lowest.” “Notebook” was a two-sided album and “Angel” a strong follow up EP, but all the recommended tracks are from “Notebook.” If you have not listened to “Picky”.... go do it now, I’ll wait. Recommended tracks: Picky, Baby, Lucy. 

3. The Weeknd’s After Hours: Incidentally, I got into The Weeknd after someone said something shitty about him here on Tumblr! I took their likely-valid criticism and went to check him out for myself and I gotta say, I love his work. The beats are literally always on point and his voice is like silk. This album provided more than a few iconic songs and I always can’t wait to see what he does next. Recommended Tracks: Alone Again, Heartless, Blinding Lights. 

2. Halsey’s Manic: The singles and features she did between Hopeless Fountain Kingdom and Manic gave me such insanely high hopes and I was not disappointed. HFK was a strong album of course, but this was near perfection for me. I think the production of this alt-pop album was the star of the show because it wasn’t all one way, there were heavy-bass songs, interesting piano riffs, striaght up punk rock, all of it. She really made an album quite like it’s namesake. Recommended Tracks: Ashley, Killing Boys, Still Learning. 

1. Dexcore’s Metempsychosis: A newcomer to the visual kei and death metal scene, they’ve been putting out single after single for years in preparation for their extemeley long and multidaceted debut album. With a total of about 33 songs, the entire second disc was rerecorded singles from their early days and some even got new lyrical treatment. The main series of songs were, of course, also totally flooring and all of the recommended tracks are the new ones. If you haven’t checked them out by now, you have to! Recommended tracks: Cibus, Scribble, Period.

[shipaholic]

Omens Universe, Chapter 7

Pivotal chapter no. 1, here we go...

This chapter has drinking. So much drinking. Also, Crowley finally has the Bentley, so this will be the first chapter (of many?) in which he totally invents speeding.

The music in this chapter is V Stands For Victory

And I Could Write a Book (Eddy Duchin, 1941).

Link to next part at the end.

(From the beginning)

(last part)

(chrono)

---

Chapter 7

Crowley’s ridiculous contraption bombed down the street at ninety miles per hour. Aziraphale was hardly aware. His eyes were fixed on Crowley’s face as he drove.

This was bad, he thought, dreamily.

Telling himself that made no dent in his emotional state. His mind was wrapped in cotton candy. Cotton candy that was moving very fast… possibly still in the whirly machine they made it in… he shouldn’t try to devise metaphors at a time like this. The point was, despite Crowley being Demonic and Evil and the rest of the standard specs for a minion of Hell, upon realising he loved him, Aziraphale could not make himself feel anything other than Good. Both definitions. This was right. This was what he was made for.

It wasn’t as if Crowley had ever been capital-E Evil, really. In fact, so long as he was being honest with himself (a dreadful prospect, but it turned out love made him brave), he had known this ever since the first time they fused. All those thousands of years ago. That was probably a big part of the reason he had hit the proverbial roof. It was a blow to one’s identity as a font of goodness, to merge minds with your opposite number and learn that he had more in common with you, morally, than most of your allies. Back then, he had refused to accept being humbled and had lashed out at Crowley instead. He’d behaved terribly. Worse than he’d even admitted before now.

But that was in the past, and the present was a carousel, a delicious dreamscape, gliding through the velvet dark with Crowley beside him -

The Bentley screeched to a halt. Aziraphale nearly slammed into the windscreen.

“Home sweet home,” Crowley said, cheerfully.

It was fortunate he didn’t have to love everything about Crowley, because this infernal machine was definitely out.

Crowley peered out of the window. “Hasn’t changed a bit,” he said, approvingly. He opened his door and hopped out. “Coming?”

Aziraphale looked out. They were already at the bookshop. He hadn’t been paying attention.

He collected himself, and his bag of books. He opened the car door with trepidation, as if the handle might explode.

It didn’t. He got from the car and followed Crowley in a daze towards the shop.

Crowley snapped his fingers. A soundproof bubble settled over the shop. Another snap dropped the blinds, and a third clicked the door latch into place.

Aziraphale hovered near the entrance. His familiar space had just become soft and dark and intimate. He wasn’t sure what thresholds would be crossed if he went all the way inside.

It had been years since Crowley had been back here. He revolved, drinking it in.

“Ahh. Place looks good. Very… impenetrable.”

Aziraphale preened. “In its heyday, this place could go six months at a time without selling a single book.”

Crowley gave him a fond smile. Aziraphale was going to spontaneously combust before the night was over.

Crowley clapped his hands together. “So! What are you in the mood for?”

Aziraphale took a breath and tried for a normal answer. “Alcohol seems just the ticket.”

“No surprise there.” Crowley miracled up some brandy glasses.

“Well, of course. I was just in mortal peril, you know.” Aziraphale followed him to the back room.

“Immortal peril. Barely counts.”

~*~

It was an old, familiar scene.

Crowley took over the whole sofa in increasingly supine, twisty positions the drunker he got. Aziraphale sat in the armchair, head and surroundings merrily spinning. He wasn’t entirely sure what they were talking about, but he knew it involved vociferously nitpicking something one of them had said half an hour ago.

“Tha’snot true. Totally unfair. I was going to come by.”

“Lies.” Aziraphale poured another brandy and missed.

“I just fell asleep. For a few years. And forgot.”

“Wimped out, more like.”

“Wimped out? Me? What the Hell did you get up to in there?”

“I’ll never tell. Because you didn’t come by.”

Crowley tried to sit up, wrestled with the throw, and sunk back, defeated.

“I knew it wasn’t all games of Old Maid in there,” he said. “You dark horse.”

“We did some of that…” Aziraphale said, dreamily.

“You what?”

Perhaps he shouldn’t have said that. “Erm. We did - the Gavotte?”

“...Is that a euphemism?”

“No, it’s a jolly lovely time.”

An unbroken row of them, linking arms and kicking their feet. Aziraphale had been one of the better dancers by the end. It helped to be single-handed - no, minded...

He bolted upright. “Crowley! I should show you.”

“Whassat?”

Aziraphale sprung to his feet, after a couple of false starts. He took a moment to let the brandy inside him slosh back to an even level.

“The Gavotte. Watch me. Watch me, Crowley.”

He stepped over a few piles of books. He needed some room… was his shop always this cluttered? He pushed ineffectually at a small table covered in ornaments, then gave up and snapped his fingers. The furniture in the middle of the room obligingly tidied itself off to the side. V Stands For Victory parped its opening notes from the gramophone.

Crowley watched, mouth slightly agape, from halfway off the sofa. Aziraphale beckoned him with more and more insistence, until Crowley slid all the way off, crawled nearer and pulled himself up against the arm of Aziraphale’s chair.

Satisfied that Crowley could at least see, even if his eyes were unfocused, Aziraphale prepared himself. He bounced from his knees a few times and swung his elbows. He’d have to just imagine the rest of the chaps.

“A one, a two, a three, a four -”

Five energetic minutes passed.

Aziraphale thrust both arms towards Crowley in the universally recognised sign for ‘tah-dah!’ The gramophone tooted to a stop, sounding embarrassed.

Crowley’s mouth hung open.

“It’s better than your magic act, thank Satan,” he said at last.

“Oh, come now.” Aziraphale frowned.

Crowley groped for the nearest drink. “That’s cheered me up about giving the old club a miss.”

“You’re no fun. It’s better with more people.”

Perhaps a one-person Gavotte was too reliant on the imagination of the audience. Aziraphale thought for a moment. He pointed to the gramophone. It cranked reluctantly up again.

“This music is poor even by Heavenly standards,” Crowley said.

Aziraphale tripped forward before he could overthink it, and grabbed Crowley’s hand. They swayed, as though reaching for each other on a deck over choppy waters. Crowley’s face was scarlet from alcohol. He blinked at Aziraphale, his eyes a haze of gold.

“Dance with me.” Aziraphale meant to sound authoritative. It came out slightly breathless.

“Ngk,” said Crowley.

Aziraphale shuffled backwards. He felt self-conscious hanging onto Crowley’s hand, so tried to pull away unobtrusively. Drunk as they were, their fingers tangled together, and withdrawing his far-too-hot hand ended up being a bit of a nightmare. Crowley’s face was even redder by the time their hands loosened. Still he drifted towards Aziraphale as if the tether was still there.

The music was awfully trumpety, Aziraphale had to admit, as they stood face to face in the bit of floor space that was clear. He stepped up beside Crowley, and slipped his arm through his.

“Now, it’s not so hard. Even I got it in the end. You move like this -”

He took a step. Crowley stepped the other way, and collided with him.

Things did not improve. The gramophone sounded irritated by the third play through, and Aziraphale and Crowley had dissolved into arguing while Aziraphale tried to watch both their feet.

“This is stupid. Whoever invented this dance did not have demons in mind. Or humans. Maybe horses. This is a horse dance.”

“I doubt this dance was intended for horses - no, you do this with your arms. How many elbows do you have?”

“Two, or none, depending. Hmm. Would you say a snake is basically one long elbow?”

“Thinking about that is above my paygrade. Will you stop getting underfoot?”

“You’re stepping on my feet!”

“How am I supposed to avoid that? They’re everywhere.”

“This is why I never bloody turned up.”

“Honestly -”

Aziraphale held Crowley closer, hoping to wrangle him through the steps.

He really was all elbows and knees. And so warm, radiating hell’s heat through that sharp suit. No hat, no glasses, eyes like suns floating in a swamp. Strands of short red hair teased loose over his forehead. His brows had such character. They were scrunched in that bemused, slightly glum way Aziraphale had noted hundreds of times. He hadn’t quite known he was recording it. Crowley’s face, Crowley’s looks. His angelic memory was long, and its catalogue of Crowley was fathomless.

The music had changed. Someone crooned:

‘About the way you walk, and whisper, and look…’

That seemed unnecessarily on-the-nose.

Aziraphale wondered which of them had done that. He didn’t recall making a conscious attempt. Perhaps it had reacted to both of them.

He could no longer pretend what they were doing bore any resemblance to a Gavotte.

He ought to pull away. His eyes fixed on his hand, resting beside Crowley’s lapel. There was no heart beneath it; nothing so human. But something beat anyway. Something in Crowley was in rhythm with him. They pushed and pulled together. Despite a lack of innate ability, they danced.

He looked up, and searched Crowley’s face.

Crowley looked…

Stunned, a little. Fearful. Yearning.

He’d seen this look before. Stifled versions of it. So many times.

Aziraphale’s heart wrenched towards Crowley’s, and it made no difference that neither of them really had one.

~*~

The gramophone concluded that it would make two lovers of friends. The brilliant white glow that had flared into every corner of the room died away like the last light of summer.

Zadkiel twirled to a stop. He had wrapped his arms around himself. He sighed, and opened his eyes.

He was him. Again. Better and fuller and brighter than ever before.

It was like a loose connection in his brain had snapped into place, and lit up an entire circuit he didn’t know was there.

Of course they loved each other. Of course. He’d always known, without being truly allowed to know. Cognitive dissonance, that was the term. Normally, when people had it, it manifested as plain old denial. For Zadkiel, it was what happened when one of your component parts was very much aware they were in love, and the other part was utterly unaware, no matter how apparent it should have been to literally anyone.

No more. Now, their feelings were an open book. He was remade, and everything was different.

He couldn’t wait to get started.

He snapped his fingers at the gramophone. It gratefully fell silent.

Another snap, and Aziraphale’s furniture shuffled back into place. He had to hop about to avoid his shins getting bashed.

Finally, he snapped to unlock the door.

It fell ajar. The smell of night air stirred through the shop, dark as ink, and full of a thousand small noises.

Zadkiel turned in place. He drank in the long-loved sight of the bookshop. What a wonderful friend it had been. A true home, after centuries of wandering. If he could take it with him, he would.

He straightened his tie, banished the lingering alcohol from his bloodstream, and strode to the door.

His final act was to fish his sunglasses out of his jacket pocket. He left them on a table. He wouldn’t need them where he was going.

He exited the shop smartly. The door snapped shut behind him.

~*~

The street rolled away into the dark distance.

Zadkiel tilted his head up. The night sky was empty of stars and gods, and it was all waiting for him.

Both pairs of wings spread out behind him. He let them both have a good stretch. They’d need it.

He had loved the Earth. He always would. Still… time for something new.

He wished the world the fondest of farewells, and took off into the night.

---

(Link to next part)

[kob131]

https://rwdestuffs.tumblr.com/post/625369121618640896/done-dirty-gods

I’d like to make the point that the light god, the dude who killed Oz repeatedly and abused Salem to the point that she became the villainous being that we know today, is somehow on the “Heroes Wiki.”

You know, not like she demanded special treatment, tried going behind his back and tried to destroy him and his brother all because she demanded that the cycle of death not apply to who she wants.

Because I guess abusers are heroes now.

Says the creator of the ‘Savivor Mom Raven’ series.

Oh, and also, I HAD TO USE GODDAMN SOUTH PARK AS PART OF MY OPENER!

Incorrectly might I add as both the Light and Dark gods are not portrayed as directly opposing each other. So you’re mad you ‘had’ to use a show’s meme...incorrectly.

Let’s get this out of the way for any of idiots out there: Salem was NOT responsible for Humanity 1.0′s death. She may have provoked these two asshats, but she wasn’t the one who

1: Loaded the gun.

2: Aimed the gun.

3: Fired the gun.

By the same logic, people say Yang murdered Adam. How does that go with you again?

What did Salem do?- She just stood up to them and, inadvertently, gave them a target. 

She directly lied to the first iteration of humanity after being punished for lying to the gods and being directly told she shouldn���t have done that all over demanding her husband be brought back to life even though God knows how many people die and aren’t brought back by the gods despite having just as much reason to want them back as Salem.

As far as I’m concerned, these gods were the villains of the story, and what I wouldn’t give to see Yang punch one of them in the face.

Probably because it’s a penis vs. vagina for you.

When making these “Godly” characters, it’s okay to give them flaws. In fact, that’s what makes the Greek Gods, Norse Gods, Japanese Gods, and Egyptian Gods so interesting. They have flaws, weaknesses, and more relatable personality aspects that makes it seem like we could have the guy responsible for the ocean’s tides as our next door neighbor, or the adorable little dog across the street as the one responsible for the sun coming up… and beating up a fish in a giant mech suit. Goddamn, I want to play Okami again.

I got off-topic. The point is, is that it’s okay for these Gods to give flawed advice… Provided that they gave advice at all.

See, Light God was insensitive to Salem’s plight, and in all likelihood, used the same rhetoric that her father used to lock her up in that tower as an excuse to just brush her off.

Salem: (falling to her knees) Please... Please, bring him back to me.

God of Light: I understand your pain, but you demand of me that which I cannot make so. Life and death are part of a delicate balance.

Such terrible rhetoric.

BTW, funny how you mention the Greek Gods. You want to know what the role of most Greek Gods are in their home myths?

Living Embodiments of Punishing Pride.

Helena Of Troy’s mother, Narcassist and Echo, Odysseus, Arachne, Midas-

Most of the targets of the gods were people who dared to act arrogant and like they were better/deserved more with the Gods smiting them for their fatal sin. Even the Gods themselves weren’t exempt from this, as many of them fell prey to their own pride and arrogance with the few (mostly) unscathed Gods being that way because they were significantly less prideful. Fuck, the Greek Gods came to be because Chronos was so cocky he could just eat his kids that it never occurred to him that his wife Rhea would trick him.

In fact, an always noteworthy story I remember was the tale of Orpheus and Euradyice, where a man traveled to the Underworld using his musical talents and demanded to have his wife brought back to life. It ALMOST didn’t work but he was just able to convince Hades on the condition that he not turn back on his way home. Spoiler Alert, he did out of a lack of faith in Hades, his wife WAS following him but he lost her because of it.

I bring this up because the Greek Gods were the INSPIRATION for the Brothers and I’d bet dollars to donuts that Orpheus’ tale was the inspiration for Salem and Ozma. You try to act like you know something about these things but completely ignore that hubris, the thing that fucked Salem over, was a running theme in the source of her backstory.

So when Salem goes to Dark God, and he does fulfill her request, it’s honestly like Salem is now picking a side. Except, it turns out that Dark God actually has to answer to the Light God.

God of Light: I know we have our differences, but I have not come here with the aim to control you. The same, however, cannot said for her. This woman came to you only after I denied her pleas – pleas that would have disrupted the balance that you and I created. Together.

The younger brother ponders this revelation.

God of Darkness: Then it seems I owe you an apology. Allow me to correct my mistake.

No he doesn’t. But nice cut context.

Does the relationship between the gods seem… manipulative to anyone? Like… The Light God (Fuck it, let’s call him “Lumin” for now, I’m not typing out that whole thing) is abusive to his brother?

Considering what I quoted above- Nope.

Acording to… I think it was Qrow, possibly in a WOR, the Dark God (Let’s call him “Ebon” because that’s a badass name, and I’m honestly not in the mood for “Light = Good, Dark = Evil” to be the underlying theme here) made his creations first. then Lumin was all “I can make something too!” and made humans to one-up his brother.

RWBY Volume 4 Episode 8 “A Much Needed Talk”

Qrow: They were two brothers. The older sibling, the God of Light, found joy in creating forces of life. Meanwhile, the younger brother, the God of Darkness, spent his time creating forces of destruction. As you can imagine, they both had pretty different ideas about how things should go. The older one would spend his days creating water, plants, wildlife. And at night, his brother would wake to see all the things that the elder had made and become disgusted. To counteract his brother's creations, the God of Darkness brought drought, fire, famine, all he could do to rid Remnant of life. Life always returned. So one night, the younger brother went and made something - something that shared his innate desire to destroy anything and everything.

Ruby: The creatures of Grimm.

Qrow: You guessed it. The older brother finally had enough. Knowing that their feud couldn't last like this forever, he proposed that they make one final creation... together, something that they could both be proud of, their masterpiece. The younger brother agreed. This last great creation would be given the power to both create and destroy. It would be given the gift of knowledge, so that it could learn about itself and the world around it. And most importantly, it would be given the power to choose, to have free will to take everything it had learned and decide which path to follow - the path of light or the path of darkness. And that is how Humanity came to be.

You misrepresent the show AND got it backwards. The God of Light created things first, then The God of Darkness and Humanity was a joint project.

Why should we consider you at all reliable, especially given how easy it would be to research this?

Like… Does that at all seem healthy to you?

No in fact, The God of Darkness is kind of a jackass. But nice job portraying your delusions as the exact opposite dumbass.

But regardless of that relationship, Lumin basically acted like that one abusive parent who destroys all of the child’s toys just because they went to the other parent to do something that the first parent was callous in denying them to do. Sorry if that brought up any bad memories for people.

More like they took the toy away when the child tricked the other parent into buying it even though the first said no.

Not to mention the relics. Outside of their purpose to resummon the gods, they don’t really do much. But these are literal artifacts left behind by said gods.

Plus, Lumin give Oz an impossible task of uniting humanity. It’s like he wants Oz to fail because he just wants an excuse to wipe them all out again.

How is it impossible when Humanity was united BEFORE SALEM?

Lumin treats humankind as an “experiment gone wrong” as if he’s just playing with peoples’ lives for his own amusement. If anything, Ebon is more sympathetic because he actually listens to their problems and wants to help them out.

Yeah-

The God of Darkness created the Grimm that make Remnant such a horrible place to live and was the one that killed all of humanity.

God of Darkness: My own gift to them... used against me.

The God of Light looks away in disappointment as the God of Darkness squeezes the sphere within his hand, creating a massive shockwave that envelops the world, smiting everything and everyone in its path. Humanity has been turned to dust, only Salem remains due to her immortality.

How is he more sympathetic?

Meanwhile Lumin is all “Sucks that your man died. Now get out.” at best.

We get it- You’re delusional.

Let’s take a look at another set of flawed gods in the form of The Norse Pantheon. Namely, Odin, Loki, and Thor. In myth, these guys were all given tasks that were basically impossible. Thor was tasked with drinking the ocean, and failed. Odin wrestled with time, and was brought down. And Loki lost an eating contest to fire. These flaws and weaknesses in regards to their hubris are part of them.

Meanwhile, Apollo lost a love to Eros because he said that he couldn’t shoot as well as him but I guess you’d assume Eros was the bad guy.

I mentioned this briefly in my “Done dirty: Oz” post, but Oz was basically brought back to cause conflict. Because… I guess Lumin was bored?

Or you know- a second chance to have the gifts of the Brothers again.

But the narrative wants people to see that Lumin and Ebon are “All good. All caring. And all knowing.”

Which is a load of bullshit. The narrative tries to paint Salem as some unsympathetic witch who couldn’t let go. When…

1: The woman was abused and locked in a tower until Oz came to rescue her.

2: She was willing to fight God to get him back. If anything, that shows true love. If you want my opinion, if you’re not willing to deck a deity in the nose for your loved one, then you don’t care about them (Take that, Abraham. Willing to sacrificing your own son just because your God told you to. Bet you wouldn’t see that from Amaterasu).

1. Doesn’t matter. There have to be people living just as bad if not WORSE than Salem and lost loved ones- it’s literally the rules EVERYONE has to abide by.

2. No, she tried to fight two gods because she was pissy. She never tried to fight them until AFTER lying to the God of Darkness and lead people to their deaths. All in the name of a legendary HERO, someone who WOULDN’T want to be brought back after all this death.

What I’m saying is that these gods are detached. Which would be an interesting aspect if the narrative had bothered to show that as being a bad thing.

So were the Greek Gods. Not the point of either one.

Then again, this is all being told by Jinn, a creation of the Gods (Namely Lumin). So maybe there’s some bias in there where they’re trying to make Salem out to be irredeemable while the gods are the undisputed good guys- and holy SHIT!- Jinn’s in on the gaslighting. 

i mean… I still want everyone to eventually realize that Salem was gaslighted into being the villain of the story. because that sounds way better than the “Abused woman lashes out and becomes evil” angle that they seem to be going at.

Yeah and Adam was branded. Guess that means you think Adam was in right to chop off Yang’s arm then.

Funny thing there- You literally can’t redeem Adam OR Salem and keep the other evil without looking hypocritical because they committed the SAME FUCKING SINS.

But given the writers’ ability to handle racism (or lack thereof), I don’t exactly have a lot of confidence in this.

Way to reference the plotline with the walking counter example in it.

Then again, the did call her Salem…

… But also again, they did write the WF plot as that horrible mess…

But they also looked into a lot of fairy tale aspects for their characters…

While you didn’t do a lick of research or else you’d know the shit about the Greek Gods.

Then again, you couldn’t even be bothered to confirm the shit about the Brothers even as you openly say ‘I don’t remember this clearly.’ So what really should I expect?

[satoshi-mochida]

Some games on the NA(and possibly EU) PSN’s “Big in Japan” sale(full list/prices):

PS4

428: Shibuya Scramble

Aegis of Earth

AI: The Somnium Files

Akiba’s Beat

Alternate Jake Hunter

Atelier Arland Series Deluxe Pack(each game is also on sale separately)

Atelier Ryza

Berserk and the Band of the Hawk

Birthdays the Beginning

Black Clover: Quartet Knights

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Special Edition

BlazBlue: Central Fiction

BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle

Chaos;Child

Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon: Every Buddy!

Cladun Returns: This is Sengoku!

Code Vein

Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~

Code: Realize ~Wintertide Miracles~

Crystar

Damascus Gear: Operation Osaka HD Edition

Danganronpa 1•2 Reload

Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls

Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

Dark Rose Valkyrie

Dark Souls III

Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation

Dead Rising 2: Off the Record

Dead Rising 4: Frank’s Big Package

Death end re;Quest

Death Mark

Demon Gaze II

Devil May Cry HD Collection

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory

Disgaea 1 Complete

Disgaea 4 Complete+

Disgaea 5 Complete Bundle

Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2

Dragon Ball Xenoverse Super Bundle

Dragon Quest Builders

Dragon Quest Builders

Dragon Quest Builders 2

Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below

Dragon Quest Heroes: Digital Slime Edition

Dragon Quest Heroes II: Explorer’s Edition

Dragon Quest XI – Digital Edition of Light

Dynasty Warriors 9 Complete Edition

Earth Defense Force 4.1: Wingdiver the Shooter

Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair

Earth Defense Force 5

Earth Defense Force 5 Deluxe Edition

Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain

Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain Ultimate Edition

Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky

Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force

Final Fantasy IX Digital Edition

Final Fantasy Type-0 HD

Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VIII Remastered

Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

Final Fantasy XV Multiplayer: Comrades

Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition HD

Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition

Final Fantasy XV Royal Pack

Final Fantasy XV Season Pass

Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ardyn

Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ignis

Final Fantasy XV: Episode Prompto

Fire Pro Wrestling World

Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

Ghost Parade

God Eater 2: Rage Burst

God Eater 3

God Wars: Future Past

Grand Kingdom

Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator-

Guilty Gear Xrd: Rev 2

Gundam Versus

I Am Setsuna

Illusion of L’Phalcia

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven Bundle

Judgment

Kingdom Hearts All-in-One Package

Kingdom Hearts III

Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk

Life is Strange 2 – Episode 1

Life is Strange 2 – Episodes 2 to 5

Life is Strange 2 Complete Season

Little Dragons Cafe

Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time

Lost Sphear

Megadimension Neptunia VII

Megadimension Neptunia VIIR

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Metal Max Xeno

Monochrome Order

My Hero: One’s Justice

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 Road To Boruto (and many other Naruto games)

Natural Doctrine

New Gundam Breaker

Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom

Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom – Deluxe Edition

NieR: Automata

Nights of Azure

Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon

Nioh

Nobunaga’s Ambition: Sphere of Influence

Nobunaga’s Ambition: Sphere of Influence – Ascension

Okami HD

Omega Quintet

One Piece: Burning Blood

One Piece: World Seeker

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3

Oninaki

Our World is Ended.

Persona Dancing: Endless Night Collection

Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness

Many Resident Evil games.

River City Melee Mach!!

Romancing SaGa 2

Romancing SaGa 3

Root Letter

SaGa Scarlet Grace: Ambitions

Saint Seiya: Soldiers’ Soul

Samurai Warriors 4-II

Secret of Mana

Shenmue III

Sleeping Dogs

Spirit Hunter: Death Mark

Spirit Hunter: NG

Star Ocean: First Departure R

Stay Cool Kobayashi-san!: A River City Ransom Story

Steins;Gate 0

Steins;Gate Elite

Steins;Gate: My Darling’s Embrace

Super Neptunia RPG

Tales of Berseria

Team Sonic Racing and Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD Bundle

The 25th Ward: The Silver Case

The Alliance Alive HD Remastered

The Caligula Effect: Overdose

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III Digital Deluxe Edition

The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince

The Lost Child

The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories

The Silver Case

The Ultimate Sonic Bundle

The Witch and the Hundred Knight: Revival Edition

The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2

The Witch and the Hundred Knight Wicked Bundle

Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters Daybreak: Special Gigs

Tokyo Xanadu EX+

Touhou Double Focus

Touhou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet

Touhou Genso Wanderer

Touhou Genso Wanderer Reloaded

Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle

Toukiden: Kiwami

Toukiden 2

Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception

Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth

Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception and Truth Bundle

Utawarerumono Zan

Valkyria Chronicles 4 Complete Edition

Valkyria Chronicles Remastered + Valkyria Chronicles 4 Bundle

Valkyria Revolution

Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story

White Day: A Labyrinth Named School

Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap

World of Final Fantasy

World of Final Fantasy Maxima Upgrade DLC

World End Syndrome

Yakuza Kiwami 2: Clan Creator Bundle

Yomawari: Midnight Shadows

Ys Origin

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana

Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist

YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love At the Bound of This World.

Zanki Zero: Last Beginning

Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma

Zero Escape: The Nonary Games

Vita

7’scarlet

Adventures Of Mana

Bad Apple Wars

Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~

Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~

Code: Realize ~Wintertide Miracles~

Collar X Malice

Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky

Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster

Illusion of L’Phalcia

Mind Zero

Muramasa Rebirth Complete Collection

Muramasa Rebirth Genroku Legends Collection

Norn9: Var Commons

Period Cube: Shackles of Amadeus

Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk

Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly

Romancing SaGa 2

Romancing SaGa 3

Secret of Mana

Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate

Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry God

Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters Daybreak: Special Gigs

Tokyo Xanadu

World of Final Fantasy

Zero Escape: The Nonary Games

Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma

PS3

Aegis of Earth: Protonovus Assault

Darkstalkers Resurrection

Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster

Final Fantasy XIII-2

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

Lost Planet 3

Mega Man 9 and 10 Combo Pack

Megaman 9

Megaman 10

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

PSP

Dissidia 012 Prologus Final Fantasy

Dissidia 012 [Duodecim] Final Fantasy

Dissidia Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy III

Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together

PSOne Classics

Castlevania Chronicles 

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night 

Chrono Cross 

Chrono Trigger

Darkstalkers 3 

Final Fantasy IX 

Final Fantasy Origins 

Final Fantasy Tactics

Final Fantasy V

Final Fantasy VI

Final Fantasy VII 

Final Fantasy VIII 

Legend of Mana 

Silent Hill 

Suikoden 

Suikoden II

PS2 Classics

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence

God Hand

Suikoden 3

Suikoden IV

The sale run from  February 21st to March 3rd.

[polar-stars]

A little (personal) Ranking of the Shokugeki endings

The post on the openings is here -> https://polar-stars.tumblr.com/post/615133312137281536/a-little-personal-ranking-of-the-shokugeki

But yeah, as I said yesterday...now that the final ones are out, I thought it could be fun to give my opinions on the various openings and endings we had throughout the series. 

Again, it’s a personal opinion. Music tastes are very different, children. Please don’t be mad if your fave is not in one of the top spots of this list ovo;;

-

Endings

 1. 1st Ending of Season 1 (”Spice”) - What did you expect honestly? “Spice” by Tokyo Karan Koron is not just my favorite ending overall, it’s honestly my favorite piece of music of all that Shokugeki has to offer. “Spice” just quite simply has it all....a good beat, cute visuals dedicated to my precious Polar Star Kids and the immense, immense nostalgia attached to it as the very first ending the series had. “Spice” is on a different level to me...It’s magical. I don’t even listen that often to it, because it’s just kind off so special to me that I have to create the perfect conditions to listen to it, because in my mind it deserves those. Spice is just such an enchanting tone and it reminds me of innocent and happy days. It just has a very, very special place in my heart and always will. It’s so soothing, cute and it’s been sitting on the throne forever, unmatched to me. 

2. Ending of Season 5 (”Crossing Road”) - Omg, I can’t fucking believe this but it’s really come to it, huh? Okay...As much as I hate the fact that visually the ending has been dedicated to the character I just want to erase from my memory when, really, I wished for the last ending in this series to feature the entire cast....I can’t lie and say that I listened to “Crossing Roads” up and down ever since I first heard it. The song is just THAT beautiful to me. And quite frankly? The endings of Season 3 and 4 just...while I don’t dislike them at all, they were always missing a particular something to me. I don’t know how to describe it better than that. “Crossing Roads” just doesn’t leaves me with that feeling 🤷🏻‍♀️

3. 2nd Ending of Season 2 (”Sacchan no Sexy Curry”) - A lot of people seem to dislike this ending because it’s kinda weird, I think. And yeah...It is ahdhd. But I love it regardless. It’s just so warm, perfectly complimented with the visuals of Erina walking with the sun sinking in the background. I love how the ending visually shows us a depiction of Hisako’s and Erina’s relationship and how, at this point in the series, Erina is the only person Hisako allows insight into her heart and soul. It’s sweet. And I like how she passes the rest of the cast and also how each episode always has one, different additional cast-member added ;v; Then there’s also, once again, just the nostalgia to this song. It’s still from season 1 and it’s from the Autumn Premlins area which I, as I said already, really enjoyed. So meep. I just can’t hate this one...I always feel joy and comfort when listening to it. 

4. Ending of Season 4 (”Emblem”) - Idk man, this song has a bit of a vintage touch to it to me? Like...It sounds a bit to me like an opening I’d expect from an anime of the 90s or something. I don’t even know why? But meep, I kinda like it. Visually it’s nothing that special but still a lot more interesting than the frikkin opening of this season (aka. “Chronos”). And just, ah...It just sounds happy and beautiful to me. Also, a huge bonus that this ending has to me is that...After Snow-Drop started the trend of not including the side-characters anymore; it was at last an ending that featured the entirety of the cast once again. Which I just very much appreciated. 

5. Ending of Season 3, 2nd Cour (”Atria”) - Atria has really pretty visuals. Holy! While Spice remains my fave I think, I do say that Atria easily comes second in the visual-department. The night sky is sparkling, the character running through the snow are shining, the photos we see of the other characters are adorable...Seeing Erina, Soma, Megumi and Takumi all run through the snow is legit sweet. Visually? I have absolutely zero complain. It’s really pretty to look at. But meep, the song....I really don’t hate it. I don’t. But as I said earlier...There’s just something lacking for me that I can’t really pinpoint. “Emblem” kinda has the same problem as well, but it’s kind off smaller than with “Atria”? I really don’t know. 

6. Ending of Season 3, 1st Cour (”KyokyoJitsujitsu”) - Honestly based on the music, I like “Atria” and “KyokyoJitsujitsu” equally. They’re both fun to listen to to me, but they both do have a particular something lacking to them for me. What made me put “KyokyoJitsujitsu” below “Atria” are the visuals...Because they really disappointed me back then. While the opening of the season ”Braver” is so full of action and excitement, the ending is basically just a little recap of the series. And it feels....rather lazy. It’s just not that interesting to watch 🤷🏻‍♀️ Although I do appreciate that there’s changes to each episodes...such as the characters showcased changing and the eyes of the people Soma has to face changing at each episode’s end. 

Also, yeah...It’s still more interesting than “Chronos”, because the song is better imo and at least there’s movement in the black and white flashbacks :/

7. Ending of Season 2 (“Snow Drop”) - This might be a very unpopular opinion because many seem to like this ending but, what can I say? I really, really disliked it at first and I just never really warmed up to it  completely throughout the years? It’s just...While some of the visuals are really pretty, the song is just...really not my thing I’m sorry ovo;; Also back when I was younger, I have to admit that I was greatly disappointed about the ending just featuring majorly Soma and no one else for the most part. That’s a nit-pick but it does add to it for me. 

[enkisstories]

- A Detroit Become human drabble with Daniel - - The years 2034 - 2037 are pretty universal, 2038 + 2039 specific for my AU -

Christmas 2034

You have lost your New Car smell, but otherwise are in top condition. Broken in, adjusted to the Phillips household’s individual needs and at peak performance. But when you say “household”, what you really mean is “family”, because you do not get to stay within the apartment much. You get taken to places by your humans, shown off to co-workers, friends and of course the extended family. Caroline is so happy and John is so proud of their new PL600 mobile, autonomous household assistant device. You run their household, but even moreso you make them smile.

Christmas 2035

You still remember all the fuss the Phillips couple made over you last year, so this year you make sure to spend much time with little Emma in order to not let her become jealous again. But they seem to have understood that themselves, because there’s a lot less showing off this year and more time for just the four of you. Christmas 2036

Emma grows and… matures, for lack of a better word. Still a child, but more considerate about the world around her as well as people’s feelings. At the age of eight she discovers the joy of giving, not just receiving. The girl has prepared presents for her mom, for her dad and for you: Glittery paintings composed of strass stones to hang at the wall for the adults. But for you, who doesn’t have a room of yourself, Emma made a pendant from colorful, baked-together plastic pearls. You can wear it on a string around your neck.

For the first time in your existence you own something.

Christmas 2037

You are wearing a new android armband, an old shirt of John’s, a vest and a tie. All of this to hide the fact that you are a PL600. Out of the uniform, part of the family, you think. That feels great! Caroline even suggested you should dye your hair brown and curl it up. Okay, gift-giving is nice and good, but this is going too far! John agrees: no hairstyle experiments! But then he tells you to “just don’t let anybody see you”.

This is confusing. After serving dinner you retreat from the living room, as instructed. This has never happened before. It also contradicts the “a real part of the family now”. In Caroline’s hobby room you try a few of her yoga poses to regain your focus, but it doesn’t help much.

Christmas 2038

You are staring at the little Christmas tree in the DPD’s cafeteria. It has been placed here and lovingly decorated by those who care about this holiday. For the first time in your life you don’t. It’s not that you did NOT care, not like a Christmas hater. It’s more that you’ve went numb inside, machine-like. How ironic that only after deviating you have become much more of a household appliance than when you were still a machine. But it is the only solace you have from the toxic mixture of guilt and anger that would otherwise rule you. And then there is the phantom pain. You feel no actual physical pain, but the regularly popping up error notifications of your amateurishly re-attached limbs are not pleasant at all. But you bite the pain/not-pain back while go about your janitorial work. You’ve been granted this second chance at life and although you’re not doing much in the way of actually living, to what little you have left you cling.

At one of the cafeteria tables Lt. Anderson clutches a bottle. The other person present is, much to your surprise, Detective Reed. Turned out him doing “everything” for a promotion also includes putting in real work, like volunteering for the holiday shift. Lately you’ve also come to notice a fear of not being good enough, of getting replaced and left behind in the detective, a notion that you know only too well. Reed himself doesn’t seem to realize it, that lucky, confident, selfish, cute bastard!

“Go home already, Sir!” you tell the lieutenant weakly, for maybe the third or fourth time today. But Anderson doesn’t want to. What he wants is leave this earth altogether. However…

“Can’t go. Can’t leave. Not now. Must live… for Connor.”

Connor. The hero who has subdued the evil android revolution. The revolution that has totally gone over your head. For you this is still about the Phillips family’s betrayal. And Connor’s. The only good deed that blasted thing has ever done was to die and instill the will to live in Lt. Anderson who is, that much you cannot deny even if you wanted to, a good person. You know you’re unfair, but for what it’s worth, fully realizing that Connor won’t return is one of the few instances when you feel actually good.

You’re sitting there, the three of you, each of you lost in your own little world: Anderson is holding fast to his bottle without drinking from it. Reed gazes into a digital textbook as if it was his salvation. And you caress the smashed remains of an ornament made of plastic pearls. If asked about it, you’d tell the truck that ran you over after falling off that roof finished the trinket, too, when in truth you crushed it with your own hands the evening of the betrayal…

Reed nudges you. “Hey, tincan, what do you think we gave you access to the DPD’s network for? Play phone games? - Stream something for us! Something lively!”

Moments later the cafeteria fills with “Jingle Bells”. You hardly listen to the sound you produce, but you see Reed’s face distort strangely, then hear him snort and finally break into laughter:

“That’s… will you LOOK at this, Anderson! This is priceless! Android stereo!”

You wonder what’s so funny about music coming out of your ears without your lips moving… except for the fact that music is coming out of your ears while your lips aren’t moving, of course. Part of you wants to laugh with Reed at the absurdity of the sight. Another part wants to smash his stupid face against the nearest wall. But all you do is sit straight with an unmoved expression. A stationary android stereo indeed.

“Now the ground is white!” the detective merrily blares along with the music. “Go it while you're young!”

And now the lieutenant starts shaking. At first you think he’s done for for real now, but then you realize that the man is laughing.

“And now you’re the external amplifier to our new android stereo, Reed!” Anderson cackles.

“Take the girls tonight!” your speakers go, accompanied by two human singers now. “And sing this sleighing song!”

So you can still make the goddam apes smile. Huh! You hadn’t realized that this feat still meant something to you…

Christmas 2039

You’re manning the reception in your spiffy new uniform when the door opens. In come a certain detective and a truant. Wow, hero, you think. Knowing what dangerous criminal you apprehended, Detroit sure can sleep soundly tonight…

Juggling a fucking novel worth of cops having called in sick today in your head, at first you barely pay attention to what Reed is babbling. But then a few key words manage to jolt you out of the files and back into meatspace:

“…ma, this is police technician Dean. Dean, say “Hello” to Emma Phillips, whose dad ran away with the stunningly good looking family android!”

Wait a moment, you think, Emma WHO, whose WHO did WHAT with WHOM? And what was part about “stunningly good looking”?

“Oh my god”, you sputter, before catching yourself: “I mean: Hi.”

A convoluted explanation follows and then Emma approaches you, arms outstretched, ready to receive a therapeutic hug from a totally unrelated PL600 named “Dean”. But suddenly she backs away from you, no less afraid of you than she was in the night of the betrayal. And THEN, you realize it not without pride, you look no longer into a little girl’s face, but into a mirror. Emma is angry and in her anger she looks uncannily like you. The child of Caroline, no doubt, but also the child of two fathers.

Eventually the two of you find yourself sitting on a bench, under strict surveillance of the cute, antisocial detective. What game exactly Reed is playing here you have no idea.

“I didn’t expect to be afraid again, officer!” Emma complains without looking at you. “I miss Daniel, I really do, I’m not imagining that! But now I think that if he came back, I’d probably run away screaming. Still, what happened wasn’t even his fault. And neither was it father’s. No one’s to blame, or everyone. I… I’m not making sense at all, huh?”

“Maybe to those involved”, you agree, choosing each of your words carefully. You need to remember exactly what Emma has shared with Reed about the incident and not accidently display your full knowledge of the events. Pretend to be nothing more than an amiable plastic police auxiliary..

“Give it time”, you tell the girl. “And don’t say you’re unfair! A wound like yours takes time to heal. You know what? You sitting here and chatting with another PL600 after being hurt by one is already a huge success!”

It’s not a reconciliation. But it is more, much more than you could have hoped for before today.

(Note: The full 2039 scene appeared in my simfic “Fairytale of Detroit”: https://enkisstories.tumblr.com/tagged/emmaparkscene/chrono

Gavin wears a standard police uniform in the screenshots because he, Hank and Connor have temporarily gotten demoted to beat cops in that story. Yes, Connor is still alive, the characters just didn’t know that in 2038.)

[oh-its-souichi]

Ultra Violence

Part 5 

Overhaul X reader 

Yo!

wow there’s a bit of fluff in this... fascinating

Warning: Abusive relationship, drugging, a tad bit of LIME, fluff, shite grammar,  

After he had gotten his fill of your touch he got off of you and ushered you into the shower. Despite being exhausted and drowsy from your medication you did not protest walking into the bathroom and watching him flip on the hot water with tired eyes. “Please step in dear. The water will be a bit hot at first but only to ensure immediate cleanliness. We wouldn’t want any bacteria sticking around would we?” He said lightly as if he was telling a joke. You nodded smiling weakly at him. ‘Was he trying to be funny?’ you thought hoping he wouldn’t be offended by your lack of laughter. he never made jokes so you honestly didn’t know how to react. 

Seemingly unaffected by your reaction he grabbed your hand and led you into the shower. Once the water hit your skin you winced. The water was scalding. 

When he ran your bath water he had always had the temperature higher then any normal person was like so you were used to that but this was different, this hurt. You wanted to cry out to him and ask to turn the temperature down but didn’t. His gaze stopping you. 

“Is it to hot for you angel?” he said something sadistic in his voice. You shook your head “No. It’s okay” you blurted out. ‘What the hell?Why did I say that? This fucking sucks?!’ you thought looking down at your skin which was now bright red. The water hurt so bad but at this point you were beginning to get used to it. 

He hummed at your response and came into the shower. You watched his face to catch onto any discomfort but there was none.

 He looked unfazed. 

“Step out of the water please” he directed pouring some of your ginger body soap into his hands. You complied a little to eagerly removing yourself from the hell stream to the relief of your body. He began to scrub your skin a little harshly at times with the soap until he was finished and did the same to himself. You stepped back into the water, the sting returning. Half-lidded you watched him scrub his toned body in awe. He was so beautiful you couldn’t believe it. Months ago you were repulsed by him and now you couldn’t get enough. How could anyone be so perfect? Overhaul dropped his hands from his body and stepped back into the water feeling all the filth wash off of him. He was clean once again. 

Once both of you were clean he held you tightly to his chest enjoying the way the water burned his back, freeing him of any lingering bacteria. Succumbing to his grasp you laid your head limply on his chest feeling yourself being rocked to sleep by the steamy heat and the strong beating of his heart. 

While you slept in his arms he stood completely still taking note of every drop of water that crashed against his back. It was pleasant he got to hold you. He had always held himself back partly out of aversion of being touched and partly out of caution. He had big plans for you, big plans the two of you to carry out together, plans he didn’t want to mess up with a careless touch. 

No that just wouldn’t do. 

“Y/N” he said shaking you lightly. “Hm?” you hummed looking up at him with a small smile, your cheeks flushed lightly. You were gorgeous. “Dry yourself off and get into bed” he said curtly opening the glass door of the shower. You shivered at the absence of warmth. “Yes dear” you said following his request. 

You grabbed a clean white towel and ran it along your body enjoying the way the soft fabric ran smoothly against your soft curves bringing warmth back to your skin. 

Even though the glass of the shower was clouded with steam, he watched you intently wanting to take the towel from you and run his hand over your skin again. “Here” he heard you say. Raising an eyebrow at you as you handed him a towel from the cupboard under the sink. He took it with an gratuitous nod watching you hang up the towel and disappear out of the room.  

As he dried himself his brain ticked. If you were to get pregnant and the child somehow, which was highly unlikely, developed a quirk he would separate the child from you immediately. He wouldn’t allow it to infect you but he would’t kill it for it’s sickness either, not when he could think of better uses for it, especially as the Anti-quirk darts were coming along so nicely. 

Even if the child was born pure and quirk less, like you, he would still run experiments on it, that is the main reason he wanted to reproduce. You would be upset with him of course if he had to take the child from you or subject it to experiments but seeing that the day you found out he had killed your parents you gave yourself up to him mentally and physically, the scenario didn’t concern him. 

He knew you would bend to his will.

He didn’t want to hurt you or cause you the anguish of losing a child. You were the only person besides his boss that he came to care about dare he say it, love. Regardless of his personal feelings though he would do whatever it took to see his goal into fruition. 

If that meant hurting you in the process so be it. 

After he was dry he slipped out of the door and rested his eyes on you. You were curled up adorably on the bed sleeping soundly. ‘So peacefully just like an angel’ he thought fighting with himself. He wanted to stay with you throughout the night but to break his usual nightly habit irked him. ‘I suppose one night couldn’t hurt’ he thought. With a sigh of hesitation he crawled into bed but before he got to comfortable he grabbed your mask off of the nightstand and fastened it gingerly around your head before doing the same to himself. 

One could never to to cautious. 

Once satisfied he buried himself in the blankets pulling you tightly to his chest enjoying the silk like feeling of of your skin against his. 

... 

In the morning when Mimic came to drop off your breakfast  he almost hyperventilated. Seeing Overhaul, the man who he had seen personally kill someone for touching him, cuddled up next to you sleeping soundly, with a relaxed face and flushed cheeks he almost shit himself. In a panic he dropped the tray to the floor and ran to find Chrono or somebody to warn them the situation. Something had to be wrong, Overhaul never let anyone touch him willingly.

 Alarmed by the clatter Hari rushed down the hallway to the open door and was met with the same sight Mimic had been. Sure seeing Kai look so vulnerable grossed him out but it was nothing to freak out at. Annoyed he rolled his eyes and picked the utensils and splattered food off of the floor, closing the door quietly as he walked away. “Mimic” he called out and waited silently for a moment. Down the corridor he could hear the pitter-patter of the small man heading in his direction. “Chrono that witch!!” he bellowed coming into Hair’s view. Chrono shushed him harshly and shoved the tray into the smaller man’s chest. “You idiot keep it down. You’re lucky boss didn’t wake up to that shit you left on his beloved’s floor. You know how he feels about messes.” 

Mimic opened his mouth underneath his mask to argue but closed it when he saw Overhaul stumble out of your room tiredly wearing the same clothes he had worn yesterday.  

...

When you woke up Overhaul was gone, you figured he would be. It would have been to good to be true to wake up next him. You sat up trying to recall the events of last night but found it difficult, your brain in a fog. The small moments you could recall were Overhauls, Kai’s soft lips on yours and the way his name, his real name left your lips. You sighed wishing you could remember more. ‘I wonder where he went off to’ you thought looking towards the door longingly, while the thought lingered in your brain.

Finally becoming bored of it you shrugged and attempted to get off of your bed but stopped becoming aware of how heavy your limps felt. With a focused look on your face you flung your legs like lead over the side of your bed. From the exert of pressure and effort your heart slammed in your chest as if you had run 13 miles, which you obviously hadn’t. 

As you sat mouth dry and lungs burning this exhaustion you now faced didn’t make any sense. You were in tip-top shape Overhaul had built a gym within the compound and kept you on a strict workout routine with the guidance of a personal trainer. All your food was organic and packed with nutrients and proteins. You drank water, got all the vitamins your body needed, so why were you gasping for air? 

You racked your clouded and dissociating brain for the answer until it dawned on you. 

‘Wait’ you thought.

It had been weeks, months even, since you last worked out. Now that you thought o fit you hadn’t seen your personal trainer in a while, not since the day Overhaul had walked in and saw him grabbing your arm in an attempt to stabilize the heavy barbell you had been lifting. Also when was the last time you ate? You didn’t remember. 

“Good morning dear.” Overhaul said taking you out of your thoughts. You slipped off your mask and smiled brightly at him but dropped it slightly when you saw the cup of pills in his left hand and the way his eyebrows were scrunched together in irritation. “Do you know what time it is? Why aren't you dressed?” His detest was evident and your cheeks burned with shame. It had never dawned on you that you had overslept. 

You felt exhausted. 

Stammering from the pressure of his gaze you answered. “I-I apologize. I’m not feeling to well.” you said dropping your head. He stepped back as if repulsed. “You’re feeling  sick?” he rushed anxiety present in his voice. You popped your head up afraid that he would leave or think of you as filthy.  “No not sick- just strange. Maybe it’s the new medication or-” you trailed off fidgeting with your hands in your lap. “What is it dear?” he said impatiently. “Well- I don’t remember the last time I’ve eaten either.” 

Relieved by your answer he stepped forward caressing your face with his gloved hand. You hummed enjoying his soft touch. “Are your limps feeling heavy?” he asked. 

You nodded “Yes” 

“Interesting. These medications should not be taken on an empty stomach so after you’ve bathed and dressed come into the dining room” he said while bringing the cup to your lips patiently waiting for you to heed to him and open your mouth. You did, allowing him to pour the pills into your mouth. The bitter taste of them disintegrating on your tongue.

 “We will be having lunch together. While you are bathing I will lay out an outfit I expect you to put on” As he talked he noticed on of the pills stubbornly clinging to your lips and ushered it into your mouth. Aroused by the feeling of his thumb on your lips you closed you mouth around it sucking gently while your eyes looked dangerously into his. . His eyes widened and you could hear his breathe stifle. “Please” he said clearing his throat. You couldn’t quite tell due to the fuzziness of your vision but you swore you could see a pink tint spread across his cheeks. “Now don’t be stubborn dear” he hushed not moving his thumb out of your mouth. Quickly you kiss the tip of his thumb and pulled away. “Yes dear” you smiled. 

He pressed a swift kiss on your forehead and ran his hand teasingly down your arm. “What you just did was bold. I liked it.” he said above you before walking smoothly out of the room. 

[steve0discusses]

S5 Ep13: How to Get Away With Cheating in the Card Olympics

It’s been a little while since Pegasus made a card that screwed us years after it was developed...and so it’s time for it to happen again. Good ol Pegasus, screwing us all and not even knowing he’s doing it.

First off, it took me until this episode to realize that Leon and Zigfried are German and Leon is playing a Grimm Brother’s deck. I guess I didn’t notice before now because Leon was hiding his identity. But now that I know his deck is because he’s just German it’s like...well OK. That’s kind of cute. Better than that time they had the American play a deck filled with guns.

And that actually...fully explains why they are all dressed old timey. I didn’t pick up on it until just now...they’re referencing old ass fairy tales. But wtv, I still like my reaching theories of why Zigfried dresses like...that.

PS, my twitter just notified me that lots of people are getting a ‘Hime Haircut’, which is exactly the doo that Zigfried wears this season with the cropped side bangs. And like...are we sure? I see Kpop wearing it and Tik Tok kids wearing wigs but...I have yet to see a Hime in the wild. Course I haven’t gone outside in like a year so...maybe tens of thousands of people really did do a Hime Haircut during the Quarantine.

But, damn it, I decided to look at some photos, and a bunch of them looked pretty bad, but a couple looked pretty dope, and now I’m a little bit tempted to get a Hime...but I feel like it took a decade to get out of my bangs phase and like...Do I need two layers of bangs? I have naturally straight hair, I could do this, this haircut was made for me, but...

I just don’t know if I should get a haircut that looks like I’m an anime cosplayer when I can’t back it up. Nope. Cannot get this haircut. I know this haircut was made for teenagers or artists in their 30′s, and literally no one else, but no, this will be a mistake just like the side bangs I gave myself in 2006.

(looks over at scissors)

(read more under the cut)

(get it? Cut?)

Leon recalls that his brother very nicely gave him a card, and he’s so excited to finally do any activity involving his crazy ass family, that he just blindly does it.

This entire episode is about Yami not doing a hellscape when he witnesses cheating, and like...it is S5...it’s been a little while since anyone’s done a real good cheat on him, and he opened the door to darkness, and they got devoured by their own Tamagachi. It’s been a while.

And like the curse of Episode 13 was just a theory I had--but this particular Episode 13 is probably the most tame of all the 13′s (and yet, the most un-tame of this arc, which is a pretty chill arc, overall)

Yet...while this episode still fits in with their universe because the Kaiba’s are very proud so they can’t admit their duel disk has a flaw and therefore can’t forfeit the game, it kind of stretches the imagination a bit for the sake of the plot. Straight up we have a LOT of characters in this arc and they all just stood there and watched it happened.

It could have been also because this is like...televised...that no one wants to start throwing this little boy off the nearest blimp. I just wish that was addressed in the episode, other than “listen...Kaiba must allow this card to be played...or all his Duel Disks are lies.”

His Duel Disk almost caused the end of planet Earth a few weeks back, so I think it’s fine. I think this is a negligible problem to have when your disk shoots projectiles out of each end and has sharp folding edges in the shape of a blade--almost attempting to slice your face off every time you wave that thing around.

Yes, he’s trying to restore his reputation after the whole Dartz thing...but this is like...not that bad in the scale of things that have happened in the past several seasons. Maybe it’s just the last straw that broke the camels back here? One thing too far--’your disk played a broke card, Kaiba, I am pulling my investments and I refuse to go to your theme parks. I was here when you blew up that island. I was here when your company was literally bought out by the illluminati...but if that duel disk can’t play cards correctly--we’re done here.’ And TBH...that’s a very Yugioh mentality to have.

Like remember that time that Elon musk threw a brick at one of his new weird looking cars and the windshield cracked? But he was like “Oh...that was just a...listen the windshields don’t shatter, you saw nothing.” and still released the car anyway? Was kind of reminded of that.

Now...he didn’t actually go into the Dev room, we’ll go into how the hell he got this card, but first, a visit to the Kaiba Dev room.

OOOOOOooooooooh

That’s so bright!

It reminds me of how in the 90′s, the only real thing I knew to do on my computer was change the colors of the UI, so I just used the ugliest ass UI known to man for my family’s computers. I hope these computers have a mouse that leaves a tail behind and I hope that mouse is in the shape of a flying sparkling dragon.

Anyway, Duke speaks what’s on our minds:

Meanwhile, Pegasus, watching this happen over a glass of wine from inside his bathtub at Castle Pegasus, takes one very long sip while sinking into a pile of bubbles.

Seto at first is like “I literally own this tournament so thanks for losing? I don’t know why you threw it out into the trash but thanks?” But Zigfried pressured him so hard that everyone on Earth would judge his ass, and tried so hard to change the definition of what cheating even is, that Seto relented almost as if to shut Zigfried the hell up.

Zigfried explained that, technically, it’s still reads as a legal card on the disk and isn’t reaaally against the rules. Even though the rules say it’s against the rules--what are rules anyway?

Thankfully we have the King of “I dictate what the rules are AKA the rules of the universe, which I would show you, I just don’t feel like it right now, and I’m a little worried about opening that Pandora’s box, but I clearly know the rules of this card game, as stated on this Home Depot plaque that Seto gave me after I won the last tourney.”

Leon gets pretty upset about this--not so much screwing Seto Kaiba, but over the fact his brother stole his only chance at trying to beat Yugi Muto fair and square. So, trying to retain what little card honor he has left, Leon tries to self sabotage so everyone can just go the hell home.

OK so...do you think he put a floppy disk into the paper card? Like straight up how did he do that? Feel free to post your theories because like...how do you hack a paper card? Like do we even have a canon explanation of what these cards are or what they are made out of and how they theoretically work?

Anyway, now that they’ve spent a good portion of this episode discussing if this card should or should not be played, and the ethics and philosophy surrounding that, we find out that none of this matters because Zigfried was actually just stalling.

(He hacked the card so it had a virus like straight up how did he DO that without making a new card?)

Huh.

Y’all, what if I could just delete Google?

Can you imagine?

Like I know this is a kid’s show so it follows kid’s show logic and I will absolutely allow this ridiculous master plan and I will not question it, but think with me for a sec:

What if you could just delete Disney?

Damn. That’s some Y2K scare tactics propaganda right there. That’s some good YA dystopian fiction stuff.

Yo is Zigfried the good guy? He’s not, but if this were a YA novel he would be, right? Good on him.

I...do not know how the logic in Zigfried’s brain works, but if someone deleted all the files in my collaborators company and showed up at my front door and was like “I heard you were looking for a new collaborator?” I’d stick him face first into a blank paper card.

Which is, logically, the next step to Zigfried’s plan that no one has bothered to tell him yet. You just don’t mess with Pegasus, especially after all the stuff he went though with getting murdered by Mai, and Dartz showing up, he’d be so pissed right now. He might not be technically magical anymore--but it’s clear after last season that he’s still magical enough. This is a man who’s let out into the wild maybe a couple of scary cards--but hell knows how many are buried in his huge ass castle just waiting to do a murder.

This is just Zigfried hassling a hornet and the hornets nest is like...right there.

And so next episode we are going to...destroy the card? Hell, next episode might be entirely a card game and I might only have 2 caps.

Anyway, just letting you know that I typed this last night, and then had dreams that I got a Hime Haircut and hella loved it, woke up at 5:30 AM thinking about that haircut, and have since been just...

...I mean I shouldn’t do it...I cannot give myself unironic Von Schroeder hair...

...

...but what if it’s dope though?

(and here’s the link to read these from the beginning in chrono order from S1. Wish I categorized in seasons but alas I did not have that forsight back when I thought there were only 3 seasons of Yugioh total. I have since learned.)

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

[theamberfang]

NitW: Day 8 [part 4], evening

Upkeep

I’ve finally gotten around to finishing up this day. It didn’t feel like too much when playing, but now that I’m reflecting on things, maybe I should have saved and quit at some point. I just kept thinking “oh, things will probably be done soon anyway, so I’ll just keep going.” I may end up having to finish things tomorrow or something, especially since I have something else to do tonight.

I also haven’t gotten around to collecting everything I’ve written about Night in the Woods into a separate Google Doc. I have figured out that you can add “/chrono” to the end of the url of a tag search to look at things from oldest to newest though: so that would be like this. A lot of that stuff is still attached to my daily personal journals though, so that’s the main reason I’m planning on the whole Google Doc thing.

Band Practice

It seems that saving and quitting puts you right where you left off; I started right back up inside of the Snack Falcon. I don’t think it was the exact same spot—I was standing right next to Gregg then, now I’m closer to the door—but it’s good to know for the future. Anyway, I’ve already explored the rest of town and written about it, so all that’s left to do is start up band practice!

Once the scene loads, Mae turns around and chats with Germ, telling him that he’s their only fan. He says that he’s just here to be entertained: a man of leisure. I appreciate the sentiment of distancing oneself from being a “fan.” It’s short for “fanatic” after all, and it does often result in people getting more worked up than is healthy about some things.

Bea simply says that she’s ready to start, but does note that Gregg seems a bit slow today.

Angus says he’s had a pretty slow week—so despite his family being “trash,” at least his visit wasn’t a big event—and he goes on to ask about Demon Tower. Mae can answer: “It’s fun!” “It’s hard!” or “I like all the skeletons!” All are valid answers, but I went with saying it’s fun. It turns out Angus is the type to express his feelings about things by vocalizing a bunch of sound effects, and he almost definitely animates everything too. He immediately gets embarrassed about it, but it’s still really cute. I do wonder if Mae gets an extra answer if you actually beat Demon Tower by this point.

Since Bea said Gregg was slow today, I wondered if he was on a downswing. It turns out people were working on some sort of...ceiling door? Honestly, I don’t think I paid as close attention to this part as I could have, because I’m not sure if he meant a skylight or a roof-access door. He also ends up worrying about people peeing through it for some reason and I don’t remember what led to that.

Anyway, talking to Gregg starts up practice, and today they played “Pumpkin Head Guy.” It’s the toughest song to play yet with complex clumps of notes and a big bass solo for Mae to play stumble through. Afterwards, it’s the first song that everyone acknowledges I played poorly in, and, indeed, unlike all of the other songs I’m pretty sure I only played this once or twice before in my old playthroughs. (I believe I got this far once, and tomorrow is, I think, the absolute limit of how far I’ve gotten in previous playthroughs.)

Finally, Mae gets around to telling her friends about what she witnessed last night, though, I got the impression that she also included all of her dreams as part of the story—not just the spooky nightmare from last night, all the “astral” ones too. From a narrative perspective as the person playing the game, I do feel like these dreams have to connect with everything else somehow, but this makes me think that Mae actually feels similarly about them: that her dreams have a literal and spiritual significance.

Her friends are pretty sure that Mae didn’t see a ghost last night, and in response to that Mae indicates that she’ll handle things by herself if she has to. Her friends are quick to say that they’re willing to help, even if they don’t think there’s an actual ghost. Bea suggests that they could check the library since they keep old records of the newspaper, and they can look for a secret history of ghosts or something.

Library

Inside the library, visitors are immediately treated to a large mural of a bunch of happy miners. Bea comments on how people used to look out their windows and see this sort of thing: a bunch of people with jobs. Nowadays, people see graffiti and rundown cars. She’s well aware of how the community has declined, though I have doubts about how realistic the mural ever was. She did indicate before that this library was funded by a wealthy person; I don’t recall who exactly, since she cut herself off before getting into it, but it might have been one of the “boss men.” If that’s the case, the mural might actually be some old pro-company propaganda.

Moving on, the librarian at the desk informs Mae and Bea that the library is closing in two hours. Mae comments that things seem pretty slow, and asks if it gets spooky being alone. I feel like that says more about Mae’s state of mind than anything else. Though, I think the librarian does agree it can be a little spooky, but she knows at least one other person is around somewhere.

Oh, and Mae asks about where they can find the microfish microfeesh microfiche. Up on the third floor is the answer. Over in the back Mae-Bea find the elevator and head on up.

I didn’t get any floor-selection prompt, so I just head on forward. There are some computers that might be what Mae and Bea are looking for, but they just find that someone has left their resume open on a computer. It’s for someone who is 50 years old, and Mae says that she never considered someone needing to find a job at that age. She feels like someone should have money by then—actually, everyone should just have money. Bea asks, perhaps a bit sarcastically, if Mae would like to join her socialist chat-group. I say sarcastically because that ends the conversation, making it appear like something of a punchline, but at the same time I can totally believe Bea has such a chat-group. I guess any sarcasm would be more about Mae’s ignorance of politics than the actual subject.

Moving on, Mae and Bea find what seems to be the children’s book section. Mae recognizes the mascot: Charity-Bear. Apparently all the books are about being nice to people and stuff, and Mae found it excruciatingly boring as a child—sort of like being indoctrinated by a cult, but more lame. At first, Bea seems a bit surprised about Mae disliking lessons about people being nice, but I think the problem is more that Charity-Bear gives kindness a bad reputation. Associating being kind with being boring isn’t really a good thing.

It turns out the children’s area is the end of this floor, and there’s no microfiche in sight. I guess this was the second floor all along, and things are confirmed upon returning to the elevator, where I get a prompt asking whether I want to go up or down. I actually do appreciate the way the lack of prompt from the first floor subtly led me to explore everything on the second floor: I mean, I want to interact with everything I can. The way this elevator was handled subtly ensured that I didn’t head straight for my objective, which may have caused me to miss all of this stuff.

Mae-Bea head on up to the third and top floor. They note that everything up here smells old and musty. Everything’s also dark, and there isn’t much to interact with. At least, not until reaching the back of the floor where a lit screen is practically a beacon, letting me know that this is the final objective.

Mae has no idea what to do with the thing, and Bea says that she’ll handle it. Responding to Bea’s tone, Mae says it’s not like she knows how to do everything, and Bea snarkily says that Mae hasn’t really done anything. Eventually, it leads Mae to ask why Bea is even helping; Bea answers something along the lines of “because we’re friends, you dork.”

I recounted all of that because Mae, then, says something like “Aww, is Beatwice my fwend? :3″ Well, that emoji at the end is my addition, but, I mean, Mae is literally a cat-person. It made me laugh though.

Small Aquatic Animal

I don’t recall ever learning about a microfish microfiche outside of Night in the Woods, but it seems to be a device that allows people to read old articles of paper while still ensuring preservation. I assume I would have been more likely to learn about and use these things if I had been a history student—something that Bea seems interested in being.

There’s actually quite a lot to read here, so I’ll be summarizing and discussing them in broader groupings.

The first and most obvious—accounting for maybe half of the articles—are stories about a big strike. It seems to have been initiated by a natural gas accident: something that was known to be a danger, but the boss men had neglected to tell the miners. The ultimate death toll was over one hundred, and it took years to finally reclaim all of the bodies. This accident started a strike that lasted for months. Eventually, in response to strikers throwing rocks, the national guard, in support of the companies, opened fire, resulting in multiple deaths and even greater casualties. Among the dead were two children that were supporting the strikers.

Related, but not directly connected to the strike, was a “strange but true” story. It told of a boss man who was scalping money from his workers’ wages, and one day he punched the last tooth out of a worker’s mouth. The worker’s friends, knowing how much their friend valued that tooth, assaulted the boss man and removed all of his teeth. Everyone with a tooth formed a secret society and each member marked their tooth. I’m pretty sure this is connected to the tooth that Mae found, meaning she’s unknowingly become a member of this secret society. She does comment about how rad the story is, but doesn’t make the connection to the tooth in her possession.

A few stories are about a monument to the eponymous Possum of Possum Springs—evidently, it was a last name and not related to the local wildlife. The stories range from before it was even built to the monument ultimately being demolished decades later. From the descriptions, it was a statue large enough for people to walk inside of it, and the top provided a nice view of the surrounding area—something akin to the Statue of Liberty, perhaps.

There were a few miscellaneous articles as well. One described a couple of local events: the final run of the tunnel trolley and something about a knitting group. There was a conservative (politically) list about youth getting too wild: young women lewdly revealing their ankles in public and openly flirting and men wearing suits that wouldn’t get them jobs. One article was about the opening of the Ol’ Pickaxe.

Finally, there were actually a few articles related to the supernatural. There’s Little Joe’s grave, which seemed to be a popular place for teens to visit, necessitating the city to provide more protection for the graveyard. Another story was the account of an employee at a museum, who swore part of the building was haunted and was terrified of the area even in daylight hours. The last one was a romantic sort of location—Possum Peak? Possum Leap? I don’t recall the exact name—where someone was seen walking off the cliff into the open air.

One last thing I noted was a story about natural gases causing local residents to hallucinate and become irrationally fearful. Mae didn’t make any connections with this one, but it seems to explain all of the supernatural stuff. Also, the Borowski house seems to be sitting on top of some sort of cave, and I think this may have actually been a source of the same kind of natural gases. It’s probably why Granddad thought the house was haunted. It might even be what’s going on with Mae right now. It could even be the cause of her past outbursts.

Oh, speaking of, when discussing the museum, Bea says that they actually visited the place in school and was surprised Mae didn’t go. Mae figures that she wasn’t in school at the time, and Bea refers to it as the “softball incident.” Is this the big event that keeps being mentioned? It makes me imagine that after getting her hands on a bat, Mae just went wild with the thing.

Anyway, after finding those three supernatural stories, Mae figures she has enough leads to start with and the two stop using the microfiche.

(I’m going to stop here for now and wrap things up tomorrow. I do feel like there isn’t much left, but I’m starting to question my judgement when it comes to that.)