#I can't wait for more human abilities to be unlocked

[miimo96]

Thoughts on My Adventures with Superman S2 episode 3

It's Cool seeing Clark unlock a New power each episode, however correct me if I'm Wrong, but I don't remember Superman having the power to Summon a protective Aura around in order to Sheild him and other people, it's probably a Power that came from the Newer comics but in my opinion, it just kinda Defeats the whole purpose of him being "The Man of Steel" if this makes him even more invulnerable, I'll probably get used to it eventually, but for now it's Not my cup of Tea, However I do LOVE the way the show handles his powers and introduces them to us very Slowly, kinda reminds me of how the CW would do the same thing for the FLASH, before the show eventually became Trash, Making this Show even more of a Banger than it already is ^^ (also love the little nod to Cyborg here )

Either General lane is COMPLETELY Oblivious or he Really doesn't have the possibility of Clark being Superman due to how EASY it would be, So he Rules out the possibly of him immediately, or maybe Does know and is just messing with him to see how he reacts

METALO!? Omg it so awesome to see this character make an Appearance I wonder how far they will go with this character, will be like the killer android from the animated series and comics, or will it be something different, I'm really excited to find out, however I DO HATE the design for most of the mechanical Villains in this show, Don't get me wrong it's a great design, I'm just not feeling the whole Gundam/Eva vibe here myself, hopefully they'll Fix this in later episodes of S2, however I guess I'm just gonna have to be stuck with it for now

Nice to see Vickie vale Return and I'm really glad that the show is still Bringing in more DC Characters as it continues like Silas Stone, and Jonathan irons, maybe We WILL get to see other heroes down the line, especially for Next season if it's Announced, I SO Can't wait to see who they decide to bring in Next for the whole Season, also Why is Vickie Vale even here, She lives in a whole other city with a much cooler Superhero, so why even come to metropolis? unless of course you're sick of being the Bats damsel 😏 or maybe she just loves to Troll Perry

Livewire is Literally Superman's version of Shocker from Spider man, the fact that they don't really HATE their Superhero but rather just find them really Annoying is Just so funny to me, and I really love the look she Gives Superman here like "Omg Why are you here, why is it Always you, Why can't you just leave me alone?!" Is just Hilarious ^w^

Glad to see that STEEL is here but in all honesty, I'm Not a complete fan of his design, I get that it's Supposed to be a prototype or something but in my opinion most of the designs in this show are either hit or miss, with the most of them being Misses, however I Do like a few designs from this show, like Parasite and Silver banshee and even the Superman suit itself, but the majority are Always a Miss, especially with these Stupid ASS Robot designs, I understand their purpose and Why they're here, but c'mon, you couldn't come up with anything else, I mean even Ultimate Spider man, a show Absolutely despise, has way better character designs, So what the hell? I hope this gets fixed later during Season 2, especially Since we know Brainiac is coming Very soon ^^

Seriously What is this Power? So far It seems to just give him the ability to contain/Shield against anything of Major damage, and while I'm not gonna deny that it's a very cool, it just doesn't feel like Superman to me, maybe with time it will, but as for now Not a total fan, as long they don't decide to give him anything Stupid like the Ability to rebuild walls with his vision or to freaking Rewind time like the Christopher Reeve's Superman, I think we'll be ok 😅😅 also I Love that they're Humanizing their villains and really giving us a reason to Sympathize with them, like I felt bad for Thomas Weston at the end, I mean he didn't MEAN for this to happen, he just wanted to BEAT his competition

I Really love the parallels Set up between these 2; While they're both clearly trying to keep the other in the loop of their life, they both have a Secret they're withholding from each other, While Clark is Trying to tell lois about his cousin, Lois will be trying to tell clark about her job offer, resulting in the drama continuing to build for these 2, and maybe eventually end in disaster, with I think neither of them revealing their secret properly and lois maybe leaving Metropolis, leaving Clark with Kara and her working in Gotham maybe we'll see the Bat In Season 3👀

This is LITERALLY Jessie eisenberg's version of Lex, Just Treated way better, I mean we're already seeing him unfold into the Big Villain he's meant to be, with him already achieving Lex Corp, and Now having an entire army of evil robots, that im sure will probably be infused with Kryptonite as a way to kill Superman, I gotta say I'm loving his character arc so far and I really can't wait to see how he turns Evil, I even have theory of he'll lose hair due to going completely crazy, because I heard that one of the signs of insanity, is SHAVING your hair completely, now he may just lose it in a Freak accident or maybe even just shave it for charity, But can you imagine if he shaves his hair off due to his hatred toward Superman and because he's losing his Sanity of his former self, That would be pretty AWESOME, and interesting to see

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

Hello?

Gosh, I hope this is a terminal. Can anyone receive me? I've been recently trapped in this weird spaceship thing and I can't get out! All the doors are locked, I tried pressing every possible button on the forsaken console to no avail, and now the column at the centre is moving! Please help!

Hello! Don't worry, you’ve reached the Gallifrey Institute for Learning. It sounds like you're trapped inside a TARDIS - oh no!

🛠️ Basic Troubleshooting

Stay Calm: Panic won’t help. The TARDIS is designed to protect its occupants.

Identify Your Location: Are you in the control room? Look around for any identifying features or labels.

Check the Console: The central column moving indicates that the TARDIS is in flight. Look for the main console. The TARDIS console has several panels, each with different controls. Don't press random buttons; this could cause more issues.

Locate the Door Control: Typically, one of the console panels will have the door control. It might be a switch, lever, or button. Look for symbols or labels indicating doors or exits.

🔒 If Doors Remain Locked

Voice Commands: Some TARDIS models respond to voice commands. Try saying, “Open the doors” or “Release locks” clearly.

Telepathic Interface: If you have any telepathic abilities or sensitivity, try placing your hands on the console and think about opening the doors. Some TARDISes have a telepathic link with their occupants.

Manual Override: Look for a manual override mechanism. This might be a lever or panel on the side of the console.

🚨 In Case of Emergency

Cloister Bell: If you hear a loud, church-like bell sound, it means there’s a serious emergency. Find a secure place and wait for assistance.

Use the Communications System: Look for a panel with communication controls. You might be able to contact another Time Lord for help.

Distress Signal: Every TARDIS is different, but if you see a button or switch labelled “distress signal” or “SOS,” use it to alert others of your situation.

🛡️ Final Steps

Safety First: Ensure you’re in a safe part of the TARDIS. Avoid areas that seem dangerous or unfamiliar.

Wait for Landing: If all else fails, wait for the TARDIS to land. The doors may automatically unlock upon landing.

Stay in Communication: Keep trying to reach out for help. Someone will eventually notice your distress signal.

Hang in there! Help is probably on the way.

Hope that helped! 😃

Any orange text is educated guesswork or theoretical. More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →📢Announcements |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts → Features:⭐Guest Posts | 🍜Chomp Chomp with Myishu →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[embras-grace]

It's time to rant about my human in Palia: Ori Tian

He is awful and I love him. You can learn more about my human under the cut! This information is not spoiler free as his character changes over time as we learn more about the world.

Ori Tian || He/Him They/Them || 29-30 || The Watcher

Ori's history makes more sense with a few key points (some of which are spoilers you learn when talking to folks/exploring the world):

Kilima was built on the ruins of an ancient human school (I think of it as a university)

The ruins were where humans were forced to go by the human king (the Fire Temple lore) where it seems they were getting more and more ridiculous orders. I consider this to be when humanity's downfall was fast approaching.

The disaster that killed the humans was not just Flow (which I see as a global warming metaphor) but also an attack from Shadow Creatures (the Library you unlock with Jina).

The human downfall took hundreds if not thousands of years until they finally died out. They didn't go out with a bang, but with a painful whimper.

All humans have innate magical abilities. Some humans spend their whole lives learning how to tap into them, others are born with a close connection.

--

Human Life

Ori was a professor at the university and the dean of the humanities department which happened to be part of the school's administration. Their specialty was ethics and mortality, especially when it came to magic and Flow. They helped students organize various clubs and organizations inside the school, as well as supporting them during walk-outs or demonstrations against the king for trying to force people into "safety areas" to "wait out the danger" instead of facing the problem head on and cleaning up the mess humans had made that was destroying their world.

To students, Ori was known as the laid-back professor who was easy to talk to, but who wasn't afraid to talk back and be firm when needed. His tests were hell on earth but his classes were fun to those interested in a good-natured debate of philosophical principles and theories. He took it easy, but he took it.

To fellow professors and adults, Ori was a belligerent and sometimes down-right rude person. He had no problem calling people out for acting immature or acting ridiculous given certain circumstance (despite being hypocritical at times as a very hyper person themselves). The amount of fist-fights Ori has gotten into in university board meetings was too many too count.

He was outspoken against the king and didn't bother to hide his politics, which put them in a lot of danger. But Ori had one special thing that kept them safe from a great majority of threats: magic.

Ori was born with a natural affinity for fire magic and his anger could become explosive (literally). His flames were hot enough to melt iron and--when incredibly agitated--he could make anything he touched spontaneously combust. Yet this natural affinity came with a strict control he tried to keep tamped down... except when he couldn't in arguments. Fire brimming at the edges of his clothes (they never really caught on fire--clothes are expensive!) and his hair becoming bright flames. It's no wonder he was considered one of Embra's chosen.

On top of being a professor, a dean, and an activist Ori also managed the Phoenix Shrine. He was the primary caretaker, although he was as close to secular as someone could get in Palia. Is Embra real? Yes. Is she a goddess? Sure, why not. Does that mean you can't argue with her and have to accept everything she says or does? No fucking way!!! Ori is whatever the equivalent of a Jew is in Palia and he is very proud of his heritage, traditions, and beliefs.

His best friend was a kitsuu who followed him around the university and joined him on a lot of his routines for the temple. They could never be separated, his friend bringing him gifts from the natural world and Ori returning the favor with food and shiny things. His other close friend was Einar--who remembers Ori and what Ori did when he died.

Ori's death happened when the Shadow Creatures attacked the school. Many had already been moved to the temples, but Ori had stayed outside to protect the students that didn't want to go yet. When the evacuation order came to get everyone to safety, Ori was left at what is now known as the Mirror Pond Ruins.

When the last students were fleeing into the library--unable to get to the Water Ruins, Ori stood as the last guard to buy them time to lock the door. His magic was always explosive and he gave the Shadow Creatures the best show he could: he immolated himself in a massive explosion to protect the students he swore to protect. Taking out any Shadow Creatures in the nearby vicinity.

The only thing left behind was a pendant.

--

Kilima Life

Ori doesn't remember anything after being reincarnated. At first when he woke up Jina had to walk him through a lot of things, but slowly some stuff started coming back to him. His traditions, his knowledge of what he once studied, his love of researching, his hatred of authoritarian governments and anyone that bans or burns books, and intolerance for adults acting like immature brats.

He's slowly remembering some recipes he used to cook (thanks to Reth's help), other human languages he learned, more about life for humans, but a lot of it is very fuzzy and comes back slowly.

Still, though, he doesn't recognize the kitsuu who had great fun trying to get his attention with the help of Tau and can't comprehend why they keep little him little presents every day... and he doesn't remember his old friend Einar. Maybe it'll come back eventually, but there is one thing he is starting to remember...

Magic.

And he won't let the Order take it from him.

[felixcloud6288]

Metaphor Re:Fantazio 6/6

Darin and Strohl are in their regular attire now.

The plan today is to sneak through the Nord Mines to avoid any potential checkpoints and then make our way back to Grand Trad before the king's funeral.

On the way, Grius and Strohl spot a bird called a korvo. They're not too much trouble, but they're whole gimmick through this part is they'll spawn behind you when you grab certain items on the map. So you need to keep watch behind you and be ready to attack.

And now we have one of the game's best mechanics. If an enemy is at least 3 levels below you, you can just kill it on the overworld and get half the drops you'd normally get and getting hit by them does not trigger an enemy ambush. But if they're at least 3 levels above you, they won't flinch from your overworld attacks.

This is something you're only likely to see in New Game+, but when you attack an enemy on the overworld, they also take some HP damage and you can kill them on the overworld if you deplete that meter regardless of the level difference between you and the enemy.

Grius comes with a special ability called Phantom Dance. At the start of your turn, there's a random chance he will use it to do some damage to every enemy.

Talking to the young peddler we meet along the way will unlock the "Traveling Peddler" entry in the Memorandum.

Just before we reach the mines, we encounter some soldiers and the ensuing fight is all about teaching the importance of blocking. Darin has a weakness to fire because of the Seeker archetype, and these guys will use mage fire on him, but they'll use one turn to prepare.

And you can't brute-force your way out of this tutorial. The fight is scripted to ensure the soldiers survive with 1 HP until they get at least one shot on Darin.

Enemies get the same turn bonus you do if they pull off hitting you with a weakness or a crit. But guarding protects you from that. So whenever the soldiers prepare to cast mage fire, Darin needs to guard. Otherwise he will take heavy damage and the soldiers will get an extra turn.

Strohl is concerned about why there are soldiers here and about the sudden attack on the fort by the human.

There are soldiers in the mine waiting to ambush us, except they're so weak that we can kill them in the overworld.

Some miners got caught up in all this and are being held hostage. Strohl is connecting the dots on what is happening. And then we see who is behind the attack on the mines.

Turns out Klinger is working for Louis by sending soldiers to die to humans. Once enough people are killed, the people will become afraid of humans and then Louis plans to show he has the power to defeat them.

We already have some inkling about Louis's personality from the opening cinematic. He murdered the king with a cold and ruthless efficiency. He doesn't see the value of lives beyond what purpose they serve him, and if you're more useful dead than alive, then Louis will kill you without remorse.

Halia's destruction has motivated Strohl for years. And when he finds out Klinger abandoned it to die to the humans, Klinger is absolutely dismissive and barely remembers doing it. He sees so little value in others' lives that he doesn't even recall when he sends hundreds to die.

Strohl just confirmed June is a month of the year so hopefully that means this world has the same calendar months.

The voice called Darin fate-addled and throne-bound. But she called Strohl a lodestar whose light reveals the king's path.

If we're talking various story archetypes, then the end goal in all this would be to make the archetype of the hero king. The hero king is someone who protects their people. And Strohl represents that aspect.

I think it's interesting that Klinger had a glowing aura as well when Strohl awakened his archetype. I don't know color theory, but I'm curious if these are supposed to be contrasting colors and if so if that means they come from opposite sources.

And again with the Fantasy made reality thing, Klinger declares Strohl's desires to be in vain because this is the way of the real world. And Strohl declares that the world where lords let the innocent die by their scorn can die.

He can imagine a better world, and it gives him the strength to oppose those who maintain the status quo.

The part where the crowd of people were cheering was a bit out of nowhere. But then again, the ghosts of Halia have been following Strohl for years. They're cheering because he is the lord they want.

The fight with Klinger is pretty simple. He has two mage soldiers accompanying him that will apply buffs. Klinger meanwhile just uses an igniter to cast mage fire. Strohl will resist fire thanks to the Warrior Archetype, but Darin is still weak.

I personally just powered through and had Darin be hyper aggressive with no concern about getting hit. At worst, Klinger might get to pull a second attack one turn and I'd need to top off my health.

Then we have our heart-to-heart with Strohl where he tells us about Halia's destruction and we forge a new bond.

And then Darin and Gallica are pulled into Akademia.

More mentioned the Eldan Sanctum.

More explained that all suffer under their burdens but by facing and embracing anxiety, they make it their power and their lives are passed down as heroic tales.

When the voice offered Darin and Strohl the Archetype's power she told them both that they had to choose their paths. And the choice was to either accept the harsh realities and be crushed by them or stand against them.

And then Gallica unlocks her Archetype.

Now we unlock the ability to assign any unlocked Archetype to party members. Homo Gorleo was guaranteed to drop 600 MAG so you will have enough to unlock one Archetype for Grius.

I unlocked the Mage Archetype for him and I also used some extra MAG to unlock it for Darin too.

I personally recommend trying to unlock every Archetype for every party member when possible. As you unlock each person's Archetype tree, More will award you various items and accessories.

If you click on the heart in the Archetype Tree, a voice will speak to you and More says it sounds familiar.

And now I can freely explore Akademia. It mainly serves as the in-game manual. The first floor has books explaining game mechanics and tactics while the upper level has books explaining the strengths and weaknesses of each Archetype.

Pet the cat. He gives you a Hero's Incense the first time you do so and then you unlock him in the Memorandum.

There's a scroll by More's desk you can interact with that depicts the Seeker.

There's a particular book in Akademia More advises Darin not interact with.

But Darrin is on New Game+ so there's nothing he cannot face! On New Game+, More's willing to let you open it but warns you to be cautious. How bad can it be?

Oh...

Now that we have free access to Archetypes, the main menu is fully unlocked which means we can finally change our equipment.

New Game+ lets us carry over our money, items, MAG, and equipment but we start with our default gear. And we carry over our Archetype experience but have to unlock them again. Up to this point Darrin was only slightly stronger than Darin thanks to having a fully leveled Seeker. But now I can give him all the good gear I have.

Klinger escaped when we weren't looking and all the soldiers he brought with him have vanished. Grius thinks he was bluffing about having the mines surrounded. The soldiers you fought earlier were easily defeated so that's probably true.

And now we can continue exploring the mines. Mage is the most helpful Archetype since the toughest enemies are weak to ice. You need to level up mage to level 2 before you can use it though. Until then, the gelatinos are weak to fire and the serpetia can be dealt with using Strohl's Warrior instead.

You can also purchase or find equipment. I think gear that bumps your base stats are a but more useful than gear that just provides raw attack or defense. For example, the bone vest gives 55 defense while the pilgrim's cloak gives 50 defense and +1 magic. For the mage, the pilgrim's cloak is the better option.

Each Archetype gives Darin a certain passive ability when fighting enemies on the overworld with it. Mage lets you recover MP each time you kill or stun an enemy. It's useful but become less practical as your max MP goes up. There's another Archetype I think is more useful for maintaining your MP which I'll get to later.

For now, keeping Darin on Mage is enough to keep you stocked on MP in the Nord Mines.

At the end of the mines is a Magla Hollow we can use to save and go to Akademia and then we continue to the next room.

That magla crystal is emitting the same aura Klinger was.

The boss Homo Fulquilo appears in Bosch's St. John the Evangelist on Patmos.

Homo Fulquilo is very easy if you're prepared. it's possible to get an unscathed victory from it.

It's weak to ice so having two mages that have unlocked Blizz means you'll be getting 6 hits each turn. On its first turn, it charges up a move that is telegraphed to target everyone in the front row next turn. If you move everyone to the back row, the attack misses and it loses its turn.

After beating the boss, Darin destroys the crystal and we encounter an even bigger threat.

It's possible to sneak around it but Gallica mentions sensing some powerful item near it. So of course we're going to fight it (Not Timi though. He's not doing anything he doesn't have to).

The dragon has the same weakness to ice that Homo Fulquilo had so level 2 Mages are a must. It's strong but all of its attacks are manageable. It has a fireball attack that's only a concern if you're using a Seeker. The only other attack that's a concern is a tail swipe that hits everyone.

I went in with Darin and Grius as mages and Strohl as a Warrior. By spamming Blizz, I got to have 6 moves each turn. I put Darin and Grius in the back row and had Strohl alternate rows. He'd move to the front on his first move and then move to the back on his second.

The strategy was simple: Darin and Grius spam Blizz and Strohl either spams Diagonal Slash or uses an item when someone's HP falls below 100.

And the reward is amazing.

When we attempt to leave, the mine starts to collapse because of the dragon and we have to outrun the falling boulders.

I found out you auto-run during this section and just need to avoid the crates on the path. Crash into too many and the rockslide will catch up to you and you die.

But if you fail, you start over and all the crates that were destroyed don't respawn, so you don't need to have the hand-eye coordination necessary to get past this. At worst, you can just put the controller down and just let the level run itself until you're just running down an empty path.

It's raining so we set up camp outside the mine for the night.

Strohl talks about his parents and how he initially disliked nobility until he saw them try to save Halia from the human attack.

Grius meanwhile talks about Darin's sword and how it forged with magla in the steel. The prince apparently liked to levitate it.

And then we get to see when the prince was attacked. The actual focus of the entire scene is the woman knight who was protecting him.

This is the same Roussainte woman who was with us in the carriage on 6/2.

The mage that afflicted the prince with the curse was fully cloaked with no visible distinguishing features aside from having pale skin.

If you talk to Grius after, he tells you that he was part of a small entourage that secreted the prince away to keep him safe. Most of the knights weren't informed because the decision would be considered treason.

And then we go to sleep and are dragged into Akademia one more time. He tells Darin and Gallica they need to seek out supporters.

In other words, we need to level up our bonds with our followers.

Darin, Darrin, and Timi are all level 9.

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Spoiler Discussion

That magla crystal emits a substance that creates humans. It may have been put there to spawn Homo Gorleo or as possible insurance if any survivors tried to cross the mines.

As it turns out, the mage who cursed the prince is not Louis nor was he involved. Grius either was already so distrustful of him that he assumed it was Louis, or he got caught up in the rumors that Louis did it that he imagined it was Louis.

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[alterrune]

CHAPTER 4, ACT 7 - THIRTEENTH FRIDAY

(We all tumble into the movie scene, as we all get soaking wet from the rain. It seems as though Killer Laurence's cronies haven't found us yet.)

Don't worry, guys. I'll get some umbrellas for us.

(I try bringing out Storyteller, but when I try summoning it by holding my hand out like I'm holding a pencil, nothing happens.)

Wait, what? That's not good. Uh...PERSONA!

(I try summoning the arcana card that holds Magatsu-Izanagi to summon him, but again, nothing.)

We don't have our powers? Damnit, no wonder Luce has been silent suddenly.

Try bringing out your weapons, everyone!

(We all successfully bring out our weapons. However, it seems like some of their powers, such as Leadhead's electrical powers in Violet's case, have been removed.)

Okay, so. We still have some methods of defending ourselves. Good to know. No gadgets, no powers, no abilities, but we have some weapons. We can work with this.

Of course you will! I want you to keep this intresting for me, after all!

(We turn to see Killer Laurence with some malice-magic mind-controlled servants.)

By the way, Sutton and Hoopster are in an abandoned toolshed in the middle of the woods outside the camp. I know it's cliché, but if it works, it works, y'know? Oh, and uh, can I tell you all something? You guys might wanna start running, because I don't think they'll be safe in there for much longer. SO GET RUNNING.

(We all begin running into the forest.)

Should we split up?

REALLY? Alter, you do realize that's a horror cliche that ends up in deaths, right?

Hey, the only "horror" movies I've watched are the Human Centipede movies and A Serbian Film, Ellie, and I have YOU to blame for that!

Guys, look! The shack!

(The seven of us sprint into the shack, where Sutton and Eric have been holed up in.)

ColorStreak Battalion! And the Burnway siblings! Thank god you all found us.

Yeah. We were starting to think we were done for.

(A loud banging is heard, as Killer Laurence begins pounding onto the door.)

I hope you realize that this won't hold for long! You're on a time limit here, so make sure you make this count! HAHAHAHAHA!

(I look around the shack and realize I could make something out of all the tools in here.)

Time to The Fractured But Whole this bitch. Final Girl, here I come.

(In record time, I begin using the materials in the shed to build a weapon that will cause massive damage. Just as I finish, the door bursts open...)

OWWWWW!!! What the fuck was that?!

(...and I slice through the front of his arm, which was out due to him breaking down the door with his arm. It leaves a deep gash on his arm, though he simply places some medical gauze onto it that his cronies give him and rolls up the sleeve on his leather jacket to cover it. While he's preoccupied, I give him another on the other arm, mirrored to match.)

That, my good friend, was the work of my little weapon right here.

Here! Have another taste!

(Killer Laurence takes off his mask to look over the damages on his arm, and while he's looking to the side, I seize my chance and manage to slice his cheek. He manages to move out of the way enough to prevent another deep gash like the one on his arm, but it'll still scar his cheek. I then give a swift punch to his face, and give him a matching scar on the other cheek.)

OKAY, OKAY! I GET IT! You've cut both my arms and my cheek, I get the point by now.

(Killer Laurence snaps his fingers, and his cronies are teleported away as the scenery around us transitions to what appears to be a movie theatre.)

You've got ingenuity, I'll give you that. However, this ain't even close to being done. There's more to come. A movie can't be this short, after all! I'll see you all then.

(Killer Laurence then is teleported away by Malice Lily to an unknown location. The doors to the concession hall outside theatre are then promptly unlocked. I peek outside the door to make sure it's safe, and it indeed is.)

Looks like there's a concession booth out here. Want to get a snack to help deal with all that, guys?

Yes. I don't even know how to start a note for THIS one.

Ditto, Sutton. I think I need something in me after almost being slaughtered.

Yeah, I think we could all use something. Think there's some Mars bars for you and Alter. Also, Kyle, you mentioned Fractured But Whole? And even the Final Girl role from it? You actually played a South Park game?

Look, Henry, brushing the toilet humor and dirty jokes that South Park is known for aside, Stick of Truth and Fractured But Whole are actually REALLY fun games. Didn't have as much fun with Snow Day, that one seemed kinda rushed, but DAMN are the first two some solid games.

Now, let's go have some snacks. I could really use one right now.

Yeah, ditto. Mars Bars, here I come!

CHAPTER 4, ACT 7 COMPLETE!

Achievement Set Unlocked: "Operation: Malice Malediction" Set

Achievement Get: "Slasher Dasher" ("Operation: Malice Malediction" Set)

EPILOGUE NOTICE: Much like how Malice Malediction is very different from the last few operations, the epilogues will also be much different. They will feature Malice Lily and Killer Laurence alone, instead of with the CSB interrupting them with a note.

BEGINNING EPILOGUE...

(Killer Laurence puts his mask onto a coat rack in the palace's main area.)

Hello, my accomplice. Not easy dealing with them, is it?

Malice Lily, I feel humiliated.

(Killer Laurence holds his arms up sideways in what almost looks like a guarding motion to Malice Lily to show the damages.)

They gave me a huge gash on both my arms. Managed to get those cronies you lent me to heal it up after some medical gauze was applied, but it left some very noticable scars. And on top of that...

(He then removes his mask to show the damages to his face.)

...they then did THIS. Both sides of my face, scarred. All the way through my cheeks. I hate them.

Don't worry. We'll kill them before they can stop us, Killer Laurence.

I have my doubts, Malice Lily. But I guess I can deal with them being stupidly smart if it means I get to do some mental torment on them later on. With your help, of course.

Don't worry, Killer Laurence. We won't back down. Even if we don't beat them the first time around, the next few times will show those ColorStreak Batallion idiots why we won against them in our own timeline. And those other versions of us will see just how powerful we are as well, which I know for a fact is something they want to see for themselves.

Glad to hear it. This plan may not be fool-proof, but it at least has an equal chance for us to win as they do. Like I say, if you can't give yourself an advantage, level the playing field instead so there isn't an advantage. Now, let's get to work on the next part!

Indeed. As much as I think your plan is overdoing it, I can't deny that we are getting results with it. And the results are all that matters. Let us get to work on the next filming, my accomplice! You're a much better brother than my own ever was, and that's one of the highest compliments I can give, you know. I hope you realize that, Killer Laurence.

Oh trust me. I know.

(The two begin cackling in pure evil. However, as the two continue cackling, Killer Laurence opens his eyes and sees Sean with a sad look on his face. Still cackling to avoid disturbing Malice Lily, Killer Laurence whips out a goodie bag with a whole bunch of different candy bars in it and gently tosses it to Sean, and upon catching it before it hits the ground, his eyes light up. He gives Killer Laurence a thumbs up, which Killer Laurence returns with a thumbs up of his own, as Sean picks out a white chocolate Reese's cup [which Killer Laurence got as a special treat for him] and eats it as he walks off, leaving the two cackling into the night.)

END OF EPILOGUE

[aangarchy]

wait i never thought abt the korra thing. bc surely their bending isn't actually gone? just blocked off- like a more permanent and less paralysing version of chi blocking. the bending is still there

Yeah, exactly what i'm thinking. Amon used some precision bloodbending, and i'm sure most of y'all noticed but when he takes away people's bending he touches their forehead with his thumb, probably somehow blocking off the part of the brain that's responsible for bending, probably something to do with their Chi but tbh i don't know how that really works and the creators didn't rlly give us an anatomy lesson.

Energybending, as explained in the show, is different. It can grant the power of bending even to those who have never had the ability to do it before, so it possibly either unlocks something within the body (chi?) that you can't reach otherwise. (see: lion turtles in Wan's time, handed out bending to the humans that left their safety, even if said humans never bended before in their life). Amon can't grant anyone bending, because born non benders don't have that part in their brains.

Now after the harmonic convergence, some non benders suddenly were able to airbend. I'm assuming that energybending has something to do with it, seeing as lion turtles are spiritual creatures (tbh we don't rlly know what they are. They could actually be spirits from what we know, spirits can take physical forms and roam the human world, like Tui and La).

So how is it that when Amon locked off a part of the brain responsible for bending with bloodbending, that Korra is able to just bring it back? My guess would be that Korra didn't suddenly start bloodbending and didn't unlock that part in the bender's brain, she actually granted the ability of bending again to the benders. And the benders are able to control it immediately because, well, they're used to it. Way different from the people that suddenly became airbenders. So maybe if Korra was feeling a bit mischievous, she could have just granted people a completely different element, which would have been hilarious. If she wanted to get back at that shitboy Tahno, she could have just given him firebending and told him to figure it out.

What do you guys think?

[sirfrancisvarney]

It's so rare for me to watch a show as it's airing; I'd forgotten how frustrating it can be waiting for the next episode. I can't even look up spoilers because no one knows any more than I do. True Detective is going to drive me up the walls before it's done, and I can't even talk about it irl b/c no one I know is watching it, so I'll have to ramble about it on tumblr.

So I'm guessing Clark was trying to resurrect Annie somehow. I don't know if any of the stuff in the trailer has any significance to indigenous practices, but it looked like something a madman might create to preserve someone's spirit. And Clark took Annie's tongue in order to have her DNA so he could clone her, maybe. I don't know why he'd pick the tongue; maybe because it was easier to cut off than a finger? Not that I think his plan would work; nothing in the scientists' backgrounds or what we've seen of the facilities would suggest they were capable of cloning a person.

Speaking of the scientists, I hope the show will go more in depth on their work. On the other hand, they're entering a field I know something about, and I already have questions. Why would it be impossible to sequence the DNA of the microorganisms in the permafrost? People already do that. Why would the methods of extracting it shear the chromosomes beyond their ability to sequence them? I would think the bigger problem would be getting enough sample to sequence in the first place. And with ancient DNA (in fossils, for example) the issue is that it also gets incredibly degraded over time. What's so special about where and what they're drilling? Is this even what they're actually doing? Do they actually know this microorganism exists, or are they still looking for it? People on reddit were making such a big deal about the microorganisms being responsible for the weird state of Annie's tongue (the unusual cellular damage) or the one scientist surviving, but to be honest, "this could unlock the key to immortality" gets bandied about a lot with certain scientific topics. Studies on cellular immortality, longevity, metabolism--people get all excited about this stuff, but the truth is, it's hard to translate the results in jellyfish, worms, bacteria, etc. into something directly applicable to humans. At best, Tsalal or the mine accidentally revived a new pandemic-causing bacteria. More likely, some unknown conflict between the mine and the scientists caused their deaths.

[definitely-not-a-wasp]

Maximum Ride versus Spontaneous Power Ups

Part 1

I'm not saying that giving the bird kids power ups isn't fun and funky. But I am definitely not the first person to point out that they're not the best executed, and often take more away from the plot than they add. And someone asked me to state my opinions about one (1) contrived power-up, so now you get to hear about all of them.

Speaking from a general perspective, I have some major problems with Maximum Ride superpowers, and they're as-follows:

They just HAPPEN. There's no trigger, there's no effort on the flock's part to "unlock" them, and there's no explanation given.

They're often these one-off powers that don't maintain narrative significance or further explanations.

Most of the time, they have absolutely no drawbacks.

Yes, I know this is copy-pasted from part 1, what about it?

So this is what I would do to try to solve some of those issues without changing the plot too much. And because I'm nice, I'm sticking it under a read-more.

Pre-Book 1

In the beginning of book 1, Max states that a lot of the flock has "little quirks" like Angel's telepathy, and then the text makes it clear that this is only true of Angel and Gazzy. That means it's completely acceptable to shove a few more powers into pre-series, with the implication that the School caused this before they escaped.

Angel's telepathy, obviously: I've extensively talked about my thoughts surrounding Angel's telepathy, but to rehash, there are plenty of advantages and drawbacks to anything concerning the brain. Telepathy is a boon, but it shouldn't be a pleasant boon. And while this power can definitely grow throughout the series, I think it should stick to telepathy, and not extend towards clairvoyance/precognition like it did in later books.

Gazzy's mimickry: I think this doesn't even need to count as a power, because Lyrebirds can already do that. As Angel grows more powerful, his mimickry can further extend from bird calls to specific human voices to the sounds of objects, and have him learn how to throw his voice.

Nudge's Psychometry: similar to Angel's telepathy, this is a psionic ability, and putting it in pre-series instead of when they miraculously need it makes it feel built-into the narrative. This can also be slowly expanded upon throughout the series, from touching an object and knowing any emotions associated with it, to being able to recall certain moments attached to the object, so being able to touch something and know its entire history.

Gazzy's precognition: "Wait, Gazzy doesn't have precognition", you're totally right, but consider: Precognition is already a thing in the books, because Angel. Gazzy only has two power-ups and one of them is farts. By transferring precognition from Angel to Gazzy and making it start pre-series, there's a bit more of a balance to keep us from getting an OP six-year-old. Like Nudge and Angel, this can start small (having "bad feelings" and being really good at dodging attacks bc he sees them pre-emptively) and build up to something like knowing when someone dies or the exact date and time the world is supposed to end.

Max's, Fang's, and Iggy's ability to withstand the younger three's powers: I think that they should be essentially immune to their younger siblings not because of their own powers, but because of exposure. The younger kids can definitely glean some things, especially when their powers are weak, but the more invasive their powers become, the more immune the older kids get. IE: Angel can read their emotions and sometimes their minds, but she can't control them. Nudge can pick something up and know it's associated with one of them/important to them, but can't tell what they did with it. Gazzy knows if something bad is going to happen, but looking for anything specific or intentional feels like trying to see past a brick wall.

So all of the psionics are at the beginning. And furthermore, there's a clear divide that shows when the School started handling psionic powers. Max, Fang, and Iggy don't have powers. They're old models. But somewhere between Iggy and Nudge, the School had a breakthrough, and the new models have brain powers.

Once the Plot Starts

The next round of powerups makes most sense if it happens as a result of the School's experimentation in TAE-- have the flock NOT be threatened with murder, and instead have tests run on them until they break out, which can take a lot longer. This means that Iggy and Gazzy are excluded, because they were not in the School. But after they escape the School, some abilities can begin to crop up, like:

Max's super speed: originally put in SoF and developed after a slight fever, it could also easily fit into TAE, with Max breaking out of the School while heavily feverish and developing fast flight, specifically regarding dives— similarly to Gazzy's mimickry, this can be staged as less of a power and more of something that happened to her because of her bird DNA that the whitecoats were activation/fine-tuning at the School. The ridiculousness of 350 mph can only occur during dives, though.

Everyone except for Iggy and Gazzy breathing underwater: I didn't realize until I read the wikipedia page that everyone except Iggy and Gazzy canonically has this power, making it a PERFECT power-up to give them after being kidnapped when Iggy and Gazzy were conveniently NOT kidnapped. That being said, this is also a great power to give drawbacks to show that the Flock is not immune to experiments going wrong: FIrstly, they can only breathe underwater in fresh water, like lungfish; they suddenly have to drink a lot more water and easily get dehydrated; they are really suseptible to bronchitis and pneumonia because they're taking water into their lungs that were not originally designed to do that, so they try to do it as little as possible.

And from there, we have...

The Voice

Fuck this thing in particular. There are TWO directions Voice can take in my mind:

It doesn't exist. Full-stop get rid of it, because all it does is take away character agency and give Max answers instead of make the authors think about how Max can figure it out herself.

It's an instrument of the School, preferably controlled by Jeb Batchelder (if it wants to be wishy washy about whose side its on) OR Marian Janssen (if it's an outright antagonist). It disappears once the School is dealt with, and most importantly, is not her own power or a power of her flock. It is a power being used on her.

I've already wasted too much of my life on thinking about this. Since I've already covered gills and psychometry, let's skip over the NYC arc.

After the IFHL

From here, I think there are a few moments where some powers can be gained, and some should definitely not be gained.

Firstly, there's Fang's superspeed. This can develop like it did in canon, where Max donates blood, and Fang gets a fraction of her abilities. However, this isn't even a School-done power, so I think they should reject the blood at first. They get really sick, the doctors have to put them on heavy immuno-suppressants for pretty much the entirety of being at Anne's, and their body temperature permanently jumps up past where it should be.

Then they leave Anne's house, they go on the run, Max gets kidnapped and shoved in a sensory deprivation tank, and she absolutely does not to get to shut down her organs, because it never comes up again and never needs to. Her being able to smell the flock and track them down can have one of two solutions:

She doesn't. She tracks them down another way.

Instead of her hallucinating herself turning into an Eraser, Gazzy has been feeling increasing unease about Max being in proximity to Erasers and can't tell why bc he can't see Max's future. Then, when she escapes the tank in ITEX, she does so by biting an Eraser and swallowing quite a bit of blood and sinew on accident. Suddenly she can smell so many things and her teeth are much sharper than they were a few days ago. Congrats, Max! Power up!

Finally, they reach the School again/are kidnapped again, which is where I guess Angel could possibly unlock shapeshifting, but considering the School was talking about exterminating all of them, I'm thinking no. I think shapeshifting is also on the cutting room floor. However, I think the School definitely should have taken them all out for testing over a few days rather than skipping right to "kill the multi-million dollar investments that are supposed to save the world, bc why not?" (Seriously, who wrote this?), because—

Iggy's Powerups

I've talked about this before, I'll talk about it again, but Iggy's powerups were not brought on by the School, were not spotaneous, were not accidental power transfers, but were intentionally done by Iggy, who was gathering data and running tests throughout the entire series. He doesn't get enough data until he's kidnapped by the School again, at which point Max and Fang probably realize that he's getting a bit sickly and his eyes look permanently irritated, then that there are bruises on his arm he doesn't want to talk about. Then, after breaking into ITEX again and gathering proper resources, he gets:

Detecting light and movement against bright backgrounds, which was his intention.

Color sense, which was an accidental side effect, and not a pleasant sensation for him. Also comes with a disadvantage of not remembering what many colors look like, so he has to guess for a lot of them.

Decreased Oxygen Intake: "wait, he didn't get this in canon!" yeah, because the only power-up JP gave him was pseudo-sight to fix his blindness, so I'm giving him more. Turned out, what he was honing in on was making his eyes function despite them not getting enough oxygen. And he was doing that for his whole body, completely on accident. So his Blood Oxygen percentage can drop to 60 without any ill-effects, his resting heart rate is slowed to about 10 bpm, and he's taking about 1 breath every 10-15 minutes unless he needs air to talk. This takes place over weeks, so he doesn't actually notice it until someone points it out.

This comes with not-so-great side effects. He's cold all the time, his eyes hurt constantly and have permanently burst blood vessels, and his fingers and lips are permanently discolored.

Through the Late Series

After ITEX is taken down, I think the power-getting would decrease exponentially, because they're not being experimented on nearly as much. However, there are a few that I think could be fit in.

Nudge's "Magnetism": I put this in bold and parentheses, because it wouldn't be magnetism, it would be a honing of her psychometry; if an object has a strong enough emotional attachment to her or any of the other psionic kids, she can attract it. Minor telekenesis. As a treat. This is the closest thing I can justify.

Fang's Camoflauge: This was pure accident, and less of a power-up and more of a "came back wrong". Triggered by their death and revival, both of which were unnatural, Fang gets the voluntary organ shutdown that Max doesn't get, and has spaces of time where they don't need to breathe, blink, and their heart slows considerably, meaning that they can be perfectly still in a way that makes people look at them and think "object" instead of "person", and their vision just... glances over them. However, this is not something they can do intentionally. This is almost always when they're dissociating.

Fang's Immortality Genes: I guess that since it's integral to the plot of Nevermore, I can make it work. This was building from School's Out Forever, when they nearly died from Ari's attack, being killed in Fang, nearly getting blown up in Angel, and getting thrown off a cliff in Nevermore. In fact, I would go as far as having their expiration date show up and then pass. By then, it's discovered that they have the "secret to immortality". This does not actually protect them from dying. It protects their genes from unravelling over time, which means they're not ageing. This is not a power-up. This is not a successful experiment. This is the scifi equivalent of being undead, because Fang is pretty much a walking corpse by the end of the series.

Powers Left on the Cutting Room Floor

Angel's Shapeshifting: I barely like shapeshifting Erasers, and it occurs so late in the series that it's not needed.

Gazzy's Flatulence Bombs: Just let him do chemical warfare the old fashioned way I'm begging you.

Max's voluntary organ shutdown: IT ONLY HAPPENS ONCE. I promise you, Max could've thought her way out of that situation.

[tchtra]

Best video game.

Why?

Oh that's difficult.

Gonna have to say ULTRAKILL

Massive rant about it and a few other games below

The fast-paced first person shooter has literally everything I would want for a fps. Cool mechanics (slam-storage, railcoin, chargeback), not much dialogue (the only time you're forced to listen to someone talk without being able to fight it's either skipable or at the very end of the act). The boss fights are incredibly fun, like I would gladly replay any of them just for fun. The P-Rank makes the game very replayable and the reward of getting to fight an even more difficult boss is so worth it.

Plus, despite not getting all that much screen time, the main characters/bosses in ULTRAKILL are very memorable.

Like Gabriel, who was seen as a disgrace by the angel council for losing to you, a simple machine. The council removes his holy light and will perish in 24 hours. Instead of enjoying his time left, he decides to fight us once more, enraged by what you've done to him. Half way through the fight, he starts laughing, genuinely enjoying the combat with you. When he looses, he comes to the realisation of how corrupt the angel council was and does the only reasonable thing and kills every single member. He'll still die though.

The concept itself is very interesting as well. You're a war machine that runs on blood and you're going to kill everything until there's nothing left. Humanity is dead so you travel through hell killing husks, machines and even gods. This plays into the gameplay and mechanics of the game more than you'd expect.

The mechanics in the game are so so fun. There's the basics like being able to slide and groundslam. But with your first unlockable weapon, the marksman, it opens up new opportunities for tech and all that gun does is allow you to throw a coin which if you shoot, it guarantees a bit on any nearby enemies. And that's just one weapon. Then you've got the ability to parry projectiles which. Funnily enough, the shotgun pellets count as a projectile so when you "parry" them after shooting, it causes an explosion. It's honestly my favourite way to rack up style points but I can't do complex tech like chargebacks and dead coining. The addition of a style meter makes you want to play in a way which gets you the most stylish way possible.

As well as the main story levels, there's an endless arena area called the Cybergrind where you try and survive for as long as possible while killing enemies stylishly. As with most endless modes, it gets more difficult the longer you survive with harder waves spawning and the introduction of radiant enemies (enemies with more health, speed and damage). This makes Ultrakill infinitely replayable as people try to get the highest score on it. My best is wave 23 on Violent and 25 on Standard.

I'm definitely not the best at it, I haven't P-ranked most of Layer 7 and I haven't even gotten past the many enemies to complete P-2 but this game is great and I can't wait to see what waits for us in the rest of act 3

Honourable mentions to Half Life and TF2. Both are great games by Valve which will never get a third installment.

TF2 is so much fun but the bot problem has really been ruining it. I hope VALVE actually try to fix it after this #savetf2 movement. I personally main Medic which just means I can't aim to save my bloody life- I love the characters, their personalities and playstyles. They're all so unique yet yet stereotypical at the same time. I love the meet the team shorts and how well they establish the characters. This as well as their adventures in the comics really shows the world of TF2 well. The various hats you can get are unique and allow you to make the mercs your own (I have watched death of an art style but I don't think that the cosmetics are the biggest problem for TF2 right now-). The community is completely insane and I'm glad we're all still here after everything the game has been through. I love the fan-made projects so much. The various sfm animations talented creators have made never fail to impress. Like Emesis Blue, a psychological horror movie about the TF2 mercenaries made entirely in SFM, a software that's around as old as TF2 itself! TF2 is really being carried by the community and thank you to anyone who contributes, you guys are incredible. I know I've gone off about the community more than the actual game but without the community, there would be no TF2. But yeah TF2 is amazing, I miss the PS3 version as that was how I first played TF2 when I didn't have a pc.

Half Life as a game series is absolutely incredible. Valve completely changed the opinion of FPS games and the gameplay as a whole. The slower build to the resonance cascade, the scientists chatter, the interactivity as a whole contributes so much to the world building if the first game. The combat options were unique and fun to experiment with while providing interesting enemies to use them on. Of course, the Xen chapters were a bit bland but they still set the atmosphere of what was to come. And Black Mesa's complete remake of Xen completely fixes that if you do have a major issue with it.

Half Life 2 completely blew my mind the first time I played it. I had never seen anything to do with Half Life (except the references to it in TF2) so when I played it, it was amazing. Just like TF2, I first played it on the PS3. There's not many differences except the load times (which were horrid) but I still completed the game.

I hardly remember anything from my first play through of Episode 1 but I did get really attached to Alyx. Oh and I found the kleiner broadcast funny. Episode 2 is a completely different story. I loved every single second of it (there weren't achievements on PS3 version so I didn't do the gnome challenge and it shows-). The car section was fun. I liked looking for those supply crates and doing the physics puzzles to get to them. Hunters were really fun to fight but once I discovered they get instakilled by the jalope, I just started running them over. Made the final sequence much easier. The helicopter fight was interesting. And the ending. Oh my god, the ending. I ain't gonna lie, that shit hurt. It's a shame they rewrote it for Half Life Alyx.

Speaking of Half Life Alyx, I never got to play it but it looks incredible. I hope to be able to play it some day but right now, I have to stick to watching playthroughs.

I love Half Life but at this current moment I prefer ULTRAKILL, may change.

Uh yeah, I'm normal about all these games

[juliaswickcrs]

🖊+Elektra! Talk to me about our baby! (I take as much ownership of her as you do of Cass lol)

MY BABY!! (our baby)

My little space goddess, she definitely is at her weakest right now in terms of raw power, but oh my god I can't wait until we get to GOTG vol. 2 cause that's when things start to unlock for her.

I am gonna just straight up reveal her origins cause I wanna gush about how powerful she is CAUSE GDI WE NEED MORE POWERFUL OCS OUT THERE.

Elektra is half-Eternal/Half-human and like the rest of the Eternals was given the ability to harness infinite cosmic energy and manipulate it in a variety of ways. She is also functionally in every way that matters, an Eternal. The immortality, the superhuman reflexes, durability, speed, and strength, the powers, etc. they're all there.

Her human side comes out in her personality more, with her casual defiance and stubbornness, as well as her recklessness and pride. She's not arrogant (living as a slave to the Kree will do that to you) but she is confident and is quick to believe she's right. She doesn't give up and is very compassionate. The other way her human side shines through is her emotions.

Elektra is a very emotional person, specifically she's a very angry person because of what life has dealt her, and this can very easily translate to ruthlessness. I love writing just how angry she is and how most of her story is her finally realizing she can't control her emotions and accepting them.

I just...I love her so much. Every story arc has her dealing with a different facet of her humanity or her "godhood" so to speak and I love it. She's become one of my fave ocs almost instantaneously.

[four-color-words]

Sleepy 1:30 am OC ramble tiiiiiiime

I've got a group of super powered teenagers because I wanted to explore the dynamics of baby superhero teams and what happens when the former teen heroes grow up and realize there's a new generation of loud spunky twerps who want to help

And I set them up about 20-25 in-story years ahead of what I think of as the present in comics (my baseline is... 20-30ish irl years ago bc I'm still playing catch-up here) because I felt like that would put them far enough ahead to not mess with the timeline, but also not so far ahead that they interrupted canon. Nice little window of ambiguity

Anyway, the three of them I can talk about without a lot of context:

🛡️🟥 [???] | Liora of Kandor - A young girl who spent sixteenish years living in the infamous Bottled City. As part of the Labor Guild, she had a clear window into the city's infrastructure and resource management. She knows they can't live in the bottle forever, and the longer they try to stay and wait for Kal to find a solution, the more strain will be placed on the city and the people. They're already losing biodiversity. Unrest is growing. Something has to be done, or they won't last another two generations. So, after getting kicked out by her father and a protest-turned-riot, Liora leaves the bottle. She vows she won't return until she's found a solution.

🟦🤸 Madcap | Blythe [???] - Blythe is the daughter of supervillains, though I haven't settled on who yet. But part of the deal for their pardon was that they live ordinary civilian lives. Blythe -- genius, engineering prodigy, talented acrobat, sweetheart with more empathy than sense -- decided there was a loophole. She did not exist at the time of this deal, and she had sworn no such oaths. Therefore she was able to do what her parents could not, and decided to start making amends for her family's more criminal actions. She's not ashamed of her family by any means, but she has to keep these two parts of her life separate, or they all go to jail.

🟩⚡ Trent [???] | Kickstart - Three years ago, he was a normal teenage boy who chased after his baby sister, Audra, when the little girl tried to run off. As soon as they were out of their parents sight, unfortunately, both children were kidnapped. They were subjected to experiments that Trent couldn't understand, even if he hadn't spent most of those three years in an anesthetic haze. But the experiments gave both of them abilities beyond human capabilities -- Trent became a speedster, and Audra unlocked phenomenal aerokinetic abilities. When Trent was finally awake, his advanced metabolism burning through the anesthesia... There wasn't much left of the lab when the storm was finally over. He grabbed Audra and the two found their way home -- only to discover their parents had moved away in the time they were gone. Now Trent doesn't really know what to do -- he's got no money, nowhere to go, and a little sister to take care of. Also they have superpowers. And he's seventeen.

...it is now. 2:35. I have been typing this for an hour. I should proooooobably sleep now, huh?

[darkershining]

Just watched episode 7 of Wonderful Pretty Cure, in which Satoru finds the runaway Komugi and decides to teach her something more about human communication to help her and Iroha make up after their earlier argument.

The episode begins with Komugi waking up after spending the night sleeping under a bench in the dog park. While Komugi tries to look on the bright side of things, she gets distracted spotting someone else walking their dog. Satoru finds her, and asks what she's doing there all by herself. Komugi starts crying, with Satoru having to try calming her down.

Iroha wakes up in the morning to find Komugi missing, and asks her parents to help search for her. After searching through the house and not finding her, Iroha's father comments that Komugi shouldn't have been able to get outside since all the doors were locked. He notes it's unlikely that Komugi managed to unlock a door to get out, but Iroha starts to freak out, knowing it's entirely possible for Komugi to do just that by turning into her human form.

Iroha decides to check with Mey Mey, who informs her Komugi isn't in Niko Garden. When he realizes what happened, he too starts to worry and asks Iroha if Komugi truly has what it takes to be a Pretty Cure. Before the conversation can go any further, Iroha's mother interrupts to inform her that Satoru is calling. Iroha learns that Komugi is over at Satoru's house, and is about to head out to pick her up, when Satoru asks if she can wait for a bit. He explains that Komugi is still a bit upset, and he wants to talk to her first, telling her he'll bring her back once she's ready.

Satoru goes to check on Komugi, who has been talking with Daifuku. Satoru is surprised to learn that Komugi can understand Daifuku, and the two begin to discuss the topic of how Komugi gained the ability to speak. Komugi notes that while things were great at first, with Iroha being happy to talk with her, she now believes Iroha hates her due to their argument and Cure Wonderful's failure to use the Friendly Wand causing the Garugaru they fought last time to get away. Satoru tells her that she should try asking Iroha how she truly feels about the situation, noting that there's more to communication than just expressing ones own feelings and that sometimes you should be sure to ask how the other party feels in order to have a proper conversation.

Meanwhile, Mayu has finished her present to Iroha and Komugi, and is wondering when to deliver it. Her mother suggests she just go do it now. Mayu asks Yuki if she'll accompany her, but Yuki just points her tail in the direction of Iroha's place, silently urging her owner to go do it herself. Mayu reluctantly begins making her way over.

When she arrives, she notices that Iroha seems down, and Iroha gives a brief explanation of what happened. Mayu feels she should do something to cheer up Iroha, but can't figure out what to say until Iroha asks her about some scratches on her arm, asking if Yuki did that. Mayu notes that Yuki does scratch her sometimes, but even so, she still loves her. The two talk about their pets for a bit, before Mayu presents Iroha with the gift she made, a cute little outfit for Komugi to wear when the two of them go on walks with a leash. Iroha happily hugs Mayu, thanking her for the gift. Mayu, feeling relieved, starts to head home. Iroha, wanting to show Komugi the present, decides she'll head over to Satoru right away.

In a cave, the lion Garugaru is woken up by a wolf-like shadowy being who urges him to go on a rampage and destroy the human world. As it begins rampaging, Iroha spots it in the distance, and decides she needs to go deal with it first. Satoru is walking Komugi home, when they too notice the Garugaru and Komugi decides she should head over there, figuring Iroha is already on her way there. Satoru tells her to go on ahead and that he'll catch up to her in a bit.

Iroha reaches the Garugaru first and transforms into Cure Friendy. She tries to talk to the Garugaru, but it is in no state to listen. She struggles to keep dodging its attacks, with Komugi finally arriving. Komugi thinks back to her conversation with Satoru, recalling how she originally became a Pretty Cure to protect Iroha. However, she knows for Iroha, becoming a Pretty Cure wasn't just about her, since she would want to save anyone in trouble, just like she once saved Komugi in the past. Finding her resolve, Komugi transforms and pushes the Garugaru away from Friendy, before the Garugaru knocks her off the cliff. Cure Friendy catches up to Wonderful, and the two make up after their earlier argument.

Cure Wonderful is finally able to activate her Friendly Tact, and both she and Cure Friendy use its power to borrow the Kirarin Penguin's power to ice skate to avoid the Garugaru's attacks. The two unlock another power of the Friendly Tact, combining their powers to purify the Garugaru, returning it to normal.

The Kirarin Lion is brought back to Niko Garden, and restores another part of it to normal. Mey Mey begins to compliment Komugi on her character growth, only for Satoru to point out to him that the two girls have already gone home.

Komugi tries on her new outfit, also being happy with the present from Mayu. Iroha has picked out a new leash for Komugi, and asks if she's okay with that, with Komugi deciding it's fine as long as Iroha is the one holding it. The two decide to take a long walk to make up for the ones they missed, and the episode ends with the two of them on their walk while talking about doing a cute pose together the next time they transform.

Another good episode! Glad Satoru found Komugi before she could get herself into trouble, and that he was able to teach her another important lesson about being a human. And seeing the Cures getting a new ability for purifying Garugaru was cool too.

I have to say, I think Komugi's potential character arc is one of the things I'm the most intrigued about so far, with this episode showing her learn to be even more considerate towards Iroha's feelings and being more willing to make compromises by accepting her new leash. I'm curious to see where else things will go. Part of me has even been wondering if towards the end of the show, if the Cures were to have to give up their powers when their mission is complete, if Komugi would have to make a decision of whether to go back to being a regular non-speaking dog, or become human permanently. Maybe it's too early to make predictions like this, but maybe that part of me is just really curious about how such a scenario would play out.

Anyways, getting back to this episode, we also got our first look at one of the actual villains of this season. This wolf-like being has a cool design from what we could see of it, and judging from his lines, I'm guessing whoever the villains of the season is just really hates humans. Not that they seem much nicer to other animals, considering how the Garugaru were made. Guess we just have to wait and see to learn more.

I'll be looking forward to the next episode!

[indycinders]

Gonna add my own thoughts to this too because this was cool to think about /w\ maybe mild spoilers ahead?

When you think about them and MC, it makes a lot more sense.

Caleb wants you to only see him as that person that's always been by your side, that's always played with you and took care of you and protected you. He never wanted you to see his dark thoughts, his obsession, his feelings. And his eyes reflect that. He's carefully guarded and chooses what you see. It's almost scary how good he is at manipulation and deception. I wouldn't want to piss off the Colonel if I wasn't MC haha.

Even after the events of his chapter and when you unlock him, in his following memories, he still struggles with dropping that mask after you know everything. Even if you accept all of him, as he is, flaws and all, he's so conditioned to this that it's his default now. In one of his phone calls, we hear his vulnerability with him saying something like, "Even if he's the worst Caleb of all of them, you still want him?"

Caleb is so tragic to me but that also makes me love him so much more. I'm waiting on the last shard before I peruse his myth, so my feelings might change, but what I know so far makes my heart break.

When it comes to Sylus, he's got that carefully crafted criminal leader persona. And that's what it is, a persona. Made from the struggle of survival, from the judgment of humans, from not being good enough for whatever reason he feels that is. I wouldn't say he's manipulative, but he is definitely calculating. He's playing 4D chess while we're all still figuring out checkers.

His eyes are so expressive because that's how he communicates. He feels the weight of responsibility for a position such as his and he can't often let himself outwardly show emotion. In his Night of Secrecy card, when he covers our eyes, even then he's hiding himself from us. We get a glimpse of him losing control of that facade and giving into that weakness, that vulnerability that we cause him.

I also think he's not afraid of showing his emotions through his eyes simply because of his power with the Aether core and ability to know people's desires. And maybe a part of him lets himself be vulnerable in that way because he can expose others vulnerabilities.

We know he's not guarded like Caleb. We see it in the way he treats us, the way he cares and shows love. Anything we ask, he has an answer for. He never lies, not really. He might omit the truth but he also expects us to be keen enough to know what he's saying. Like, again, in his Night of Secrecy card. He tried to slip away by making an excuse but knew we would catch on and follow him.

I haven't gone through his Conqueror myth yet (thanks Caleb for distracting me lmao), but I know his Abysm Sovereign myth. We know some part of him feels self loathing and almost shame for what he was.

In my opinion, he doesn't bother fully masking his emotions because he knows that the only one worthy and capable of handling what he lets slip through is us. He knows that we can and have accepted every part of him, good and bad.

He said it best in Razor's Grip. "There is no love purer than mine." And there really isn't.

Not to be weird on main or anything, but I've been studying screenshots of Caleb's expressions and it's so funny how comparatively less expressive his eyes are to Sylus'.

Like Sylus communicates 98% with those big red eyes of his. Caleb communicates only very VERY big changes of his expression solely through his eyes.

So I was compiled some eye screenshots because I really love the expressions Sylus has and did the same with him, (and have way too many saved), but I realised how little his eyes share. These however, are some gems;

When compared to Sylus's eyes though;

It becomes super obvious how much of Caleb's expressions are pretty performative, in the kind of way that is very familiar to me as an autistic person, and feeds in quite nicely to the common theme of him wearing a mask throughout the main story.

Sylus' communication is done mostly verbally because the game actively conveys the fact that he doesn't emote or physically show his feelings very often (he's labelled cold or numb or distant, in a similar way to Zayne, but with more disdain from those around him. It's only the twins who have ever looked at him and realised he was lonely.) because of that his expressions reflect it. His lips don't move much, but his eyes tell stories for him because they're much harder to control.

Meanwhile, Caleb's eyes betray him in big moments. When he's overwhelmed or very emotional, often in the negative, but for the most part he keeps it under control and performs his emotions through the use of smiles and expression. Without his full face, his expressions don't come through properly.

🤷 it doesn't mean a lot, but it was fun to dig through while I was compiling images.

[toiletology]

Explaining the difference between 4D and 5D reality.

4D (density) is the next step outside of your current 3D reality. You can think of your current reality as a cube and the next step as the tesseract. It happens in your mind first, which then starts to shape your surrounding reality. Its a dimension that co-exist with the reality everyone is already experiencing, they just can't perceive it (yet).

Ascension/Rapture only happens on an individual basis. If you're waiting around on a savior or one mass wave or aliens beaming you up. Its not going to ever happen.

Even the aliens are bound by the laws of God. Which means they can't infringe on our rights/free will or free choice to choose to ascend. They must operate outside of our perception indirectly, just as God does.

If you've been waiting for something to happen in regards to ascension or rapture I recommend stop waiting. It will never happen globally.

I managed to ascend into 4D multiple times over the years. Finally in 2024 I am able to hold onto 4D permanently. Needless to say it is extremely hard and took me about 2 1/2 decades (24 years) of practice/learning/constantly searching, etc.

Once you are in 4D you are then able to start stepping into 5D. 5D for me is exactly like how it was for me from 3D to 4D. I can't hold onto 5D for very long. I managed to hold onto it for a few weeks on this last planetary alignment in June 2024.

The main difference between 4D and 5D is your belief in yourself. Of course you have an insane belief in your creative abilities in 4D, but you are still victim of your 3D doubts/insecurities.

In 5D you are creating magic with every step you take. So its harder for doubts about yourself to come into your mind. Your basically able to bend the laws of reality to your will much much easier.

The problem with 5D is it feels like fire on the inside of your body. While also simultaneously being weighed down by gravity. It can be a very unpleasant feeling if you're not strong mentally and physically. I am still getting used to the feeling and it usually will make me not be able to move like I am heavily sedated.

It bounces around from heavy sedation which makes it hard to work, to a heavy pull to move and work. I prefer the pull to move and work more so than the heavy sedation.

In Toiletology we call this high the SAUCE, SPICE, SLACK, SCENT, ACE, AMBROSIA, NECTAR, LOOSH, etc. It basically shows you, you are in perfect harmony with the one true creator of reality. It feels like you are a fully fed energetic vampire aka E-Vampgelical. (good vamp, not a bad one) Side note I did have my incisors shaved down when I was 19 because they were too vampiric looking.

Whatever 4D/5D muscle that is inside of us maybe the Pineal gland, tho it feels like a full body muscle that doesn't exist. Mine is still fairly weak and I am still working on developing it so it can handle the gravity/weight of it better .

5D for me right now is basically trying to catch the next celestial wave and learning to ride that wave as long as I can. When I'm riding this wave perfectly I can accomplish goals and create at a much more rapid rate. Ideas flow crystal clear, I can basically learn at a faster speed and figure out solutions to my problems much quicker. My intelligence is also a lot higher maybe even double what it is on average.

What everyone needs to realize is that we are already in heaven/hell here on Earth. The Garden of Eden is all around us. This human meat suit we call our bodies is made out of light and sound. Closer to to body/spirit/soul. This matter or material is nothing more than a holo-fractal illusion.

Once you realize this truth you realize you have the powers of God inside of you waiting to be unlocked. You don't need any mass awakening or savior figure to come save you.

Mark 9:23 "And Jesus said, [You say to Me], If You can do anything? [Why,] all things can be (are possible) to him who believes!" .

Its all about believing in yourself and locking onto the frequency of God which is the frequency of LOVE!

[gobboguy]

Chapter 2: A Tale of Shadows and Secrets

The castle's kitchen buzzed with activity, the clinking of utensils and the savory aroma of cooking filling the air. Amidst the bustling cooks and bustling servants, two unlikely figures worked diligently side by side. Twig, a boy of 10 and of normal human size but peculiar green skin, stood at one end of the kitchen, his black hair falling into his determined green eyes. On the other side, Leaf, with her short goblin-sized stature and pointed ears, was a stark contrast with her pale skin, long brown hair, and red eyes that glowed with an otherworldly light.

Leaf stirred several pots of stew, her small hands expertly handling the ladle, her red eyes focused and intense. Beside her, Twig chopped vegetables, his movements precise and careful. Despite their young age, their responsibilities in the castle's kitchen were not to be taken lightly. Today, however, Leaf had an additional task, one that set her apart from the other kitchen staff.

With each stir of her ladle, Leaf channeled her unique magical abilities, infusing the stew with emotions of courage and bravery. Her goblin heritage granted her a natural affinity for the arcane, an ability to manipulate emotions and energies that dwelled within her. It was a rare and powerful gift, one she harnessed with skill and determination.

As the aroma of the enchanted stew filled the air, Twig glanced at Leaf, his green eyes filled with curiosity. "You know," he said, his voice tinged with a hint of disbelief, "I still can't believe you made it out of Cairn Doom. The stories you told me...."

Leaf nodded, her red eyes clouded with memories of their escape. "It was a nightmare" she agreed, her voice soft. "But you should already know this Twig...I saw you die. I saw you fall in the darkness, and I thought I had lost you."

Twig's brows furrowed in confusion. "But I never left the castle," he protested. "I've been here the whole time, helping in the kitchen. I never went to Cairn Doom."

Leaf looked at him, her eyes wide with astonishment. "Are you sure, Twig?" she asked, her voice filled with uncertainty. "I saw it so vividly, felt the pain of losing you. It was like a shadow in my mind."

Twig shook his head, his confusion deepening. "I swear, Leaf. I never left. I don't know how you could have seen that."

Leaf bit her lip, her mind racing with possibilities. "Maybe it's your latent magical abilities," she suggested hesitantly. "All half-breeds are said to possess powerful magic, and maybe yours manifested in a way we don't understand."

Twig frowned, his thoughts a tumultuous whirlpool. "But I've never shown any magical talent," he protested, his voice laced with doubt. "I'm just a regular kid. There's nothing special about me."

Leaf placed a hand on his shoulder, her touch reassuring. "Magic is a mysterious force, Twig," she said gently. "It doesn't always manifest in ways we expect. Maybe there's more to you than meets the eye, a hidden power waiting to be unlocked."

Twig looked into her earnest eyes, a flicker of uncertainty mingled with hope in his gaze. The revelation was overwhelming, a mystery that hinted at untold possibilities. As they continued their work in the kitchen, the air hummed with unspoken questions and the promise of secrets waiting to be unraveled.

In the castle's bustling kitchen, amidst the clatter of pots and the scent of enchanting stew, Twig and Leaf stood on the precipice of discovery. The shadows of their past and the mysteries of their heritage intertwined, creating a tapestry of secrets that whispered promises of a destiny yet to be unveiled.

[bubuslutty]

Day 3: Cat Crisis

this is part 3, all parts

pairing: demon/angel!fem reader x 141

word count: 2.5k

tags: a bit of lusting cuz my boys r hot, naughty moments but nothing nsfw, proofread by me so sorry for any mistakes

warnings: smoking

summary: Kuromi gets stuck on a tree, Angel almost has a heart attack and she finally meets Simon, properly.

a/n: this is just fun and silly really. I hope u enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it 💖 ALSO!! VERY IMPORTANT!! I can't seem to be able to tag some of you, even if the username is correct, so please check your settings.

Angel has to admit, she likes this assignment quite a lot. It was fun, living in a nice house in a quiet neighbourhood, with interesting and fascinating neighbours. At least, the ones that live to her left because her neighbours to her right are an old couple who barely make any noise, you'd think nobody even lives in their house.

That trip to Tesco was more fun than she expected. Turns out that Johnny was funnier than she imagined, nothing in his file could have prepared her for Soap's colourful character and hilarious jokes. And Kyle was as charming and intelligent and quick to joke as she'd imagined.

And Price was calm and collected, making sure that the two men didn't get in trouble in the store. But it didn't make hanging out with him any less fun, oh he was plenty fun, Angel knows it, and can practically taste it. It's just going to take a bit of work to make him open up. Angel can't wait to start working with him.

About the actual shopping, the men proved themselves useful and very helpful. Angel was grateful for this because buying food and cooking was a bit of a hassle and she gets overwhelmed with the stupid amount of choices for the same fucking thing. They recommended certain snacks, drinks, food combos, and things easy and quick to cook, and even helped her pick out the freshest fruits and vegetables. Eating was hard, Angel has no idea how humans do it every day.

When they paid for everything, Angel was pleased and surprised when Price went ahead and grabbed her shopping for her without saying anything. She told him he didn't have to, that she could carry her things by herself with no problem, but he claimed it was the least a gentleman could do.

No matter what Angel told him, he refused to give them to her until they reached the car and he told her to dig inside his pocket to unlock the car and open the trunk. "Your Captain is so stubborn," Angel complained to the other two men, with a pout on her face.

"Tell me about it." Gaz sighed, making her giggle in disbelief.

Now she was happily suckling on an orange-flavoured popsicle, sitting on her dining table, facing the garden's opened door. She was enjoying the sunlight and breeze on her skin when a very loud scream startled her. Angel nearly dropped her popsicle when her eyes zeroed on the big tree at the back of her garden, and Kuromi right at the top, screaming for help.

Angel gasped in horror, throwing her unfinished popsicle in the trash and running outside her garden, barefoot. Angel has no idea if her cat has the same sort of abilities as she does. She is immortal, that she’s sure of, but whether Kuromi can get hurt or not is a mystery to Angel. And she doesn't feel like testing that theory today at all.

"Kuromi! How did you get up there?!" Angel was actually panicking, as she looked at the many branches the tree had and just how high her stupid cat decided to climb. How the hell is she supposed to get her cat down without using her powers to do something so ridiculous that the Wish Office will phone her, and ask if she's out of her mind?

"Kuromi, you stupid fucking idiot, you'll die!" Angel was now on the verge of tears. She loved her stupid cat to death, and would rather die instead of watching her kitty get hurt. Angel approached the tree, squinting her eyes and looking up at the branches and thick leaves, seeing if she could climb up.

Angel was so preoccupied with trying to figure out how to save her cat, that she didn't notice Ghost smoking while leaning against the door that separates their kitchen and garden. He had a plain grey zip-up hoodie, a pair of loose black sweats and his skull mask on, hunched up on his nose bridge, keeping his lower face out so he could easily smoke.

He silently watched Angel argue with her cat. He knows a bit about his neighbour from Soap and Gaz, and he has to admit, not only she's pretty but intelligent. Even though his guys seemed to like her, Ghost doesn't easily trust people and she's no exception. He kept watching her struggle, on the verge of tears, until he decided to put his cigarette out.

Ghost silently walked down their garden while lowering his mask back down. It was so stupid how low the fence was. It just reached his waist and it would be so easy for him to jump into her garden. And that's exactly what he did, jumping over the fence with one hand on it for support.

Angel slightly jumped when he stood next to her. She didn't hear him come over, and she just stared up at the man with panicked eyes. She knew he was Simon, the pretty blue eyes were the same along with the pale eyelashes.

Simon was not even looking at her, he was looking up at the tree where Kuromi was. Angel took the opportunity to really look at him. He was absolutely fucking huge, for no reason at all. And he had sleeve tattoos on his veiny arms, Angel thanked fate that Simon decided to roll up his sleeves because his tattoos are beautiful. And what's even prettier, is the skin of his neck and collarbone. He wasn't wearing anything underneath the zip-up hoodie and Angel felt her mouth water.

Simon finally looked down at her, and Angel immediately opened her mouth to speak, "Do you think you can help me get Kuromi down, please?"

Simon gazed down at her hopeful eyes, and simply nodded, "Stand back."

Angel nodded, "Thank you so much!"

She stepped away and watched the man get closer to the tree. "Be careful!" Angel said, her hands clasped against her chest, watching Simon work his way up the tree quickly.

"Kuromi, you hurt him and I'll fist-fight you!" Angel shouted at her cat, who hissed back down at her owner.

Simon couldn't help but chuckle at the woman's antics and when he knew if he climbed any higher, no branch would support his weight, he broke one with his bare hand and used it as a makeshift ladder for the cat. He stretched his body as much as he could, "Come on, kitty, get over here." Simon crooned.

To his utter surprise, the cat listened and started slowly scooting over towards him on a shaky branch. Kuromi successfully reached Simon's branch and held onto it very tightly and Simon gently lowered the cat down towards him. As soon as she was easily reachable, he grabbed the cat by the scruff of her neck and hugged her to his chest with one hand.

"Alright, now how can I get down with you?..." Simon mumbled and hummed when he got an idea. He hugged the cat with one arm and used the other to zip off his hoodie, using his thick thighs for support so he wouldn't fall.

Angel watched with awe how Simon managed to completely take off his zip-up hoodie, leaving his glorious amazing upper half naked, and bundled up Kuromi in the hoodie. Simon glanced down at Angel and smirked under his mask, "Catch!"

Angel literally screamed and he laughed, almost tearing up. "You dickhead!" Angel shouted, ripping grass from the ground out of anger and throwing it towards his direction.

Simon made a makeshift fanny pack using the hoodie's sleeves, securing Kuromi against his chest while he carefully climbed down. When he wasn't too far from the ground, he decided to jump off and roll to safety, with the cat still clutched against his chest.

Angel almost fainted and immediately ran to Simon as he stood up, dusting off his knees. "My baby!" She cried, grabbing her cat from the hoodie and kissing the kitty over and over on her small face.

Simon watched the woman with amusement as she checked over her cat and finally looked at Simon, her cat still in his arms. "Thank you so much for saving the life of my dumbass cat. But if you scare me like that again, I will make you regret it." She said, pressing a finger to Simon's naked chest.

He glanced down at her finger and met her eyes cooly, "You're welcome."

"You actually scared me so much, probably even more than Kuromi did!" Angel sighed, nuzzling her face in her cat's fur. Now Simon actually feels a bit guilty for scaring her and scratched the back of his neck.

"Do you want a cup of coffee?" He offered.

Angel lifted her head, surprised, "Cup of coffee?"

"To apologise."

Angel blinked at the man and cracked a small smile, "I think I'd like that."

Simon gave her an awkward nod and jumped over the fence and turned to her, hoodie held in his hand. "Come on."

Angel looked at the fence and then at her cat still in her arms, "Uhm, okay, hold Kuromi for me."

She walked closer to the fence, holding Kuromi so Simon could grab her. But Simon dodged the cat and held her by the armpits, just like she was holding her cat and easily lifted her over the fence. Angel squealed and wrapped her legs around his waist and wrapped one arm around his neck while the other was holding Kuromi against her chest.

Simon froze, his hands hovering over her back.

"What are you guys doing?"

Angel and Simon whipped their heads towards the voice and saw Soap holding a basket full of clean laundry, ready to hang it outside to dry while Gaz held a smaller basket of colourful pegs.

"Uhm, nothing!" Angel let out a nervous laugh and jumped off Simon, rushing inside their home with her cat in her arms.

Soap and Gaz glanced at each other and then back at Simon, "Why are you shirtless?" Gaz asked.

"Had to use my hoodie for the cat." Was Simon's dry answer and he walked inside, leaving Soap and Gaz with even more questions.

He found Angel awkwardly standing in the middle of their kitchen, and noticed that she was barefoot. "Wait here." He said and left the kitchen.

Angel took the opportunity to look around the kitchen. It was tidy and didn't have any plants or any sort of decoration. The fridge did have some menus and coupon codes for Domino's on it. However, next to the kettle, there was an impressive coffee machine, the sort that's expensive with many settings, fancy buttons and cool gadgets.

Angel barely drinks coffee, almost never, but now she was excited to see Simon work the cool machine.

She heard footsteps and turned around. Ghost was back and dressed in a t-shirt now, he also had a pair of slippers in his hands. "Wear these." He placed the pair next to her feet and Angel did as he said, heart fluttering in her chest, how silly.

"What would you like?" He asked, turning around and washing his hands in the sink.

"What?" Angel said, staring at his ass, completely distracted.

"Coffee. What sort of coffee would you like?" He turned back around, just as Angel ripped her eyes from his ass.

"Uhm," Angel gulped, she had no idea if he caught her staring or not but she wanted to scream either way. "I don't drink coffee that much, so make me something sweet, please."

Ghost stared at her silently, which made Angel nervous. Did she say something weird?

"What's wrong?"

Simon shrugged, "Nothing." and went straight to work, preparing mugs and pressing this button and that button on the coffee machine.

Both Angel and Kuromi were intensely staring at the beeping sleek machine and Simon smiled when he noticed. "What does Kuromi mean?"

"The name itself or who is she named after?" Angel ripped her eyes away from the coffee machine and looked over at Simon.

"Both."

Angel smiled, "Well, according to Google, Kuromi in Japanese means 'black beauty', but I've named her after a cartoon character whose name is Kuromi. Actually, Let me show you."

Simon glanced at the woman as she dug her hand in her pocket and retrieved her phone, opening google."That's Kuromi," Angel said, making Simon lean closer so he can see better.

"What type of creature is that?" Simon asked, squinting his eyes and trying to guess what type of animal the character was.

"It's actually a white bunny wearing a black jester hat! See! It even has a little pink skull! And instead of having a fluffy tail, she has a devil's tail, isn't she cute?" Angel said, Simon looked at her then back down at the cat in his arms.

"But your cat isn't a rabbit." Simon said.

"I know! But look! She's white with black ears! And a black tail! And she's mischievous just like Kuromi! And I gave her a pink collar with a pink skull!" Angel said, practically vibrating next to Simon, eyes big and literally glowing.

Simon tilted his head down and lifted the kitty's chin up, seeing the shiny skull dangling off the collar. He turned the skull over, reading Angel's full name and phone number.

"I can see the similarities." Simon hummed, giving the cat scratches, making her purr.

"There's another similarity, actually." Angel grinned.

"Really?" Simon said, still scratching the cat.

"Between Kuromi and you!" Angel said, and Simon lifted his head, meeting her eyes, he raised a brow, prompting her to spit it out.

"The skulls, silly!" Angel giggled.

Oh, yeah. The skulls.

Simon unconsciously reached for his mask but stopped his hand before it caressed the hand painted skull. The machine beeped and Simon removed the mug from under the machine, opening the cupboards to get sugar.

"Can we join you for a cup of coffee?" Soap suddenly asked, entering the kitchen, followed by Gaz.

"Of course, this is your house." Angel smiled and Gaz immediately ran to the cat in her arms, cooing and petting the little thing.

"And you have to tell us how you ended up on him while he was shirtless, which he wasn't, earlier in the day." Soap said while getting snacks.

"Okay, and did you know that your friend Simon is actually an evil little shit?" Angel said, as if it was the most shocking thing ever while she sat down at the table next to Gaz, who was holding her cat in his arms.

"Ghost, call me Ghost." Simon quickly corrected her.

"Ghost actually scared the shit out of me, I thought I was going to die!" Angel continued without missing a beat.

"You thought you were going to die? What the hell happened while I was in the shower?" Price said, walking inside the kitchen, wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of shorts, hair still wet.

"Oh my days, John, sit down and let me tell you what he did!" Angel groaned, patting the other seat next to her.

"Well, alright then." John shrugged and sat down.

Simon sighed, placing her mug down and getting more mugs out to make coffee for everyone, "Fucking hell…"

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