#also this is how announce that I got my pc back a few days back with all its files intact :D

[brainworms-all-night-long]

Prime arcane art dump of which two pieces I will never even begin to finish

[anormalweirdo]

Part two of my YouTuber!Itadori X reader. If you missed part one it's right here. I hope you all enjoy my new series and if you have anything you want me to write about feel free to ask 😄. I know there's most likely errors and mistakes and I'm sorry bout that. I was just rushing to put this out, especially considering it's been almost a week since the first post came out. Once again I hope you all enjoy my series💙.

You honestly still couldn't believe that you even got a response from the gaming YouTuber himself. You guys have finally contacted each other to plan out a couple of days where you're both free to meet up to record your videos for you separate channels. You two decided not to tell your fans about anything, if anything you chose to trick your fans into believing that he never responded to you. Considering that Itadori did get comments about you and the whole collab which eventually caused him to just turn his comments off completely. Many people were left confused to say the least when you posted a tweet saying "it's finally the day, stay tuned bad bitches‼️".

"Alright you ready to start this shit" you ask while adding your finishing touches to your gaming setup. "Of course I'm so ready to beat your ass" Yuji says while smirking. You press start on your live and watch as people start to join. "Sup bad bitches guess who I'm with today" you say as you grab Yuji's arm and put him more into the camera. "It's yujiiii" you yell. "The people in the comments already excited" yuji says while reading some of em." Yea they've been waiting for this for a lil minute". You sit down in your chair all ge way and put your headphones on while you see yuji staring at you through the camera. "What are you looking at" you say in curiosity. "You" "um why?" "I can't look at you?" He asked while laughing. "No don't be weird now that we finna play this game" "yea yea whatever just prepare to take yo L". "You never showed me how to play this game, so if I lose its your fault" you say annoyed. "You never asked me how to play. I would've been showed you." Itadori says while shrugging his shoulders. You roll your eyes and turn your attention to some of the people in your comments. "Itadori someone asked 'is this why you turned off your comments'". "Oh yea you guys where flooding my comments over her and this collab, so I had to turn em off so I don't get thousands of notifications a day". He joins you and do some comment reading of his own when his eyes glance at one particular comment, which seem to have his attention. He ignores the comment for now, thinking it'll be a good time to announce it while y'all are playing. If his cards is played right it could be used as a distraction. "Alrighty let's get this shit started for real" you say while grabbing your controller. "Ready to lose" Itadori ask with a smirk. "Hell no" you say while smirking back.

...

Fast forward a few minutes and a couple of losing rounds you finally had Itadori in a losing situation. Just as you were about to make Itadori get his first L of the night he asked you a question. "One of.the comments said that you had a major crush on me. Is that true?" It was like the whole screen of your gaming PC went blank as your eyes grow wide and you mouth open. Itadori celebrates as "WINNER" is flashed on his screen. You quickly snap back into reality as you look at the "LOSER" on your screen, still a bit in shock. "That's no fair, you cheated to get that win" "we never said that simply asking a question to each other was cheating, but you didn't answer my question babe" he says while turning his attention to you. You're in even more shock, not only did he win the game, but he also asked you a crazy question, and he called you babe. You look back at him and simply shrug your question, trying to seem uninterested. "Yeah but it wasn't nothing major" "uh huh sureeee" Itadori says while laughing as you roll you eyes. "To y'all people watching this don't think nothing of this, it was just something slight" you say as you huff. "I want yall to make all the edits of us after this collab". You look at the comment section which were mostly filled of a both of comments like "I definitely ship" "y'all are literally perfect" and "please get together". You laugh at some of the comments, especially the ones in all caps. "You guys can't expect us to do anything, especially when we literally barely know each other. Maybe in a couple of weeks." You say laughing "so you do like me" Yuji says while looking into the camera. "Omg not no more, now you're just annoying" you say while getting out of you chair to use the bathroom. "Excuse me" "you're excused" "don't start this childish shit, scoot overrr" you say. "Say please and I'll let you move babe" "oh my fucking god please move" you say irritated. Itadori finally moves out the way, as your walking in front of him he watches you walk away. His eyes look at your ass as.your hips sway. He looks back into the camera and smirks to himself. "Y'all if we ever get together she owes me $20".

Once the live was almost over you announce one more game as Itadori left to get y'all something to drink. "What the hell are y'all talking about" you say as you read the comments about the deal Itadori made without your knowledge. "He didn't even tell me about any deals or anything" "maybe we should make a deal, but what's it about?" You ask. The comments were quick to tell which made you laugh. "Bet we'll make that a deal, but ain't no backing out". Itadori soon comes back into the room and gives a look when he sees you sitting in his chair. "Can you get up?" He ask. "Say please and I'll let you move babe" you say mocking him. "Can you please get up L/N" "hmmmmm no" "alright bet". You don't think nothing of it until you see his back facing you. You quickly lose your breath as he sits on your lap. "Get yo ass off of me" you struggle to say. "Hmmmmm no" he mocks. The people are saying our positions should be switched". Itadori says while laying on you, getting relaxed. "Get off" "if I get off you gotta get in my lap" "absolutely not" you say. "Alrighty then" he says while relaxing on you even more. "Ok ok damn nigga I can't breathe" you say annoyed. Itadori smiles as he gets up and looks at you. "Yo ass stink" you say as you get up and stretch. "That's not true y'all, she was just begging to eat my ass before the Livestream started". "The fuck?! No I didn't stop lying". You bent over a little bit to see some of the comments, which were filled with "get in his lap" and "sit on his lap". You tried to act like you couldn't see the comments until you heard Yuji behind you. "C'mon L/N we gotta keep the fans satisfied" he says while sitting down, manspreading in his chair. You roll of eyes and sit down stiffly on his lap. "Let's make this quick" you say while laughing, which made him chuckle. "Oh by the way I have a question before we end the lifestream" you say. "Yes?" "Did you make a bet with me without my knowledge?" You asked while. Turning you head to look at him. "Oh yeah I said that if we end up together you owe me $20" he says truthfully. "Well let's shake hands on it" you say as you put your hand out. "We got ourselves a deal L/N".

Hours after the Livestream was over you did your nightly routine and went to your bedroom. Yuji went to his hotel a couple hours after the stream. You're laying in bed scrolling through your phone when you seen a notification. It was a text message from Itadori, a TikTok video. You click on the notification which took you to the message, then you clicked on the link which took you to TikTok. You look at the video which started off with a dark screen. The screen flashes and you finally see why he sent you the video. It was an edit of you in his lap and you talking to him from the stream. You look wide eyed as you watched the video again. It was already edits being made! Part of you understood why, especially considering the tension that was made between you two. But the other part of you just couldn't believe how fast it was before anything came out. You thought it would've been at least a day before anything happened. You snapped out of your thoughts when you received another notification. You heart beats even faster as you read the notification. 'That's definitely going into my favorites. If stuff like this happened today imagine how it's gonna be tomorrow. Goodnight L/N~'.

I hope y'all enjoyed part two of the Gamer!Yuji Itadori, I literally started it once I seen the answers from the polls. I'll work on part three as soon as I can especially because I want to be consistent with this series. If you missed part one it's right here and stay in tune. Bye~

[killaura]

I was 14 when ioh came out. It was the first time I had ever anticipated an album release and held on to announcements and teasers like gospel. I was already a massive @falloutboy fan at the time, spending all my time on the fobrock forums and going on with my best friend about how we had to ‘get out of this town’ while sitting on the swings at the elementary school or in the grocery store parking lot. Classic. It was also a little gay. Classic. I’d babysit the neighbor’s kid in exchange for an order on the clandestine website because my parents didn’t own a credit card. I made fall out boy and associated bands my entire personality and all my weirdo friends were doing the same. I don’t know what the general public was feeling in anticipation to this album release but me and my friends were electric. We would comb through the q&a section looking for hints and it felt like the guys were talking directly to you, letting you know to be patient. The day this ain’t a scene dropped we knew ~something~ was coming and after refreshing the homepage a million times in my best friend’s basement on the family pc, the webpage changed. it turned ioh blue and there was a singular play button in the center of page. we screamed like only middle school girls can and listened to that song on repeat for hours, it felt like the most exciting day of our lives. my local CD store got in a 5 foot tall promotional poster for the album and I harassed them daily over the phone until the young 20something manager agreed to let me take it home when the displays changed. Once the album finally released I remember it more sombrely than the wait was. I was going through some typical teenage heartache at the time and would listen to golden on repeat looking up at those little glow in the dark stars on my bedroom ceiling. it was SO cliche, but it’s important and integral to the experience anyway. I wore that thing out. I stuck the little tarot cards on the wall next to my life size poster. I had no concept of limited edition, I just knew I needed to see them in front of my face all day, every day.

I did end up getting out of the aforementioned town, about ten years later to the major city I live in now and I made good on promises to my 14 year old self. I saw fall out boy for the first time in 2017 and I won’t even lie to you, that wrecked my shit. by the time they played saturday, I was a weeping mess, dragging the lyrics up from my guts and shouting it back at them. that night I messaged the golden repeat boy (now man) who broke my heart at 14 and told him about the concert. he messaged back very sweetly and indulged in a bit of nostalgia with me. (he also jumps into my dms every few months trying to fuck now, but I digress.)

I’m seeing fall out boy twice this coming summer, once in my (now home) city that saved my life and once in their home city. I’m sure there will be a whole new round of emotions to come up and dig through, but if I’m being honest, I love being a bitch with big feelings and I can’t wait.

Happy 16th, Infinity on High. Stay classy, baby.

[chorusfm]

Liner Notes (May 18th, 2024)

Buckle up—we have a lot to discuss this week. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here. If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here. A Few Things * One of the recent member-only episodes of the ATP podcast was all about “computer origin stories” or “first computer memories.” I’m roughly the same age as Casey and Marco and their core memories and histories mirrored mine quite a bit. And hearing them talk about their origin stories had me thinking about mine. My first memory of seeing a computer was in first grade when there was a computer in the elementary school library. Maybe an Apple IIGS? It was too long ago and I don’t know for sure. But a found family film makes it pretty clear I spent time with it. (Cool haircut first grade Jason.) I remember playing games like Carmen Sandiego. However, it wasn’t until middle school that my memories of using a computer start to solidify. I can remember vividly the computer labs at Twality Middle School. This is where I can remember my obsession beginning. At some point my parents bought a home computer for “the family.” It was a PC running DOS and Windows 3.1. Look, I’m very clearly old. I’m 41 and remember typing book reports on a typewriter before that computer. And this is when my obsession went into overdrive. I liked playing video games, what kid didn’t?, but I loved trying to figure out how all the software worked. I wanted to learn all the tips and tricks. I wanted to know how the system worked. Which meant I broke that computer. A lot. A lot a lot. I re-installed Windows on that thing from floppy disks more times than I can count. And this was where I first started playing around with Qbasic and did my first “programming.” My first memory of seeing the “internet” was at OMSI. My mom used to take my cousin and me there during summer vacation, and they had a computer lab. I remember downloading Simpsons WAV files and Dark Forces cheat codes, so this would have had to be around 1995, and I would have been around 14. At some point, breaking the family computer became a thing my parents got sick of, and my grandparents helped them purchase my own. Windows 95 and having my computer is where the already probably unhealthy technology obsession went supersonic. And this would be when I started playing around with HTML for the first time and soon after would begin writing what would turn into AbsolutePunk. That’s, best I can remember, my computing origin story. High school was primarily spent tinkering with PCs, installing various Linux distros, and using Windows throughout college. It wouldn’t be until around 2010 that I bought my first Mac. But, that’s probably a story for another time. * Anadivine was one of the hidden gems of the early 2000s scene, and they released a new 2024 remix/remaster of their album, Zoo_. It sounds great, and even if you never checked them out back in the day, it holds up all these years later. Also, if any labels read this and are interested in doing a limited vinyl pressing of the album, I can put you in contact with the band. Just let me know. * Aaron Mook, a contributor to AbsolutePunk and Chorus, has launched a GoFundMe to raise emergency medical funds for his cat. Please take a look if you’re able. In Case You Missed It * Review: Dua Lipa – Radical Optimism * Review: Keane – Hopes & Fears * Review: Broadway Calls – Coming After You * Review: Cold Years – A Different Life * Rise Against Announce New Tour * The Blood Brothers Announce Tour * Interview: Tony Lovato of Mest * The Used Announce B-Side Album * Alice Wallace – “Imposter” (Video Premiere) * Head Automatica – “Bear the Cross” * One OK Rock Announce World Tour * Avril Lavigne Announces Greatest Hits Album * Albums in Stores – May 17th, 2024 Music Thoughts * Lot’s of music to catch up on! Origami Angel released a new single, and it rules. I’m absolutely ready for a new Gami album. Their last… https://chorus.fm/features/articles/liner-notes-may-18th-2024/

[goombasa]

Using Linux Casually

I really like using Linux.

I am also not much of a power user.

I'll admit, as someone who grew up in the 90's and sort of grew up alongside the internet, I've been glued to desktops for most of my life, and aside from a brief stint in college where I decided to change things up a bit, I used Windows for most of that time. But being so tied to the Windows infrastructure, I've paid a lot of attention to all of the various changes and alterations made to the operating system, and a few years ago, around the time when Windows 11 was starting to kick into high gear (might have been right around when they announced the EoL for Win10), I decided that I didn't really want to use Windows any more, but I wasn't about to drop a ton of money on getting myself an Apple. That stint in college I mentioned? Convinced me that, even if I could have afforded it, I really didn't want to be part of that particular walled garden.

I had only heard tangentially about Linux at this point and didn't really understand exactly what it was, so I started doing some research, and let me tell you, if you can grasp the basics about it, that is a very easy rabbit hole to fall down. It took a couple weeks of research and educating myself on the different distributions, the different desktop environments, and which of them were most well equipped for general day-to-day use before I finally settled on Linux Mint. I had already been slowly gathering together some parts for a new PC anyway, so this seemed like as good a time as any to make the switch.

That was back at the tail end of 2020 or so. I was very fortunate to have everything I needed in hand before supply and pricing went wonky in the PC parts space, especially for graphics cards. Still feel like I overpaid a bit, but at least I wasn't paying triple the price. Anyway, it was one of the most painless setups I'd had up to that point, and once I got it up and running and got into Linux… it feel good. It felt familiar and different at the same time, and apart from a more convenient means of installing the basic programs that I use day to day, not a lot has really changed for me day to day. 

I think the mainstream idea of Linux as an impenetrable tech-bro's paradise for hacking and coding and programming is still pretty prominent because there aren't a lot of less tech-savvy folks that use it, despite the fact that it is getting much easier to get into. Distributions of linux like Elementary OS, Linux Mint, Ubuntu, or Zorin OS are made to be much easier to use by those who are transitioning from Windows. Mint in particular really feels like it's trying to be close to Windows in terms of aesthetic layout. A few major PC retailers do sell a limited number of machines with Linux pre-installed. Dell, Lenovo, and even HP sell laptops with Mint and Ubuntu, and there are some smaller retailers like Tuxedo and System 76 that are completely dedicated to selling prebuilt machines with Linux preinstalled. It is easier than ever to get a lot of software from Windows, including a good chunk of the games on Steam, to work on Linux through things like Wine, Bottles, and Proton. Proton, if you don't know, is also what lets you play a lot of the games on the Steam Deck too.

But even with all of the steps forward Linux has made, it's hard to compete with something that got such a big head start. Windows is bloated, unwieldy, and in many cases is becoming more and more unfriendly to people who value their privacy, up to and including forcing people to have a Microsoft account to even set up their operating system if you don't have the time or inclination to find a work-around for that, and most folks who just want a computer to write documents, watch youtube, or keep in touch with friends and family aren't going to think twice about it. It's a convenience, and with how little Linux machines are actually marketed in the mainstream, most are still under the idea that they have to install it themselves. And Windows still wins when it comes to out-of-the-box compatibility.

If you use specific programs, well, Linux isn't really open to you. Adobe has no legit Linux version and Wine just doesn't help get it up and running. Davinci Resolve does have a linux version, but it only works for one specific distribution, and you have to jump through a whole bunch of hoops to get it working on any other ones, to the point where it really doesn't feel like it's worth it. Hardware is just as bad. Keyboards and mice will basically always work out of the box, and so long as you don't need those proprietary RGB programs, they're not going to give you any issues, but if you need a drawing tablet that isn't Wacom, and even then not every tablet from Wacom will work, good luck getting it working completely. There is a program that lets you use a stream deck on Linux, but it's very basic and requires you to utilize a plugin to even get it working with OBS, one of the main reasons you'd want a Stream Deck in the first place. As far as Linux has come, it can sometimes still feel like it's still a tinkerer's playground for people who don't want everything done for them.

Linux is in a fascinating position where it IS still a playground for people who want to tinker and learn and code, and develop, and even build portions of the system or software themselves if they want. But it's also approaching a point where it can be used by the average user pretty easily, with the biggest hurdle being just getting it in front of someone so that they can use it. There is a learning curve there, there always will be when you're changing to a fundamentally different system, but the hurdle is so low, I think that anyone who is comfortable with Windows is more than capable of casually using Ubuntu or Linux Mint once they're up and running. The problem is just getting there. And of course, if they want to do anything more complicated than the basics of running a computer, things might get a bit complicated depending on what they want to do, but if they want to watch videos, communicate, get online, or do quite a bit of creative work, from 3D modeling to 2D art to music and video production, so long as they don't need access to anything that's uber professional, Linux has them covered and makes it very easy to get at what they need.

I genuinely think that Linux is something that everyone should at least try once, something that's fairly easy to do if you're using a bootable USB drive. But even then, I don't think most people are interested in even going that far, seeing it as too much effort for something that they might not even continue using after the fact anyway. And that's fair, which is why I think having someone around who at least knows the basics to help them over the hurdles to get started is a necessity too, but like… not someone who's SUPER into Linux, not someone who's going to suggest the command line for every little thing. We need more people out there who will show new users how to use the basic graphical user interface means of doing a lot of this stuff, because that is how you get more people interested; you show them that what you want them to try out is at least close to usable compared to what they're using now, while also laying out the usual positives.

I hope I've actually hit on something with this rambling. Because I do love Linux, it feels very comfortable to me, and on the whole, I like it a lot more than windows. Switching to Linux was the right choice for me, but I had to do a lot of research to reach that conclusion. And I feel like if that information was more readily available, and if it was made clear that you can do almost everything on the desktop the same way that you would on Windows, more folks would be willing to give Linux a try.

If you've never tried it before, I'd recommend at least trying out Linux Mint. If you've only ever used Windows, you will feel pretty at home here.

[ylkcheeeks]

So I want to write this down now because I feel like this is going to be one of the anecdotes that I use to explain what I love about theater of the mind role playing.

So this is in the Matt World (it’s short for matter) setting, which was originally a one shot but we had a great time so now it’s a chill ongoing game.

Things to know are that this setting has more of an Adventure Time vibe than a LotR vibe, with Living Puopet as PC option, muppety kenku, evil spirits that need a cookie body- that sorta thing; my character is Relic, a mechanical cat bard- since he is more of an automata than puppet he’s a reskinned warforged- who of course I picked the Tocken for. He’s a lil clockwork guy! I wasn’t sure what it was exactly, from the description:

Tocken: A hanging set of carved oval bells, usually played with a pair of light wooden hammers (or open handed). They are most common in underground cultures, where the resonant tones can carry.

I tried looking it up, figuring it might be either an older instrument I just hadn’t heard of, like the shawm, or a more common instrument with a fanciful rename like

Yarting: A southern instrument from Amn and Calimshan that is a Faerûnian analog to the guitar. Numerous variations have spread across the continent.

And when I searched there clearly wasn’t a real instrument called a Tocken, so my brain retained “wood + mallets + real instrument” and I was like, ah, it’s a marimba but invented by Germanic analogue gnomes or something.

You know! Or like that worthikids short.

Just like, a little desktop size one because he’s a lil guy.

But this past couple of sessions have seen him nominated as the favorite of Princess Pastria (of the eleven Kingdom of Keeb) for the battle of the bards, which is a pretty big thumb on the scale because she/the king also announced that she will be stepping up as queen soon as she has come of age and he wants to retire, and by the way the grand prize is court bard, a job Relic was lowkey offered and he turned down. (He IS a cat.) So, you know, we got small problems commander. Theres a bunch of other intrigue going on and character growth- really good stuff- but we leave the end of the “prep for the show” session with Relic on stage about to play his first song. It is the first performance of the second day after he was allowed to skip the qualifying round as the favorite, it is the crack of dawn, there is a massive audience, most of whom clearly have been up all night enjoying the party vibe. Half the party didn’t even come back before he had to leave, so it’s just The Magnificent Mister Midnight, our rabbit wizard, backing him up in the wings.

And that’s where we wrapped so we could start the next session with my GM’s system for how audience hype will be impacted/measured. I realize something I missed on the downtime day was buying a second instrument, so asked him if I could retcon that, that’s cool, great.

So I am thinking that it should be something which would compliment the Tocken or make sense he would also play that, and I thought, I should see if I can find anything more about it, it probably is based on something I don’t know AND has a silly name. I also decide his second instrument is a hurdy-gurdy which for some reason isn’t a core instrument? Anyhow they are wrong and my clockwork boy will hurdy his gurdy if he wants to.

So I of course reread the description and realize this can’t be based on a marimba. First I look to see if someone else has already been like “this is basically a…” and while I do find other people asking what the heck a tocken is, and a few gorgeous fan created solutions, no dice on an absolute answer.

Special shout-out to this brilliant solution- it turns into a javelin!

I set about meticulously looking through Wikipedia’s incredible cataloguing of percussion instruments. I am learning about SE Asian percussion ensembles which are very cool and all sorts of marimba-adjacent instruments, it’s great. But none of it is even close to a hanging set of carved oval bells, until. I find it.

There is one melodic percussion instrument based on wooden open-ended bells, which are played on a rack. It actually seems like it is truly the only one of its kind; going down the list there are classification numbers for each instrument similar to the Arne-Thompson system for folktales, and nothing is under the same subdivision as this magnificent thing.

So I tell my GM that I have had my own instrument all wrong and what I think it was based on- it’s not an exact match- and he replies

GM: THATS WHAT YOUVE BEEN PLAYING??!?!?

GM: XXXX I HAVE BEEN PICTURING A DRUM

YC: I was picturing, like, a marimba??? (…)

GM: I am also realizing in this moment that, for the past 7 sessions of DnD, when you have said marimba I have been picturing a steelpan

And I want you all to picture that too now because that is even better than a mini marimba. Little clockwork cat busting out the tunes on one of these.

Honestly I love that image.

Anyhow we clowned on it for a bit longer and at the beginning of the next session as we moved from catch up chat into actual playing, I asked the other players what they had been picturing, because I had apparently been wrong this whole time about my instrument (I’m just going to identify them by their characters here for efficiency & privacy both). I had read off the description back in session zero and said that I thought it was like a marimba but otherwise it has mostly been “okay so Relic starts playing faster” not so much interactions which would remind anyone of the tocken’s form.

Our intrepid kenku investigative reporter rogue was also picturing a marimba… and also had thought the word “marimba” meant steel pan drum. Specifically, he pictured a couple of them on a harness like in marching band, which I love even more.

Mash those together mentally, basically.

The wizard, both most scholarly in-character and the one party member who isn’t USAmerican, was picturing a xylophone and submitted this photo to explain he meant specifically a toy xylophone.

And finally our sock puppet Paladin of The Hand Below, who is not so much with the wisdom, had been picturing basically a shamisen but with a diamond-shaped body.

And if you’re someone who doesn’t know me yet read this far, I hope you also have your own mental image and tell me about it.

The instrument I have actually been playing this whole time is a skrabalai.

Original photo by Wikipedia user Imodab, filter effect added by me because it looks cool. Call it faerie fire.

As far as I can tell the tree stump mount isn’t required per se but it is both traditional and preferable.

It’s so much better than I had been imagining! Immediate retcon that this- or a travel size rack- has been the thing this whole time.

Relic as we left him at the end of last session, apparently.

We have had all these serious stakes because of Relic’s performances- he has a +10 afterall- including getting the crown-princess’ attention, for good or ill. And all this time people have been getting down not just to a little clockwork cat, but to a little clockwork cat who hauls out a birch stump, sets up what looks like a washing board with the middle replaced with dowels, carefully takes a series of carved wooden bells out of their pouch and arranged them carefully on this rack. Then he takes out little mallets and begins to play them. And you couldn’t get that wonderful juxtaposition if there had been a visual all along, so again I say, three cheers for the theater of the mind.

Also I am now interested in what people are doing with the skrabalai in modern music, but that’s a question to dig into another day.dnd

[lowkeycasanova]

Down bad pt. 2

You invited Vinnie over to your friends house as there was a get-together happening and you thought not only y'all could hang out, but he could meet some of your good friends.

To say he was nervous was an understatement. He didn't want to be flustered around you, but as a result of not going out as much as his peers, he also knew that he'd be in a room with people he didn't know and he'd hate to make a bad first impression.

For a moment, he thought about not going. But he didn't want to disappoint you.

Upon arriving, Vinnie was greeted by your friend Cody at the front door, who recognized him immediately and let him in.

"Yo, you're Vinnie, right?"

"That's me."

"Y/N told us you might be here." Cody replied and shut the door behind them.

Despite the house being in the Hollywood Hills, a place well known for its outlandish parties, it was actually a small gathering with a few people, just like you said.

He took in his surroundings as the other guys came to greet him.

Your friend Maya bumped your shoulder. "There go your boyfriend."

You followed her eyes and saw Vinnie greeting the boys with that handshake guys always do.

"You're so annoying." you told her with a smile.

Vinnie's eyes scanned the room and you two made eye contact.

With as much confidence as he could muster up, he walked toward you and gave you a big ol bear hug.

He smells good, you thought.

Long story short, everyone wanted to get to know Vinnie, so y'all sat down on the white couch to get more comfortable and personal.

"So...what do you do besides the whole tik tok thing?"

"Um," Vinnie started off but was silent for a moment, feeling all eyes on him. You know like how you're in school and the teacher wants everyone to introduce themselves and suddenly you forget who you are for a second? Yeah.

"I've been modeling a lot. Or trying to get back into it. I did a photoshoot for Tings magazine and just recently came back from Paris. I attended the Ami Menswear show as a guest."

"Now that I'm thinking about it," Cody said. "I did see you. I mean, I wasn't there but I saw photos from the event."

"Pink vest?"

"Yeah!"

"That was me."

"How old are you?" someone else asked.

"I'm 20."

"No way? I would've guessed you were pushing 23."

***

You sat there smiling while Vinnie talked more about his interests. He mentioned cars, gaming, but the only thing you could relate to was anime. At least some of it. But nevertheless, you enjoyed listening to him talk and become more comfortable.

Everyone gets eventually gets up except for you and Vinnie and you inch closer to him.

"I like your outfit." you tell him.

He's wearing black sweatpants with a red shirt and red bandana to match.

"Thanks." he says sheepishly.

Internally he's so fucking happy. He was rummaging around in his closet for an hour.

“You know what’s funny?” He asks. You give him a look to keep going. “The fact that I’m here. I mainly meet people through my friends because I don’t go out a lot.”

“Meaning…because you’re on Valorant most of the time, right?” You laughed.

“Precisely. I find comfort in my PC.”

“At least you’re not out wasting money.” You shrugged. “So tell me more about this game.”

“It can get really annoying. And it’s bad because I spend so much time on it.”

“You any good?”

“I’m…pretty decent. What about you. You play anything?”

“Does Mario Cart on Nintendo Switch count?”

He laughed out loud.

“What?” You said defensively. “It’s fun!”

"No, I'm not laughing to make fun of you, I swear. That's a fun one. You'll have to let me play with you one of these days."

"Maybe we can hang out again before I leave to Chicago."

“Why you going there?”

"Oh, just a friend's birthday party and I have a couple brand events."

"I hope you have a good time. Keep me updated."

"Sure, what's your number?"

***

Your friend Blake announced that pizza was here and everyone scrambled into the kitchen. You and Vinnie got up from your spots on the couch and met up with them.

While getting food, you stood thisclose to Vinnie, able to better see the tattoos on his arm.

"I really like this one." You told him, referring to the skeleton on his bicep and then holding his arm to run your thumb across it.

He rolled up his sleeve so you could see it better and told you when he got it. Smiling, as he was proud to talk about it and would gladly explain each an every one of his tattoos if you'd be down to listen.

Vinnie grabbed his food and walked off and you turned to see Maya across the counter from you with a look on her face as if to say 'something you wanna tell me?'

She'd seen the interaction between you and Vinnie but you didn't know that.

"What? Just gave him a compliment." you shrugged.

She scoffed. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

***

He was prepared to come, say a few words to you, then back away in nervousness to stand in the corner on his phone.

He wasn't gonna lie. Vinnie did feel a little intimidated by being here, but you were so easy to talk to and he felt grateful that you and your friends made him feel included.

——-

Note:

Sorry the ending was shit

[demivampirew]

Say no to this.

Henry x Reader (wife) x Reader (the other woman)

Triggers: Angst; cheating, breakup, divorce (and crying).

A/N: This was inspired by two songs from the musical Hamilton: Say No to This and Burn, and it’s told from the perspective of the characters (Henry, Reader (Wife), Reader (the other woman)

You can find more of my writings in the Masterlist 

Having the chance to portray one of his favourite characters is an honour for which Henry will forever be thankful. Yet, he must admit that having to spend time apart from his family was not an easy task. 

He sat on the bed in the dark hotel room, only enlightened by the moonlight. On his phone screen, he saw the picture you’ve sent him earlier that day of you and your daughter playing, you dressed as a princess and the six-year-old as a dragon. “Oh, your mighty witcher, come and save me, please,” read the message under the picture. Henry missed dressing up in costumes and running around the house with his little angel, who would laugh uncontrollably every time he caught and started to tickle her.

It’s been over two months since he left for work; 60 plus days without feeling the lovely touch of your hands on his face, too much time without feeling the warmness of your body against his.

He laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling for an hour, unable to sleep when his phone announced that he had a new message.

“Are you awake? I can’t sleep,” y/n wrote. She was a friend he made on the set of the show - she worked as a personal assistant for one of the recurrent directors of the show and she was staying at the same hotel that Henry. “Yes. Can’t sleep either. Come if you want,” he replied, thinking that some company would help him to feel less lonely.

Fifteen minutes later there was a knock on the door. Henry opened the door and invited y/n to come in. Once inside, she faced him and smiled as she showed him the content of her bag: a PS and The Witcher 3 game. “I know you’re more into pc, but l don’t have a gaming pc here, so we will have to play with this, okay,” she said grinning.

“I remember you saying that you were good at this,” y/n while rolling her eyes, teasing him. “I am, but in the pc,” Henry defended himself with a playful smile.

They played the game for two hours before she suggested that it might be time for her to leave. Henry tried to disconnect the console from the tv but she told him to keep it, for now, so he could keep practising.

“Well, good night. I hope you can have a good sleep and tomorrow enjoy your free day,” y/n told him. “Same for you,” he said goodbye, but neither of them moved. They stared at each other for a long minute in silence. Henry’s hands reached for her face bringing it closer to his, culminating in a passionate kiss, while her arms embraced him.

Her naked body, covered only by the bed-sheets rested on the mattress as she slept. Henry looked at her for a moment and then walked towards the bathroom. He washed his face on the sink and then stared at the mirror, finding it hard to recognize the person that was reflected in the mirror. “I promise you that I will be forever faithful to you, my love” he once promised you, his lovely wife, and now the words echoed inside his mind, as stabs on his heart.

How could had he broken the promise he made you? Did he not loved you any more? No, that was sure of that, he loved you more than he had ever done. You no only made him happy and supported him through tough times, but you also gave him the thing that he treasured the most in the world: his daughter. But, he had to be honest with himself, for the first time in a long time and admit that things were not as they used to be. Before the birth of the little girl, you used to be inseparable. You would go with him everywhere in the world, game and laugh and made love every second you could. Now, you were parents; your lives centred on the precious angel and work and were often too tired and since the kid would like to sleep with you, often lacked intimacy.

The worst part of all: he wished that he could say that it was a one time mistake, but it became an affair that lasted for months.

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

You hated yourself. In the past, you’d constantly criticized “the other woman” for being malicious women who stole men from others. Now you had become one of them. Well, no completely. Sure, you were carrying an affair with a married man, but you weren’t a fool, you knew that you would never be able to “stole” anyone and he would never leave his wife for you; he never made such a promise and you knew him well enough to know that he loved his family more than anything in the world and he was being vulnerable due to the distance between his true woman and him. Were you a bad woman for being with a taken man knowing that he was in such a delicate emotional position? Maybe, but to be completely honest, so were you. Months before you met Henry, your fiancé cancelled the wedding because he had fallen in love with somebody else. You were feeling lonely and undesired and you had developed a crush on him before that first night. So, you didn’t find the strength to fight the desire and succumb to the temptation.

Every night you’ve spent together, with his strong arms embracing you as his lips caressed your body, felt amazing no matter how wrong it was. And, even if your heart ripped every time you remembered that he wasn’t truly yours - and you were reminded of that constantly, since there was no a single time in which he hadn’t unconsciously said his wife’s name as he reached climax, you couldn’t find it in you to put it a stop.

You knew that this would have a bad end. No matter the outcome, someone would get hurt. 

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

That day, your sister offered to take care of your six-year-old so you could have some time to yourself to process things.

Desperate to get some distance and to be alone, you rented a small cabin outside the city.

The sun was coming down when you lifted a bonfire outside the place and sat in front of it with a box that you’ve carried there moments before.

Your fingers caressed every picture - of your first date, your first anniversary as girlfriend and boyfriend; vacations, birthdays and even your wedding. Every photo would get wet with your tears before you threw them into the fire. All objects that reminded of the love you once shared, ended up becoming ashes. Letters, poems, teddy bears, roses that you dried; everything. The only surviving things were the pictures you shared with your daughter, but you would make sure to send them to his mother because you didn’t want to see them any more, the pain was too great.

Finally, you took from your pocket the pictures you printed before to look at them for one last time. They were screenshots from a celebrity news website and the headline read “The Witcher star Henry Cavill is seen kissing a mystery woman”, followed by paparazzi photos of him with someone on the balcony of his hotel room. Angrily, you crashed the prints and let them burn into they became nothing.

With nothing more to do, you watched the flames, as you let your tears fall, feeling completely and utterly broken.

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

The production was over. After the news crashed, Henry had to continue filming, pretending that nothing happened, while some people looked at him as if he was a monster. Could he blame them for that?

When the article about his affair was published, his brother Charlie was the one who delivered the bad news - his stepdaughter had seen it and told him about it.

He didn’t know what to do. He called his wife over and over, but she never answered. All-day long he tried to communicate with his love, but every time without luck.

 Y/N tried to call him, too, but this time he was the one who ignored the call. He had nothing against her. Henry knew that she could no be blamed for his mistake, but he couldn’t talk to her right now. His wife was his priority.

Unfortunately, the only response he got from her was from her sister, two days later, letting him know that she was going to file for a divorce and she never wanted to see him or talk to him again. That she would only allow him to contact her, through her or another family member and elusively for things related to their daughter. She was going to share custody with him, but he would have to pick up and leave the girl on her sister or parent’s house.

Now, months later, he driving to his sister-in-law’s house to pick up his daughter and to leave the divorce papers that he had to sing.

There were no words to explain how much it hurt him to lose the woman he loved deeply. The only consolation was that his family continued to show him love and support as they always did. And, his daughter, unaware of the reason why her mommy and daddy decided to go separate ways, still love him enormously and would fill him with joy every minute of every day that he had her.

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

It was obvious that there was no going to be a good end to the affair - it never does. You knew someone would get hurt, but you’d never imagined that it would be all three of you.

Terrible didn’t even begin to explain how bad you felt. Of all the three of you, you were the one who got it the “best”, since luckily the pictures only showed your hair in a bun and your back, so only a few close people knew that it was you and they were polite enough to keep the secret to avoid you getting harassed. Although, just in case, you dried your hair and got a new haircut.

Henry’s wife filed for the divorce after she found out about the affair. He let you know via text when he put an end to things and told you he could no longer see you. Even if there was no chance to get back with her, he couldn’t be with you because he loved her too much and you reminded him of the mistake he made. As he suggested, you continued working for a few more weeks there to avoid people finding out that it was you, but later quit.

That was by far the worst mistake that you’ve ever made. So much people got hurt; a girl now has two parents that can’t be in the same room, two people who loved each other who can’t be together because the ghost of you would always be present to remind them of the mistake and a person who’s affection was never truly corresponded and caused the break of a family.

Therapy has been truly beneficial in helping you heal and leaving the past in the past.

Today a new article about Henry was posted online. It consisted of pictures of him and his cute girl buying a Christmas tree and he was laughing at his daughter's funny faces.

[phoenotopia]

The Last Phoenotopia Blog Update

(Date 2021 MAR 01)

I debated how to open this blog post, but perhaps the main crux of this blog post is the best place to start. The blog is being retired.

The purpose of this blog was to be a "development" blog for Phoenotopia, and well, Phoenotopia's development is done. I'll still be doing bug fixes and maintenance on the PC and Switch versions, and playstation and xbox ports are underway (by a publisher). But I'm not going to be making any more major changes to the game. At some point, you put the paintbrush down and say it's done. Blemishes and all.

Recent Events

The game launched on Steam last month, and like any launch, it was hectic. Bugs Galore. This is our first commercial PC launch, so it was a real baptism by fire. Unlike Switch's one configuration, the PC has multiple configurations and factors to account for. The game needed to be able to handle multiple control schemes, screen resolutions, refresh rates, and more! I had a 60Hz monitor going into launch and didn't know anything about Hz (I do now). There was a troublesome stutter that some players were sensitive to that my whole team didn't notice since our eyes compensated it away. There were a few times where in fixing something at one party's behest, it introduced problems for another party. A few times, due to disorganization, I unwittingly rolled back a fix that was meant to be applied. For some, the game couldn't play at all (really glad Steam allows refunds).

It was messy. It was tiring. I.AM.BEAT.

I think the worst of it is over... I'll still be around to do the last updates and bug fixes, but I'm ultimately ready for what's next.

SO what is next?

What isn't next... is Phoenotopia 2. As you may have heard down the grapevine, the game couldn't be what you call successful. No one's earned even minimum wage on it.

Maybe there's hope in the game's long tail. A year or two down the line... maybe. I won't hold my breath though. At some point in the past few months, I finished processing (or grieving) and it's time to move on.

The game has at least earned enough for us to continue our modest operations. As long as we don't expand the team, and we don't take another monster six-year dev cycle like what Phoenotopia took, we can continue. We'll have to be smarter and faster. Perhaps the most valuable thing we gained from all this is experience.

The Experience

It is a dev blog. Here are some of the lessons I've accumulated from this game's development.

- Have a good menu design. Menus aren't just that in-between fluff before you get to the good stuff. Menus are KEY. Your menus need to be robust, expandable, and *understandable* (to you, the developer). Because once the game's out, you will invariably be asked to add more options. And if your menu design is bad, every time you have to add a new menu option, it becomes a whole new pain all over again. Support mouse from the get-go, etc.

- Focus on features that people will actually care about. For instance, I've never seen anyone praise the camera's zoom feature. In practice, people try that feature a few times and then never use it again. But that feature was a constant consideration factor for every level. Run through it multiple times to make sure the level didn't break, think about which zoom levels made sense, resize rooms because they worked at one zoom level but not the other, and so on.

- Don't do boxes that you can move around. Other 2D platformers avoid movable boxes because they're a huge headache to program and they really complicate the game space. Enemies need to respond to boxes you throw in their path and either navigate around or attack it. When you're moving the box, you have to worry about constantly changing your collision size and reconciling when the box gets snagged on the environment. The boxes were also a constant source of bugs because people can manipulate them to soft-lock themselves and more.

- More focused script. Phoenotopia's 100,000+ word script was panned more for being bloated than it was praised for being lengthy. Long scripts take a long time to write and make the game more unwieldy, increasing the costs of translation and upkeep. Every update we're addressing some textual error or mistranslation. There are some highly renowned games (e.g. Hyper Light Drifter) that do without a script at all!

- Be flashy! A bat and a lightsaber take the same amount of work to program, but the lightsaber will draw a lot more attention and interest.

- Slopes, surprisingly! Six years ago when I started, Unity was ill-equipped for 2D games. If you used the physics that Unity provided you'd have a really floaty character that wouldn't adhere to the slope when going downhill. There were a hundred different tutorials saying different things (use forces, use move position, use translation, etc). You can get rectangular collisions done in a day, but to do slopes took weeks. Meanwhile, games can actually get by fine without slopes. Most people won't even notice. Did you know the Phoenotopia flash game didn't have slopes? Neither does Hollow Knight or Rogue Legacy. You can save yourself a lot of work by avoiding slopes.

(big entities look weird on slopes. Bad slope!)

I could write enough little knowledge nuggets like this to fill a book! But I'd rather just make the next game. 

So… what IS next?

As mentioned previously, it's not Phoenotopia 2. Pirate and I are mostly just tossing some ideas back and forth right now. We'll go silent for a year (or two). Our next game's scope will be more modest in some ways, more ambitious in others. It will definitely be more smartly designed. (There will be a map!)

We'll announce it when it's ready for the public. It might be necessary for us to do a kickstarter. I've tried to avoid kickstarters having been burnt on quite a few myself and also because I worry that mismanaging a kickstarter would earn the ire of backers.

But I did keep this blog regularly updated for six years. So I've gained some confidence in my abilities to at least manage a kickstarter well.

Is it really the last Phoenotopia Blog update though?

Okay, not really. There is some news that I'll need to announce, and this blog is one of the game's main outreach channels. Here are the events that will cause me to update the blog:

Announcing the launch of the xbox/playstation ports when they're ready

If a physical edition of the game happens

If a new language is getting introduced into the game (Korean is a high possibility)

When we're ready to talk about our next game

If (BIG IF) we begin development on a Phoenotopia sequel. I do want to do a sequel one day if we have the means and the demand is there. 

Those updates will be more on a "when they happen" basis, rather than me reporting in every couple months.

Fan Art

As always, I'm very happy to see fanart of Phoenotopia. Major thanks again to Pimez for collecting all the artwork from the corners of the internet! Since this is the "last" blogpost, Sir Pimez can finally take a rest from collecting the fanart :P

ÆV made a series of pictures that tell a story. A Pooki is humanely sheared of its wool to create a hat. The Pooki is unharmed. Nice! Gotta love Gail’s expressions.

Amagoo Mazeru makes a stunning landscape shot of a full moon and shooting stars. It’s a sharp and clear vector art. I like the faint glow of the moon and the fire and the subtle gradient in the night sky. Very skillfully done!

Hah hah. I got a chuckle out of this one. I imagine this is how Gail's enemies see her by the end of the game. CaESar made this image based on TerminalMontage's famous youtube videos. Nailed it!

CrownStar drew two pictures of Gail. I'm a big player of JRPGs, so the first shot instantly reminded me of Persona 4's art style. (Hmmm... Phoeonotopia as a JRPG... there’s potential there...) Next, Birdy is shown carried off after her defeat. I really like Birdy's expression here - she just seems mildly uncomfortable.

There's a bit of a story behind the first image. As Firanka shares it, she wasn't able to defeat the Big Eye monster at the end of the flash game, so she believed a tall tale that what awaited after was a 6 armed Kobold boss. Hilarious! The second is a rendition of the lonely Anuri elder. A rare subject. The loneliness is portrayed well here. I feel lonely just looking at it!

Koo_chop draws the clash between Gail and Katash at the top of the towers. I really like this interpretation of the game's art style. It’s faithful to the in-game graphics. And the lighting, from the glow of Gail's bat, to Katash's sword, and the lightning in the background... Amazing!

Lime Hazard shows Gail with a salute pose. Very appropriate for this occasion. I also like how there's a slight tilt in the angle that Gail is portrayed. Those dynamic angles are always hard to get right, and Lime Hazard pulled it off very skillfully. See you next mission!

Lyoung0J with a digital painting of Gail posed sitting on a rock. I like how it almost seems like she was caught in a candid moment - she’s smiling, but also feeling self-conscious. Cute! The art style really pops, and I like how Gail is sporting what I call the old anime style nose. 

MyUesrNameIsSh*t with a sketch of Gail performing a skillful slingshot. I like how Gail is depicted with her tongue out in a mischievous manner, the way all mischievous people with slingshots do.

Niitsu Kentaro returns with a 2021 Happy New Year picture. That happened didn't it? A New Year... Gail's pose gave me a chuckle with how she seems to be waving the bat around as casually as one would wave hello. And "Phoenotopiyear"... Well said! One day we'll have our Phoenotopiyear...

Ochan Nu breaks all records with a stunning NINE pictures in one session :O

There's so many goodies here. My favorite would be the one with Gail staring intently at the screen - it's like she's looking directly at you. You almost feel uncomfortable.

Next, there's an Animal Crossing villager dressed as Gail and sporting her pink hair. It even looks like a house Gail would live in. Gail is a connoisseur of the arts and likes Mona Lisa. Yes :)

There are various comics of Gail pointing out Gail's weird food habits. A picture of Fran looking really cool, and even Gail rocking a bathing suit. (bathing suit image linked here in case NSFW). Wow!

Pimez didn't just collect the arts, he creates them as well! This one, which he aptly named 'The Year 175' is a depiction of when the dragons invaded the towers as told by an elderly Daean woman. Great pixeling skills! I got a good chuckle from the ice dragon leaving with its stuff slung over its shoulder.

Quo made a stunning picture of Gail playing the flute surrounded by the 5 musical notes and the Phoenix logo behind her. The theme seems to be "fire" and it works really well. Gail herself looks awesome depicted in her red suit - it's like she's leading a marching band!

Rai Asuha depicts Gail in the late game with her red suit, and night star bat, and holding a lamp. She looks ready for adventure! I really like the white outline here and Gail's poofy shoulders here - the art style feels reminiscent of Final Fantasy Tactics.

Seri also draws Gail bearing her late game equipment. Unique to Seri's drawing is how all of Gail's equipment is accessible from a pocket on her shirt. I also like how Gail is depicted with her lucky earrings - that accessory is often forgotten.

Treedude depicts Gail with a bat and wearing a funny smirk. She looks like she's ready to hurt someone!

Warotar returns with everyone's favorite Great Drake, Bubbles! It seems so happy to be featured!

I'm really grateful for all the fanart this game has received. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

Closing Notes

Pirate drew a picture to mark the occasion. It shows Gail enjoying a hot chocolate with marshmallows and a pumpkin muffin. A rest well-earned...

Goodbye! Until next time!

[loquaciousquark]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E111 (Redux! Oct. 13, 2020)

Gooooood evening good evening good evening, all! I started the VOD late for this recap and somehow the first four or so minutes of the show have a Twitch audio copyright claim, so I am reduced to only reading Brian's lips when he asks if we're on the internet. Hilariously, Marisha's background room is a comfy-looking blue/gold fabric wall with a ceramic colorful abstract lamp and a yellow silk scarf over the lampshade, and Taliesin's is an industrial looking games room in grey and black with multiple monitors, overhead speakers, and mysterious metal fixtures behind him. What a treasure this group is, honestly.

Tonight's guests: Marisha Ray & Taliesin Jaffe, discussing episodes 110 and 111 again. I wildly speculate once more about what might have caused their absence: jury duty? Sam appearing on The Masked Singer? Something to do with the animated show? One day, we’ll know, one day... (One day this “copyrighted audio” section will come back from the wars, too. Ugh!) Finally! The audio comes back to reveal Brian discussing the endless reality of digital meetings and Marisha talking about (I think) her glare-reducing glasses she’s wearing. Welcome to the New Age (welcome to the New Age, to the New Age).

Announcements: Marisha suggests checking out Dimension20, another live tabletop gaming group, which premieres live on Wednesdays at 4pm (CollegeHumor). 

Brian immediately wants to know how they feel about the revelation that Molly is alive. Taliesin’s personal reaction: he “knows some things” he can’t talk about and is aware of several possibilities that might be going on, but had a sneaking suspicion that there would not be a body for them to find. He says it’s almost all there for anyone to see in past material. Marisha’s personal reaction: she just wants to know how she’s doing with her theories, & was trying to block Tal’s face out deliberately as she was going off on her theories in the last episode. Taliesin says he thought her ideas were pretty good!

Cad has no clue what to think - it’s like listening to your friends talk about Buffy. Marisha thought it was a 50/50 Molly would still be there, but Beau had no idea. Not that it mattered, because as soon as Matt went through with it the reveal still blew their minds. Tal laid out his plans for the character with Matt during Campaign One (towards the end) after they all got their VM tattoos.

It is a “horrifying and gross” thing to dig up a body, and Beau was pretty reluctant to do it. Tal, as Cad: “Sometimes dead’s better.” The moral quandary of trying to speak with a dead friend was very different here than the frequent occasions they used the spell in C1.

Taliesin says his poker face is very bad, so it’s easier for him to over-react and let it all play out. The only other player he can see very easily from his place in their current setup is Travis, and because he knows Travis doesn’t watch TM, tweet, or participate in social media, he admits he thoroughly enjoyed watching Travis freak out at his freaking out. He says he only knew about 20% of what Matt described at the end of that episode. He was picking things to mug to increase Travis’s surprise. I love this so much.

Taliesin provided the table left leg shake; Travis provided table right. Ha!

Beau is really accepting her role in the Cobalt Soul. It’s good when “as a person, you feel like you can settle into your calling. Sometimes you can do more from the inside than fighting from the outside.” It’s a mirrored but opposite path of Keyleth from C1; Beau felt like she was too good for her duty, while Keyleth thought she wasn’t good enough.

Caduceus is not a big believer in jumping to conclusions. He does have an idea/notion of the “city of the undead” and thinks all this necrotic energy must come from somewhere, and wonders if this is the “capital of anti-death.” He’s willing to believe whatever he sees. This is one of the few things that trigger a bit of loathing and disgust in him. It was terrifying that the Wildmother didn’t know anything.

Beau is pretty confident in her Charlie Day impression laying-out-the-research last episode. She enjoyed taking the things that were known & extrapolating around them; this is a huge facet of Marisha’s own personality and she really enjoys it, so she built a character this time that would allow that kind of puzzle-solving. It’s also why she repeatedly notes when Beau journals, so she can avoid metagaming. Trent’s mention of Vess Durogna’s tomb raiding was completely circumstantial, and the only reason she’d made the connection to the Tombtakers was because she’d recently reviewed those notes for a separate unannounced project. Sometimes she tries to make connections and Matt is like, “It was...just descriptive. Just flavor. The curtains were red...” and she has to discard a paragraph of notes. She feels like it’s still something they have to do because of “look at what he does! Look! It’s totally valid!”

Cosplay of the Week: @kitsunstudios with a gorgeous Caduceus with a very intricate silk vest.

Caduceus’s takedown of Trent! One of my favorite moments in the entirety of C2. Taliesin felt Trent was an asshole; Caduceus felt sorry for him because of how dumb he thought he was. Caduceus’s response was "this is the dumbest man I’ve ever met in my life. He’s so dumb! Is nobody going to tell this guy how dumb he is? Oh, they’re all freaked out. Somebody needs to tell this guy he’s an idiot before somebody gets hurt.” (Marisha: “Before?”) Tal says it was the product of several years of therapy and many drunk conversations with Whitney Moore. It was from a genuine place of concern from Caduceus. “How are you allowed to have this much power and be that dumb?”

Brian loved how funny it was to watch everyone tiptoe around Trent and then Caduceus bulldoze through the end of the meal.

Taliesin: “Damage doesn’t make you interesting or better. It’s not what makes you good. Character isn’t found in damage. Just recovery.”

Brian & Marisha commiserate going through the stage where believing surviving something automatically made you a stronger person, better for the pain; instead it just meant you had to pick up the pieces after. Marisha talks about how strength through survival may be true for some people, but it shouldn’t be considered a necessity. Taliesin talks about how he used to think he had to be miserable to write. Brian talks about how believing he liked reading and writing miserable things only limited him for years.

Marisha feels it’s a C2 theme that almost all the PCs have someone trying to handwave or take credit for their accomplishments or explain their pain as being for their own good (Trent, Beau’s dad, Obann). She thinks it’s interesting to see all the various ways people try to take credit for your work/delegitimize you as a person. She loves that RPGs allow you to explore these odd moralities in interesting ways. The only way to fight it is to have a sense of your own self-worth, which is a problem a lot of the M9 started with.

Caduceus likes everyone, and really likes people who appear to need role models (Eodwulf). “With the right friends and the right bar and the right attitude, I think he’d be okay. Come over here where it’s so much better. That seems like an exhausting friendship that you have there.”

Marisha loves the mix of personalities in the M9; Veth, Cad, & Jester were all “we kind of like them!” after the dinner, and she immediately made eye contact with Travis and they both shook their heads. She knows Beau has to go along with it for Caleb’s sake for now, but she & Fjord are pretty sus of Trent’s proteges.

Beau is less concerned about Artagan’s relationship to Jester because “he showed his ass--she’s less worried about Jester now because a little of the magic is gone.” It’s a little like becoming an adult and realizing your parents are also just adults & human. Caduceus wasn’t suspicious of the Traveler for a long time until they got to the island. Aside: Taliesin loves the pantheon in D&D. “The notion of attempting to apply common Western conceptions of religion to a world where you have a pantheon of interventionist gods as baseline makes no sense to me. Everyone admits that every other god is there and doing shit; it has more in common with ancient Rome than anything else.” Now that he knows it was a con, he feels the wind had been taken out of it. He does have a sense that Jester’s gotten back together with an ex: “I hope that I’m really happy for you.” They’re both interested to see how Jester navigates the new relationship.

My internet goes out, of course. I panic for a second, thinking I’ve lost everything above, but all is well! Thanks, Form History Control addon!

Marisha loved punching Artagan, but regretting rolling so poorly. “I miss violence.” Dani lets us know it’s been about four episodes since the last battle.

There’s no way the Cobalt Reserve doesn’t have a single document on the Eyes of Nine. Beau believes “there are no real secrets” because people are just bad at not writing things down. For there to be no information at all seems really suspicious for her.

Fanart of the Week: @oddalchemist on twitter with some awesome Beau conspiracy red-thread boards overlaid a distant shadowy Molly walking away.

Caduceus feels a little guilty for really enjoying his time right now with the M9 and not wanting to go home. He’s starting to suspect that he’s going to go home very different than when he left. “He has the softest problems. I don’t know if I want to move back in with Mom & Dad.”

Beau is trying to get comfortable with the idea of being happy. Jester is probably Beau’s first real best friend & one of the first healthy female friendships she’s ever had. As long as she still has Jester in her life, she doesn’t care. For Yasha... “At the end of the day, Beau is a lonely person and has always been a lonely person. And I think you kinda reach this point where once you’re not lonely anymore, you can kind of come out of the fog and realize that was horrible! And terrifying! And is even more terrifying now that I know what I could have, and I don’t want to go back to that. At the end of the day Beau doesn’t want to be lonely anymore. There’s always been that flirtation with Yasha, but everyone had to figure their own shit out. And now it feels like it’s coming out a little bit of that haze, maybe this actually could be...” There are a lot of ways they complement each other & are good-different from each other. Marisha believes people can be attracted to more than person at once.

Caduceus doesn’t think nature turned against him on Rumblecusp, it was just a reality of nature being dangerous and violent. “He has a complex relationship with nature.” He doesn’t expect special treatment.

Thoughts on the mansion: “Man, it’s nice to be seen.” Marisha: “I don’t know how I ended up becoming the Scanlan of this campaign, but I’m living for it.” It felt like an echo of “I’m better for having known you.” They compare Marisha taking specific notes on the campaign to Liam taking specific notes on people’s favorite tapestries, comics, etc.

They talk about missing theme parks and daydream a park version of the mansion in CritRoleLand. It’s lovely.

Taliesin never expected Divine Intervention to work; he just wanted to roll some dice. He’s still processing what he saw/heard. They all agree it was very useful in the Vokodo fight.

Vilya! Marisha: “Ah! Ah! Ah!” As a player, Marisha was so deep in Beau’s eyes she didn’t pick up it was Vilya at first (especially since Matt really emphasized they should not be looking for C1 NPCs). Marisha’s brain melted. She bawled her eyes out on the ride home after that episode. Right after it ended, Laura told Marisha “Keyleth finally gets her happy ending,” and it makes Marisha emotional again since Keyleth’s story ended so bittersweetly. She talks about the very real feelings of “just wanting them to be happy, though!” She went back and listened to all her old Keyleth playlists. Everyone was teary after the episode. “Everyone has these 100% real memories of being these characters and having these good times.”

And that’s that for that! Thanks for your patience, all, and is it Thursday yet?

[tomtenadia]

Island Dreams - Chapter 17

Chapter 17 for you all.

It's finally moving in day and they have some fun and their relationships takes another step forward.

Rowan gets into an accident and he finds himself married :)

I hope you will enjoy this.

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

Moving day had arrived and gone. Aelin had been sad about leaving her house but the idea of living with Rowan was far more exciting. In the end they did manage to move everything on the Saturday. After Lysandra had gone back to London, Aelin had asked her to ship all of her boxes there and that felt like the final step. She was definitely not going back. This was it. This was her new life. Hopefully with Rowan in it. Moving boxed had been exhausting and now it was Sunday and she was staring at the mess that was her bedroom and was trying to decide where to start to tackle the indecent amount of boxes.

Luckily Rowan had solved the book problem for her. Her thirty five boxes of books had joined his extra book storage in the attic. He had joked that he might eventually turn the place in a library and Aelin had responded telling him that it was a brilliant idea. She was busy unpacking her clothes when Rowan’s head popped in her room announcing that lunch was ready. “You are wonderful.” She joined him in the kitchen isle and was ready to tuck in in another one of his wonderful meals. “Did your aunt teach you to cook?” “She did.” He answered without elaborating any further. He had briefly mentioned once that he had lost his parents but never expanded on the subject and she was not going to press him on a topic that was clearly going to cause him pain. She ate the food with a happy face and Rowan thought he would be happy to cook for her forever just to watch the smile of satisfaction painted on her face. After they polished their meal, Aelin offered to help clean. It seemed only fair. Once done she went back to her room and deal with the boxes that were still staring at her. All of her clothes were spread on the bed and she was trying to divide them into categories. At the bottom of a box she had also found a couple of her old scrubs and nostalgia had hit her hard. One box was full of knick knacks and she pushed it aside. Definitely low priority. One last box had pictures frames to be hanged on the walls. Most of them were of her and Lysandra but at the bottom she had found one of her and Chaol that had survived the purge. She threw the thing on the bed and went back to her mission: organise her wardrobe. A few hours later she was half way through her boxes and she had not noticed Rowan leaning against the door staring at her with a half smile. Aelin was sitting on the floor and seemed defeated. “Unpacking not going well?” “I hate it. I never realised how much stuff I had. When I packed everything I had Aedion and Lysandra and all we did was just dump stuff in boxes. They were trying to get me out of that house as soon as possible. Rowan sat on the edge of the bed. His eyes caught the photo abandoned on it. He took it “Is this him?” “We took that the night we got engaged. I have scrubs on because he proposed at the hospital where we met. That photo survived the purge. It needs to be destroyed.” Rowan noticed the pain in her eyes. No matter how much she hated her ex husband, he could tell that whatever they had it had mattered to her and she was still hurting about it. He put the photo down and noticed a black dress. He leaned forward and grabbed it out of curiosity. “I bought for a charity event. Wore it once and never had the chance to use it again.” She explained when she saw him staring at it in curiosity. In reality Rowan was imagining her in that dress. All of a sudden he was glad he was sitting down. Aelin saw his stare and grabbed the dress from his hands, a wicked smile on her face “Stay there,” she told him, leaving him alone in the bedroom. When she came back ten minutes later Rowan noticed her and almost had a heart attack. She was stunning. The dress hugged her curves perfectly, it had a cut on one side exposing her leg up to the knee. It was sleeveless and the top of the corset reached just under her collarbone. She turned around and showed him the whole thing and Aelin noticed desire burning in his eyes. “What do you think?” He took a step to her and his hands were on her waist “That I don’t want you to wear this dress outside. I want this view all for myself.” His voice was rough and a bit breathless. Aelin laughed and kissed him and Rowan pushed her against the wardrobe and pinned her there. Her hands went to his butt and pushed him closer to her body. His hand sneaked through the cut of the dress and cupped her butt and gasped when he realised she was not wearing anything underneath. “You will be the death of me.” He breathed against her neck where he was depositing hot kisses making her shiver. “Against a wall is another one of my fantasies…” she whispered in his ear and she felt his hand move in between her legs. “Good.” He added locking his mouth on her “it’s another one of my special skills.” Rowan deepened the kiss, her mouth opening to him. Her tongue gently brushing against his. His fingers slipped between her legs and gently brushed her sensitive spot. Aelin moaned and arched her back against him. Then all of a sudden the magic broke as he pulled away from her, kissed her forehead and walked away. Aelin’s growl of frustration was loud “Whitethorn!” Aelin shouted following to the living room “You can’t.” She groaned, frustration now rising high. What was his problem? “You always do that, you tease me, you get me all hot and then you leave.” Rowan gave her a tight smile and took a step closer, his mouth to her ear “So that when I can finally have you it will be amazing.” “And very short.” She lashed back “Because I will be so horny that I will have an orgasm at your first touch and it will last seconds.” Her eyes now fixed on his. “Who said that we can’t have a second a third and why not a fourth time? I have stamina.” Aelin growled and ran back to her room and slammed the door quite hard. She groaned for another few minutes while she changed back in her comfortable clothes. “Damn he is infuriating.” She threw the dress in one of the drawers and lay down on the bed staring at the ceiling. She wanted him so badly that she was sure she was going to combust very soon. She took a deep breath and then got up again and finished to tidy up everything. An hour later the boxes were finally gone and she had finished decorating it with her stuff and the pictures and eventually it started to feel like her place. She looked at the place and smiled happily at the final job. She picked up the flattened boxes and left the room. Rowan was in the living room reading a book on the sofa and she ignored him as she passed behind him and headed outside to bin the boxes. When she came back Rowan was looking at her. “All done?” She stormed to her bedroom and slammed the door again. Later on when she was sitting on her bed reading, she heard a knock on the door and Rowan’s voice telling her that dinner was ready. She gave in and joined him in the kitchen not without giving him a cold stare. “I am sorry,” he said. She sighed “it’s okay.” He gave offered her a plate with some food “I didn’t mean to piss you off this much.” “I am not.” He scoffed “Yes, you are.” She slammed the fork on the table “Fine. I am. I am, because damn it but I want you, okay? It’s been driving me nuts.” She finally let out her frustration “And I get it, we have a promise and I will wait but this is new. Chaol never made me feel like this. None of the guys before him did. You do. You set my body on fire with just a touch and all I want is for you to slam me against a wall and fuck me so hard that I forget my name.” “I am really good at that…” he smirked and Aelin’s heart lightened. She could not be mad at him. Not when he smiled at her like that. “Someone has a high opinion of himself.” “I definitely can make you forget your name. To be honest, I am positive I can do that just with a kiss.” He kept eating never averting his gaze from her. “You can do that by just be beside me sometimes.” She admitted. That’s how mad about him she was. “Dinner is lovely, by the way. Thank you.” She finally conceded. He smiled at her warmly. And like that their little fight was over. “So, what do you do in the evening?” “Read mostly. As you can see I don’t have a tv.” “I have a laptop with Netflix.” Explained Aelin and he looked at her with confusion. “Netflix is a website where you can watch movies and series. I pay a small amount every month. They add loads of content very regularly.” She took a bite of the chocolate cake she was sure came from his aunt. “We can watch something together.” “I guess we can do that.” “Perfect.”

After dinner Aelin had offered to clean up the kitchen since he had cooked. Once she was done she joined him in the living room and brought her laptop with her. She sat beside him, a blanket on their legs and the pc on it. She snuggled close and started browsing Netflix. “We can watch Brooklyn nine nine. It’s one of my favourites. It’s a bunch of detectives in New York. It’s hilarious but has some great storylines as well.” “We can watch something new. You don’t have to rewatch it just for me.” Aelin turned to him “I rewatch it regularly. I love it so much.” “Okay.” He said kissing her head. Ten minutes later she noticed that Rowan was actually quite involved “I like her.” He said pointing at Detective Santiago. “She is awesome.” “Those two are ending up together. I bet on it.” He commented pointing at Santiago and Peralta and Aelin squeezed his hand. “I like the new captain.” Aelin looked at him but his stare was fixed on the screen and she loved his relaxed face. Her hand caressed his hair and his eyes closed at the contact. Then trailed down and traced his ear and finally placed a very brief kiss on his neck. “She is hot. Santiago I mean.” And Aelin laughed. They binged watched the first season that Aelin decided to call it a night. She was tired from all the moving. “We can continue tomorrow.” He nodded happily. “Good night, my heart.” She said kissing him.

Their home arrangements slowly set into a regular rhythm and Aelin adapted to his way of living. She still felt like a guest and she wanted to make sure she was not disrupting his life too much. He would cook and she would clean the kitchen. She would help him with chores around the house. In their free time Rowan took upon him the task of teaching her to cook. They began with something very simple. Aelin was a quick learner and she also managed to prepare lunch a couple of times without burning down the house.

One night he was in bed and sleep was evading her. She tossed a few times and then her arm extended to the empty side of her bed. She sighed. Since she and Rowan had gotten back from their little holiday she had missed his presence at her side at night. His arms around her and his warmth. She closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep.. “Damn,” she groaned in frustration throwing the sheets at the bottom of the bed. She sat up and decided to get up. After pacing for a few minutes in her bedroom she walked out of the room and reached his. “Rowan?” “Are you okay?” He asked switching the light on and sitting up in his bed. His hair was tousled from sleep and she thought he looked sexy. “I can’t sleep.” She said not moving from her spot on the doorstep. She would not move until he gave her permission. “Come here.” He said patting the bed beside him. She smiled and joined him. He lay down again and she snuggled against him and smiled when she felt his arms wrap around her, one around her chest and the other lower around the waist. His head tucked in the crook of her neck. She turned to face him “Since our trip I miss not having you beside me at night.” “Do you now?” He huffed against her skin. Aelin nodded and squeezed closer. Gods it felt so good to be in his arms. Rowan sighed “Do you want to sleep with me?” Then he heard how his sentenced sounded like “I mean you can stay in my bed and sleep in here if you like it.” Aelin looked up at him and smiled “I’d love to.” A kiss on his nose “But I am leaving my stuff in my room. I can’t move my things again.” “It sounds like a plan.”

From that night Aelin had officially moved in his bedroom. She had finally started sleeping soundly again. They had added another milestone in their relationship.

It was of the weekly mornings when Rowan had gone to teach his swimming classes and she was in charge of the bookshop and she was loving it. Aelin looked at her watch for the billionth time in the past ten minutes. Rowan was late. He would always come back at the same time but that day he was late. Over an hour late now and panic began to settle in her. He hadn’t texted her and that was unusual as well. He had always texted even if he was going to be five minutes late to open the shop. Which he knew it was not going to be an issue since he had given her a set of keys a while ago. She paced and could not concentrate on anything. In the end she caved and phoned him. The phone rang a few times. She was about to hang up when he answered. “Rowan Whitethorn, were the fuck are you?” A woman’s voice replied at the other end and Aelin’s heart started racing. Why was another woman answering his phone? He would not cheat on her. “Hello?” Said the voice on the other side and Aelin woke up. “Yes, who are you? Where is Rowan?” “My name is Dr Jamieson. Are you a relative of Mr Whitethorn?” And she almost felt sick. She had done plenty of those phone calls to know that it was not a good sign. She sat down on the chair behind the counter and placed her free hand on her knee to stop it from shaking. “Mr Whitethorn has been admitted to the hospital following a car accident.” Aelin’s brain stopped working. She could not think and definitely she could not breath. “Is… he…” “We should discuss it here at the hospital. Are you a relative?” Aelin froze. She knew hospital policy and they were not allowed to disclose the situation of the patient to someone who was not family. And they weren’t and a roommate was not in the list of the people allowed. Fuck. Her brain was too shocked to think properly. “I am his wife.” Her mouth uttered and she froze “I am on my way there. Is he still in the A&E?” “He has been taken for a CT scan. When you arrive ask for me.” Aelin thanked the woman and took a deep breath and coerced her brain to start working again. Quickly she closed the shop and went back home to get her car. Within ten minutes she was at the hospital, dropped the car at the parking and ran as fast as she could to the A&E. At the reception she asked for Dr. Jamieson and to tell the woman that Mrs Whitethorn was here. She had to remember her act. Five minutes later the doctor arrived and shook her hand. “How is he? Can I see him? Is he out of the CT?” “Mrs Whitethorn, your husband will be back from the CT exam quite soon. He was involved in a frontal crash. The paramedics found him unconscious and his head took a hit. We believe it was from rebound from the seat belts. Very likely his head hit the window pretty hard, that’s why the CT scan. He has few bruises on his ribs and torso due to the seat belts. Nothing is broken but he will be sore for a while.” “Have you checked his abdomen for internal injuries? Are his legs fine?” Her A&E training kicked in and she went through all the possible injuries from such an accident. The woman in front of her looked at her with the type of look that Aelin used to give to family members that tried to tell her how to do her job. Aelin sighed “I am a cardio thoracic surgeon. I have worked in an A&E long enough and seen enough accidents…” “I had a feeling. You did not ask the usual questions family members ask.” The doctor gave her a faint smile “I guess he will be in his room by now. If the CT comes back clear you will be able to take him home tonight but he will need to be at rest for a while.” “Thank you.” The doctor accompanied her to his room and she stopped outside for a moment. She took a deep breath and finally opened the door of his room. A sigh of relief left her when she saw him awake. “Hey…” she ran to him and kissed him while tears ran down her cheeks. She had been terrified. He tried to hug her back but his body protested at the idea of him moving. “Don’t move. You bruised your chest and your ribs.” Then she looked at the cut on his head and noted that luckily was not deep enough to require stitches. Gently she kissed it “No stitches.” And she sat down on the bed beside him and took his hand in hers. Dr Jamieson entered the room while she was kissing his forehead. “Mrs Whitethorn, your husband’s CT is clear. He has a very mild concussion and might experience some headache. If…” “If he gets dizzy, has double vision, gets confused or struggles to stay awake bring him back to the A&E. I know the drill.” The woman smiled and nodded “I will have your discharge paper ready in an hour.” And she left and Rowan was staring at her with wide eyes. “I can explain,” she said knowing full well the reason of that stare “Hospital policy is that they can’t disclose information to non family members. So I had to lie. I couldn’t say I was your sister because well, it was not believable so… my only option was to say that I was your wife. I am sorry.” Rowan started laughing but he stopped when his ribs caused him pain “It’s fine, I think it’s cute.” “I think it’s the concussion speaking.” And she kissed him again “I was terrified.” She took a deep breath “although before that I was mad at you for being late and not telling me anything. Then I phoned you and a woman picked up. Until she told she was a doctor I thought you were cheating on me.” He leaned his forehead against hers “Never. I would never do such a horrible thing to you.” “We are going home soon, and once we do, you will have to listen to me.” He tried to reply but she put a finger on his lips “No. I don’t care. I am the doctor and you will do as I say. You will stay at home and rest. I will look after the bookshop. And this is not open for debate.” “Looks like I got myself a very stern wife.” He kissed her. “Jokes aside, how do you feel?” “A bit of a headache and very sore.” He leaned back on the pillow. “How did you get in an accident. You are such a careful driver.” He flinched “I left the school, at a roundabout an idiot with a van did not respect his turn and I drove straight into him. The car—” “Shh… we’ll deal with the car later.” An hour later the doctor came back with the discharge paper “I prescribed some painkillers. He will need rest. No work for at least three days.” “Thank you doctor.” And the woman left again. “Come, let’s get you back in your clothes.” Rowan pushed his legs off the bed and Aelin helped him remove his hospital gown. Of course he was naked under it and she almost gasped at his bare body. “Dear wife, never seen your husband naked?” He joked and she tried to keep her eyes up. As a doctor she had seen naked men plenty of times, but seeing him was different. “Ok, let’s try to put the t-shirt on. This may hurt.” And it did. Because of his bruises he was in pain and lifting his arms was not an easy task. “Slowly…” they finally managed and he decided to ignore the hoodie. It was not cold outside. Then she helped him with his underwear and trousers. He leaned against her and she tried to hide her massive blush when she caught a peek by mistake. Gods, the man was perfect. “How is your shoulder?” “It’s fine.” Aelin looked at him with the expression of a doctor who caught his patient lie. “Look.” He moved it in circles and she noticed that he was moving it easily and without discomfort. “If you are lying, your are dead, dear husband.” He kissed her “I love you, my dear wife.” Before heading home Aelin stopped at the pharmacy and got the medicines the doctor had prescribed. Once at home, she pushed Rowan to the bedroom. He protested saying that it was day and he could stay on the sofa but he discovered very quickly that Aelin in doctor mode was a bit of a despot. “Just for today. Tomorrow we’ll organise the living room so you can camp there during the day but today I am home and you will stay in bed.” “Fine.” He yielded. She went to his drawer and got some clean bed clothes. “Not again.” “You are not coming to bed with that t-shirt. First, there is blood on it. Second it’s dirty and I changed the sheets this morning.” “You are so mean.” He complained. Aelin grabbed a tube “wait.” She told him when she noticed he was about to try and put the t-shirt back on “This gel will help reduce the bruises and reduce the inflammation.” She spread a bit of the gel on his chest with circular motions being very careful not to cause any more pain. Once she was done she helped him put the t-shirt back on “We’ll put a bit more tonight before bed.” “I have my very own sexy personal nurse.” She grinned in response “Yes, and you’d better listen to her.” She helped him to get into bed and then left the room and came back with a glass of water and some pills “Take these, they will help the headache and reduce the pain in general.” Rowan followed orders and she then sat happily beside him on the bed. “Do you want me to get you a book?” Rowan shook his head “I don’t feel too great to read just now.” She caressed his head and kissed his forehead “just sleep a bit, then.” “We can watch one of your shows.” She grinned. Rowan did not have a tv but she had Netflix on her laptop so she had introduced him to some of her favourite series. At the moment they were to season two of Brooklyn nine nine and Rowan seemed to love it. “I’ll be back.” When she did she had a bed tray and her laptop. She made sure Rowan was comfortable and not in a position that would cause him pain. Then she placed the tray on the bed and her laptop on it. She put her pyjama on and snuggled under the blankets with him and curled up to his chest, and her arm around his waist. “Are you okay?” “Perfect.” He kissed the top of her head. “Are we continuing with Brooklyn nine nine?” He nodded and she started Netflix. A few hours later Aelin woke up and noticed they had both fallen asleep. She closed her laptop and placed on the floor on her side of her bed. Rowan woke in that instant. “Shhh go back to sleep.” She soothed. He lay down again and she snuggled against him. Her hand went gently on his chest and brushed it gently. She had been terrified when she was told he had been in an accident. Until she saw him in his room awake she could not push away the terror in her heart. She felt his heart beat steadily and she finally relaxed and eventually fell asleep as well.

[miguel-manbemel]

Aspects & Fanfics Ep. 50: Flowers for Christmas

As promised, here’s the special Christmas episode of the main storyline of this blog. And as I also promised, it features Nico Flores’ debut in the main narrative. As it happened earlier with Remus and as it will happen with any canon character introduced in this narrative, his introduction will not mimic the canon introduction at all, but it will be a totally independent story to fit what has already been told in earlier episodes. One thing I wanted to say is that this story takes place in a near future where the virus has just been defeated and the pandemic is over, that’s why there’s no longer social distancing or masks in the story. Let’s hope this future of fiction soon becomes a reality, but until then, remember to wear your mask if you need to get out and take all precautions, for your own health and the others’.

It also happens to be the 50th entry in the series since it made its debut on February 2019. I hope you’ve been liking it so far and that whatever comes in the future is also of your liking too. Fair warning that after this episode, I’m going to take a little break of a few weeks, to take a rest, at least from the main narrative, although I’ll still be hanging around somehow as usual, publishing little things here and there. So, I hope that you all have the merriest Christmas and that you have a good start of 2021. Merry Christmas and a happy new year, and until next time.

P.S. If you enter Tumblr.com through a web browser (on PC or on the phone), NOT through the app, and enter the episode through this link, you’ll find a especial interactive musical surprise alongside the narration. Sadly, it doesn’t work on standard dashboard view or on Tumblr’s phone app, but you should be able to read the text anyway.

SYNOPSIS: Thomas has a little job as an actor in a mall, for a one-off Christmas show. Just as he’s about to enter the mall in a rush, he bumps on a stranger that crossed his way just at the same time. Thomas is immediately mesmerized by the stranger’s face and immediately starts feeling something for him.

WARNINGS: Romantic prinxiety

EPISODE INDEX

[Thomas is running out of the house, rushing to the car]

THOMAS: I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!

[Thomas gets to the car. Logan rises up in front of him]

LOGAN: Okay, Mr. Figurative White Rabbit Sanders. Have you got everything?

THOMAS: Of course I do, I’ve got my credentials, I placed my costume in the car trunk last night, I programmed the address on the GPS, I’ve got everything, except that I programmed the phone 20 minutes later than I should by accident, so I’m late! Don’t make me waste more time, Logan, I gotta go!

LOGAN: Are you sure you’re not forgetting something?

THOMAS: Yes, I am.

LOGAN: Are you really, really sure?

THOMAS: [trying to open the car unsuccessfully] Yes, I am! Why doesn’t this gosh dagnabbit car open? Don’t detain me, Logan!

LOGAN: [smirking] Okay, if you’re so sure, go ahead, I’m not holding you back. What are you waiting for?

THOMAS: It’s this door, it just won’t open! I gotta go and this door won’t open, dang it!

LOGAN: Well, what do you need to open the door, Thomas?

[Thomas suddenly stops, then frowns and looks at Logan]

THOMAS: Couldn’t you just have told me I had forgotten to get the car keys instead of making me look like a doofus, Logan?

[Logan looks at Thomas with the same condescending smirk while Thomas just groans and goes back to the house to get the keys]

[intro sequence]

[Thomas parks the car next to the mall. Then he gets out, grabs his costume in a bag and closes it, then starts running to the door. Before he gets to the door, a stranger who hasn’t seen him crosses his way and Thomas can’t help bumping onto him. They both fall on the ground]

THOMAS: Aw!

STRANGER: Oh, goodness!

THOMAS: [trying to pick up his things scattered around him] I… I’m so sorry, I was in a hurry, I didn’t see you and…

[the stranger, who has stood up already offers his hand to help Thomas stand up]

STRANGER: It’s okay, I didn’t see you either, and I was also in a hurry. Let me help you.

THOMAS: Thanks, I…

[but Thomas can’t finish the sentence because when he looks at the stranger he gets stunned over the cutest face he’s ever seen in his life. It’s a Latin American guy roughly the same age as him, with dark hair, light brown skin and a goatee, a little skinnier than Thomas, wearing a blue shirt and a backpack on his back, and with big black eyes which make Thomas feel as if inevitably attracted to two black holes. He smiles at Thomas while offering his hand. Thomas just can’t react over that vision as he feels his heart pumping harder]

STRANGER: [suddenly concerned when Thomas doesn’t grab his hand] Are you okay? Did you get hurt or something?

[Thomas returns to reality and grabs the stranger’s hand, who helps him stand up]

THOMAS: I’m fine, thank you. But are you okay?

STRANGER: Oh, don’t worry, I’m fine. Let me help you with that. [pointing at Thomas’ things scattered on the ground]

THOMAS: Oh, I wouldn’t want you to get late to your appointment, Mr…

STRANGER: Mr. Flores, but you can call me Nico if you’d like.

THOMAS: [giggles] And I’m Mr. Sanders, but you can call me Thomas.

NICO: Nice to meet you, Thomas. And it’s okay. If we pick this stuff up together, we both could be on our way in no time.

THOMAS: Thank you so much.

[Thomas and Nico start picking up the things. As they’re doing so, Thomas takes a quick look at the backpack. Various pins are there, but one pin in particular grabs his attention, a pride pin. He also sees a key chain hanging from his pocket, with an image of Jack Skellington from Nightmare before Christmas. He quickly looks away when Nico stands up]

NICO: Well, I think this is all. Here you are.

[Nico gives Thomas the things he’s picked up]

THOMAS: Thank you so much, Nico.

NICO: Of course. Well, I’d love to stay here and chat with you, but I gotta go now. I hope to see you again someday. It’s was nice to meet you, Thomas, have a nice day!

THOMAS: Have a nice day, Nico, nice to meet you as well!

[Nico smiles one last time at Thomas, then he rushes inside the mall. Roman rises up next to Thomas]

ROMAN: Wasn’t that the cutest vision ever, Thomas!? And to top it all, he’s gay, so you’ve got a chance with him!

[Virgil also rises up]

VIRGIL: He was cute, indeed, but Thomas, weren’t you in a hurry?

THOMAS: [suddenly scared] Oh, dang it, I’m late!

[Thomas rushes into the mall. He tries not to run so as not to attract people’s attention, but he walks as fast as he can. Roman and Virgil follow him]

ROMAN: And judging from his key chain, he loves Nightmare before Christmas! He must be exactly the kind of guy you could get along with. You should have asked for his number, Thomas. He said he hoped to see you again, but we don’t have any means to contact him. What if you never see him again?

THOMAS: Well, that’s over and done with… I admit that guy looked really cute, and he also looks cool and kind.

ROMAN: That’s an understatement. [Roman’s theme music starts playing] When he offered you his hand, he looked like a prince sent from heaven, ready to save you from the perils upon you, and then he would let you ride with him on his horse and take you to his castle and…

VIRGIL: [snapping his fingers, music stops] Houston calling Roman, get back to planet Earth, please!

ROMAN: Sorry, I got carried away.

THOMAS: Yes, you did. But you’re right, I should have asked him for his number or something. [sighs] I probably will never see him again.

ROMAN: Well, maybe we’ll see him again around the mall today and have a second chance to talk to him. It’s Christmas time, the season of miracles, isn’t it?

VIRGIL: We’ll see. For now, you must focus, Thomas. You had a job to do, remember?

THOMAS: Yeah… When they asked for actors in that announcement, I never thought it was for this, playing one of Santa’s elves in a little Christmas musical play in the middle of the mall, with barely no time to rehearse and with the costumes sent to us by mail. I just hope that the tights don’t make me look too weird, I didn’t have time to try the costume on. Gosh, this work dynamic feels too rushed, but at least the pay was good, so I can’t really complain…

REMUS: [rising up] Wouldn’t it be nice if Nico saw you with your elf costume, Thomas? You couldn’t be sexier. A total piece of cake, if you know what I mean! [wiggles his eyebrows]

THOMAS: Remus, don’t! Besides, I would die of embarrassment if he saw me like that. Maybe it’s for the best that he left in such a hurry. Okay, there’s the scenery, and right there, there’s the office where the guy at the phone told me I had to change. And speaking about the phone… [looks at his phone] Looks that I’m not that late after all. I have just enough time to change. If I’m quick, I’ll be ready just in time. I shouldn’t have worried so much.

VIRGIL: My bad.

[Thomas goes to the office followed by Roman and Virgil, while Remus sinks down]

THOMAS: That’s odd, there’s no one here. I hoped to talk with the boss and finally meet him. We’ve never talked in person, only with his secretary on the phone after I answered the call. They sent me the outfit by UPS the day after I got the part.

ROMAN: I wonder how that boss will look like? How will we recognize them, Thomas?

THOMAS: I suppose we’ll meet them on stage, Roman. Well, I have to change now, and there’s a door that reads locker room, so it must be there. Let’s do it.

[When Thomas enters the room, he goes livid, after finding Nico just buttoning a Santa Claus costume]

THOMAS: Nico?

NICO: [equally surprised] Thomas? What are you doing here? Don’t tell me that…

THOMAS: [nervous giggle] Yeah, it seems we’re gonna be work mates, at least for today. I’m playing one of the elves. I can’t find the boss anywhere, so I figured I’d have to change in this room.

NICO: [happy smile] What a coincidence, right? Well, don’t stay there, come in. I’m almost done. Um… the boss told me the other elves are already in costume, waiting for us. So you better hurry. There’s a folding screen over there if you need some privacy.

[Thomas showed some relief over seeing the folding screen]

VIRGIL: Thank goodness, I don’t know if I could have coped with it if you had had to change in front of him.

THOMAS: Yeah, that would be neat.

[Thomas goes behind the folding screen and starts changing]

THOMAS: So, how did you get this job? Are you an actor too?

NICO: Oh, so you’re an actor? That’s neat. No, I’m not an actor, not professionally at least, although I’ve done a couple things in community theater. I… just needed the job to get some extra income, you know? I’m a writer, and sometimes, the amount of work is not high enough.

THOMAS: Oh, that’s cool! What kind of writer, if it’s not too nosy to ask?

NICO: Of course it’s not. I write anything, but my thing is poetry and songwriting. And I’m also a playwright. It’s my dream to make it big on Broadway someday with a musical of my own.

THOMAS: Oh, you’re a playwright and songwriter? Well, other than an actor, I’m also a singer. And I also dream on being on Broadway one day. Maybe you could show me some of your work someday?

NICO: You’re a singer too? My, you seem to be a man of many talents. I’d be glad to show you some of my songs. Maybe you could try one of them if you like them and are suitable for your voice? Maybe later, after the show, if you’re free?

THOMAS: Yes, I’m free. I can’t wait for it, Nico.

ROMAN: [pumped up] Thomas, have you realized… that you just got a date with him? [bopping] Oh, my goodness!

VIRGIL: Relax, Roman… Can’t believe it’s me who said that… It’s only a professional meeting, where they will discuss their opinions about each other’s art, that’s all. Wow, I sounded like Logan there… The point is Thomas shouldn’t have his hopes too high for the time being.

ROMAN: Well, you start with a professional meeting, and the next day he PROPOSES to you! Imagine… Nico Sanders… or Thomas Flores… or even better, Nico and Thomas Flores-Sanders or Sanders-Flores. [squeeing] Gosh, you’ll look so handsome in your white suit with a red necktie when Joan takes you to the altar!

THOMAS: [whispering with the lowest voice he can so Nico can’t hear him] Guys… please… would you mind? I need to get dressed and I can barely move in this small place behind the folding screen with you two around… Please, could you sink down for a moment?

ROMAN: Oh, sorry… Okay, Thomas. [sinking down] See ya later on stage.

VIRGIL: [also sinking down] I’ll try to calm him down in the Mind Palace, Thomas, but no promises. See ya.

NICO: Are you ready, Thomas?

THOMAS: I’m almost ready. My, this suit is so tight, I can barely put it on. I hope it doesn’t rip apart right on stage, that would be embarrassing.

NICO: Don’t worry, it will be fine. When they make these elf costumes they usually make them tight, I don’t know why. As if elves building toys shouldn’t prefer wearing a more comfortable and professional outfit.

THOMAS: [giggles] Yeah, you’re right… If you’re ready, Nico, you don’t need to wait for me. You can get to the stage whenever you want. It’s no use that both of us get scolded over being late, I can take it, don’t worry about me.

NICO: Nah, I’m fine. The show can’t start without us anyway… and I like being here and talking to you.

[Thomas’ face goes red and he feels his breathe stopping for a second]

THOMAS: You… you do?

NICO: Yeah, of course. You bring up good conversation and that is increasingly difficult to find these days. I enjoy your company.

THOMAS: Well… thanks, Nico. I… I enjoy your company too…

[Thomas was trying to fit his shoes in, but out of nervousness, he loses balance]

THOMAS: Oh, shoot!

[Thomas falls on the folding screen which falls down making a lot of noise]

NICO: Oh, goodness, Thomas! Are you all right!?

THOMAS: Dag nabbit, this outfit is impossible to wear! It’s too small for me!

[again, Nico offers Thomas his hand]

NICO: This is the second time I have to grab you from the floor, Thomas. Did you get hurt?

THOMAS: [standing up with Nico’s help] No, I’m fine… and I promise I’m usually not this clumsy. It’s just…

[Janus rises up]

JANUS: Don’t tell him the truth or you’ll blew it up!

THOMAS: … it’s just that I’m nervous over the performance, and scared that I’m not gonna wear this outfit as I should.

JANUS: Nice recovery, Thomas. It’s too soon to tell Nico that the reason you’re clumsy is because you’re totally nervous over making a good impression to him because you think he’s the cutest guy you’ve ever seen in your life. You don’t want to tell him that yet, right, Thomas?

THOMAS: No…

NICO: Did you say something?

[Janus quickly sinks down]

THOMAS: [nervous] I was saying… no, I’m not gonna make this outfit work. Look at me. The elf shoes are all tiny, I can’t close the zipper on my shirt, and the beanie is too small for my head! This is all a disaster!

NICO: They obviously have sent you the wrong size for your outfit, Thomas. You can’t get out like that.

THOMAS: But I have to make it work! There are no other outfits available, are there? If I don’t get out, I’ll lose the job! Oh, why didn’t I try this outfit at home earlier? I’m such an idiot!

NICO: It’s okay, calm down, we’ll find a way to fix this… [looks at Thomas’ clothes, then at himself and suddenly shows a lively smile] And you know what? I’ve got an idea. Help me put the folding screen back up.

[Nico and Thomas place the folding screen as it was]

NICO: That’s right. Now, get back behind the folding screen and take the costume off, everything.

THOMAS: What? But…

NICO: [grabbing Thomas’ hand] Trust me, Thomas.

THOMAS: [nervous] Okay…

[Thomas gets behind the folding screen and starts taking the costume off. Nico also starts taking his Santa costume off]

NICO: When you take it off, hang it on top of the folding screen, okay?

THOMAS: Okay… Will you explain to me what are we doing?

NICO: Sure. We’re gonna switch places.

THOMAS: [nervous] What? But…

NICO: Don’t worry. Do you think with the big white beard that Santa Claus wears, they’re gonna notice the difference?

THOMAS: But the boss will notice you dressed as an elf. You don’t have any beard or garment to conceal you, and both of us will be in trouble.

NICO: Don’t worry about me, Thomas. I… know how to deal with the boss, and the most important is to make the show work, so I’m sure he would agree with this. The show must go on, isn’t that what you, actors, say on stage when difficulties arise?

THOMAS: Yep, that’s our motto.

NICO: Well, that’s my motto now. We’re gonna make it work, no matter how.

[Thomas and Nico pass each other the different garments of their costumes over the folding screen and get dressed, then Thomas gets out of the folding screen and stands in front of Nico]

THOMAS: This is much better. This is my size.

NICO: I thought so. It was a little big for me, and I intended to fill it with some stuffing to simulate Santa’s belly. You’re more muscular than me, so I knew that the costume would be just perfect for you. And I also knew that the elf costume would be just the right size for me. It’s perfect. Maybe they got the sizes mixed up with our costumes? True, we can’t put the stuffing in your costume, but who said that Santa has to be chubby? He can be perfectly portrayed by a handsome fit man like you.

[Thomas blushes]

ROMAN: [rising up, squeeing] Did he just call you a handsome fit man!? Oh, goodness, Thomas, I think he has a crush on you too!

[Thomas makes a subtly angry gesture to Roman to make him shut up. Roman sinks down, but Nico notices Thomas’ gesture and shows a face of concern]

NICO: Oh, I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. People tell me that I shouldn’t be so outgoing about my opinions, but I’m truly saying it as I think it, Thomas. I apologize again if I made you feel awkward. We’re at work after all and I shouldn’t be so unprofessional.

THOMAS: No, it’s fine, don’t worry… And… I thank you for your compliment. You’re very kind, Nico.

NICO: You’re welcome. Okay, you look great, but here’s the final touch. Your beard.

[Nico helps Thomas put the beard on]

THOMAS: Um… ho, ho, ho, am I right?

[Nico chortles]

NICO: Yep, as I thought, you look great. Okay, do you need a few minutes to take a quick look to your new lines, or…?

THOMAS: No, it’s okay. It’s a good thing that I learned all the lines they sent me by the mail, to know my cues when I was playing the elf. I know Santa’s lines by heart, and the songs are Christmas classics everybody knows. The only thing that worries me is that I didn’t have time to rehearse his part, and Santa has a big song at the end of the show, so I hope I can do it right.

NICO: None of us had any time to rehearse, unfortunately. It seems the boss wasn’t called with anticipation enough to use the stage and there was no budget to rent any office to rehearse in private or with anticipation. Corona is still very recent, you know, and there’s still some reluctance to rent spaces for activities like this. But don’t worry, you can do this, Thomas, and if we can’t make it perfect, at least we’ll do our best, won’t we? Well, you’re ready and I’m ready too. Let’s go. They’ll probably wonder where we are at this point.

THOMAS: I just hope that we don’t get in any trouble with the boss over being late and over the swapping of roles.

NICO: There won’t be any trouble, Thomas, you’ll see.

THOMAS: How can you be so sure, Nico?

NICO: You’ll see…

[Thomas and Nico get out of the office and head to the scenery. A group of people dressed as elves and other characters, who were having a drink in a nearby cafeteria, finish their drinks when they see them and get to the scenery too. One of the elves approaches Nico]

ELF: Um… Mr. Flores, what does this mean? Weren’t you playing Santa Claus? And who’s playing him in your place?

NICO: It’s okay, Cynthia, there was a problem of costumes and we swapped places. It will be fine, he learned all the lines too, right, Thomas?

THOMAS: Right, I’ll do my best.

ELF: Okay, Mr. Flores. You’re the boss, after all…

[The elf goes to the scenery with the other elves, while Thomas looks at Nico with a face of surprise]

THOMAS: Wait, what? What did they mean by that?

NICO: [nervously] Sorry I lied to you, Thomas… The truth is… that I am the boss of this show, I wrote and produced it.

THOMAS: And you were gonna star in it too, like Orson Wells, right? Why didn’t you just tell me? Have you just been… playing with me? Making fun of me? I feel like a fool…

NICO: [really concerned] Goodness, I’m terribly sorry, Thomas, I didn’t mean to make you feel like that! It’s just that… [noticing the other elves are staring at them, waiting for them to start rehearsing] Well, there’s no time to tell you right now, so I’ll talk to you after the show. Now we must focus, but please, promise me you’ll give your best and that you’ll give me a chance to explain myself after the show. Promise?

THOMAS: I always do my best onstage… Mr. Flores, you didn’t even need to ask me for that. I’m a professional.

NICO: [begging face] But will you stay for a while after the show? ¿Por favor?

THOMAS: [sighs] Okay, I will… Let’s get the show on now.

NICO: Thank you, Thomas.

[everyone gets on stage and do some rehearsals. Although clumsy at times, the rehearsal goes fine. Then, the mall starts getting filled with an audience waiting to see the show]

THOMAS: Wow, I didn’t expect there would be so many people to watch our show…

NICO: Just do it like you did it in the rehearsals, and you’ll wow everyone. Break a leg, Thomas!

THOMAS: Thank you, Nico… I mean, Mr. Flores.

NICO: Please, you can still call me Nico. It truly would mean the world if you did.

THOMAS: Okay… as you wish… Nico. Okay, the show is about to start.

NICO: Everybody on your marks!

[the cue music starts. The elves dance around Santa Claus and sing different classic Christmas songs and do some dialogue about how busy they are making the toys for Santa. Then, at the end, Thomas as Santa, sings]

Merry Christmas by Thomas Sanders

THOMAS: O holy night! The stars are brightly shining, It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth. Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till He appear'd and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices! O night divine, O night when Christ was born; O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

[after finishing the song, the audience cheers and applauds. Everyone on stage takes a bow, then the audience leaves the place. Most of the cast leave the stage but Thomas and Nico stand there]

NICO: Thomas, you were great! You told me you were a singer, but I didn’t expect you to be that good!

THOMAS: [taking off his beard] Well, thank you so much, Nico. I’m surprised myself, I didn’t expect that, with so little time of rehearsal, I could do it like that.

NICO: You have a natural talent, I’m telling you.

THOMAS: Well, thanks again… Now, you wanted me to stay after the show. What did you want to tell me?

NICO: Yes… well… First of all, I apologize again for hiding that I was your boss all the time. I swear I didn’t mean to play with you or to make fun of you. It’s just that… I didn’t feel strong enough to tell you.

THOMAS: But why? I don’t understand.

NICO: Well, we were having such a good conversation, like two casual pals enjoying each other’s company… I didn’t want any sort of hierarchy to ruin the mood, or that you couldn’t be casual with me because of that.

THOMAS: You still could have told me. There was no reason to hide it at all. I wouldn’t have changed my behavior for that. You can be respectful while maintaining a casual attitude.

NICO: Yes, but… I didn’t want you to treat me “respectfully” as you put it. I didn’t want any kind of hinders in our talk, because I felt that that kind of hindrance… eventually wouldn’t have let me do what I increasingly wanted to do the more I talked to you.

[Roman and Virgil rise up behind Thomas, listening to Nico]

THOMAS: What do you mean?

[Nico starts blushing]

NICO: Well… if I had to behave like a boss or a cold manager all of the time… there are certain limits one must not surpass. Because when a dynamic of power like this is established, some interactions could be seen as an abuse of power, and I didn’t want you to feel like that at all. I wanted us both to be completely free to interact so that, eventually, if I had the guts… I could tell you… [hesitates, really nervous, before speaking] … that I think you’re really cute.

[Nico looks away, ashamed. Thomas blushes, while Roman is ajar and speechless, and Virgil’s eyeshadow suddenly turns bright and glittery purple]

NICO: I’m sorry if I’m making you feel awkward, and I know this is really unprofessional, but I had to say it because our work is done, so I’m not your boss anymore, and I don’t know if I’ll ever have another chance to say it or even if I’ll ever see you again. And I really needed to let it out.

[Thomas holds Nico’s hand]

THOMAS: Wanna know something? The truth is… I really like you too.

NICO: You do?

THOMAS: Yeah. From the moment you offered me your hand when we crashed on the front door of the mall… when I saw your face, that cute face of yours, it was as if I had been struck by a thunderbolt. You should have noticed, how nervous and clumsy I was while we were talking. You may have thought it was because of all of the costume failure. In part it was, of course, but mostly it was because… we both were there, all alone, talking so casually, and I liked you more and more by the minute, and I was so afraid to mess everything up and that you thought I was a fool or something. That’s something that happens to me a lot, that I don’t take my chances when I see them, and I really wanted to take this chance and get to know you, and hope that you liked me.

[Thomas and Nico look at each other, almost like mesmerized by each other’s glance. Then Nico notices there’s a mistletoe hanging above them, as part of the decoration set, and chortles]

NICO: Do you believe in destiny, Thomas?

THOMAS: Why?

NICO: Well, first, we crash at the door, then I order the wrong size for our outfits and they happen to be perfect for each other, then you being an actor and singer and me being a playwright and songwriter… and now look above you.

THOMAS: [looking up, he smiles] A mistletoe.

NICO: I know it’s a fake mistletoe made of plastic and paper, a simple prop, and that it really doesn’t count, but still, it’s very funny that I noticed we were standing right under it, just when I wanted so badly to do this…

[Nico kisses Thomas, taking him by surprise as he was still looking at the mistletoe. After a couple of seconds of surprise, Thomas starts kissing him back and hugging him. At that time, Roman and Virgil start squealing, jumping and dancing with each other. Virgil’s eyeshadow shines so much that it leaves a trace of sparkling glitter in the air as he’s bopping and dancing and spinning with Roman. Then Roman, out of pure happiness, holds Virgil and kisses him. After a moment, Nico releases Thomas, who can’t help showing a silly smile]

THOMAS: Wow… I… you… don’t you think we’re going too fast? We barely have just met and…

NICO: [a little scared] Oh, sorry, perhaps I shouldn’t have done that. You’re right, we have just met and perhaps I shouldn’t have…

[Thomas puts a finger on Nico’s mouth to silence him]

THOMAS: Don’t you dare apologizing for this, Nico. Do you have any idea of how happy you have made me feel right now? I… I thought I’d never experience this feeling again, and thinking honestly, I don’t care if it feels rushed or not. When you know, you know, right? And, rushed or not, I can recognize this feeling without any doubt: I love you, Nico. And even if it doesn’t work in the end, I’ll never regret giving this a chance from minute one, like we’re doing. Don’t you agree?

NICO: [smiling] Yes… yes I do, Thomas. And I love you too.

[Thomas and Nico share another kiss while on the mall the song “All I Want for Christmas is You” is heard through all the speakers]

[ending card]

[Thomas returns back home, he couldn’t be happier. Roman rises up right after he gets to the living room]

ROMAN: Congratulations, Thomas! That was a score in every way!

THOMAS: I can’t believe it! I thought this day would never come, and now…!

ROMAN: And he’s so cute, Thomas! SO cute!

VIRGIL: [rising up, his eyeshadow is still bright purple] Honey, do I need to get jealous, or something?

ROMAN: Oh, sorry, I…

VIRGIL: [excited] I was kidding. We’re all parts of Thomas, it’s only natural that we all like Nico. Congratulations, Thomas!

THOMAS: Wow, you must really be in a good mood if you’re making jokes, Virgil.

VIRGIL: Of course I am! I’m really excited about what comes next! It’s been so long since we… since you’ve been in a relationship like this.

THOMAS: Yeah… I just hope it doesn’t end like the last one…

[Virgil looks at Thomas with a serious face and his eyeshadow suddenly turns pitch black]

VIRGIL: Thomas, don’t say that… Why should it end like the last time? Nico doesn’t look at all like your ex.

ROMAN: Yeah, he’s so cute, and handsome, and cool, and kind and talented and…

VIRGIL: Okay, okay, calm down, Roman. I can’t believe I’m the one asking people to relax… You’re right in everything, but let’s hear Thomas.

ROMAN: Sorry.

THOMAS: Well, it’s too soon to tell, of course, but even so, I’ve already got so invested in this… that I’m scared that something goes wrong and everything goes to waste… again.

VIRGIL: Thomas, it’s only natural that you have that fear after the last experience. And I’m sorry, I’m the one who’s putting that fear into you because I’m the one always worrying about you losing the people you love… because when you said you loved Nico, you really meant it right?

THOMAS: Yes. I mean… it probably is too soon to use that word… but I think it was love at first sight. I didn’t get to have this feeling with my ex until we were way into the relation, but with Nico, it’s just like his soul and mine just blended together as one, as if we were two pieces of the same soul destined from our very beginning to be together, you know? And I was convinced that only happened in romcoms and fairy tales.

ROMAN: Well, now you know better, Thomas. As an expert in romance, my advise about your worries is… just take it easy. Take each day of this relationship as it comes and let love build up slowly but surely, as if you were laying bricks to form a strong house. It is hard work, but the result is worth it, trust me. [looking at Virgil] I know it’s worth it. And don’t think too much in the future. Live the present and enjoy each minute you spend with Nico as if it was the last. Just do your best to make it work, and everything will be fine, you’ll see.

THOMAS: Thank you, Roman. Wow… What a Christmas gift that Santa has decided to give me, right? Merry Christmas, guys.

ROMAN: Merry Christmas, Thomas.

VIRGIL: And may the new year be better for all of us.

THOMAS: [to the viewers] Yep. For all of us. Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all of you, and until next time, take it easy, guys, gals and non binary pals. Peace out!

[itsuki-minamy]

“K - THE FIRST STORY”

CHAPTER 3: THE SWORD, THE CAT, AND THE SEVEN KINGS (Complete)

* Prologue: Side: The Boy * Chapter 1: The boy named Isana Yashiro * Chapter 2: Flames

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: Ridia

Kuro Yatogami had a mission to fulfill. It is not an exaggeration to say that it means the meaning of living for the current Kuro.

(I ask you, Kuro.)

Miwa said from the hospital bed, and looked at him with compassionate eyes.

Miwa, never showed illness. Kuro wanted to do something for Miwa, but did not provide his care like a nurse, except to prepare the daily meals and take them to bed, and did most of his own work to the end.

He didn't want to believe that Miwa died, but as soon as he fell to the ground, he said, "My life seems to be short.", With a bit of embarrassment, but with a kind look. If Miwa was an ordinary person, he would have said, "Please don't say anything.", But Kuro, who knew Miwa's power, had no choice but to grip his fist tightly and accept it.

Kuro found it difficult to imagine living in a world without Miwa. For Kuro, Miwa's existence was a sign of life. He was worried because he lost him and didn't know if he could walk forward properly.

It may have been because of that Kuro that Miwa announced his death. Even after he died, Miwa showed him the way to go.

On the rooftop of the building in front of Shizume-cho station, Kuro was pointing his sword at a boy.

The boy seems guilty of his sins and is confused by what he does not remember.

But the evidence is already available. From now on, Kuro will kill this boy.

The sword arm has been trained since he was little. However, he has never killed anyone. It would be a lie if he said that he is not scared, but there is no doubt.

(This is the last difficult task.)

Miwa's smiling face after entrusting his life to Kuro was revived, and Kuro focused on the hand holding the sword.

The sword "Kotowari" that Miwa entrusted to him to fulfill his last mandate. He will not needlessly unsheathe this sword.

"Isana Yashiro!"

Kuro proudly pronounced the name the boy gave himself. Grab the handle of the sword with both hands and prepare.

"The word of the seventh king, Miwa Ichigen, is to take your life."

"Wait a minute!"

"Take this!"

The boy turned around and started running.

Kuro didn't chase after him, activating his right hand. It is the power to ignore space and grab the desired object, manifested as a member of the Colorless Clan. He can call it an invisible hand.

Kuro grabs the boy's neck and uses his long, invisible hand to hang him up in the air so he can't escape.

"Are you really going to kill me?!"

The boy screamed, flapping his limbs in the air unsteady. Kuro lowers his eyebrows at the evil of his death.

"Resign yourself!"

"No! I'm innocent! Is it Miwa's order to kill an innocent person?!"

"Innocent?"

Kuro turned his eyes to a huge monitor on the wall of the building. There was still a still image of the boy holding a gun with an evil look.

Kuro released the ability of the right hand dangling the boy. Catch the falling boy with one hand, turn around and look at the giant monitor.

The boy looked ridiculous at the motionless evidence.

"Ah... I may not seem innocent. But aren't you saying it right? People aren't watching, let's judge from the content."

"My idea is that people are not what they seem, they are not what they are on the inside, they should be judged for their actions."

"No, that's why I'm telling you it's not me! You're wrong!"

"No matter how you look at it, it's you. Don't swear wrong!"

“If I took a hundred steps, why didn't you kill me? If I were a murderer, the police would arrest me, the prosecution would prosecute and the judge would decide, that is the right way to go in a law-abiding country."

"My Lord is not in this country. It is only Miwa's word."

First of all, “King” is not something that the police can handle, and since it has no public existence, it does not go through the country's judicial power. There is an alternate organization, "Scepter 4," but Kuro had no intention of leaving this mission, which he received from Miwa, to others.

The boy drowned as if he had lost his power.

"Ok... I can't help saying this. Boil me or bake me, whatever you want."

"Finally ripe."

"But in the end, please allow me to make a request."

When a dying person asks him to make a final request, he can't do anything, but Kuro thought about it for a moment and then replied, "Tell me."

When he released the captured hand, the boy took a seat across from Kuro.

“I want to write a suicide note. To my sister."

"Sister?!"

"Yes. To remember me. I can't help you trust my innocence. But I don't want my sister to believe that someone else killed me."

Criminals have families too. That's obvious. However, Kuro got upset when he was hit by the obvious.

"My sister was born seriously ill and has been hospitalized for a long time. She has never had friends since she was a child, and I am the only person she can talk to... If they killed me, my sister would be alone."

His sister is not guilty. Even though she was sick and hospitalized, he wondered how sad she would be if she didn't have her brother, and Kuro went hard.

The boy took out a sheet of paper and a pen to write a suicide note and wrote something soft. Facing the suspicious boy who decided to make a decision, Kuro asked a question.

"What is your sister's name?"

He wondered if he wanted to postpone the innocent girl's misfortune even further. Maybe the boy was thinking of something else, he glanced at the brochure swaying in the wind on the edge of the rooftop and said vaguely.

"Marilyn."

"What?"

"Oh, yes, Mari. She's Mari."

"Isana Mari. It's a good name."

The boy's pen stopped and the completed suicide note was folded and presented to Kuro.

"Thanks. Well done. Hey, but will you give this to my sister?"

Imagine a little girl crying in a hospital bed, Kuro took a break. The boy ran to Kuro, who was holding his hand to grab that, and said...

"Please. No one else can ask. Because my sister will be alone for the rest of her life..."

When Kuro picked up the letter, the boy stepped back a bit.

He looked at the folded suicide note written in a short time, like a shopping note, and carefully opened it.

Kuro averted his eyes, at the thing that jumped into his sight.

"What is this?!"

When he raised his face, the boy opened a red umbrella and had a round object in his hand, be it a bomb or a firework.

Before Kuro could recover from his surprise, the boy dropped the round object in his hand onto the concrete and turned his back on it.

Frush! An intense light flooded the rooftop. Kuro closes his eyes and covers his face with his arms.

When the light that had lasted for a few seconds faded and Kuro opened his eyes, there was no one there.

There is a door that leads to the ajar building, a protective umbrella that the boy has thrown away, a dog character costume that seems to have been left by a human in this building, and on the ground the suicide note that Kuro grabbed, a paper with a cartoon that raises its thumb with its tongue sticking out and says "Lie."

The brochure the boy was looking at next to it is fluttering and rolling. It was a brochure from a store called "BAR Marilyn", depicting a shameful woman with her skirt up.

Kuro stood still and silent for a while as the wind ruffled his long hair.

It took a long time for him to get angry because he was overwhelmed. Gradually, he raised his eyes to the anger rising from the bottom of his stomach and he rushed open the door to follow the boy. The iron door throbbed too hard, but he couldn't afford it.

Once found, Kuro ran down the ladder into the building, with a strong determination to strike and slash without question.

++++++++++

Kusanagi had decided not to choose the media that day.

The video could be broadcast in the city center centered on Shizume-cho. It will soon be removed by "Scepter 4", but it cannot be said that the video once played was completely absent. That footage will continue to run underground for a time, followed by takedowns and resupplies.

Kusanagi looked at the vehicle that was parked. The interior of the car has been remodeled to make it a temporary information room filled with PC devices.

"How's the 'bounty announcement' going?"

"I'll upload it right now!"

Akagi answered Kusanagi's question and hit the "Enter" key on the computer.

The video of the criminal boy who was still on the huge monitor in front of the Shizume-cho station was changed and the announcement began to flow.

"Reward Notice. I am looking for a boy who shot on the rooftop of the Hirazaka 3-2-5 building in Shizume-cho at 11:45 PM on December 7 this year. Those who contribute powerful information about this boy will receive a 10 million yen prize."

The vast majority of humans will consider it a bad joke. But money is power. There will be quite a few people who will be taken seriously if the rewards will be paid with 10 million for the supply of influential information that will lead to the capture of criminals and the rewards will be paid properly even for other trivial information.

In the vehicle, the PDA of the member of "Homura", who is the reception desk at the same time, begins to ring.

"Yes, this is 'Homura'. Are you the person providing the information?"

"Oh, yes. Ten million. What? It's not a lie. Would you mind not speaking ill of us?"

Seeing Akagi and his friends busy, Kusanagi climbed onto the ladder attached to the back of the truck and looked up at the ceiling.

Talk to Anna, a girl in a red dress, sitting on the roof of the vehicle and looking at the map seriously.

"Did you find something, Anna?"

On the map Anna looked at, several red marbles roll by themselves.

Anna was investigating along with Kusanagi in response to the sighting of Akagi's criminal. Although he made her wait in a safe place so she was not in danger, Anna also witnessed the criminal from a distance. Anna, who recognized the sign of the other party, followed the boy with her sensitive ability.

Anna stared at the marbles without responding for a while. Kusanagi silently watches over his whereabouts so as not to disturb her concentration.

Finally, the rolling marbles gathered in a certain place and stopped.

"Here."

Anna points to a point on the map. Kusanagi raised his hand with the meaning of understanding and appreciation, immediately manipulated his PDA, looked for the map, marked the area indicated by Anna, and sent it to all the members of "Homura".

There was immediate reaction to the group call from the online criminal search members.

“This is a clue! I get it. I'll go immediately!"

The violent voice that answered is Yata's. It seems that he has come a long way, perhaps due to the regret that the black dog has rid himself of the criminal in front of his.

"I went into an alley that is not on the map, hahaha."

"Don't laugh, stupid!"

“Understood… This is Kamamoto. Hmm... I can't let go of my hands, and a little more... Ah, add fried rice!"

"Don't buy any more food!"

"Hey, who are you? What did you say about "Homura"?"

"Ah, is there someone who has made a fool of 'Homura'? Put a marker in the place, we go immediately!"

Kusanagi laughed bitterly as he smoked a cigarette and listened to the loud exchanges of the members.

“Search correctly. Ah, I don't know what to do with the black dog. I can´t help you. Kusanagi, over and out."

Kusanagi sighed slightly after leaving the group call despite Yata's unhappy voice.

"It's not okay, they're just kids."

++++++++++

Kuro was angry.

After all, he couldn't sympathize with the evil "King" and should hate that heinous assassin, Kuro bit his immaturity.

"I'm sorry, Ichigen-sama. However, tonight, I, Yatogami Kuro, am sure that I will fulfill my mission."

Kuro put his left hand on his sword sheath, "Kotowari", with determination.

"Where are you? Isana Yashiro! Get outside!"

The people who are after the fox are roaring loudly in the city.

Listen to the rubbing of the wheels against the ground. Kuro doesn't move and turns his face towards him.

A boy with a metal bat rushes straight towards Kuro, riding a skateboard while spewing flames from all over his body in the form of anger.

Is it the red clan member he encountered earlier? He knows how he feel, but now he is busy...

Kuro frowned slightly and put his strength into his bent legs. To dodge the boy who is rushing towards him with a metal bat, jump high and descend into the street light. He misses the time he was talking about now.

Yata, a member of the red clan on the skateboard, stood up to Kuro's level staring at him.

"Hey, Black dog! Where is that boy?"

"Member of the red clan. What is that?"

"I'm asking where the guy who hid is! If you don't want to hurt yourself, give me a quick answer!"

He can't afford to be a kid. The eyes looking at Yata grew colder than necessary.

"I don't have time to deal with you. Stay away from it."

The murder signal is increasing. Irritation from others rubs off and the air becomes hot.

A suddenly blurry voice echoed in the room.

"Oh, Yatogami-kun! I think I can escape from here. I'm going to get there soon!"

Kuro has doubts and looks for the origin of the voice. Then, he sees a person waving from the rooftop in front of the building.

Without a doubt, the evil "King" who called himself Isana Yashiro.

"You damn..."

Keeping people confused with such a lie, what is he planning?

At the same time that Kuro sharpened his eyes, Yata sharpened his teeth.

"You…!"

"You can defeat such a person in one fell swoop, beat him quickly, and come here soon!"

The boy says that. You see, the purpose is for Kuro to hit the red clansman and escape in the meantime? The villain who keeps circling the tolerance meter, Kuro raised his sword.

"Sorry! I'll tie that guy up after I crush you!"

Yata, easily fanned, raised the outer corners of his eyes and barked. It seemed unlikely that his eyes, burning with anger, would put out the fire, and he decided it was impossible to leave.

Even though Kuro pretends to be calm, he is overwhelmed. He looks at Yata from the high place and says chillingly.

"If you try to fight me, expect no mercy."

"Damn!"

Yata kicked the ground and ran. From the skeleton wheels that skim the surface of the street, flames erupt like a raging wave.

Kuro extends his right hand and extends his invisible hand towards Yata.

However, Yata may have learned from the fact that he was caught in the hand of a different talent down the alley. He deftly steers his skateboard to avoid Kuro's extraordinary hand and heads towards him.

Then, Kuro switched his target from Yata himself to around Yata. He concentrates his consciousness, increases the pressure of the power of different abilities, and pinches the surface of the street behind Yata with invisible hands.

Kuro's invisible hands squeeze the asphalt, car stop barriers, and even street lights, bend to pieces, and attack Yata from behind.

"Damn!"

Yata appeared to be swallowed up by the debris. However, he ditched his skateboard and jumped out of the dust onto the sheer rocks attacking him.

Yata, who jumped high using the wind pressure from the steep rocks, jumped to the spot where he was standing in the street light and swung his bat with a joyous voice.

Kuro escaped through the air passing him. The metal bat that cuts through the sky makes a loud metallic noise and hits the streetlight.

In midair, Kuro jumped a step higher, using Yata's face as a springboard, and reached with his invisible hand at the sign on the rooftop of the building that he noticed. Kuro, who was a bit sensitive to the word "sister", feels free to tear off the sign that appears to be an advertisement for a book titled "My Sisters Struggle" and drop it on Yata.

A powerful member of the clan. It won't do much damage, but if he's going to stall, Kuro drops Yata under the sign and jumps onto the rooftop of the building where the boy was.

Kuro has no reason to compete with the red clan member. All Kuro has to do is find the evil "King" before them and kill him for that "reason" before it turns into a great battle.

The boy was no longer on the roof where he had been screaming.

Kuro takes out a small emblem from his pocket, which he cut from the boy's neck when he swung his sword. Kuro tightly gripped the emblem, which is the emblem of Ashinaka High School.

"I will not let you escape."

++++++++++

Get home safely.

The boy arrives at Gakuenjima's bedroom, which is his current home, and walks over to the bed in his beloved room to lie down.

"Oh... I'm tired..."

He literally thought he was going to die.

He was glad that Kuro was a silly, serious and good person. His sick sister's lie that he thought had happened once, and among the fireworks he had, there was a flash ball for the production of events (there was a mysterious sales season called "One Step Before Military Supplies!") , and the fact that the costume was left on the ceiling saved the boy's life.

He dazzled with a flash ball and quickly donned the costume, escaping from Kuro who thought the boy had run away. Fortunately, he got away with the costume because it belonged to a popular dog character often seen walking around town on campaign. After all, it was right after a flashy video of a person with the boy's face killing a person. He was grateful that he could move around without being seen by people.

Along the way, he escaped while disturbing the people who were looking for the boy and the people who set fire, and he managed to return to Gakuenjima. He was unable to fulfill his mission because he had used the fireworks that Kukuri had asked him to bring. He will have to apologize to Kukuri tomorrow.

Following the boy who was weak and lying on the bed, the kitten who overcame a difficult adventure jumped to the headboard and meowed cutely.

"What was that, who are those people?"

The boy closed his eyes with a soft duvet. When he lowered his eyelids, he did not have time to desperately reflect during the trip, the image of a person who looks like him with a gun comes to mind.

"Was the person in that video... really me?"

Do not understand. It must have been a mediocre day. The days of floating fluffy while watching his friends' smiles without having to think about anything are about to be reversed.

"Somehow, it seems to be troublesome..."

"Hmm. I've been doing it quietly until now."

The boy's eyes suddenly opened when there was a close response to the boy's soliloquy. There was white skin there.

A member lying in a gentle curve. Rounded butt, narrow waist, flat chest and gently reshaped over sheets, smooth shoulders. There was no fabric to cover them, just long hair that flowed along her body.

A girl.

Naked

A naked girl.

At the same time as the recognition, blood pooled on the boy's cheeks.

"Waaaaaah?"

The biggest scream that came out today.

Whether he's about to get hit by a flaming metal bat, a flying fireball, a sudden aerial walk, or a sword that's about to cut his through, his voice so far hadn't come out.

"Who you are?"

The girl woke up with a mysterious look as she jumped back and saw the boy with his back pressed against the wall.

A pretty girl of fifteen or sixteen. She has strange, large, almond-shaped eyes, with different colors on the left and right like a cat. One blue eye and one gold eye lined by long gleaming eyebrows.

The girl from the deep looked down at her body and made a slight "Ah." look, but soon turned to the boy with a smile in full bloom.

He doesn’t know why a beautiful naked and unknown girl can give such a pretty smile.

She said happily.

"I am Neko!"

++++++++++

Ashinaka High School. Known as Gakuenjima.

The evil "King" wore the emblem of this school, which is the entire school island in Tokyo Bay.

It's ok to cross the bridge to the Gakuenjima entrance, but it seems that you can only enter the school grounds through the automatic gate at the entrance. Outsiders were told that they would not be able to enter without a guest pass issued by student association staff or officials.

It seems that if you have a matter, you have to go to the window for the visitors, but even if you make a statement in the window, it will be difficult for Kuro to get a guest pass issued.

When Kuro tried to direct his skill towards the door, he was greeted with a bright and gentle voice.

"Ah, what do you need?"

When he turned around, a girl who seemed to be a student from this school was smiling. She has shoulder-length brown hair and side ornaments.

"Kukuri, what happened? Do you know him?"

"No, but he seems to be in trouble."

A girl named Kukuri shakes her head, surprised by a schoolgirl who appears to be a friend. He was impressed by the kindness with which she called, probably because he was carrying some suitcases.

"I'm looking for a man named Isana. Do you have any ideas?"

"Isana...? Oh, Shiro-kun, I'm a classmate."

The girl answered so easily. In such a large school, Kuro leans towards the luck of suddenly meeting that man's classmate.

"Where is he currently?"

“Where… I think he went shopping. Oh, but I think it's about time he came back. Oh, would you like me to guide you to the student dormitories?"

The girl took out a PDA from her pocket and gave Kuro a guest pass. Being able to issue a guest pass probably means that she is a student association officer. At the same time that he is lucky, he thinks of the abominable idiot and the face of the evil "King", saying that Heaven is not on the side of the bad guys.

The girl smiled when she sent him guest pass to Kuro's PDA.

"Yes, this is fine. Follow me! I'll show you the men's dorm."

Kuro bowed deeply to the girl.

"Sorry. Thank you for your cooperation."

"It is an exaggeration. It is a matter of course."

"My master said" There are few people who can do what is natural." I will never forget what you did for me."

The girl laughed shyly.

"Hahaha, you are an interesting person. What kind of relationship do you have with Shiro?"

Kuro tightened his expression and put his hand on the sword at his waist.

"I have something to give him."

"What? Lost property?"

"It is a guide."

The girl bowed her head.

++++++++++

The boy stuck to the wall and was frozen in front of a naked girl who affirmed "I am Neko."

Who is this girl? When she appeared? Why is she naked?

Despite being confused, the boy decided to do something about the third question, so the boy took the coat from the chair and offered it to a naked girl claiming to be a cat.

"And for the moment..."

"No!"

Neko turned around and jumped on the desk to escape. She is terribly light. Really like a cat. But it shouldn't be naked and squatting. It seemed like he could see many things that he shouldn't be able to see, so the boy was sweating coldly and tried to force her to put on his coat.

"Girls shouldn't stay like this!"

"The clothes are annoying, so I don't like them!"

He felt as if he heard a bell ring.

The boy is relieved. Neko who was supposed to be wearing a coat disappeared in an instant. When the boy was confused by the girl who suddenly disappeared, just like when she appeared,

"Do you want to play? Well, it looks like fun!"

A screaming voice came from above. When he looked up, Neko lay down on the furniture and looked at the boy who was wondering when she had moved. The bare chest is crushed by the corners of her face.

When he didn't know what to do... he heard a voice calling him from outside the window.

"Oh, Shiro-kun! I brought a friend!"

It's Kukuri's voice. The word "friend" made him uncomfortable, and the boy rushed to look down from the window.

"How is your sister, Isana Yashiro?"

Next to Kukuri, there was a sword god, Kuro, who ironically raised the edge of his mouth.

The boy attracted a lot of attention.

It is bad. There is only a feeling of having been killed.

Kuro turned his palm towards the window where the boy was. The boy suddenly noticed that mysterious technique and retired to the room. Kuro grabbed the window frame from the boy's room with a mysterious power that seems to be capable of grabbing a distant object and jumped into the room immediately.

The boy somehow thought of engulfing him in smoke again, but this time Kuro didn't even give him a grace. As soon as he lands in the room...

The chill ran, and the boy moved according to his instincts, rolling on the ground and avoiding the sword by a short hair.

Crisp and light, Kuro's sword sits right next to the boy's face.

Really dead. The boy struggled to his feet and tried to escape. The naked sword pursues the boy.

"No!"

It was the girl's nudity that protected the boy from the sword.

The mysterious girl who calls herself Neko seems to have no shame to be naked, and stands in front of Kuro with her arms outstretched.

Suddenly, he froze before the bare wall. The face is tinted bright red.

"Hmm... embarrassing!"

Neko grabbed the boy's hand as Kuro involuntarily walked away. She pulls him hard by the hand.

The boy jumped out of the room and ran down the hall to the bedroom, being dragged by Neko.

Thanks to her nakedness he was saved. However, she is still naked and running in public places is bad.

The boy puts the coat he was holding on Neko.

"This! Put this on!"

Neko, whose head was covered with the boy's coat, was fluffy and small. At the same time, the sound of the bell resounds again.

Immediately, Neko's back running in front of him moved away. The boy staggers at the feeling of confusion. Out of nowhere, Neko suddenly sped up. The corridor has grown.

The corridor, which is not very long, suddenly becomes long enough to run 100 meters in a straight line, and naked Neko turns her back on him and walks away.

"Eh, what?"

The boy is confused and involuntarily stops and looks back. Then this time, the hallway behind the boy got much longer. The entrance to their room, which he had been in before, can be seen in the back, and Kuro who came out of the room to chase them looks like a bean.

Without knowing why, the boy worked again. Follow Neko's back tightly. Beyond the boy's line of sight, he gently jumped out the window. He hopped onto the external emergency stairs of the next building, jumped over the railing, and climbed out onto the next rooftop.

When he thought she really was like a cat, the long corridor suddenly shrunk and the boy was about to crash into the window.

"Wow, is that back? Is that girl's doing...?"

There is no doubt that the naked girl who calls himself Neko has a mysterious power. Maybe the hallway wasn't really stretched out, only the boy assumed it was. But now it is not the case when he is thinking deeply about it. After all, Kuro is chasing the boy from behind, and Neko who just snagged the boy's jacket on her head is trying to run outside, generously exposing her naked body.

The boy imitated Neko and went out the window, more dangerous than for Neko, he followed the bundle out of the window to the emergency stairs of the adjoining building, over the shackles and railings, sliding and clinging to the rain gutter.

The boy turned around, finally reaching for Neko's back who had already descended and was running down the street. Kuro was standing on the rooftop of the building next to the bedroom. Looking down at the boy, he can see his right hand pointing towards him.

It is bad. That mysterious hand will grab him again.

He can't think of a way to escape from that hand, ignoring the distance, the boy stiffened.

Neko who was running ahead looked at Kuro. Neko's eyes, strange eyes with vertically long pupils capture Kuro's appearance.

Hear a bell again.

Then, a small twister erupted on the rooftop where Kuro was. From the center of the twister, a huge bipedal ghost cat appears. A giant monster with a body reminiscent of a professional wrestler looked at Kuro with crescent-shaped eyes and laughed through exposed teeth.

"What is that?"

When the boy took his eyes off her, the cat was furry and naked.

"Strong!"

"That seems strong, but that's not the case... what the hell are you?"

"Wagahai is a cat."

"I heard... a cat..."

Neko smiled a big smile.

"It's a cat that has been with Shiro the whole time!"

Inside the boy, the girl in front of him and that kitten that was friends with the boy overlapped.

Certainly this naked girl appeared in the wrong place with the kitten sleeping next to him. Does that mean this girl is in the shape of a cat? No, the opposite? This girl transformed into that kitten. Rather, if she had the ability to display illusions, it would mean that she had an illusion that made her look like a kitten.

In other words, the boy intended to spend time with the kitten and was actually stroking and hugging a naked girl.

When the boy recalled the dizziness, it seemed like Kuro on the rooftop had already countered the giant monster.

Neko is unmoved by the fact that the giant monster cat has been defeated, and starts running again with a smile and a guard from Kuro. The boy also hurriedly followed her.

While chasing Neko, he noticed that she seemed to be invisible to other humans. It is an incident, a naked girl running around the campus during the day, but no one seems to make a noise even if they run among the students who are busy preparing for the school festival.

Neko running like the wind, with the boy's jacket over her shoulder without closing the front, crashed into a student who was walking with a basket full of oranges. He thinks she plans to make a maid cafe at the school festival. The schoolgirl dressed as a maid looked surprised and dropped the orange she was holding, the boy stopped his leg chasing Neko and stopped, helping her to pick up the orange.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes... there was something invisible..."

Looking at the student who gets confused and says "What...?" Without confidence, he is convinced that Neko is no longer visible except to him and Kuro.

Is it possible to not only show illusions but also make herself invisible? What is this super power that affects a person's cognitive ability?

While he was picking up the oranges and thinking about it, Kuro's footsteps were approaching from behind.

Kuro, who is running with his black hair tied back, is about to turn his palm towards the boy.

Before the boy answered, the bell rang again. Immediately after that, the phase of the place where Kuro is located changed.

Like a deception image, only the path where Kuro was floating in the air, and the place where the path was supposed to be was a wall.

On the crushed stone pavement that turned into an aerial tower, Kuro is standing looking at the boy who has collapsed. If Neko's power is the power to alter perception, there may be a way to step forward, even if it seems like he's gone. But humans can't easily ignore visual information.

The boy looked at the student in front of him, but she didn't seem to notice anything unusual. This illusion seems to work only for Kuro and the boy.

After picking up the orange from the student, the boy raised his hand slightly, greeted her and started running.

The escape and the chase in a world that seemed to lose itself in an image of deception continued for a long time. The boy was chased by Kuro and he is not sure why he is running because he accepted Neko.

It seems that the girl's appearance is not visible to other people, so why not leave her completely naked? Remember that it was not a problem, and that the main purpose he had now was not to dress Neko, but to escape the pursuer Kuro who was trying to kill him.

It was supposed to be a crisis situation, but the reason why he jumped in thought was because Neko who was fleeing to the front seemed to be having fun. Neko was laughing so hard it seemed impossible to think it was a life-threatening escape drama.

"Think, Isana Yashiro! The play is over!"

It's okay to chase after Neko and jump to the back of the school building, but he hit a dead end. Kuro approaches from behind.

Furthermore, the sound of the bell echoed.

"Nya nya nya!"

From the ground between the shrine and Kuro, a huge wall with the face of a ghost cat grows skyward as it screams.

"Anyway, this wall is also an illusion!"

From the other side of the wall, he hears the brave voice of Kuro, who inspires him. Humans can't ignore visual information that easily, but it seems that Kuro decided to believe his rational judgment rather than crazy perception.

Neko lightly tugged on the boy's elbow, who was staring at the wall, involuntarily. He can move a few steps sideways.

In the next moment, the painted wall of the ghost cat's face was scattered like petals from Kuro's assault.

The scene where the illusion was shattered was quite beautiful, and he decided that the illusion wall was an illusion and collided with it, and broken Kuro was echoing.

However, he smashed through the ghost wall, smashed through the place where the boy was standing, and hit the actual wall beyond his face.

It was quite a surreal scene because the look that broke the illusion was great.

"Nyahahahahahaha!"

Neko laughs out loud when she sees Kuro, whose face is buried in the wall.

With awkward and awkward movements, he hit a wall and turned his flushed face away, and Kuro looked towards Neko and the boy.

The voltage of his anger is only increasing, the boy sweats coldly.

However, when Neko saw Kuro, she really enjoyed with her big eyes. It was like a cat playing with prey.

Kuro looks at Neko and turns around. Neko stands happy, trying to protect the boy behind. The original purpose was lost in its pursuit.

Then the sun set, the night passed, and the sun rose again.

Humans, if they're too hungry, their heads won't work.

The boy is accused of murder, he is about to be cut by a guy with a sword, a naked girl shows illusions, and loses the power to think deeply about them. He just remembered the relief that Neko, who was running naked, put on his jacket properly because it was so cold in the middle of the night.

Now the three of them aren't even sure what purpose they were pursuing, and are kneeling in the boy's room, which is the beginning, to get rid of his harsh breath. The fatigue and hunger from not having eaten since last night seems overwhelming.

In the hallway of the student dormitory, the peaceful buzz of boys and girls trying to go to school in uniform resounded, like "Good morning." and "Did you do your homework?"

Kuro was also tired of being thrown during the night. Still, he has not lost sight of his purpose, and when he stands weakly to his feet, he reaches for the sword at his waist.

"Bad "King"... Isana Yashiro... By order of the dead "King"... You..."

However, since he has escaped many times, he is very weak. Also, there is swirling graffiti on the raised Kuro's left cheek, with "stupid" on the right cheek and "meat" on the forehead. It was written by Neko while being carried away by illusion. However, while chasing him, she got used to it, so she didn't laugh anymore.

Looking at Kuro, who was trying his best to draw his sword, the boy was confused on what to do, with a feeling that was different from the already imminent sense of crisis and was mixed with a slight sense of humor.

At that moment, a sad sound and signal was heard. It's Neko's belly.

"Shiro, I'm hungry… Ah~"

At what was said, the boy's belly screamed and responded.

"At the moment... aside from the accumulated stories, why don't we eat?"

At the boy's suggestion, Kuro frowned, "What...?", But his belly obediently complained of hunger.

The boy was flirting and standing up to him.

"Thanks for your support."

It's okay to put the problem aside for the moment and eat, but the boy had no other household skills than cooking rice.

It seems that Neko loves to eat too, but she can't seem to cook like a natural thing, and when they stood in the kitchen and talked about how they could make something that they could eat, it seemed like they couldn't make it. He stood up.

When he sees a briefcase that appeared to be stuffed with guns on the table, does he want to kill before meals? Although it was loud, when he opened it, there were some kitchen gadgets like his own kitchen knife and condiments that he thought were professional.

What kind of person is this guy, a chef who thinks he is a samurai? The boy is confused and watches Kuro's tendency.

Kuro first looked inside the refrigerator and looked at him.

The contents of the refrigerator in the room of the boy who does not cook is deficient. There are some ingredients that can barely be made with miso soup, but there is nothing that can be a side.

"Shall we go shopping? Because there is something like a supermarket on campus."

"I want to eat fish!"

Kuro looked at the boy and Neko with a hard look, and fell silent with a thoughtful look for a moment. Finally, he turns to Neko instead of the boy.

"Do you want to eat fish?"

"Yes!"

"Then buy three horse mackerel. The skin is crispy and the inside is smooth and juicy."

"Nyaa!"

Neko happily makes her eyes shine.

"If you put some soy sauce on the freshly baked horse mackerel, it tastes great. Because it's simple, it tastes universal and happy."

Horse mackerel, Neko sniffed at the drool.

"Then let's buy eggs. Do you like rolled eggs?"

"Dashimaki?"

"It is a dish that is made by mixing many sardines with broth and eggs, and rolling it while baking. It is a soft and smooth food with a spongy dashi aroma. When you put it in your mouth with grated radish, the flavor is accentuated and returns to be delicious."

Neko's drool could no longer be held and hung from the edge of her mouth. Kuro looked into Neko's eyes and said.

"You want to eat?"

"I want to eat!"

"Well. Then go buy it. Write down any other necessary items in a note. Well, your most important role is definitely bringing Isana Yashiro back to this room. If you run away, you won't be able to eat the delicious food I just mentioned. Do you understand?"

"Okay! Wagahai will eat delicious fish and dashimaki with Shiro!"

It seems like he intends to catch Neko with her appetite and make sure the boy doesn't run away.

In the chase during the night, Kuro seemed to have grasped Neko's characteristics to some extent. The endurance game that lasted over a dozen hours, gave birth to a kind of strange bond between the three of them. There is no trust in her, but he can somehow understand the points that he can trust.

He won't run away anymore... He's so hungry that he doesn't know where to run since he found his home, so he only wants to talk quietly once.

The boy laughed bitterly and watched the exchange between Kuro and Neko.

Steam comes out of the rice cooker and there is a slightly sweet aroma that can cook boy's favorite rice.

But that is not all today. The fragrant smell of burning fish mixed there, playing an indescribable harmony.

Wearing a pink apron, Kuro rhythmically cuts the onions. The boy gazed admiringly at the onions, which quickly and accurately became increasingly thin.

Tofu miso soup is made on the stovetop next to the fish, which has a small, crackling, explosive skin and is exquisitely browned.

After chopping the onions, Kuro takes it upon himself to bake rolled eggs with one fluent hand.

After chopping the onions, Kuro takes it upon himself to bake rolled eggs with one fluent hand.

The egg, which was stirred well in a bowl and mixed with the broth, soy sauce, mirin, etc., was rubbed with a strainer, and the liquid egg was poured into a heated, oiled pan. The egg makes noise and hardens in good condition. Kuro started to roll it into a half mature state with beautiful movements.

"Oh~"

The boy and Neko involuntarily give a voice of admiration. The belly of the two screamed again.

When the eggs in the skillet are tightly rolled, the remaining egg liquid is also poured out and rolled further. In the blink of an eye, a beautiful rolled egg was completed and Kuro put out the fire.

At the same time, the sound of cooking rice resounds, and the fish appears to be baked and the grill rises.

It was a wonderful skill to finish everything at the same time.

The boy and Neko make their eyes shine on the table. It's simple, but that's why it stimulates an empty stomach.

He didn't have all the china in the boy's living room, so he bought it when he was shopping for ingredients.

While shopping, he offered to buy a bowl for Neko and was delighted with her large eyes glowing brightly. Along with Neko, who carefully selects her favorite tea bowl, the boy also chose tableware for Kuro. He doesn't eat as often in the boy's room, but he can't bear to let him eat white rice from a flat plate or drink miso soup from a cup.

Kuro opens the rice cooker. The white steam that smelled of freshly cooked rice rose, and Neko happily offered her a new bowl of tea of ​​her choice. He's staring into her glowing eyes as another rice is spilled.

A boy dressed in a killer robe, a guy trying to cut it, and a mysterious girl who suddenly appeared and was believed to be a normal kitten until yesterday, like a united family, clasped their hands around the warm rice.

"Itadakimasu!"

When he sipped the miso soup, the moderate salty taste and aroma of the soup spread through his mouth. The ingredients are simple, tofu and fried, but the boy thought it was the first time he had had such a delicious miso soup.

"It's delicious! It's really delicious!"

The boy lifts the cheeks with red tide. Kuro didn't look careless, but he snorted with a casual expression.

Neko also hurries, squeezes the muff and rice, and enjoys the fish. However, she didn't seem to be very good at using chopsticks and she spilled grains of rice in a conspicuous way.

When he saw how Neko was eating, he looked up and pulled the voice recorder from his chest.

"Rice is important, chew it well."

A man's deep voice rang out from the voice recorder. It was a good voice that was smart but also had a mysterious feel to it, but the boy twisted his head at a strange word like haiku, slogan, etc.

"That's…"

Kuro's eyes said, "Do you want to listen?" He turned to the boy as his eyes twinkled. Seeing his glowing eyes, he said that he was talking about a mysterious tape recorder, the boy was sensitive to the long annoying air it created, and the sign that a story was likely to unfold that the boy didn't care, and he quickly turned his important attention to the rice.

As he cut the fluffy rolled egg into bite-size pieces with his chopsticks, cut out the story of the person that is important to the guy.

"By the way, I want to ask you now."

When the boy changed, Kuro also turned to the boy, erasing the childish expression he wanted to show off when he played the tape recorder.

"In the first place, who are those men who chased me?"

They were people who manipulated supernatural powers, such as attacking with a metal bat that spewed flames and shooting fireballs with cigarettes. Both Kuro and Neko have a mysterious power, so the boy feels lost if he is the only common person.

"A member of their clan was killed. They are seeking revenge."

"Clan member? Are they a runaway tribe or a mafia or something?"

"Clan is a group that follows the 'King', and Clansman is a member of it. The 'Red King' Suoh Mikoto is the 'King' of the third clan, and the most temperamental man among the 'Kings'."

Clan, clan member, "King", "Red King".

The boy freezes slightly, writing down the words that appear in his head.

"In short, the head of the supernatural powers? Is there some other group like that? Do you mistake me for the criminal who killed that member?"

"I am not mistaken; you are the criminal himself. When I finish eating this, I will crush you properly."

The boy was told with a very serious look and a tone that declared that he would take care of the domestic matters he had to do.

"Yes..." He withdrew.

Although he is eating rice with him, he seems willing to carry out the execution after the meal. There are simple parts that are easy to use in Kuro and stubborn parts that are unlikely to bend smoothly, and it seems easy to understand and difficult to read.

"Fill it up!"

Neko, who was happily eating, happily handed the empty tea bowl to Kuro. Kuro receives his bowl and tries to serve rice naturally as if he is doing it every day.

"Oh, yeah, me too!"

They have an especially delicious side dish today, and the boy's favorite white rice is on the rise. Kuro silently stared for a few seconds at the boy who took advantage of Neko and pushed the tea bowl away.

"Well, this is probably the last white rice of my life."

With a light sigh, Kuro also received the boy's tea bowl.

He doesn't want this to be the last meal, but the white rice he eats with the garnish that Kuro made is really delicious, so the boy chews the stuffed rice he got and puts a juicy fish on it.

"I know why they are after me, but why are you trying to kill me in the first place? You are not a partner of those people, right?"

It seemed like a lonely little shadow had fallen over his eyes.

"Because I am a vassal of the Seventh King, the former 'Colorless King'."

"Colorless?"

"It means it has no color. My deceased master ordered me to carefully identify the next 'King' and if he is bad, I will not hesitate to eliminate him. He had the power to predict the future."

He must have longed for the dead master. When talking about that person called Miwa Ichigen, Kuro has a scathing tone.

"The power of prophecy... "Colorless King"... What is that "King" you mentioned earlier?"

"He has great power and embodies the reason of this world. The power of the 'King' is moving this country. It is something that ordinary human beings do not know."

It's a tremendous story and the boy makes his eyes go round

"I was wondering if the Prime Minister was the greatest in this country..."

The current prime minister, Samukawa Kanichi, is not very popular but he is not very obnoxious and he is a person who still maintains a medium approval rating. There is no atmosphere like that of a king, but in this country where there should be no royal system, Prime Minister Kanichi should have the decision-making power to move the country first.

"Now, the politics and economy of this country cannot be established without the power of one man. Japan, which became a defeated country and was eaten by the surrounding countries, could now become the greatest economic and technological power of the world because of the appearance of that man in this country."

"Who is that man?"

"He is called the 'Golden King'. His power is secretly everywhere, for example..."

Kuro poured the soy sauce into the chabudai and took the PDA out of his pocket.

"Both were created by a company controlled by the 'Golden King'."

Soy sauce, PDA, gender and manufacturer are different, but both are famous brands that are spread all over the world.

“The head of those people with fire powers, you said he is the 'Red King', right? Is there red and gold?"

"There are seven kings."

"Seven people?"

Kuro took out various condiments from the briefcase containing a set of kitchen utensils and placed them on the table.

The seven seasonings with different colors on the tops can indicate seven "kings" respectively. Kuro puts his index finger on the seasoning on the red cap that contains paprika powder.

"The character of the clan is completely different depending on the 'king' who rules. For example, if you describe the Red Clan in one word, it is violence."

The boy instinctively frowned, "Uh…". He is being attacked by people who are like symbols of violence. The boy on the skateboard who attacked the boy with a metal bat without asking questions was certainly violent language.

"That is a very close-knit clan, which is united with an elegance darker than blood. Killing that member was a very stupid thing on the part of the new 'King'."

"That's why! It's definitely about someone else! I'm not a 'King' and I didn't kill anyone in the first place!"

The boy is quick to insist on the premise of something he does not remember. Kuro sipped tea silently with a nasty face.

Neko, who should be on the boy's side, seems not to be interested in the story of the two, and when she finished eating the rice, she got on the bed and started playing with the boy's umbrella.

"The 'King' is the one that moves the economy and is the boss of the mafia, right? A high school student living a mediocre life like me is not a 'King'!"

“I have said that the nature of the 'King' varies. There are several ways to do it. The fourth royal authority, the "Blue King", is the head of an institutional police organization for those who have powers, while the first royal authority has immutable power, but is shrouded in mystery. He is patrolling the sky over Tokyo in an airship without fulfilling the role of 'King'."

"Airship... Oh, I certainly could see it. That's a 'King' too, isn't it..."

There is something strangely intriguing, and the boy hugs himself around his belly on the shirt.

“Furthermore, although the existence of the fifth 'King', the 'Green King' has been confirmed, but he has not appeared on the table and appears to be planning something under the surface. It's no wonder if you're a newborn 'King', a high school student, or if you're hiding your status and power as a 'King' and killing for an evil purpose."

"Oh... what does that mean..."

“There is a mysterious relic called "Dresden Slate" that selects the "King" and grants him great power. It is said to be a huge block of stone with a mysterious power that was discovered and studied in Dresden, Germany, during World War II. After the war, the Slate was brought to Japan and is now kept in the Mihashira Tower, which is the residence of the "Golden King". I've never really seen it. The criteria for the Slate to choose the 'King' are unknown, but history shows that not only are good people chosen, and that position and age have nothing to do with it."

"Hmm...", the boy gave a warm reply.

"But I don't have any supernatural powers..."

"Is that what you are hiding? The Seventh King, the "Colorless King", is a special "King" who has different characteristics for each generation. What kind of power and what role does he play appears on the Slate. It is said to be a prankster who knows no limits, the king of clowns. So I don't know what kind of power you have, even if you're hiding it."

"No, I'm not hiding it..."

"Just what is common to successive 'Colorless Kings'."

Without hearing the boy's objections, Kuro continues.

"The 'Colorless King', good or bad, has the power to interfere with the 'King' and change the balance of power between the 'Kings'. The predecessor, Ichigen Miwa, was a kind person. He was doing his best as mediator so that there would not be a conflict between the 'Kings'. The new 'Colorless King', as 'King' has shed human blood, and I cannot forgive him for causing and causing chaos!"

In front of Kuro, who speaks enthusiastically, the boy again heaves a heavy sigh.

Perhaps Neko was tired of playing alone, she returned to the kotatsu and picked up a piece of fish that was slightly stuck to the plate with her finger and put it in her mouth.

Each plate was carefully emptied. When Kuro put his hands on the plate he had finished eating, the boy did the same.

"Thanks for the food."

When Kuro and the boy talked to each other, Neko compared them to each other, clasped his hands as if to look at them and said, "Sorry."

Kuro drinks the hot tea and stands up naturally.

"It's time to kill you."

So, Kuro said that with the same ease as if he said that he would go to a convenience store.

Neko jumps up and poses intimidatingly while yelling "Shah!" The boy was impatient and held out his hand.

"Wait, wait! Then it's funny! Let's calm down! The reason you want to kill me is because I'm the evil 'Colorless King', right? What's the evidence?"

"That video."

"It's so easy to fake! Don't you think that's funny? Why would I call myself the 'Colorless King'?"

"Evil, you reveal yourself."

"If it were so… I made a mess with those dangerous people, I'd already be running away to a safer place! Right?"

Kuro looked away with a thoughtful gaze, but it seems his determination to kill him hasn't changed yet. The boy says desperately.

"I said it many times, I'm just a mediocre high school student!"

"So who is she? Is she not your clan member?"

Kuro pointed at Neko. Neko, who was still intimidating, turned to her own topic and showed her big eyes as if she had struck the void.

"Eh? No... She is..."

The boy looks at Neko from head to toe. The beautiful long-haired girl, who wears only the boy's uniform coat and exposes her bare feet in the harsh place, does the movements that animals actually perform, as she claims to be a cat.

Apparently, it is the identity of the kitten who was friends with the boy, but that is not what he wants to hear and the boy had no words to explain what she was.

The boy asks Neko directly.

"Who are you? Or what are you?"

"Wagahai is a cat!"

Neko said it like she did at the beginning, and she was very excited.

Kuro puts his hand on his jaw as he ponders.

“A Strain… Is she here by chance? Cannot be."

"Strain?"

"A person who has her own special power without being granted by a 'King'. Some people have it."

The boy asked Neko, "Is that so?", But Neko tilted her head with a smile.

"I don't understand anything, but I'm Shiro's cat, and Shiro is mine!"

Neko declares that in a good mood and starts dancing around happily.

Kuro also thought that it was difficult to think that this innocent girl understood the story of the evil "King" or was his vassal.

The boy turned to Kuro and faced him with the greatest sincerity he had.

"Hey, Kuro Yatogami. This is probably some kind of unfair accusation. I'm going to clear up that suspicion in front of you! And I'll ask those scary people to clear up the misunderstanding. No!"

Holding his fist in front of his chest, the boy insisted.

"Your deceased master said to identify the other person and kill him if he was evil, right? Then identify me correctly, if I am good or bad!"

Kuro straightened his line of sight towards the boy and paused to think a bit. Finally, he took out of his pocket that voice recorder that played during meals and handed it to the boy.

"Press a button."

"Hey?"

"Do it."

The atmosphere cannot be maintained any longer, the boy gets confused and presses a button, "Well then..."

"Do not judge the cold, without first knowing the heat of the burning sun."

A good voice flowed with astringency, depth and sensuality.

"What is that?"

The boy was very confused, but Kuro was convinced of something.

"Don't make a quick decision. You have apparently earned a chance to live, Isana Yashiro."

Even with a smile, he was confused. He's not sure what that means, but for the first time, he's happy that Kuro's attitude has softened and the boy's expression relaxes.

"Shiro is fine. Yes, can I call you Kuro?"

"Isana Yashiro."

Kuro, who called him by his full name to cut off his offer, stretched his back and looked at the boy with a stern look.

"I will identify you as you say, and if I find out that you are evil, I will kill you immediately. Okay?"

He thinks he was stubborn, loud, but sincere. In response to Kuro's statement, the boy smiled and asked for a handshake and extended his right hand.

"Thank you, Kuro. That is enough for now."

"If you are grateful, thank Ichigen-sama for advising me."

Kuro doesn't hold his hand and walks away.

The fact that he gave up means that the voice of that recorder is the voice of "Ichigen Miwa". The boy wondered why he was really worried about the tape recorder containing Miwa's mysterious words.

"What is that voice recorder?"

At that moment, the atmosphere Kuro was wearing changed. The atmosphere becomes brighter as if a flower is blooming, and a loose smile is shown as if such a face is made, and the cheeks become red.

He seemed to be excited and began to speak rapidly while breathing.

"This is…! This is a record of the words of the late master, Ichigen-sama. The words of Ichigen-sama, who was also an avant-garde poet, were so connotative and beautiful! I was recording it. It was not enough. burn it on my soul, and I still get lost."

Out of breath, Kuro presses the switch on the recorder.

"Occasionally walk the path you have chosen, the path of your dreams."

"Miwa's words" flow from the tape recorder, and during the narration period, he listens with an elated face that appears to have been beaten. Stained like an apple, Kuro picked up the recorder and looked at the boy with a proud face.

"That's what I'm saying!"

"How awful!"

An honest impression came out of the boy's mouth.

++++++++++

Wagahai is a cat. There is no name yet.

She feels like she used to have one, but she forgets. So a cat is just a cat.

Neko is now curled up on the boy's bed in the shape of a kitten.

She chased him from last night until morning, and when she had breakfast, she made her sleepy, so the boy said, "We will sleep for the moment."

The boy is sleeping under the blanket where the cat is curled up, and on a small tatami space, Kuro is leaning against the wall, sleeping with a sword in a sitting position.

Neko doesn't like Kuro. He came to destroy the happy days with the boy.

There is no way she will like people who say terrible things like kill the boy.

However, the rice he made was so delicious that she forgives him a bit. Especially the fish with crispy skin and plump body was wonderful.

Inside the room with the curtains closed, the morning sun shines through the gap, but it is comfortable and dim.

Neko tried to fall asleep as she was, and after thinking for a moment, she moved towards him. Bring her face to the boy's face and wave by bringing the tips of their noses together.

"Good luck, Shiro."

Neko snuggled into a position where the boy's body temperature could be felt. It is not cold here.  She is not alone. She liked this place where she could hear the boy breathing next to her.

Neko is from Shiro, and Shiro is from Neko.

Feeling the temperature of her favorite company, Neko closes her eyes and enters the world of dreams.

[underthewingsofthblackeagle]

“Berliner Fernsehturm” * Foto: BernardoUPloud

After her marriage with Frank Randall has failed and Claire Beauchamp flees from her violent husband, she finds refuge in the house of the Fraser/Murray family in Berlin-Wilhelmshorst. But then tensions arise between Britain (which has since left the EU) and some EU member states. All holders of an English passport are required to leave EU territory within six weeks … and suddenly Claire’s fate looks more uncertain than ever.

This story was written for the #14DaysofOutlander event, hosted by @scotsmanandsassenach​

Chapter 10: 14 Men (6)

         "Now you will tell me that this is all publicly available information and I would agree with you. But I was not aware of it before. In a way, it woke me up. It took some time but when I had the opportunity to take over another week of night shifts I immediately agreed. In this time I developed a kind of plan. I was eager to find out if Frank's statement was true. At first I tried to track when he was going to conferences or work meetings. Not all of them, but several of them took him to England and Scotland. I can't prove it, but I had the impression that his travels became more frequent at times when 'the Scottish theme' was boiling over. Later, after 2015, and particularly after the Brexit, his travel intensified."

        To Jamie's surprise, Claire reached into her handbag, which she had hung on the back of her chair, and pulled out a piece of paper she handed over to Ferdinand Groide.

        "This is a list of all the trips my husband has taken since 2013, supposedly for reasons of his work as a historian."

        Groide skimmed the list, then put it aside.

        "Thank you very much. We will try to verify the data."

        "In the weeks that followed, I voluntarily took several weeks of night duty, because there was another advantage to this. I was at home while my husband was at university and could look through his records almost undisturbed."

        "Will you share the knowledge you have gained from this?"

        "Yes. But perhaps we could have some tea?" Claire replied as she looked at Jamie.

        "Certainly."

        He got up and left the room for a moment. Ferdinand Groide pressed the 'stop' button on the recorder. Then he got up and stretched a bit. Claire did the same.

"Tea” by Pexels

        "It's good to take a little break," Groide said as he slowly walked across the room and then paused at one of the windows. Claire, too, had stood up and stretched. Her steps led her to one of the dark oak bookcases. Slowly she let her eyes slide over the old leather-bound volumes. Then her gaze wandered over to Groide.         Ferdinand Groide was, at least as far as she could judge right now, an impressive person, even on the outside. Claire estimated him to be in his mid-60s and should be almost right. The 66 year old, tall man stood bolt upright in front of the window and had his arms crossed behind his back. He was moderately slim and not muscular, but his movements suggested that he had kept himself physically fit for his age. His black, short cut hair showed grey patches only at the temples. From the first moment they met, Claire had been attracted to the unusual shape of his face - you could almost call it rectangular. The way he appeared and behaved radiated calm and a kind of positive authority. He was wearing a black three-piece suit of virgin wool, whose jacket he had taken off before dinner. The timelessly elegant waistcoat that appeared beneath it, from whose small side pocket a golden watch chain protruded, and the discreet tie of dark Italian silk jacquard that matched the pocketkerchief of his jacket contrasted with the visitor's simple but flawless white shirt. Groide wore gold-framed, thick glasses that suggested myopia, a simple gold wedding ring on the right hand and a signet ring with a dark blue stone on the left hand. At dinner, Claire had also noticed the rectangular gold cufflinks bearing Groide's monogram. Everything about this man underscored Claire's impression that she was dealing with a person who not only knew exactly who he was, but also what he was doing.

        Moments later, the door opened and Jamie entered.

        "Tea will be here in just a few minutes. Would you like something else to drink?"

        Claire shook her head, Groide turned to Jamie and said:

        "Thank you. Not yet."

        A little later, a knock caught their attention.

        After Helene Ballin served tea and everyone had a cup, Groide asked:

        "Can we continue?"

        Claire nodded.

        Groide pressed the record button on the recorder, and Claire went on to talk:

        "My husband has always had a certain reluctance towards the new media. Of course we had a PC in the house that was connected to the Internet. But my husband used it very rarely. An yes, he also has a notebook. But it was never allowed to be connected to the Internet. Frank was always afraid of viruses or that hackers would steal his work. Before 2015, when he used the term 'work', I was thinking only of his research and the manuscripts of his books. But since that conversation in November 2015, I wondered if it could be about something else entirely. My husband always took his notebook with him to the university. But that was not a problem. Because Frank was obsessed with the thought that his notebook might get lost or - even worse - be stolen. So..."

        “.... were there disks, USB flash drives?" Groide asked interested.

        "No," Claire replied smiling, "papers.”

        The expression of highest astonishment was to be heard in the older man's voice.

         “Papers?”

        "Yes, papers. Frank believes that only what is written by hand will remain in ones memory. That's why everything he later typed into his notebook was first written down by hand."

        "And you had access to these handwritten documents?" asked Groide, who had now put his arms on the table and moved his whole body forward a little.

        "No," Claire replied smiling.

        "Too bad."

        An unmistakable disappointment spread over the face of the German.

        "Why?" Claire asked, adding: “One can get access."

        She laid her head to one side coquettishly, smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

        Once again, astonishment spread over Groide's face. Meanwhile, Jamie had to pull himself together because he almost laughed out loud. This woman was not only intelligent and strong, she also had a sense of humor. It was delicious to watch the rapidly changing emotions she was able to conjure upon Ferdinand Groide's face.

        "So you have ... gained ... access ..." he said, trying to remain objective.

        "Yes," Claire, in turn, noted objectively and took another sip from her teacup.

        "One Friday evening, it was in early February 2016, my husband came home from university in a rage. He said that he had had a dispute with the university management about his research funds. Later I was to learn that this dispute never existed. In fact, it was that one of his affairs had dumped him. But that's another story. As always, when he was angry or did not know how to handle a situation, he became aggressive and drank. And that's what happened that weekend. "

        Claire paused for a moment, looked at the table and took a deep breath.

        "Then on Sunday ... he started drinking whisky after lunch. He drank until he was laying snoring on the sofa. I used this opportunity to make a copy of the key to his filing cabinet and the key to his desk."

        "How did you know how to do that?" Jamie asked, looking at Claire in amazement.

        "As I said, I was raised and educated in a very ... nonconformist way. In port areas you can ... come into contact with ... people ... who ... help you with ... such questions ... I had used the pre-Christmas period to, well, let's say, make contacts there. Frank hates to go shopping and so I knew that on these days I did not have to expect that he wanted to accompany me. In a bar I inquired and the waitress behind the counter told me that she could make a contact for me for the payment of $100. I gave her $50 and the number of my department at the hospital as well as the dates on which I was on night shift. Two days later, a man calling himself 'Joe' called. We set up a meeting the night of the next day. He promised to give me two small boxes with a mass to make prints with. He asked me $600 for them. The next night, just before the night shift started, I met ‘Joe’ in the parking lot of the hospital. He gave me a brown bag, the kind you get in burger and fast-food restaurants. Inside were the little boxes. I gave him an envelope with the money in it. We agreed that if I got the prints, I would get back to Brenda at the bar. It took some time, but at the beginning of February, as I said, I finally had the opportunity to carry out my plan. When Frank fell asleep drunk on the sofa that Sunday afternoon, I took the bunch of keys from his jacket pocket. Then I locked myself in the bathroom and made the prints. When I returned to the living room, Frank was still asleep and it was easy to slip the bunch of keys back into his jacket pocket. I had taken the boxes with the prints, wrapped in a towel, into the bedroom. There I stashed them among other things in my doctor's bag.”

“Medical Bag” by Raimundo Pastor

        Claire held out her cup to Jamie, who poured tea for her again.

        "A few days later I went back to the bar, gave 'Brenda' another $50, the boxes and a note with the details of my next night's duty. It took about 10 days, then 'Joe' called during my night shift and announced that he would bring me the keys the next evening. And that's exactly what happened. He gave me the keys and I gave him another $600. The next day I went back to the bar and gave 'Brenda' another $100, as I had promised her. That was the end of the deal. In total I paid 1400 dollars. I thought, this investment will certainly pay off."

        Now Claire took a big sip from the cup that Jamie had left for her.

        "Investment?" Jamie asked.

        "Well, I was curious if Frank was really working for the Secret Service. To be honest, I still thought his story was just bragging and I didn't expect to find anything real to do with MI5. But I was hoping to get hold of evidence of his affairs. Evidence that, in the event of a divorce..."

        Claire paused for a moment.

        "Our marriage had gone downhill in the years leading up to it ... I had heard rumors, I had suspicions. "But my studies and work didn't give me time ..."

        "And then you put the keys to use?" asked Groide, who was very keen to make sure the conversation didn't drift into secondary topics.

        "Yes, in mid-March the opportunity arose. Frank flew to Edinburgh for a weekend, supposedly for a conference, and I took the opportunity to look around in his filing cabinet. I was frankly amazed at how well the keys worked. When I opened his cabinet I found, among other things, 14 files relating to the 'New Jacobite' leaders. They contained detailed information about each of these men. CVs, family trees, family relationships, friendship and business relationships, relationships abroad and more. In each of these files there was also a folder with pictures. I didn't recognize Jamie, I mean Mr. Fraser, in Boston. Because in the pictures in the file that Frank keeps on him, he has red hair and no beard..."

        Claire looked over at Jamie, whose hair and beard were black. He smiled and stroked his hair, slightly theatrical, and said:

        "There's nothing like a good make-up."

        All three of them smiled. Claire picked up her cup again and drank. Then she continued in a rather nonchalant tone:

        "It was very interesting to read about the lives of these men. "

        "After all these years, do you think you can still remember what you read in these files?" Groiede asked.

        "Anything?" she asked with a smile.

        "I can remember everything as if I had a photographic memory."

        Again she reached into her handbag. To the surprise of the two men, Claire's delicate hand produced three silver USB flash drives, which she slid over to Ferdinand Groide.

        "Each of these sticks contains one terabyte of data. I photographed all the pages of the files and placed them in folders with the appropriate names."

        The men looked at her first, then at each other in silence for a moment. Ferdinand Groide took the sticks and looked at them.

        "You ... said ... that ... you ... did this ... research ... in 2016, so seven years ago ... does that mean the files are up to 2016?"

        Her answer came quickly and came as no surprise to Ferdinand Groide or James Fraser:

        "No, I made the last additions three weeks ago. At that time Frank was - supposedly - at a meeting of historians in Canberra. So all the files should be almost up to date."

        Groide was struck dumb. Jamie had no recollection of ever seeing the old man like that. He had sunk slightly into himself and his face had lost the rosy colour that was so characteristic of him. He was obviously aware of the heavy responsibility that came with owning these sticks. Claire's information could change the fate of at least three or more nations. Groide knew it and Jamie knew it, too. But was Claire aware of it? Jamie could not answer this question.

        His friend took off his glasses with the angular golden rims and wiped his eyes. A long breath of air escaped the old man's lungs. Then he looked at Claire:

        "And you want to give me, I mean us, this information freely?"

        Claire nodded:

        "Yes."

        "May I ask you, are you doing this to get back at your husband?"

        "No, I mean yes, you may ask me. But the answer is no. I was thinking of using it against him in case of divorce. But having read so much about the history of Scotland, I think that something like this ... must never happen again. And..."

        "And?"

        Now ist was Claire who took a deep breath.

        "And having learned by chance this afternoon what a member of my husband's family had done to Mr. Fraser, I don't want anything like that to happen to anybody else."

        Groide looked over at Jamie, but kept silent.

        "All I ask is that you use the information you receive from me in a way that will prevent harm."

China-usb / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

        Groide had his eyes on the tabletop and the USB sticks in front of him. Claire and Jamie heard the hands on the big wall clock that hung behind them ticking. A few moments passed, during which they all remained silent.

        "Mrs. Beauchamp, I want you to know that I have great respect for your decision. I'm just one small weel in a much larger machine. But I promise you that I will use all my influence to see that this information is handled as you wish. I also want you to know that we have no hostile feelings towards your country here. On the contrary. The Brexit and its consequences are much regretted in our country by most people. And not just for economic reasons. We miss the voice and political weight of your country. The oldest democracy in the modern Western world has always had an important, a great weight in this Union - also to establish a political balance. You know, there are member states that have not been familiar with the democratic system for so long. So far, things have gone reasonably well, but the loss of the British vote in the Europan Parliament could lead to dangerous imbalances ... And then we must not forget the human relations. I myself grew up many decades before the reunification of our country in a West German state where British troops were stationed. The British were neighbours for us. A friend of mine, who has since passed away, married an English woman, joined the Anglican Church and became military chaplain for these troops in his city. Friends of mine had planned to buy a small cottage in the southwest of England and spend their retirement there. Many of the cities where I lived had partnerships with English cities. We all very much regret the developments of the last ten years ... and we can only hope that a future generation may be able to reverse them. I hope you know that you are very welcome, not just because you are giving us this information or as a health professional, but as a person. And I hope you'll be able to settle in."

        Claire nodded. Then she reached out her hand and put it on the old man's right hand.

        "Thank you, Mr. Groide. I appreciate it."

        "You can call me Ferdinand, if you like."

        "Sure, Ferdinand, I'm Claire."

        "Thanks, Claire."

        "Well, after that eventful work meeting, let's have a nice drink, shall we? How about a whisky?"

        Jamie looked at her expectantly.

        Claire nodded.

        "I'd love one."

        Groide shook his head.

        "Jamie, you know I don't drink that stuff. I'll have a vodka, please."

        "You see Claire," Jamie said with an ironic undertone, "you might as well learn something about the Germans here. When it comes to alcohol, they have no taste."

        He handed her a glass of whisky.

        "He's right, Claire. And remember one more thing. We have absolutely no sense of humor either."

        The men began to giggle and Jamie had to stop for a moment before he handed the glass of vodka to Groide.

        "You may say what you usually say about my taste in alcohol, Jamie," Groide then said jokingly.

        Jamie looked at Claire with a grin.

        "He spent too much time with Russians, they spoiled his taste."

  Wodka / Vodka Rene1905

        "Sa sdarovje!" was all Groide would answer. Then he turned to Claire again:

        "You said earlier that you intend to ask for a divorce from your husband?"

        "Yes, I do. I hope it's also possible from here."

        Groide looked at her thoughtfully.

        "Do you object to Claire's request, Ferdinand?"

        "No, I understand the request very well. I'm just worried it might put MI5 on to you, Jamie."

        A mild shock drove Claire through and she nearly choked on the whisky she'd just taken.

[pestopascal]

why are you defending cyberpunk so much? its a really buggy mess, it barely works on even some of the best pcs, they lied when they advertised it working on the ps5 but not ps4, and there were a ton of issues even before release happening with their social media team

my point is that people pick and choose when they wanna throw their arms up over the standard that is AAA gaming releases, and has been since prooooobably da2′s release (14 months to produce and release a game). maybe even earlier if you consider kotor2′s release (aka, given 11 months to make a game).

my point is that fallout 76 was an unplayable, game breaking, exploitative game riddled with many of the same issues. and i dont know anyone who continues to play it to this day but i know faaaaaar more people who refunded it or cancelled their orders just prior to launch because they didn’t want to brick their consoles.

my point is that one of the biggest blowbacks towards crunch was in regards to rockstar and red dead redemption 2′s release, a game which is now heralded as one of the best of all time, despite the way it treated everyone who worked on it. the moment it fixed everything, people forgot about just how hurt people working on that game were

my point is that skyrim is treated with this gentleness and fondness for dragons flying backwards and giants leaping into the sky and glitched quests (and how trophies, still to this day, sometimes will never work so you will have to put in another 100+ hour playthrough to be able to MAYBE get something). the irony in sony going after cp77 but STILL not forcing companies to fix broken quest lines

remember daa, with the silver mines? how if you happen to get that bug, that’s it. you basically have to restart. all ur items are gone, you can’t proceed. boom. bioware has never made an effort to fix it. they just released awakening as is, and proceeded onto their next project.

you also have to take into account that, okay sometimes they can’t pick up on all the glitches prior to testing like one or two are gonna slip through! but there’s a difference between that and a glitched out unplayable mess. cp77 honestly isnt unplayable, in fact it is one of the better games ive played at launch in a long time. do you know what gets these ppl notes and likes on the internet? blowing this shit out of proportion. in my 30+hrs of playing already, where im still just wandering around and picking up side missions and checking out clothes and whatever, sincerely have not seen half the shit ppl have said. not that it isnt true! the screenshots and vids are there! but people are piling it on, completely and totally, just for the sake of interest.

remember when mass effect andromeda dropped, and they had that beta test version that like journalists got to play, and how the models for cora and ryder had weird kind of motions and how sara ryder’s facial expressions are still a meme to this day? and how it kept getting piled on sooooooo much when it was like... not actually like that gameplay wise, and the story was quite nice, but who actually talks about that when you can talk about how bad the game looks ugh loading sequences ugh 360 head spins. fallout 4 had those weird smiles coming from npcs that are quite haunting, weren’t fixed.

you can actually tell that cdpr paid attention to writing a story that works, the endings are cathartic and not 2edgy2bedifferent like me3′s fucking starchild bullshit. also speaking of games who spent so long in production their story fucked up: persona 5 and final fantasy 15 are examples of spending too long being worked on with the story that despite how good it looks, it is a vapid excuse of a game that you HAVE to play either sequels or the dlc to get the full brunt of it. remember persona 5′s advertising? COMING SUMMER 2013. final fantasy 15 was ff versus for the lonnnngggeeesssstttt time too before square enix took it upon themselves to fuck it up and then GET MAD when ppl pointed out the story was kind of shallow (and also “why arent you releasing ff7r already”)

oh and then we also have things like kingdom hearts 3, which was quite frankly? awful and was FULL of corporations just getting their hands on it and doing whatever with it story wise (disney wanted frozen to feature so bad they intervened completely). borderlands 3 which keeps messing with the dlc and im amazed they even keep trying. bl3 was the sequel no one asked for, because it had no idea what it was doing. it was setting up to a story that i think very few ppl are now interested in.

yes cdpr lied. yes there are issues with their social media team. who do you actually blame though? the investors? corporations like sony and microsoft who no doubt wanted the game released as well? project managers, their bosses, the CEO? shareholders? fans who wanted the game now instead of putting up with another delay because lets be real: if a company needs to delay the game, they need to delay the game. its a demand and supply thing going on and the ppl who sit behind desks just see numbers they dont give a fuck about the people and we all know this. it fucking sucks.

this is not the first company, this is just the most public blowup because this game was teased in 2012 and people have held out for years and i get it! i do! ive been waiting for this game for years as well. and we can argue about how you shouldnt preorder games or not play stuff at launch or like how you should already have the latest console that has been sold out since it was announced and wont arrive in your country until march ! this can go back and forth and we can talk circles around cdpr but the point is: this isnt the first instance of it. it wont be the last.

if sony actually gave a fuck, they would review every single goddamn game that has been released to this day and has had bug reports. they dont. this is to clear up their public image. these companies truly dont give a fuck. bethesda admits to relying on fans to make their games playable with modding and to ALSO keep track of their story because it doesnt matter to them.

[mylesdiwm302]

8 Videos About GTA 5 Online Money Generator That’ll Make You Cry

Various other individuals additionally reported having gotten the message upon logging in greater than once, however not getting any kind of extra money. Grand Theft AutoOnline is familiar with insects and glitches, yet thankfully most of them have actually tended to be less major than the two-headed skeletons which got here inGTA Online's equivalent, Red Dead Online.

In survival mode anywhere from a solitary player to 4 gamers should prevent 10 waves of opponents that come to be increasingly more powerful. In between waves gamers need to gather products as well as gear up for the next wave.

Still, there are reasons you'll intend to play them, particularly if you're new to the game. To access heists, you either need to join another gamer's heist, or get to level 12 in-game as well as host your very own. Most importantly, you'll want three other close friends to play the break-ins with (you can matchmake, yet it's perilous, and also playing all four break-ins with the very same team nets you a benefit payout). That with any luck won't be excessive of a difficulty if you know other individuals that have gotten the game for free and have half-decent PCs. When you begin GTA Online, you produce a character, do a tutorial as well as are unleashed right into Los Santos. Epic's free gift of GTA 5 features the Bad guy Business Beginner pack, a bumper choice of goodies to obtain you started in GTA Online.

Naturally, OneSync will certainly make it possible for brand-new, much better methods of doing specific points you carry out in your manuscripts, so you could want to make use of those when they're launched. We placed the neighborhood-- both players, web server proprietors, and the better GTA modding community-- initially. The PlayStation 3 and also Xbox 360 versions of Grand Burglary Automobile Online enable as much as 16 simultaneous gamers, while the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and also COMPUTER versions enable approximately 30 simultaneous players. Superstar announced in September 2015 that the PlayStation 3 and also Xbox 360 variations of the online setting will no longer obtain any brand-new GTA 5 Online Generator extra web content, due to constraint in the console capacity. A standalone variation of Grand Theft Automobile Online will certainly be released for PlayStation 5 and also Xbox Collection X in late 2021; it will certainly be free on the former for the first 3 months. Later, Lamar additionally employs the player for a few jobs, which primarily consist of undermining competing gangs to set the phase for his eventual rise to power.

Relocating special freight can obtain a bit tiresome, though the needs for picking up and also shipping it can change in substantial and also fascinating means each time, yet it does enable you to accumulate over $200k a hr if done successfully. Another vital idea for newbies is to knock senseless your everyday objectives whenever possible.

Gta 5 Pc Ranking Money Unlock All Fast Cheap.

Now, while the 16-crate-storing Convenience Store Lockup in Rancho for $250,000 is respectable service, I would certainly recommend the center of the range 42-crate Fridgit Annexe in La Puerta which will set you back $925,000. As Superstar remain to add new features to GTA V, we had a chat with a modder who's already light years ahead. As GTA Online finally brings among its greatest myths to life, we consider seven various other reasons we can't avoid of Rockstar's play area. As soon as you've understood the Pacific, Lester's multi-tiered End ofthe world Break-in ought to be your next port of call. Divide right into 3 acts, the most significant adjustment right here past its expanded range, is the fact you're only required to get one pal for assistance.

regrettable for the host, it was a map i had played before with my brother, so i understood just how to reach the tools, got there in a snap and also proceed to spawnkill the host til he leaves. i have actually been there a pair times, the last time was recently, i needed to play a DM for my day-to-day objectives, fast tasks send me straight right into among this death catches. The Center Heist Problem helps you to deceive the GTA system into thinking that you are acquiring both the preparations and the setups of a heist, despite the fact that you are just paying for the preparations. This problem does not straight give you any type of money yet it helps you to fast-track your break-ins to ensure that you can earn money faster in the gameplay. In a game like GTA, a hundred thousand bucks might not seem like a terribly huge quantity. However, if you obtain 100k every 3 minutes, after that it's most definitely not a poor deal. This glitch can be used to make fast cash so that you can afford to purchase a couple of autos that you have actually always had your eyes on.

Gta 6 Competitor Ex.

Most importantly, greater online reputations will certainly likewise allow you to gain access to particular secured products like weapons or automobiles. In short, the greater you scale your track record, the much more interesting and enjoyable your game comes to be. The term Money drop mod is instead obvious, and indeed, it is precisely what it sounds like!

GTA 5 Online Generator works with all systems on which the game was released.

This way, you can buy whatever you desire or do whatever you desire with them.

It's not a surprise, then, that it needed to put on hold applications as over 4,000 people used.

For the full subtleties of this approach, examine our GTA 5 Stock Exchange and also Lester's Assassination Missions direct.

He additionally kept in mind periodic gameplay pacing problems as well as technical hiccoughs such as mid-mission server disconnection.

The player-characters are made by a genetics-related procedure. Greater control is offered to the character's clothes and also hairdos. The lead character gets here in Los Santos by plane as well as is grabbed by Lamar Davis, that gives the character a gun and also a car. An hour-long tutorial introduces the gamer to the various game modes, driving, fighting, and also game development mechanics.

Added Material.

You additionally get an executive office, a gunrunning bunker and also a cyclist gang hideout, every one of which use various ways to make you even more money from the start. You can access activities in each of these places from the laptop computer you'll find inside each building. 7 -Do not kind anything associated about money declines or modding in-game conversation.