#ah centaur shoe stuffs

[kariachi]

Random Taur Shoe Stuff

Whether or not fuckers even wear shoes varies depending on the type of taur, the terrain, how active they are, etc. After all, getting dressed in the morning can already be a bitch and if you don’t need them...

Shoes are more common if you’ve got softer hooves, are very active on hard surfaces, are going to be hauling things, or need the added traction

You also of course have medical shoes, but those are their own thing

Boots are commonplace, having a single rubber sole, a rigid fabric or leather body that wraps around the hoof(hooves), and an ankle strap, closing at the front

You can also find a more sandal-like shoe, which comes up to cup the back of the hood and straps on around the front. These tend to be more common on even-toed taur, as these come in a paired version- unlike boots- allowing for those who prefer to keep maximum hoof flexibility to have their wish

Most formal shoes are the sandal-like variety, though there are formal boots as well

Sandal-like boots are also used for entertainment and flashy events, as their soles tend to be thinner and less conspicuous than boot soles and can also be finished with metal to produce sparks on stone or just as a pretty flash

There are also, for the sake of fashion and for those who only need shoes for weather, the pad-style shoe- most commonly used by odd-toed taur, they’re quite literally a single pad of leather, rubber, or even woven plant matter, held onto the bottom of the foot with lines running up to an ankle strap. Rivets can be installed in leather and rubber varieties for improved traction

Pad-style shoes are commonly only worn for brief periods, such as while traveling short distances or over steep terrain, and individuals who wear them in daily life also typically go barefoot otherwise

While these are the main variety of shoe, they all come is various forms to fit the various feet of taur

Most areas will have stores that carry shoes befitting the more common forms of taur in their area (mid-sized deer and bovids have the best of it worldwide) and are willing to order in whatever they don’t have available

Despite this, most taur who aren’t in the majority- whether in form or size- in their area prefer to shop online or via catalog for the convenience of it, and many families have a time-honered tradition of going through the top catalogs on their region and ordering as a family. Many families also buy accessories at this time as well, as these catalogs often have sections for them

Some individuals to choose to get professionally done up with metal or rubber shoes like those used for horses and oxen, for reason including- ease of maintenance (you get shorn and you’re set until your next trim), medical recommendation, personal expression, etc. These can be nailed or glued in.

Trimming of hooves/nails can be done at home or professionally, though most individuals find it easier to have a second person do the job wherever they are. Depending on the taur trimming may be anywhere from every month to twice a year

Let me tell you a farrier can make a good living, charging on average ~$60 per trim, upwards of $110 for putting on long-term shoes if they offer the service, and most will do a full measurement of a client’s feet for a small fee. Average income for a self-employed individual with a building and employees, once business expenses are paid and before taxes, is about $100k a year in the US. Self-employed individuals who work in their client’s homes make on average $70k a year in the US.  Individuals working for someone else may make as little at $50k a year.

Farrier is a trade school job that costs about $17k  and 8 months to learn and receive licensing for

[a-twistedheartslonging]

How exactly does clothing work for the monster guys in your inhuman AU? Is there anything like specific means of dressing or accessorizing? For centaurs, nagas, driders, harpies, etc. especially. Clothing and accessories would have to be tailored around the parts of their bodies that are inhuman.

Ah, I've talked a bit about this in another post's reblogs.

@fidenciothecryptidgent said-

"My personal theories would be that the majority of day to day clothing is fairly loose with straps to help adjust to go over tails or wings or spines and plenty of clothes tend to have backless versions or even what's basically a removable back but maybe fashionably hidden (maybe buttoned down or kept tucked etc). Wide bottom pants might be favored depending on how clawed everyone is in the non human au (firmly believe Lion claws on feet will shred up any pants that are tighter than regular fit or boot cut)

I always imagined the equivalent of low back pants with ribbons/ties to go over tails as the standard for day to day outfits for folks with tails

Backless stuff for the wingeds or those with back ridges and a not so small amount of tube top type of clothing for ease (depending on floof on shoulders and chest cause having hair etc stuffed under clothing is uncomfortable) or just sleeveless shirts with wide arms for some since there's probably plenty with ridges, feathers or spines or even wings on their arms and if you need something to keep your arms warm then you'd get the appropriate thing.

Fancier stuff is gonna have to be fitted and tailered

But that's just personal opinions and theories lol"

Which makes a lot of sense. Now as for something like a drider or a centaur, it will only be the human part covered. Something like bottoms would be too much effort to make and wear aside from something to just keep their junk covered.

Also, for things like shoes he once again added-

"The world is likely fairly catered to getting battered from foot traffic and having to tough out strong nonhumans. I imagine depending on the feet such as hooves they'd probably wear something like large booties (think those giant dog shoes etc) but with good sturdy layers. Sturdy rubber sole, stiff middle layer to help with support so that the rubber sole isn't worn down too quickly while added support plus a cushiony layer on the inside for comfort and to make sure the middle layer isn't crunched on from the weight.

I wonder if due to the difficulty of trying to cater to so many different body types there would be a greater variety of accessories but for functionality. Like spray on rubber for shoes if you need better traction (similar to spray on waterproofing you see in hardware stores and outdoors supply stores), ways to add straps (basically broad straps/sashes that can kinda button/pin to stuff if the clothes don't quite fit or have enough strap etc). Basically just way more ways to help things fit."

So yeah, the custom clothing business would be making big bucks since there would be a lot of different body types needing clothes.

[snejkha]

A silly art question, if you don't mind: what helps you to design such diverse, unique adopts of every species, color scheme, body type, etc. (and with their own incredible outfits no less!)? You are the only artist I know who whips out beautiful adopts that are all vastly different from each other and have their own distinct personalities and appearances and fashion senses incorporated into their designs even when you start them from a base in like the span of a day, and I'm just stunned by how you can put that much creativity into characters you create from scratch in such a short time 😳 Like, I want to design my own characters with as much love as you design characters you're going to sell, but my dumb brain goes "Today I will make a mermaid." and comes up with a crazy detailed backstory for this conceptual mermaid, and then it does the loading screen for five years while I struggle to visualize the first thing about them... And you're out here making individual outfits for adopts on top of making the adopts themselves utterly gorgeous and super detailed, and I was just wondering if you've got any tips for someone who is utterly in awe of everything you do but cannot begin to put their own character ideas into art 😖💕

Sorry this got so lengthy, haha... 😅

Awh thats not a silly question at all//

I usually try and diversify and push different bodytypes and features with most of my adopts/ (even the ones on base I try to modify them atleast a lil bit// and ah I mostly try to think like the character and do the whole " If I was a funky lil imp what would I wear? or what would be practical or cool to wear?" Taking a look into nature and history is a good choice too Id say/

I got three different sources for clothing and jewelry references that I combine and meld together to make something interesting (and ngl doing clothes is very hard for me cause I feel like I usually choose the sameish stuff hh/) I have multiple pinterest boards and two discord servers to use for inspiration as well as a costume history book from time to time/

Id say references are always your friend/ and thinking about the story or character of the design helps a bunch too/ try to experiment as well, yes you can give the centaur lil shoes if you want and stuff like that/ Designing characters is so much fun to do so heck ye to more diverse and colorfull designs//

[carewyncromwell]

[Carewyn bid Rowan goodbye at the East Tower stairs, splitting off to Divination and Arithmancy, respectively.

When Carewyn had first looked over the list of electives, she’d been a little stuck about which to pick. Arithmancy required a lot of math, which didn’t really appeal to Carewyn; Ancient Runes was reported to require a lot of extra homework, and Carewyn thought adding more to her workload could only be a mistake; and Muggle Studies seemed a bit pointless given that she was largely raised in the Muggle world. All that was really left was Divination, so that was what she picked.

When she arrived in the classroom, however, Carewyn was happy to see how many of her friends had chosen to take the class too.]

“Chiara! Talbott!”

[Chiara and Talbott looked up from their table, both of their faces lighting up at the sight of her.]

Chiara: “Hi, Carewyn.”

[Carewyn took a seat at the empty front table in the row in front of Chiara and Talbott, turning around in her seat to look up at them.]

“I didn’t know you two knew each other.”

Talbott: “(offhandedly) I know everybody. I just don’t talk to everybody.”

[Carewyn brought a hand up to her mouth to hold in a giggle, and Talbott smiled slightly.]

Chiara: “I didn’t know you were interested in Divination, Carewyn.”

“Mm, I’m not really interested in it specifically, but...well, you remember Torvus? The friend I’ve told you about?”

Chiara: “The centaur, right?”

“Yeah. Well, centaurs believe in stargazing and predicting the future -- so I thought, maybe taking Divination would give us more to talk about.”

Torvus has been really helpful these last few years, when I’ve needed help dealing with the Vaults. I’d like it if we could talk about more casual things when we meet sometimes, rather than it just being me asking him for something. And Torvus would probably appreciate that too.

[Chiara’s gray eyes sparkled.]

Chiara: “That’s so nice! I’m sure Torvus would really like that. Centaurs are known for predicting the future, right?”

Talbott: “(skeptically) Supposedly. I don’t know how much I buy this stuff myself -- I mean, a lot of the definitions in Unfogging the Future seemed so vague. You could probably see whatever you wanted to see and then apply it to whatever random thing sort of fits what you predicted. Like you could predict some ‘misfortune’ happening to you, then get a stubbed toe and go, ‘Aha!’”

[Carewyn nodded.]

“(thoughtfully) Yeah...and well, as soon as you say that the future can be predicted, like it’s set in stone...doesn’t that sort of defeat the idea of free will?”

Talbott: “(gesturing to her in agreement) Exactly!”

[At that moment, Tonks dashed into the room, clumsily hopping on one foot as she struggled to get her shoe back on, which had come loose.]

Tonks: “Wah-ah-ahhhhh!”

[Carewyn was able to jump to her feet and catch Tonks before she fell over.]

Tonks: “Whew! Thanks, Carey.”

[She slipped her shoe back on and straightened up, tossing a quick glance around the room.]

Tonks: “Oh good -- Trelawney’s not here yet! I thought I was going to be late for sure -- Tulip and I had to side-step Filch in the third floor corridor -- ”

“(dully) Don’t make me theorize what you two were up to, Tonks -- you know I’m a Prefect and should be disciplining you.”

[Despite this, Carewyn smiled when Tonks took the other seat at her table.

The class hushed as Professor Trelawney entered the room at last. She smiled up at her students, her huge, round spectacles magnifying her eyes to double their usual size.]

Trelawney: “I am the rarely seen, often talked-about Professor Trelawney -- proud member of the Hogwarts faculty since 1981.”

[Her voice was misty and awfully melodramatic. Carewyn was immediately reminded of a character from one of those sappy Muggle soap operas that her mum Lane used to leave on in the background while she was cleaning.]

Barnaby: “(confused) Is she asking us, or does she already know?”

Trelawney: “(mistily) I already know your reasons...”

[Barnaby looked very startled.]

Barnaby: “She read my mind just now!”

Badeea: “(whispers) You’d said that out loud, Barnaby.”

[Trelawney kept talking as though Barnaby and Badeea hadn’t spoken.]

Trelawney: “...But I’d rather you share your inspirations with me.”

[The professor whirled on Liz, who was sitting at the table next to Talbott and Chiara.]

Trelawney: “You, wearing the magnificent spectacles! How about you?”

Liz: “(startled) Me? Um...my mum’s a Seer. She’s making me take this class.”

[She sounded a bit guilty to admit it. Carewyn offered Liz a sympathetic look over her shoulder.]

Trelawney: “Your mother is wise -- though if you don’t possess her Gift, there’s precious little you can learn from me..”

[Carewyn frowned deeply.]

So if you’re not great at Divination as soon as you walk in, you won’t learn how to do it well? That seems awfully backward.

[Tonks leaned over the table to whisper to Carewyn under her breath.]

Tonks: “Rumor is, there’s precious little we can learn from Trelawney, full stop.”

[Carewyn couldn’t bite back a grin of amusement. Trelawney’s eyes fell on the Slytherin Prefect next, and Carewyn straightened up noticeably.]

[Carewyn raised her eyebrows innocuously.]

“If there were a way to see the future, I wouldn’t mind learning it. Seems like that kind of knowledge would be useful.”

[Her voice was pleasant, but rather nonchalant. As much as she wouldn’t mind learning a new type of magic, like Snape had taught her Legilimency and Occlumency, she couldn’t help but agree with Talbott -- if Divination was at all like Muggle fortunetelling, it wasn’t bound to be very believable.] 

Trelawney: “Ah -- your Inner Eye has started to open, but not enough yet to see, I should think. It is essential not to go in looking for answers -- otherwise you will not find any answers at all!”

[Talbott frowned deeply.]

Talbott: “So...if you want to know the future, you have to not want to know the future?”

Trelawney: “(beaming) Well said, Mr. Winger! You are a Ravenclaw, no question.”

[As Trelawney swept over to the table of teacups at the head of the class, Carewyn shot Talbott a open, perfectly baffled smile. Talbott looked down at Carewyn, pointing at the blue collar of his robes as if to say, “Of course I’m a Ravenclaw -- everyone can see that, dumb ass.” Carewyn had to stifle her giggles behind her hand.]

Trelawney: “Now, then -- to our lesson! Your journey into Divination begins with Tessomancy, or the art of reading tea leaves. Please consult your textbook, Unfogging the Future, chapter two, as you examine the shapes in your partner’s cup. You -- and you -- and you -- will break teacups in the process...but not to worry! I keep extras on hand should you need them.”

[Carewyn had no idea who Trelawney had been addressing with this last comment, but she decided to shrug it off and simply get to work.

She and Tonks together strained their respective cups of tea. Sure enough, Tonks did break her first cup, and Trelawney was right on hand to give her a new one.]

That was an easy guess, though. She likely heard Tonks stumble in when she was in the next room.

[Trelawney’s voice echoed over their heads as the class finished straining their tea leaves.]

[Once Tonks and Carewyn were ready, they swapped cups.

Carewyn squinted at the shapes in Tonks’s teacup critically, flipping through pages in Unfogging the Future and scanning the entries. ]

“...You’ve got a shape that looks like an apple on the side -- that means ‘success.’ That’s good. And this one kind of looks like a broom tail...that means ‘boring or monotonous work.’”

Tonks: “(laughs) Probably for a detention I’ll get at some point!”

[Tonks looked over Carewyn’s cup, rotating it while also goofily tilting her head at extreme angles]

Tonks: “(in a very good impression of Trelawney) I see an arrow pointing down at a puppy dog’s head -- clearly evidence that you must go and adopt an entire litter of crup puppies, or face extreme misfortune...!”

[Carewyn couldn’t stop herself from snorting with laughter again behind her hand, though she leaned forward and tried to reproach Tonks.]

“(hissing under her breath) Stop joking around and read the book, will you?”

[At that very moment, Trelawney had arrived beside their table. Carewyn had expected them to look over her or Tonks’s teacup, but as soon as the professor walked in front of Carewyn, she stopped mid-step, her body language almost startled.]

[Carewyn looked up from her teacup with a frown.]

“What is?”

[Trelawney wasn’t looking at the teacup -- instead she was simply facing Carewyn herself, her eyes oddly vague and unfocused.]

Tonks: “(with a raised eyebrow) You mean the tea?”

[But Trelawney didn’t seem to hear her. Instead she went on, her voice growing in volume and dramatic emphasis.]

[Carewyn straightened up, her eyes narrowing very sharply.]

The ultimate price? Like...a death?

[All at once, Trelawney lowered her arms and looked upon Carewyn with more focused, somber eyes.]

Trelawney: “It’s gone. The vision is gone.”

[Bewildered and not liking it, Carewyn gave Trelawney a very sharp look.]

“That was a vision? What did any of those things mean?”

[Trelawney swept away, rubbing her temple with one hand. Carewyn’s eyes narrowed on her back, chilling significantly.]

This is not a time to be vague, you -- !

Tonks: “Don’t pay her any mind, Carey. Trelawney’s not exactly known for her accuracy on prophecies -- I remember Professor McGonagall saying that she’s predicted the death of one student every single year since she first got here.”

[Carewyn crossed her arms, glancing down at Tonks’s teacup in front of her and speaking in a very dismissive voice.]

“I’m not worried. Everyone know about my history with the Cursed Vaults...of course someone who doesn’t know me would assume I’m going to be jumping into more life-threatening situations.”

[Despite her denials, Carewyn couldn’t help but worry. After all, she was still going after the Vaults, no matter what she told everyone else -- and the mention of “murky water,” after knowing that the final Cursed Vault could be linked to the Black Lake or some other body of water...it was a strange coincidence. And...the thought of anyone dying...

It was something she knew she had to take at least a little seriously...but she had no intention of showing Tonks or the others her concern.

So Carewyn put on her best wry smile.]

“...Now, come on, Tonks, for real -- what does a dog actually mean?”

((OOC: Is anyone else confused about why Divination is an elective we start taking in sixth year, when in the books it’s taken around third year and you can then drop it again if you want after fifth year? Then again, they also treat Astronomy like an elective in sixth year too, even though it’s a core class like Herbology or Charms -- and Care of Magical Creatures is also supposed to be an elective as of year 3! XD; *sighs in book nerd*))

[springday-aus]

Disney Prince!AU with Wonho [Hoseok]

★ Wonho [Lee Hoseok] as Disney’s Hercules ★

moodboard link 

Group: Monsta X

Member: Lee Wonho / Hoseok

Genre: fluff, romance

part of the Disney Prince series 

Type: Bulletpoint AU

Word Count: 1.9k

born a demigod

son of Zeus and a mortal mother

he absolutely adores his mother

he’s not ashamed to say he’s a mama’s boy

on the other hand, he doesn’t really like to talk about his father

especially since he has these powers

the power of physical strength….

he’s not sure if they’re a good thing or a bad thing

like, sure he likes that he can help the elders carry stuff

you know, like their animals when they’ve broken a leg

or moving their houses to more convenient places

the whole village loves him bc they literally saw him grow up as a kid

he turned out so well for someone without a father

don’t be fooled—he can literally physically crush you like a grape, but he’s literally the sweetest boy

anyways

he’s been living normally

despite the whole ability to rip off a 100 year old tree

and lift up a wall 

or a house

or a 200 pound horse 

his life has been fairly normal up until the incident

one day, when Hoseok was about 16 years old

a couple of kids were stuck underneath a rock

okay, an understatement

it was a huge ass boulder

anyways

these kids were stuck underneath and Hoseok lifted it to let the kids out

since that day, the elders called him Wonho

meaning a brave lion, the protector of the village

since that day, he’s been doing around helping others a bit more 

he started putting himself out there to help people 

it was small but these tasks got gradually bigger

it started from saving kids

to fighting against monsters

to saving the entire universe (but that’s another story)

next thing he knew the entire village was calling him a hero

there were statues made of his figure 

his face was slapped on e v e r y t h i n g 

the gods made a star alignment for his stature

he became one of the most famous faces

some just like to call him a Greek god that fell from the heavens

he still blushes every time someone calls him that

the ladies swoon the hardest when he’s on his Pegasus high in the sky

and the light shines oh so perfectly to emphasize his perfect, chiseled face

geez this man is very attractive and he doesn’t even know it

moving on

it’s important to remember that he did not get to this position alone

he was able to train with/under Hyunwoo

Wonho wanted to understand how he can be a better hero

to protect the ones he loves

and those in the community 

he is such a good boy, I want to cry

anyways

he heard about how Hyunwoo trains heroes the best so he made his way over and

here he is

even after completing his training, he continues to work on himself

so if he can’t sleep or when people don’t need help

he would be in the gymnasium to work out

or he’d be doing practice training in an abandoned field that Hyunwoo had set up

as he got older, all he really does is help people and train to be better at what he’s doing

since he’s been helping out, the chaos has decreased significantly and he finds himself wandering elsewhere for adventure

this is how he meets you 

I mean, you wouldn’t say you were in danger

but also, you were in the woods and you didn’t know this one all that well

and you may or may not have ended up messing with this lake monster that you def shouldn’t have been messing with

so there you are

in the middle of a lake

being held hostage by some

ugly troll ass, centaur thing

(tbh, you couldn’t really tell what he was, a river guardian???)

I literally mean held btw

you were literally in this creep’s hand bc he’s the size of a giant

so Wonho was walking around the forest with Pegasus, trying to find a new place and see if anyone needed his help

and very faintly he hears something from the distance

“if you don’t put me down, I swear to cut off your balls and rip off your—”

oo he didn’t wanna hear that

but he still rushes towards it

that’s when he spots you in this monster’s hand, struggling to get out

he slowly approaches you two

Wonho: “uh, excuse me? sir? could you, um, let them go?”

you speak up first, without taking two glances at him

You: “keep moving junior, I can handle this—have a nice day”

you flash him a sarcastic smile, hoping he’ll move along with his day

but he doesn’t 

instead his shoulders kind of drop for a second, slightly disheartened, but only for a second

because he stands up straighter and pulls out his sword

Wonho: “you might be too close to his situation—I’m sorry to do this without your consent, but I have to do my job”

before anyone can say anything else, Wonho dives in and does what he does best

he fights off the bad guy

next thing you knew, you fell into the water and it’s all a blur

you fished yourself out, trying to dry off

Wonho managed to punch the living daylights out of the river guardian so he was just passed out and drowning in the river

but who cares about him

after Wonho ensures he’s not dead, but unconscious

(and Pegasus does his little cheer for him)

he moves over to you

Wonho: “..... hey”

You: “hi”

Wonho: “are you okay?”

You: “after getting all the water out of my ears, I’ve decided that I’ve been better”

Wonho: “sorry… about that—it was kind of stupid, I should have thought that out better”

You: “you think?”

you eye him up and down as you try to dry off your shoes

You: “they give you a name with those rippling pectorals?”

Wonho flushes, laughing rather awkwardly

Wonho: “they call me Wonho, but you can just call me Hoseok…”

you look at him again

he turns into a deeper shade of red under your eyes

You: “I prefer Wonder Boy”

he lets out another small laugh

Wonho: “what’s—what’s your name?”

you give him yours, as you wring out the bottom of your shirt into the water

he repeats it, with a small smile on his face

Wonho: “soooo, how’d you get mixed up with the—”

you finish for him

You: “the pinhead with hooves?”

he lets a little laugh out

it’s kind of cute

You: “well, you know how men are, they think no means yes and get lost means take me, I’m yours”

you let out an airy laugh as Wonho stands there confused

You: “don’t worry about it, Wonder Boy, you’ll figure it out eventually”

you stand up, ignoring the water that continues to drip down

You: “well, Seok, thanks for the help, but I gotta bounce”

Wonho: “ah…”

he can’t really hide his disappointment: “where—where are you going?”

You: “oh, you know, here and there”

you flash a smile at him: “I’ll see you around”

Wonho: “how?”

You: “life has its ways… bye bye Wonder Boy”

you walk off and disappear into the woods

Wonho finds himself still looking off, even as your figure disappears

Pegasus huffs at him, almost mockingly at how mesmerized he is at your presence

he turns to Pegasus and points a finger at him, as if he’s scolding him

Wonho: “not a word”

he continues to go on and eventually stumbles into a little town

…. your little town :)

obviously he didn’t realize

until he saw you again about a week later

you were hanging around a fruit stand that belonged to your friend’s 

you looked just as beautiful as he remembers 

and less angry 

Wonho: “hey” :)

You: “Wonder Boy, back to me so soon, miss me that much?”

Wonho: “yeah, I did”

oh

you didn’t expect him to be so straightforward

You: “so, you’re just hanging around town?”

Wonho: “it’s kind of like that”

You: “I heard some hero killed the monstrous lion, I should’ve realized it was you Wonder Boy”

Wonho: “ahhh…”

he flushes once again, rubbing the back of his neck

Wonho: “I—I’m no hero”

You: “sure you are, just remember, you are in a new town, take a break while you can”

You: “I will warn you though, it’s hard to find pretty sights in this dump”

Wonho: “I don’t think it’ll be that hard…. not without a guide at least…”

you look at him with a raised eyebrow

Wonho: “tHAt’S iF yoU wANT…. yoU don’T hAVE TO….”

you let out a laugh as he continues to flush into a darker red

he’s a cute boy, might as well shoot your shot

you wave to your friend as a silent goodbye and slowly start to walk off

without looking behind you, you shout out

You: “you coming, Wonder Boy?”

Wonho snaps out of his daydream that’s right in front of him

Wonho: “yes ma’am”

and thus the start of a beautiful relationship

Disney Prince!Wonho is as wonderful as it sounds

he already adores the life out of you

and he basically worships the ground you walk on

(as if you were the one with Greek god genes)

you, on the other hand, think he’s like a little puppy

a puppy that can kill you with his strength 

but a puppy

he loves praise

he needs attention

he loves affection

he’s basically a soft, gigantic puppy

this view kind of changed when you saw him in action

I mean you did see him in action that one time

but his life wasn’t really in danger

and lowkey he looks hot fighting

but like….

when he killed the Stymphalian Birds…

when he captured the cattle of Geryon….

I guess you kind of drew the line when you saw Cerberus on your front lawn

(he’s absolutely more adorable than people said, but it is still a three headed giant dog)

you were just concerned for him and the danger he was putting himself in

and Wonho kind of ate that shit up

but he did console you

he became a lot more careful to consider your feelings

that did mean more official training with Hyunwoo

but anything to make you happy

anyways

most of the time,  he stays to help the village

the elderly and kiddos there have grown to love him

I mean what’s not to love but

anyways

sometimes he does have to travel a bit farther for the king or something

but he always brings back some type of souvenir for you

he loves to spoil you

when he went to the Amazon, you got the most gorgeous flowers

another time, he brought some golden apples for you

he says it’s to make up the time away from you

and your heart absolutely melted

his presence makes up for it

he’s great okay

anyways

so you know how Pegasus is like his sidekick?

you two bonded 

he’s not sure how but 

Wonho loves that you and Pegasus get along

but y’all bonded a bit too much 

like you two won’t say anything but it’ll be on your faces when you’re judging him

moving on

you haven’t stopped calling him Wonder Boy

some days he prefers it

others, he prefers it when you call him Seok

so, affection 

this man needs it

whenever he’s in the same space as you

he’s like touch

it’s not like you’re gonna reject it

even if you roll your eyes, you always run into his arms

when he gets back from his trips

he doesn’t let you go for days

**cue you two waddling around because he’s backhugging you**

humor—while most of yours is dry

he still laughs and goes with it

he tells jokes unknowingly

like some of the stuff he says is ridiculous

and you just burst out laughing

you two are just very attuned with one another

very harmonious

very cute

Wonho: “when I’m with you, I don’t feel so alone”

You: “good thing you’re stuck with me then”

Wonho: “I wouldn’t have it any other way”

[canid-slashclaw]

The Outliers - A Guildwars Love Story

Chapter 6

Two months had passed since the siege against the centaurs had begun in Kressex Hills.  During those tenuous months, Kaleb, Brad and Cynthia would alternate duties between fighting on the front line and running much-needed supplies from the lake-port town.   Kaleb's reputation as a fine cook also began to take hold.  Some of his recipes became so popular that troops from other garrisons would stop by just to sample some of his cuisine.  It was also during this time that he made it a point of volunteering for supply running duty to Triskell whenever the opportunity presented itself. 

He enjoyed the unusual rapport he had developed with the market owner's daughter.  Even though she was a charr and viewed by many of his people as the mortal enemy, he somehow found their respective differences to be intrinsically fascinating. 

Today he was scheduled to pick up a fresh supply of imported cheeses from the marketplace.  Along with the meats, soldiers discriminating tastes demanded an increasing array of finer foods.  He was well aware that all of this was his own fault.  But he simply couldn't help it - he liked to ensure that everyone enjoyed the little things in life for one never knew when all of it would suddenly end. 

The morning was overcast and the plume of smoke rising from the upstairs chimney of the meat market indicated one thing.  Amalthia was there, working away at whatever it was her kind liked to do.  But even during subsequent visits, Kaleb could somehow never work up the nerve to ask her what she was working on. 

He entered the shop and his nostrils were immediately greeted with the familiar array of scents from the spices and herbs.  As always, Ludrick the big tabby patterned charr was there to greet him the moment he walked in.

"Two-thousand pounds of freshly-slaughtered bovine are ready for pickup.  I hope you got some sturdy paws carrying this stuff.  My ankle has been giving me fits and I'm not gonna be much use to anyone today," Ludrick grumbled as he shifted his center of gravity on his crutches.

Two months of coming to these felines' shop and I still don't know either of them on a personal level.  Kaleb mused as he handed Ludrick the work order. 

"Amalthia. Get down here and help this customer.  He's got a meat wagon that needs to be loaded up," the old charr bellowed out towards the upstairs. "Just a minute.  One last spot and I'll be finished." 

Kaleb heard Amalthia's voice from upstairs.   Summoning his courage, Kaleb stood in front of the big charr and quickly asked in a rushed voice.  "So what has your daughter been working on?" Ludrick just shook his head and grumbled.  "Ask her." He then pointed towards the staircase to where Amalthia had already been present.  "Ask me what?" Kaleb swallowed as he was at a loss for words for the moment.  "I was..." "It's okay, just remember your fahrar training when learning to speak.  Or is it the Asuran School of Synergetics?  Either way, you seem to have a hard time completing sentences whenever you are around me." Kaleb looked at Ludrick then commented.  "Is your cub like this to all her customers?"

"Only to the ones who act like fools.  Which, I might add, seems to include everyone."   "Whathaveyoubeenworkingonupstairs? There!  I asked it!" "Is that some sort of lost Orrian gibberish?  Ohh... now I get it.  I think you were trying to ask me a personal question.  Something along the lines of what I do with my time while I'm upstairs.  Am I right?"  Amalthia conjugated her thoughts aloud.   "Well, the acrid smell of burning coal does pique my curiosity.  I can't help but to be curious." Amalthia gazed in his general direction with her amber eyes then replied.  "I am not in the business of forming personal relationships with customers.  If there is something business-related you or your people want to discuss with my sire, or me then by all means, do so.  Otherwise don't pester me with personal questions." Human or not, Kaleb could tell that she had her defenses on high alert. Like the Seraph army he served under, he wanted to strategically break them down.   "Business question." "Okay. Shoot." "How does your shop produce such a large volume of market cuts in such a short amount of time?  And please don't tell me it's a trade secret, cause I know you people have commonplace technologies that our people don't even possess." Amalthia looked at her father who gave his silent nod of approval.   "Did you bring anyone with you this time?" "No.  Just me." "Good. Now take off those filthy shoes and socks," Amalthia said as she pointed her clawed finger towards Kaleb's boots. She led him down the stairs and into the basement cutting room.  For the moment, the room was pitch black.  But with the flick of her hand, a series of gaslight propane lights came to life.   "Tada!  Welcome to the cutting room.  Or as I like to call it, the slaughter shack." The plucky charr beckoned him to tread carefully across the freshly mopped stone floor.   She reached up and pulled back a chain-mail curtain revealing a row of cattle quarters dangling on a series of hooks.  "The cattle are gutted just beyond that doorway over there.  Once they have been dressed, sire and I bring the carcasses here to be cleaned up and ready for quartering." "What do you use to quarter them with... a tree saw?"  Kaleb asked. Amalthia walked him over to a giant fearsome-looking machine that sported a giant saw blade.   As he got closer, Kaleb could hear the high-pressure rushing sound of water that was coursing through the complex array of pipes.   "Steam-powered quartering saw.  Charr trade secret.  You are to keep this mum under sever pain of a horribly gruesome death," she said laconically.  "How charming.  I suppose some of the meat I saw may have very well been the remains of customers who foolishly betrayed your secrets?" "Well, those and the ones who ask too many stupid personal questions.  But other than that, you needn't worry.  The chances of you inadvertently eating your dead uncle are practically nil," Amalthia quipped as she began adjusting the controls of the saw blade.  "Amalthia!  Customer with two little ones." "Great.  Well that's it for now.  I gotta put on the charming routine and help those pesky humans." As Kaleb and Amalthia emerged from the downstairs cutting room, a young mother and her squealing kids greeted them.  "Mommy.  Another charr!" The mother had a brief look of terror on her face as Amalthia kneeled down to make eye contact with the youngster.  Without any sense of fear or trepidation, the little girl started to run her fingers across Amalthia's large horns.  Within moments, the child was playing with her whiskers and ears, apparently being delighted by their twitching movement.   "What's your name, little one? Mine is Amalthia.  Can you say that?" The little girl tried to mimic Amalthia's feline muzzle phonemes as she attempted to sound out her name.   "Ah.."

"..mall.."

"...thia!" Kaleb was utterly stunned.  He was amazed at how patient she was with the human child.   "You are really good with kids.  I didn't expect that from someone like you," he said off-the-cuff. "What is that supposed to mean?  'Someone like me'?" "What I meant to say was, I didn't take you for the type to be so good around kids.  I thought they would push your buttons and drive you crazy," Kaleb replied humbly. "There is a lot about me you don't know or want to know about.  And for your sake as well as mine, it's for the better." Kaleb noticed the other child, a boy, clamoring over one of the displays. 

"Be right back."

He gently picked up the arrant boy then promptly returned him to his mother.  "There ya go fella.  Just keep off of high places, yea hear?  Otherwise you might fall and break something." Without Kaleb noticing, Amalthia witnessed the interaction as a wide grin came over her face that caused her ears to flatten with a sensation of happiness. 

Kaleb walked back over sans the child.  "I disagree.  With your last statement, that is.  Because I would like to get to know you better." "Do you have cubs?" Once again, Kaleb was caught off guard.  But he learned to recover from the initial shock of her bold questions.  "None at present.  You?" "Nada." "Havarti is my favorite cheese.  Okay, that one was pure randomness," Kaleb said in a relaxed tone.  "Goat cheese for me. The harder ones clog me up something fierce.  Randomness back at you," she chided.   "More fiber will fix that issue.  You've been served," Kaleb said gleefully. "Rebound - charrs don't consume fiber.  Two and zero, with Amalthia in the lead." "You moved the goalpost.  That's cheating!"  "Accusing an Iron Legionnaire of cheating is an insult worthy of a duel... to the death!" Amalthia gnashed her teeth at Kaleb.  "Match accepted.  But first - may I treat you to some refreshments?  You know, the kind outside this slaughterhouse?"  Kaleb said with a wink.   The little boy tugged on the hem of his mother's dress and pointed.  "Mommy, that man and that charr are really talking weird to each other." The mother looked apprehensively at the odd bantering between the two then quickly decided it was best to pull up her spawn and leave.   Ludrick planted the palm of his hand over his face as he shook his head. "You cubs are giving me a splitting headache.  Would the both of you be so courteous as to take your jabber-jawing somewhere else? Preferably somewhere far out of my earshot?" "Oh crap!  Where has the time gone?  It looks like the dessert thing will have to wait another time.  I was only supposed to be here for no more than an hour and now look at the time.  I'm going to be in deep dolyak doo with my sarge if she finds out I've been goofing around," Kaleb said with a sigh of disappointment.   Amalthia flicked her ears as she looked over the young soldier.  "Then I wouldn't want to be the one to keep you from your appointed rounds. Meet me by the bay door and I'll help you load up your supplies." As they were working together in stocking up his cart, Amalthia couldn't help but notice Kaleb's bulging biceps as he helped her heft the large hunks of rations.  But she immediately averted her gaze the moment he turned his head towards her.  Once the necessary cargo had been loaded aboard the wagon, Amalthia proceeded to close and latch the receiving bay door.  "That's the last of it," she said with a raised clawed thumb.   "Thanks for everything.  I couldn't have done this without your help.  And next time, I promise there will be desserts," Kaleb replied with a smile.  "Then I'll hold you to your word, Kaleb."

Her ears twitched upon saying his name.  And for his part, he couldn't have felt happier when she said it too.

[aevus-blogging]

animorph lads and controller gents

Oh. Anon no. Anon, you have given me a nugget for angst by god. Okay okay. So. Sorta yes, sorta no. You ready for a rambly oneshot? Be ready for a rambly one shot

According to the yeerks, James Ryan Haywood and Epslin 413 were dead and devoured by the creatures of the cruel and blistering arizona desert. This was only true for one of them though.

Ryan, he had been an involuntary host, picked up from his dreadful foster home by the Sharing with the promise of free food and a safe zone. He had been too trusting of the altruistic organization, up until the point he was being escorted down into the underground bunker area and having his head forced down into that cursed murky water, a slug alien entering his ear and taking control over his actions.

Years he had suffered in silence, fighting tooth and nail when he could. He watched as the Yeerk piloted his body around, forcing him into an arizonan college (closer to the yeerks home base) and into an IT program, minoring in theatre to keep the facade of Ryan’s love of theatre intact, despite the fact the yeerk despised it. Of course he passed with flying colors and soon found himself in an IT job. Still, eight years later Ryan still fought against the yeerk in his head. It was only by luck that Ryan would find his freedom again.

It had been a call, of him having to hop in a car and drive a few hours away to assist a job. It had been utter luck for him that his car broke down mid way through the drive, even more so that he was on the day his yeerk needed to head into the pit to recharge. Ryan could feel himself laughing at the Yeerk’s misfortune. 24 hours and he was a free man once more. While he was excited, the Yeerk was terrified. He had no cell phone, no Yeerk communication device either. He was alone.

Eventually night fell, and so did Ryan’s body in fatigue. As the night drawled on the Fugue started to hit, racking the yeerk and host both in pain. Slowly Epslin 413 died, memories of former hosts invading Ryan’s mind and leaving themselves there. Four other hosts before Ryan. One Gedd, two Hork-Bajir, and one other human, a teen that had been an involuntary host as well, one that managed to free himself the only way he could in the cage, by death. After what felt like an eternity the Yeerk receded out of Ryan’s mind, shriveled up on the cold desert ground. For the first time in forever Ryan laughed, he was free.

It wasn’t until morning that a trucker would pull off and pick Ryan up, that was the true birth of Ryan the free man, and the final nail in James the Controller’s coffin. That was the start of his hitchhiking to Los Santos, ignoring the news of the search for James Ryan Haywood. He stayed low in the city. Always wearing something to obscure his face, no use in someone actually recognizing him, even worse if it would be a controller.

It was no surprise he was mistaken as a hitman, with the whole paranoia and face hiding thing. It was a surprise that Ryan actually went along with it. Maybe it was the fact he had seen too many deaths in his time as a controller that he was numb to it all, maybe a lingering malicious will of the yeerk that controlled him, or, most terrifyingly, maybe he had always had the capability and willingness. But becoming a hitman was a blessing as much as it cursed him. It gave him more freedom, It made it so when he killed a high level controller the Yeerks didn’t think it was a Yeerk thing but a human thing. So he passed the years like that, picking off the controllers he could, making money off his kills.

Then the Fake AH Crew formed. He was sent an invite, a nice little postcard in his mail from one Geoff Ramsey. At first he panicked. Then he decided if this was somehow Yeerk related it would be best to play along right? Thankfully for him it wasn’t yeerk related. It was a bonafide crew, a gang of criminals. Yet as time drawled on in the crew became more and more of a dysfunctional family. Then the day came when they all died, but at the same time they didn’t. They all came back. Some, like Gavin, were up almost instantly, but others, Ryan, took hours to repair the damage. When Ryan did come back it was full of panic and wondering if Hell was home, which of course causes Geoff to laugh. Ryan gets a welcome to Immortality speech (distantly Ryan is glad that he’s yeerk free, the things the yeerks would have done to him if they knew he was immortal). After that the crew gets closer, due to their immortal status and that the more elder ones finally having people who wouldn’t die in fifty years for the first time in centuries, if not millennia.

Ryan went soft, he had relaxed. Most days he only lounged around the penthouse in simple face paint. It had been a mistake. A grave mistake. Geoff started going off on more and more ‘meetings’ spending little to no time in the penthouse for a month. Then one night the lads didn’t come home. There were reports of a meteor hitting Mount Chilliad (Ryan doubted it was a meteor, it was probably a bug ship that malfunctioned). Ryan just hoped the lads hadn’t gone to it, but knowing them and the fact they weren’t home made Ryan anxious. Jack tried to calm Ryan down, telling him that the lads probably were just drunk and that’s why they weren’t answering their phones.

Then they came home, looking ragged as hell, scorch marks on their clothes. They were full of anxious nerves, distrust showing in their eyes as they looked at the gents, like they were expecting them to attack. Then they asked a damning question.

“So, what do you think of the existence of Aliens?” Gavin asked, the calmest of the lads. Then again Gavin was a grifter, more than a century poured into his craft. But the reactions were imminent in the crew. Ryan froze, flashbacks to Epslin 413 and his time as a controller rearing his ugly head. Ryan wasn’t the only one to react though. Geoff had frozen as well, staring the lads down, expression unreadable.

“Why do you ask Gavin?” Jack asked, genuinely confused. Ryan glanced at Jack, of course she doesn’t know. Ryan was willing to bet Jack had never knowingly interacted with a controller before. Ryan went to drop a retort when he saw Geoff reaching for something out of the corner of his eye, his heart turned to ice as he saw what it was. A Dracon Ray. Ryan didn’t think, he just acted. He leapt for Geoff, wrestling the blaster away, dimly he was aware of the Lads yelling, but adrenaline was high in Ryan’s veins. Geoff was a controller. God knows for how long. In the end Ryan won and was holding the alien gun, pointing it at Geoff’s head, snarl on his lips. The room was silent, the lads recognizing the blaster as alien, and immediately were on edge, reaching for their own weapons.

“Yeerk Fucker.” Michael growled, eyes darting from Ryan to Geoff, trying to figure out who the Yeerk was. Ryan could feel himself shake, but stayed focused on Geoff, the one confirmed Yeerk in the room.

“Bet you can’t even work that.” The Yeerk growled out. Ryan barked out a laugh, deftly armed the blaster from years of practice ingrained in his muscle memory.

“Oh don’t I? These haven’t changed since I was a controller.” Ryan said darkly. The Yeerk inhabiting Geoff twisted his friend’s face into a sneer.

“There are no cases of Hosts getting free.”

“My enslaver was Epslin-413. I was used with the intention of working IT and working my way up in a promising company. ‘I’ had to drive through the Arizona desert from one town to the next for a job. The Yeerk was supposed to go to the Yeerk Pool in the small city after the job was done to recharge there. Fortunately for me my car broke down. No one came along that road, not till the fugue set in and Epslin 413 was long dead. I am James Ryan Haywood. I faked my death to escape you parasites, today you will get a small taste of the helplessness you put my friend in.” Ryan growled out, glancing to the Lads.

“Lockdown, three days. No one leaves or enters the penthouse.” Ryan said, voice hard.

“Yes, yeah. Lockdown. Force the Yeerk in Geoff into a fugue. But uh. I have to get one person and we need to explain ourselves.” Gavin said, dashing to the elevator. Ryan bit his lip, wanting to go after him, but the possibility of Geoff Yeerk getting Free was too much to risk. So Ryan tied Geoff down, and Jeremy tied Jack down. Jack was confused, but was willing enough while Geoff thrashed about, causing Michael to have to hold the older gent down.

By the time Geoff was tied down Gavin was back, with someone who looked very very similar to Trevor, if Trevor wasn’t white. The clothes he was wearing were ill fitting, obviously not his own, and he didn’t even have shoes. The new Guy was looking around before zeroing in on the thrashing controller and then looking at Ryan and the Dracon Ray.

“So that’s the former Controller! Hi I’m Alfredo, not my real name but I like that name much better than my birth name. I’m an andalite and I’m here to help!” He said, then to prove his point he started morphing, ripping and shredding the clothes on his body as he went from ethnic Trevor to alien centaur with stalk eyes. Ryan was immediately at attention, memories of Visser Three flooding his mind.

“Andalite.” Ryan said, nodding to the alien.

“Okay. Story Time on what we did last night.” Gavin said, clearing his voice.

“So last night we were fucking around on Mount Chilliad. We met Trevor up there, he was doing some space stuff. We started fucking around, planning shenanigans. Then the ship fell. We of course checked it out, thinking we could snag some cool military grade shit and then gtfo. It was an Andalite ship. Inside was Alfredo and Elfangor. Elfangor was badly wounded, he was dying. Alfredo was in much better shape. Elfangor told us about the Yeerks, gave us some psychic images of them and imprinted some data of the yeerks in our minds. Then he gave us this.” Gavin nodded to Jeremy, who produced a glowing blue box that had Yeerk Geoff’s eyes bugging out.

“The Escafil Device. Or as we’ve been calling it, the Blue Cube. He. He gave us the morphing ability and told us to take Alfredo and run. We did. Visser Three, he was arriving as we were sneaking away. We heard him kill Elfangor. We ran, once we reached our car we realized we were fucked. Couldn’t take them down. And we couldn’t walk about with a blue horse thing. Alfredo, he did some fancy shenanigans and acquired us all and made his own human morph. So began our two hour at a time trek back home after putting Alfredo in a spare set of Michael’s work out clothes. We eventually got home, told Alfredo to wait in the garage, and well you know the rest.” Gavin said.

“Where’s Trevor then?” Jack asked, frown on her face.

<Glad you asked that oh friend of mine.> A voice buzzed in their heads, sounding like Trevor. In a few seconds a fly began enlarging and becoming more and more human like, grotesquely morphing into one Trevor Collins.

“Put your clothes on.” Michael huffed, tossing some clothes to the stark naked man.

“We’ll have to figure out clothes that go with our morphs.” Gavin muttered as Trevor pulled on his clothes.

<Later. Right now is making sure your gent friends are free of any and all Yeerk infestations.> The andalite Thought spoke.

“Are we tying up Ryan too or?” Jeremy trailed off, not looking like he particularly wanted to. Probably didn't help that he was still holding the blaster. Ryan disarmed it and gently set it far away from Geoff.

“If you want, it’s fine. I understand.” Being a previous host he really could understand.

<I think he’ll be fine. Besides what are the odds he overpowers all five of us?> Alfredo responded, causing Jeremy to snort.

“Pretty damn high. Ryan’s our resident murder hobo.” Jeremy said, causing Ryan to huff and mutter am not.

<What’s a Murder Hobo?>

The three days followed a semi strict schedule, Alfredo took the night shift guard with Ryan. Then Michael or Jeremy would relieve them when the sun rose and tell them to sleep. They wouldn't and would linger about till Gavin and Trevor took over at noon as well as feeding. Jack was always cooperative while Yeerk Geoff was as much of a bastard as possible. Then six hours would go by and whichever of Gavin or Jeremy didn’t take morning took night till twelve am in which another feeding would happen with difficulty. Then at Midnight Alfredo and Ryan took over. Over and Over again.

Till the fugue started for Yeerk Geoff. Then it was all hands on deck. While Alfredo hung back, the crew was there to help Geoff through it. Ryan repeatedly apologising to Geoff. He knew what it was like to go through the fugue, the hell of pain that came with it. Not once did Ryan leave Geoff’s side. When Geoff went limp and the Yeerk slug slid out of Geoff’s ear and shrivelled up, only then did Ryan let himself relax.

“You made it Geoff.” He said gently.

“Just barely. God, you went through that too?” Geoff asked, voice hoarse after the Yeerk used it to yell and rage for so long before giving up.

“Yeah. Fun times.” Ryan huffed out, causing Geoff to bark out a laugh as Gavin undid his bindings.

“Super fun.” He drawled out.

“So what next?” He asked

“We wait one more day for Jack, sorry Jack. And as long as she’s clear, we pass off the ability to morph to you three and we start planning a guerilla war?” Jeremy said, the last part coming out more as a question than statement. Ryan nodded at that. Made sense to do it all at once, and to make sure Jack wasn’t harboring a well fed Yeerk.

“Immortality and shapeshifting? We’re going to be set for eternity boys. Good thing Thelon 1111 was a greedy bitch and didn’t want to give up an immortal hist to a sub visser or visser.” Geoff said, causing Trevor to gasp and Alfredo to be taken aback.

<Immortals, that is impossible> “What, y'all are immortal too?” Alfredo’s denial and Trevor’s excitement overlapped as they were both said at the same time.

“Respawn of Six minutes.” Gavin said proudly.

“Damn son. I only have a respawn of two hours.” Trevor huffed out. Ryan stayed back as the others began arguing with Alfredo over this, the andalite refusing to believe such a thing. Until Gavin shrugged and shot Michael in the head. Thankfully Michael was a fast healer and the wound was already stitching itself up, shocking Alfredo to silence as Geoff ranted about killing in the house. This was his home, his family. For the first time since he regained his Freedom Ryan felt strong, felt powerful, like he was more than just a pawn in some galactic game of chess. He would be able to fight these bastards once and for all. The Yeerks thought James Ryan Haywod was dead. They were dead wrong.

[metamorphmagic]

Truth or dare

Characters: The Marauders, Lily, Alice, Reader Warnings: None really, apart from it gets quite cheesy and dramatic lol Word count: 2405 Hope it’s ok for you! It took a while as I lost inspiration and had to wing it. xo It was an early Friday morning and students were spilling into the Great Hall for breakfast. Today, the enchanted ceiling was blue and cloudless. ‘Pass me over some toast please, Pads, I’m starving,’ James yawned as he joined his friends at the Gryffindor table. As he looked over, he realised something looked out of place with Sirius. 'Since when do you read the paper?’ he asked him. 'I don’t. It’s just, Peter’s face was bothering me and I needed something to block the view,’ Sirius smirked. 'Oi, don’t be harsh,’ piped up Remus. 'I’m only joking! You know I’m joking, don’t you, mate?’ Sirius said, ruffling Peter’s hair. “Course I do,’ he said, rolling his eyes, grinning. 'I’m not a complete asshole, you know.’ 'I beg to differ,’ Remus muttered into his Goblet. 'Sod off!’ Sirius replied as they all laughed. 'So, Pad, anyfig interestig in der dismornig?’ James said with a mouthful of toast. 'Na, not really. Er, someone in the department of Magical Law Enforcement has got a promotion; something about Centaur versus human Divination; a big number of Grindylows are moving around European waters; a new magical plant has been discovered; and today is the hottest day of the year, apparently. Papers are pointless. I mean, why would you want to read more if it tells you all you need to know on the front page? Well, if this is the stuff you need to know, then -’ Sirius pointed at the cover of the paper and raised his shoulders and arms in an I-have-no-idea kind of way. James laughed as Remus rolled his eyes. 'Well if you actually tried opening the paper, you’d find there’s a lot more to read about. It can be quite interesting.’ 'Yeah, you would say that, Moony. But plants aren’t exactly my idea of an interesting read.’ James smirked. 'Padfoot, you never read,’ Remus said. Sirius paused in thought for a moment. 'Touché.’ Remus shook his head, grinning. 'Hey, we’ve all got a free period at the end of the day, right? What should we do?’ James asked, eyeing up more food. 'Prank Snivellus!’ Sirius said almost instantly. 'No, we won’t.’ 'Don’t be boring, Moony.’ Remus gave a stern look at Sirius. 'Fine! What do you suggest then, Dad?’ 'We should hang out near the lake. Because, you know, it’s a nice day and the paper tells us it’s the hottest day of the year so far, right, Sirius?’ 'Sounds like a plan,’ Peter smiled. 'We should invite the girls. Make it more fun. They’re off this afternoon, too.’ 'Yeah, nice one, lover boy,’ Sirius laughed, chucking an apple core at James. 'You’re one to talk!’ James retorted, chucking it back. 'All you do is try to chat up Y/L/N,’ he teased. 'Do not! … Alright, maybe, but you’re the same with Evans.’ 'Either way, the more the merrier.’ 'Speaking of whom …’ Remus pointed towards the doors to the Great Hall. 'Evans!’ James shouted, waving Lily over who was looking curiously at them. She looked at Alice and Y/N who was stood next to her, and they made their way over to the group. 'Yes?’ she asked. 'How do you three fancy hanging out with us later at the lake? We’ve all got a free period last thing, right?’ 'James, those times are best for studying.’ 'Come on, it’s just for an hour or so. What do you say?’ James said looking up at her with puppy eyes. She looked at the two girls on her left as they shrugged their shoulders in response. 'Why not?’ Y/N said smiling. Alice nodded. 'There we go! Evans?’ Sirius prompted. 'Fine! But I’m bringing my books,’ Lily said, starting to walk further down the table. Alice followed. 'She’s not bringing her books,’ Y/N said quietly to the group, winking before she joined her friends. James whistled as he caught Sirius watching Y/N smiling and chatting away to her friends. 'Piss off, Prongs,’ grinned Sirius.

***

'No, you need to chuck it on more of an angle. Look -’ James threw a flattened rock so it skimmed across the sparkling water several times, before sinking. 'Ha, see?’ he said with a nod, looking out at where the rock just disappeared. Peter looked up at him with admiration, before trying again. He picked one up from the edge of the lake, positioned his arm behind him, and chucked it. It sunk straight away with a big splash. Sirius, who was watching silently from the tree behind them, snorted. 'Nice, Wormtail, nice.’ Remus - sitting next to him - hit him in the arm. 'Keep practising, mate, you’ll get it eventually,’ James said, patting Peter’s shoulder. He moved away to sit back down in the shade of the big tree. 'So, when are you going to ask Y/L/N out then, Pads?’ James said, watching Peter’s attempts. 'I - I’m not …’ 'Come off it, mate, we’re not stupid.’ 'I - I, er …’ 'Well, this is a first! Is the great Sirius Black actually losing his cool over a girl?’ Remus teased. 'No!’ Sirius tutted. 'Bugger off.’ James and Remus chuckled. 'We know you’ve liked her for ages. Can you really hold it in for any longer? When are you going to ask her?’ James questioned. 'I don’t know,’ he said seriously, looking in Peter’s direction. 'You’re saying this to me, but don’t you think you’d better get a move on with Lily?’ His mouth curled up slightly. James decided not to say anymore. The three of them sat watching Peter attempt to make a rock skim the water at least two times before he promptly gave up and joined them. 'You make it look easy, Prongs,’ Peter sighed. James chuckled. 'So, I’m missing out on a study session for rock throwing?’ The four boys turned their heads to see Lily with the arms of her cardigan tied loosely over her shoulders, Alice and Y/N walking towards them smirking. 'Ah, nice to see you can join us,’ James said, brushing his hair back and gesturing at the ground in front of him. 'Yeah, well, I almost didn’t come,’ Lily’s mouth curled up slightly, 'but these two here persuaded me,’ she added with a nod of her head, untying her cardigan. The girls sat down. 'Only because we agreed to buy you ice cream and new quills in Hogsmeade tomorrow,’ Y/N said, and they all laughed together. Y/N and Sirius looked at each other for a moment, until Remus’s sudden cough distracted them. 'Why I’m offended, Evans, that it takes ice cream and new quills for you to hang out with m-us …’ James tried to cover up quickly. Sirius rolled his eyes, shaking his head. James noticed this; clearing his throat, rolling up his sleeves and unbuttoning the top of his white shirt, he said 'It’s hot, isn’t it?’ 'Well, how about you take a dip in the lake?’ Lily smirked, knowing he wouldn’t want to ruin his already messy hair. 'Maybe later, Evans. You could join me if you like,’ he winked. 'In your dreams, Potter.’ James stared at her, biting his lip slightly. 'Alright, how about a proper game of truth or dare?’ Y/N suggested. 'I like your thinking, Y/L/N,’ Sirius said, making her smile. Peter and Alice were the only ones looking slightly nervous, as for the rest, excitement shown on their faces. Lily had forgotten all about studying now. 'Well, seeing as it was your great idea, how about you choose first?’ said James. 'OK … Alice!’ Y/N said, making her friend jump, 'truth or dare?’ 'Oh, Merlin, er … truth.’ 'Is it true that you and Frank have a thing for each other?’ Y/N asked with a grin. There was a pause; all eyes were on Alice as her face was growing rosy pink. 'Yes! We do, alright?’ Whistling came from James and Sirius as Lily and Y/N screeched with excitement. 'We know! We just wanted to hear you say it out loud!’ Y/N laughed as they hugged. Remus grinned at the sight. Alice covered her reddening face in her hands. 'Your turn, Al!’ Lily said. 'Er, OK … James, truth or dare?’ This went on for quite a while, so long, in fact, the sun was glistening beautifully now onto the Great Lake. 'Right, Sirius, it’s your turn again,’ Remus said. He instantly grinned, turning his attention to Y/N, who had conjured a fan to cool herself down. She was glowing. Sirius had lost himself for a moment, then James clicked his fingers near his face to snap him out of it. He jumped. 'Hey, Y/L/N, truth or dare?’ Sirius said quickly. 'Hm, I’m feeling daring, so let’s go with that,’ she replied, still attempting to cool herself. That’s when he remembered what Lily had said to James earlier. His mouth curled upwards. 'I dare you to jump in the Lake.’ Y/N smiled, got up, took her shoes, socks and cardigan of so she was left in her top and knee length shorts, and strolled over to the dock as if it were nothing. 'Wow, Y/N, you’re eager!’ Lily shouted to her. 'Not a dare, really. I’ll enjoy this!’ She shouted back. They watched as she ran to the end of the wooden platform and did a cannon ball. They all whooped and laughed as she resurfaced. 'This is amazing!’ she shouted, then proceeded to swim around gracefully on her back. The sun was making the water gold. Sirius couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. All he could think about was how beautiful she looked. James and Remus looked at each other, smirking, then back at Sirius. 'We’ll let him have his moment,’ James muttered. 'I heard that.’ Everyone was watching between Y/N and Sirius now, not needing a game of truth or dare to keep them entertained. 'Come on, Sirius, I wouldn’t want you to miss this! I dare you!’ 'You’ve got to be kid- I’m good, thanks, Y/L/N!’ he shouted back. 'Go on, she dared you,’ Lily said, encouraging him. 'Oh, alright, alright!’ Sirius got up and started walking to the platform. Y/N was slowly swimming towards him, smiling, but as Sirius was about to take off his shirt, however, there became a gasp and a splash from the water. She was gone. 'Very funny, Y/L/N, stop pissing about!’ Sirius shouted. But she did not resurface. ’Y/N?’ Lily shouted. They all ran over. 'This better not be a prank …’ James said. ’Y/N?!’ Worry started to set in. There came bubbles before a splash again as Y/N came back up, coughing. ’Help!’ she screamed. It was then they knew it was no prank; she sounded terrified. Other students were now starting to look over at the commotion. 'Something’s pulling me un-’ She was gone again as quickly as before. ’Y/N!’ Sirius yelled, panicking. 'I’ve got to grab her-’ He was ready to jump. Lily crouched as she noticed something in the water … multiple of them, in fact … 'Grindylows! They’re Grindylows!’ she shouted. 'Sirius, don’t, or they’ll only grab you too!’ Peter said, holding his arm. 'What the hell am I supposed to do then? Let them drown her?’ Sirius was thinking furiously now. He saw more bubbles and a hand come above the water. Y/N was holding her wand up before disappearing yet again. Sirius made a grab for his own, then shouted the first incantation that came to him. ’RELASHIO!’ The water seemed to calm again almost instantly. The Gindylows seem to have been scared off, for now. Lily cried as James hugged her tightly. They were all looking at the water with anxiety, waiting. 'Come on, Y/N, come on …’ Sirius whispered. Still nothing. So he dove. The water was cloudy, but the sun rays acted like a giant torch, helping him find his way to Y/N’s body. He saw movement in the distance behind them; the Grindylows. They were coming back. He grabbed her around the waste, mouthed 'Ascendio!’ hoping it would work from under water. He felt them rocketing out of the lake, landing meters away from the platform and back on the grass. Y/N was unmoving. The others bolted to their drenched friends. When they reached her, they saw that her lips were slightly grey, her skin paling with red suction marks over her face, legs and arms. 'She- she’s not moving!’ Lily panicked. They all looked at her in shock. ’Y/N? Y/N, wake up!’ Sirius said angrily as he held her cheeks. 'She’s breathed in water.’ Remus knelt down on the other side of her unconscious body. Sirius panicked. 'What do I do?’ he cried, gripping his hair. ’Argh, what’s that fucking spell?! … Rennervate!’ he yelled, pointing at her chest. Y/N suddenly spluttered out water, rolling to her side slightly, coughing and inhaling air harshly. Sirius brushed her hair from her face as Remus patted and rubbed her back. 'Oh thank goodness,’ Lily exhaled. ’Y/N?’ Remus said. Y/N was breathing heavily as if she had run up the grand staircase. 'I’m never doing that again,’ she panted. Sirius pulled her into his chest, hugging her tightly. 'I’m sorry,’ he said. 'What? You - you weren’t to know, Sirius.’ She looked at his dripping wet body, then into his grey eyes and paused for a moment. 'Thank you,’ she whispered, squeezing his hand. 'You don’t need to thank me.’ Then he realised. 'The paper this morning, it said Grindylows were - bloody hell,’ he sighed. 'Well, apart from those little bastards, it was a pleasant swim.’ 'Come on, you’re tired. Let’s get you inside, shall we? Get you checked over,’ Lily said to Y/N. She nodded, and Sirius helped her up, guiding her back inside with the others. 'Wait - you read the paper today?’ 'Don’t look so surprised, Y/L/N, it can happen,’ Sirius smiled. 'Well I am, a bit,’ she grinned back softly.

Well, that escalated quickly haha! Hope you somewhat enjoyed. Thanks for reading xo

[ligbi]

Animorphs Liveblog #1

I borrowed Animorphs from some friends and liveblogged my thoughts for them. I thought some tumblr folks may enjoy them as well. Animorph content warning for fucked up shit. For kids!

The Invasion 1996 Jake is a Lizard, and this weird CG render of him in a shoe is actually pretty damn good for the time. I forgot about the flipbook corners. 

Everything I tell you is a lie, but you have to believe me The Andalites promised they'd rescue us, and knowing what I know I do not believe that a smidge Marco and Jake already already friends, Tobias is a new, awkward guy, Rachel is Jake's tall cool cousin, and Cassie is black and 'mythical' So begins the heteros Tell me more about Jake's brother Tom and how you two have become distant Cool one sentence into each girl and I love them both already. Fuck the patriarchy! But also being a girl in public is scary Ha. Ax murderers.at the construction site. Ax. They're 13 right? Babies but also I call bullshit on towns with walking distance malls Marco was right Jake the idiot Shit wait which one dies how bad will I regret reading this? I get Tobias man. Looking at that sky. Also Cassie just "ufo" Marco is looking to make a buck off a ufo sighting. Okay Jake is a dweeb so says Marco Oh no baby bird you're clearly the best dude curse eager bird men We all just stood there like fools Hey the ship is burned and some of it has been melted! Also blue lights because all technology has glowing blue lights Jake's family has a minivan (oh god these are small children), and Marco wants to be on Letterman. Letterman Oh god right it's '96 you have to Go Somewhere to Call Someone. Wow 96 was I was 5 I just turned 27 Technology Rachel wants to Solve the spaceship and Cassie points out Star Trek is monolinguistic. As with all series, Girls. Blue deer-taur with no real mouth and extra eyes on stalks with scorpion tail. I've been meaning to re-read Wrinkle in Time, but I think when I first read that at like, 10, I pictured those blind creatures like this Please note, I recall fully reading one (1) of these books ever to completion. Rachel turned into a squid in that one Yes Ax does look like he can kill. I assume he does at some point Jake is almost crying upon seeing Ax, who already feels like a friend. Due to time travel and reincarnation, I am scared to find out why this is Yes I Am Dying. Oh aliens. This is not Ax, is it? Whoops Cassie's family are vets. And she's ready to jump into helping Hey whoever you are, just saying, it sounds like you're implying literally every other alien in the universe wants to kill us. Which is fair but Yeerks. Rat sized gray-green slug parasites ...How does this Andalite (right?) know none of them are controlled by a Yeerk right now? Marco is a bit of a pragmatist Oh jeez lingo uh let's see: Yeerks have Bug Fighters, a Blade Ship, Dracon Beams which destroy things to a molecular level, Andalites have a Dome Ship and Z-Space is a thing Expected Yeerk takeover time: A year or less Yikes Hey Jake fuck you get the box Ugh so straight Got the cube and hey look a hologram of their family WOW MEAN Ok so most (all?) Andlaties have a morph power to Alteans! blend in and hide also we acknowledge they are young Cassie and Tobias for best kids right now Two red streaks for Yeerks Bug fighters these are He looks at Tobias and feels weird like a chill. Normally I'd call Gay but predestination/time-travel/something is up ...How do they know how long two Earth hours are? Oh shit Visser Three. And he can Morph that's uh legit concerning? How'd he get that and what horrible things have he done? Has? Have or has? Also, what WILL he do? Third black ship, and what's his alien touched Tobias' head and did/conveyed Something Oh cool construction equipment just pfffff'd out because a giant battleaxe ship with scimitar wings Was this ship designed by the Hork-Bajir, who have blades on their wrists elbows knees and tails, and t-rex feet and falcon-beaked snake heads with three horns. Who are good people but all (?) controlled Taxxons are Big centipedes with lobster claw hands, jello eyes, and a top mouth that's a pointy circle Again, I demand quick satisfaction as to the positive vibes they get from Andalite1 Ah Visser Three is a controller of an Andaltie. Who was that Andalite? Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul is a mouthful So if he takes over enough places, Visser will become One. Who's the current One? Oh cool we're being targeted because we're over-populated compared to other species Humans behind the Visser? Is it ya'll? Please be ya'll I love me time-travel angst Now V3 is a big Monster and we're blowing up ships and I know this is a construction site but where is anyone else? Aw Jake you wanted to help. That's dumb but aw Death count: 1 Are Taxxons the ever-hungry aliens I've heard about? Or do the Yeerks just think it's fun to eat a dead guy? Oh cool those were Human Controllers and Jake seems to know one. I assume it's big bro? Most people are crying and Macro pukes I HEAR THAT FRIENDS Split up? Jinkies Rachel knows bad words. WHAT ARE THE WORDS K.A.APPLEGATE. TELL ME THE FORBIDDEN LANGUAGE (I assume Son of a Bitch from context but shout out to Rachel if it's Fucker) They can kind of speak English? Ghafrash? Hobo man: maybe dead? Probably dead Jake's strongest real memory is of aliens smiling at him. Get it boy-you're a child get nothing please So you're not close with Tobias, but you know he has a cat named Dude. Also: Cat is named Dude I love it BTW Jake, noticing another dude is Glowing? ;) Oh dang so Tobias doesn't know his Dad, Mom just left him around ten, and we're on a coast, with his aunt living on the other because his uncle is on this one How long does it take to morph? This sounds like a concerning amount of time Multiple minutes. Alright. Nightmareish. Side note: semi-crouching warped human with long butt and stubbed feet stage of morphing in the corner here Watching someone morph into a cat is giggle inducing. I will cherish these times won't I Telepathy is a good, easy answer to lots of questions about weird powers and communication Two year old string in a messy room. Boy Ha naked. Also the cat instincts mean ...oh dear this is gonna cause problems Why does Tobias get to decide Jake is the leader also why Jake? Not why like bleh why him but plot-wise something is the pre-meditated choice Homer the dog. You watch The Simpsons boy? Taking the dna puts the animal in a trance and it doesn't hurt to morph Bones feel like they should hurt yeah that sounds right Scrapping sounds are wonderful Right you're not just A Dog you're The Dog you took from Awww you're not a bad dog Jake. And Tobias is a good kid. And damn it I did not want to right about the brother. Cassie has a farm and big brother Tom is in a club called the Sharing He's obviously a Controller, but also "It's just sports" I'm pro-anti-sports but anti-cult clubs UGH WE HAVE TO RECYCLE Jake pls Wildlife rehabilitation. Convenient to touch wild animals also a cow Plus zoo mom so let's all be giraffes Dang kids with their fireworks, taking over humanity and making cops somehow worse Marco is scared and picky and right poor kid Who also has reasons? Tell me more Mom body was never found, Dad can't be around people. Ouch Cassie is not only cool enough to have clothes, but can control the morph enough to play centaur "We want them real bad" jesus yeerk cop, tone it down will ya? Hey you look like your brother- come to our yeerk cult Help endangered species? You mean like *eyebrow waggle* Is Tobias/Rachel a thing? CD game we were going to play on my computer. Wow Hey not-Tom, why would these kids have read anything in a newspaper? Wow this is shamelessly manipulative and creepy and thanks Applegate for teaching kids to be reasonably creeper out by overly forceful and manipulative folks Jake honey Marco is right please stop living in denial Let's remind Tobias, who is already a hawk, about the time limit Feathers made of wax. This boy is going to fly too long in the sun And then he was naked because boys don't care about that too much I guess?  So as long as the DNA isn't bad for any reason, the state of the animal doesn't matter. What about dead animals? Let Tobias be superman. Poor kid Yeerk pools have Kandrona rays, and Yeerks have to go back into a pool every three days. Yeerk home sun particles Protect this child who can't fight for himself but will fight for the world Time to infiltrate I guess? Gotta sneak into this night volleyball game They live near a beach I suspect this is Cali, like all kid lit about young teens unless it's from the UK Can you grab a morph from a friend if they've changed into a whatever? Kids and Adults? Smidge weird Poor actual Tom trying to protect Jake They Would notice a horse wouldn't they? Tobias hun no please don't make excuses I know being human sucks but come on Oh course the Assistant Principal is a big bad Convert or kill. Yeesh Evil cops also Cassie being Black makes vague threats uhhh worse Let Jake be a dog! Ok but just pet all the animals? Lizard yes but deer? Wolf? Buzzards? Wildcat? I just climbed into my locker all cool like playing it chill because everyone climbs into lockers all the time This is a very small lizard The animal brains being way more in control is fucked up Cool so you just almost was stepped on, lost a body part, and have a still semi-alive spider inside your body after having seen an alien be eaten and knowing your brother is alive but controlled and may be sent to kill you. For kids! And of course the brain slug pool is under the school Do ya'll remember that Nick show about the bully who like, was about to die or was cursed, and he was a dog and only one kid could hear him and no one remembered him and he had to do a bunch of good stuff to be human again? Locking children into animal forms is a special kind of 90's torture I think Rachel/Tobias is a hard thing and good because someone needs to love this kid my word I appreciate Marco though. Hey shit head this is a dumb plan but you're my best friend so I'm in or what fucking ever. Asshole I liked Cassie's little speech about Mother Earth Marco named the band. Marco is a good shit, but what does it even mean that Jake's always been a Lizard? Are you calling him cold-blooded? Flaky? A bug eater? No family guest passes for the zoo? I don't know what Bush Gardens are but is this that? Roller Coasters and Monkeys Big Jim the gentle gorilla. Also bless Jake for riling Marco up Let's drive! hits wall Go right says Jake. Marco goes left You had a chance at a rhino Marco has a dark and tanned face Male siberian tiger. I assume if you turn into THAT animal, you can be a boy turning into a girl hyena or a girl becoming a boy turtle right? He's majestic and doesn't seem like he cares about you as long as you don't run Lol ya'll almost died from a tiger? Sure you did Jake's mom is a writer who is opposed to any TV but her own. Dad is a jokester. Is it Jake's mom who dies? I know a mom dies Dad is a doctor Cassie where are you did you get home from the zoo are you okay? Okay Rachel and Tobias are just a thing already ok. Oh cool the cop has Cassie I fear for her We are Controllers. We are here to... Kandrona, Please give us the girl for... evil? Great plan If you're so advanced, why don't you have elevators- me at Akio So large underground city, small pool, cages 10 people per, aliens, construction equipment Can Tobias communicate with Cassie from where they are? Yeahhhh people volunteering to be controlled by evil alien slugs sounds sadly right. And hey, you get to watch TV Poor Tom. And Rachel is ready to fuck shit up. One alien of each two kinds dead, and a human controller flung somewhere to maybe live? Elephant and Tiger time And Marco is a gorilla Later you would think about this moment WHY WHAT'S ABOUT TO HAPPEN TOM'S FREE AND WE'RE SAVING CASSIE RIGHT? Can horses stairs? V3 thinks they're Andalites. Ouch. Also where's Ax? 8 legs and 8 arms with 3 fingered claws, and 8 heads, tall as a tree. Vriska's aliensona Oh good and it shoots fireballs from its mouth Mouths Jesus Marco just twisted a guy in half and his guts spilled out. Alien guy but still Gotta love half morphed elephant ladies with shriveled trunk faces Something happened to the cop, and Cassie won't say what. Hum Tom is captured again. But you all saves One (1) human woman. It's a fucking start kids. And Tobias done fucked up. Wonderful. End Book #1. 

Oh cool now I can finally start listening to Morph Club, an Animorph pocast by some cool kids

[save-the-cronch]

Demigod AU

this actually sucks

I really hate it

and I’m sorry

Running had always been one of Connor’s favorite pass times. However, lately Connor realized that running from harm is much less exhilarating. Why was Connor running exactly? Well, recently Connor had found out why his dad had always seemed to resent him so much. It turns out that Connor’s dad, Larry was tricked by a Greek Goddess into thinking that she was his wife. Then, nine months later, Larry found Connor on his doorstep. Larry wanted to toss Connor, his new born baby, into an orphanage. Cynthia, however, begged to keep Connor. She knew that Connor wasn’t hers, but Larry had already told Cynthia what had happened. She wanted to raise Connor as her own, and she hates the thought of her husband just abandoning his child.

Connor still doesn’t know who his mother is. He’s not even sure he wants to know. All he knows about her is that she’s a Greek Goddess, and she can make herself look like his mom. Step mom? Connor isn’t sure anymore.

Currently, Connor was running from a serpent like animal. Thankfully, Connor wasn’t alone. He was with two other people, both students from his grade, both people he could tolerate. One of them was a boy named Evan Hansen, he seemed to be very anxious about a lot of things. Connor always saw him eating lunch under a big oak tree at their school. The other, was a girl named Alana Beck, she had gone to school with Connor and Evan since seventh grade, extremely smart. Alana had apparently been sent to watch over them during the school year. She told them that she was a daughter of Athena, no shock there, and was suppose to take them to some sort of camp if anything bad happened. Well, three days ago, a cyclops had stumbled upon their town, and nearly destroyed the mall, which Connor, Evan, and Alana all happened to be in. Connor was picking his sister up from a movie, Evan was working, and Alana was at the movie with Zoe, Connor’s sister. Alana instantly sprung into action, she had a dagger hidden in the soles of each shoe. Luckily the cyclops was a baby, and Alana was able to kill it with only getting a few scratches and a sprained wrist. Evan had been worried, but Alana stated that nectar and ambrosia would fix that. Connor had never heard of such medicine, and it turns out they weren’t medicine. Nectar was a drink, and ambrosia looked a lot like lemon bars.

“Gods! If we could just stop running, I could grab my daggers and kill the bitch!” Alana yells. Connor has also learned that Alana doesn’t swear, unless she’s angry or in combat mode. “Boys, cover for me, I need my fucking daggers.”

Evan and Connor both halt and stare at each other, watching as the serpent closes in on them. Evan seems to get an idea, as he closes his eyes, and screws up his face. Connor watches in awe as a nearby tree’s branches extend and wrap around the serpent. The animal thrashes and snaps at the branch. Alana then looks up, and is glad to see that one of the boys has a power, and a handy one at that. Alana believes she’s with a son of Demeter, but you can never be sure until you’re claimed.

Alana leaped forward and dug one dagger into the beast’s chest, and the other in the head. The serpent thrashes once more, then slumps. Two seconds later, Alana is covered in golden monster dust, and Connor is clapping. “Well done you two, glad to know I don’t have to run anymore, how much longer until we get to this camp place?”

“After three days of buses and walking, Camp Half-Blood is about a thirty minute hike from here. Once we’re there, we’re safe. Come on, just cause the serpent is gone, doesn’t mean we can’t still get attacked.” Alana places the daggers back into her shoes, and continues to walk.

“Y-you mean we, uh, we can st-still get attacked?” Evan stutters out, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. At the beginning of all this, Evan had had a cast. Alana had given him ambrosia and nectar, and then cut the cast clean off with her blades. Evan had said his arm had never felt better.

“When a demigod is not in Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter, they’re never one hundred percent safe,” Alana informs the two boys that were walking behind her.

“What’s Camp Jupiter?” Connor asks.

“The Roman demigod camp, we’re going to the greek camp. We’ve found away to know if you’re Roman or Greek, and recently we found a way to know if your parent is from a different god.”

“Wait, there’s more than just the Greeks? Are you kidding?” Connor  is shocked, but also a bit confused. So if there are multiple sea gods, do they like each live in a certain area, or do they switch out from time to time?

“Yes, there is Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Norse, and probably many more, but those are the ones that we know about.”

“We, a-as in C-camp Half-Bl-blood?”

Alana nods her head in clarification. “A couple years ago, a demigod named Percy Jackson got the Greek and Roman gods to promise that they will claim any of their kids when they walk into camp, and so, if none of the gods claim a kid, Hermes comes in and is able to recognize which set of gods the kids godly parent is from. Because of this, the Hermes cabin isn’t over populated anymore, which his children greatly appreciate.”

They walk along in silence after that, Alana leading the way, and Evan and Connor take in the new information.

Ten minutes later, they arrive next to a giant pine tree, with a golden fleece on a branch, and a dragon sleeping at the base. Once the trio is next to the tree, the dragon springs up, snorting at us. Once it sees Alana, the dragon smiles, or does the closest thing to a smile a dragon can do, and lays back down to sleep.

The three march forward, and at the top of the hill, Connor and Evan stop, staring down at the field below.

In the middle, there were a bunch of cabins, all seemed to be designed differently. One was blue, no windows except for the wall facing the lake, one was red with barbed wire everywhere. One of them was glowing in the sun. Two of them were pitch black, the main differences would be that one had what seemed to be a wheel above the door, and the other was surrounded by dead grass. Connor noticed that Evan kept staring at the green one with a garden on the roof.

There also seemed to be a rock wall with lava rocks falling from the top. There was a stable and two girls were grooming a horse with wings. There was an arena, where sounds of metal on metal could be heard. There was so much to look at, Connor wasn’t sure what he liked most.

“Come on, I gotta bring you to the Big House so I can then checkin with Annabeth. She’s my sister, and head councilor.” Alana begins to walk down the hill, waving for the two boys to follow. Alana leads them down the hill to a big blue building, where a man drinking a Pepsi is playing a game with another man in a wheel chair.

“Chiron, Mr. D, I have the two demigods I was sent to look after,” Alana informs the two men, as she walks up the steps to the building.

“Ah, Ainsley, well done,” The man with the Pepsi says. The other man in a wheel chair smiles kindly, and moves his hands on top of therm rests, and pushes himself. Connor and Evan watch in shock and amazement as the man’s lower body turns into that of a horses.

“Thank you, Alana,” The horse man says, “Will you please go and find Will Solace, he was assigned for the camp introduction for these two.”

Alana nods, and runs inside the blue building.

“I’m Chiron, and this is Mr. D, more commonly known as Dionysus, we are your camp directors.”

“W-wait, Chiron? And Di-dionysus? L-like the centaur trainer Ch-chiron, and the g-god of wi-wine Dionysus?” Evan asks, amazed. Connor is more amazed by the fact Evan knows this stuff.

Chiron smiles, “Yes, that would be us.”

Mr. D grumbles from his chair, sipping his Pepsi.

“Now, which one of you is Connor, and which one is Evan?” Chiron asks, placing his hands on his hips.

“I’m Connor, that’s Evan.” Connor jabs his finger towards Evan, and leans up against the Blue Building’s porch.

“Are these the new campers Chiron?” Another boy emerges from the Blue Building, Alana behind him. He has a mop of curly blond hair, and hundreds of freckles scattered across his face. He has a surfer’s tan, and bright blue eyes. He’s wearing an orange shirt that says ‘Camp Half-Blood’, khaki pants, and blue flip-flops, with a doctors coat over his clothes, and a stethoscope around his neck. His neck also holds a necklace with beads of different designs on it. “I’m Will Solace, head counselor for the Apollo Cabin, and head of the infirmary.”

“I’m Connor Murphy.” Connor ignores Will’s out stretched hand.

“I-I’m Evan Ha-hansen.” Evan shakes Will’s hand, not looking away from the ground.

“Alright, I’ll show you around camp, then I’ll show you the video. Where we are right now is the Big House, it’s where the counselors have meetings, where we put quest artifacts, where the infirmary is, and where Mr. D and Chiron live” Will continues to show them around everywhere, having done this a few times. While walking around camp, Will introduced Evan and Connor to a few people. The first person they saw was someone named  Leo Valdez, he was carrying a lot of metal. Apparently he is a son of Hephaestus. Then they met Annabeth and Percy, Annabeth is a daughter of Athena, and her boyfriend, Percy, is the son of Poseidon. They then ran into Connor and Travis Stoll and Katie and Miranda Gardner. The Stolls are sons of Hermes, and the Gardeners are daughters of Demeter. Finally, they met Nico Di Angelo. He’s the son of Hades, and Will’s boyfriend. Nico accompanied them to the camp intro video.

After they were done with watching the video, Will takes them to the pavilion for dinner. Pretty much the whole camp is there already. Once we pass the front entrance, a the grass at the base of the steps spring up and wrap themselves around Evan’s legs. Then a glowing symbol appeared above his head, as if a glowing vine was growing from his head. Everyone looked up at Evan, and Katie Gardner from earlier, run up to the boys.

“Oh good, you defiantly seemed like a Demeter kid, come on you can sit with us.” With that, Katie grabbed a frightened Evan by his wrist and dragged him to his new siblings. Connor sighs, he was alone again. He continued on to the food line, and once he was about to dump some of my food into the fire as Alana just told him to, some sort of sacrifice for the Gods or whatever, a sudden warm feeling over came him, and he looks up to see a broken wheel glowing darkly above him.

“Awesome, welcome to the Nemesis cabin.” Those words were spoken by a kid with ear length dark brown hair, he was leaning on his table and staring at Connor. “well, come on, you’ve got some new siblings to mingle with.” The kid beckons Connor over. Once Connor is done at the fire, he waltz over to his new ‘siblings.’

Through out the entire meal, they try to talk to Connor, but he mainly ignores it. Instead he decides to stare at the Demeter table where Evan actually seems to be getting along with his siblings. Connor wishes he wasn’t so closed off. But hey, what is he gonna do?

For the rest of the summer, Connor, Evan, and Alana all stay at Camp Half Blood. Evan and Connor both adjusted rather quickly. Connor learns he’s happier without is dad around, and Evan figures out that his siblings are really calming and caring. They both learn that they defiantly love it at camp. Connor wants to stay year round, his father makes him come back for school. Evan doesn’t mind going back home for school, he misses his mom to much while he’s gone. But now, because of camp he has two new friends at school, and many new friends at camp.

For once in their lives, both boys are very happy.

Ugh, I’m a horrible writer and I wish this had a different ending.

[deck16]

Guild Wars 2 Retrospective

I've played a number of MMOs over the years. Guild Wars 2 is my favourite, and it occupies a place in my memories like a favourite book or movie. And so, I want to write down my thoughts about it.

I don't think I'm finished with the game yet. As I write, the Icebrood Saga is soon to be launched. Even ignoring future content there's so much current content I want to do.

That said, now's a good time to write down my thoughts. I finished Living World Season 4 not too long ago and it had a certain finality that made me want to pause and reflect.

This is going to be long. And it's going to be a lot of opinion. There's going to be a lot of praise, but if I praise Guild Wars 2 for something don't take that to imply that only GW2 does that thing, or that GW2 does it best.

Soundtrack

Have a listen while you read this.

The earlier stuff by Jeremy Soule is different to what came later, in expansions and such, but not incongruous. It's all good.

Music is one of those strange and strong memory triggers, like smell. There are some refrains from the soundtrack that bring back memories. I remember listening to the soundtrack when the game was released to help get through a particularly un-fun and short-lived job. Some tracks bring back memories of playing with friends. Or just exploring Tyria on my own.

Money

Ars Gratia Artis

How does one make money off a product, like a game?

Make it worth buying.

(Other.)

Option 2 includes things like psychological tricks, and planned obsolescence with yearly releases.

I can't say GW2 never indulges in Option 2. But I feel it mostly goes for Option 1.

Pictured: ArenaNet offices after releasing the black wings cosmetic.

Subscription Model

Guild Wars 2, like its predecessor, never demanded a subscription.

This earns a massive amount of respect from me. Many MMOs charge subscriptions while they're new, raking in some easy money while they've got hype. I think GW2 could've done that. That ArenaNet chose not to is laudable.

Money Store

GW2 does, I'm sure, rake in extra money from expansion packs and cosmetics. The former is very understandable. The latter can be dangerous in greedy hands.

You can buy a lot of tat with real money in GW2, it's true. It's even had a version of loot boxes from day one.

Thankfully the real-money stuff is largely cosmetic or convenience. I have bought a few items, but I do not feel a second-class citizen for not buying more. Indeed, I roll my eyes at the bizarre characters decked out in effulgent tat. If they want to support the game I enjoy to look like rejects from a bad anime, more power to them. I rather more a normal appearance, and there's plenty of options to get that by playing, not paying.

Exhibits A through D: Effulgent Tat

Maybe I'm a sentimental idiot, but GW2's soft-sell approach has made me sympathetic. When GW2 developers were laid off due to a "financial squeeze" I went and bought some gems. I feel they deserve it. Not like other companies who lay off staff when money abounds, just so they can cut costs.

You will see adverts for money-store items here and there, such as the login screen. But, crucially, it never interrupts your game with teasing messages along the lines of "if you buy XYZ, you can skip this".

There's also the daily log-in rewards and the character birthday rewards. These give a nice mix of the cheaper money-store conveniences and also grant access to things you can't even buy.

Explorable

Something that struck me very early about GW2 was the extent you can just wander around to level.

Progress by Wanderlust

See an interesting land-mark? Go wander over, you'll probably run into some quests. Cross paths with an event? Join right on in and help out. Harvest resources as you go. Kill monsters off the beaten track for extra experience.

There are other things to find to reward exploration. Mini-dungeons, mini-bosses, chests of loot, and even just really pretty locations. It feels really good when you say "what's over there?" and you actually discover something that's totally supplemental but also totally interesting.

One of the earlier off-the-beaten-track finds I made. A bandit's cabbage farm. Handy if you're into cooking.

Early on, I loved wandering to level. It made the grind of levelling feel more like exploration, like I was playing Morrowind or Skyrim, rather than an MMO.

Even now, years on, there are zones I haven't explored. I took the direct path through Living World Season 4's zones, and now I'm contently going back and exploring them top to tail. Nowadays I don't wander quite so randomly. I use the map markers to guide me, but I still have plenty of "what's that?" or "what's over there?" moments. I'm still finding stuff.

NPC Chatter

NPCs across Tyria talk to each other. A lot. It's all fully voice-acted and often interesting or funny as well.

I am still surprised when I stop somewhere quite isolated to clean out my inventory or fiddle with my traits and some NPCs strike up a conversation. It must be very tempting to cut costs by not having the random Inquest NPC in corridor A chat about his research with the other Inquest NPC.

A small thing, but it does make exploring that little bit more rewarding.

Not a great example for funny-factor, but a good example for isolation. To see these two hostile Inquest NPCs you'd first have to opt to do the Living World chapter their zone is in, then decide to explore beyond the story there, then happen down this particular corridor, and finally not kill them before they had a chance to talk.

Events and Meta Events

Events and meta events impressed me greatly as I discovered GW2.

Little Adventures

Early on, I was exploring Harathi Hinterlands, and I come across an event where Seraph NPCs (good guys) are defending against Centaur NPCs (bad guys). I help, the Seraph win. And then one of them announces they're moving on to their next objective.

I follow. Things escalate. About an hour later, we (NPCs, other players, and myself) have pushed into the Centaur base and are taking down their leader.

It made the world feel alive. Here was this war that was happening whether I was there or not. If I chose to pitch in rather than walk by, I would be treated to a little adventure: combat, loot, and a little story.

A limited-time event had players pursuing and then killing ley-energy people. I felt bad for the poor bastards, being chased by dozens of loot-crazed players. Not bad enough to not join in, though...

Putting the First M in MMO

Events are a reason for players to work together, in scales big and small.

On the small scale, it's always a relief to see some new players jump in and help you with a Champion when you're tackling it alone or in a small party. The shoe feels good on the other foot: it's fun to play the hero and jump in to help some scrappy players beat a champion they were struggling with.

On the big scale, maps like The Silverwastes and Dragon's Stand are dedicated to meta events. Groups of players must spontaneously split down multiple paths to achieve objectives in limited time. I've seen these fail often enough to know success isn't guaranteed.

Play with Friends

Despite the acronym, it's not easy to play with friends in every MMO. Here's a hypothetical exchange:

"Hey, you want to play that MMO?"

"Sure! It's more fun to play with friends."

"Okay! I'm on the Black Mountains server."

"Oh. I'm on the Dusty Gorge server."

"That's alright. I'll make a character on Dusty Gorge."

"Great! Where shall we meet?"

"Well I'm only level 1 on this server, so it will have to be a starter zone."

"Oh. The lowest character I have is level 20. So... I'll just one-shot everything, and I'll get no XP and useless loot."

"Ah. Well... I guess I'll get to level 20 and let you know? So, we can probably play in a week or so?"

"...Okay."

These problems do not happen in GW2 with the megaserver system and dynamic level adjustment.

When the game came out a group of friends and I quested through several zones together. This is us in the charr starting area.

(I don't want to pretend dynamic level adjustment is perfect. Because if you take your Ascended-item max-level elite-specialised hero to a starter PvE zone you are going to be more powerful than a new level 1 character. Not quite to the point of absurdness, but not far from it either.)

Any barrier that makes it hard to play with friends in an MMO is idiotic. I am very glad GW2 started with low barriers, and only made them lower over time.

A Better Grind

There's grinding in GW2. How could there not be, in a modern MMO?

I have seen people in GW2 doing what I consider painful, repetitive grinding. Armies running laps in the Edge of the Mists. Heroes repeatedly doing Fractals. Massive groups teleporting from one world boss to another on a clockwork schedule.

If people want to do that, more power to them. None of that is necessary, though. It's for bragging rights or as a faster alternative to levelling.

Look at the relative stats for item rarity. For a fresh level 80 character Rare equipment is trivial to get, and Exotic is very doable. This equipment is not that far behind the very best. Certainly the gap is much, much less than most other MMOs. And it doesn't go obsolete over time as new content is added... mostly.

Mounts are more than just a "go faster" convenience in GW2. They complement the exploration side of the game, with each able to run, jump, or glide differently. They have weight and inertia and are fun to drive. The optional, later-game mounts require some grinding to get; thankfully they are account-wide unlocks.

Is there any grinding required to just experience the game? The answer is "yes", but I think GW2 has taken the harsh edges off it.

If you enjoy grinding, is it really grinding? GW2 lets you enjoy grinding in two ways:

No Repetition

Get something once, and you don't have to do it again. That's good, because something only becomes repetitive if you have to do it more than once!

Very many things are account-bound. Progress can be made on any character. And once you unlock it, you have it on all characters.

Even something like levelling, which is not account-bound, doesn't have to be repeated. Level-boosting items are handed out as you play or as birthday gifts. All free; not paid-for. And handed out generously: I have enough to get about a half-dozen characters to maximum level. Even if you don't have quite as many as I do they will still speed up the levelling process.

Grinding by Playing

Many things you grind for can be earned doing a variety of things in a variety of places. This has the happy side-effect of making grinding goals come with just playing.

Suppose a friend newly joins GW2, and I'm tempted to join them in the low-level non-expansion zone. I won't be "wasting time" as I'll be earning masteries, gold and other currencies and crafting materials.

Photo-bombed by a hunter pet. Look at that smug expression on its face...

Combat Mechanics

GW2 combat feels pretty satisfying and fluid to me. I don't want to hold GW2's combat up as exemplary, because it isn't. Other MMOs do similar things; in many cases better.

But I like GW2 combat well enough. Here's why:

Movement. Many attacks can be avoided by moving away. In any half-way hectic combat you're constantly on the move, either to avoid enemy attacks or to better position your own. Having a dedicated dodge move adds to the experience.

Action Camera. Not everyone likes the action camera, but I love it. I can control the game like a shooter, not like some modded real-time strategy game.

Elegant Rules. Over time, MMO rules systems often turn into incomprehensible messses that no-one understands. Or they start out that way. GW2's rules are pretty complicated but it keeps things mostly comprehensible with a kind-of status-effect middleware that relies on common effects like boons and conditions. The programmer in me finds it quite genius and, frankly, elegant.

Weak Holy Trinity

In GW2 the healer, DPS, tank divide is de-emphasised. Every class does a little of each.

Yes, you can emphasise one over another, and if you're doing difficult content you probably should. But no class is defined by their trinity-role. You want to be a tanky thief? Do it!

Healing is especially unique. In old-school MMOs, healing is just "reverse damage". You hit me for 20 damage? I'll heal me for 20 damage. In GW2 it's a bit more nuanced, usually revolving around regeneration or other slower effects. Someone chucking out healing skills is a life-saver (literally) not because they're un-doing chunks of damage but because they're increasing survivability.

Amateur Theorycrafting

When I was levelling up my thief I found she struggled with survivability. I paused to re-consider my tactics. I decided on a condition damage approach, and picked weapons and skills that would make my enemies bleed. Caltrops, shrapnel bombs, and double daggers!

It worked! The thief was still fragile, but she could stack enough bleeds to kill most things, even many things at once. The caltrops helped: tougher bad-guys would limp in pursuit, bleeding to death.

My post-hoc re-enactment of that bleed build.

Apparently it wasn't an optimal choice: theorycrafters would pick other configurations. That's unavoidable. There is always a meta in any game made by mortals.

Yet I was pleased I had "figured it out" on my own, just by playing and experimenting. I didn't need an internet guide to survive. And even if it wasn't the best choice, it still worked well enough.

Having done the same on a few classes since then I feel GW2 is a game where you can tinker and customise and come up with things that work.

My current warrior setup tries to be tanky in a few ways; one of which is by combining For Great Justice with Might Makes Right. I doubt it's a "top meta" build but it seems to work well enough.

Rotationless

I hate rotations in MMOs. I get they're inevitable to some extent, but I loathe MMOs that embrace and build upon it as if it's a positive thing.

Well, let me back away from that a mote. I hate it when they do that and it's not opt-in. If people want to do it for some unique style or to get a few extra percentage points of damage, I don't mind.

I don't want to think about internal timers and priorities when I play. Those things are artificial. I want to think about the actual goings-on in combat. I want use Hundred Blades because I've moved into a position where I can strike mulitiple foes; not because a I've randomly proced a buff that enables or enhances it.

This is why Berserker Warrior is my favourite class in GW2. I can play it in a brain-dead way. The "auto attack" skill, plus one or two others, is all I need in a stand-up slugfest. Everything else is to respond to a situation: to move, to heal, to break, to push.

There are classes and specialisations in GW2 that do require something of a rotation. That's fine. I won't play 'em but I've no problem if others want to!

PvP and End-Game

I've not done much PvP stuff or fractals or raids. So I can't talk much about that. I wish I had tried these things, but such are the laments of a casual player with limited time.

I really love GW2's approach to remove gear and level restrictions in all PvP. It's great you can buy the game, log in, and play PvP or WvW on a mostly level playing field.

I also love the concept of World vs World. Both as a mode of competition and the way it allows for a variety of activities like soldiering, skirmishing, scouting, siege-engining and supply-hauling. You can even just potter around the WvW zone doing vistas or harvesting resources if you want to.

Some people will complain GW2 doesn't have enough end-game. They're probably right, in a sense: there are better MMOs out there for their needs. As a casual player, I'm largely happy with the balance GW2 had decided to strike.

A World to Escape To

Tyria is a welcoming fantasy world. Like a digital Narnia or Neverland it is a place to escape to. It's comforting to be there.

Of course escapism is part of many works of fiction. On the other hand, it's not something every work of fiction ought do.

If you're going to do escapism, do it well. GW2, I think, does it well.

Scenic

Tyria is a beautiful place. It was in Guild Wars 1. It still is.

The designers have a real knack for displaying awesome, yet realistic, environments. There are stunning settings in all manner of environments. Just look at the screenshots I’ve peppered about.

They especially do nature well. Some of the forests, with dappled lighting and weather effects, are gorgeous.

This isn't just a matter of graphics, or even art. It's a sense of moderation: it's knowing that if everything is epic, nothing is.

They know they rock the scenery. Why else would they make pretty views a big part of the game?

Race Realism

MMOs often have a problem where non-human races are... well... quite human. Sometimes in very silly ways.

Not so GW2. I love the charr. A "cat people" race that aren't humans with cat-ears and a tail. The charr are inhuman yet have animal traits that are familiar, from the loping all-fours run to the always-sniffing nose. They're well designed.

Charr posture though... All that weight bearing down on feet that don't have the benefit of heels? An awkwardly forward centre of gravity? They've got to be sore by the end of the day.

Pretty much all the races are done well, including monster bad-guy ones. There's a lot of detail put into GW2 creatures and it's a shame in a way that the nature of the game means we rarely get to see them up close and detailed.

Arguably GW2's weakest race, aesthetically, may be the humans, who all look like stock photography models.

After doing so well with the charr, I don't know what possessed them to give Rox ridiculously huge kitty-cat eyes.

Empowering

Thinking logically, Tyria really isn't a nice place. There are all sorts of problems, from local bandits to world-ending dragons.

Throw that logic out the window. What matters more than how many problems there are is how empowered you, I, or anyone is to solve these problems.

There's no problem in GW2 that can't be fixed. Bandits can be beaten up. Dragons can be defeated. Even racism can be fixed. (Yes, often violence is the only option, but that's action RPGs for you.)

There's a spirit of co-operation and capability that runs through GW2. You are not so much the mighty hero coming to save the helpless peasants. Rather you're mucking in with people already hard at work trying to fix things, be they grub-squashing farmers or dragon-killing soldiers. You just happen to be the tipping point they needed. Even in the story, when you're promoted to grand poobah, you're a pretty collaborative boss, tending to work with your comrades.

In GW2 hope trumps hopelessness. It's escapism. It's nice.

Story

GW2 has a number of stories you can embark on.

I have mixed feelings about GW2's story. Like most MMO stories, it isn't that great. I wouldn't suggest you get a bag of popcorn and watch all the cutscenes on YouTube.

But as far as MMO stories go, it's probably better than most. It certainly has its ups and downs. Yet in those better moments it can be quite enthralling. Living World Season 4 -- the most recent story section at the time of writing -- kept me interested and even tugged a little at my heart-strings.

Like a soap opera, the GW2 story makes up in quantity what it lacks in quality. Over time -- years and years, remember -- you get to know and love the world and the characters. And it's doubly engaging because you are one of the characters.

Characters

The best thing about GW2's story are the characters, especially in later content. Characters who are essentially RPG tropes are given personality by competent writing and voice acting. Canach's dry sense of humour always amused me, as did Taimi's energetic voice acting.

This is a well-calculated expenditure of effort. Good characters can make talking heads engaging. Bad characters can't be saved even by multi-million dollar effects budgets.

A cool little scene at the end of the Personal Story has your character striding alongside the members of Destiny's Edge.

War and Isolation

Many people don't like Orr, the final zone in the base game. I do.

As per the story, it's a warzone. And you can see it. It's like the D-Day landings over there. Scouts, transports, war machines; everywhere you go the Pact are battling the undead. There are no heart quests there, just dynamic events; and I think that reflects the epic goings-on quite well.

Likewise, a zone like Mount Maelstrom is meant to be a wild place far from civilisation. And it feels like it. There are people (someone's got to give quests) but they're either explorers, exiles, or strange native creatures.

These may seem like rather pedestrian observations. I bring them up because many MMOs get this stuff wrong. Epic war zones have maybe a few dozen NPCs battling but otherwise seem unaffected. Far-flung regions have just as many towns as the heart of civilisation.

Getting this stuff right provides a sense of place, and of progress (level-wise and story-wise).

Living World

I enjoy GW2's Living World episodic content. From a story and setting perspective it gives the world a sense of history and progression.

From a gameplay perspective it adds new content... and often a lot of content. Whole new zones are added. I have especially enjoyed Season 4's zones, which feel as richly developed as the normal zones.

Style and Polish

People often talk about Blizzard games in terms of polish (even Blizzard do). I feel GW2 has a certain level of similar polish. (Whether that's still true for Blizzard games is another matter.)

The art style is gorgeous and consistently applied from the grand stuff like character creation screens and loading art, right down to little touches on the UI. This consistency isn't exactly a key selling point but it does speak to a certain craftsmanship.

When you jump in the water, the lower part of your HUD gets "splashed" with drops in GW2's signature "inkbrush style". It's part of the transition animation from land to water skills. A tiny touch that is illustrative of GW2's attention to detail and consistency in style.

Wiki

Similar quality can be seen in the official GW2 Wiki which is informative, tidy and (as far as I've seen) complete. It's good to be able to look with confidence at a definitive source rather than look over a handful of fan MMOs trying to sort fact from speculation.

Conclusion

So... I like Guild Wars 2.

It's been the perfect MMO for a casual player like me. It respects my wallet. It respects my time. It offers variety, solid gameplay, and a comforting world to visit. It seems to have been made with real love.

Thank you to the people who made it. You should take pride in the countless hours of entertainment and joy you've given to me and so many other players across the world.

If you've stumbled across this and are thinking of playing, know that GW2 can be played for free. Why not give it a go?

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

things i have said today pt2

-get hit by a car, itll solve all your problems -just be a stripper and pretend youre eighteen, they don’t have to know -russia is in euraaaaaaaaaasia -centaurs are just mammal squared -things that i dont like are just evil -if finland wins the eurovision this year, im flying over for it next year. i dont need a hotel, i can just sleep outside -according to my teacher, nothings rude in spain if you do it with a smile so i have a new future career, polite smiling murderer -your mother is now the alpha, she killed all the other mothers -just tell her you’re being murderered, shell answer -to be or to not to to be -imagine a battle between two armies, one with pencils and the other with sharpeners and youre just trying to not have your pencil sharpenered -yeah but serial killer jesus -oh perfume, not serial killer wolf stuff -delete snapchat and appreciate the outside world, appreciate dog shit -im homealome -can we make a gay dating show called homolome where you work as a telephone operator and you phone up gay people and set them up -theyd commit all the sins to kill us -i promise im not mexican -how do i say ‘my aunt used to make blood sandwiches’ in spanish -do i look like a vampire to you? -i promise im not a mexican vampire -just marry her in vegas, nowhere but vegas - can i marry pointe shoes? i need to make a good impression of school reunions -stop cheating on me with my phone and your phone -i dont know why i had to write a formal apology, i didnt push her into the stream -ah yes, the word ‘and’ means theres life after death -everyone knows having your throat slit is just like being tickled -run for your pizza sam, run for it -*quieter* run for your pizza nathan, run for it -i dont want her to die, i just want her to be too ill to work for a while -always stab with a smile -maybe shell be there so i can have an actual friend and not a sad rectangle -no not my gay warlock boy -is it a crime to order dominoes without permission -i can be one of those backing dancers that doesnt move -i love him so much, hes now my child -remember those ukranian tin foil arm waving stars