#Group games for field trip travel

[justsaying4041]

5 Games that can be played on the way to a field trip

Field trips are an exciting break from routine, but the journey to the destination can sometimes feel long. To keep students engaged, enthusiastic, and entertained on the way, incorporating games into the trip is a fantastic strategy. Here are five games that can be played during the journey, ensuring that every moment—whether on a bus, van, or train—is part of the fun. 1. I Spy A timeless…

[astrow0rldx]

PAC Tarot: What is your seductive power🫧

COUNT LEFT TO RIGHT NOT VERTICALLY. while writing, the moon is in leo, time to shine!

pick an image it can be whatever your intuition calls to, the photography you find most aesthetically pleasing, or just the one that reminds/looks most like you (doesn't have to).

these were so random on my Pinterest homepage, and don't fit into any category, i chose them before the reading to. but lets get into the reading.. Listen to your song to understand your muse & extra messages. Click the link to understand the Seduction Type for your pile.

Pile One type: the natural

TAROT: 3 of pentacles, 3 of wands. ORACLE: Root chakra: Resilience + "enslaved, surrendering control"

Unpredictable, exciting, adventurous.

Besides your type as the natural, which is the least toxic archetype and basically about being genuine, playful & having a emotional connection that connects them with childhood nostalgia. Read more about it on the link + listen to your song.

Your seduction power is your strength to overcome things. Cope with hardships. Your deep lore, and trauma. People probably are seduced by the thought of you "taking it" & surrendering yourself to them. You having that strength. With the double 3 also signifying this growth & resilience, you seduce people by maturing kind of. The strength and confidence you come with from it.

People may be seduced when you are with groups of people too. 3 of wands is also about traveling, & expanding experiences. Heavy on the adventure part, adventures with you, your forward thinking & openness seduces people. Seduced by going places and exploring with you, like field trips, dates, parties, plans. The more you grow in life, that seduces people. Sexually people might be seduced by the fact that they can try new experiences with you, and grow/expand.

You definitely seduce people in school or work areas. People are seduced when they are working with you, again in a group. How you work with them & build connections and your teamwork that you put into it. The way you can collaborate and the way you make other people feel collaborating with them.

Pile Two type: the rake

TAROT: 3 of swords. King of Cups. ORACLE: Third eye: Merlin + Dominator

I did not talk about the rake in my seduction type post, because that seduction type is mostly used by men. I mean if you are a masc, or like women then hey. But at the end of the day the rake isn't as masculine. It's just the rebel, player bad boy type. But when he wants a girl he love bombs her to make her feel desired. So if your a feminine that dealt with that, you really can play the game on them. I suggest you look more into the rake archetype, & listen to your song! (yes it was shuffled, ironic how it's "promises")

3 of swords & King of cups, literally sound like your archetype. Heartbreaker Lover. King of cups is very emotionally intelligent, which most manipulative people have, but king of cups is not alwaysss manipulative. Very compassionate & understanding. They are emotional creatures, but balanced. Romantic, Charming, Sympathetic. Merlin is an old wise mediator. Very mature but balances people emotions. Emotionally intelligent asf.

But 3 of swords, takes 3 shots to heart and is betrayed, depressed, separated. Which is the effect you give to them. But you could also seduce people from the complex pain you been through, and your big heart with it. So your seduction power is definitely the rake. With dominator your probably the one that dominates the romance and affection within the relationship, so you can have the control to take it away and heartbreak. Sexually, people are seduced by wanting you to dominate them & take control.

I feel like you might accidentally give people false promises from just your vibe & when you separate, it breaks their heart and seduces them.

Pile Three type: the star

TAROT: Ace of wands, Page of Wands. Oracle: Solar Plexus: Centered + Sex toys

Your seduction type, which I hope you go to the link to really understand, the star is a blank canvas for people fantasies & dreams. They are idolized and put on a high pedestal and attract people who want to watch them. Listen to your song!!!! (Another song I channeled which is ironic because the one I shuffled is Homiesexual. the other song is Homie Bitch by Lil Durk) I bet you pull groups of men, and all their homies or something. Listen to the full song of both tho for extra messages.

Magnet, Magnet, Magnet. I know your sexy, get a lot of attention, or seduce people. If you don't think you do, you do & have a lot of present potential to. Your seduction power is turning people on. Your seduction power is quite literally in you in your sexual energy to. People like when your freaky. People might be seduced by the fact you using toys on yourself. Or quite literally look at you as a sex toy. You put people in that carnal, raw, curious, adrenaline, playful, thrilling sexual energy. You are looked at as a good fuck.. because page of wands is pretty immature and thinking with whatever they have between their legs. Are you like a hoe, or a thot?? If so, to my "thots" you seduce people that way.

Your seduction is you, just you shining in your energy, centered in yourself, your exciting self, your sexual self. Your vibrant, fiery self. EXPRESSING YOURSELF & BEING BOLD. spontaneous, playful, creative self. You seduce people by the way you spark excitement in others, or them.

Pile Four type: the dandy

TAROT: The Hermit, The Empress. ORACLE: Throat Chakra: Inner truth + Face

Go to the link to really understand. But as a dandy you are seductive in your individuality, uniqueness, weirdness, REBEL & DIFFERENT, ambiguous, gender fluid side. Dandy gives me a lot of Aquarius, Uranus Prominent energy.

By the picture you chose, the face & the empress card, your probably pretty and have a nice face card. That's a way you seduce people. The empress is a queen of all queens, top model energy so your femininity or just how people see you as a high valued woman is seductive to people. The way your out the mix, and go with your inner truth, and your OWN shit is seductive. People respect you a lot & your independence. Your loner vibe can seduce people, in a mystique, puzzling type way. People love to hear what YOU have to say & are seduced when you speak your mind. They love your honesty & transparency.

Pile Five type: the charismatic

TAROT: 10 of cups, 9 of cups. ORACLE: Third Eye chakra: Ancient Knowledge + Doggy

Since I didn't write about this one in my seducer type post: "A charismatic seducer is someone who is exciting and self-driven, and who can come across as someone most people want to be like. They may be leaders, visionaries, public figures, or great orators. Charisma is a presence that excites us. It comes from an inner quality, self-confidence, sexual energy, sense of purpose, contentment that most people lack and want. This quality radiates outward, permeating the gestures of Charismatics, making them seem extraordinary and superior. They learn to heighten their charisma with a piercing gaze, fiery oratory, an air of mystery. Create the charismatic illusion by radiating intensity while remaining detached. compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others."

Listen to your song for extra messages. Another lyric i channeled for this pile is "Is this the thanks that I get for putting you bitches on" by Nicki Minaj.

Your seduction type, with the tarot you got + your song is like your their ultimate ecstasy, wish fulfillment, need, satisfaction. Everything they want. You seduce people by the idea of worth you have, like if this was mine I would be soo happy. Your everything. You may be thick, don't have to be just a nice booty, & people are seduced by the idea of putting you in doggy. They like that idea of you, even by the picture you chose, your arch pics, the way you sit, or stuff like that that symbolize that position can seduce people.

You might be witches, tarot readers too. Or your special, ancient, or inner knowledge that you have to bring to the table seduces people.

Pile Six type: the siren

TAROT: 3 of wands, Page of wands. ORACLE: Sacral Chakra: Inhibitions + Dominator

The siren is the one that is so sensually appealing to all the senses, irresistible allure, and captivating. While also having a dream like experience on them from their push-pull manipulation tactic. Go to the link to understand more, & listen to your song for extra messages.

For this pile you might have been going back & forth on which one to choose. But a siren definitely has multiple archetypes anyways and is very seductive so that makes sense. You seduce people when having fun, Idk if you have life of the party energy, but when you are in that energy or just in your spontaneous energy that brings them back to maybe that age of 15-27 year old energy you know what I mean. Your adrenaline, or the adrenaline you give people. When you guys take trips and have fun that seduces people. The downtown vibe from your picture adds to it. Sacral Chakra is all about our joy & pleasures. But Inhibitions is someone who's shy & self conscious, reserved. This could be you, or how you make people feel that just seduces people.

People are seduced by your playful sexual side, maybe when drunk, twerking, dancing, thirst traps, etc etc.

Your dominance, and the way you take charge seduces people. Im channeling this song i seen used for a Kamala Harris Edit 246 something party girl, brat something. LMAO. But maybe Kamala Harris is a sign she's this fun easy going party girl, who's our future president of the USA. She's connected with her sacral chakra, inner child. But she can Dominate a room. Even the song choice of Nicki Minaj gives similar energy. Sexually, people are seduced when you do dominate them.

Pile Seven type: the coquette

TAROT: 4 of pentacles, The World. ORACLE: Face, Throat chakra: Divine Messenger.

The coquette as a seduction type, is not all lolita, baby girl aesthetic. Even though it could be. It's the ultimate female manipulator. Look at the link to learn more, but she seduces by making people jealous to compete. Distancing once it gets to good to delay gratification & make them obsessed with her affection. etc etc. Listen to your song for more messages to.

Going with your seduction type, you seduce people by making them feel whole with you. Like with you their complete, and your someone they want to hold on to, not let go & posses. With the divine messenger, people could feel like your meant to be, sent to them, wether its literally spiritual or they just have that emotional feeling. You also seduce people by your air of independence and the fact that your complete & whole in yourself and that you are very self-assured. You seduce people by being stingy, and fulfilled. You seduce people with everything you have, and how valuable you are and the things that you value. 2nd house/taurus energy. You could have a lot of material things, or things going for your self, you seem very achieved and that seduces people.

Your probably pretty, and your face card seduces people, or just your facial expressions, eye contact, etc etc.

Pile Eight type: the charmer

TAROT: 3 of wands. Ace of cups. ORACLE: Solar Plexus: Wholeness of self + Red Flag.

Charmer is the funny but empathetic inviting charming person. Look at my link to really understand the psychology behind this archetype. I channeled a lyric, "Come & touch me, let me know that your real". And it just goes with your archetype + red flag. People are seduced by the fact they can't trust you but want to trust you, because you seduce them. Listen to your song!! (Its so ironic how the most emo song got shuffled for the most emo picture)

People are seduced by the adventure & experiences you expand them to. Your thrill, and newness. Seduced by the love you have to offer and give, people are seduced when you first come in, your honeymoon stage or just they feel like that a lot because your affection and love/care you give is so seductive. People are seduced by the fact that your secure and safe within yourself, and you let loose with people. Your probably a calm, in the moment person. People are seduced by your too good to be true charm, and its like your a red flag.

Pile Nine type: the ideal lover

TAROT: ten of cups, 3 of wands ORACLE: crown chakra: spiritual awakening + spooning

The Ideal Lover archetype is a seductive who can mold into people ultimate soulmate fantasy. Look on my link to understand more, and listen to your song for extra messages.

okay so many piles get 3 of wands & i shuffle really good. 3 of wands might be an extremely seductive power, the way people can expand experiences, have adventures & escape. That's definitely your power. The fact that you got 10 of cups as a Ideal Lover Archetype. You are the Ideal Lover, people feel happy ever after, marriage, kids, ecstasy with you. You literally bring them to a whole new world. Especially with the spiritual awakening card. Your song picture perfect, its like your literally a walking fantasy. People are grateful to have you, but with seduction power you can use that to your best advantage that you have a gift to morph into being your target soulmate romance fantasy. Spooning is such a romantic sexual oracle card. People just want to be under you, hug you. Your like marriage material!

[hannyoontify]

seventeen on a road trip

warnings | mentions of food, roadkill?

notes | i've been doing long distance traveling and camping w my family and acquaintances for almost 12 years now so these are js some characters i've seen LMAO

scoups

designated driver

will definitely go 20 over the speed limit almost constantly

but he’s gotten pulled over only once (he’s lucky)

plays katy perry and pitbull to stay awake when he’s driving at night

screams when he sees roadkill

ALSO he insists on finding firewood on his own instead of buying them at the local mart like a normal person

tends the fire like it’s his baby (he may or may not tear up when it’s put out at the end of the night)

he brings an axe. for the firewood.

oh it’s serious

constantly doing head counts when they’re out to make sure no one got snatched up by a tree or eagle or something

hates truck drivers with a burning passion of a thousand suns

definitely farts in the car and pretends it isn’t him

jeonghan

passenger princess™️ 

but he’ll be the drivers right hand man

constantly serving water and snacks and making sure they’re staying awake

doesn’t lift a single finger when you get to your campsite BUT THATS HOW ITS SUPPOSED TO BE

he’ll be shivering in the passenger seat and watching youtube while mingyu hauls the 15 person sized tent out of the trunk

but he’s also keeping an eye on everyone to make sure they’re doing okay

saved dino from a bees nest one too many times

definitely gets his hands on the aux

SNACK FAIRY

he loves packing snacks and passing them out throughout the trip

needs to cuddle someone in the tent

vehemently opposes hiking and prefers to sit in a field and wait for everyone else to come back

joshua

don’t even play with me rn he’s bringing an acoustic guitar

does sing-a-longs in the car and at the fire pit

and he’s good too it’s not cheesy and everyone loves it when he brings out the guitar

one time cheol was desperate to keep the fire going so he almost used shua’s guitar and that was the story of how cheol almost lost his life that day

SMORE MAN. don’t tell me this man doesn’t love smores

he n vernon would def teach everyone how to make smores

sits in the left window seat, second row. end of discussion. that spot is reserved for thought daughters and thought daughters only. FIGHT ME

he’s actually rlly good at pitching the tent

secretly enjoys hiking but he doesn’t want seungkwan to know that

jun

HE BRINGS BOARD GAMES AND CARD GAMES

always has a deck of cards on him at all times

he would def 100% bring cards against humanity and uno (this almost caused them to go home early)

makes friends with the wildlife

like one time everyone else is busy making camp but jun went missing and came back 15 minutes later with an elk at his side

“he said he’s hungry”

“junhui we can’t give ramen to an elk”

SLEEPS WITH HIS EYES OPEN IN THE CAR AND EVERYONE TAKES PICTURES

it keeps everyone entertained and he loves seeing the photos everyone took when he wakes up

waves at strangers they drive by on the road

last time he tried to help pitch the tent, he got lost in the fabric

hoshi

disney princess.

it’s like the moment he sets foot on the camping grounds, all the nearby birds and critters are drawn towards him

they loveee hoshi for some reason

plays ‘i spy’ in the car

“i spy…. something gray!”

“… my socks?”

also plays shinee music on blast and has his own mini concert in the car

there’s a group-wide agreement to never give hoshi more than 3 smores/marshmallows

bc that.. ends in disaster.

he almost started a forest fire the last time he had 5 marshmallows in the middle of the night

likes to play with the fire (we call it 불멍 in korean where you space out while watching the fire)

definitely farts in his sleep in the car

insists on bringing at least two tiger plushies to every road trip

likes to cuddle with someone in the tent

he also likes to play punch buggy (don’t sit next to him)

wonwoo

def 100000% brings a nintendo switch or something for the long car ride

one of the more quiet people on car rides but he always points out something he notices out the window

“hey look that horse is giving birth” “WWWWWWWHERE” (that was hoshi if you couldn’t tell)

plays along with hoshi’s ‘i spy’ games

one time he almost lost his glasses in a river so now he refuses to step foot near any bodies of water 

likes to stick by jeonghan and observe with him

i feel like he’d be good at directions and occasionally drives when seungcheol’s too tired

always has his headphones hanging around his neck

enforces a strict ‘lights out’ rule and tries to get people off their phones when they’re sight seeing

CAMERA MAN #1

he loves taking pics and brings his camera everywhere they go

he dgaf if his phone is dead but if his camera runs out of battery, this man is devastated

woozi

i actually struggled a lot with woozi’s 

cuz i’ve been camping with a lot of diff people but i’ve never been with someone like woozi

but

i think

he’s the quietest one of them all

tbh idt woozi would be the biggest fan of camping

esp where you’re roughing it out in the middle of the woods since he’s a homebody

but i think he would like it in terms of taking a break from the bustling city and enjoying nature

he would sit outside in the early morning and watch the sun rise alone

would deffo get inspo for songs

you can sometimes hear him humming little melodies to himself when they’re hiking

laughs the hardest at dino’s freestyle raps at night tho

sometimes borrows shua’s guitar to play something

i think he would like doing rec activities too tho

like rafting or biking

OR FISHING OOOOOOOOOO

he’s js happy to be there i think

the8

also one of the more quiet members

but he actually likes road trips because he likes to be in nature

he’ll be one of the first people up every morning

you’ll find him meditating, basking in the early morning rays in front of the smoking fire pit from last night

really really likes sight seeing nature

also if he could, he would def bring a travel tea set and make tea for those who want it in the morning

tries to make friends with a feral squirrel but failed tho

he took that personally too

sensitive sleeper so he tends to stay up late at night on car rides to talk w cheol to keep him awake and sometimes drives 

mingyu

all hail kim mingyu because he’s everyone’s life saver

he’s in charge of almost all of their cooked meals

and he makes some damned good camping food

kbbq is a must at camping sites AND HE’S SO GOOD. SOSOSOSO GOOD

but he’s the biggest mfing scaredy cat

clings to jeonghan in his sleep and flinches every time he hears something in the woods

“mingyu go to sleep”

“but what if thats a bear?”

buys bear spray and read up on how to scare bears away

also has to close his eyes when they’re driving on mountain roads bc the cliffs and ravines make him queasy and his knees feel like jelly

cuddles hoshi in his sleep in the car

loves taking pictures of nature and the members

would def go dirt biking or something like that

likes to engage in park rangers’ q&a’s and info sessions

dokyeom

sings almost everywhere

in the car? he’s singing? they’re setting up camp? he’s singing. around the fire pit? he’s singing along with shua’s strumming.

like mingyu, he has to close his eyes when they’re driving on mountain roads bc he gets scared

waves to random babies he sees at popular attractions

he fed an eagle once. he talks about it every other month

CAMERA MAN #2

loves taking pics of nature

esp the sky

sometimes he sticks his head out the window (to the point where it’s illegal) to get a good pic of the sunset

loves loves lovesss stargazing

he can stare at the dark sky for hours, looking and counting each and individual star

seungkwan

designated tour guide™️

makes sure everyone’s sticking together

and kinda forces everyone to go hiking with him

side note: i love seungkwan’s hiking posts

anyway

sings almost everywhere pt. 2

their collective spokesperson 

he’s the one talking to park rangers and campsite managers

likes to engage in deeper conversation with other members once it’s more dark and quiet and a few members already turned in for the night

pls don’t put him on the wheel he’s going to freak out

likes to sit next to vernon and talk to him on longer nature car rides

seungkwan on aux can never go wrong

vernon

has headphones on almost 24/7

even when he doesn’t, he has imaginary ones on

he has like 4 different headphones/earphones as back up in case one dies

the amount of songs he’s downloaded on spotify practically takes up half his phone storage

will randomly start naming all the diff plants’ scientific names

likes to look at mushrooms and plants in his spare time

brings like 3 different, separate snapbacks

vernon would most definitely make a killer smore

like he’s so good at roasting marsmallows

it’s the american in him ig

likes to poke at the fire with a blank expression

if you look at their group photos, he’s always in the same pose and facial expression

freaks out when he sees a bug tho and will aggressively do the harlem shake until it’s gone

dino

in love with everything

he’ll point out something new he sees every 3 seconds

thinks everything is so so cool

i love dino

anyway

would sing in the car deffo 10000%

yk like his drunk freestyle rapping he did in the beginning of nana tour? yea he does that at night in front of the fire pit

if mingyu whips out some kind of camping tool he’d be all “ohhhhhh!!!”

takes so many naps in the car and in the tent

always munching on something

likes to read up on pamphlets and info boards about history or science behind a certain rock formation or historical site

and tell the others what he learned, esp when they ask questions

likes to bring binoculars (idk js a thought)

one time he saw a squirrel sneak into a gift shop and steal a candy bar

but when he tried to tell everyone else

no one believed him

it’s okay i believe you dino

reblogs and feedback is always appreciated ^-^

[cherishmii]

STARBOUND !

INTRODUCING....!

𐙚 "Birds of a feather" Group chat members!

✩ ⋆ ynstar: Y/N is a quiet streamer who quickly rose to fame after her first stream, where she cleared all the FNAF games without losing once. Despite being a comfort streamer, many find her weird and freakish. She has never done a collab, even after months of streaming, leading to numerous theories and lore about her. However, she’s really just a shy, introverted girl—or is she?

✩ ⋆ yoifire: Yoimiya's love of fireworks, inherited from her father's business, led her to study Pyrotechnics Design and Safety and Entertainment Technology. She found Y/N cute for wearing glasses and learned she was studying Fine Arts. After graduation, Yoimiya and Hu Tao encouraged Y/N to start streaming. Yoimiya, who streams and vlogs events, is one of Y/N's best friends and one of the few who know her hidden truth.

✩ ⋆ luminetwin1: Lumine, a vlogger who loves traveling with her twin, was on a solo trip when her camera died. Deciding to wait for it to charge, she explored a haunted forest and met three girls. They soon became friends, and after experiencing many 'paranormal' activities, Lumine wasn't surprised to learn Y/N's truth, which drew her even closer to Y/N.

✩ ⋆ Hutao: Hu Tao has known Y/N since birth, and they studied Fine Arts together. Y/N still doesn't understand why Hu Tao ended up running a funeral parlor. Hu Tao is her closest friend and the first to know her secret. She is famous for her comedic talent and always winning arguments. Hu tao secretly has a Y/N fan acc where she defends her.

✩ ⋆ ittothegoat: Itto was the first male in the group chat, originally intended only for girls, after pretending to be a girl to join. They warmed up to him since his gender didn’t change anything. Itto is a comedian known for doing outrageous content, like visiting banned Airbnbs. The group even had to bail him out of jail once. Despite his antics, he acts as their bodyguard because he looks and is genuinely strong.

✩ ⋆ Thoma_: Thoma, the "mom" of the group despite being a man, was first hired to clean the house the group rented for a week. He scolded them for trashing a house they didn't own, which Y/N found funny, so she added him to the group chat. Thoma then started streaming and vlogging, and his business boomed after Y/N mentioned how he looked like her mom.

✩ ⋆ bestdetective: Heizou, a good detective and friend of Itto, helped Y/N when she lost her cat after Itto accidentally let it escape while babysitting. Y/N was devastated, and the group chat was worried. Itto remembered his old friend Heizou, who quickly found the cat. Grateful, Y/N added Heizou to the group chat. Since then, Heizou often streams with Itto and Thoma.

In the field of online streaming, an introverted indie streamer, known for her quiet nature, has never collaborated before. So why now? Fans wonder why she avoids collaborations — is she simply an odd one out? When she finally accepts an invite to a show, unknowingly the guest host is a popular but grumpy streamer who often collaborates due to his company, unexpected sparks fly as she discovers the guest host might just be her future boyfriend. Nevertheless, things changed as they found out what she truly is.

☆ BACK / NEXT

★ TAGLIST (,,>ヮ<,,)! : rq still open!

@vxcmx @quacking-simp @sketcheeee

☆

> STARBOUND

Scaramouche x Y/N

[bbsmuts]

Draft List

This is a list of all my drafts, current and future. An idea from @banananutsmuthie. As for the upcoming drafts, I'll be adding them over the days I redevelop them.

IN PROGRESS:

#1 title: Field Trip Part 4: Malkia Wa Makahaba (Finale) Idol(s): BLACKPINK Jennie & Lisa, Jeon Somi, EVERGLOW E:U, TWICE Sana & Momo, G-IDLE Minnie, and ITZY Ryujin Words so far: 0.79k (draft got deleted) Expected words: 12-15k Expected release date: February 10th, 2025 Summary: Jennie, Jaali, Yusufu, Chiumbo, Aboyo, and Kariuki set out to retrieve Somi immediately following the end of FT3. After her initiation into the harem, Somi along with the other girls gets a little taste of exhibitionism as an extensive public scene takes place. Afterwards, the whole group goes back to Kenya, where more gangbangs (and humiliation for Somi) ensue. Ultimately, Somi grows to enjoy being treated like the slave they've turned her into, just like the rest. Though the others are much appreciated, Jennie remains the crowd favorite, securing her spot forever as Malkia Wa Makahaba. Picture(s):

UPCOMING (SPOILERS): These are smuts I'll probably be releasing in the next year. All titles, idols, summaries, pictures, and release dates are subject to change at any time. The release dates are probably skewed anyway because I'm busy all the time.

#1 title: Good As Gold (Redux) Idol(s): TWICE Momo Expected words: 5k Expected release date: February 15th, 2025 Summary: As a tribute to @xiaoondc for his help in building and then rebuilding my account, I'll be rewriting this smut to the best of my memory, as the original can't be accessed now. Momo has been sent to retrieve a solid gold relic from the tomb of a dead village chief. Upon exiting with the relic, she finds herself faced with fifty very unhappy natives. She wakes up naked and tied up, being questioned about her presence in the tomb. When she is unwilling to give answers, they resort to less civilized tactics. Picture(s):

#2 title: Field Trip (Redux) Idol(s): BLACKPINK Jennie, Jeon Somi Expected words: 6-7k Expected release date: February 28th, 2025 Summary: As another tribute to @xiaoondc for all his help, I'll be rewriting the lost masterpiece that was this story. Jennie is on a sightseeing trip to Kenya and upon getting on the bus, she meets a fellow Korean, Somi. Together they travel to a rural Kikuyu village, where they are set loose to explore on their own. But when they stray too far an trespass onto the sacrificial grounds of an altar underneath a Mugumo tree, they quickly find out that this village harbors far more lecherous inhabitants than they thought. Picture(s):

#3 title: The Fall of An Angel Idol(s): TWICE Tzuyu Expected words: 10k Expected release date: March 20th, 2025 Summary: In a dystopian future where earth is ruled by the evil and lustful demon king Lord Eodun, there is only one mighty enough, prudent enough, great enough to stand up against his will. The renowned White Lady, the One of Pure Heart, Chou Tzuyu, is known for her grace, beauty, upstanding moral character, and sheer determination to tackle evil. With intent to take down Lord Eodun, she launches an attack on him but quickly finds out that he is not to be tested. His power far outmatches hers and he defeats her. Forced to endure the relentless torment he puts her through, Tzuyu must resist his will at all costs lest she fall to the lustful treachery he revels in. But in breaking and finally submitting to his will, she discovers a new, immoral part of herself she never knew before... Picture(s):

#4 title: Overwatch Idol(s): aespa Karina Expected words: 6-7k Expected release date: April 15th, 2025 Summary: A group of civilian warriors set up camp while passing through a destroyed, war-torn city and Karina is put on overwatch. But as she keeps an eye on the surrounding landscape, she is sneaked up on by a rival group. But instead of death, she's given the pounding of her life. Picture(s): Coming later

#5 title: Game Start Idol(s): BLACKPINK Rosé Expected words: 6k Expected release date: May 5th, 2025 Summary: A harmless game of poker quickly turns into something much less innocent after Rosé invites over a friend. Outmatched and naked after being relentlessly destroyed in strip poker and losing the bet they had on, the bet's stakes turn out to be much more pleasurable than she had expected. Picture(s): Coming later

#6 title: Domination of A Doppelganger Idol(s): BLACKPINK Rosé, Allissa Shin Expected words: 7k Expected release date: May 25th, 2025 Summary: Tired of being bullied about her visual similarity to Rosé, Allissa calls up a friend who also knows Rosé and arranges a little get together. She's finally able to release some of the tension and anger she's felt, and in so doing helps Rosé to realize the submissive side of herself. Picture(s): Coming later

#6 title: Not of This World Idol(s): IVE Wonyoung Expected words: 7-8k Expected release date: June 10th, 2025 Summary: These weird dreams have been happening for a few weeks now. I don't know why, but I've been having odd dreams where a sexy...someone has been fucking me. She looks almost human, but she isn't...she can't be human. It's time for Wonyoung to pay him a visit while he's awake...this should be fun. Picture(s): Coming later

#7 title:

[nytb]

Not That Blaugrana

Click Here first <3

Blaugrana, catalan for blue and red and in Y/N's case; her next colors, but not those of Fc Barcelona. Last minute, rumors shifted. Lyon's interest in Frankfurt's star was made public and Y/N loved it.

Staying in Germany wasn't in her plans. Once upon a time, Frankfurt had given Y/N everything she wanted, served it up on a silver platter - but what she truly desired - beating Fc Barcelona on the big stage? They couldn't provide it.

Back in Barcelona, everybody was convinced that Y/N would sign for them, the board, the dressing room, the fans - everybody was getting ready for her return, at the end of the day, Y/N was a La Masia graduate and as she showed, she was more culé than Cruyff himself.

Or that's what they thought.

'Y/N, Frankfurt's star leaves the Germans for the French giants', 'Y/N on the move: Lyon pay a record signing fee for the Spaniard'

The media was going crazy, the biggest transfer upset just happened - the ultimate backstabbing - Y/N kept Fc Barcelona on their toes until the final second, signing for the French club instead.

Fans were heartbroken, Barca shirts with her name and number were thrown out, some even burned. Y/N had made culé's hearts tear to shreds.

The Barcelona group chat? In shambles - shade being thrown, blaming teammates, crying, feelings of betrayal. Y/N had managed to break the dressing room with a simple signature.

Y/N's phone blew up, on the other side Mapi was close to tears, angry at her decision. What did this mean for them?

"Why why why" the defender muttered as soon as her lover picked up the phone. Mapi relentlessly called Y/N, not taking silence for an answer "I thought you were happy here" Leon was slowly giving up on their 'love story'.

"Cutie, I told you - this was never serious for me" Y/N knew of the pain she was inflicting, but she didn't stop "We are only fuck buddies" she laughed "Great ones"

The defender was heartbroken, all her fantasies, her future - a future with Y/N playing in their backyard with their German Shepherd, their firstborn hanging from Y/N's neck, their house: a three bedroom bungalow filled with plants, filled with love, a house on a field in the Catalan countryside - its was all broken, lying on the floor like shattered glass after a hurricane.

Y/N had turned into Mapi's Alexia. The person who now betrayed the defender in a way that tore the defender apart. Was she not good enough for Y/N?

It was a tough pill to swallow, but the defender pushed through. Having the Catalonian by her side - in any capacity - was enough for her; at least for now.

Ignoring her team's feelings on the matter, Mapi helped Y/N set up her apartment in France. A lovely two bedroom penthouse, uncluttered, minimalist, the whole of Lyon on display from her balcony. That view at night, the shining stars, the warm breeze, the constant noise.

It was everything Y/N loved, something that contrasted with Leon's pursuit of calmness, quiet, peace.

Shirts being ripped, uncontrollable hands traveling across their bodies, nails dug into the defender's back releasing all the pleasure she caused, hickeys decorating each other's bodies.

Y/N's first days in France were a dream, with the blonde defender by her side, amazing food, breathtaking sex. She had everything she desired.

Things changed, the role Mapi played in Y/N's life became significant. Unwavering trust, undeniable chemistry, Y/N could no longer remain unreachable. Something had to give in.

Both stars were having the season of their lives. Who knew that being on top of your game required trips across Europe.

Mapi's Barcelona were, like always, ruling the league and national cups. Scoring goals for fun, automatisms returned: no pass failed to get to its destination.

For Y/N's Lyon, it looked promising. Unbeaten in the league, perfect cup run thus far, injuries kept to a minimum. It looked like the French giants were returning to their roots.

Champions league ahead, chaos struck - Y/N had had enough - the pressure finally gave in, everything crumbled to the ground.

"We have to talk" their date couldn't have started in a worse way "I can't just be on your speed dial every time you want to get back at somebody" the defender's declaration ignited rage inside Y/N.

Sure, Y/N had called Mapi for instant pleasure anytime something went wrong and contrary to what the public saw; a lot of things were going south for Y/N.

Her incorporation to the team hadn't gelled; sidelined by teammates, everybody knew of her culé past, her fling with the Spanish defender, they all doubted Y/N's reasons for choosing Lyon over her beloved club. Was she Barcelona's secret weapon?

"You know what" Y/N exploded, standing explosively from her chair, their romantic dinner date came to an end "I'm tired of this shit, you think that you ever were anything more than a way for me to get revenge?" That was it, no going back now "Get over yourself Leon, we're done"

Y/N left Barcelona that night, promising herself that her return would bring pain to whoever had wronged her.

Weeks of hurt, loneliness, crying. Both stars were now aching. Y/N's words had left her mouth without giving herself a chance to think. Was she regretting her choices? Her words?

An ego too big to beg for forgiveness, Y/N stuck with her decision; maybe a clean break with anything that came with a Barcelona tag attached was necessary.

Diving head first into football, Y/N slowly gained Lyon's trust. Her goals were celebrated by the whole team, individual celebratory handshakes with her new soulmates - Ada Hegerberg; their hatred for the Blaugrana club brought them together - and Van De Donk; their recent party antics made them the perfect duo.

Parties paid by Y/N's checks, the wage she was getting from Lyon was more than enough to rent out mansions just for fun. The dressing room was now united, they had unwavering trust in Y/N. They now knew that she was on their side.

Y/N was now their star.

[yekokataa]

Pale lore in Sacred and Terrible Air

I pulled together some of my favorite descriptions of the Pale from Kurvitz's novel. All excerpts are from the excellent fan translation by Group Ibex, which I think really nailed the style of the game in these quotes.

Warning: Full of SPOILERS and extremely LONG!

The Pale, up close:

The main characters take a road trip to the Lemminkäise zone of entroponetic catastrophe in Katla. They hire a racecar driver and drive to the very edge of the disaster zone, where matter is actively dissolving into the Pale.

The border point disappeared behind them, along with the invisible boundary of winter’s orbit, beyond which is eternal winter. The asphalt also disappeared over time; they encountered rural families on sleds along snowy gravel roads. It is their great privilege to have seen the pale with their own eyes, where it has towered behind the silo since childhood. 

Kenni sees the black mass of the forest slowly drifting into the sky. The earth crunches and cracks as the spruce trees tear themselves out of it, roots and all. The wood screams, and the frozen earth too, like they’re in a dentist’s chair. A cloud of limestone gravel flies into the air, and far above in the dark, the first trees are subsumed in the pale. 

Tereesz, Khan, and the mad Suruese driver look outside, their heads tilted back, as the pale approaches from behind the house. Inside, the bass drum thumps robustly, and outside, behind the silhouette of the building, the dark mass of the forest rolls up into the sky across the entire visible horizon. The pale rises vertically from the spruce forests like a wave, from the mountain ranges above the expanse of the world. Its horror moves slowly, humming over the world, but the world is made of matter, and matter is evergreen, ancient; it sustains itself with surprising dignity even at the moment of disappearance.

The pale can lift up entire houses! Holy shit! Our boys make a narrow escape from the edge of the encroaching pale as a house is torn away from its foundation.

In the yard, where the wheels of the motor carriage have drawn a loop in the snow, Inayat Khan looks up at a farm building that hovers above him like a ghost. Electrical wire entrails hang out of the rotating object, black against the expanse of the starry sky. It drifts on into the pale with a self-evident calm. Up above, a trail of its furniture and crumbling foundation remains. In the yard in front of him, Khan watches how a startled Tereesz and Kenni follow the object’s path, their heads tilting back until they hit the wooden fence behind them.  In a strange, panic-free concern, they all look in the direction of Ulv’s crumbling house. It seems as if every little crack comes from its limestone foundation. Soon it will rise up. But nothing happens. The pale freezes in place far away, behind the house; the creaking of the forest stops, and the music in the house also stops. Somewhere in the perceptible distance, on the edge of the frozen pale above, the farmhouse falls apart and disappears.  […] The engine revs up and the carriage’s wheels spin in the snow. The mass of the pale can no longer support its phantom weight. It breaks down. The vast clearings crumple under it in an instant, exploding with powder snow; a collapse like a shock wave whirls over the world. Spruce trees bow under the blow, and the pale blasts open the windows of the old decaying manor house. It arches around the edges of the house, as if hesitating for a moment, and then explodes together, encompassing it. The pale grabs the manor in its lap, and somewhere inside, in a room with a low ceiling, the young man puts on his headphones. He reads the sweeping pale like a magnetic reader reads a Stereo 8 tape. […] The pale blows across the fields, on both sides of the village road. Its avalanche crashes onto the gravel; the rumbling wall approaches, glowing crimson from the motor carriage’s tail lights. 

Travel through the Pale:

Floating magnet trains seem common, and they even go through the Pale. There's a brief mention that Tereesz once spent a week on a magnet train and was then told he wasn't allowed to travel for a year afterwards due to the dangers of pale exposure.

Outside on the platform, giant buffers are being pulled off the train. The umbilical cord is cut and thus, freed from the connecting bridges, the entire weight of the train with its five-fold carriage slats sinks onto the magnets. They howl at full power below the train cars. And then the flight begins.  The magnetic support splits the North Sea under it in two. It’s quiet inside, the generators humming as the train whizzes by fifty metres above the water. The three of them stand together, laughing. Tereesz extinguishes his smoke in a bronze ashtray, and they turn their back on the observation windows. Ahead, the pale awaits, and past it begins a big world. […] Through the windows, all that’s left of the city behind them is the light pollution, a golden glow in the distant darkness of the snowstorm. 

This floating train station has an illustration Rostov by the way.

For a historical travel example: the famous disappearance of the airship Harnankur. This airship was referenced in the game in the form of the 50-real vodka in the special edition commemorative bottle! Rostov's illustration from the novel is here, showing a model of the ship in Khan's basement.

One hundred and fifty years ago, on another isola—the Graad isola—it snows in the city of Mirova. It’s a midwinter evening, but thousands of people have gathered in the harbour. The quay bustles with them. In the background lies imperial Graad—church steeples and chimneys. The crowd is waving, bidding farewell to the airship rising into the sky. A swan made of wood and nickel rises into the blizzard, and the passengers of the world’s first interisolary flight wave to the crowd from its balcony baskets: well-dressed boujee people, with a never-before-seen adventure ahead of them. It’s the pale—terrifying, but at the same time such an upbeat and unforgettable experience. Modern technology, in the form of a luxuriously upholstered airship, now makes such an experience possible for an ordinary, if perhaps slightly better off, citizen. And on the other side of the pale—oh mystical pale!—the land of Katla awaits, with its royal capital of Vaasa.  […] Two days later, the interisolary flight enters the pale, and then, barely six hours later, a deviation occurs in the airship’s course. “Harnankur” has gone missing with fifteen hundred passengers on board. The flight is believed to have drifted into an uncharted entroponetic mass, the pale superdeep. 

Sound

The pale makes a hissing sound. Here Khan receives a phone call from one of the missing presumed dead girls, who may be a ghost or part of the pale, it's all left very ambiguous. It reminds me of the part in the game where you can call Slipstream SCA and hear a ghost trapped in the phone.

He picks up the receiver, and the hallway fills with the hiss of the pale. It grates in his ear.  “Hello?” asks Khan. But no one answers. “Hello, who is it? Please tell me who you are!” he repeats, more and more pleading each time. The hissing becomes louder and louder, until finally it deafens him, the pressure in his inner ear goes awry, and only that vibration from who-knows-where remains, its centre. The silence goes through his flesh and bones like waves. It’s cold. 

Later, we learn that the pale can actually come through the phone lines?? Creepy!

The speaker switches to a long-distance call; the pale seeps into the hall air from the fabric-covered ziggurat. The signal runs as an entroponetic sequence through the Great Unknown, from Katla to Graad. Relay stations clear the call from the noise of history along the way, but something always creeps into the wires—a ghost radio station. Its quiet voice in its unintelligible language reminds us what it’s here for. To end life. 

It's also similar to the sounds of the pale latitude compressor! During a long distance call through the pale, a voice is heard spelling things out using an “international alphabet” like the real-world NATO phonetic alphabet.

This is how matter degrades, drop by drop, like an analog rhythm running from red through the colourless world. The international alphabet is hidden in the low-frequency waves, “... Nadir-Ellips-Gamut-Azimuth...” and so on, to the border of the settlement. 

Culture, ideology

Zigi as a teen is a total edgelord when it comes to talking about the pale:

But above all, Zigi is still a nihilist. He reads dia-mat [dialectical materialism], says that animals are automatons, is a fan of behaviourism, and adores the pale and the nihilistic innocence of Mesque, Ambrosius Saint-Miro. […] The geography teacher sent him to the principal’s office, and Zigi stopped at the door, the zippers of his leather jacket jingling. “See you in the pale,” he said, and ran his index finger across his throat. Back when entroponetics was not discussed at school, many people gathered around Zigi during recess, and the corridor echoed with his half-truths: “The pale is made of the past,” he said. “All the lost things are jumbled up there, sad and abandoned. The pale is the world’s memory of the world. It accumulates matter and sweeps away everything in its path. This is what’s called entroponetic collapse.”  “But when will it happen, Zigi?" “Yes, Zigi, when?” “It will happen in your lifetime, little Olle. At least, I hope so. History swallows the present; the world of matter disappears, desaparecido... That’s why there’s no point in our generation going to school. There will be no future. When you grow up, don’t have children like your underdeveloped bourgeois parents did. You’ll get to see them die, and that’s it. Compared to the pale, there’s only a small amount of the world left! In the end, the isolas will sink, dozens and hundreds of square kilometres of land mass, can you even imagine? Like a ship keeling over into the pale. Fwooom...” Zigi makes a sinking ship gesture with his hands, the zippers of his leather jacket jingling; the children gasp. “Don’t worry, Olle, this will be the peak of humanity.” 

In the game, Zigi's brand of entroponetic nihilism gets two very brief (and kind of hidden) mentions, where it's named as entropolism. I've got those quotes saved in my post here.

Waves

The pale seems very wave-like in that scene where it lifts a house, and apparently it's also like a wave according to science:

“It’s an oceanographic myth. The Killer Wave.” Little Khan points in the direction of the body of water. The four of them watch from the safe warmth of a beach towel. Insects buzz in the dark, around the gas lanterns. “For a long time it was just that—a myth, a sailor’s tale. Arda even has a mythological name for it: ‘halderdingr’. But now they’re a scientifically documented phenomenon, they really exist, you understand? This explains the dozens, hundreds of missing ships. […] “And you know what’s the most fucked up thing about it?” Khan asks slyly. He wipes his diamaterialist glasses and then puts them back on. His almond eyes squint behind the magnifying lenses, filled to the brim with popular science mystique. “The same effect—don’t ask me how, I don’t know—but the same non-linear effect also explains the pale. They use it in entroponetics. This is how the pale behaves when it sweeps over the world.” 

Mold

I've heard that in Estonian the word used for Pale is Hall, meaning both frost and mold, like a pale gray film that covers the surface of things. As the Pale takes Vaasa, fruits begin to grow mold. Some people choose to stay rather than leave the disaster zone.

The panic has cooled. In the strange indifference of the evacuation, whole families stay behind in Vaasa. There they play board games, in their houses, in their spacious apartments. They love vitamin-rich food, and when the pale is only a few days away, it’s always signalled by the same beautiful event. Fruits go mouldy. It grows vigorously on them. Children listen to oranges crackling on the table. Spores sprout from the pulp, apples are hairy with it. If you try to touch them, they crack open. No one knows why it’s like that. But few can muster the energy to be afraid of that time, and that’s why I say it’s beautiful. 

And later, when Zigi is living in a forest that's been taken by the Pale, even the animals have been consumed by it although they're still alive:

And to the dark forest, to the museum of natural history, where mould grows on the horns of the males and puffs of steam no longer rise from the kids’ nostrils. They still breathe—not oxygen, but pure pale. 

Turning into a protein mass

The mother of the missing girls sits in her home, waiting for the pale to take her:

Ann-Margret Lund also sits there somewhere in her kitchen, in the middle of the pale; her rooms are quiet and clean. The former teacher wears a beige jacket and an above-the-knee skirt, and watches the moulding apricots. […] Like everyone else, she can’t do anything in this extended stay, where one’s sense of the present slowly drifts away. But whereas the others dissolve into their memories, she simply disappears. It’s as if her life had never happened. The past is not awaiting her return. She just wanders around the rooms, adjusts her grandmother’s lace doily and bedspreads, arranges the curtains on the rails. And thus, tastefully, she refuses to indulge in those ecstasies which visit the human spirit when the world is disintegrating. Nothing leaves her hands, and nothing returns.  When Katla finally sinks into the pale, Ann-Margret Lund turns, without the slightest pleasure, into a protein mass. 

Hanging out in the Pale with the ghost of Ignus Nielsen

Years later, as an adult, Zigi has become immune to the effects of the Pale, and even stays in the middle of it in a tent, hanging out with the cytoplasmic spirit of a dead communist.

Human speech sounds out of place in the silence of the pale. It echoes in the gloom of the trees as Zygismunt trudges through the snow. There’s an old trick coined by the great entroponaut K. Voronikin, that you have to shout in the pale. Otherwise, you start to feel gloomy, and the past comes up. But Zygismunt needn’t be afraid of that. When he first entered the pale, he discovered to his great dismay that he couldn’t return like everyone else. Or rather—he could, but not where he really wants. This makes him indispensable to Mazov’s idea. The disappearance of the Lund children has literally given Zigi special entroponetic powers. 

He goes hunting for pale-poisoned ibexes. The phrase ‘protein mass’ comes up again. It seems that any human or animal in the pale for long enough eventually turns into a protein mass.

The entroponaut shakes himself. Snow falls from the shoulders of the anorak coat. He goes on alone. An hour of frozen machine tracks and hoofprints in the snow run along in the flashlight beam. And when a herd of ibex finally emerges from the darkness, they are frozen in place in the middle of the road, like an exhibit in a natural history museum. Some of the females sometimes jerk in place, sneezing; this is a nervous impulse, a muscle tremor. The backs of the stuffed animals are already covered with snow, but their snouts are still steaming, they’re still breathing—some for a few days, some for a week. An anorak-clad figure moves through the herd with the indifference of a professional until the beam of his flashlight casts the alpha male’s crown of horns as a shadow on the wall of spruce trees. Zygismunt looks into the animal’s glazed eyes. Its sense of time has broken down. An automaton’s primitive fragment of a brain strays in the pale faster than that of a human. This is how hunters from the outskirts go hunting in the entrokataa. Of course, they’ll eventually go mad from it as well, and one day they won’t return. But not Zigi, he has special abilities. He takes a pocket knife from his belt and slits the protein mass’s throat. 

[aetheriograph]

DEMO: TBA

"A wise man travels to discover himself." - James Russell Lowell

Politics.

pol*i*tics: the activities associated with governance of a country or other area, especially the debate or conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping to achieve power.

Politics is a dangerous game, right? Has it always appeared as such? Is such a saying even the truth? Has it always been a cruel world or are those just the words of a being who believes the world owes them everything.

Intrigue.

in*trigue: the secret planning of something illicit or detrimental.

There's something lurking in the shadows, something that seeks to call your name. Will you heed the voice that calls to you? Will you run from it or will you face it and unmask it? What will you do in the moment when it all counts?

Murder.

mur*der: the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.

You were there. You saw it. You saw it all. You saw the gunshot. You heard it ring in your ears. You knew. You knew that you would be next. You knew you had to do something. So you ran. Look back or don't, the choice is wholly yours to make.

Washington D.C. is a utopia of the rich and wealthy. It's the heart of the cog that helps keep the beautiful nation of the United States running. For as long as you can remember, you've always witnessed the greatness and ugliness of the world of politics.

After all, you're a member of The First Family. As such, many people see that your life is centred and created with gold as if Midas was your personal assistant. It's actually more like silver, but what do they know?

One unfortunate and unforeseen night causes the silver spoon in your mouth to begin to tarnish. Now you must run to uncover the truth before it's too late.

Brace yourself as politics, murder, and conspiracy set their eyes on you. The nation also has their eyes on you and your whereabouts or at least they're trying desperately to find you.

Meet interesting characters along your journey of survival, even find love in the face of impending death. Will you become the hunter or stay and live life as the hunted? Don't forget to lace up your shoes and don't trip over the space that's in between it all. Where will you go next?

'A Map Between' is an action-packed thriller with the occasional bit of humour. The current rating is 17+.

🗺️ A customisable MC including: gender or the lack thereof, physical appearance, sexuality and more.

🗺️ Romance 1 of 6 love interests (3 females, 2 males and 1 selectable non-binary). Wanna keep it platonic? No worries. Aromantic and asexual options gameplay and options will be available as well.

🗺️ Deepen your friendship, romance, ruin, or reject relationships with any of the six available for romance.

🗺️ Win (and keep 😍) the nation's heart or be despised by the very place you call home.

🗺️ Travel to one of six locations (or more) in the run to secure your future.

🗺️ Discover secrets that were never really yours to begin with that now rest in the palm of your hand.

Caddel Aliz [F]: A metaphorical ball of sunshine whose actions shine just as bright as her personality. Hailing from the UK, she's made a home and name for herself in the US, but that's only among your friend group. As one of the smartest people in school, she'll surely keep you on your feet as things crumble around you.

She's always looked up to you and admired you. She always wondered if there could be more between you.

Motto: "When you can't be the sunshine, be the sunshine." - Unknown

Portrayed by Francesca Capaldi

Xachariah Collymore [M] : An All-American All-Star! When it comes to making the goals, be it in life or be it on the field, you could always count on the main man, Xachariah. As one of the most popular guys in school, a lot of people crave his attention. Be that as it may, the most special thing in his eyes are you and your rowdy group of friends that always puts a smile on his face.

He's always been an anchor for you. Maybe, just maybe... you're ready to be the same for him or maybe you're ready to pull the anchor up and set sail to see where the wind takes you.

Motto: "Do what you don't want to do, so you can do what you love." - Unknown

Portrayed by Keith Powers

Carter Yearwood [M] : Carter is the heart and soul of your group. Whenever plans need to be made or video games need to be played, Carter is always the one to call. As one of your best friends, he knows practically how to make the good things you experience better and the bad things marginally less horrible. Let's not forget his infectious laugh and smile. That's always a plus on any given day.

He's always noticed your beauty/handsomeness, but have you noticed his little glances he sends your way at times and there smile that follows that only exists for you?

Motto: "If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain." - Emily Dickinson

Portrayed by George Pomogisebe

Winter Yearwood [F] : As the newest addition of your group, she has yet to find her way. This is made more complicated by the fact that she is mute and only uses various forms of sign language to communicate. Despite her lack of words, her actions and kindness shine through. Will you welcome her with open arms or scorn her enough to where she'll want to keep you at arm's length?

"Who is this person that's caught my attention? Why can't I help but look their way? I wonder if they'll look at me too?"

Motto: "Measure twice and cut once." -Unknown

Portrayed by Dilraba Dilrumat

Molly Albrecht [F] : If Regina George could somehow escape the confines of the movie screen and search for her doppelganger in the real world, she'd have to look no further than Molly Albrecht. She is the queen bee of your school and she rules it with an iron heart and cold lungs. When the world begins to crash and burn, will you help her or make sure she's shoved into the fire of chaos?

"All I've ever known is the beauty of myself and servitude from others. I want to know something different. I want to try something different. I want to..."

Motto: "Boo, you whore." - Regina George

Portrayed by Kathryn Newton

Haven O'Kelly [NB, Sex Selectable, M or F] : The wisecrack of the group and the most nonchalant one to boot. Their quietness is usually seen as charming, but when they talk... they talk a lot. It's a miracle they never ruin out of breath. Born in Australia, they made their way through life to end up by your side. Will you let them stay?

They've always been fiercely loyal to you and by extension your friends, even begrudgingly coming to see the others as the same. In their subconscious, there's always been the notion that there's more for you both if that's something you'd be willing to try. Have they noticed it yet? Only one way to find out.

Motto: "Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears." - John Lennon

Portrayed by Ben Hardy [M] and Sydney Sweeney [F]

Note: No matter the sex that is chosen for Haven, their pronouns will stay as they/them. I appreciate your adherence and acknowledgement! 💖

Please note that this is a work in progress and it's still in the very early stages of writing and planning. Things will be likely to change, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. The current plan is to write the IF in an episodic format and to release it for free on itch.io. Links (RO playlists, moodboards, etc...) will be provided when ready. Any and all reblogs/likes are appreciated. Thank you for even reading this post! Much love 💕.

[loveatfirstsim]

15+ mods for adding realism to your gameplay

i wanted to group mods that i use together for different kinds of gameplay, along with some brief explanations so i can come back later to reference if i ever needed to.

please remember that these are just my own preferences for mods. i will update this post as mods are added to my game.

explanations under the cut <3

the mods

🤍 basemental drugs (21+) by basemental 🤍 child birth mod by pandasama 🤍 education overhaul by a.deep.indigo 🤍 home regions by kuttoe 🤍 language barriers by frankk 🤍 pets everywhere by kuttoe 🤍 relationship & pregnancy overhaul by lumpinou 🤍 simnation travel by a.deep.indigo 🤍 simzlink by lot 51 🤍 wicked whims (18+) by turbodriver 🤍 all mods by simrealist

mod explanations

🤍 basemental drugs: add a partying element to your gameplay with this mod. you can assign dealers to sell you a variety of flavors of drugs, but don't get caught by the police! i'm pretty sure this mod comes with some aspirations and the 'adhd' trait.

🤍 child birth mod: i've only used this once so far, so i can't speak on it much. but the delivery is more like real life instead of a baby popping into existence. you have options for surgery machine, natural birth, c-section, and also at-home births in a pool! there's a new ultrasound feature added, too!

🤍 education overhaul: education career, preschool, new education enrollment options, boarding school, new projects and assignments, study different subjects, detention, field trips, snow days, new school hours, i'm just listing some of the main points of the mod. haha.

🤍 home regions: this mod keeps sims in their native region. this means that if you live in willow creek, you won't be getting any vampires coming to your home or neighborhood.

🤍 language barriers: every world is assigned a language that is natively spoken. most worlds use simlish, but there are other languages spoken that your sim can learn through simlingo or by having someone who speaks the language teach your sim. this mod is incredibly customizable, so be sure to read the instructions carefully!

🤍 pets everywhere: this brings stray animals, dog walkers, and more to every region/world and not just exclusively to brindleton bay.

🤍 relationship & pregnancy overhaul: simply put, it's an overhaul for relationships and pregnancy, lol. it adds menstrual cycles and more that i cannot put into words at this very moment.

🤍 simnation travel: this mod requires you to have a license, subway pass, bicycle, passport, etc. in order to travel to other regions. there's a whole application process for a passport and going to the dmv.

🤍 simzlink: this brings an internet service provider and a new career. you can sign up for an internet subscription and install a router and whatnot. it's also compatible with snbank by simrealist (linked before the cut!), so you'll actually get charged for basic or premium internet every "month". like real life, only the internet never goes out. lol. this mod goes more in-depth on their website. it's very thorough!

🤍 wicked whims: the nsfw version of wonderful whims. there are archetypes, attractiveness, and impressions that adds more depth to relationships. there's also a menstrual cycle in this mod (like rpo), but it can be turned off.

🤍 all mods by simrealist: it's literally in their name to make things more real! there's snbank and addons (financial center, bills), real estate, private practice, mortem, organic, and home and land co. just check out their site for the info on these because they're too good!

[astroismypassion]

Hey can you make a post about asteroid kiss in Capricorn and Virgo please? 🥰💕

Hi!

I made the post.

KISS IN CAPRICORN 💙

Your kiss is serious, deliberate, nostalgic, realistic, prolonged, controlled, cautious. Your first kiss could happen when you enter workforce, at your job or when you start a new job, when you change your career path, once you start earning your own living and income, in the public setting, in your parents’ house, at your grandparent’s home, during wintertime, on the New Years Eve. Your person could be emotionally more mature, older (even 10 years age gap) or younger, but most often with this one older. Your person is respected in the community, by peers, cares about their reputation, is successful and accomplished. Your person could be your co-worker or your boss, even a tutor, professor, a childhood, life-long friend, someone in the same profession/career as you. You will remember this kiss for 10 years or more. You like forehead kisses, hand kisses, eskimo kisses. You could have your first kiss later than your peers (on average, because you know no age it’s too late). It could be public knowledge that you kissed or with your kiss the connection was formalized, like you became an official couple, people KNEW you two are together. You could have a pause, a break during kissing. Beware that you could have dry lips or the person does before the kiss. You could feel cold when you kiss. Your kiss feels like it should have been broadcasted. You might tell your parents about your first kiss. You will remember the date of the first kiss. There is something in your kissing that you do, that is like a tradition of yours.

KISS IN VIRGO 💚

Your kiss clean, slow, light, calculating, present, methodical, step-by-step, cautious, pragmatic, realistic, everyday like, nervous, breathless. Your first kiss could happen at a grocery store, any sort of shop, at a friend’s house, at a library, at a doctor’s office or during doctor’s visit, at the gym, at the zoo, in transportation (on the bus, on the train), during Truth or dare game, on a game night or while playing board games, while traveling (more short-distance), on a field trip, in vocational college. Your person could be your schoolmate, co-worker, gym crush, someone from your study group, someone 2-3 years younger or older than you, someone who has the same vocation/job/profession as you or similar field. You could even start a business with this person. You are a fan of hand kisses. You could be “prepared” for a kiss beforehand, for example: you eat a mint, chewing gum, you brush your teeth. You could plan the kiss in advance. You could be really aware of the person’s breath. Each time you kiss someone you do it in a new manner, a new way, so it’s very inconsistent kissing style and people don’t know what to expect from you. You could also kiss in a away you just brush or barely touch their lips. You pay attention to the teeth of the person as well. And you absolutely dislike dry lips. You might kiss again immediately after the first try. You will study the person you kiss beforehand, or you will be very curious about them after your kiss together. You might grab their hands, fingers or sigh before or after the kiss. You might murmur your person’s name. You get kissed midst talking. You might write a journal entry about your first kiss. At some point you might just want to get over with this first kiss thing.

[outofangband]

Collection of Nargothrond headcanons for @eilinelsghost. Working on updating my two larger Nargothrond world building post

Nargothrond has a variety of languages spoken! Noldorin Quenya and the Falathrim dialect of Sindarin are the most common. Telerin is spoken to a much lesser extent by elves like Finrod who have Telerin family but does become more common. As I’ve spoken about here, Telerin and Quenya actually have more similarities than Telerin and many of the Sindarin dialects in Beleriand do The Mithrim dialect of Sindarin is also spoken to a lesser extent. Of course phrases are traded and after awhile most residents speak at least two languages, similar to other large elven strongholds.

The Beleriand and traditional Sindarin modes of Tengwar as well as earlier Sindarin writing systems are used with the Beleriand mode becoming most common. There is also a system of pictographs invented by the Falathrim which is used primarily for recording weather, sea conditions and other natural phenomena as well as directions and travel instructions. There are a small number of dwarves who speak their own language, specifically a dialect of two groups in the Ered Luin and surrounding communities to the East.

Food is typically served on ceramic plates. The River Narog is rich in clay deposits and both Noldor and Sindar craftspeople in Nargothrond are highly talented potters working with red clay. Orange from alder bark, yellow from dyers greenweed for yellow, and woad for greens and blues along with imported dyes and pigments were used to decorate dishes, often with scenes and stories. The woods around Nargothrond was called the forest of the hunters and presumably hunting was practiced especially as we know Finrod took place in hunts before its founding. Most if not all meat in Nargothrond comes from hunting, likely primarily venison, rabbits and game birds such as pheasants. The woods and fields also provided the opportunity for foraging and the cultivation of edible plants including daylilies, stinging nettle, wild spinach, juneberry, chestnut, hazel, and wild garlic. Rowan berries which we know are canonically found in the region are made into jellies.

The architecture of Nargothrond is a combination of inspiration from Menengroth with input from Finrod’s dwarven allies who helped build it. Finrod was also inspired by his memories of the spacious, often communal homes of the Teleri, though the landscape was quite different, similar materials were used including clay and limestone. (In Valinor the clay was an import from the mountains though by Nargothrond it was collected from the river)

One favored tradition in Nargothrond was the annual hunting trip taken in the wooded hills outside the fortress itself. Dwarves who had aided in the building often traveled back for this event and feast. Trade was discussed and gifts exchanged. The event is in late autumn and corresponds with both a Noldor harvest festival and dwarven celebration of the full moon which began shortly after the first moonrise.

[bloodyfeverdreams]

Don't Forget to Water Your Bakugou

Day 4 Hypnosis, Day 5 Heat Stroke, Day 6 Not Realizing They're Injured, Day 12 Just A Little More, Day 25 Being Monitored, Alt #10 Shivering

Class 1-A goes on a field trip. It's a ridiculously hot and humid day, and unfortunately, Shinsou's group accidentally gets lost in the woods. Bakugou ends up getting heat stroke and Shinsou, Kaminari, and Yaoyorozu take care of him the only way they can.

Todoroki always talked about how field trips for Class 1-A were cursed, and at this point, Shinsou was leaning to the conspiracy theorist being right about that. They’d traveled to Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park, an island at the end of the archipelago of Japan, a forest that was isolated and uninhabited, something that almost guaranteed they wouldn’t be attacked by villains. They’d gone to study local plant and animal life, a science project of sorts. They’d been split into five groups of four, making sure that if anything happened, they’d have backup. Shinsou at first thought it was a bit much, needing backup on an uninhabited island, but he was new to Class 1-A, and he didn’t want to question anything he didn’t have experience with. Admittedly, it did kinda seem that wherever Class 1-A went, trouble followed.

The day had been much hotter and more humid than originally anticipated, and boy did it show. Everyone was sweating, uncomfortable, and complaining about it. Kaminari was one of the loudest, which came as no surprise. Todoroki had graciously offered some of his ice, but when they’d arrived, they’d been split into their groups to explore separate parts of the island. That had elicited a groan from everyone at the thought of losing their portable air conditioner, but Aizawa-sensei had shut them up with a glare. Unfortunately for Shinsou, Todoroki hadn’t been in his randomly assigned group, but at least Bakugou had, and he could take that. Not only was Bakugou one of the best in the class, he was actually kinda becoming Shinsou’s friend.

Kaminari had assimilated Shinsou into his friend group regardless if Shinsou wanted friends or not, saying that “You look like you need a friend, and these guys are the best!” It hadn’t been an easy transition for him, as he’d never had many friends due to his quirk, no one really ever trusted him with themselves, but Kaminari just steamrolled what he knew and before he really knew it, Shinsou had become a part of the Bakusquad and there was no going back. But strangely enough, Bakugou had been the one who made the transition more tolerable, as apparently, he’d been given the same treatment by Kirishima.

“The more you tell them you don’t want friends, the more they weasel into your life.” Bakugou had said. “They at least get more tolerable with time.”

And he’d been right. The more time he spent with the Bakusquad, the more he enjoyed their company. There was still a part of him that was waiting for the other shoe to drop, for them to ask him something like using his quirk on a teacher so they wouldn’t have to take a test, or to use his voice synthesizer as a prank, but so far they hadn’t. They just seemed… genuinely interested in his friendship. Shinsou wasn’t quite sure what to make of that honestly. He’d never met such sincere people who were willing to trust him, despite knowing his quirk.

His favorite way to spend time though was when the rest of the squad was playing video games or complaining as they did their homework, was to just sit sort of next to Bakugou in silence. Oftentimes Bakugou would be reading three chapters ahead, but he never said anything when Shinsou would sit next to him on the couch to do his own thing. Occasionally, he’d glance over at what Shinsou was doing, correct him if he messed something up, but mostly they just sat together. It was a much needed calmness in the hecticness of their previously unwanted friend group. He didn’t know if Bakugou enjoyed it as much as he did, but Bakugou never refused him, so he took that to mean he liked it too.

“It’s so hot.” Kaminari whined, for what felt like the fifth time. “I hate humidity. It’s not fair that we have to be here when it’s so humid.”

“Shut up, Pikachu.” Bakugou snapped, wiping his sweat from his brow. “Not all of us are so weak that we have to complain about each and every little thing. We fucking know you hate it, stop fucking complaining. Won’t change anything about our situation. Fucking deal with it.”

Kaminari pouted, and the last member of their group, Yaoyorozu, offered to make him a cooling cloth to put around his neck.

“Don’t give him an out, Ponytail!” Bakugou snarled, glaring fiercely at her. “He needs to fucking toughen up, a little heat is nothing. What happens if you get caught near a fire? We’ve trained for worse, stop being such a baby!”

Kaminari pouted. “Don’t I get a say in this? She didn’t offer it to you.”

“No, you fucking don’t.” Bakugou growled. “You’d cheat on tests if you could get away with it, I’m not fucking letting you cheat in this shit.”

Kaminari groaned, pouting, but he didn’t take Yaoyorozu up on her offer. Shinsou watched Bakugou carefully, and he realized something as they walked. Bakugou wasn’t just being a dick about this, making Kaminari suffer alongside the rest of them. But Shinsou noticed in his words that it almost seemed like Bakugou was trying to help Kaminari train. He was right, a fire was an intense amount of heat where things like cooling clothes wouldn’t help, or wouldn’t be available in the first place. It seemed as if Bakugou was trying to toughen Kaminari up himself, which was an interesting thought. Apparently Bakugou wasn’t as detached from the squad as he made himself appear to be. Very interesting.

Together, all four of them explored their area of the forest, Bakugou and Yaoyorozu writing down their notes of the things they observed. Only one person was really instructed to write everything down, Kaminari immediately made pleading eyes with Yaoyorozu until she accepted with a smile, but Bakugou seemed to be writing his own notes anyways. Shinsou kept an eye on what he was writing down, wanting to make sure he didn’t miss anything, needing to study twice as hard to be half as good as everyone else since he transferred in so late. It was actually the journal that initially gave Shinsou the first hint that something was wrong. Bakugou prided himself on his… well, everything, but one of the things was his very crisp, legible handwriting. But as they walked, as the minutes turned into an hour, Bakugou’s handwriting seemed to be getting worse.

“You okay, dude?” Shinsou whispered as Kaminari found a frog, (and then immediately shrieked when it leapt his way).

“I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?” Bakugou snapped back, again wiping his brow.

“Just… thought your writing was getting a little messy.” Shinsou said, and when he said it aloud, he realized just how flimsy his evidence was. “You’re just usually so… neat.”

Bakugou just glared at him. “Keep your fucking nose out of my business.”

“I was just trying to help, okay?” Shinsou held up his hands. “I can’t believe I’m saying this but you and I are actually kinda friends now, and I was trying to look out for you.”

“I don’t need anyone’s help.” Bakugou rolled his eyes. “Let alone some stray that Pikachu brought home.”

Shinsou’s heart hurt a little at that, surprised by Bakugou’s testiness. Sure, the guy was always cranky, but this seemed a little strong for even the explosive boy. Bakugou had never called him a stray before, and even though he probably didn’t mean it, it still hurt to hear.

“Fine, asshole.” Shinsou snapped back. “Forgive me for wanting to be a decent human being to you. I won’t do it again.”

Shinsou then stomped off before Bakugou could reply, and went over to a giggling Yaoyorozu and a frightened Kaminari standing behind her.

“Hey, ‘Toshi, does your quirk work on animals?” Kaminari asked, staring warily at the tiny little frog. “It won’t leave me alone.”

“It doesn’t, Denki, but I don’t think we need it.” Shinsou just chuckled, and scooped the frog up gently. He then softly tossed it back near the river, and it jumped out of his hands to return to its house. “There. Now you’re safe from the itty bitty frog.”

Kamiari glared at him with a pout on his lips. “‘Toshiiiii. Don’t be so mean. We’ve already got Kacchan for that.”

Shinsou snorted bitterly. “Yeah we do.”

As dumb as Kaminari was, he said with love, Kaminari was actually very perceptive about people’s emotions. At least, when it didn’t come to flirting. “You okay?”

“Bakugou’s just an asshole, it’s fine.” Shinsou muttered.

“Oh, yeah, he gets extra cranky when he’s uncomfortable.” Kaminari shrugged casually, as if it was common knowledge. “And heat like this makes him cranky.”

Shinsou looked back at Bakugou, and saw him wiping his forehead again, panting a little. He vaguely remembered Kirishima making sure Bakugou drank lots of water on hot days, saying that Bakugou’s sweat didn’t cool him down like a normal person’s. It wasn’t an excuse, and he wasn’t forgiven, but at least Shinsou understood a little more.

Even so, Shinsou avoided Bakugou as they continued to explore, but the blond was quiet, reserved even, which Shinsou found odd but at the moment he didn’t care. He was just glad that Bakugou wasn’t yelling or snapping at anyone anymore.

“Um, guys?” Kaminari voiced after a bit, uncertainty clear in his tone. “Um. Does anyone remember how we got here? Because I can’t find the path we’re supposed to be on.”

Bakugou then stomped over to them with a snarl and a glare. “Are you saying you got us lost, Pikachu?”

“I- um, uh…”

“You stupid idiot!”

Shinsou then stepped between them, holding up his hand. “Hey! You weren’t paying attention to where we were going either. It’s just as much our fault as it is his!”

Bakugou just snarled at him and stalked off.

“Oi! Kacchan, where are you going?”

“Retracing our steps, idiot!” Bakugou shouted back.

Shinsou met Kaminari and Yaoyorozu’s eyes and nodded, following after him. If anyone knew what to do, it would be Bakugou. Kirishima had told him that he and Bakugou often went on hikes, even went rock climbing together too. He’d know what to do when lost in the woods.

Bakugou knelt down, seemingly examining their tracks. “Ponytail, make me a compass.”

“Kacchan, don’t you have one of those real fancy ones?” Kaminari asked.

“Yes, but it’s in my climbing pack, which is currently still in the dorms.” Bakugou said. “We weren’t going climbing, didn’t think I’d need to bring it. I wasn’t expecting you fucks to get us lost. So, Ponytail, make me a compass.”

“Of course, Bakugou.” Yaoyorozu said, and after a moment, handed him a compass.

“If we keep going southwest, based on our previous direction, we should make it back to the path Dunce Face wasn’t supposed to get off of.”

Bakugou then stood up, and wobbled for a moment. That caught everyone’s attention.

“Whoa, Kacchan, are you okay?”

“Bakugou, are you alright? Do you need some water?”

“I’m fine! Back off!” Bakugou snarled at them.

Shinsou noticed there was a faint flush of red on Bakugou’s cheeks as he shouted at them. A sunburn maybe? That would explain the crankiness, but not that moment where he lost his balance. Unless the sunburn was giving him a headache maybe? Most people were much more irritable when in pain.

“Just fucking keep up, I’m not fucking keeping track of you shits.”

“Why can’t you just let people care about you, huh?” Shinsou asked before he could stop himself, even though he knew that his question would piss Bakugou off.

“I don’t need your fucking pity!” Bakugou shouted back at him, wiping his forehead again. If Shinsou wasn’t so distracted by Bakugou’s anger, he would’ve noticed that Bakugou’s skin was too dry for the hotness of the day.

“I’m not fucking giving you any!” Shinsou yelled, refusing to back down. Shinsou had observed enough interactions with the explosive blond, he knew that the best way to get through to him was to not back down from his anger. “Not everyone who fucking asks if you’re okay is fucking pitying you, you asshole!”

Yaoyorozu then stepped between them. “Boys, please! Yelling at each other isn’t going to get us back on the path.”

Bakugou just snarled at him again before stomping off.

They quickly followed, Shinsou switching between fury and worry as he looked at his friend. Bakugou’s breath was coming a little faster than usual as they walked, and his skin was flushed red. But at the same time, Bakugou seemed his normal, cranky, asshole self. Though, he also knew that Bakugou would never tell them he wasn’t feeling well. Damn bastard. At this point, Shinsou didn’t even know whether or not he even should be worried. He didn’t think Bakugou was a liar, and he seemed very convinced that he was fine.

Suddenly, Bakugou stopped, and his hand came to his forehead.

When he didn’t speak, Yaoyorozu did. “Um, Bakugou? Is everything alright?”

Bakugou didn’t answer her.

Too late, Shinsou realized Bakugou was tilting to the side, and he watched in horror as Bakugou’s legs seemed to give out. His newly trained hero instincts had him moving before he could even process what was happening, his arms immediately wrapping around Bakugou’s body. But even with the strength training he’d been doing, he couldn’t stop them both from crashing to the ground, Shinsou doing his best to clutch Bakugou’s head to his chest, doing his best to protect his friend.

“Bakugou!”  “Kacchan!”

Kaminari and Yaoyorozu rushed to their side, and Shinsou pulled himself up a little, still holding Bakugou close to his chest, adjusting so he was laying up against a nearby tree. Hands came to Bakugou’s shoulders, his waist, and together he and Yaoyorozu turned the unconscious blond over. Bakugou’s head lolled limply, and Shinsou’s heart began to pound in his chest.

“Fuck, he feels like he’s on fire.” Shinsou murmured, pressing his hand to Bakugou’s forehead. “And I think he stopped sweating.”

“His heart and breathing are also going too fast.” Yaoyorozu added, her face set in a serious expression. “I think he has heat stroke.”

Shinsou’s stomach twisted painfully with dread. Irritability and agitation were also a sign of heat stroke, and Shinsou had just chalked it up to Bakugou just being an asshole. Dammit, he knew something was wrong with Bakugou, and he let Bakugou’s attitude deter him from checking on his friend. Dammit.

“Heat stroke? Isn’t that the really serious one?” Kaminari asked, fear evident in his voice.

Yaoyorozu nodded grimly. “Yes. It means his body temperature is over 40 (104) degrees. We need to cool him down immediately.”

“The river.” Shinsou said, and Yaoyorozu and Kaminari nodded.

Shinsou stood up, and grabbed Bakugou’s right arm, as Kaminari grabbed his left. Together, they hauled Bakugou up, slinging his arms over their shoulders and grabbing Bakugou’s waist, running as quickly as they could to the river. Bakugou’s feet dragged limply as they ran, and Shinsou just tried to focus on getting to the river. Bakugou would be okay, they just had to cool him down. The river was close, they just had to get him there.

“Okay, so should we just toss him in or something?” Kaminari asked, clearly panicking a little. Shinsou didn’t blame him. He’d known 1A long enough to know that when something bad happened, they looked to Bakugou (and Midoriya and Todoroki) for the game plan, Kaminari and the Bakusquad especially. And he knew how Kaminari studied, which is to say not at all, so poor Kaminari must feel like he has absolutely no idea of what to do.

“No, we need to ease him in gently, otherwise we might put him into shock.” Yaoyorozu said. Then she shifted a little nervously. “And… we need to take his clothes off.”

Awkwardness hung heavy in the air for a moment. But then Shinsou just took a deep breath, and nodded. None of them wanted to do this, but it had to be done. “Alright. Yaomomo, you get his shirt off, and then Denki and I will get his pants.”

Shinsou watched Yaoyorozu’s nimble fingers undo the buttons on Bakugou’s white shirt, exposing more and more of his skin as she went. They wrangled Bakugou’s limp arms out of his shirt, and then he and Kaminari laid Bakugou down onto the ground. Shinsou’s hands shook a little as he unbuckled Bakugou’s belt, and then the buttons on his pants. Kaminari and Yaoyorozu lifted his waist so Shinsou could slide the fabric down Bakugou’s body, then they took off Bakugou’s shoes and socks, setting them aside so Shinsou could place the other clothes on them.

After taking a few moments to splash the river water onto Bakugou’s heated skin, all three of them carefully maneuvered Bakugou into the cool water. Slowly, they laid Bakugou down to where the water was coming up just below his shoulders. The blond made a soft sound as they did, but he didn’t seem to wake fully. Shinsou’s stomach twisted hard with dread again.

Yaoyorozu pulled a rag out of her chest. She dipped it into the water and wrung it out before placing it on Bakugou’s forehead. She then took a big, deep breath before her chest sparkled as she pulled a sunbrella out, which Kaminari set up to cast them into shadow. “Okay, that should be good for now. It’s not ideal, but this should keep him from overheating even further, and should hopefully bring his temperature down.”

Shinsou didn’t like how Yaoyorozu was saying ‘should’, but it was the best they had. A hand suddenly came to his shoulder, and when he faced it, Kaminari was looking at him with a sad smile.

“Don’t worry, ‘Toshi. He’ll be alright. He always is. He’s Bakugou. If he could survive like twelve villain attacks, then heat’s got nothing on him.”

Shinsou nodded softly, grateful for his friend’s optimism. “We need to get back to the teachers, they can take him back to the mainland and get him actual help.”

“I mean, that’s a good plan, ‘Toshi, but going back to the river made us even more lost.” Kaminari sighed. “Wait, Yaomomo, can you make, like, a GPS or something? Something that could find the teachers?”

“Well, I could make a GPS but that would only tell us where we are.” Yaoyorozu murmured. “I could make one if someone decides to go looking for the teachers, that would lead them back to us. But it wouldn’t make us any less lost.”

Kaminari deflated a little. Shinsou put his hand on Kaminari’s shoulder and squeezed.

“We’ll figure this out, Denks.” Shinsou tried for a smile. “We just need to put our heads together. We’re smart, we can think of something.”

A sudden noise caught all of their attention, and Bakugou’s crimson eyes fluttered open a little. Oh thank god. As much as Shinsou had studied hero coursework, being trapped on an island away from all medical help and other people with someone with heat stroke hadn’t exactly been covered. Shinsou was really relieved that Bakugou would be back to be able to guide them back to camp.

But when Shinsou’s eyes met Bakugou’s, his heart sank. Unfocused crimson was dull with haze, and Shinsou’s shoulders slumped. Bakugou’s mouth moved for a moment with no sound before he croaked out a quiet, “water.”

Everyone scrambled to grab their water bottles, and since Shinsou’s was the only one with a straw, it was quickly decided that that would be the one used, and Shinsou brought it to Bakugou’s lips. Yaoyorozu positioned herself behind Bakugou, lifting him gently so his head rested in her lap. Shinsou pressed the straw to Bakugou’s lips, and he took a sip.

“Come on, Bakugou, just a little more.” Shinsou softly coaxed, keeping his water bottle at Bakugou’s lips.

Bakugou made a hushed noise of negation. “Mm… mm. Feel sick.”

“The water will help, Bakugou, come on.” Shinsou said. When Bakugou refused again, his voice still slightly slurred, a terrible idea came into his head.

It seemed that Kaminari had the same idea as he said, “Um, Hitosh? Maybe you should use your quirk.”

Shinsou looked to Yaoyorozu, who he trusted with making this decision. He wouldn’t dare use his quirk without everyone agreeing.

“He really does need the water.” Yaoyorozu sighed. “Feeling sick is a symptom of heat stroke, and he needs the hydration to combat it.”

Shinsou’s shoulders slumped, and he nodded. He hated using his quirk like this, when the innocent person he was using it on wasn’t consenting, but it was for the greater good.

Bakugou, please, just drink a little more.” Shinsou pleaded with him one last time, wanting to save using his quirk as a last resort.

Again, Bakugou refused, turning his head away from the water bottle. It broke his heart, but when the blond murmured, “uh-uh,” Shinsou activated his quirk. He blanketed Bakugou’s mind with his quirk, calming Bakugou’s fierce willpower with a soft darkness. Bakugou’s mind was powerful, and if he was fully conscious Shinsou doubted he’d be able to get control of Bakugou. But he wasn’t fully conscious, he was suffering and dehydrated, so Shinsou easily got a hold of Bakugou’s mind.

“Drink five small sips of water.” Shinsou commanded, using careful language. He always had to be careful in the language he used on those he controlled, as vagueness just left them confused and disoriented, able to fight back.

As commanded, Bakugou drank five more sips of water, and Shinsou used his quirk to soften the edges of the illness Bakguou was feeling right now, able to feel his own stomach rolling as Bakgou’s did. But the power of telepathy behind his quirk also let Shinsou soothe neural impulses, and he could ease the nausea within Bakugou to keep him drinking without issue.

“Is that enough?” Shinsou whispered, not breaking eye contact with Bakugou. “Has he had enough?”

He could feel his friends’ discomfort as they watched him control Bakugou, even if it was necessary, and he hated it. He wanted it over with as quickly as possible, for all their sakes.

“M-may… maybe a little more?” Yaoyorozu responded after a moment. “I-I can’t tell if he’s hydrated enough.”

“Drink five more small sips of water.” Shinsou commanded, and Bakugou instantly complied.

Shinsou felt Bakugou’s mind wavering, and he knew Bakugou was close to passing out again, so he withdrew his mind from Bakugou’s. Still, it took a moment to meet his friends’ eyes again. He knew they wouldn’t blame him for doing that, but it didn’t make him feel any less lousy for needing to control Bakugou to get him to drink some damn water. He just hung his head for a minute, needing to gather his courage to look Kaminari and Yaoyorozu in the eye again.

“H-hey, he’s shivering.” Kaminari said, which caused Shinsou to look up at the electric blond. “Does that mean the water is too cold?”

“No I don’t think so.” Yaoyorozu shook her head, feeling Bakugou’s cheeks and neck with the back of her hand. “He’s cooled down a little though. He’s not as hot as before.”

“Think we can chance moving him?” Shinsou asked, with a pit of dread in his stomach that the river wouldn’t help their friend for too much longer.

“I’m not sure.” Yaoyorozu worried at her lip. “If we weren’t lost, I’d think we could, but we still have no idea how far our base camp is from here. We can’t take him and look for help for more than… I’d say a half an hour. It would just make him worse.”

“Then you guys stay here.” Kaminari said, suddenly standing. “I’m gonna go look for help.”

“Whoa, hey, Denki-”

“No, I got us lost, I need to get us unlost.” Kaminari said. “Kacchan needs a hospital where they can actually get him out of this humidity and actually cool him off and stuff. And Hitoshi, you need to be able to help Kacchan when he can’t do it himself and Yaomomo knows the most about heat stroke and can make anything he needs. I’m expendable, I need to go looking for someone who can help us get out of here.”

“You’re not expendable, Denki!” Shinsou argued, hating that what Kaminari was saying was making a little sense, but he refused to let his friend think so lowly of himself.

“Yes, Kaminari, Shinsou’s right. You’re not expendable. You’ve been incredibly helpful.”

“Well, I’m gonna go be more helpful.” Kaminari said resolutely, and Shinsou knew they wouldn’t be able to change his mind. Once any member of the Bakusquad set their minds to something, there was no talking them out of it. “Yaomomo, can I have that GPS?”

Shinsou and Yaoyorozu exchanged a glance, and he could see a resignation in her eyes that matched his own.

“Alright, but please be careful, Kaminari.” Yaoyorozu pleaded, and within moments, she handed him a fully functioning GPS system. “Walking alone in the woods seems to be inviting trouble.”

“I’ll be safe, Yaomomo.” Kaminari gave them a thumbs up, and unexpectedly, it did kinda make Shinsou feel better. “I’ll be real careful, I promise.”

Yaoyorozu then handed Kaminari a walkie talkie. “Take this too, so we can keep in contact.”

“Check in like every five minutes, dude.” Shinsou said, his worry clearly shining through. “And make sure to drink lots of water.”

“I will. Just stay here, guys, I’ll get help.” Kaminari said, giving them both a look before turning and taking off. Shinsou watched with a heavy heart until Kaminari was out of sight. He knew that the park was uninhabited, but there was always the risk of getting injured or heat exhaustion or spooking a venomous animal. Kaminari could break his ankle or get bitten by a snake or fall down a crevasse or…

“He’ll be alright.” Yaoyorozu then said, startling him from his thoughts. “If there’s anything that Class 1-A is, it’s good in a crisis.”

Shinsou huffed softly. “Yeah. Guess Fate decided that I’m supposed to see that for myself.”

“Hey-o, my dudes, I’m still alive.” The walkie talkie then chirped and they giggled a little, Kaminari’s words breaking the tension a little.

“Glad to hear it, man.” Shinsou said into their receiver.

Silence followed for a little while, but it wasn’t as awkward as Shinsou was used to. Most silences around him were awkward, people wanting too much from him or no one feeling comfortable around him, but for some reason, it was a calm silence, like how when he sat with Bakugou on the couch. If Bakugou hadn’t been so sick, it would’ve been almost nice.

As an amount of time that Shinsou wasn’t sure of passed, he and Yaoyorozu just kept tending to Bakugou. Re-soaking the cloth on his forehead with cool water, gently splashing his exposed skin, adjusting the sunbrella to keep the sun off of them. Bakugou regained consciousness a couple of times, and Shinsou was able to get him to drink a little bit more water, but he never stayed awake long enough for much else. Kaminari routinely checked in with them, telling them that he was fine, and venting a little about how all trees look alike. Shinsou just prayed that Kaminari wasn’t getting any more lost.

“I’m- I’m sorry guys, I feel like I’ve passed this tree like four times, I can’t- hey! Guys! Over here!” Kaminari shouted through the walkie talkie, and both Shinsou and Yaoyorozu perked up.

“What’s going on, Kaminari?” Yaoyorozu asked.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe I finally found you guys, I’ve been searching for forever!” Kaminari said, not answering the question.

“Where the hell have you guys been, man?!” That was Kirishima, worry evident in his tone. Kaminari had found their class again! “We’ve been looking for you guys for over an hour!”

“Kacchan got heat stroke, we had to go to the river to cool him down, and we got lost.” Kaminari said desperately. “But- but don’t worry, Yaomomo made me a GPS thingy, it’ll lead us straight back to them!”

“Then let’s waste no time.” Shinsou was a little surprised to hear their teacher’s voice, but he supposed that when students were missing, Aizawa-sensei would never let his students search alone. “Lead us back to your group, Kaminari.”

“Yes, sir, Aizawa-sensei sir!”

“Thank goodness.” Yaoyorozu murmured, softly stroking Bakugou’s cheek almost absentmindedly. “I was beginning to get really worried.”

Shinsou nodded, his body untensing as relief flooded through him. “Yeah, me too.”

After a bit, Kaminari shouted through the walkie talkie. “Guys! Guys! The GPS thingy says we’ll be at your location in three minutes.”

“Understood, Kaminari, and thank you.” Yaoyorozu answered.

Aizawa must have taken the walkie talkie because it was his voice that echoed through next. “How’s Bakugou?” 

“Still unconscious, but he’s better than when he first passed out.” Yaoyorozu replied. “His shivering has calmed down a little, and we’ve been able to get him to drink some water when he does wake up.”

“Well done.”

Once everyone arrived, Shinsou thought it was like a sort of controlled chaos. Everyone else must have returned on time, as Aizawa had been walking with their whole class, probably to keep everyone together, and so many people immediately rushed in to help. Kirishima picked Bakugou up, Todoroki brushed a thin layer of ice over Bakugou’s skin, Sero grabbed all of Bakugou’s clothes, Midoriya and the girls immediately worried over both he and Yaoyorozu, checking over them as Aizawa checked over Bakugou. It was a lot of stimulation at once, and kinda overwhelming, but then Kaminari put a hand on Shinsou’s shoulder and squeezed gently, grounding him a little, and Shinsou managed a small smile.

As they headed back to the boat, with Bakugou in Kirishima’s arms, Shinsou finally felt a sense of tranquility come over him, safe in the knowledge that soon they’d be back in their air conditioned dormitory and Bakugou would be in an air conditioned hospital room. While they walked, Shinsou couldn’t help but find himself drawn to Bakugou’s slack face. It was strange, his blank face looked almost peaceful, serene. It was the gentlest expression he thought he’d ever seen on Bakugou. He wondered if the blond could tell that he was surrounded by friends and safety as they walked. He hoped so.

When Bakugou woke up later in Recovery Girl’s office, Shinsou would be there waiting for him.

[mysteryshoptls]

SSR Malleus Draconia Masquerade Dress Personal Story: Part 1

"We should begin from the top once more"

Part 1 (Part 2) (Part 3)

[Diasomnia Dorm – Lounge]

Malleus: As I have been invited to the first ever gathering of future mages…

Malleus: I wish to bestow my utmost gratitude to those from Noble Bell College who chose to include me.

Sebek: How kind of you, my lord…!

Lilia: Good thinking. There's no one in the world who wouldn't like to be thanked for their troubles.

Silver: I agree. I believe it would be a wonderful sentiment that would help break the ice with those new friends.

Lilia: Have you decided how you're going to give your thanks?

Malleus: I have been thinking for some time now… Only, nothing comes to mind.

Malleus: Do you three have any ideas for a gift worthy of my gratitude that I could bring to the cultural exchange?

Silver: A gift, hm. If it were me…

Silver: I would enjoy a cake.

Sebek: A cake? Who'd even think to bring anything perishable on a trip like this?

Silver: Perishables…? I see. I suppose a normal cake would not be suitable to bring on a 3-day, 2-night trip.

Silver: Then, perhaps if we were to make a dairy-free, non-perishable cake?

Lilia: Hm. You seem to be intent on suggesting a cake.

Lilia: I didn't expect you to think of a cake when asked about gifts. Did you always have a sweet tooth like this?

Silver: No, that isn't entirely the case…

Silver: I was only recalling the time I received a cake from you, Father, as a reward for the successful completion of a training mission.

Silver: I remember being very happy then, so I thought it'd be a good present.

Lilia: Kufufu… How nostalgic! I see, I see, so you really liked that, Hm.

Lilia: Then, maybe I should make a non-perishable cake for the students of Noble Bell College?

Silver: Ah, no! Not… Anything but...!

Sebek: LET'S NOT MAKE A CAKE!!

Malleus: I agree… To begin with, I do not like whole cakes, myself. I would prefer to gift something that I would also enjoy, if nothing else.

Malleus: Regrettably, I must reject the notion of a cake.

Lilia: Alright… Too bad, Silver.

Silver: Yes, thankfully. I mean, oh, so sad.

Sebek: …Well, does my lord truly need to bring anything as gratitude, in the first place?

Sebek: Coming from someone like Malleus-sama, just those words of appreciation should be enough...

Sebek: Rather, even gifting them a passing, "You there," should be a grand enough gift, pass down for generations!!

Lilia: I think you'd be the only person who'd accept something like that all teary-eyed, Sebek.

Malleus: Of course, I intend on giving a word of thanks as a matter of courtesy… However, I wish to present something more, to commemorate the event.

Lilia: Something that's not as hard to prepare as a cake, but also something more meaningful than mere words…

Lilia: Well, that narrows it down. And you all still have a ways to go if you still haven't realized what it should be.

Malleus: Oho, so you seem to have thought of something Lilia. How promising.

Lilia: Mhm. So, the gift you should bring is…

Lilia: MASS GAMES!

Silver/Sebek: Mass games?

Lilia: Oh, you don't know? It's a calisthenic exercise done as a group. In the past, the Kingsguard of Briar Valley would also participate in these activities.

Lilia: Many people become one entity, and by performing a seamless gymnastics routine together, it can showcase strong leadership…

Lilia: And completely overwhelm any person who witnesses it!

Silver: Father… I don't believe we're looking to overwhelm anyone here…

Lilia: Ah. You're right.

Malleus: …How troubling, we aren't getting anywhere. We are simply inexperienced with the proper knowledge on gatherings such as this.

Malleus: If only we could receive advice from someone well-versed in these matters…

[knocking]

Azul: Pardon me.

Malleus: Oh, if it isn't Ashengrotto. Is something the matter?

Azul: I received word from the Headmaster that you are joining the participants traveling to the cultural exchange.

Azul: In order to coordinate the groups for the field trip, I thought it would be more efficient to meet with you in person.

Malleus: That's right, you were attending as well. Thank you for coming all this way to inform us.

Lilia: These guys don't have much experience with travelling, you know. I hope you'll take care of the three of them!

Azul: Of course. I will assist in whatever way I can.

Azul: …In any case, it seems you've all been discussing something here with grave expressions. Whatever could possibly be the matter?

Azul: If there is something troubling you, I can absolutely be of assistance!!

Sebek: HUMPH! AS IF WE WOULD REQUEST HELP FROM SOMEONE FROM OCTAVINELLE!!

Lilia: Now, now, it wouldn't hurt to just chat about it with him.

Lilia: To tell you the truth, we've been talking about how we'd like to show our gratitude to Noble Bell College for the invitation.

Lilia: We're still hashing out the details.

Azul: Show your gratitude? To Noble Belle College? Malleus-san would?

Azul: …How wonderful! I won't charge a consultation fee, so please allow me to get in on this action… Er, rather, allow me to be of assistance!

Malleus: You mean to say you'll cooperate with us? I, of course, do not mind, but… Are you truly willing?

Azul: Why, yes, of course. I actually was intending on bring along with me a gift of my own in order to win over our hosts.

Azul: But if I am able to prepare something alongside the illustrious Malleus-san, it is sure to be worth even more. I am quite reassured by that thought.

Sebek: Heh… So you seem to understand just how amazing Malleus-sama is, then!

Silver: If someone as thoughtful as you are ordinarily joined us, this may be a more promising venture.

Silver: Do you have any thoughts as to what we should present to Noble Bell College?

Azul: Why, yes. The most ideal gift for this sort of event would be…

Azul: A song.

Malleus: A song?

Part 1 (Part 2) (Part 3)

Requested by @twsttrashqueen.

[saintmeghanmarkle]

Nigeria’s Role in Invictus Games

Time to review some facts as Harold & M book another private jet to another continent. Hopefully some publications will engage in some research on this.

So how many African nations have attended the Invictus Games (IGs) prior to 2023? ZERO.

In 2022 Meghan Markle unexpectedly announced to the world that she was 43% Nigerian. Ibble Dibble does an excellent job debunking this btw here https://youtube.com/watch?v=0CYNcie-PAs&si=AJ5IF8qLod4KGyda

Setting aside that Meghan’s claim was false, Meghan still announced this on her Archetype podcast episode on “Angry Black Women” featuring Ziwe Fumudoh who is the daughter of two Nigerian immigrants. The highly profane comedienne also attended Northwestern, although it’s unlikely she was in Meghan’s white sorority. Ziwe was, predictably giddy, and the two instantly bonded. Not sure where her jelly post is.

Nigeria “mysteriously” applied to join the Invictus Games also in 2022, but wasn’t eligible to participate until last year’s IGs in Dusseldorf. They brought ten participants. The question is, which is the chicken vs egg? Based on her family’s ancestry records we know she can’t be 43% Nigerian, so did Harry tell M about Nigeria wanting to join the IGs and M thought “great!” I can be Nigerian, realizing no other African countries participate? Or did M make up the Nigerian DNA story and Nigeria latched on to gain more legitimacy and access some stale royal stardust? Or are we supposed to believe her fake story about being Nigerian in 2022 was purely coincidental to Nigeria applying to the IGs in 2022, when zero other African countries have shown any interest?

In January 2024 Harry & Meghan flew to Whistler, BC to attend some IG ski vacation boondoggle that cost IG tens of thousands of dollars for just H&M’s private jets and very luxurious accommodations, to say nothing of the staggering funds spent on this mini vacation holiday for the entire IG staff, Archewell staff & a very small group of competitors, which included a high society dinner with Michael Bublé serenading a large banquet hall of VIPs, including the Nigerian Chief of Staff who invited H&M to swan about Nigeria. Apparently the vets weren’t invited to that dinner, but they enjoyed all the other perks. That Chief of Staff brought some Nigerian participants with him, none of whom seemingly had any experience competing in winter sports, so it seems shockingly wasteful to squander so much money for a “pre-IG trip just so the Chief of Staff can say he met Michael Bublé.

Harry describes this May 2024 Nigerian trip thusly:

”His visit to Nigeria will include cultural activities and will “consolidate Nigeria’s stronghold at the games and the possibility of hosting the event in later years,” Gusau said.

Nigeria has NO stronghold at the games. They only fielded ten participants and have only attended ONE IG. One. That is not a stronghold. So what is the real purpose of this trip? To bribe Harry for a future hosting gig for the IGs? Bribery involving government officials is the most common form of corruption in Nigeria, according to Nigeria. And we all know how big their scam and bots industry is. That means bribery, although technically illegal in Nigeria, is also very commonplace. Wasting money seems like no big deal for them either.

However, the thought of Nigeria hosting the IGs is laughable. Nigeria has travel warnings throughout Nigeria due to widespread terrorism, kidnappings, armed gangs and general crime. The participating countries are advising against travel to Nigeria https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/nigeria-travel-advisory.html

Aside from putting other nations in extreme danger, it would cost Nigeria over $40M to host this week long party. Nigeria’s entire military budget of $3.1B is .003 of our (US’s) military budget. Basically a rounding error. Yet spending over $40M on a week long party for 500 vets from 22 non-US countries is still hefty enough that it merits a lot of lobbying here, since basic vet needs are not fully met. Yet Nigeria wants to cough this much money up so that 98% of the non-Nigerian prticipants can party in Nigeria? Why? Are all there other veteran needs being fully met? What else is in it for them? This can’t be what this trip is really all about

For Harry & Meghan this is all a win-win. They get to have another faux royal International trip where they cosplay still being royals with royal authority & privileges, which they no longer possess. They will be treated as VIPs, staying at the finest Nigerian hotels and riding in armed motorcades, which is apparently the thing Harry misses most about his former life as an actual senior royal. Meghan gets to rub more heavy bronzer on her race card while working to cement her presence as. co-host for all the future Invictus Games with Harry, who is only a patron, btw, and has zero official corporate authority for the IGs. She will be their Lolo waving her Nigerian flag. Harry seeks to throw his weight around proving that he can bring in nations that will pony up the giant hosting fees

There are rumors that the IG Foundation is considering replacing Harry as their patron. Harry believed his big Netflix Heart of Invictus series would stave that off, but that series didn‘t do that well. Perhaps he believes he can bring in all of Africa. I doubt that will work out well. I think this stunt smells like overwhelming desperation.

The Invictus Games Foundation needs to stop this out of control train wreck. Harry & Meghan going rogue on these projects only brings on more intense scrutiny. Will this charity survive if the amount of money spent on H&M is ever made public? If the US hosts the 2026 IGs I can assure you FOIAs will go out to the DOD. If Birmingham gets it I assume the UK will also FOIA the snot out of the records. The truly big waste isn’t in the IGF’s paltry budget it’s in the $30M to $40M plus sponsorships that goes completely unreported on. MSM, please do your duty!

post link

author: AM_Rike

submitted: April 29, 2024 at 03:32PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit

disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

[oddlittlestories]

Notre Dame Visit

Wrote up a little fic to go with this WIP fanart! This is inspired by @greghatecrimes elaborating on my life changing field trips post, and is currently brought to you by Anya’s prompt re my Halloween fic ask game.

Fic under the cut.

Chase & Thirteen as found family siblings. They're backpacking through Europe. Late s6 AU, probably consistent w/HH:Reprise. Trans masc bi Chase as a treat.

CW: mild travel danger, religious irreverence, religious homophobia reference

“Are you sure? Are you sure you’re sure?” Chase whispered. Not that whispering was gonna help him. She was loud enough for the both of them.

“Yes, we’re fine," Thirteen cackled, "now take the damn photo.” She raised her middle finger to the ceiling of the cathedral. He supposed it was her way of sticking it to all that religious homophobia. They were a hell of a pair to be anywhere near a cathedral—a failed novice divorced bi trans guy with blood on his hands, and a deliberately-irreverent bi woman after House's own heart. But as Thirteen liked to say every time she dragged him into a cathedral, which seemed to be as often as possible, they hadn't spontaneously burst into flames even once.

That said, Chase could just imagine a priest clamping his hand firmly down on his arm… Chase hunched his shoulders, trying desperately to look over his shoulder and take the photo as fast as he could at the same time. Maybe no one would notice. If he could’ve melted into the Notre Dame floor he would have. It was mortifying.

He took the photo and lowered the phone as quickly as he could. Still, it came out pretty cool.

“Okay, let me see,” Thirteen said, scrambling for his iPhone.

“It’s fine,” Chase insisted, trying to tuck the phone back in his jacket pocket.

“I want to be sure! What if it’s blurry?” Thirteen made grabby hands, struggling with him over the device.

“It’s not blurry!” he insisted.

“Then show me!”

“Fine!” Chase heaved a sigh and let her have the phone.

She snickered. “Yeah that’s really good, you were right.” She sent the photo to House before he could even try to stop her. Chase rolled his eyes. As soon as House got it, he’d do what he’d done with the rest: print it out and tape it to the ddx whiteboard. Foreman would text him to complain about how hard it was to ddx “now that it was a scrapbook instead.” Kutner would use the red sharpie he bought to draw horns on Thirteen and Chase in the photos.

It was a group activity, apparently.

Later that night, Chase and Thirteen crammed shoulder to shoulder at the bar of a centuries-old pub. It wasn’t far from the hostel, and around them spilled French and English and a bunch more languages Chase probably could pick out if he tried.

“Mm, this is delicious,” Thirteen said. “Here, try.”

She didn’t have to tell him twice. He leaned in and took a crunchy bite. It was the best toasted cheese on bread Chase had ever had in his life. “Wow,” he mumbled, mouth full.

“I know, right?”

On their walk back to the hostel, the lights of Paris were glittering. It wasn’t nearly as quiet here as it was in rural Spain, and Chase thought they were both dazzled by the city after that. Paris was definitely a tourist town though. They cut down a side street for a shortcut to their hostel.

Thirteen got distracted by something in a shop window. He wasn’t sure what, because by the time he noticed she was just behind him, a guy was cutting between them. He was a street hawker, with “I heart Paris” lanyards hung all up one arm. And he was getting in Chase’s face, trying to grab him.

“Woah, there, buddy,” Chase said. “Hands to yourself.” But the guy would not lay off. He wasn’t sure what to do. He was probably gonna get pickpocketed if he did nothing. Or worse, he thought darkly, noticing how the guy was subtly directing him towards a dark alley.

And suddenly Thirteen was there.

She slipped her arm around Chase’s shoulders and said, “My brother and I have to go now.” It was just surprising enough that she scooped him away from the hawker and out into the busy cross-street.

“Thanks.” His voice was breathless with relief.

“Yeah, I did not like where that was going. You okay?”

Chase patted himself down, trying to ignore the way “brother” was rotating around in his head. Even if it didn't last… He frowned appraisingly. “Yeah. I’m great.”

Thirteen grinned and they headed into the hostel together, where their room with its two twin beds was waiting.

They had it down to a routine now, so it only took a moment for them to change and crawl into bed. Thirteen turned out the light, and Chase pulled his soft blanket up to his chest. In the darkness, it felt safe to say things. He played the word brother over and over in his head. He knew it was true. But how often do you get that kind of thing confirmed? “I’m glad we made this trip. Me and you.”

“Me, too.” Her voice was warm.

It had been a hard year, but right here and right now, Chase was so, so happy.

[archoneddzs15]

Sony PlayStation - Gadget "Past as Future" (Gadget: Invention, Travel & Adventure)

Title: Gadget "Past as Future" / ガジェット [パスト・アス・フューチャ��]

Developer/Publisher: SYNERGY INC.

Release date: 27 November 1997

Catalogue No.: SLPS-01082~5

Genre: 3D First Person Adventure

Coming from the same developer that made Yellow Brick Road for the Sega Saturn, I wasn't expecting much from this game, but I was actually surprised. Understanding Gadget is pretty much an impossible task, just as previous games from Haruhiko Shono like Alice Interactive Museum or L-Zone, which garnered some modicum of notoriety when initially released for Macs (more of a testament to the lack of quality games for Mac than anything else really), the game is really not a game but instead an outlet for Mr. Shono's artistic visions. This is probably the clearest example of videogames as art, not in the "oh it means something so deep" sense of art (which is actually more allegory than anything else) but in the sense of art as an abstract representation of subconscious ideas through a medium, in this case, an interactive story of a meteor on its way to earth.

"Digital Artistry" has become a much too prostituted term these days, with just about anyone doing some meaningless shit on the net being called a "Digital Artist", but Shono was one of the original pioneers that dared not only to investigate the artistic possibilities behind 3D modeling and interactive storytelling, and he managed to release commercial products and not just relegate his creations to underground art houses. Granted, the timing couldn't have been better for Mr. Shono, at the time when he released his "games" the "multimedia revolution" was in full swing, and publishers everywhere were more than happy to publish anything with lots of video, images and that took up a lot of CDs...

Anyhow, provided you understand what you are getting into, you'll be rewarded with a pretty interesting "experience" when you load Gadget up. You'll essentially engage in a dream-like trip into the Gadget world with the excuse being for you to find a group of scientists that have some connection with the approaching meteor. The world of Gadget is a Victorian empire that is really a bizarre collection of impressionist, Victorian-like, sepia-colored locations that seem to borrow elements from noir mystery films, in fact, if there's someplace that reminds me of the Gadget world is the city from Metropolis and the one in Dark City, except the penchant for towering skyscrapers is replaced with a penchant for trains and mechanical machinery.

The characters in the game serve all sorts of symbolic purposes that would surely turn the game into a field trip for any psychologist who tries this game out. There's a disappearing mute kid that comes and goes for no apparent reason, a shady government officer called Theodore Slowslop (??) that comes and pushes you around the assignment, and I'll be damned if the scientist doesn't represent a fragment of a collective psyche. Similarly, there are a lot of actions in the game that obviously have a deeper meaning, such as getting off a train in the middle of nowhere to follow a glinting light, or chasing after that elusive kid, etc... If you've seen movies like Fellini's Amarcord then you know the deal, lots of seemingly meaningless characters, doing seemingly meaningless things that collectively are representative of a bigger meaning for the creators. Just what meaning is that it is pointless to try and figure out, being an intellectual game fit for those with just too much time on their hands. The fun part is figuring out what they mean to you and what emotions they trigger, it sure helps to be in sync with the creator, but otherwise, it's a free-for-all experience.

The technical aspect for the uh... "product" is truly top-notch, with stellar pre-rendered graphics (done by Shono himself) that illustrate the Gadget world with lush detail and a great sense of style. The game is really after all a Myst-like slideshow, so graphic detail is a given. As for the movies themselves they are lovingly animated but fall prey to the shitty compression techniques of the time using very early Quicktime videos. The haunting music composed by Koji Ueno deserves special praise however as it uses a collection of imaginative arrangements and experimental sounds that perfectly suit the game and create a surreal atmosphere for the game itself. It sounds like the more imaginative scores by Oscar/Golden Globe-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and it truly deserves to be listened to on its own.

Fair note, the PS1 port of Gadget comes on 4 CDs, just like Panzer Dragoon Azel for the Saturn. Just be thankful it did not come on 8 CDs much like the Saturn port of Phantasmagoria.