#and also have access to massive prop and set collections!!!!!

[jelliebeanbitch]

I CAN DO THIS!!!! I CAN LEARN TO BE A THEATER DESIGNER!!!! YES I AM JUST STARTING OUT AND DOING THIS FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!! THATS CUZ IT IS A TRADE AND YOU LEARN A TRADE BY PRACTICING!!!!! SO I AM GOING TO PRACTICE DAMMIT!!!!

[paperskinned-writing]

Took longer to get this out but here we are. Went through a couple reworks and since it's an in-between chapter(?) I kept it kinda short and to the point. Well, it's a bit longer than originally planned. Anyways, Kali x Ilia continued.

Enjoy.

Ilia hadn't meant to find the box obviously. The bed skirt was going to otherwise be eaten by the vacuum cleaner. It also was just close enough to the edge of the bed that, in spite of being under it, the vacuum still tapped it.

She wasn't really trying to look through the contents, even if the lid was crookedly placed atop. It was just all happenstance. Just mild curiosity over what she had bumped into.

Still, while Kali hadn't bothered to put it back in the closet since the last time she and Ghira used it, she found her maid fumbling through the boxes' delights. Some plugs, a couple blindfolds. A leash with a small bell. Differently shaped or sized toys. Eventually they all found themselves spread out on the bed. Amusingly, the maid was so wrapped up in her discovery that she neglected that her mistress had returned.

Well, not only returned, but had slipped in through the adjar doorway and was quietly watching from her comfy seat on the window sill. The view outward overlooking her prized garden. The view inward overlooking a petite figure handling some of her more intimate treasures.

She smiled a bit wider and cleared her throat softly. The sudden color palette swapping only made her quietly chuckle as the maid came to the realization without turning around. Ilia quickly slammed all the contents back into the box as fast as possible and tucked it back under. Completing her self-created task, she simply slumped her face into the bed as she sat on the floor. Not turning around to face the contents owner.

Kali wasn't mad at all. While the reaction was certainly cute, she was well aware that she could've done a better job hiding it at least. Unintentionally, she had set up her helper when she told her to clean up her room. But that was the fun part and she wasn't going to admit.

"See anything interesting?"

The little hands clenched her uniform's hem in her lap. Literal magenta on every inch of exposed skin.

"....sorry, Mistress," a smothered apology came across the room.

Kali tapped the lip of her grinning mouth. Not an evil grin, but certainly wicked.

"I didn't quite hear that one. You'll have to turn around if you want me to hear it," she said with feigned sternness.

The petite figure slowly shuffled around to face her, still sitting on the floor. Her head bowed, tears stinging her colorful cheeks.

"I'm sorry for prying, Mistress…. I-I'm not sure what I can say," she pouted.

"I don't know either," the feline laughed. "Since you were so enamored, I didn't stop you."

The magenta levels increased further yet.

"See anything interesting?"

Ilia slowly glanced up through her brow. Kali had shifted to a forward lean, one hand draped across her wide hips and the other propping up her chin. An intense focus gleamed across her eyes as she smirked.

Iliad hands unclenched from her dress and she twiddled her thumbs. Obviously trying to gauge the situation. She had been caught red-handed going through some rather private items. However, she wasn't being coddled like when she broke things. She was seemingly being handed a cryptic chance to get out of jail free.

"I-If you want to punish me, Mistress, I couldn't refuse…"

"Good answer."

.

.

.

"Kiss it."

Ilia complied with the purred order. Pressed into her cheek, a short but girthy dildo filled her peripheral. Kissing the tip, it began to slowly push it's way past her pouty lips.

"Lick it…"

She complied.

"More...yes. Yes. Wrap it...Gods that tongue!"

Face down, ass up.

The maid lay and obeyed as the feline grabbed a few items from the box. The maid had stripped and been handcuffed behind her back, her rear on display. Light sweat beading on her tan skin ran down her arched spine, exciting her more.

Kali pulled the toy away from her mouth and traced it up the girl's spine. The spittle trailed as it went, til it firmly and gently, was pushed into the maid's love tunnel. The slobber acting as lube as this newest intruder filled the tight space.

Being the third one so far, Ilia took it well with little whimpering. The first was rather thin. The second a tad longer and now this one was stretching her.

Around her hips, Kali wore a strap. The ribbons of leather sank into her flesh as she leaned over the smaller girl. Occasionally, she gently pressed the enormous tip between Ilia's thighs for a few strokes but it was much, much too big for the maid. At least for now.

It was the pride and joy of her collection. Literally a cast of her husband's member made into her own for those longer spells without him. The familiar large, veiny silhouette bobbed under its own weight as she pumped the other toy into Ilia. The little one certainly needed some training to get to the same level as herself. Luckily, the afternoon was all theirs.

As Kali buried the dildo in far enough to kiss the womb, it suddenly wasn't possible to retrieve. Mewling leaked from the girl's throat as she came hard and she clamped down in a vice grip. It was about a full minute before Kali could pull it out. And it came out with an audible pop. The feline lapped at the slightly agape entrance. Her tongue may not have been as long as Ilia's but it was rougher. Especially when used on a girl who just climaxed.

She probed as deep as she could while tasting everything. She pulled back and attacked the maid's rosebud too, startling the girl but she didn't resist the new experience. It was only another minute before she shrieked out again, clamping down on Kali's fingers this time as her backdoor was continuously serviced.

Proud of her handy work, Kali sat back again and found the fourth and larger toy. But when she pushed it in, she pushed the smallest one into the maid's winking asshole. Clearly Ilia had not explored back here herself as she struggled and shuffled around. Her mind caught between the pleasure of her front while her rear was trying to reject any intrusion. Gasping in between mewls and moans as she took her mistress's affections. Finally, the smaller of the two sank to the hilt where Kali left it. There was still more training in the front before she could really have fun with the slab between her thighs.

.

.

After toy six, Kali had decided it was time to reward herself for her patience.

She withdrew the dildo from Ilia's womb, tossing it casually to the side as she licked and teased the spasming maid clean again. Toy number three was nestled in the rear, earning a small shiver from the girl when she tapped her nails on its base.

.

.

Ilia was a sweaty mess on the covers. After so many orgasms, her legs had given out and Kali had taken advantage of her flexibility to drag her to the end of the bed to cuff each of her ankles to one of the bedposts. Her ass just barely hung off the edge leaving easy access for the feline. Her smooth tanned thighs taught while holding the splits.

The maid felt a slight panic as the next toy prodded her. While each of them were larger than the last, she could tell just from the broadness of this one, it was a bigger jump in size. She shivered as her mistress lightly rubbed it around her opening. The teasing was merely preparation for the task at hand.

Kali marveled at the sight of her member spreading Ilia's lower lips. It's girthy shape--a perfect copy of her husband's--bending slightly as she adjusted her hips to push it further into the gasping maid. Clenching and resisting, the pressure edged the feline closer to release as the insert of the strap-on ground deeper inside her own love tunnel.

Oh, Ghira!

Part of the fun of her beloved strap was her fantasizing what her massive husband must experience whenever he plowed her tanned ass. The subtle squirming of the woman beneath him as she tries to accommodate the meat stick filling whichever hole he pleased. However he desired.

She had to be a bit more lenient. Careful not to break her toy maid. Still, it excited her every time she broke in a new girl with this massive rod hung between her legs.

Hilted firmly at last, she pawed at the tan cheeks in front of her before testing her grip in the nook of Ilia's hip and thighs. Leaning over the restrained girl, Kali rocked her own hips side to side, gyrating them 'til the maid's squeals started to deafen her sensitive ears. Stirring the girls insides without withdrawing, she used her shaft to carve its shape into her. Sticky fluids from both of them slowly dripping to the floor as the grinding worked them both to screaming.

WUMPH.

Hips met ass meat in a sudden clash. Forcefully, Kali held her claws in their nooks and laid her naked chest on the girl's back to leverage herself better. Springing off the cuffed ankles, she rocked on her toes to pull back to just the head of the toy just to slam it back in. It was a slow, powerful fucking. The force of each blow sent shivers throughout the mistress's spine as the insert rattled inside her. The maid wheezed out every time she was filled up again, the toy seemingly so far in her gut she lost her breath. The small grind before Kali reeled back every time pushed the dildo in her ass further in, confusing and exciting Ilia's more feral needs. She lost track of time and place and solely waited for her mistress to fill her up again with her massive strap with every pump. To feel her hard nipples slide across her own sweaty back as they both approached blackout levels of ecstasy. The sticky dribble between their legs was now a stream that stained the side of the bedding and down to the floor. Wet slapping sounds filled the room on every stroke. The end drew closer for them both. They could feel it and it made them quiver.

Letting out a guttural roar that normally would have frightened the girl, Kali hilted herself one last time. Gnawing at the girl's neck and up to her blushed ear, she shook violently in her climax. The shivers translating through her hips, Ilia could only whimper and bite into the blanket in return. Her insides clamping and releasing over and over as she drifted in and out of consciousness. Kali slumped over her back as she struggled to breathe as well. Kissing the maid's reddened cheek and forehead, she couldn't help but let a wicked grin cross her face. It was too much fun.

.

.

.

Having cleaned and returned everything to its darkened container under the bed, the two snuggled it out on the sheets of the bed. The stained covers strewn on the floor, Kali stroked the curly ponytail as Ilia nuzzled her chest. Hands roamed both ways, groping and pinching softer bits of each other.

They were exhausted from their play but they knew they had to clean up the rest. The rest of the servants would probably check in soon and it'd be obvious what they were up to. And no one else knew about this. Yet.

[lppsidefics]

Meihem Fanfic: Ice eyes

Chapter 1: Flurry

><><><><><

Begrudgingly, Jamison Fawkes followed the big ape off the plane and into the frigid temperatures. Despite being inside the damn base, the snow and ice seemed to linger in every corner of this arctic wasteland. The solid hanger doors gaped open, having allowed years of extreme low temperatures to funnel into the massive room. It was hardly livable inside, as the climate turned the metal building into a freezing icebox.

Junkrat stomped and cursed his way through the hanger, his boots caving into the piled snow blanketing the landing strip. “Ak-choo!” He sneezed, and a string of green oozed from his nose. Rubbing his hands up and down his own arms, he attempted to keep the blood in his veins from icing up into strawberry slush.

“M’fucki’n freeze’n me nuts off Monkey! Wot’s so fuck’n important, that we had ta haul our ass’s all tha way ta the tip-top ah no-where, just ta find some abandoned ol’base that no-one even lives in anymore!?”

“Language, Jamison.” Ana scolded, flinging the long end of her blue scarf over her shoulder. She stepped off the plane right behind the younger junker, stopping to adjust his winter hat for him.

“Ah, yeah. Sorry Nan.” Jamison said, and Ana patted his cheek with her soft glove. He smiled at her sheepishly, but when she turned away to join the team leader further inside the base his grumbly expression returned.

With a deeply aggravated sigh, Winston pinched the bridge of his nose. “Mr Fawkes please, I have already told you. I don’t know the cause of the beacon’s activation…That is what we’re here to find out.” The gorilla scientist pressed a thick finger into a button on the wall, but the hanger gate refused to close.

No power, Winston surmised, and shifted his attention to the hanging bay doors. “Mr Roadhog, could you assist me.”

The large man grunted, before following the ape to the opening, where Winston pointed to the door on the left, and he himself approached the one to the right. With their might’s combined, the hanger doors pinched closed, and the bright sunlight in the room snuffed away.

It wasn’t pitch dark, but the loss of sun did give the crannies a dangerous look to them.

The cold was a little more manageable now, but still Jamison shivered beneath his puffy lime green coat. The collar of his woolen turtle neck was itchy and awful, and he’d been tugging at a wedgie in his snow pants for half an hour, but the slippery fabric just kept escaping through his gloved hands.

This trip had been miserable already, and they had only just arrived. Jamison was stuffy, pouty, and grumbly, as he tromped over the landing strip, his brows twitched in irritation on every step.

Meanwhile Roadhog seemed rather snug, layered in a collection of hand knitted jumpers, and wound in a series of multi-colored scarfs. If he was as cold as Jamison was, the large junker didn’t show it, as his masked expression remained just as calm and possibly empty as usual.

Winston quickly discovered that the lift was frozen shut, but it didn’t have the power to work anyway, so the small team instead climbed a set of iron stairs to the upper floors. Jamison’s metal peg leg slipped on only one of the many frozen steps, as they slowly made their way up to the main part of the base, and once at the top, he gave the lengthy drop below an uneasy peek over the railing.

Their foot falls shuffled down the empty corridor, as cold air streamed against their faces. Junkrat paused when they passed by a dark room, where cryo sleep tubes lined the wall in a row. Any power the chambers would have been drawing from was dead, and he could only assume the occupants were as well.

However, each pod was closed except one, which was eerily left propped open and empty.

Jamison gulped, feeling a different kind of chill creep up his spine, one not of cold but of fear. He didn’t like this place, it was all the things he hated most. Cold, dark, and clean. Just like Dr Ziglers hospital room at HQ, where needles and blood bags were stored in freezers like soda pop.

Noticing that Roadhog had also stopped beside him, Junkrat coughed into his gloved prosthetic hand. “S’noth’n.” He sniffed in a string of winter snot, and hobbled after the elder team members who’d continued ahead of them.

The cold air was swirling around them now, seeming to emanate from the beacon control room itself, as chilling mist wafted from the small sliver of an opening between the automatic doors. Winston tried the buttons on the wall, but it was pointless, so he then pressed his thick hands between the open space, and forced the metal to part wider.

As the metal cracked and shifted, snow flurried into his face, the flakes spiraling around him and showering over the new arrivals like a cloud of tiny cold fairies. When the storm settled, they each made motions to shake the collected snow piles off their shoulders and out of their hair.

Sweeping a puffy coat sleeve over his face, Jamison removed the white bits of ice that had landed on his brows and lashes, before huffing visible breaths of air into his gloves. “S-shouldn’t it be get’n warmer further in?”

“Must be another breach somewhere.” Winston said, before stepping aside to let Ana to get a look inside beacon control room.

She leaned in, scanning over the room with her remaining eye, before stepping across the gap and into the ghostly cold, soon followed by a hesitant Junkrat, then Winston, adjusting his glasses as they fogged instantly upon entering the room, and finally Roadhog who had to squeeze his belly through with a pop.

The lights in this room appeared to be as dead as the rest of the place, and Ana cracked a set of sickly yellow glow sticks, before distributing them to each of the four team members.

It was the arctic, and every room in the base was cold, but the temperature dropped significantly once they opened this room, and there was an ominous silence throughout the entire base, but in this room, there was a faint robotic beep replaying over and over.

“Beep….. Beep….. Beep….. Beep….. Beep…..”

It was like a heart monitor, one of those unfeeling rhythms that put a person on edge, and they followed the sound through the dark before the yellow glow met a reflective blue wall.

Crystallized ice towered up to the ceiling, and their eyes glided upward to it’s top in awe. The icy wall had encased the entire beacon and control panel, but it also spiked out to take half the room as well, cresting the walls with patterns of glittering frost.

“Hoolie-doolie, that’sa icicle…” Junkrat enamored it’s size and gave the glass-like casing a few knocks. “…Solid too. What d’ya think happened here mate?”

“I’m not sure…” Winston furrowed his brows at the console, watching the tiny green light blink teasingly beneath the blue coat. “…But what ever happened, it was after the beacon was activated. The ice cuts off all access to it’s panel. Unless… it was an automated system…” He trailed off, bringing a knuckle to his chin as the ape became lost in thought.

“Here is what I don’t understand…” Ana started, and the room turned their attention to her as she walked up to a light switch, flipping the tiny button up and down a few times before planting the same hand on her hip. “…if there’s no power in the facility, then how is the beacon active at all?”

“Perhaps there is a backup supply unit, only for the beacon.” Winston suggested, but Ana wasn’t convinced as she strutted her way back to the iced over control panel, and with a cocked brow she turned her eagle eye on the ape leader.

“That’s not in the standard blueprints…”

“Someone…” Winston started, before giving his wide shoulders a shrug. “…I presume who ever activated the beacon, must have modified the power input. To keep the signal working, even when all other power had been used in the facility.”

“If that’s so, then where are they?” Ana asked, gesturing to the empty room and assumedly the empty base beyond the four walls. She then pointed a finger at the active green dot beneath the ice. “…Winston, this little blinking light traveled all the way to Overwatch HQ. It brought us here… but why?”

The room fell silent again, except for the nerve rattling beep of the beacon terminal. Winston and Ana were deep in a silent thoughtful moment, while the Junkers stood idly, waiting for instruction. Jamison’s eyes darted back and forth between the senior officers, before giving a glance to the iced up control panel.

“Welp!” Junkrat clapped his gloved hands together loudly, shocking a jump out of everyone, and catching all of their attentions at once. “Won’t know why it’s act’n funny, ‘less ya can get ta tha controls ro’ight? Can’t get’ta tha control panel, ‘less this ice is cleared. Ain’t here for piss’n round! So let’s blow this block in’ta ice-cream!”

With another sigh, Winston pulled his glasses from his face, giving the hight of the glacier another inspection. His eyes following it all the way to the top, before returning to the smaller of the two Junkers. “Mr Fawkes, are you sure you can remove the ice with out damaging the machinery beneath it?”

“A’course, mate! It’ll be ace!” With the spin of a land mine in his metal hand, Junkrat stepped up onto a sheet of ice and held his arms up wide. “This’s tha great Jamison ‘Junkrat’ Fawkes yer talk’n bout! I know what I’m do’n!”

Directly after his proclamation, his peg skidded on the ice and the arson’s legs tore into a split. Junkrat howled in pain, and cried for Roadhog to help him up, which the larger junker did, and Winston sighed yet again with his fingers on his temples.

“Winston.” Ana addressed the ape, holding her medical-gun on her shoulder, just in case. “This is what you hired them for… give them time to prove their worth.”

It was true, the team Winston had assembled for this task was strategically thought through, and he’d specifically chose to bring Junkrat for this purpose. He knew they’d be dealing with ice, and the demolitions expert would be useful when facing a blockade such as this one.

Though when asking Jamison to accompany him on this mission, he’d only required the single junker, but Winston was then informed that “Where ever I go, Hog goes!”, and that was the end of the negotiations.

Every team needed a medic, and that was why he assigned Ana. Angela might have been his first choice, but Ana was better at handling the Junkers, the younger one had even grown attached to her, calling her ‘Nan’ like an older relative. Perhaps it was because of their missing biological components that they shared a bond he couldn’t quite grasp.

Or perhaps Ana just views him as an orphan looking for a home… Winston considered this, watching as Junkrat excitedly pressed his thumb into the tiny button of his handy detonator, and the bombs blew with an echoing ripple of sound.

The light from the first explosion cast shadows across the room, and revealed the innards of the glacier for a moment, before the fire died and with it, the light. Just above the beacon’s panel, there was a rather strangely shaped dark spot, hovering within the thick ice wall.

The team leader disregarded it at first, seeing as the icy wall had many strange imperfections, but when Junkrat blasted it again, and again the fire illuminated the shadowed spot, he found it a bit more suspicious. Winston brought his glasses back onto his face and squinted at the dark space, but couldn’t make out it’s proper shape. He stared at it, as Junkrat detonated another bomb, and it’s light revealed the figure of a human body.

Junkrat was positioning another mine just above the panel, when Winston called out to him. “Mr Fawkes, wait a moment…” But the arson was too enraptured with his work to hear the command, and blasted it anyway.

It shook the ice, this time sending cracked bits crumbling from the top, but the person inside still appeared to be intact. Junkrat giggled as he set another mine, but halted when the ape commanded “Jamison! Stop!”, with his palm open in a forceful gesture.

“Alro’ight, crikey. Dan’t have ta shout.”

Ana quickly cracked a hand full of glow sticks at once, shaking them in her fist before holding the bouquet up to the person hidden beneath the ice. “Mei-ling?” She uttered, her brows lifting and her single eye wide in shock.

The dark spot became a girl, pale skinned and soft featured. Her hair was ash brown, her lips blue, and she was dressed for a nap, in fluffy pajamas. She was balled into a fetal position about two feet above the beacon panel, and beside her was some sort of weapon looking device.

“Mei-ling?!” Winston exclaimed, placing his hands on the outside of her ice encasement, as if she’d simply wake at the sound of his voice. His eyes searched her face for life but with a huff, he dropped his fore head against the barrier.

“Who’s it?”

The elder team members turned to Junkrat, and the sorrow in their expressions lingered as they addressed his question. “Mei-ling Zouh…” Winston explained. “…She was a researcher here when it was still an active base. When the first Overwatch devision disbanded, this site was left abandoned and the team was considered dead officially.”

“But…” Ana’s eyes trailed from Mei’s face to the persistent blink of the beacon light on the console below. “…She must have activated the beacon, and then froze herself… Awaiting rescue.”

“A rescue that never came…” Winston finished, and the room fell silent.

“That must have been nearly twenty years ago…”

Junkrat rested his prosthetic hand on his bony hip, and braced a palm against the wall of ice, admiring the sleeping face of the girl within. “Well she’s look’n pretty good for a lady push’n forty.”

“The ice kept her in a stasis.” Ana said, not even batting an eye at the junkers comment, and handed Winston the bouquet of glow sticks, before swinging her bag off her shoulder. It flopped on the floor and she un-zipped it down the middle, digging through it as she spoke. “If she’s still alive in there, she’s going to need medical treatment…”

She started emptying the contents, lining bottles, stacking supplies, and un-raveling a large tarp which was quickly smoothed out onto the tile floor. “…I don’t have the equipment to heal her properly here, but she’s been in the ice this long, it should preserve her until we can get her home.”

“What exactly are you suggesting Ana?” Winston asked, staring at the woman crouched on the floor with a hopeful brow.

“We’ll just have to cut her out…” Ana said plainly, standing again and stretching her back in a rather casual way. “We cut her out, load her onto the transport, and fly her back to HQ where Angela can take over.”

The team all seemed to be turning over the plan in their minds, looking for flaws in it, but the situation was too unusual to have any protocols to think of.

“How’re we ganna cut through this, Nan?” Junkrat asked, gliding his hand across the solid glass-like wall, his fingers dipping into the crevasse he’d created. “Even me bombs didn’t make more than’a crack.”

“This is a science lab, and we are capable…” Ana then spun, taking the glow sticks she’d left with Winston, and looked in to his eyes with her stern one. “…I’m sure we can find a way.”

The gorilla understood without being told. He can find a way. After all, Winston was the team leader, the smart one so to speak, and just like every other member of Overwatch, he had his job to do.

[meloncubedradpops]

Repo! The Corona Opera

For every rotation that Earth has completed around the sun since the dawn of humanity, humans have created art to cope with the realities surrounding our everyday life. We weave stories in songs, movies, plays, books, paintings, and so forth, that help digest the world around us and provide an entertaining escape from the cruelties we endure. Some stories take place in abstract universes or in the future, and we rely on what we know in our present reality to build upon these fantasy societies. My favorite movie, Repo! the Genetic Opera, certainly makes this list. We are currently experiencing perhaps the most surreal year of our collective lives, and with each passing day I argue that we find ourselves closer to the world crafted in Repo. I have seen this movie, at least 20 times. If you haven't watched Repo! the Genetic Opera or you haven't seen it in a while, I recommend giving it a view. The movie is unique in that it falls under three distinct genres: musical, horror, and sci-fi. And while the jury is out on whether our future society is going to go full on gothic aesthetic, I can say that the Repo! movie experience offers a glimpse into a dystopian fascist post-plague world wrapped in unapologetically hilarity with a heaping side of camp. It doesn't offer any spiritual cleansing that our souls collectively need, but it does show us what a new normal could look like if we really go off the rails.

As things stand, right now, so much of our daily lives and culture are impacted by the coronavirus. All of our institutions have been impacted, from school, to work, to family, to the way we interact with strangers, and especially our economy. We have all felt the effects in one way or another, and honestly? Most the impacts are of our own undoing, for better or for worse. I am going to write three pieces analyzing Repo! the Genetic Opera. First I will create the foundations that bridge our contemporary life and the world of Repo! Second I will explain how the Repo! universe operates under the definitions of fascism. And third I will weave together parts one and two into our contemporary world (particularly in the context of the United States) to highlight the dark path we heading towards. My viewpoints are of mine, and my own alone. Let's dive into part one.

Part I Repo! the Genetic Opera takes place in the year 2056. Humanity was on the brink of collapse as a result of a medical crisis that caused massive organ failure.

I never gave the premise much thought, at least not until recently. We aren't given much detail beyond the fact that entrepreneur Rottissimo "Rotti" Largo solved this crisis through his company GeneCo. GeneCo provides organ transplants that can be repaid through a payment plan. Witnessing the coronavirus unfold in real time and seeing its wrath, particularly on severe cases, honestly makes me wonder if the writers had some sort of "super plague" in mind when creating this universe. For the purpose of this analysis, I will assume that humanity suffered at least one infectious disease crisis. And just to reiterate covid-19 particularly, we really *don't* know what it's going to do to us long-term. Let the parallels begin. 

The world in Repo! the Genetic Opera, operates as normally as the citizens possibly can, which appears to be quite limited. I have noted how dated some the technologies look.

For a world 30 years in the future, it lacks cell phones and easy access to internet. When we enter Shilo's world (aka her bedroom!) she watched Blind Mag sing on a busted up tiny ass TV and the program itself looks like an ad on Home Shopping Network.

The Graverobber is shown reading headlines on a newspaper. The news reporters shown in the ribbon cutting ceremony during the 1st Italian Post-Plague Renaissance have old school cameras with flashbulbs.

The most contemporary technology appears to be a Wish.com version of an Apple watch, and even that looks like a leftover prop from Spy Kids.

Obviously the people who made this movie intentionally inserted these anachronisms, but why? This is a science fiction movie after all. I speculate that they reverted back because the impact from humanity's crisis resulted in an overall professional "brain drain" from the sheer volume of professionals that dropped dead. In fact every scene depicting medical procedures looks dimly lit and lacking in sanitation. We will see this as we struggle to contain the coronavirus, at least in America. Healthcare workers have already died from this thing, and I am sure many prospective college students will have second thoughts about a career in healthcare. I mean hell, look at no other than GeneCo itself. That company employs workers called "Genterns" who are most definitely not in full PPE. I don't doubt their medical expertise, but they appear to be disposable (please see: that time Luigi killed one for NO REASON in "Mark it Up").

On that note, it really was quite incredible how China built the pop-up hospital in Wuhan in under 4 days, but it was also not the most safe or structurally sound building by far (it collapsed, people were hurt!). Maybe at this point, the people in Repo! don't have much of a choice. I am sure there were likely legit hospitals, but the fact that the Renaissance had gross surgery tents is a bit unsettling.

This is a world that is completely built upon the social more of valuing your health above all else. There had to be a turning point in the GeneCo business model where they really played on up-selling organs for the benefit of "genetic perfection". "I needed a kidney transplant desperately. GeneCo showed this single mom sympathy. This makeover came for a small added fee. Now I look smashing on live TV!" Imagine signing the documents for your power of attorney while actively going into renal failure, when your doctor chimes in with an up-sell for breast implants. When all is said an done, your body is now not only functioning again, but you're hot! Even in a post-plague dystopia we are still holding value to having a nice rack. What's not to love about GeneCo? Obviously we know right away that GeneCo has a dirty side. Rotti Largo personally lobbied to make organ repossessions legal, and he does not hesitate to recollect his property. The concept itself is, of course, wild. In America, our healthcare system is incredibly broken and expensive.  You would wonder how it could get worse without us backpedaling many steps on the industrialization timeline. And in a lot of ways, I could see a company like GeneCo thrive here. We already hate the poor, and we have political think tanks that salivate over the idea of cutting social programs that keep people alive. Our president has wanted to repeal the Affordable Care Act while many people are unemployed during a pandemic. In Repo! we hear about those who don't pay, but obviously there are plenty of people who do. Those who can will happily pay, either for vanity reasons or to stay alive.

And while society cites Rotti as being a "hero" for humanity, we see more and more evidence that the crisis is both not under control and life is cheap.

His son murders multiple people, in front of others, with seemingly no repercussions. In the scene where Shilo meets the Graverobber for the first time, adjacent to the graveyard and tombs owned by wealthy families who could afford grave markers, lies a poorly constructed wall hiding thousands of corpses piled on top of one another. We even get a glimpse of a truckload pouring more onto the pile. I would not be surprised if there is a disinformation campaign there keeping the public in the dark (although you'd think the smell would be unbearable at this point).

There are multiple indications that propaganda works in society (still), and no one is getting the full picture of how much of a raw deal the people in Repo! have. We see poster after poster about GeneCo, in the literal absence of other corporations. 

And a lot of them bear resemblance to 20th century Russian propaganda. It would be a real shame if the goals outlined The Foundations of Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Future of Russia were actually realized. Imagine going to visit your mother's grave and hearing commercials for hardcore analgesics play through the cemetery. Also, there's a police presence too. Apparently the police are called Genecops and have authority to execute any assumed graverobbers on site.

Imagine the hellscape it would be to live in a world where your loved ones may have died from a terrible pandemic, and you face a non-zero chance of an over zealous cop murdering you thereafter, and because their qualified immunity bypasses the judicial system entirely...oh wait. Anyways let's circle back to the Graverobber character.

Graverobber's role in Repo! appears to be minor on the surface. Rotti's daughter, Amber Sweet, appears to almost despise her relationship with him. And that relationship involves him supplying Amber with what he describes as the "21st Century cure". This cure you ask? A super effective painkiller with the clinical use to accompany GeneCo surgeries. This drug is called Zydrate, and it has a street version that he acquires and sells, with clients including Amber Sweet.

Graverobber makes his living sucking the glowy blue brain corpse goo and injecting them into people on the streets. Yum!

Not everyone who needs an organ transplant can pay for it all upfront. Luckily for them, GeneCo provides payment plan options! The caveat to this is if you fail to make those payments, legally GeneCo can come and repossess your newly acquired organs. If you find yourself past due, you will soon see the last face before your doom, the Repo Man. He will harvest GeneCo's property, and it won't matter where you are or what you are doing. There is no anesthetic, and you will likely die! This was all made legal through Rotti's lobbying efforts.

Society, as it's set up today, allows for property repossessions. This can be as straightforward as a repossession of your vehicle to as heartbreaking as a foreclosure on your home. At the end of the day, the impacts of that are difficult and life changing. Currently millions of people in America are out of work, and the threat of losing everything is at stake for many. We could lose our homes, our vehicles, and our sense of purpose. And while many government bodies have created temporary moratoriums, they have not provided any substantial financial relief to keep the proverbial repo man at bay. What went wrong in this dystopia to normalize the concept of death due to nonpayment? Fascism! Ah yes, the dreaded f-word. In my next essay, I will outline the 14 characteristics of fascism and how it relates to the universe in Repo! After I will relate that to our modern world so that we can try and stop this from becoming our reality.

[olliepig]

Waiting in the Wings ch 4

It's the morning after the night before....

Massive thanks are due to the wonderful @willow-salix for her invaluable help with this.

As always, the full thing can be found on AO3 here

***************************

In the dim glow of the pre-dawn Scott came to and smiled to himself, basking in the memories of the previous few hours and the feeling of calm that had come over him. Opening his eyes, he could see Cat’s hair arrayed on the pillow next to him, framing her face and he kissed it gently, feeling the soft strands tickling his nose.

Cat rolled over in her sleep, seeking him out and unconsciously wrapped herself around him. He felt her arm thread around his waist as she snuggled herself into him for comfort, whimpering slightly and burying her face into his shoulder. Instinctively, he pulled her close and she relaxed, deep sleep claiming her again. He kissed the top of her head sleepily as he drifted off again too, tangled up in each other and content.

Hours laters, Cat awoke to the morning light creeping around the edges of the curtains, the room now bathed in a golden glow. Still not fully awake, she looked blearily around trying to work out why she wasn't in her usual bedroom at Creighton-Ward manor before suppressing a small smile as she remembered the events of the previous night. Behind her, she could feel the unmistakable warmth of Scott and she rolled over carefully and propped herself up on one elbow, doing her best not to wake him.

Deep in sleep, he possibly looked even more handsome than usual despite his striking eyes being hidden, their long, dark lashes casting shadows on his cheeks. Worry lines that she knew hadn't been there the last time she had shared a bed with him were smoothed away, leaving him looking relaxed and happy as a small smile tugged at the corners of his full lips.

Reaching out, she ran her fingers through his hair ever so gently, taking in the flashes of grey that were now visible at the temples. She couldn’t say she was surprised at their presence given what she knew he’d been through over the years.

He had kicked most of the covers off during the night and she let her eyes roam across his uncovered torso, such a familiar sight even after all the time that had passed. There was the jagged scar he’d gotten from falling out a tree trying to help John get his toy rocket back after it veered off course when they were kids; over there, the one from where he went over the handlebars of his bike and hit his shoulder on the edge of the kerb. She smiled, remembering lying like this with him before, listening to him tell her all the stories she apparently still knew so well.

But then there were the new scars, the ones she didn’t recognise that clearly had stories of their own that she wasn’t privy to. Without thinking, she reached out and traced one gently with her finger, suddenly realising just how much time had passed since the last time they had lain in bed together and how little she really knew about the man he was now.

She had always had an inkling of the toll that their job must take upon the men of International Rescue and getting closer to Scott had confirmed her suspicions. Nobody who dealt with life and death on a daily basis could come out unscathed; the new scars Scott carried were testament to that.  

Her mind wandered back to Penny, beside herself with worry after what she now knew to be Gordon’s near deadly run in with the Chaos Crew. When it happened, Cat hadn’t known exactly who or what had been involved but what she did know was that it was the only time in 15 years she’d seen her friend truly distressed. Now that the circumstances and nature of the accident had been explained to her, she could see why.

Suddenly, she found her peace shattered by the unwelcome realisation of the implications of her actions the previous night. There was an attraction between them still. That much was clear. But whether that was enough for them to form any kind of romantic relationship again when the stakes were so high was open for debate. And more importantly, she wasn’t sure she wanted another relationship, especially not with someone who had hurt her in the past.

She shuddered slightly as she remembered her last attempt at dating. Her former partner had taken offence not just at the amount of time she spent at work, but also at the close relationships she had with her fellow dancers. After months of put downs and arguments that made Cat wonder why on earth she had stayed for so long, the final straw had come when he’d seen her kissing one of them. In normal circumstances this would be a reasonable cause for argument but for the fact that it had been on stage, during a performance. Despite how clearly ridiculous it was, his paranoia was such that he was adamant this proved that she was cheating and he gave her the ultimatum of choosing her career or him. She had walked away that night but it had soured her views on relationships in general ever since and had made her much more cautious about dating anyone who didn’t completely understand the demands of her job.

Looking down at Scott, she was relieved that he hadn’t seemed fazed by any of that when they were together before or in the limited contact they’d had over the past weeks. However, her brain helpfully  reminded her of his question regarding the nature of her relationship with her best friend the previous night. She had dismissed it at the time, thinking he was just making sure that he wasn’t crossing any lines but the voice in her head wasn’t so sure. She had ignored it before to her cost but what if it were right for a second time?

Not wanting to risk waking him, she remained unmoving for a time, letting her thoughts whirl and coalesce. The truth was she had no idea what she wanted to say to him when he awoke.

Suddenly realising she needed space to think, she slipped out of bed and quietly dressed herself, following the trail of clothes scattered from the bed to the door.

“Good morning,” came Scott’s voice from behind her as she reached for the door handle, making her jump and freeze in her tracks.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you,” Cat whispered, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights as she crossed the distance between them, settling herself delicately on the edge of the bed as he sat himself up to face her.

“Running away so soon? I thought you’d at least stay for breakfast,” Scott tried to joke, the doubt in his eyes as they met hers betraying his jovial tone.

“I wasn’t sneaking away, I promise. I was just going to get changed before everyone gets up and starts asking questions,” she reassured, hating herself for her partial lie but unwilling to say more until she had managed to settle her thoughts.

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” murmured Scott, scooting closer to her up the bed and nuzzling into her neck, trailing kisses up towards her jaw.

Cat couldn’t help herself. Despite her turmoil she tilted her head away to allow him easier access, closing her eyes and sighing as his hand slid round the back of her neck, his fingers tangling in her hair once more. Unbidden, her hand reached up, resting on his bicep and pulling him closer as she moved her head slightly to catch his lips with her own in a lingering kiss before pulling back and standing.

“I’ll be back soon I promise. Then I think we should probably talk about this,” she gestured to the bed, making Scott’s blood run cold.

Left alone, Scott sat for a time on the bed, not moving from his previous position and wondering where he had gone wrong.

To say he was confused would be an understatement. They had never specifically talked about where their relationship would go, but given their flirting and the events of the previous night, he had woken up fairly certain that it had moved into romantic territory. The moment they had just shared before she left would have added credence to that theory but for her other actions that morning. Sneaking out without waking your partner up after your first night together generally didn’t scream “romance of the century” and there was something in her tone when she said that they needed to talk that struck something akin to dread into him.

Deciding that he'd be better placed if he were dressed for whatever conversation was coming his way, he swung his long legs out of bed and headed for his bag. Rummaging through it, he found his clothes and threw them on before collecting his belongings from where they had fallen the previous night, smiling at the memories they awoke but his happiness tinged with worry of what was coming next.

Lacking anything else to do but wait, he settled himself down and contented himself with scrolling mindlessly through his phone, trying hard to concentrate on the screen instead of letting his brain get too far ahead of him.

Overthinking had always been a bad habit of his and was definitely the downside of his tendency to act first and think later. Most of the time his instincts were good and he got it right, but when he didn’t it could leave a world of regrets for him to sift through. Wracking his brains, he couldn’t think of anything he had done wrong the previous evening but there was a gnawing doubt that he just couldn't shake that something was amiss.

After what felt like an age, he finally heard the soft knock that he’d been waiting for and he crossed the room quickly, keen to get whatever conversation was needed started.

“Is everything OK?” he asked, stepping back to allow her entry.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Cat said, crossing the room and sitting on the couch in the small sitting area that Penny always provided for her guests.

“So, what’s going on then?” asked Scott, weighing up his options and choosing a chair slightly off to one side. Ordinarily he would have chosen to sit next to her but something about her demeanour set alarm bells ringing and he wanted to be able to maintain a respectful distance in case the conversation soured.

“I don’t know,” Cat sighed, not knowing how to proceed. She had come in absolutely sure of how to have the conversation she knew she needed to but now she was in front of him, it seemed so much harder somehow.

“Well, can I take you for dinner sometime?” Scott asked, deciding that he was going to have to be the one to make the first move. Cat visibly tensed at his question and Scott quickly realised that she was steeling herself to do something unpleasant, sending his heart plummeting.

“Scott, listen, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. I don’t really have time for a relationship right now with everything I’ve got coming up at work. And we both know how it ended before. I don’t know if I want a repeat of that if I’m honest,” she held up a hand to stop him from interrupting before she continued. “I know it was years ago and I have forgiven you but it doesn’t take away the fact that it still happened. You don’t just get to swan back in here with your big blue eyes and your dimples and sweep me off my feet,” she finished much more forcefully than she had expected, suddenly aware that long buried emotions were starting to make themselves known.

“I… I’m sorry. I didn't think…” Scott stammered, taken aback by the sudden anger in her voice.

“Look Scott, you really hurt me ok? I mean, we knew we were going to be long distance for a while but we worked it all out, having me in London and you in the Air Force. And then suddenly you were deployed for a few weeks and it was over? I was devastated, Scott. Do you know that? I was 3 weeks into finding my feet in a new city and a new company and suddenly the one person I thought would have my back no matter what dropped me without a backward glance.  That really fucking hurt!” Cat took a deep breath and blinked away the tears that were threatening to fall.

“I don’t know what to say,” stammered Scott, all his worst fears about the impact of his actions suddenly confirmed.

“Saying goodbye to you before you deployed was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,” sniffed Cat, looking at the floor as she slumped in her seat letting the tears flow freely, her anger giving way to grief. “I spoke to so many of the other wives and girlfriends before you left so I thought I knew what to expect but nothing could prepare me for it. Moving away from you to London was bad enough without you heading into a war zone at the same time. I had no idea if I’d ever see you again. I get that it was just really shitty timing for everything and I know that part wasn’t your fault but to go through that, start getting life back to normal and then being dumped when I was back on my feet was the worst.

“You nearly destroyed me, Scott,” she continued, looking up at him again as the tears continued to fall. “I couldn’t eat, I couldn't sleep. And all the while I was trying to make new friends and impress in a new company. Thank god for Penny and Parker for looking after me all through it.”

Wiping away the tears, she held his gaze when she stopped talking, as if daring him to look away from the impact of his actions and his heart ached as the reality of the hurt he’d been responsible for was rammed home for him.

Before he was even aware he was moving, Scott found himself on the sofa next to her, his arms wrapped tightly around her, pulling her into his chest. She clung to him, burying her face in his neck as he kissed the top of her head, trying desperately to give her the comfort that she needed.

Even though it had been his decision, their breakup had hurt him too and he well remembered the pain in his chest as he had ended that call; it was the same as the pain that was there now. When it came to relationships, he’d been brought up to always consider others feelings before acting and being confronted with his failure to do so hit him hard.

“I’m so sorry. You’re right, I absolutely shouldn’t have done it like that. I just didn’t think about the timing at all,” Scott felt terrible but also defensive of his actions. Despite the hurt they had so obviously caused, they had been made for a good reason.

“Why?” she asked simply, looking up at him but not pulling away from his embrace. “Why did you do it?”

The simplicity of the question caught him off guard and Scott’s mind was suddenly pitched back into the chaos of the first few weeks of his deployment. Cat waited and watched quietly as Scott tried to sort through the memories, the silence building between them.

“I was scared,” he admitted finally. “I’d seen so much death over the few weeks that I’d been there that I thought I wouldn’t ever be the same again and I didn’t know what to do. I thought it was better for you if I left than if you had to deal with the aftermath when I got back.”

“You would have been worth it,” she replied quietly, not trusting herself to say any more without crying again.

“But it wouldn't have been fair to put that on you. You had your own life to live - look how amazingly you’ve done. You didn’t need me coming back and ruining it all for you.”

“So you’re saying the only reason you broke us up was to protect me?” Cat clarified with a hint of a sneer in her voice, her previous anger starting to return.

“Absolutely. If it wasn’t for that, there’s no way I’d have let you go.” Scott was earnest in his response but the warning in Cat’s tone had the first doubts about his actions starting to creep in.

“Bullshit,” she spat, pulling sharply away from his embrace. “You just didn’t want to risk the guilt you’d have felt if you’d come back with some kind of trauma so you decided to make life easier for yourself. It was completely selfish.”

“No! That’s absolutely not it!” Scott was horrified that his actions could have been taken in such a way. “I just wanted to protect you. I didn’t know what else would happen when I was there. We’d already had one guy seriously injured if you remember? I could have come back mentally or physically changed. And I might not have come back at all.”

“But you didn't! You were fine!”

“But I didn’t know that, did I?” exclaimed Scott, exasperated and bewildered in equal measure.

“But surely you can see that it should have been my choice to make?” Cat pointed out, taking a deep breath and trying to regain some of her composure. “I wanted to wait for you and be there for you through whatever the aftermath might throw at us. If you’d changed and I couldn’t handle it then I should have made that call.”

“You’re right. And I’m sorry. It’s all I can say now. I shouldn’t have made that decision for you. You have no idea how much I wish I could take it back” Scott found tears prickling his eyes now that the flash of frustration had passed and the conversation had calmed somewhat.

“Hey,” said Cat softly, her anger evaporating as she gently cupped his cheek with her hand, stroking the soft skin beneath his eye with her thumb. “It’s ok. I understand. I can’t imagine the stress you must have been under.”

Scott leant into her touch, closing his eyes and allowing himself a moment to savour the comfort it brought before looking back at her.

“It was the stupidest decision I’ve ever made,” he said quietly, his eyes imploring her to believe him. “As soon as I’d said it I wanted to take it back and when I got off the call I felt like I couldn't breathe for the pain in my chest.”

“I remember that feeling well,” commented Cat, with a look that went right through Scott.

He’d always known that the hurt he had felt must have been replicated in her, but to have it confirmed was like a dagger to the heart. With a shock, he realised that she had probably felt it worse than him, as at least he had known it was coming while she had been completely blindsided by it.

“I loved you, you know,” Scott said suddenly. “More than you probably realise.”

“And I didn’t just run off and find someone else,” he added, unsure of why but feeling compelled to tell her anyway. “I’ve not had a serious girlfriend since we broke up - nobody else has ever compared to how amazing you are.”

“I really loved you too Scott. If we’d stayed together then...” Cat tailed off with a sad smile and a gentle shrug, making Scott’s already fractured heart shatter with the knowledge of what could have been. “Well, I guess we’ll never know.”

Silence fell between them as they both took in the shifts in their understanding of the circumstances surrounding their break up and gathered their thoughts.

“So what now?” he ventured, trying not to hold his breath as he waited for the answer.

“Do you think we can start over again maybe? As friends?” Cat answered, feeling surprisingly shy and nervous about the answer.

“Sounds good to me,” Scott smiled, despite the pang in his heart as it mourned the loss of something it had hoped for but never truly had.

“Friends then?” Cat stood up, the relief palpable in her voice and demeanour as she held out her arms for a hug.

“Friends,” Scott confirmed, wrapping his arms around her and kissing the top of her head as he held her tightly.

[popatochisssp]

Fur a Good Time, Call... 1/15

Series: Undertale, Horrortale Relationship(s): HT!Sans/Reader Chapter Warnings: animal cruelty, entirely off-screen and non-graphic

You work at an animal shelter. You love all your fuzzy buddies and can't imagine a better job for yourself than looking after cats and dogs all day, even when the work is hard and often gross. What can you say? You've got a lot of love to give!

You're just not quite sure yet how you feel about the new monster who's been helping out these days, and this riddle wrapped up in an enigma is something you just can't resist investigating...

AO3 Link

Prologue - Curiosity

You weren’t quite sure what to make of the new guy.

When your boss had bullied you into using some of your vacation days, you hadn’t been thrilled. You’d protested, actually—you didn’t have anywhere you wanted to go and no social life to speak of, and the animals needed you!

There was always so much to be done at the shelter and you prided yourself as one of their most dedicated full-timers. If there was a dog needing a walk or a cat screaming for some dinner, you were right there with a smile (and some silly baby-talk), ready to take care of it.

Pets were your passion and nothing made you happier than to help out the ones that hadn’t found their forever-homes just yet.

But…maybe you were working a bit too hard. As the shelter manager was quick to point out, you were going on three years without a full day off and no matter how much you loved the work, burnout was a thing that happened to people and not something she wanted to happen to her best worker.

Flattery: your Achilles’ heel.

She insisted on a break, no less than a week, and since you were so worried about the animals, she’d even try to get a couple extra volunteers to keep things covered while you were out.

You caved in and had a frustratingly great week at home doing absolutely nothing and then went back to work where the same amount of nothing had caught fire in your absence.

Everything was totally fine, great even, thanks to the irreproachable work of the newest volunteer your manager had dug up.

“hey. where’d you want these again?”

You turned, jumping just a little when you came face to sternum with the man himself. He was staring down at you from his considerable height, his single brick-red eye large and glowing as he waited for your answer… probably about the three pallets of kibble he had slung over his shoulder.

“Oh! You can just put those over by the dog room, I’ll take it from there.” You smiled at him, hoping you looked friendly. “Thanks for getting them, I can never reach without the step-ladder!”

He just shrugged. “s’cool. i got it.”

And then he was off, moving far quieter than you thought a skeleton of his massive size should be able to.

Then again, it’s not like you knew many skeletons: it was just Sans.

Monsters had come up to the surface only a year ago: creatures of magic emerging from the depths of the earth like out of a fantasy novel, but all too real. Humanity was collectively horrified and demanded an immediate response to their arrival, governments from all over the world snapping into action faster than any bureaucracy had moved in centuries.

And you were so proud of your dumb species for the first time in a long time.

The appalling conditions of the Underground and the hunched and broken bodies of the monsters who emerged from it had triggered a visceral, emotional response in nearly everyone who saw them. In an outpouring of pity and compassion, monsters were quickly granted legal rights, facilitated access to very necessary health care both physical and psychological, and even regular stipends from relief fund donations to help them establish stable lives.

It was true humanitarianism at its finest, people banding together to right a terrible wrong and it warmed your heart to see it happen. There were dissenters, of course, bigots here and there who thought monsters were evil and should’ve died Underground, especially after…what was done to the humans who had fallen down there….

But Queen Undyne, the monster monarch had taken full responsibility for all of those deaths already. Even now, she was serving out her prison sentence for it so it wasn’t as if justice wasn’t being done just because her people weren’t locked up with her.

You may not have known all the details but you didn’t think you needed to and your opinion was one shared by the majority: humans put them down there and humans should make it better. Monsters were owed at least that much.

Even in spite of the government money they were receiving, the grateful monsters who were physically able seemed quite happy to return the kindness given to them, entering the human workforce wherever they could and giving back as productive members of their new society.

That was the category that seemed to best fit Sans.

When you’d first come back to work, he’d been… a little bit of a shock, to say the least. Going to say hi to all the cats you hadn’t seen in days and finding a towering and frankly terrifying death-omen standing silently amongst them had actually really rattled you.

You had frozen, just a little, transfixed by his blazing eye-light and the jagged, gaping hole in his skull that looked positively grisly.

It wasn’t until your manager came in behind you, introducing him to you as the new volunteer that you noticed that the ‘death-omen’ was wearing a fuzzy hoodie and a frankly adorable pair of novelty skull slippers and you realized how rude you’d been.

Things had gotten busy, as they always did—litter boxes to scrub, animals to socialize, families to interview—and you kind of lost track of him, but you did ask around.

“Sans? Nice guy, a little bit of a scatterbrain maybe, but I’ve seen worse,” was the endorsement from a long-time coworker of yours. “I’ve never had to show him something more than twice, so y’know, he’s already better than Michael, god, remember Michael?”

“He kinda creeps me out,” another volunteer told you, “but the animals love him. One time, I saw him carrying around that big Rottweiler in one arm like it was a baby or something and she was totally cool with it.”

“He’s been great so far,” your manager had promised. “I think you two will work really well together.”

Oh, yeah, sure. If he didn’t think you were a total monsterphobic jerk by now.

You’d spent basically every day since you’d been back, in between actual work, trying to talk to Sans. Not to apologize for freezing like a scared deer, the window for that was probably way past, but… you could be better going forward, right? If you were actually nice and showed some manners better than a wild boar’s, you could be friends…right?

Wrong. So wrong.

You discovered quickly that Sans was as much of an enigma as he was deceptively scary. He rarely spoke and when he did, it was quiet and to the point; never anything about himself.

It actually hurt your feelings a little bit at first until you learned that it didn’t seem to be personal. Nobody at the shelter seemed to know anything about Sans: even the big boss maxed out at knowing he just showed up one day asking to be put to work.

If anything, though, learning that just made you all the more determined to befriend him.

Sans was a mystery and the less you realized you knew about him, the more driven you felt to figure him out. Who is this skeleton in comfy clothes who comes in most days and works hard for no money and barely says a word to anyone? You wanted to find out, even as it was proving just as hard as herding cats.

Harder, probably. The cats usually pay pretty good attention if you’re holding something jingly.

But you were getting way too in your own head and there was work to be done, lest you’d made Sans lug all that kibble from the stock room for nothing.

A deafening barrage of barks and whines greeted you from the second you opened the door to the dog room and it brought a smile to your face.

“Oh my god, I know,” you laughed, “I know, I’ve been gone for like an hour, I could’ve been dead!”

Princess, a pit bull mutt and the biggest, whiniest baby you’ve ever seen in your life, certainly seemed to think so. She was the closest to the door and whimpering at you with her paws up against the chain-link of her enclosure, wiggling so hard it rattled.

“Alright, jeez, I’m here now, aren’t I?” She looked right at you and let out a long, low whine that sounded so pathetic you had to laugh again. “You want lunch first? Will that take the sting out of my betrayal?”

A loud bark was your answer from Princess, and from every other dog in the room. They didn’t know a whole lot of human words but anything food-related got picked up real damn quick.

“Okay, shush, then, I’m on it, you all know the drill.”

You headed over to the big bags of kibble propped up against the door jamb, right where Sans had left them, and got to work.

It used to be that you felt a little silly talking to the animals as if they could understand you, even when you and them were the only ones in the room, but those days were long behind you. They understood your tone of voice at least, so you were happy to chat with (or at) your furry wards about whatever popped into your head while you doled out their food.

It was a step up from talking to yourself… which you’d definitely also done. You hadn’t been exaggerating that ‘no social life’ thing, but it’s not like you’d ever felt lonely.

“Well, maybe not never,” you muttered, nudging an eager little bulldog back with your foot to edge into his room and set down one of the bowls you were holding. “But not like…seriously. I see everybody here all the time, plus adopters, and the cats, and you guys. That’s plenty, right?”

You looked down to realize you were being pointedly ignored, a little doggy face planted firmly in his food. “Yeah, you’re plenty. Good talk, Smoochie.”

If you weren’t already pretty sure you were going to end up as a crazy animal person, this might’ve been the moment it hit you.

You didn’t really have time to dwell on that, though, not with the downright chilling screams that suddenly erupted from outside.

Automatically, you found yourself headed for the noise, goosebumps prickling up on your skin from the awful quality of the sound. You just barely remembered to fasten the latch of the cage one-handedly behind you before walking, jogging, running towards the lobby where it seemed to be coming from and what were you going into that it could be heard from so far away in the building?!

There was a loud clatter and even more screaming and when you finally made it through the door, you skidded to a halt.

And your heart broke.

The horrible, discordant screaming sound was coming from a dog. The poor thing was skinny, shaking, fur so matted and dingy that it couldn’t even see through it, every worst nightmare you’d ever had from those Sarah McLachlan commercials come to life. It looked like it had knocked over some chairs trying to scrunch itself into a corner and was cowering in a puddle of its own pee. And screeching every time it heard a noise.

You didn’t often see ones this bad, but it didn’t hurt any less when you did.

“Oh, baby, no,” you whispered. “What happened?”

You hadn’t been talking to anyone in particular so it startled you when you got an answer.

“H-he slipped his lead,” you heard and turned to see one of the new volunteers standing beside you, wide-eyed and holding a useless green rope in her hands. “I don’t know… I was just… What do we do?”

Glancing around, you suddenly realized that you were the most senior person in the room. Even with the trickle of onlookers drawn by the noise everybody else was just hesitating at the edges of the lobby, nervous and unsure while the poor animal wailed and shook in front of them.

Right, then. Up to you.

“Go get the vet,” you told the volunteer and took a step forward, reaching out to take the lead from her fingers…

…only to watch a much bigger, paler hand close over the rope instead of your own.

Sans took it, silently ghosting his broad body between you and the girl and heading straight for the dog.

Your jaw nearly dropped. A million thoughts raced through your head at once—where did he come from? What is he doing? Shouldn’t you stop him? He barely has any experience, he’s not even staff!— but when you tried to say something, your throat was too tight and all that came out was…

“Be careful…!”

Sans didn’t even turn. “it’s fine,” he said, just as soft-spoken as he ever was. “s’just a little spooked, that’s all.”

You watched with bated breath as he knelt down, right in front of the scruffy animal. It prompted a fresh bout of screaming that made you flinch, but Sans acted like he didn’t even hear it.

“heya, bud. there’s no need for all’a that, is there?” The dog’s mismatched ears flicked once, but immediately flattened back against his head. Sans kept talking. “it’s good here. we’ll take care of ya. it won’t be like wherever ya came from. nobody here’s gonna hurt’cha.”

It was the most you’d ever heard him say at once and the deep, sonorous quality of his voice was a surprise to you. His tone was slow and even, almost lulling; it was putting you at ease, so to see the poor dog responding the same way, his hackles lowering ever so slightly and his shriek dying into a pitiful little cry shouldn’t have been so shocking.

You were amazed, anyway.

“that’s it, bud. there ya go.” Sans raised the rope, moving it carefully to the dog’s head.

Once he was leashed, it should be a little easier to coax him to the vet’s exam room. He’d get checked out, bathed, shaved, fed, and settled into his own little kennel.

Thank god you were under capacity right now, you’d really lose sleep if you had to turn this one away. As long as he was here, you could help him.

But there you went, getting ahead of yourself again.

The dog panicked at the very last second. He lunged forward, snapping his jaws shut on the closest target—Sans.

Your gasp was loud in the tension-quieted room, chorused by others and even a muffled yelp from the receptionist, everyone alarmed by the sight of Sans’ blue hoodie caught in a semi-feral dog’s muzzle.

You had already taken several steps forward—to do what, you had no idea—when Sans just cinched the rope into a proper lead around the dog’s neck with a triumphant, “gotcha,” as if he hadn’t just had a sharp set of teeth successfully come at him.

You were speechless for several long seconds. Had he…not noticed? Did the dog just graze him? Was he even bleeding? If he was, you’d want to drive him to the hospital just in case, you never knew what a strange dog could be carrying and even if it was shallow, the stomach seemed like a terrible place to get bitten…

And then, the obvious hit you.

The dog had lunged at Sans’ abdomen. The abdomen he didn’t have. Because he was a skeleton.

Oh, god, duh.

Of course Sans was fine, that bite had never come anywhere near him. You wanted to physically facepalm, just a little bit, at your own apparent stupidity but that would hardly be helpful right now.

You managed to take some slight pleasure in knowing you weren’t the only dumb human in the room that’d had the same thought and then tried to forget it. “You okay, Sans?”

“yeah, we’re fine,” he answered easily. The dog may have disagreed, having unlatched himself from Sans’ hoodie and, when that last defensive bid had so totally failed, resigned himself to making heart-wrenching crying noises and continuing to cower. “he’s not happy, but i got ‘im.”

There were sighs of relief all around. You scanned the room, seeing the tension fade and normal activity start to hesitantly resume—and the volunteer girl still standing by the door.

“What are you still…? I said to go get the vet!” you reminded her, maybe a little more sharply than you intended because she squeaked and scurried off.

You immediately felt a little bad about it. Seeing an animal in such bad shape for the first time wasn’t easy and not all newbies had the kind of brass ones Sans did.

Sans, who suddenly turned to look right at you and said your name.

“I…. Me?” You wanted to kick yourself for saying that. There was only one you at the whole damn shelter, but Sans didn’t seem to care.

“yeah, c’mere. he’ll probably chill out a little if he’s got some food, right?”

You were already moving forward again before you fully realized what he meant—the shiny metal bowl of kibble in your hand that you’d apparently run all the way here holding, stars, what had that looked like? But if you were accidentally prepared, you probably shouldn’t criticize yourself too hard.

You knelt down next to Sans, moving carefully but the skittish animal still yelped and scrabbled when he heard you coming. There was a blur of blue and suddenly Sans’ arm was between you and the dog.

“it’s okay, pal,” he soothed. “you’re fine, stay cool, just friends here. you want some food, don’tcha?”

That was your cue. You placed the bowl on the floor and gently slid it over to the dog before pulling your hand back.

The dog whined again, upset and unsure. You couldn’t quite see with Sans’ arm in the way and straightened up to look over it, bracing just one hand against his humerus. The dog was blinded by his own matted fur but he could clearly smell the kibble and his nose found its way to the bowl, sniffing cautiously with his tail tucked between his legs.

You slumped in relief when he took the first hesitant bite, and the ravenous second, third, fourth.

Thank god.

Sans seemed just as pleased, lowering his protective arm and looping the lead around his other hand, shortened for better control. He said your name again and you turned; even kneeling, you still had to look up.

“you should pet him,” he said. “i don’t think he’ll bite again.”

Glancing at the dog, you agreed, but also… “Why me?”

His one red eye met yours, gleaming with earnest sincerity. “you’re good at dogs,” he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Grass is green. Water makes stuff wet. You’re good at dogs.

Feeling unaccountably flattered, you reached out and carefully stroked your fingers along the dog’s back. He flinched at the touch but didn’t stop eating or try to bite again, so you had high hopes for his adoption chances later on.

You kept petting him, crouched on the floor of the shelter lobby next to a gentle giant of a skeleton and watched the dog finish the whole bowl.

“That’s a good boy,” you cooed. “You’re gonna do just fine.”

It felt like you were there for a long time, but eventually you heard footsteps and finally, the vet arrived. He was flanked by a couple of other staff members, bigger guys who you knew had experience with nervous and aggressive dogs.

Sans stood, and you with him, and you watched as he gingerly handed over the leash to one of them and let them coax the dog forward. The vet was already looking him over even as they got the little guy moving and you were relieved not to hear him point out anything that sounded too serious.

Soon they had all filed out to take care of business and it was just you and Sans left there in the lobby. Even the receptionist had fled for a coffee/need-a-breather-right-now break and you didn’t blame her.

“So that was…intense.”

“yeah.”

You turned more fully towards Sans and tried to catch his gaze. “You’re okay, right?” you asked. “Like…really okay?”

He looked at you like you’d said something bizarre. “said i was, didn’t i?”

“Well, people say a lot of things, and that was…a lot, even for somebody who actually gets paid for it. You’re good?”

Sans didn’t look any less bemused. “…yeah.”

He didn’t say anything else for several long moments. His single glowing pupil was cast down away from your face and when you followed it, you saw…

Oh jeez, your hand on his arm, still.

You pulled back immediately, feeling yourself go red and hoping he didn’t notice. “Sorry!” you definitely didn’t squeak. “Sorry, that was…. Oh, no, your hoodie…”

Sans looked down and quickly spotted what you just had— three sizeable holes torn into the bottom of his sweatshirt, right at the hem of the pocket. He picked at it, poking two thick, bony fingers straight through. “huh.”

“He got you pretty good.” You winced a little at the damp tear in the fabric: it was a jagged rip and pretty frayed. “I’m not sure that’s gonna be salvageable. Sorry.”

By the expressions Sans kept fixing on you, you’d have guessed you were the most confusing human on the planet. “what for?”

“The holes? That’s your favorite jacket, isn’t it?” You hesitated, realizing you didn’t actually know that. “Or at least, you wear it all the time. I kinda guessed you just loved that thing.”

“i do. but it’s just a thing. shit happens, y’know.” He shrugged. “’sides, not like anybody got hurt, right?”

“…Right.” Of course. That really was the most important thing.

That, and cleaning up the mess your new little friend had made of the lobby.

You sighed just looking at it but it wasn’t about to fix itself so you dove right in, picking up chairs and moving them to the side while you skirted around the puddle on the floor as best as you could.

“……can i help?”

The gentle inquiry from Sans made you pause. The man got literally snapped at not fifteen minutes ago, at a place where they worked him like a…well, like a dog without even having him on the payroll, and he still wanted to help?

Sans really was something else.

“You could get the mop and bucket for me from the supply closet,” you said lightly, pointedly not making it an order. “And maybe finish feeding the dogs for me? I hadn’t even gotten halfway through when all of this mess happened, I’m sure they’re not too happy about that.”

“yeah, sure.” But Sans seemed just a little nervous all of a sudden, his permanent grin looking more like a grimace while his eye-light darted quickly to one side. “uhhh…which dogs did you already…?”

You smiled. “It was Tina’s turn, but I didn’t pick anything back up. Any cage that doesn’t have a food bowl in it needs one.”

The skeleton’s shoulders slumped in relief. “okay, cool.” That was an easy way to remember what needed doing. He probably wouldn’t have to come back and ask you again like he did some other times. “i’m on it.”

You opened your mouth to thank him, but between one blink and the next he was gone.

Literally. Not even a motion-blur, just gone. You turned to the reception desk to see if anybody else had just seen that, but of course it was still just you there—you and the mop and bucket that had just appeared where Sans had been standing when you’d looked away for no more than two seconds.

“Well,” you announced to no one. “That’s new.”

No one was very appreciative of your dry and pithy wit, you were quite sure.

You grabbed the mop and got to work on the glamorous task of wiping up urine, just one of the many hidden perks of your job—that you really did love, warts and all.

You really weren’t sure what to make of the new guy, but after today you were damn well going to figure it out.

Next Chapter

[thatfunkylesbianwriter]

Soft - DBH

This is a Good one, only slight angst lol. Its based on one of my favorite poems by John Keats

AO3

Pairing: Markus/Simon

Words: 1859

Warnings: Simon has anxiety 

------

If you ask around New Jericho, you’ll learn that people found Markus to be the image of strength and will. If you dug a little more, they’d also say he was surprisingly gentle. His words never cut or pushed them around, they were guiding nudges towards the right direction that inspired people to do the best they could and become the best version of themselves.

It wasn’t surprising that Simon tended to gravitate to the android leader. The caretaker android was gentle in words and actions, but his self-doubt clouded any intention of making a better, safer life for the androids that came to Jericho when it was young. He hated himself for it, but the risk of setting up his people up to fail was too much. When Markus arrived, everything changed. He gave off this bright aura that made Simon brave. He wanted to take action with the android, help him in his journey to free their people. The old leader dared to say that he had hope for the future of his people, despite the cold and cruel world deviants were born into.

That was months ago and Simon looked on a new world for androids and humans with a warm heart. He had helped Markus achieve what he one time called impossible and went through hell for it. If you ask him, he’d do it again in a heartbeat for his leader.

That determination and undying loyalty arose one day when Markus called him, asking for his company. These meetings weren’t strange for the two androids; in fact, Simon always looked forward to them. Markus always had something to do with human officials and politics, effectively taking him away from the little group they’d formed at Jericho.

It was fall again as Simon walked through the downtown streets of Detroit, the city quiet and still. Some humans had come back to stay in the city, but it was no longer the bustling and chaotic metropolis that it once was. Simon found he liked it this way better, the peace and calm.

As he approached his destination, he could see Markus’s figure standing tall in the plaza. Simon was overtaken for just a moment by his thirium pump regulator as it started to work faster, stopping just a few yards away. This wasn’t strange, either, for the android when he was with the leader; before he called the causes >--/admiration/--< and underlying >--/fear/--< when the Revolution was happening. Now, >--/nervousness/--< and something much warmer caused Simon’s regulator to speed up and make his systems whirl and fidget while he was around Markus.

Once the warning in his system passed, Simon continued on his way towards his friend—

>--/error/--/...searching.../--/companion/--<

Markus probably sensed someone approaching him as he turned around to face him with a smile broad as the sky. Every single time the two androids saw each other, they hugged, and Simon lived for these moments.

>--/Security/--/Relief/--/Joy/--/Lo/--/error/--<

Markus’s hug might have been brief but it lingered on Simon’s skin, ghosting his shoulders with static electricity, as they started to walk side by side. The leader might have been a man of few words to some, always contemplating what he said next, but with the caretaker android, he could literally not shut up.

He talked about anything and everything with Simon, new laws that were in pending for android rights, the turbulent effects of the environment, paintings and sculptures he was planning, even the various animals and pets he had the pleasure of meeting. His words were colorful and excited, the mismatched eyes bright in the rising sunlight. To Simon, he was the most… >--/...searching.../--/exquisite/--< person he had ever met.

“How have you been, Simon? I feel like I haven’t talked to you in ages,” Markus was beaming at the android and Simon’s hands twitched at how he said his name with such fondness.

>--/error/--/ve/--<

They sat on a park bench, Simon, with his hands in his lap, and hyper-aware of the right hand that rested across the back of the seat from Markus and near the middle of his shoulder blades with his left foot propped up on his knee. The android rarely sat so casually; his reputation and image meant a great deal to him if he was to be the leader of all androids. A part of Simon burned with satisfaction that Markus was comfortable enough to relax in his presence. But in this close proximity, his pump regulator picked back up again and caused the poor android to wring his hands and pick at the cuff of his jacket sleeve.

“Good, good,” he managed to say, thirium moving fast and hot in his veins, “I’ve been, um, reading… books.”

Markus gave him a look and replied with a teasing voice, “Books, you say? They must be very interesting, Simon.”

The android let out a shaky breath and forced out a cough to cover it up, flicking his eyes away from his companion’s smiling face. It was like he was intentionally trying to make Simon overheat with how he said his name like he was the only one in the world that actually mattered.

“Yes! Uh, I mean yes, ” Simon coughed again and looked to the trees above him and hoped their ways of rooting into the earth would help him stay grounded, “Josh recommended some poetry books to me and I find the Romantics to be the most interesting so far.”

Markus hummed in approval and something swelled within Simon, >--/L--/error/--ve/--<. “I used to read a selection of them to Carl when he was painting in his workshop, especially when he was doing nature scenes. Please, tell me, who’s your favorite so far?”

The question made him retreat into his mind and search the files of poetry that he kept saved, trying to find the right one. In reality, Simon had spent hours upon hours just reading in the library because the humans were right, there was nothing like holding a real book in your hands. He would start in the morning and by night, he’d be surrounded by a fortress of stacked books of various lengths and genre. When Josh did recommend the selected poems of Romantics that he once taught in his classroom, Simon could not stop going through the volumes he could find and resources online. He was nose deep in a massive collection of William Blake in lieu of his daily cleaning ritual.

>--/...searching.../--/file located/--<

Before saying anything, Simon took his counterpart in little by little. Markus was tilted towards Simon now, his knee coming up on the bench and just barely touching the side of his thigh with the leg stretched out. Hip to shoulder, neck to chin, lips to nose, Simon slid his eyes along the android until he reached his eyes, daring to look his green one.

>--/beautiful/--/lovely/--/always/--/always him/--<

He fidgeted, a lump catching in his throat. Simon had waited too long for this moment, self-doubt had sown the idea that his bond with Markus was only that of comradery in a time of panic. That Markus couldn’t look at him without remembering all those deviants that died for the cause and was left with a weak android he had to visit from time to time out of guilt. These thoughts had played with Simon’s head for months and he couldn’t take it anymore, couldn’t believe them with Markus looking at him with undivided attention.

>--/love/----/i love i love i love/--/him/--/i love him/--/i love him/--/i love him/--<

Holding out a hand, Simon felt the familiar burn of bravery pushed his words forth, “I’d rather show you, if that’s alright?”

Something flashed across the android’s face, too fast for Simon to really understand it. The hand that rested behind him rose, brushing ever so slightly against the back of his neck, before coming in front of the two men. As their hands approached, the synthetic skin retreated and started to glow a faint blue, getting brighter and brighter as they closed the distance-

<<--/Markus/--/surprise/--/amusement/--/fondness/-->>

Simon couldn’t breath; he was drowning in him, falling deeper into that beautiful mind. Markus changed his grip on his companion’s hand, tucking Simon’s hand into his own and ran soothing circles over the knuckles. <<--/Encouragement/-->> passed from Markus and all Simon could do was focus on their conjoined hands as he accessed the file.

>>--/Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art— Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night/--<< >>--/And watching, with eternal lids apart, Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,/--<<

The android leader’s eyes opened wide, <<--/disbelief/-->>, and Simon dared not to look at him as his feelings were finally laid bare, >>--/longing/--/anxiety/--/fear/--<<

>>--/The moving waters at their priestlike task Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,/--<< >>--/Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—/--<<

He felt Markus’s hand shift again, now intertwining their fingers as he brought them to his lips in a gentle press, earning a low groan from Simon as his other hand gripped onto the bench seat like his life depended on it.

>>--/No—yet still stedfast, still unchangeable, Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,/--<< >>--/To feel for ever its soft fall and swell, Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,/--<<

Emotions were passed rapidly between them like lovers sending letters; ><--/heat/--/devotion/--/hunger/--/rapture/--/desire/--/love/--/love/--/LOVE/--><

>>--/Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,/--<< >>--/And so live ever—or else swoon to death./--<<

The file was swept away as the two androids collided, kissing frantically with a hand that wound through blonde hair to keep him in place and another grasping wildly at the leader’s shoulders to get closer. It was dizzying as Markus continued to kiss him with a crushing force and holding him so tightly that Simon felt like he was going to burst. ><--/Love/-->< kept bouncing back a forth and he could’ve died happy right then in his companion’s arms.

Markus thought different once warnings of overheating and stress overload were imminent passed between them. His partner was too disoriented to do anything about it, the fact that Markus was still in his head, still wanting him, clouded any rational thought or action. Just as fast as it started, Markus pulled away and disconnected, leaving Simon panting and gripping tightly on his shoulder. It took a minute for Simon’s processors to cool down and his pump regulator to take a step down as Markus rubbed soothing circles into his hand and forearm.

Markus’s eyes were half-lidded and burning into Simon’s as he held the android’s face, making the android’s pump regulator jump at the sight, “How long?”

“Since the beginning.”

And damned were the consequences as Markus reached in again and caught Simon’s lips with his own. These kisses were slow, coaxing Simon to relax his grip until he practically lounged in his companion’s arms.

Yes, the leader of New Jericho was very a gentle man, but everyone knew he was especially so with the very soft and quiet Simon.

[blackcoffeeandteardrops]

Precipice (2/7)

Chapter 1 (or here)

Chapter 2 is below the cut & also available at AO3. Thanks for reading!!

“Popcorn?” Mulder asked, handing Scully the bowl as he grabbed the remote and settled into the couch. “And before you ask, yes, I did put butter on it. But not a lot. Compromise,” he said, smiling as he popped a kernel into his mouth.

Scully followed suit, licking the salt from her fingers as she propped her feet up on the coffee table. The week had left her feeling exhausted, and while she knew full well she and Mulder weren’t as young as they used to be, she had to admit there was something about working cases with him again that left her feeling energized. It was why she’d suggested they settle into a movie night rather than having a quick dinner and starting on laundry, as they sometimes did after coming home from working a case. “Mulder, no,” she said, watching as he scrolled through the list of options, highlighting one they’d seen several times already.

Since moving back in she’d shared with him the beauty of having Netflix, which essentially meant he had a wealth of movies and documentaries at his fingertips, but what it amounted to was him wanting to watch the same things over and over again. “I’ve gotten good at skipping to my favorite parts, Scully. Come on, I’ll show you,” he said, casting her a sideways glance. Sensing her disapproval, he held the remote in her direction. “Or you can pick. But nothing about witches or fire, or anything scary. I think I’ve had enough of that for a while. I do admit though, you admitting it was spontaneous human combustion was kind of hot.”

She smirked, shaking her head as she considered their options. “What about--” she stopped, hearing the tell tale beep of their security system telling them someone was at the gate seeking entrance. The system was new, a result of their home being invaded a few weeks ago. It was a decision born of the need to be alerted in the event someone tried it again. They were safe, for now, but they still wanted to be prepared. “Did you invite someone over?”

“Who would I invite?” Mulder asked, shoving himself off the couch. He parted the curtains in hopes of getting a better view, but it was too dark to make out much aside from the fact there was a car out front. “Maybe it’s Skinner, even though we told him we’d have the reports on his desk tomorrow morning.”

“He has the access code, Mulder,” she said, resting her hand on his shoulder as she stepped up behind him. “If he was here, he’d be pulling into the driveway already.”

Mulder pressed a button on the panel next to the door, motioning for Scully to grab her gun from the table where she kept it hidden. “Can I help you?”

“Agent Mulder. Are you and Agent Scully alone? It’s important that I speak with the both of you.”

Mulder glanced back, eyeing Scully cautiously. The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. “I suppose that depends on who you are and what you want. Care to shine a light on any of that?”

“I can assure you I mean no harm to either of you. My only hope is to help you, but we don’t have much time. If you let me in, I can explain in person. I wouldn’t have come all this way if I didn’t think it pertinent, so please--”

“Yeah, I got that, but--” Mulder stopped, halted by Scully gripping his hand, urging him to let her step in.

“What do you want with us?” Scully asked, an uneasy feeling stirring in her gut. The voice had been familiar to her as well, though she was afraid to admit her suspicions until she was proven right.

“I have information, Agent Scully, that you and Mulder might find useful. It’s regarding someone we both knew--all three of us did--from long ago. I helped you then, Dana, and I want to help you now.”

“Is that,” Mulder said, removing his finger from the intercom button, furrowing his brow as who the voice belonged to clicked for him. “Your visions, you said that she--”

“I know,” Scully replied, the fear she felt before amping up even as she tried desperately to remain collected. “If she’s here, that means that it’s begun. The things I saw in my visions, Mulder. If they’re real and she can help us, then we should at least listen to what she has to say.”

Mulder moved from the door to the window, again peeking out the curtains, and in the dim light he could just make out the image of a woman standing alone outside her car, staring back at him through the darkness. “Yes, but Scully, if your visions are correct, that means she sided with the cancer man, which means she can’t be trusted. She could be coming here on his orders.”

Scully took several steps back, shaking her head in disbelief. They’d been through so much in the past few months, from finding William only to lose him again, but the possibility of the visions coming to fruition could only mean one thing. “If Monica is here, it means she has information for me. For us, Mulder. About William. About all of it. We owe it to her to at least listen. And if she is on his side, she’ll pay for what she’s done,” she said, pressing the button for the intercom. “Come in,” she said, quickly typing the access code in before opening the door, watching as Reyes got back into her car and slowly pulled up the drive.

“Agent Scully, Agent Mulder,” she said, walking up the steps to greet them. She shook droplets of rain from her sleeves, studying their worried glances in the glow of the porch light. She pulled a file folder from her coat, her hand trembling slightly as she held it in their direction. “I wish I were here under better circumstances. Can we go inside and talk? I think you’ll want to see what’s in this file.”

Mulder agreed, cautious, holding the door for both women to walk by. He bolted it behind him, watching as Scully kept one hand on the gun she secured in her holster as she lead Reyes to the kitchen table.

“Okay, tell us why you’re here,” Scully said, crossing her arms. It hurt to stand so close to a woman she once considered a friend but now wasn’t sure she could trust, but if the images she’d seen through the visions were correct at all, Reyes had sided with the man she and Mulder hated most in the world, so she had good reason to be suspicious. “Actually, start with why it is you think we can trust whatever it is you have to say. When Mulder and I returned to the bureau several years ago, we looked you and Agent Doggett up. I had hopes of reconnecting, only to learn that while John stayed on, you requested a transfer a year or so later, but then all bureau records of you vanished. Why is that?”

Reyes sighed, rubbing at worry lines that had been on her face for far too long. “I can assure you, Dana, that nothing I’ve said or done has been to hurt you or anyone else. If you can hear me out--”

“You sided with that cigarette smoking son of a bitch, Monica. How can you ever expect us to believe anything you have to say?” Mulder interjected, sidling up next to Scully on the opposite side of the table as Reyes.

“So you’ve seen it, haven’t you? How everything begins?” Reyes replied, shaking her head as she locked eyes with Scully. “Dana, I know you’ve seen it. Your visions of the future aren’t entirely false. The threat of a virus that could decimate the human population is very real and tangible. And yes, I have been with him, but I have my reasons for the choices I’ve made. I don’t entirely expect you to understand them, but there’s nothing I can do to make them go away.”

Scully gripped the chair in front of her so hard her knuckles turned white. She felt Mulder’s hand rest atop hers, a feeble attempt at soothing her fears that warmed her heart but did little to soothe the anxiety that was hitting her like a tidal wave. She remembered all too well the times Reyes had been there for her, from helping her give birth to William to the day she made the difficult decision to give him up, to helping aid she and Mulder in their escape. While the fact she didn’t have many friends had never bothered her, even growing up, she hated thinking one of the few people she genuinely trusted could’ve betrayed her as much as the visions led her to believe. “Just tell me why, Monica. Why, after knowing everything he’s done and everything he’s capable of, would you possibly consider siding with someone so horrible?”

“I’m sided with him now no more than I was then,” Reyes replied, setting the file she was holding on the table. She pulled out a chair and gestured for them to do the same. “We don’t have much time. Can we please sit so I can explain why I’ve come all this way?”

Reluctantly, Scully sat down and watched as Mulder followed suit. “We’re sitting. Talk.”

“You were correct when you said I requested a transfer. After the two of you left, Director Kersh took it upon himself to shut down the X-Files department again, more permanently this time. Agent Doggett and I did what we could, trying to keep the work alive outside of the office, but when I was approached by someone associated with Spender, I could no longer uphold my end of the bargain,” Reyes said, weighing each word carefully, slowly tapping a finger against the file folder. “When you left, what remained of the Syndicate was in shambles, a fact you’re likely aware of. Once he was found, alive, he was taken to a secure facility for recovery. He underwent massive amounts of surgeries, facial reconstruction, not to mention various therapies to get him back in working order.”

“Are we supposed to feel bad for him? I don’t,” Mulder chimed in, rubbing a tired hand across his face. “What does this have to do with whatever the hell is in that file? What does it have to do with why you’re here?”

Reyes sighed. “Agent Mulder, you’ve more than earned the right to be suspicious, especially in light of everything Spender has put the two of you through,” she replied before again leveling her gaze at Scully. “The virus you saw in your visions, Agent Scully? He was planning it, even then. His goal was to decimate half of the world’s population, if not more. There have been trials, small ones, but none on so grand a scale as what he intends to do next. When he summoned me, he said it was because he valued what I had to say. He promised me a seat at the table once all the dust settles. He said there was a cure to the virus, a way to prevent its effect. If I helped him, he said I’d be provided with the antidote.”

“And you believed him?” Scully cried, the words coming out on the end of a sob.

“Is it so wrong of me to want to live? To have a life? But no, Dana, that wasn’t why I agreed to work with him,” Reyes replied, hanging her head to stare at the table.

Mulder waited, listening to the ticking of the kitchen clock, and cleared his throat to speak. “He had leverage.”

Reluctantly, Reyes nodded. She opened the file, showing them the first of several photographs of a dark haired boy they knew to be William. “He’s been watching him, studying him, for his whole life. He believes that William holds the key, the immunity that will save everyone he deems valuable. When he showed me the first images, I couldn’t believe it. Biologically, William is his grandson. I couldn’t understand why he’d allow him to be subjected to treatments and tests, whether he knew him or not,” she said, carding through a few pictures. “When he was five, William’s adoptive parents took him to a research facility to try and figure out the cause of his actions. Inexplicably, he’d gotten angry at a classmate who wouldn’t share, and the windows of the classroom shattered. Official reports say something about a fatal flaw in the design in addition to temperature, but the teacher went on record stating she saw him do it. It’s impossible, I know, but--”

“He’s been watching him, and you never once thought to tell us? It never occurred to you to try and get help? All because he offered you an antidote you aren’t even sure exists?” Scully cried, ignoring the way Mulder gripped her knee in an attempt at keeping her calm. “You knew, and you stood by and did nothing? Why?”

Reyes shook her head, defiant. “Not nothing, Agent Scully. I watched. I waited. I reported what little information Spender trusted me with over the years, knowing that one day that trust would develop, and I’d be given a greater responsibility. William was never in danger. If he were, I’d have done everything within my power to put a stop to it. You may not believe me, but what I’m telling you is the truth.”

Mulder shifted his gaze from Reyes to Scully and back again, having a suspicion about where the woman was going, but wanting to give her a push to come out with it. “You’re saying that all this time you’ve been a double agent?” he asked, waiting for her nod to continue. “The fact that you’re coming forward now, the fact that you’re risking your cover? It means that something is happening now, doesn’t it?”

Reyes slid the folder across the table to Scully, flipping past a few more photographs to find a copy of a lab result. “You’re a doctor. What does that say?”

Scully scanned the report, carefully tracing along the lines with her fingertip, furrowing her brow as reality dawned on her. “Spender is dying. He has cancer, perhaps an advanced stage from what this report suggests. Monica…” she trailed off, feeling like the wind had been knocked from her lungs. She needed to ask the question, even though she feared the answer. “What does he want with our son?”

“As I said, the virus is real. But it’s not developed enough yet to warrant a full scale dispersal. Still, he believes that William can cure him. He sent agents to capture him several months ago, but as you well know, their mission failed,” Reyes replied, offering a look she hoped conveyed the sympathy she genuinely felt for the other woman. “The Van De Kamps were killed and William, now going by Jackson, took off. Spender hasn’t been able to get a beat on him ever since. Until now.”

“So you’re telling us the smoking man has our son?” Mulder asked, anger and frustration coming off him in waves. “Where is he?”

“As I said, the Syndicate was in shambles. Spender represented one school of thought: that the planet was overpopulated and needed a culling, leaving only those he deemed worthy to survive. He believed William and others like him held the cure, born to human parents who’d been abducted and experimented on by the alien race. You have alien DNA inside of you, Agent Scully, as a result of your abduction. You passed that on to your son. Spender believes that human DNA laced with the alien technology holds the key to saving not just himself, but the planet as we know it.”

The information Reyes was throwing at them was enough to make Scully feel faint, dizzy with the weight of the emotions the conversation was dredging up. Giving William up for adoption was the hardest thing she’d ever done, second now to seeing how his life hand ended up. She reached for Mulder’s hand and laced their fingers together, and clung to her cross with her other hand, holding tight to it like a talisman. “What does that have to do with William? Do you know where he is?”

“That’s where the other side of what remained of the Syndicate comes in--”

“Those people I met a while back, Erica Price, I think her name was? And the other guy. They have something to do with this, don’t they?” Mulder asked. “What do they want with our son, Agent Reyes?”

Reyes reached across the table and flipped the report over, revealing another, albeit grainy photograph. “Several hours ago, a traffic camera captured this image. There’s security footage from a store further down the road as well, but all indications are that the car is headed north.”

Tears blurred Scully’s vision as she traced the grainy image of William’s face, helplessly staring out the back window of the car, and she bit her lip to try and remain composed.

“We’ve been tracking their movement for months, and I have a good idea of the area they’re headed. There’s a compound in Maine, and they have a few hours head start, but we could leave now and not be too far behind,” Reyes said, initially reaching her hand out to comfort Scully, but quickly drawing it back, sensing that her help would not yet be welcome in that regard. “Spender wants William for what’s inside him, but what Erica Price and her team want from him and others who might be like him is what they can do. They want William for what he’s capable of. Your son was a miracle, Dana. A miracle I was blessed to witness. I’m sorry that this is how things turned out, but I want to help now, as best I can.”

“You’re risking your own life and your cover by coming to us. He could’ve potentially tracked you here. You realize that, don’t you?” Mulder asked, watching as Reyes nodded in reply. He knew what a help she had been to Scully while he was gone, and he realized with a pang of regret that she’d likely held his son more times than he had. “You’re sure they’re headed to Maine? That’s at least a ten hour drive, in good traffic. We’d need to start packing now.”

“It’s the safest bet. And from there, it’d be a quick jump over the border. I’m sure the compound is guarded, though I personally have never been. But if we alert Skinner, if we get help, then we stand a fighting chance,” Reyes replied. She and Mulder seemed sure that this was the best option, but she knew Scully’s vote on the matter held just as much if not more weight, especially if William’s fate were at stake. “I know I’ve wasted a lot of time over the years, and it may not seem like it now, but Dana, I am on your side. If I go back now, he’ll know, so either I go with the two of you, or I’m done for. Understand?”

Scully stared down at the photograph of William, focusing on him as hard as she could. She didn’t truly understand how their strange connection worked, but she wanted to see if there was any way she could reach him, any way she could sense the level of danger he was currently in. She closed her eyes, breathing in deep, and tried to tell him she was on her way. A few seconds ticked by with no response, so she had no way of knowing if he got her message or not. Still, when she opened her eyes, she knew they were out of time to waste. “Mulder, we need to get upstairs, and we need to pack a bag. We need to go find our son.”

[johnnyckuq854]

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Ascension Glossary

Dark Night of the Soul

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During spiritual initiation or active kundalini Ascension Stages, there are four main types of the down-cycle of spiritual crisis which could be associated with what the ancients and mystics have called the Dark Night of the Soul. These phases of spiritual development are unavoidable, as the "living death" or Ego Death must occur for resurrection of the spiritual body and mind. All must enter the Dark Night of the Soul or spiritual crisis, perhaps many times during the cyclical process of evolution during the spiritual ascension process. The planet is undergoing a global level of the Dark Night of the Planetary Collective Soul during the Ascension Cycle.

The deeper one goes into the die-off stage to drop density, the greater the spiritual resurrection. Similarly the more one allows the influx of kundalini spirit phases during the heart and Consciousness expansion, the deeper one goes into the die-off stages. The die-off is either acute or chronic depending on the person and the phase of awakening. It happens after each Influx of Spirit, the spiritual initiation stages as the flesh transmutes density there is a die-off of the conventional conditioned structures, as well as all potential toxins throughout the bodies, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritual-energetically. For every influx of kundalini spirit through spiritual initiation, there is an accompanying catabolic breakdown of the former body, apotosis or some form of die-off to release and transmute toxins. Only those people that have the kundalini flow up the spine, and the experience of extreme bliss or electromagnetic influx or massive spiritual opening events are going to experience the die-off. Die-offs are distinct periods of catabolic breakdown in which there is no operative ego, other than that which is sufficient to drag one off the couch to the bathroom when appropriate.

Contents

Dissolving the 3D Personality

The incarnated station of our identity that was our personality matrix, the aspect that was enmeshed with the lower three dimensional frequencies, is also dissolving. This equates to the dissolution of our personality matrix or station of identity that was located in the lower three dimensions, and moving that aspect of our identity into the higher frequency bands of our Soul matrix or higher station of identity. What happens to the people on the earth who believe that they are only their personality identity, when it begins to dissolve? We can see the effects of that consciousness shift now in the global scape. The range of experience for some people is from sensations of great anxiety, stress, and mental confusion all the way to the descent into madness and insane behaviors. Most people are not aware they are losing Coherence, and are unaware of the causality of what is actually influencing the way they think and behave.

The lower dimensional contents that exist in the planetary collective consciousness fields are undergoing massive reconfigurations in multiple ways. This energetic change in the 3D reality has reached critical mass, which means it is greatly impacting all people of the earth. Whether asleep or awake, the self-mastery that has been either lost or gained is measured in how you personally deal with stress and chaos. No person on this earth is exempt from the exposure to the massive fields of chaos, confusion and darkness that exist in the collective mind of humanity. During this time, our inner energetic integrity is tested in order to hold neutrality, while facing the great forces of chaos. This is being tested in every person, just from the mere fact of being on the earth at this time. How well are we able to adapt to change and hold neutrality in every kind of stressful situation? We have to measure our competency level now.

If we are not doing well with adaptability, flexibility and neutrality in our life situation, we must make adjustments to gain strength with this skill set. This is the time to take stock of how well we are coping with the madness of the earth, as the collective mind of humanity travels the Dark Night of the Soul. What does this take and what is being asked of us? All people must take responsibility for the quality of their thoughts, behaviors, actions, as all consciousness that is created has a direct cause and effect.

Since 2009, we have consistently emphasized the necessity of moving out of the 3D consciousness fields and from feeding those energies, by identifying and clearing the three layers of the negative ego that are run in the lower dimensional fields. The clearing of negative ego is mandatory in order to adapt to the shifting timelines, and to maintain coherence and sanity. It is imperative to address unresolved conflicts that create anxiety in our mind, emotions and body, and apply clearing and healing tools that replace our previous ways of thinking with neutrality, love and peace.[1]

Dark Night Metamorphosis

There are four main types of spiritual crisis or down-cycle events in metamorphosis that need to be clearly understood to prevent unnecessary suffering and secondary backlash:

LIGHTNING: This is a terror event of intense energy pouring up and into the body similar to a euphoric inner-conjunction of spiritual activation, but in this case it is an inner-conjunction of feeling great discomfort, anxiety, pain or fear. Here we descend deeply into our matter and flesh and experience inner fears or energy blockages, or experience external anxiety with no apparent cause. We may be accessing buried parts of our Unconscious Mind or cellular memories that are embedded in our bodies. This "negative" inner-conjunction mostly occurs during one's first initial awakening stages which can help to surface hidden fears or pain located in the Pain Body. This terror or fear is the polar opposite to the spontaneous bliss awakening in a neophyte-body at the early Soul initiations for those that are unfamiliar with such intensity of Expanding Consciousness and energy.

SHOCK: White Death, or autonomic shock in the CNS that occurs immediately after a mystical or ecstatic experience with kundalini spiritual activation. That is the contraction and toxic overload after a significant opening to the extreme bliss of a euphoric inner-conjunction event or a spiritual initiation stage into a higher frequency or level of the Lightbody. Sometimes in this stage a person can feel numb, apathetic or in a void.

SELF-DIGESTION: Then there are the die-offs of toxins or waste which are a catabolic breakdown of the former structures through apoptosis due to oxidation by free radicals and then phagocytosis[2] by the macrophages[3]. This is a physical event and a spiritual-energetic event. Thus, one can experience a cleansing cycle similar to a detoxification through the elimination channels of the body. Detoxification at all levels of the body occurs, including a mental and emotional detoxification of the Pain Body and Ego/Personality. Changes in the hormonal structure, and endocrine functions. This is also the process of Ego Death.

BURNOUT: Lastly there is the exhaustion phase of the overall spiritual awakening cycle where the body's resources of neurotransmitters, hormones, and nutrients have been used up in the climb to the escalation heights of the spiritual awakening peak. During exhaustion depression arises, yet there is permanent bliss or peace giving the sense of being dissociated from the depression.[4]

Suggestions to Support Ego Death

Relax as much as possible in the down-cycle, Surrender and allow the process of the Dark Night.

Make yourself comfortable without suppressing symptoms, without escaping to run away or propping yourself up with distractions and stimulants.

A spiritual die-off is a free radical storm which may induce stress. De-stress and take good care of your body, potentially consume superfoods or doses of antioxidants for protection. Also if guided, take support supplements, essential oils that help the thyroid (kelp, nettle leaf), the adrenals (licorice, Vitamin C), the nerves (Vitamin Bs, ) and the hormones (ginseng, gotu kola).

Drink at least 10 glasses of water a day, and take a bath to re-hydrate potentially in salt baths. The body has a huge demand for water and Biochemic Cell Salts during a die-off phase, detoxification and spiritual activation.

If one is accelerated in full detoxification of toxin die-off, one may experience Ascension Symptoms like Ascension flu. The immune system is essentially dismantling the body and all one can do is rest in bed, and not eat much of anything. It's best not to eat while the body is in catabolic breakdown mode, or digestion will draw energy away from the transmutation of the flesh and your resurrection will not be as complete. One may create toxicity and tissue damage if you work against the natural break-down cycle and ignore the bodies request for rest, cleansing or fast.

Giving up the personality is the first stage of really living. Until we give up and surrender to our spirit, we have been trying to live from the concept of the Ego/Personality self, instead of higher spiritual or Christ Self. It is often the case with human action, that what we manifest through our ego efforts, turns out to be the very opposite of what we intended. The die-off is the most extreme experience of nature stepping in to help us move beyond the known experience of the ego and into the vast reaches of a mystic perception of the universe. The deeper the surrender to the living-death of the spiritual Ascension process, the more we can actually incarnate and embody spirit in the flesh.[5]

Psychospiritual Crisis

The symptoms of psychospiritual crises represent a manifestation and exteriorization of the deep dynamics of the human psyche and Consciousness. The individual human psyche is a multidimensional consciousness and multilevel system with no internal divisions and boundaries. We cannot, therefore, expect to find clearly defined and demarcated types of spiritual emergency. And yet, our work with individuals in psychospiritual crises, exchanges with colleagues doing similar work, and a study of pertinent literature have convinced us that it is possible and useful to outline certain major forms of psychospiritual crises, which have sufficiently characteristic features to be differentiated from others. [6]Naturally, their boundaries are not clear and in practice, there are some significant overlaps among them. I will first present a list of the most important varieties of psychospiritual crises as identified and then briefly discuss each of them.

1. Shamanic crisis

2. Awakening of Kundalini

3. Episodes of unitive consciousness (Maslow's "peak experiences")

4. Psychological renewal through return to the center (John Perry)

5. Crisis of psychic opening

6. Past-life experiences

7. Communication with spirit guides and "channeling"

8. Near-death experiences (NDEs)

9. Close encounters with UFOs and alien abduction experiences

10. Possession states

11. Alcoholism and drug addiction.

[7]

Frequency of Fear

During the Dark Night of the Soul, many people do not have clarity on the actual causal source of where their fear and pain impulses are coming from. Much of what is being experienced now is being greatly amplified through the hidden fear, buried Trauma and emotional wounds from our past. We cannot run away from darkness and we cannot hide from our hidden and buried fears any longer. This month we study the perceptions of fear, so that we can see the macrocosm agenda of using the Frequency of Fear to increase darkness in our world and create Mind Control slaves. To reclaim our sanity and spiritual freedom, we must make the effort to Overcome Fear.[8]

References

↑ Cause and Effect

↑ Phagocytes are the cells that protect the body by ingesting harmful foreign particles, bacteria, and dead or dying cells.

↑ Macrophages are a type of white blood cell that engulf and digest cellular debris, foreign substances, microbes, and cancer cells in a process called phagocytosis

↑ Die Off Cycles

↑ Adapted from http://biologyofkundalini.com/

↑ [Stanislav Grov]

↑ Spiritual Emergencies

↑ Overcoming Fear

See Also

Ego Death

Where Can I Start?

ES Core Triad

Last edited 1 year ago by Paige

Ascension Glossary

Content is available under CC BY-SA unless otherwise noted.

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[jaketheaudiophile]

Best Albums of 2020

Hello again friends! Another year has passed and therefore it’s time to reflect on the music and art we enjoyed in the past 12 months. Per my annual tradition, I’m dusting off this ol’ blog to write about my favorite albums and songs of a year that will likely live in infamy in the history books. I’m trying to reflect on the positive in both this essay and my personal mindset, so let’s not discuss social distancing or vote counts or contagious viruses or hand sanitizer and instead focus on the things that distracted us or powered us through them in the form of music.

I generally do a personal Top 15, so I decided to stick with that again for this year’s shenanigans. Best songs and potentially another new list idea soon to follow. And, as always, I welcome dissenting votes or other recommendations from those who read and agree and/or disagree.

Let’s do this!

HONORABLE MENTION:

Snooze

“Still” EP

Self-released on November 27

I normally don’t include EPs in my end-of-the-year lists unless I create a separate list devoted just to them, or 2 years ago when my favorite release of the year was an EP (shout out to Invalids). Snooze’s 2019 release “Familiaris” was my favorite album of last year, and this new EP brings a lot of the same energy and sound, but with a much different mood and circumstance. Bassist Cameron Grom tragically passed in 2020 after a lifetime of battling illness, leaving Logan Voss as the primary songwriter and lone consistent band member. Voss partnered with YouTube drum sensation and producer Anup Sastry for “Still”, and the results are certainly massive and memorable. The songs seem to be significantly sadder and more drawn out on “Still” but the circumstances certainly explain these changes. I’m grateful Voss managed to still put something out that is unique and makes me smile even during his heartbreak and struggles, so this EP is definitely still worth mentioning.

#15

Alpha Male Tea Party

“Infinity Stare”

Released December 4 via Big Scary Monsters

Both this album and the Honorable Mention are ranked pretty low on my personal list despite my personal adoration and affinity with each band. This is entirely based on how little of time has elapsed between their release dates and my compilation of this list. With some additional time to listen and process, I might have put them both higher, but without that I’m inclined to still mention them here but can’t in good conscious put them further up the rankings. Similar to Snooze, Britain’s AMTP took a slightly darker, more morose mood into their newest full length, but there’s still enough ass-kicking riffs and grooves to still inspire movement and energy. Bassist Ben Griffiths has come out of the shadows a bit more on this release as well, sharing the spotlight easily with guitarist Tom Peters and proving that he’s better than just holding down the lower notes. This album’s release was also a complete surprise, so kudos to the band for keeping things under wraps and giving fans an nice year-end present.

#14

Elder Brother

“I Won’t Fade On You”

Released October 2nd via Pure Noise Records

Elder Brother has been an object of my adoration for the past few years, but I’ve never been able to fully embrace an album of theirs as a whole. 2020’s release is no exception, unfortunately. They’ve penned some of their best songs to date (such as the gorgeous slow jam, “Projector”) and have expanded their sound with a full backing band. Unfortunately, meandering songs like “Hair” just drag away energy, and the second half of the album really just sort of panders around without resolution. The first half is top notch, but they really end with a whimper instead of a bang. Still, the great songs do shine brightly and warrant this album being included at this spot.

#13.

Jeff Rosenstock

“NO DREAM”

Released May 20 via Polyvinyl Record Co.

Speaking of surprise releases, perennial punk powerhouse Jeff Rosenstock put out “NO DREAM” with no promotion whatsoever. This left fans obviously surprised and that shock was quickly overwhelmed by a super high energy record full of infectious melodies and garage-rock aesthetics. There are a few clunkers but otherwise this is a charming and pleasant listen with some surprisingly deep and brutally honest lyrics and subject matters by Rosenstock. It was also cool to see Jeff get some solid publicity from this record such as an appearance on Late Night with Seth Myers. More attention for musicians like Rosenstock who have clearly put in the hard work is a worthy cause, so props to him and his merry band of misfits.

#12

Knuckle Puck

“20/20″

Released September 18 via Rise Records

Chicagoland’s Knuckle Puck have been one of the more impressively consistent pop/punk bands of recent years. I’ve always admired their skilled dual vocal arrangements, clean-boosted guitar tones and monstrous hooks. I definitely enjoyed this release but I also have a hard time distinguishing a majority of the moments after the record has stopped spinning. When it’s on, it’s pleasant and fun, but I’m hard pressed afterward remembering what songs are on this release and what are on previous years’ albums or singles. More KP music is never a bad thing, but hopefully future releases give them more sticking points.

#11

Unwed Sailor

“Look Alive”

Released July 12 via Current Taste

After over a decade of near-radio silence, Unwed Sailor have come out with guns blazing in the past two years. Johnathan Ford has put together a new band (most recently including longtime Minus The Bear drummer Erin Tate) and has churned out two full-length records in back-to-back years. I personally prefer 2020’s “Look Alive” slightly to 2019’s “Heavy Age” as it feels more of a throwback to the simpler, jammier Unwed Sailor releases of old. The record doesn’t really have any down points but also tends to drift along without a ton of memorable moments, oddly. Still, though, Ford and company seem to be on a torrid pace and I’m all in favor of enjoying the ride.

#10.

August Burns Red

“Guardians”

Released April 3 via Fearless Records

The model of consistency. August Burns Red are a well-oiled machine at this point. Every few years they hunker down in the studio and churn out another genre-setting collection of catchy metalcore songs. Drummer Matt Greiner is the most outstanding on this release (as per usual) with some truly jaw-dropping fills and beats, and the production for this record is top notch as always. It’s sort of hard to explain what’s good about this because it’s anything and everything. You can set your watch to this band and I’m grateful every time I put them on.

#9.

Melted Bodies

“Enjoy Yourself”

Released September 18 via Plastic Smiles

Another year, another band that Anthony Fantano turns me on to makes my AOTY list. The Internet’s Busiest Music Nerd didn’t formally review this album but did say they kicked ass in a “Y U NO REVIEW” segment. After a few moments of listening, I sprung for the album and it completely took over my music library for the past few months. I equate them as a sort of bizzaro hybrid between “Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job” and System of a Down, with Mike Patton-esque vocals, brutal but fun breakdowns, unique electronic elements and overall weirdness. Seemingly containing every genre of music all at once, this album is all over the place in all the best ways. What an amazing debut. It’ll be fun to see where these oddballs go from here.

#8

Beach Comber

“Parting Cuts”

Self-released on April 24

What a fun surprise this record was; in retrospect it feels like that was a recurring theme for bands and artists in 2020. Beach Comber is Rory Friers, riffmaster general from And So I Watch You From Afar. This album doesn’t sound like anything his main group has put out, but instead was meant to be a wedding present for two of Frier’s friends that would never see a mass release. If there’s one good thing that COVID did, it was to encourage Friers to put this out as a pay-what-you-want release to gather some funds in lieu of touring and playing shows. Because of this, we were blessed with a very different but exceptional collection of minimalist, varied low-fi rock. It feels like a lost Anathallo album or Sufjan Stevens b-side collection, and was a welcome breath of happy fresh air.

#7

Hot Mulligan

“You’ll Be Fine”

Released March 6 via No Sleep Records

It feels like every year I’m thanking my buddy Steve Lee on this list for getting me hooked on a quality emo record. He first sent me the incredibly fun video for “*Equip Sunglasses*”, but I wasn’t immediately hooked. I couldn’t quite get into Nathan Sanville’s scream/sing vocal style at first, and thought the band was slightly generic. Still, I found the song getting stuck in my head for roughly the next rest of my life, and eventually checked out the full album, and was pleasantly surprised by the subtly complex intertwining guitar leads and arrangements. Also, kudos to the band for writing pointed and brutally honest lyrics on topics that some bands wouldn’t touch (go read the lyrics for “Digging In”). And yes, Sanville’s vocals eventually ended up really, really growing on me. These young men from Lansing, MI should be proud of themselves for their strong stances and songwriting, and it’ll be fun to see what they put out next.

#6

Man Man

“Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between”

Released May 1st via Sub Pop

After a few years of relative silence, Philly-based weirdos Honus Honus and Man Man gathered up another pile of instruments and multi-instrumentalists, and the result is yet another collection of supremely catchy songs.  Longtime fans like me knew what they were getting, but I think this is one of Man Man’s most complete and accessible albums yet, with not a moment wasted or thrown in without thought. There are so many fun little vocal quips (The random “Went straight to voicemail!” in “Goat”; the solo chorus of “Sucking diiiiiiick” in “The Prettiest Song in the World”) that make the listener smile every time. Everything feels planned out and executed flawlessly, which is impressive when each song features several guest musicians (including Rebecca Black!) and a rotating cast of instruments and players. Keep being weird, Man Man. We don’t deserve you.

#5

Protest The Hero

“Palimpsest”

Self-released on June 18

It had been 7 years since Canada’s Protest The Hero put out a full length after leaving the world of record labels and crowdfunding campaigns. It wasn’t without its difficulties, largely due to singer Rody Walker running into vocal issues during recording sessions. Thankfully, he was able to overcome his difficulties and frankly, he killed it. There wasn’t much more life-affirming than hearing him hit ungodly high notes at the end of “From The Sky” and his joy-filled delivery was infectious on every other song. And of course, the rest of the band also fully delivers with their usual technical brand of metal. No complaints at all, hope the next one doesn’t take 7 years to show up.

#4

Caspian

“On Circles”

Released January 24th via Triple Crown Records

I was very excited about this release from basically the end of 2019 on, as these Massachusetts instrumental rock mainstays released the single “Flowers of Light” at year’s end. Thankfully, the album delivered in spades, and it is easily my favorite instrumental release of 2020. Well, that’s not technically true; 2 of the 8 songs have vocals. One welcome addition is an awesome contribution by Pianos Become The Teeth’s Kyle Durfey for “Nostalgist”, who fits the band like a glove. The second vocal track is the lovely eponymous closing track, which gives a pleasant change-up conclusion. Caspian’s three guitar approach means the listener always has a wide swath of atmospheric noise and full bodied sound, and the formula is definitely still working. There’s a reason this sextet are revered, and “On Circles” is the band firing on all cylinders.

#3

Touche Amore

“Lament”

Released October 9 via Epitaph Records

Touche Amore has been one of my favorite bands for several years running, so expectations were very high for their fifth release. 2016’s “Stage Four” was a massive success but is still very hard for me to re-listen to or encounter due to the heaviness of the album’s subject matter, and “Lament” is at least a change in that pace. Jeremy Bolm is never one to pull punches or address the uncomfortable, and his vocal delivery is as engagingly abrasive as ever. Bassist Tyler Kirby is the most obviously improved, but that may also be the production choice of Ross Robinson, who seems to have received as much publicity by working on this record than the band did. All in all, more the same is never bad with these screamo mainstays.

#2

Into It. Over It.

“Figure”

Released September 18 via Triple Crown Records

Evan Weiss is the one reliable dude. We get a new Into It. Over It. record every 3 or 4 years, and they’re always great. His songwriting and arrangement skills are top notch, and there’s enough cool little moments or unique additions to keep the listener engaged throughout the entire album. Weiss’s skills as a guitarist are in the spotlight as always (”We Prefer Indoors”), but drummer Adam Beck proves his talents throughout (”Brushstrokes”). What truly makes the album great for me are the little moments of variety or subtle changes in instrumentation or delivery that pop up in every song. The best example is the middle of the second verse of “Living Up To Let You Down”, when the band changes up the straightforward beat and chord progression to deliver a double-time feel with differently punctuated guitar chord hits (this is very hard to describe in writing; just listen to the song at 1:28). If the songs on their own weren’t catchy or well-rounded on their own, this album would be great, but it’s the moments like this that truly push it out on top. This record lived up to every high expectation I had and I’m thrilled that Mr. Weiss is a part of my life.

#1

END

“Splinters From an Ever-Changing Face”

Released June 5 via Closed Casket Activities

But enough about positive thoughts and happy feelings...Every piece of writing or commentary on 2020 will likely point out how bad of a year that we all just experienced and how grateful we are to be moving forward. I definitely agree with this sentiment for the most part but do feel like we had a lot of interesting positive moments in the year in general. However, with that logic, no album better summarizes my general aesthetic towards this weird quarantined year than this ungodly amalgamation of brutal hardcore this supergroup has wrought. Counterparts vocalist Brendan Murphy sounds like a completely different beast with a lower delivery and growl than his fans traditionally encounter, and guitarist and wunderkind producer Will Putney makes this record sound horrifying, hellacious and, well, HEAVY. Add in some unnerving audio samples and the fact that most songs are between 1 and 2 minutes, and I can’t think of anything else to best summarize my feelings toward 2020. This was the perfect album to put on and let loose any angry or negative thought with the ferocity of the tsunami of sound this group created, and should be commended as such. 

[xtruss]

Bruce, the Last ‘JAWS’ Shark Docks at the Academy Museum

— By Lindsey Bahr | Associated Press | November 23, 2020

Bruce, the fiberglass shark made from the “Jaws” mold, is ready for his close-up. The 1,208 pound, 25-foot-long, 45-year-old shark, famous for being difficult to work with on the set of Steven Spielberg’s classic thriller, on Friday was hoisted up in the air above the main escalator of the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles where he will greet guests for the foreseeable future. And this time, he cooperated.

It is the culmination of years of planning, including a seven-month restoration by special effects and makeup artist Greg Nicotero. The shark is expected to be a major draw for the museum, which plans to open its doors to the public on April 30, 2021.

Super fans know that the “Jaws” crew started calling the shark Bruce after Spielberg’s lawyer Bruce Ramer. They’ll also know that the Bruce that will greet guests in the museum wasn’t technically in “Jaws.” He’s a replica and it’s the last of his kind. The three mechanical Great Whites designed by art director Joe Alves were destroyed when production wrapped. But once the film proved to be a box office phenomenon, a fourth shark was made from the original mold. For 15 years he hung at Universal Studios Hollywood as a photo opportunity for visitors until he wound up at the Sun Valley junkyard he would call home for the next 25. Nathan Adlan, who inherited his father’s junkyard business, donated him to the museum in 2016.

But Bruce wasn’t quite camera ready. A quarter century in the California sun, plus all the years of being re-painted at Universal had taken its toll on the poor creature, who badly needed care and attention. Nicotero, who has worked on “Day of the Dead” and “The Walking Dead,” said he got into the business because of “Jaws” and volunteered for the task of bringing him back to life.

(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

“One of the great things about being the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is that we have access to Academy members in all craft areas of the industry,” said Academy Museum Director Bill Kramer. “We can call on our members and other members of the film industry who have either worked on the film that the artifact is from or know enough about the provenance and work that had been done to help us restore it. We’re in an incredibly privileged position.”

Restoration was one thing, but loading Bruce into the museum proved to be another ordeal. Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano made sure to account for large-scale objects in his restoration of the Saban Building, which was originally the May Company department store. But Bruce is their biggest piece to date and everyone soon realized that he wouldn’t be able to get into the building with his fins attached.

Last week Bruce was transported from a storage facility on a 70-foot flatbed to the museum at Fairfax Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard where engineers, construction workers and art handlers removed two panels of glass three stories up to get him into the building. Once inside with fins reattached and a final touching up, Bruce was hooked onto five cables, each of which could hold his weight if any were to fail, and hoisted up on a truss by remote control to get into position in the building’s “spine” where he faces East and is visible from Fairfax.

(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Shraddha Aryal, Vice President of Exhibition Design and Production, described the years of painstakingly detailed modeling and work that went in to preparing for this moment, including full scale mock-ups and light tests to ensure that all of Bruce’s 116 teeth would be visible to tourists.

Seeing him lifted into the building was “such an exciting moment,” she said.

Kramer said they expect Bruce to be a huge draw for visitors, which is why he’ll be hanging in a public area where people can see him without having to pay for a museum ticket. Almost a half century after Bruce made generations of kids and adults scared to get in the water, he’s now beckoning film lovers into a museum.

“We plan on having Bruce greet our visitors for as long as we can keep him up there,” Kramer said. “It’s a free space and a free moment for our visitors to bring delight and hopefully inspire them to learn more about the movies, the history of visual effects and how this prop was made.”

Curious visitors can come and check out the massive great white, the restaurant and the Spielberg Family Gallery to see a 10-minute film on the history of cinema before even committing to purchasing a ticket.

There will also be a public programming series on conservation and restoration drawing on items from the collection that have been restored including the ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz,” the Aries-1B from “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the extra-terrestrial from “Alien” and, of course, Bruce.

“There are so many stories that can take you places just through this one object,” Kramer said.

[is6621]

The Hidden Gem of the Election – California Prop 24 By Quinn Sheehan

While we were busy focused on which presidential candidate had the lead, California quietly passed Proposition 24, also known as the Consumer Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) by a vote of 56% to 44%. California already has a California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), but this was a major overhaul of their previous law. Constructed by 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang, the CPRA is basically a data law – and now limits the access companies have about California residents and their information. The CPRA covers the follow information of California residents: ethnicity, financial, genetic, geolocation, health, private communications, race, religion, sexual orientation, and union membership.

Included is this bill are also limitations to dilute the bill in the future, as we saw with the previous CCPA. The CCPA started off strong but slowly lost its power after lobbyists took to changing many parts of it.

Considered by the Associated Press to be the strongest online privacy rights in the world, Proposition 24 is actually a major blow to advertisers and companies reliant on user data. Not only does Prop 24 protect the data, but it also triples fines against companies that violate data from minors and establishes an enforcement arm for consumers. These protections are a great start for the nation and will hopefully lead the charge in changing the national laws surrounding personal data and privacy.

So, what does this mean for advertisers?

Businesses can no longer sell or share consumer’s geographic location, among other things. Facebook will no longer have access to advertising data, unless allowed by the consumer. Currently, many consumers are targeted with advertisements based on their online behaviors and habits. With this law, advertisers are no longer legally allowed to use your information to advertise to you. When registering for a website or a company, that company will have to let you know exactly what data will be collected from you and offer you the opportunity to opt-out. There’s a saying that says if you’re not paying for the product, that means you probably are the product. There are many apps and companies out there that provide free services, reliant on customer data in order to generate revenue. This won’t be possible in the future.

Is it all good news?

Unfortunately, no. While some experts believe that this will hurt Silicon Valley giants like Facebook and Google, others believe this will help those massive companies and actually hurt smaller companies fending for themselves in a sea of giants. Common Sense Media and the California NAACP are pro-Prop 24, while the ACLU of California, Consumer Federation of California, and Center for Digital Democracy are on the other side. Every single advertising association, understandably, came out with statements opposing the proposition. Opponents claim that loopholes within the proposition make it possible for companies to charge for opting out of data collection.

What does this mean outside of California?

I don’t live in California, so at first, I didn’t see how this applies to me. While digging deeper into Prop 24, it seems that many large companies will be forced to impose these restrictions into their services nationwide, not just in California. In addition, if presidential candidate Joe Biden wins the election, there’s a significant chance that a federal law is constructed using California’s Privacy Rights Act as a precedent.

While this new law won’t be in place until 2023, California is truly setting an example for the rest of the country to follow. Be prepared to see laws in the next decade prohibiting the use of our personal data to advertise. There are already rumors around experts that the ballot results might generate interest for bills in other states. Companies and advertisers will have to get creative if they are no longer allowed to match ads with consumers based on what they know about them. This law has the potential to reinvent the current world of digital advertising if not for the country, then at least for California in the coming years. While you may be an advertiser that is anti-Prop 24 or a consumer that is pro-Prop 24, the ballot measure passing means the times are changing. The current methods for advertisements and free-for-data business models must be adapted

Sources:

https://www.adweek.com/programmatic/what-media-industry-needs-to-know-californias-privacy-law-cpra/

https://apnews.com/press-release/pr-newswire/business-technology-technology-issues-data-privacy-state-governments-2a56110ce674648b52866f19d568664f

https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/356453/ad-industry-blasts-new-california-privacy-proposal.html

https://digiday.com/media/prop-24-the-california-privacy-rights-and-enforcement-act-passed-by-voters-heres-what-publishers-need-know/

[bestcartreviews]

Best Flight SIM Joystick & Controllers Reviews 2020

TOP 5 Best Joystick for Game Lovers - Over time technology has changed, and new innovations are coming up that are touching the hearts of people. Simultaneously, the level of gaming and gamers has also upgraded over time. So despite using all those traditional types of equipment for gaming, such as keyboards, mouse, or remote people are using the new and innovative trends available in the market. We are here with something you will surely love! To build an ultimate game set up you need one of the top 5 best joysticks for game lovers because these joysticks have specifically been introduced to improve the gaming experience. These can also be used to improve performance and accuracy to ensure relaxation even during long periods of playing games. These are some of the best & flight SIM joysticks for you.

Best flight SIM Joysticks Reviews for 2020

LOGITECH G SAITEK X52 FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM

This is a pretty good flight SIM joystick combo that delivers precise flight simulator operation. It comes with a multifunctional LCD that provides easy access to 105 programmable commands. Comfortable stretches of the flexible handle to suit any hands. The joystick lets you play smoothly without any obstructions, and smart buttons alert you which time you need to take action. The new LCD view of the information makes it quite advance. A specific centering function guarantees that the joystick returns quickly to the neutral position. The joystick is exceptionally durable and improves power and strengthens longevity. 3D Joystick Twist Rudder Controls Bring virtual flight experience to another level that helps to stimulate flights at-a-glance. Advanced Grip Control System A 5 place finger grip handle control system suits the grip and finger type for optimum comfort on fantastic flights. So yes, you can conclude this system definitely for game lovers. LOGITECH G SAITEK X52 FLIGHT Pros & Cons Items that gamers frequently bought together with THRUSTMASTER T.FLIGHT H.O.T.A.S. 4 FLIGHT STICK Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown - PlayStation 4 by Bandai Namco: The highly detailed aircraft and breathtaking clouds and sky views are enough to consider it the best. Because the game provides you authentic experience along with photorealistic scenery makes this the most engaging Ace Combat to date. The Ace Combat universe includes real-world near-future & advance weapons if you are in search of something that fills you with thrill and adventure. Then it is a thing you were looking for. The ultra-modern super weapons and formidable enemies in the game put you in the real game world. Although this game is perfect and there are no bugs, also there is no lag time. Overall, ace Combat & have made a grand launch in the flight game series. Air Missions HIND - PlayStation 4 by Soedesco: Air Missions: HIND is the first helicopter combat flight simulator available for the console. Also, the game is known as the ‘’flying tank’’ whereas it is based on the Mi-24 Hind assault helicopter. In Air Missions: HIND, players themselves manage the heavily armed colossus. Set the action: the helicopter skin may be adapted to meet the mission objective and the circumstances before every mission. However, the game looks a little prettier, but also it is effortless and fun to play. It's a short but very immersive game. Incredibly realistic scenic views are a wow factor of this game. Gamers love it, and beyond doubt, you should also explore this one.

LOGITECH G SAITEK PRO FLIGHT JOYSTICK

The Logitech G Saitek is a Professional Flight Yoke System. Using this, joystick provides a realistic flight simulation. Fly private and commercial planes as a beginner or advanced pilot with defined, realistic control. With five total axes, the Pro-grade joystick yoke for a virtual flight simulator in this system is the focal point of flight simulation includes stainless steel elevator and aileron control shaft, and 25 fully programmable buttons and switch positions. Also, you get a fantastic flight experience with the system's fully customizable cockpit. Besides, a full autopilot controller with fingertip controls and an L.E.D. display are key-elements. Control your engine power, landing gear, lights, and other vital aircraft utility, all from one packed together unit. Flight instruments, radio panel, are some notable things you get with these joysticks. LOGITECH G SAITEK PRO FLIGHT Pros & Cons

YF2009 USB FLIGHT GAMING JOYSTICK

Are you a fan of Windows flight simulators and aerospace games? Whether you love to be a pilot or want to run a fighter jet through, you need the right and best flight sim joysticks to test your pilot abilities if you genuinely want to do the utmost in your fighter jet gaming, then this Flight Gaming Joystick must be the best choice for you. The joystick provides vibration feedback that lets you feel like a real flight experience. Despite asphalt 8, you can use this joystick almost in all the flight simulation games. The joystick is exceptionally smooth, comfy to use, and very solid that states its quality. Also, you can consider it the Best Joystick for Flight Simulation. When it comes to controlling, then 12 programmable, 8-way switches, and four-axis control buttons included in this joystick will help you. Moreover, the joystick is user-friendly beyond any problem; it will enhance your gaming experience, although it is one of the most affordable flight joysticks that currently exist. YF2009 USB FLIGHT GAMING Pros & Cons

LOGITECH EXTREME 3D PRO JOYSTICK

Specially made of windows, this Logitech Extreme 3D Pro Joystick for Windows is especially for players who want a fly advance. This flight SIM joystick will enable you to attack with stronger precision. Also, with advanced control and twist handle rudder, this joystick beyond doubt is going to provide you marvelous flight simulation experience. For a precise flying experience around 12 programmable buttons, you can get to see in it. The switch for 8-way hats is designed for precisely capturing specialized flight sim inputs and taking the button as quickly as you want, sure that your finger will catch every movement without a beat. You will love the ride! Enjoy travel! Your each fly mission will be brilliant or even after hours of action, fall down more enemies. The joystick is easy to use, and no doubt you'll fall in love with your games and with this joystick. However, the massive base of this flight SIM joystick is a notable point that makes this masterpiece stable and lets you focus on your game. So devoid of any obstruction, just give your best in-flight simulation. LOGITECH EXTREME 3D Pros & Cons Items that gamers frequently bought together with LOGITECH EXTREME 3D PRO JOYSTICK Thrustmaster T.F.R.P. Rudder (PS4, XOne & P.C.) The Thrustmaster T.F.R.P. (T.Flight Rudder Pedals) is the First rudder ever to feature the S.M.A.R.T. (Sliding Motion Advanced Rail Track) slide rails system! If you want to advance your gaming level. Then this Thrustmaster must be in your collection. These rudder pedals are compatible with all users. Such as, this mid-range flight joystick is consistent for a P.C. gaming setup, and also compatible with P.S. 4 with the flight hostas joystick. You can easily fit your entire foot inside the pedal thanks to an ergonomic design that makes this possible. Also, your heels will relax while playing the game, and heel rests are removable as well. Besides, the pedal comes with a diverse kind of brake system. USB and proprietary RJ12 connectivity; takes your gaming experience to another level. However, this joystick is also a cheap Logitech Extreme 3D Pro Joystick, and No doubt, it is going to add fun in your flight simulation. Final thoughts Now the choice is up to, which of these flight SIM joysticks has satisfied you and what meets your expectations, you can select from the above top 5 best joystick for game lovers. These joysticks are daily becoming favorable for game lovers, and people are enjoying them with their high-quality control props like joysticks and throttle panels that provide a fantastic experience to a player during game play. If you want to expand your flight simulation skill, then hurry to grab your joystick now! Read the full article

[xb-squaredx]

Sonic Forces Review: All OCs are Canon

Sonic the Hedgehog. Is there anything left that can be said about the franchise at this point? At once, the franchise is composed of timeless classics and horrifying dumpster fires. Sonic has hit about every single high and low point you could imagine, and yet soldiers on. There’s something admirable about that, and sometimes that results in something like Sonic Mania. But then…sometimes that also results in…Sonic Forces.

Forces is a strange title, especially in direct comparison to Sonic Mania. Some might say it’s not fair to compare to the two; one is made by fans and caters to nostalgia, while the other is meant to be the next step in the franchise, and normally I’d agree…however, Sega has elected to make the games directly connected and release in the same year so they will get compared no matter what. At times, Forces feels like the polar opposite of Mania, devoid of the passion, polish and content that a game made by a small group of fans produced, and yet there are brief, and I do mean brief moments of potential, but there’s far too much junk to shift through to get to that.

The game’s plot is paper thin, filled with missed opportunities and bizarre tonal shifts. The game itself is meant to be more series than the most recent Sonic games, what with Eggman taking over most of the world at long last and Sonic’s friends creating a meager resistance force…but then characters will chime in with jokes as if it’s just business as usual. The game opens with Sonic being defeated by Eggman’s newest minion, the ultimate edgelord that is Infinite, and presumed dead. We then immediately cut to Knuckles discovering Sonic is alive…but he’s been tortured for six months in Eggman’s prison! But then we see Sonic and…he’s no worse for wear. The game seems to WANT us to take it seriously, but it doesn’t commit and drops the ball way too often.

One of the major selling points in early trailers, that Eggman had assembled a number of other villains from across the games, is also neutered early on: they are all projections of the Phantom Ruby, the gemstone that was responsible for most of Mania’s plot, and most are given anticlimactic ends. Chaos is in all of two cutscenes, for one. Infinite’s lack of real importance to the plot is a sore point, yet another forgettable antagonist. I give Liam O’Brian props for his over-the-top delivery, but even he can’t save a character with so little going on. It seems like he’s meant to be a parody of the overly-edgy OCs the fandom is infamous for, but the game doesn’t go that deep into it. The “Episode Shadow” DLC gives a slight bit of background on Infinite, but it’s still very lacking.

As much as the story was hyped up, gameplay is the meatier part of the game…barely. Split up into four distinct styles, we have the boost gameplay of Modern Sonic, 2D platforming with Classic Sonic, then the all-new Avatar stages with players using their own custom character and a variety of gadgets, and tag team stages with Modern Sonic and the Avatar. Each style has their own sets of pros and cons.

Modern Sonic’s gameplay feels like a shallow version of the boost gameplay we’ve seen since Unleashed. He can boost when the meter is full, side step, Homing Attack and…that’s pretty much it. He loses the ability to drift, which is fine because his levels resemble straight corridors more often than not. The boost in general makes most levels a joke, blasting through them in less than two minutes a lot of the time. And in those two minutes, you might not even be in control of Sonic, as this game in particular seems determined to rip control away from you for automated sections a LOT more often than in most Sonic titles.

Classic Sonic…is a mess. Modern Sonic and the Avatar ALSO do 2D platforming, a LOT of it in fact, so I honestly question why Classic Sonic needs to be in here. He has hardly any impact on the story, his levels are among the blandest in the game and he seems to control worse than he did in Sonic Generations, from what I’ve heard. And with Mania still fresh in our minds, it’s even easier to see what’s wrong with him now. He has next to no momentum anymore, forcing you to spam the Spin Dash constantly. Not a stretch to say he’s the worst part of the game and he should have been cut out. Nothing of value would be lost.

The Avatar is at least somewhat interesting, playing mostly like Modern Sonic without the boost, but gaining a grappling hook and a Wispon, weapons that can harness the power of Wisps from Sonic Colors. Flamethrowers, clubs, whips and more can mow down enemies with ease…but to call this “combat” would be giving it too much credit. Enemies are often just fed to you, next to no challenge in dealing with them, all due to most of the Wispons feeling broken and overpowered. If you collect the right Wisp capsule, you gain access to a given Color Power too, which often lets you bypass huge sections of the stage. In the team up stages, you control Sonic and the Avatar at once, boosting and using Wispons, with the chance to do a “Double Boost” at pre-determined points.

Much of the game seems built more on presentation with very little substance. There are 30 levels in the game, sure, but most are over with in a flash and reuse assets pretty heavily. There are FIVE stages that take place in Green Hill Zone, for example. I can only think of a few levels that were actually fun to play and that I wanted to replay to look for alternate routes or get the S-Rank on, as so much of the game feels railroaded. I’d say that visually the game looks nice, mostly in terms of lighting and minor effects here or there, and outside of the Switch version, it’s at 60 FPS, and there’s a multitude of cinematic camera angles here and there in levels to give them a little extra oomph, but when you dig down into the finer points of the game, the control and the level design…that’s where it falls apart.

There’s this weird bit of acceleration everyone has in 2D that feels…off. Characters move slowly for a few seconds and then suddenly blast forward, making it easy to miss jumps. Precision platforming is not this game’s strong suit. Sonic and the Avatar feel stiff in some ways, the simple act of moving to the left or right something you have to FIGHT the game to even do. Certain secret paths are nearly impossible to use, not because they’re hard to get to, but because, even if you’re holding the control stick to swerve to the right, the game will do everything it can to keep you on the left path. It’s the kind of thing you might not notice when watching footage, but something you feel the instant you touch the controller.

At the end of the day, Sonic Forces is a massive step back for Sonic, lacking in almost every single facet. From the story to the gameplay, the level design and even the music—I’d wager the music isn’t really that bad, but you go through levels so quickly, you don’t get a chance to really hear it most of the time. That hits on Force’s biggest problem: it’s over before you know it, and you’re left with something that fails to leave much of an impact. The game seems to be in a constant state of rushing; rushing through the story, rushing you through stages, all so you can be done and forget about it. Forces isn’t an amusing disaster like Sonic Boom or Sonic ’06, and the few bright spots it does have are nothing compared to the series at its best. It is bad, and worse than that, it’s unremarkably bad. The only thing people will probably remember this for is the character creator, which isn’t even really all that in-depth. You have a few presets for a given species and acquire tons of clothes as you play, but it never really stops the Avatars from feeling out of place. I’ve seen some decent ones here or there and I like that you can “rent” them from other players when doing an Avatar stage but even so…I kinda expected a bit more out of the customization. They still play a LOT like Sonic, and among the various things you can tweak, they’re so minor they don’t really stand out that much.

(Or you can go out of your way to put them in fetish gear...so..that stands out!) 

Sonic Forces feels like a waste; I find it hard to believe Sega spent four years on this game. Maybe there were unforeseen development trouble that we may never know about, but the end result is something that feels disposable. Worth a rent at best and then quickly forgotten. I’ve seen people defending this game, stating it’s “not that bad” but really Sonic fans should expect better of Sega, they deserve better. Thankfully 2017 brought us Sonic Mania too, and that’s by far the better deal. At least Forces was only 40 bucks…but I’d argue that you could buy Mania twice and get a better value out of it.

Until next time,

-B

[ramajmedia]

Gears 5: Locations For ALL 90 Collectibles In The Campaign

Gears 5 collectibles are once again a major feature of the game, continuing the long-standing tradition of including a number of references and storyline treasures in the campaign mode. Gears of War has been a series that has put a lot of effort into creating as many little references to past games, fan wishes, and narrative callbacks as possible, and the result has been fans diving deep into the story not just to see what happens, but to uncover all of the secrets buried just under the surface.

Gears 5 may have rebooted the series in name and in protagonist, but it has maintained much of what made the franchise such a juggernaut for Microsoft and Xbox. The Coalition has returned to the Gears universe with a fresh set of eyes in Kait Diaz and has put players directly into the fray of another E-Day as it occurs rather than years after the event. Other changes, like those made to Gears 5 co-op mode and the way multiplayer is designed, have also resulted in positive feedback from fans, making Gears 5 one of the hottest releases of fall 2019.

Related: Gears 5 Has A Cool "Fish On A Stick" Easter Egg That Turns Into A Weapon

There are a few neat tricks to make Gears 5 collectibles much easier to collect. The best method is to play through Gears 5 on the easiest difficulty setting. Gears 5 collectible locations don't change based on difficulty and players aren't penalized for finding them on easier settings, so there's really no reason not to double back through previously completed levels on the most favorable settings to expedite the process. There are 90 different Gears 5 collectibles, after all - saving some time is well worth the decision to make the game less difficult during that process, especially for the many players who will want to acquire all of them.

Weathered Spectacles - At the very beginning as soon as player's gain control of their character, walk forward and slightly to the right to find the Weathered Spectacles sitting on a rock.

Onyx Guard Challenge Coin - Climb out of the water to the left at the start of the game. Take the cliff wall path to the left and the collectible is on the ground.

Wellness Advisory Poster - Left side of the ruined facility's bathroom.

COG Tags: Fallen Azura Gear - After the battle in the second silo, go straight to the Infirmary rather than left up the stairs to the Commander's office. On the right of the Infirmary there are bodies, one of which contains the Gears 5 collectible.

Chairman's Wristwatch - After acquiring the COG Tags, climb stairs on the way to the Commander's office but instead turn left into the dark room instead of continuing down the corridor. The collectible is on the desk.

Lightmass Missile Strike Authorization - After the encounter on the way to the Commander's Office, use the door on the far left corner before getting Dave through a vent. Players will know they're in the right room if they find a set of consoles in a room that has a pristine view of the area they just came through. On one console is the Gears 5 collectible.

UIR Hammer of Dawn Blueprints - After Dave unlocks the door from the vent, search the desk in the room opposite the Commander's office.

Photograph of Kilo Squad - Immediately after the chapter gives the player control, go to the desk beside Dave and loot the collectible.

Mark 3 Lancer Blueprint - After getting the Flash component, turn left and find the crates along the furthest wall. This Gears 5 collectible is hidden on top of one of those crates.

Trauma Record: Marcus Fenix - Again, after getting the Flash component, turn right but avoid leaving the room. Find the trolleys on this side of the location and there will be some papers to find regarding one of the Gears franchise's biggest stars.

Gym Notice to Trainees - After fighting Fahz, go to the side of the gym with some lockers and loot the collectible from the wall (it's hanging up).

DBI Marketing Brochure - Before Jinn's office, there's a seat on the left side of the doors that lead into the objective that have the collectible sitting on it.

COG Tags: Fallen Raven Pilot - As soon as the chapter begins and gives players control, there's a tag located on the ground next to a dead COG soldier.

The New Ephyran: 20th Anniversary Edition - Once the team has left the crash site, move forward until locating an office. There's a Gears 5 collectible on the desk in the back of the room, towards the left side.

Seditious Literature - After the first battle, move upstairs. Turn around on the next floor to find a desk in a corner with a collectible located on it.

Settlement 2 Welcome Package - Once the player finds a room full of civilians, walk towards the exit that has a COG soldier guarding it. Instead of using the exit, walk through the small room to the left. Players will know they're in the right area if there's a guitar inside. The collectible is on the table near the room's entrance.

Storied Embry Star - After the fight with Lizzie, enter a ruined building on the left side of the park gate. Upstairs, there's a Gears 5 collectible hidden in a wooden drawer.

COG Tags: Fallen Gear at Condor Crash - After making it through the park section of this chapter, there's wreckage across the bridge of a Condor ship that has tags hidden amidst a sea of destroyed Deebees.

Serian Colossus - After a section that requires battling juvies, players can spot a book store near the end of the road. Inside there's a Gears 5 collectible in a display at the center of the store where some bronze statues are reading books.

Memo to Bohma Staff - In the loading dock after breaking through the gate, walk left down the stairs towards the van and use vault to gain access tot he building. There's a collectible on a table.

COG Tags: Fallen Cog at Hotel - Still in the loading dock, players go into a dark storage room through a blue door. There's a dead COG soldier - loot their tags.

Lost Horse Plush - After a tense battle against Rejects, move through the golden doors into a room with a garden in the middle of it. Behind the garden and under the stairs, there's a Gears 5 toy to loot.

Settlement 2 Summer Birth Pamphlet - In the same room as the Lost Horse Plush, there are stairs to go up to another floor. On that level, there's a purple sign that talks about parents of Settlement 2 - the pamphlet is on the tables beside those signs.

Song Lyrics - Once in the theater, move forward until reaching a hallway. The first left leads to a dressing room, which in turn leads into an even smaller room. There are song lyrics on the table to the right of the entrance.

Worn Lighter - Leave the dressing room that leads to the Song Lyrics and move straight forward before getting to the backstage area. Down the small steps, there's a collectible located on a dressing table.

Octus Canon Scroll Prop - Once on the stage, move all the way to the other side of the room and next to the curtain lever there's a prop located on top of a storage crate.

Hand-Carved Riftworm Flute - Once the mission begins and players gain control of Kait, move right down the stairs and go through the yellow doorway. There's a flute located on the table inside the shop.

Ilima City License Plate - The main road of town will eventually have a furnace located along it. Near the fire of the furnace is another Gears 5 collectible.

Lost Gear Helmet - Left of the massive painted bone on the main road are some bushes. There's a helmet (complete with skull still attached!) hidden on the ground within the bushes.

Wooden Toy Lancer - This collectible needs to wait until a boy shoots a toy lancer at Kait while exploring town. He'll leave the collectible behind by a cement block on the right side of the street as he runs away.

Major Howl and The Battlin' Ants - Still on the main path, there's a shop called Salvage N' Trade near the furnace. Go inside and there's a collectible on the display case next to two lanterns.

New Village Rules Mandate - At the end of the main road is a workshop that players have to visit anyways in order to progress the Gears 5 campaign. Once entered, go to the left towards lockers and grab the mandate that's hanging up off them.

Note to The Chief - Once Kait regains vision, walk straight into the yellow building directly in front of her. Inside, there's a note placed on a massive wooden table that's impossible to miss.

Norsko's Letter - Once the player gets access to the steam farm, go right of the path and move past some discarded tires. There's a letter on top of one of several wooden crates surrounding beside an outcropping of rock.

Outsider Skiff Schematic - After doubling back to the part of the town with the furnace, go to the workshop on the left. There's a collectible hiding out on top of a container on the right of the mech.

COG Tags: Oscar Diaz - Once the player is forced out of the village, they'll find themselves ina dark garage. In the left corner of the room - just behind the computer in front of the red cabinet - there's a set of tags on the right of said cabinet.

Grindlift Maintenance Notes - Once the player finds some train tracks, they can follow them through a cavern to the south. At the end of the tunnel is a blue COG train car with the logo spray-painted on the side. There's a Gears 5 collectible located inside.

Faded Photograph - Upon leaving the tunnel, follow another set of tracks to find a train car that has crashed into some rocks. Entering the train will reveal a dead body and a photograph beside it.

Lena's Journal - On the way to the New Hope objective, there's a small campsite with some green tents that appears abandoned. There's a journal beside a kettle next to the firepit.

Islander's Lost Earring - There a larger COG gate to the east of the one players need to open during this chapter. Go towards it and find the destroyed vehicle nearby. Next to the wreck is a dead body with a Gears 5 collectible beside it.

Intercepted Letter - Once inside the New Hope facility, there's a locked gate on the right side of the room that has a desk beside it and a letter to collect.

Sovereign Directive 10345 - After falling into the facility cells, leave and enter the hallway. Turn right and find a locked door for Jack to open, with the directive sitting on top of a desk found within the room.

Patient Analysis AX-331-2 - Once collecting Sovereign Directive, leave and move into the lab on the right after exiting. On the left of this room there's another collectible next to the gory surgery bed.

Patient Analysis EV-184-9 - Once players enter the extremely creepy kids room and have to vault through the window there, head left until finding a workstation. There's a file on the right of the PC.

Patient Analysis RK-619-4 - Besides having a shout-out to WWE superstar Rey Mysterio in the number configuration, this collectible is essentially the same as the last two - a file that is in a room that's the first right on the hallway after the stasis tank event. Players will know they're in the right spot when they come across a dead Sire that has clearly been operated on - the collectible is located on the table to the left of it.

Timeworn Data Drive - In the server room, there's a data drive on a shelf on teh right side of the room.

Security Memorandum - Inside the large orange building next to the eastern communications tower entrance. This is located next to a frozen corpse.

Krav's Locust Tag - South of the northern communication tower is an Old Derrick Site. Prior to entering, go left of the entrance to find a skeleton with tags next to it.

Grindlift Actuator Component - Within the Old Derrick Site is a destroyed vehicle. On top of this vehicle there's a Gears 5 collectible hiding behind the yellow panel.

Lena's Scribbles - On the door of the northern tower substation, which is on the right side of the path on the way to the northern communication tower proper.

Orders From Ketor Skorge - Located within a second Old Derrick Site, this one near a giant ice sheet. There's a yellow flag that signals where the entrance is. Upon entering, hold to the right side of the path and find a skeleton trapped underneath some mechanical debris to find the orders.

Grindlift Radiator Component - While still inside the second Old Derrick Site, find the large vehicle at the very back and interact with the yellow panel. This will trigger a fight. Once the fight is over, head back to the panel and pick up the Gears 5 collectible.

Letter to Momma - While traversing the map on the way to the Abandoned Mine (located south on the map), players will come across an ice bridge. Instead of crossing, move past the bridge towards a vehicle that has a collectible next to it on a wooden crate.

Frayed-Pouncer-Tooth Necklace - Once players get to the Abandoned Mine and kill the Swarm that attacks them, go up the lift and batter down the green door. Climbing up the wooden tower in front of the player after doing so rewards them with the necklace, which will be on the ground.

Nethercutt Mining Poster - Once inside the Abandoned Mine and successfully lifting up the metal door, immediately head right. There's a poster on the wall on the right side of the doorway.

Nethercutt Miner's Journal - Once players come across the pod section of the mine, walk left towards the paper lanterns. The next Gears 5 collectible is located within the building there on top of a wooden table.

Nethercutt Helmet - Walk down the path opposite a huge door guarded by turrets. There's a large room filled to the brim with corpses, with the helmet collectible dead center.

Subject Analysis: UL-119-2 - After the turrets are shut down within the facility, walk past the frozen COG soldiers and up the ramp ahead of them. Kick down the door and acquire the file inside the room on the desk.

Subject Analysis: TE-872-3 - In the room with the yellow stasis tank, after the major, spoiler-filled cutscene, the cutscene is directly in front of the player on the floor.

Lexigram Board - After using Stim to run past a frozen room to deactivate a problematic generator, take a second to pause - there's a skeleton holding the board directly beside it.

Subject Analysis: EV-194-9 - Once the facility is unfrozen, turn around and walk to the orange-lit desks. The folder is located there.

Sketchbook - Leave the hand-scanner room through the door that's spot-lit by two white floodlights. Go immediately left to find the sketchbook on the floor.

Corisku Newspaper - Inside the abandoned airport, on the bar counter right when the chapter begins.

Doomed Empire, Chapter 9 - After heading downstairs, go straight and to the left towards Baird. Turn right from where Baird is, walk forward, then turn right again after passing by some luggage to find the Gears 5 collectible.

Missive to Agent 9 - In the northern corner of the airport building on the first floor, go past a row of computer desks into the office and collect the item on the far wall, placed on a desk.

Nomad's Creed - Behind Paduk, there's a small area off to the left of the two helicopters on the map. On one of the tables next to a desert tent, the collectible is there under a knife pinned to the table.

The Astounding Lightning Rangers! - In front of the large ship, inside Hangar 4, there's a helicopter inside. On a small rack to the left, there's a collectible to be picked up.

Hammer of Dawn Command Case - Upon entering the first control room, there's a skeleton before the first door. Loot it for this collectible.

OZP-11 Termination Directive - In the next area, don't go onto the orange platform; instead, go to the right hand side and underneath where the team is standing on the platform. It's sitting on a barrel.

UIR Space Mission Brief - After clearing a series of hallways through the storyline's progression in this area and clearing a huge swath of enemies, instead of proceeding left as the game indicates, there's a back room to the right that has another Gears 5 collectible on a desk.

Loyalist Order From Major Toly - As soon as players go through a door after progressing through the previous room, vault over the sandbags in the right corner to obtain the paper on the crate.

UIR Tag: Major Toly - After progressing through more hallways, in the room with the red sand across most of the floor and a giant tank in the middle of that sand, there's a corpse with the tags on it.

The Major's Speech - After reaching the long and narrow stairway proceeding down into a dimly lit room to continue the mission, the Major's Speech is located on a console to the left side of the room.

UIR Tag: Lieutenant Melich - At the Turntable Station, the mission will drive players forward into a room at the very end of the area. In this room, the tag will be sitting in the corner at the far end of where you enter.

Nomad's Sketchbook - In the Harbor Docks Waterpump Station, clear all enemies and open the door at the very end. The Nomad's Sketchbook will be sitting in the room where there's a person to talk to.

UIR LC Circuit A1 - During the City Ruins side mission, players will need Jack to laser cut through a door near the end of the mission. Take a right hand turn and go up some stairs, and the collectible is at a desk.

Well-Worn Vasgari Flag - From the last collectible location, head back to the skiff. Turn behind Kait on the way back and grab a huge flag attached to a ruined wall.

UIR Tag: Fallen Loyalist - Located right outside of the Rocket Hangar. There's a dead UIR up to the right of the gate.

Loyalist Orders to Lieutenant Melich - South of the Harbor Docks, there are some wrecked tanks. Near one of them there is a collectible tucked underneath the back of a tank.

UIR LC Circuit C1 - At the Artillery Battery, southeast of the bridge from Chapter 2, there's a side mission to clear out many enemies. This circuit is sitting on the table at the end of the mission in a room that overlooks the desert.

Emergency Loyalist Radiogram - Directly beside the previous collectible, to the left of it.

RNV Borascu Captain's Log - At the Cargo Shipwreck scavenger mission, enter the mission, kill all the enemies and then hug the right-hand side and progress through. There's an open shipment container with a corpse and the captain's log.

UIR LC Circuit B1 - Located at the far end of the entrance of the Cargo Shipwreck, next to one of the nomad corpses.

Lightmass Missile Fragment - At the Cosmonaut Training Facility. Before entering the building, duck to the right hand side and find the collectible sitting on the ground.

UIR Tag: Captain Tagger - Once in the room with a giant centrifuge that breaks, enter the new area. The main objective wants players to interact with something on the right on the ground - veer slightly left and interact with a tag that's on the ground near that objective first.

Fallen Nomad's Visor - When the main mission asks players to interact with the Nomad Convoy, turn to the right immediately upon entering the narrow wreckage-strewn area and then look for the visor next to a scrapped tank.

Encyclopedia of Tyran Military History - At the bottom of the stairs immediately following a room with a piano in it, there is an Encyclopedia Gears 5 collectible located in the right corner of the room. This path is necessary to progress the story so is impossible to miss - just keep an eye out for the piano as a signifier that the collectible is coming up soon.

Ruptured Gear Helmet - In the outdoor area, with the main objective on the left, go right instead and scale up towards a cliff-face that has a helmet laying just near the edge.

COG Tags: Minh Young Kim - Instead of going through the door of the tomb that is also in the outdoor area, keep to the right. There's an ambulance there to indicate players are heading in the right direction. Just in front of the last car in the row, which has a slab of rock on top of its hood, there are COG tags to collect.

Restoration Notice: Tomb of the Unknowns - On the right hand side of the door to the tomb before entering, pinned on the wall.

Next: Gears 5 Launch Botched By Server & Xbox Live Issues

source https://screenrant.com/gears-5-collectibles-location-guide-campaign/