#and i know time travel names are wonky already

[scarlct-vvitch]

i think we as a fandom did not give the writers enough shit about how dogshit of a title "xmen: days of future past" was. who allowed that. why did we just let that slide

[lume-nosity]

in your thoughts

they’ve been thinking about you recently..

ft: xiao, kazuha, wanderer

style: fluff

notes: gn!reader, not proofread

reblogs are appreciated!

xiao

‘you speak of [name]? don’t utter their name so casually. they’re someone of great importance to me and i…respect them, to the highest degree. even though my karmic debt cannot be cured with mortal remedies, they’re persistent in easing my karma in any way they can regardless of the odds. they’ve never left me and they trusted me, so in return i give them my protection. hm? do not give me that look. what i’m doing is simply out of my own volition and a token of gratitude as you mortals call it. unfortunately it’s getting late, so i’ll escort you.’

kaedehara kazuha

‘ah, they’re an interesting one aren’t they? their presence alone is enough to brighten up a room and uplift one’s spirits. they’ve even lifted my own spirits by accompanying me on the majority of my travels. the talents and hobbies that they excel in are commendable and worthy of an infinite amount of words of praise. to be honest, i’m a little envious of their prowess. but that doesn’t change the fact that i admire them greatly. traveler, please send them my regards the next time you see them on your journey.’

wanderer

‘[name]? if you’re asking me about them for the sake of engaging in small talk to quell the silence then there’s not much to say. what? were you expecting me to go on and on about them? you really should lower your expectations, that’s for sure. i don’t have to disclose any information about them, so don’t try to coax it out of me or something. but judging from the look on your face, you do want to hear my opinions about them. well, i guess all i can say is that they’re.. tolerable. and amusing. huh, what’s with the face? be grateful that i’ve told you a snippet of what i thought about them.’

an: i know the format/colors look wonky and they don’t fit together (it’s because i currently have a trailblazer theme at the moment, please bear with me) but the good thing is i’m slowly but surely crawling out of my writer’s block! also tysm for 500 followers! i haven’t checked my follower count for ages, as you can already tell. so consider this as a sort of celebration for that because i am very much lazy.

[vash-in-the-void]

I’m having thoughts about Vash outliving all of his loved ones again

And what if after the girls die, he travels the planet, sees humanity rebuild itself and even thrive

And eventually he becomes a university professor because with the world calming down that’s where he believes he can do the most good

He teaches plant sciences (and physics because he’s a nerd)

All of the notes (expanded) under the cut because I believe it’s unreadable

General Vash notes

* Professor of plant sciences in December

* Lives in a small village just outside of Dec - it takes him about an hour to get on campus everyday but he gets nervous about living in a big city also he finds the travel relaxing

* Friends with a fellow professor (a medical doctor who may or may not be the reason Vash is getting regular check ups now and taking care of his body)

* Uses a fake name but lets his students call him (prof.) Vash - he claims it’s because there already is one prof. Thompson on the Uni but he also just likes when people use his name

* Tired [TM] (I imagine his energy levels have gone down with the almost depleted plant powers and with all the scars he does suffer with some level of chronic pain - sometimes uses mobility aids to get around)

Appearance notes

* long hair (I imagine the texture is damaged but he already tried every product and conditioner and it doesn’t take - his hair is just fried, but at least it’s soft to the touch)

* wonky bangs because he let the Thompson kids play with his hair and one of them had scissors

* cross necklace

* Meryl’s earring (she gave him one and wore the other because they’re Yuri like that)

* turtleneck & suit pants because he is going for that professor fizz

* suspenders and a cowboy belt because he is still an embarrassing man

* red cardigan

* tinted glasses in his pocket - he doesn’t use them as much indoors

Personal lore

* after the girls got older (too old to chase the stampede) they settled and got married (Meryl had a hard time retiring and would still write for the local newspaper otherwise she’d go mad with boredom)

* Vash would stay in touch - officially taken into the Thompson family - he would visit often but never stayed long enough

* similar relationship with Livio and the orphanage

* Livio died first (it was expected but still devastating)

*after Meryl died and joined Milly, Vash put some distance between him and the Thompson family (now they know him as a distant but beloved relative and a very few of them connect him with Vash the Stampede)

General world lore

* takes place about 200 years post canon

* humanity has recovered, adapted and even thrive in some places (we moved on from the Wild West to a sort of enlightenment period for Gunsmoke)

* Vash the Stampede has faded into a legend status - it is heavily debated how true the whole thing was

[roxannarambles]

So apparently if you visit the Crystal Pool with Terapogos you get a little bonus scene. Spoilers behind cut.

Yeah it's what you expected, talk to Arven's dead parent for a bit.

You get to ask Sada three questions: What do you study, Why are you here, What about your family? She doesn't tell us anything we don't already know, though. For the 'family' question she just says she has a son and he's probably at home at the moment-- although considering time-space timelines being wonky, perhaps not-- and he's probably feeling very lonely.

She also asks us three questions: about Ms Briar (because she sees us with Briar's book), about Koraidon, and where we currently are. I personally took the "oh my god don't contaminate the timeline when you time travel" approach and tried to keep information from Sada so I just told her Koraidon was my bestest buddy (she was like, 'omg I don't care if you like him, tell me something useful' But she does take note of the name 'Koraidon') and that Briar was my teacher and this place was called the Crystal Pool (I didn't say 'Kitakami'). But as expected your choices don't really matter, for example even if you choose 'Crystal Pool' Sada knows where that is anyway.

The scene ends with a trade: you give her Ms. Briar's book and she gives you her copy of the Scarlet Book. I tried to refuse the trade but again, of course you have no choice.

Sadly the game doesn't even let us read Ms. Briar's book when it's in our inventory so. No extra details can be gleaned from it regardless. Once the trade is made and the scene ends, the game returns to the Title Screen, and the copy of the Scarlet book has appeared on the desk once more.

The thing that seems to be implied very strongly here is that this was definitely a case of time-travel which Terapogos instigated at the Crystal Pool. AI Sada mentioned misplacing her copy of the Scarlet Book during the main story, which we find in the Lighthouse lab. Presumably Sada misplaced her copy of the book when she gave it to us just now at the Crystal Pool. Time paradox stuff, you know how it is.

I think what we can probably conclude here in the very least is that The Paradox Pokemon are thus indeed real pokemon from the past and future and not just figments of Heath's imagination. Terapogos brought them via time travel due to Heath's desires to see them.

Also, we gave Sada the information needed to wake up Terapogos (Ms Briar's book), so I guess she used Terapogos to finish her Time Machine. And then . . . Terapogos went to sleep again?? I guess.

This is just what I'm guessing anyway, I've only just now seen the secret ending and haven't read other people's thoughts yet on it

[sleepdeprivedsimp234]

~somewhat angsty NY headcanons because I love to torture him (purely out of love)~

=======================================================================

-if he gets pinned down in a fight, there is chance that he will panic, cuz it reminds him of how Britain used to pin or restrain him before beating the he// out of him.

The first time anybody found out was in a sparring match that York got into with Texas. Texas had York pinned on the ground with his arms above his head and his knee on the smaller’s chest, not knowing that York was starting to panic and have flashbacks to Britain beating the crap out of him. So ofc when York started sounding more and more desperate and panicked every time he told Texas to get tf off of him, it left the Lone Star State a bit confused. When he got off, York immediately curled up in a ball and had a pretty bad panic attack, but was on calmed down by his brothers. He also made sure to reassure Texas that he did nothing wrong.

-sometimes when York needs alone time, he will teleport to NYC and just sit at the top of a tall building and cry alone whilst listening to music, drinking whatever liquor he brought with him, and staring off into the distance

-he has some SA-related trauma from his ex-bf. His ex did some non-consensual…..things to him, and always yelled at York and hit him for the stupidest and smallest things. So umm….. of course he ain’t around anymore :)

-one of the scars he has is from a type of blade that was not for him, and that was for more magical beings like Mass and Loui. After he got stabbed, there was a lot of black stuff surrounding the wound and black bile mixed with blood coming out of his mouth. He was definitely not having a good time. So he now has a weird-wonky star-shaped looking scar on his upper stomach (and like the 9/11 scar, he also pretty insecure about it).

-he has frequent absence seizures and that often results in him not listening to another person during a conversation and them having to repeat whatever they said.

-I have now decided that he has an autism assistance dog named Nico that helps him when he’s getting too worked up and/or overstimulated, and a mobility assistance dog named Kodi that helps him with his slight balance issues. Both dogs do their jobs well, and York loves them both a lot.

-because of the pollution in his state that is traveling from the Canadian wildfires into his state, and because of the pollution that was already there, he chokes on his own air a lot, and sometimes it gets so bad that he coughs up blood

-kinda related to the hc above, York has asthma, which makes the pollution situation 10x worse

-by the time the Civil War had happened, York had seen SO much war, at such a young age, that he seemed to have became immune to it in some sense. He would just kill enemies left and right without barely batting an eye and with barely any emotion on his face, and it honestly scared the sh*t out of some of the other states and enemies.

-Soooo…..I found out that Melanie Martinez was born in New York, so I’ve now decided that he listens to her music and kinda relates to some of it (not really sad, but I just wanted to put that out there)

-school was incredibly stressful for him, despite him being really smart. It was mainly cuz’ the people he went to school with, and some of the teachers he had, were absolute *$$holes

-whenever he’s really going through it, he will push others away and completely reject any help that was offered

-because of the abuse and war he went through, he somehow gained the mindset that if he gets hurt, even if it is incredibly serious and painful, he should just get tf up and continue doing what he was doing, no matter what. This man could be spontaneously bleeding out and have a broken arm, and would still try to get up and do stuff

-he has 100% fell through ice into freezing cold water, gotten himself out, and continue doing whatever he doing even though there’s the chance that he was hurt and had possible hypothermia, and he has definitely passed the f*ck out whilst telling Mass or whoever that he was fine and didn’t need medical attention.

[teecupangel]

Having seen the Yew Branch ask - how do you think the following would go? Desmond is reborn as Aya of Alexandria. How much would that impact the foundation of Hidden Ones? Would they still be a pair with Bayek? (I mean. I hope. Let Desmond be loved). Does Khemu survive? (I mean. Think if Al Muslim's daughter!Desmond AU but post birth - I would love to see them kill try and Khemu) Does *Order*, Cesar and Cleopatra survive?

So let’s talk about how Desmond is gonna fuck the creation of the Hidden Ones so badly by being reborn as Aya of Alexandria.

Let’s remember that Desmond has no idea how important Aya is meant to be in the history of the Hidden Ones/Assassins. Hell, she doesn’t even know that this is the time period where the Hidden Ones would be created.

She would still end up in Siwa though because her parent are busy and Desmond is a menace as a child, disappearing for hours and reappearing like nothing is wrong at all. No one would think to be suspicious of her being in the same vicinity as certain bad people die or get caught but her parents would be scared that she’ll find herself in the middle of it and get hurt or worse so they send her to Siwa to live with her aunt.

There she would meet Bayek and… they’ll get along quite fast, actually. Bayek would be interested by how ‘unique’ Desmond was. He had never seen a girl like her before.

Desmond would see Bayek as someone with the potential to be an Assassin and they’d just… play. Sorta. Playing with Desmond means learning how to be an Assassin without knowing you’re being trained to be an Assassin.

Desmond… didn’t plan to fall in love with Bayek. He certainly didn’t plan to accidentally teach the children of Siwa how to Assassins. He was just… bored. Siwa was peaceful and hunting for sports was never something he could ever do so… he got bored and played with the kids without thinking too deeply of how easy it is to train kids using tag and hide-and-seek.

By the time Bayek becomes a Medjay (and the whole drama with his father is also over), Desmond pretty much has an unofficial Assassin bureau setup in Siwa with a few unofficial Assassins (including Tahira and Khenza). They’re not Medjays but they’re close allies enough.

During that time, Desmond and Bayek also fall in love and marry (because there’s no way Desmond would ever be immune to Bayek’s charm, come on). They’d have a child as well. Although… Khemu’s not gonna be called Khemu, I think. He’d have a bird motif name because Desmond can’t help himself.

Khemu would also be sneakier and much more used to defending himself. He’d still be a kind and dutiful son but he’ll also have a mischievous streak that definitely came from Desmond. Also, he’s learning to speak English, Arabic and Kanien'kéha. He and Desmond speak in those languages when they don’t want others to understand them. Bayek also learned some of them because he likes hearing Desmond speak in those languages.

Khemu lives, no doubt, but let’s make it more dramatic and complicated. Khemu is technically the child of Desmond Miles even if she’s been reborn as Aya of Alexandria so Khemu’s genes are a bit… wonky. Not Elijah-Sage wonky but the current time period giving a greater Isu-to-human gene ratio + Desmond being reborn as a descendant of Kassandra who, depending on when you play the DLCs, has a body that could have already been fucked by Isu BS thanks to her Aletheia haunted spear/staff certainly makes Khemu’s genes an anomaly.

That the Apple of Eden reacts to.

So instead of killing Khemu, he’s kidnapped while Desmond was away in Alexandria, taking care of her parents’ estates and belongings (this is where she will also find Darius’ Hidden Blade)

And that is how Bayek’s path of revenge turns to both Desmond and Bayek traveling to find their son.

Along the way, Desmond says ‘fuck it’ to the timeline and creates the Hidden Ones…

Although… she names it the ‘Assassin Brotherhood’ because she has no idea about the true history of the Hidden Ones so yeah… Desmond is gonna bypass the Hidden Ones and go straight to developing the Levantine + Italian + Colonial Brotherhood in Egypt.

Khemu manages to escape all on his own and runs away, looking for his parents. At this point, he would have an Eagle Vision (although Bayek would rely on Senu still) that will help him find his parents.

Everything comes to a head when Cesar and Cleopatra do their whole ‘save Egypt’ thing and Khemu reunites with his parents there as well during all the destruction.

Desmond is never gonna take the name Amunet. For one, she will never be BFFs with Cleopatra and she will not have the whole “Aya is dead, only Amunet remains” kind of character develop Aya had. She’ll be calling herself Desmond very early on anyway.

Desmond would take the mantle of mentor and would be the one to assassinate Cleopatra because she becomes a threat to Egypt’s freedom as well as Cesar. Of course, since Desmond knows how Cesar dies (as a meme though XD), she does assassinate Cesar the same way Aya did in the game.

If you do want to include the Curse of Pharaohs DLC, Desmond’s entire demeanor is “Nope, not going to fucking deal with this Isu BS. Bayek, you go take those ghostly things. Imma cheat and use my Eagle Vision to find where the POE is.”

[naivesilver]

Crowsourced ideas for the EAH/OUAT crossover because I can't get it out of my fucking head apparently and I need to write them all down in a single place

Apple -> takes the place of baby Neal as Snow and Charming's second child, exacerbating Emma's bitterness because like, if you're a bit jealous that your parents are raising and doting on a baby like they couldn't go to you, that feeling must multiplicate tenfold if said baby is a little girl with blonde hair

Raven -> Regina's baby with Robin. Implies that Cora never dosed her daughter with an infertility spell and also that the whole Zelena pregnancy shebang was avoided somehow PLEASE I need this for my sanity. Has magic blood but ON GOD, Regina will bash Rumple on the head if he comes near her kid with weird power-teaching ideas

(when I made the first post about this I completely forgot that Sparrow Hood is a guy that exists in EAH, but it's fine, we can pretend he doesn't OR Regina can have twins - Raven and Sparrow are names that go so well together, after all! And the prospect is hysterical! Surely nothing could go wrong with those two in the same nursery!!!!!)

Ruby and Dorothy were implied to do some travelling together in the show, right? Maybe they could find the remains of a wolf pack like that of Ruby's mother, except all that's left is VERY mistrustful wolfblood young sisters Ramona and Cerise in severe need for adult intervention. Time for Red Kansas to become chaos moms and break some walls the girls have built, I guess

if Jefferson already has one daughter, there is no reason why he couldn't have TWO daughters! Enter Madeline/Maddie, AKA Grace's mad (honorific) little sis

Cinderella is already called Ashley in OUAT so I'd be loath to keep her daughter as Ashlynn but...Lynney? Lynette? Something? Anyway, a glorified Alexandra LMAO same for Hunter, though - for one, where would Graham get a son, and for two, would he name that son Hunter? Nope. Definitely not. Needs workshopping

other kids I have floating around are Briar (but Aurora is already pregnant in canon so whatever that's easy), Crystal (technically as the daughter of the Snow Queen she should come from Elsa or Ingrid's line, but that doesn't sound likely...maybe Anna and Kristoff instead?), Alistair Wonderland (probably Alice and Cyrus' offspring, but that would mean not interacting much with the rest of the crew), Lizzie Hearts (Cora has no right to a third daughter, so what's the closest thing to the Queen of Hearts? Anastasia the Red Queen? Idk??????) etc etc

and now the actual protagonist in my heart, Cedar Booth Wood

so because of Jojo's intervention, her backstory is established as such: she's the result of one of August's pre-canon flings that ends up in Storybrooke when she's quite young. That narrows the window of time where she could have been conceived before her dad was either wooden/a third grader/being a whole dumbass, but I wanted her to be about the same age as her friends and that means keeping her at about 5yo upon her arrival (timelines are wonky because OUAT's timeline IS wonky, but hardly anybody will even read so far, so ssssssh)

August is her nearest relation available, so that's why he gets a handful of child so suddenly. He is...a bit in shock, but he ends up loving her once the surprise wears off. Marco is OVER THE MOON because it's free granddaughter. Archie is just begging that at least ONE member of their family has a kid in a plain, normal way at some point in the future

then the angst kicks in because it turns out daddy's enchanted tree genes are just a little too strong and they resurface quite vehemently once Cedar steps foot in Storybrooke. Maybe she starts turning into wood, or has an averse reaction to lies, or both, I don't know I'd love it to be both, but I'm scared that I will get yelled at for torturing this child any further

the central point is - I was discussing this topic with @bewilderedmoth the other night and she had a STRONG hand in helping me reach the conclusion that a) this is probably the Blue Fairy's fault, so fuck her b) since Cedar is so young in this AU not only would August be desperate that she gets...cured? Un-cursed? Something, but he'd also realize that...shit. He wasn't much older than her when he got thrown into his personal hellscape. That's fucked up. Who thought it could be a healthy learning experience (see point a)? Unhand his kiddo RIGHT NOW or so help him

finally, this unreasonably funny concept from yours truly, to send you off on a lighter note

[ohhalefire]

Tag Game

Rules: Share 10 facts about yourself and tag 10 other blogs! I want to get to know my mutuals, and the people I follow a little bit :) The facts can be about anything!

Thanks for the tags, @greyhavenisback and @outtoshatter!

lol now what can i say that won't affect my actual named online presence coz all the best facts about me would make my tumblr VERY TRACEABLE in a way i really don't want it to be

When I was a teenager I danced in Disneyland as part of Disney's Magic Music Days program, and while there I was offered an actual job performing in one of the California Adventure parades, but I was too young to take it 😭

As a born-and-raised Vancouverite, I watch Supernatural like it's a drinking game: at every location, I have to guess where they're filming before they cut away from it

I always have a headache~

...Which is related to the fact that I have hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) and my whole body is just systematically wonky af. Nothing holds together right

I have a signed photo of Sean Astin as Sam Gamgee on my wall because my partner got it for me at a con as a present and I just 💕

I'm a professional performer, director, and singing teacher... meaning I have bled, broken bones, and dislocated joints on MANY a stage

I love touring. I really do. You don't really have time to think about the outside world - you just get paid to do the thing you love with people you (hopefully) like hanging out with. Plus, travel! Young artists literally pay for that type of immersive musical experience, and on tour, you GET paid to do it. For me, what's not to love?

I'm going to Disneyland! Again! On Monday!

While I trust all my tumblr friends with my real online presence and you can totally message me if you wanna know my (very!!!!) public-facing Instagram or anything, I don't trust the people outside the tumblr world to like... get it, you know? I leave my entire personality on the Internet for the world to see - all of my personality EXCEPT fandom shit, that is 😂

Someday, I'm gonna write a novel with the OCs I developed in like 2009-2011. They still live in my head rent free, and probably won't go away until I actually write them down. And I'm lucky in that I probably have an advantage in creating this future novel - my partner is a novelist, and we talk about story structure pretty much endlessly!

Don't know that I have ten people to tag who do these games and who haven't already done this one, but I'll go with @fira211, @scribblesandsorcery, @usergrantaire, and double-tagging @all-or-nothing-baby and @raisesomehale 🧡

[hyperfix-tangented]

Heyo! I was struggling to figure out any sort of introductory to the SOD Trio so I figured I'd just start with personalities/basic info and figure out the rest from there.

For context, Hyper and Techie use their online aliases irl, whereas Thyme uses her real name. That's why their names are weird. Also, they will be thrown into the HTTYD universe via time travel, so this is all pre-story context. Please forgive any wonkiness in this, I just needed something lol

Hyper

Gender: Non-binary

Pronouns: She/they

Sexuality: Chaos gay :P

   Hyper is impulsive, spirited, competitive, and ten different kinds of arrogant.  She’s spent most of her life fighting her peers and teachers tooth and claw to exist openly and breaks 17 different rules on the daily.  Though they’re considered an easy target for most bullies at first glance, as an outcast that frequently gets in trouble and lives in a resting state of doing whatever the fuck they want without regard for the social rules that limit that, many of them quickly learn to back off as Hyper is not one to just ignore it and walk away and not above striking back if someone decides to make a move or threaten.  Despite a hot rebellious streak and a refusal to take things lying down, close friends find a passionate, encouraging, creative, and fiercely loyal, if occasionally accidentally insensitive, person waiting just past a defensive surface.

Techie

Gender: Cis female

Pronouns: She/her

Sexuality: Questioning

   Techie is practical, organized, stubborn, and a bit of a workaholic.  She was homeschooled from Second Grade and since discovering her Nana was sick just before she turned 10, dedicated herself to growing on her already blossoming technological abilities and creating things to assist her Nana until she died about 5 years later.  She met Hyper online a few months after her Nana was diagnosed (because neither of these kids know what an “age limit” is) and they were close online friends for two years, until Techie moved to Hyper’s city.  Despite lacking school to give her a schedule Techie is rigid and abides by her own routines, keeping her workspace clean and organized in a way she’d bite the hands of anyone trying to disrupt it (Hyper can attest).  She’s a bit pessimistic, quiet, and reserved, especially around newcomers, but those that befriend the tech-obsessed weirdo finds a curious, patient, intelligent, and surprisingly sentimental friend under the headphones.

Thyme III

Gender: (Closeted) Demigirl

Pronouns: She/her

Sexuality (Closeted) Lesbian

   Thyme is quiet, timid, polite, anxious, and a latecomer to the trio as she only met Hyper the same year Techie moved.  Always having been curious, kind, and agreeable, Thyme consistently got good grades and was considered a good student that just needed to focus a bit more.  Despite her parent’s apparent lack of concern over her beyond physical necessities, her grandparents were insistent on teaching her manners and would frequently babysit her when she was younger.  Outside of the classroom Thyme was rarely so lucky, as her sensitive, gullible, and submissive nature made her a perfect bully target that wouldn’t stand up for herself, couldn’t differentiate between lighthearted teasing and proper insults, and wouldn’t argue.  However, when in good company and not tearing herself up over accidentally being rude or daydreaming to escape the reality of her apathetic parents and confusing school “friends”, Thyme is a creative, compassionate, thoughtful, passionate, and loyal friend who puts her heart into every gift.

[ultyso]

So my friend let us come over to try the XVI demo on their PS5.

Overall I’d give it a 6/10. Not something I’d immediately rush to buy a PS5 for. But if I did own a PS5 already, I wouldn’t object to buying the game.

Here’s my thoughts included below. Forewarning this point forwards is spoiler territory:

So played the demo and there are some things I liked and some things that’d prob be better the more I’d get to play. But from just the Demo, it just didn’t really hype me up as much as it did for others. I’m not really into medieval type games, which prob is a major factor. But, I didn’t want this to deter me so tried to give this a fighting chance by going in with an open mind.

For those who may not know, I’ve played many FF. Not every single one out there but to give some info on what I have if it means anything for you: VI, VII series, VIII, IX, X series, XII partly, XIII series, XIV slightly, XV

The first Eikon fight, reminded me of Panzer Dragoon so thought that was kind of neat. Starting the game off with fighting Ifrit just had me thinking of how XV had started with an Ifrit as well. I figured after this fight it would move back to the past afterword, but it didn’t do it as quickly. I did like the whole fight, found it interesting. ^^

The UI is nice and simple. I like how it’s all formatted, easy to pick up and learn. Nothing cluttered.

For gameplay, this is probably the strongest point it has. It feels like an enhanced gameplay of XV, making it much better. I like all the different skills you can acquire (based on what I saw for the Eikon challenge mode I played after.) I honestly like the most how the dodging is in the game. It’s such a simple thing, but idk it just moved so smoothly, I liked it.

Not having to hit any buttons to pick up items was probably the best thing to! Biggest grievance with XV with the pick up/interact and jump being same button was so annoying.

I know everyone said it was super lax but the scene with Bernadictka and Titan dude still made me uncomfortable as hell 😂

I do find the ‘oh we must go and do this important task but first do this random side quest’ so you can learn further fight mechanics, felt a bit wonky and could have flown more seamlessly a different way. Just kinda took me out. I liked Wade he amused me. The marlboro fight was interesting, fairly simple, I liked how they did the QTE events but I felt it dragged on longer than needed to be, like health a little too high. So sometimes the fighting got boring.

I wish the environments were less dull looking. Everything is so grey. I hope this is not so much the further in you go. The only times it looked visually very pretty were the Eikon fights.

As for the characters, I’m not really feeling anyone. honestly a lot just def give generic NPC vibes. None really made me care about them a whole lot. Except Torgal. I loved the furry baby. Clive not really anything omg about him. He’s typical duty bound character. He’s just ok. The dad tho lookin nice 👀👀 well till they killed him off right in front of poor Joshua, poor kid gonna have major trauma. I was sad they killed him off already. This whole scene just like XV. betrayal and killing the dad part. Uhm the wife is an asshole, scumbag I forget her name. Joshua is alright. He’s just trying his best. His voices sounds weird to me sometimes when it gets all cracky, but I can tolerate it. This other dude I forget the name of just looks like Clive with a slight different hair cut. Also wtf my sis wasn’t kidding with her issues with there being no diversity to the designs. Everyone looking like generic white dudes lmao.

The map looks so much like how Stranger of Paradise is. Which made me a little eh. Hope we’ll be able to manually travel more than what was given.

Poor Joshua for getting all beat up by Ifrit like that was so not okay 😤 Poor kid. If anything with Joshua, I just feel bad for the mess this kid has had to go through already.

When I got to the thanks for playing, I was all ‘that’s it?’ So it was engaging enough I wanted to continue playing despite some of the issues I had. Hoping that a lot of what I was meh of will be improved upon later as you’ll get to know characters more and move to new places.

Uhm those were main things I remember. So some good and bad but a lot of things left me lackluster. It is pretty much what I expected I’d feel based on my thoughts from the trailers, they didn’t change much. My main thought was that like Stranger of Paradise, the gameplay would be more engaging than story, which it is too for XVI for me. I personally wouldn’t call this game the pinnacle of Final Fantasy. It doesn’t scream the best of the best, at least just from demo standpoint. Thoughts could change the more that is played beyond.

I’m not super hooked. If I had a PS5 I’d buy the game. It’s not a game that I’d be all “I need to buy a PS5 stat” I can wait it out. It’s overall just an OK game. Of course, these are just my opinions. Everyone else is clearly ok to like it lmao.

[phantoms-lair]

11?

Detective Conan and Detective Conan. Oh, I have an idea for this

"Shinchi are you awake?" Ran buzzed the intercom at the gate. Outwardly she was annoyed, but inwardly she was struggling not to grin ear from ear. Today was their date (maybe not a date date, but still) at Tropical Land.

"Awake yes," Shinchi answered cheerfully from over the intercom. "Things are just a little weird here right now."

Her annoyed frown became more real. "Shinichi. This isn't an excuse to get out of Tropical Land."

"That's today?" He asked surprised, though his voice sounded farther away.

"You'd better come in." The voice was closer again. "I mean, you should come in anyway, but I think this got more complicated."

"Which is saying something." The last sentence sounded staticy and almost bitter. It didn't sound like Shinichi at all.

"Is there someone else there with you?" She asked.

"The answer to that is more complicated than you think." Shinichi answered brightly. "Come on in and we'll explain."

It was funny how Shinichi didn't think he got his mother's sense of dramatics. "At least you're not in your pajamas." Ran said as she took her shoes off.

"Don't hold onto that too much." He said, smiling. That was odd. The school uniform wasn't nearly rumpled enough for him to have slept in.

"You're being cryptic today."

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Honestly, it's just a weird situation. It'll make more sense in the kitchen. Or lose all sense. One of those two."

Ran rolled her eyes and walked into the kitchen, but stopped dead when she saw what, or rather who, was there. At the kitchen island still in his pajamas, sat Shinichi Kudo with a shellshocked expression. Next to him sat a rather garishly dressed Shinichi Kudo wearing sunglasses and hair bleached so thoroughly it was stark white and seemed to glow. And getting a cup of coffee was Shinichi Kudo in a hoodie.

"So, the Shinichi you're looking for is unfortunately still in his pajamas." said the Shinichi she'd been talking to.

"Who are you all?" Ran asked.

"Kudo Shinichi." He answered easily. "Unlike two of the others here I never answered to any other name."

Bleached Hair and Hoodie Shinichi glowered at him. Pajama Shinichi just looked at Ran confused and with a slightly pleading look.

"Best guess we have is reality has gone a bit wonky." Hoodie Shinichi said, his expression softening as it shifted from the Shinichi next to her to Ran. "This actually happened on my world before, but larger scale. There it was two realities slowly merging together, one taking on traits of this other. This is more like there's a Kudo Shinichi shaped hole that we keep falling through." He shrugged. "Honestly I'm not too worried. Pretty sure Hydalean will be able to find me."

"Hydalean?" Ran asked.

"Don't bother." Bleached Hair Shinichi rolled his eyes. "He refuses to elaborate. And unfortunately none of the rest of us have any experience with multiple realities, so we're going to have to take his word for it. Let's go with what we do know. Tropical Land. Today." His had certainly been the bitter voice from earlier. He slipped back into it as he mentioned Tropical Land, though Hoodie Shinichi look uncomfortable at it's mention.

"So long story short, this is a day all of us interdimensional travelers have already been through and it did not go according to plan." Uniform Shinichi put his hand to his chin. "But honestly there's no reason this time it can't. Without our foreknowledge we should be able to avert the roller coaster murder before it happens. Save you guys a nice bit of trauma of seeing someone decapitated one seat away from you."

Ran blanched and Pajama Shinichi didn't look much better.

"What about them Hoodie Shinchi asked darkly. Uniform Shinichi shrugged. "I captured their men when one of them thought he was sneaking up behind me. With the two of us actively on the lookout for them, it'll be even easier."

"What do you mean two?" Bleached Hair Shinichi stood up.

"You are not coming."

"The hell I'm not. They killed-"

"And this is why." Hoodie Shinichi put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Remember when you told us about how you reacted to seeing the same car Gin drove? I get it. They messed me up too, I'm not going to pretend they didn't. But you lost more. You lose your rationality when it involves them. We can't afford that, this world's Shinichi can't afford it, and I'm not sure you could either."

"Then what am I supposed to do? Just sit here? While knowing that if one thing goes wrong they-"

"Find Akemi." Hoodie Shinichi responded.

Bleached Hair Shinichi looked taken aback, then nodded.

"Akemi?" Ran asked.

Uniform Shinichi just shrugged and Pajama Shinichi shook his head.

"Someone who will be killed by the Organization which the two men we'll be capturing today work for." Hoodie Shinichi explained. "She's trying to protect her younger sister and they'll use that to kill her. I-we," He acknowledge Bleached Hair Shinichi, "didn't find out until it was too late and all we could do was sit with her so she didn't die alone."

Uniform Shinichi's head turned sharply to the side and Ran could see his whole body tense up, hands balling into fists.

"You knew her?" Ran asked.

"Not her." His voice was thick with emotion. "But someone else I spent a year trying to save. We came so close but in the end, after all he did for us, all I could do was hold his hand." He took a deep breath, then faced Pajama Shinichi. "Things fall apart. For those two, it was today. For me it was much earlier. I don't know when it will be for you, but it won't be today. Get dressed, go to school, and have a good date. We'll take care of any would be murderers. I promise."

~~~~

For reference:

Pajama Shinichi - Canon Shinichi

Bleached Hair Shinichi - Halfa Shinichi from The Phantom Detective Redux

Uniform Shinichi - Graduate of the Assasination Classrom from the earlier fic snippet

Hoodie Shinichi - don't have anything written for this (yet) but the story behind it is the basis for this fanart I commissioned, which explains why he's wearing a hoodie.

[cordria]

Twin Cores - DP

Saw this headcanon on Tumblr… awhile ago? It stuck with me, and I ended up writing this, and now I can’t find it to give the person proper credit. Lemme know if anyone recognizes this idea and knows who came up with it. (heart) 

Was gonna do this idea for the Big Bang thing, but I forgot all about signing up. ;) Wonders. So I’ll just post it and come up with new ideas.

~2,700 words. 

--

Danny floated high above the clouds, up where the air was thin and cold and the stars sparkled brightly overhead. It was terribly late, and Danny knew he’d be paying for this at school tomorrow, but this was always the best part of his week. He couldn’t come up here all the time, but when he cound, he always found himself relaxing. Hands behind his head, he floated on his back, studying the stars.

He let out a breath through his lips and brought a hand forwards to massage his chest, closing his eyes. Yesterday had not been good day. An accident with some of his parents’ technology had completely ruined his day. For reasons Danny didn’t understand, his chest had felt overly full since. Almost like he needed to cough up something - which couldn’t be, because his ghost form didn’t have any real lungs to cough with. 

With a groan, Danny stretched and rolled his body through a bunch of sharp loop-the-loops and twists, hoping maybe he could work out the kink. Nothing. Hopefully it wouldn’t prevent him from getting a good night’s rest. He was exhausted.

He floated for a few minutes longer, watching the sky and hoping for a meteor or two, slowly turning the overfull feeling over in his mind. He pushed and prodded at the odd sensation, trying to come up with what in the world it could be. 

It had to relate to his parents’ invention. Unfortunately, the day was a fuzzy blur in Danny’s memory and if something in particular had happened to him, he wouldn’t be able to remember it on his own. All he could do on his own was a vague understanding of what had happened.

Getting zapped with one of the newer devices yesterday had resulted in Danny getting split - again. His ghost half had fallen captive to the hero-like obsession of his core, and had gone on a hero-spree. A memory of rescuing a cat from a tree in a very overblown, comic-like way surfaced and Danny buried his face in his hands, embarrassed for himself. “Ugh, I hope nobody videoed that. Or anything else,” he muttered.

His human half had wandered aimlessly through the day, not knowing what to do with no driving force behind everything he did. Vague memories of eating pizza and not noticing the ghost haunting the place next door until Sam pointed it out filtered through the shadows. 

From what he remembered, it hadn’t been a horrible sort of day for either half of him. His ghost half had been allowed to play with his obsession all day and his human half had gotten to just be… human. But he’d been split for much longer than ever before; Tucker and Sam were unable to work through how the strange invention worked. 

Danny didn’t remember being much help with the endeavour. In fact, he sort of remembered his human half stealing the device, passing it to his ghost half, and the thing getting placed on top of the school for the afternoon. Jazz finally got it using some of the newer modifications to the Fenton’s vehicle that allowed it to fly. 

By the time the three of them figured out how to reverse the effects, it was late in the evening on the second day - more than 36 hours since being split. Phantom had started to turn more and more ghost, losing more of his humanity each hour, delving deeper and deeper into this hero obsession. His eyes had turned more ghostly, teeth sharpening, fingers turning into claws. Even a cape had started to mist into view.

Danny slowly ran his tongue over his teeth - they were still a bit too sharp - and pulled his hands far enough away from his face to glance at his fingers. They weren’t claws, not like many ghosts had, but… his fingers no longer really looked human. The changes that had happened to his ghost form the last two days appeared to be permanent, even now that they were rejoined back together.

Danny… didn’t want to think about that. Not yet.

And his human half had started to go through changes as well. Danny vaguely remembered - towards the end of the escapade, when he’d convinced himself that he didn’t want to be rejoined with Phantom - trying to avoid everyone and ending up in a tree, floating in a very inhuman way. His totally human form regaining some of its ghost powers.

Danny mentally poked at the odd, full sensation in his chest again. Perhaps it was that his ghost powers had grown while he was separated. Phantom hadn’t been exactly a half-a-ghost when they’d been slammed back together. And Danny had been just a bit of ghost too. Perhaps now he was somehow 60% ghost and 50% human… and his body was trying to adjust to being too much ghost. 

His mind poked at the sensation in his chest just a bit too hard. Danny slammed his eyes shut tight as he felt the sensation of transformation travel through him - lightning sharp and aching into his phantom bones. Panic set in a second later. He couldn’t transform up here - there wasn’t enough oxygen for his human form to breathe. He’d pass out and fall to his death. 

He gasped and threw his arms out, instinctively trying to grab something even though he was on the edge of the atmosphere, as the transformation arced through his arms and legs. He kept his eyes closed as he fumbled for his ghost side. He needed to transform back fast. His human side would already be aching to breathe, desperate for oxygen after the last hour of being in ghost form.

But his ghost side… was… 

Danny opened his eyes as he realized he wasn’t falling. As he realized his ghost form wasn’t something to grab for, because he was still a ghost.

“But…” he whispered, startled and confused. He’d felt himself transform. There was no mistaking the sensation that had swept through him. He looked around, almost as if the answer would be written in the air next to him.

Then the stars caught his gaze. He froze, mouth falling open, as he stared up at the sky. There were more stars than before, the whole sky alight with points of light. And he knew them - with each star he focused his eyes on, he knew what that star was. How far away it was, what it’s name was, what kind of star it was… 

Delight sparkled inside him as he let his gaze drift across the heavens. Stars he didn’t even know existed seemed to soak into his skin, whispering all their secrets in his ears. “How…?” he breathed, twisting around and around and looking everywhere he could. “Why?”

His gaze snagged on the moon, crescent-shaped and gleaming. He almost felt like he was drowning in it’s glow, feeling everything about it. The ice hiding in its craters. The human-built machinery peppering its surface. The soft warmth still coiling in its dying core. He could just… go there. He could be there in about three seconds. He could just…

He threw up a hand, blocking the moon’s glow, blinking hard and pushing the thoughts out of his mind. “Holy shit,” he whispered, breathing hard, focusing on Earth, on human thoughts, on normalcy. “What is this?”

Then he saw his hand, thin fingers topped with sharp claws, glove missing. His forehead furrowed as he realized both his gloves were gone, as was the logo on his chest, and the white belt around his waist. A black shirt and black pants. His boots looked like his normal shoes, just moon-lit white. Actually, minus the claws and some color changes, he looked… like he had yesterday. “Uh… What is going on with me?” 

He could feel the pull of the stars overhead. He knew he could just lean back, put his arms behind his head, and float there, watching the sky forever. Just revel in space for all time. Instead, he kept his gaze down towards the tops of the clouds. 

At least the first step of what he should do now was clear. Whenever he was dealing with anything out of the ordinary, Sam and Tucker knew what to say. They’d help. He’d go home, grab his phone, and call them. 

Danny flew towards Amity Park-

-and suddenly drew to a stop. He twisted around, eyes wide, realizing that he’d somehow overshot his home by a dozen miles or more. “What the fuck?” he said. He’d only been flying for a moment - how was he all the way over here? “I…”

He licked his lips and tried again. He set his gaze on Amity Park and flew-

-right past Amity Park again. It was an eyeblink of time between one side of the city and the other. Danny hung in the air, confused and slightly annoyed. “What is going on?” he said. A new power, obviously - but one that had unfortunate timing. His fingers curled, the claws digging uncomfortably into his palms. “This is what I get for leaving my phone behind,” he groused. The phone wouldn’t have done well in the thin, cold atmosphere. Even if he’d have brought it with, there was no guarantee it would have still been working. 

“Are all my powers wonky?” Danny asked, raising his hand and pushing energy into his hand. Instead of a steady, gas-like glow, the energy sparkled and hissed, like he was holding onto an exploding firework. “Odd.”

His powers were working differently, so it was time to try using them differently. Time to change tactics. Instead of focusing on a direction, Danny focused his mind on a destination. He closed his eyes, picturing where exactly he wanted to end up. Opening his eyes and taking a deep breath, he tried to fly as slowly as possible.

The world seemed to blur and twist, glowing uncomfortably bright for the fraction of a second Danny allowed himself to be in motion. When the world settled back into place, Danny found himself hovering about ten feet off the ground, within the city of Amiry Park, only about a half-mile from his house. “That worked a lot better,” he said, rather pleased with himself.

Instead of chancing another attempt at flying, Danny figured he’d turn himself human. A ten foot drop wouldn’t be too bad, and he could walk home. It would be the least-tricky way to get home. He took a moment to worry that this new power would prevent him from turning human as easily as normal, but then slammed that idea shut and closed his eyes. 

Danny pushed his ghost form away, pulling at that warm and heavy feeling in his mind. There was a sparkling sensation in his mind, then the sharp pain that came with turning himself human again. He dropped, landing lightly on his toes, breathing a heavy sigh of relief that at least this was still normal. He bounced a few times, testing out a few basic powers - invisibility seemed to work like normal, as did phasing through things. He didn’t try floating, for fear of accidentally ending up two towns over and two hundred feet above the ground in human form.

He walked home, rubbing his chest at that strange, too-full sensation, and snuck in the back door. Despite the fact that all the lights were out, he kept himself invisible to avoid his parents. It was so far past curfew that Danny didn’t even want to think about the trouble he’d be in if they realized he was still out. 

His bedroom door was still locked. Danny phased through it, flipped on the lights, and dumped himself into his bed. “Ugh,” he groaned, feeling the drain of the last two days on his body. He glanced over at the clock. Just before two in the morning. Part of him wanted to just curl up in his bed and fall asleep, try to get a few hours of sleep before tackling school tomorrow. But too much of him had a tight ball of anxious curiosity.

He groaned as he rolled out of bed and stepped in front of his mirror. He looked awful. Dark rings under his eyes and a horrible, pale tone to his skin. He looked half dead. “On the positive side, nobody will question it if I want to stay home sick tomorrow,” he muttered. He shuddered and shifted his weight, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then triggered the transformation.

His ghost form spread like lightning across his skin, slammed through his head, and settled into his chest like a cold ball of fire. He squeaked one eye open just a touch, not sure of what he was going to see. 

Phantom was peering back at him. Danny relaxed, letting his eyes open, and studied himself. From more than a few feet away, he looked absolutely normal. But up close, there were minor changes from the last few days. Teeth that were too pointy. Fingers that were a little more claw-like than normal. Hair that was more… smokey. Just a little. His mouth twisted, unsure of how he felt about the changes. “At least there’s no cape,” he murmured. “I’d look too much like Vlad with a cape.”

He squared his shoulders, set his teeth, and tried flying. He floated up and moved around his bedroom like normal. “So normal.” He caught sight of his claws and shivered. “Mostly.”

“Now…” He took a deep breath and jabbed hard at the over-full feeling in his chest. He was half-hoping nothing would happen. But light sparkled along his body, that tingling almost-painful sensation changing him in very subtle ways. His clothes changed from a jumpsuit to shirt and pants, his shoes looked like they would squeak on the floor as he walked. He was still glowing and transparent. “I’m… a different ghost?” He spread out his arms, feet firmly on the floor afraid to hover. “And I have like… superspeed.”

He took a very careful step forwards, peering closely at himself in the mirror. His eyes looked the same, with the normal green glow. His teeth were sharper, canines almost like little fangs. And… he leaned in, studying his freckles. They glowed, star-like, forming constellations across his skin. 

His mind veered off tangent, remembering the stars overhead, the glittering facts that swirled through his mind, the odd bubbling joy that came with even thinking about space. The freckles on his cheeks rearranged themselves into the constellation Draco, and sparks and speckles swirled into life across his clothes. A supernova that resolved itself into the stars overhead. Danny could trace the stars in his clothes, knew everything about each star. He was caught by the strongest urge to fly there. To zip through space to Alrakis, a binary star system eighty-eight light years away. It would only take him 221 years, 5 months, and 3 days…

Danny jerked himself out of his thoughts. He couldn’t fly for over two hundred years. He shuddered and blinked, settling back on his heels. The glowing freckles on his face settled down, his clothes faded back to black. The familiar sort of pitch-black of space. The sort of black Danny imagined the universe looked like before stars existed. “I have space powers now,” Danny realized, his voice slow and excited. “I have space powers! I’m a space ghost!”

Curious, Danny poked at that over-full feeling in his chest again. The world tingled and flashed, and he was back to his old self. Phantom, with the logo and the better posture and the weight of the world resting on his shoulders. “I’m two ghosts, somehow? Two ghosts… and a human...” Danny stared at himself in the mirror. “Or...” he rested his hand on his chest, feeling that strange overly-full feeling. “Or something…?”

Danny shook his head, not sure where to even begin processing that one. Then he turned himself human again, watching the world get dark as the ghost energy faded away. He scratched at his scalp, trundled over to his bed, and dropped into its softness. 

There wasn’t much he knew right then. The first was that space powers were the coolest power he could have gotten. And the second was that all this would be easier to process after a few hours of sleep and a large cup of caffeine. 

[raymondebidochonlifechoices]

To summarise:

Dr Curdle Jr, the most overworked coroner in the history of coroners, rents out his cooler for extra money. Recently unemployed Betty Cooper splurges on a cadaver locker.

Wonky Timeline Alert #1: Archie is pulling 12-hour shifts in the mines. While still being head of RHS’s ROTC. And coaching football. At least there haven’t been any fires since he reinstated the fire department.

KevKev, who remembers what a real cult (kidney donations and all) is like, becomes suspicious when Cheryl tells him that their deity is not hot stud Jason, captain of the water polo team, but Mother Nature. Kevin, who is gay, quits.

Chad goes to his father-in-law to complain that Veronica agreed to give him alimony and leave him all of her assets. Hiram is impressed by Chad’s puce suit jacket and decides to help him by giving him a gun. If he can’t have Archie, nobody will!

Tabitha, who has probably seen at least one of Bughead’s high school sex tapes, wants to help them make some more. She knows that investigating is what gets Jughead and Betty going, so she enlists their help to help find Squeaky. Bughead make eye contact. Yowza!

Chad attempts to shoot Archie. Much like with his attempt to off Veronica with that helicopter crash, he fails.

I thought Jughead was on administrative leave but, according to this episode, he was fired. Another wrench in Archie’s plans to save The Town Formerly Known As Riverdale … Tarnation!

Jughead proposes to track his underaged ex-student on social media and have him travel all the way back to Riverdale in order to chat about his traumatic experience. This, he says, is totally appropriate, since he’s not his teacher anymore … Oh Riverdale! (affectionate)

He also learns that Betty’s last suspect swallowed his own tongue because he thought she would dismember him and is immediately turned on. Bughead have to visit the morgue to cool down.

Alice has a break down on tv and tells the serial killer to stop killing. The serial killer does not listen to her. Instead, they go and steal evidence from the morgue. It’s a hard knock life for Dr Curdle Jr.

The milkshake sign at Pop’s clearly reads: Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry and Blueberry. And yet, Lerman’s shakes are … green. Help me understand, Riverdale.

Archie is mining (heh!) his own business, when Hiram detonates an explosion.

Wonky Timeline alert #2: Veronica had her Quinceañera when she was 14.

Plotline reboot #6532672: Veronica has been knocking heads with her father for the past 4 seasons not because she was against his criminal activities but as a means to seek his approval. 

“Our dance of death is finally coming to an end” proclaims Veronica, after making a death threat, thus ensuring that the dance is, in fact, not coming to an end.

The Mothmen are a secret illegitimate clan of Blossoms that live in the woods. Nana Blossom has been replacing her husband’s illegitimate spawn by new, shiny, adopted children (Penelope). That’s big money for you.

Jughead, Betty, Tabitha, Toni and Fangs take the Mothmen down using a taser, a pocket knife, a gun, a shotgun and Jughead’s narrative skills. Oh, and the help of the one illegitimate Blossom accomplice who had previously freed their one male captive. Because: no homo.

Avatar Cheryl successfully bends all four elements to her will. She could have saved Riverdale. Instead, she saves Archie.

Archie Orpheus emerges from the mines carrying his Ericdice.

Chadwick, having already failed to kill Archie, attempts to kill Veronica. He gets shot instead. I don’t know what he expected. Smithers arrives just in time to mop up the mess.

Murder in Riverdale, it turns out, is a family affair. So far, the Blossom family -including but not limited to: legitimate blood relatives, adopted wives, illegitimate children of the woods, estranged blood relatives by the name of Hal Cooper, and young mentees (that’s Chick)- have been responsible for most of the murders that have been taking place in Riverdale since junior year.  I am now mildly worried about Cheryl’s witchy ways.

Toffee is chasing butterflies at the Iguazú National Park in Argentina. She has texted Betty asking to officially change her name to Toffee Jones once Betty marries Jughead. She also asked for a certificate attesting that she bears no relation to the Blossoms.

One down. Two more opportunities to discover secret illegitimate clans in the woods.

[guiltycorp]

Playing Genshin for a couple of weeks now and I have some thoughts about Mondstadt, its seeming prosperity, and criminal elements!! Also dunking on Diluc a little bit lol. I'm not even going to touch hilichurls, they're probably the one issue I expect the game to come back to in time! They seem to be an intelligent race that was cursed and so we might get some sad backstory and realize that we've been assholes to them, not 100% sure but hopefully. Other than hilichurls and the Fatui (and yeahhh so fun to make russians into villains, im guessing it's for attracting the american audience or something... at least the characters are interesting enough), there are also Treasure Hoarders, who in the archive are mainly described as workers who lost their jobs or some other manner of poor people who turned to looting and crime out of desperation. And yet the angle is that 'thieving is always morally wrong'. Somebody didn't read Les Mis, I guess! Another note, there seems to be a weird gameplay and story segregation where we as the Traveler do lots of looting and treasure hunting ourselves only to be commended for it. But I digress. My actual point is that interestingly enough those elements of worldbuilding come together pretty well when you look at the city itself!   In Mondstadt it is most difficult to become a small business owner, made all the more obvious when compared to Liyue's wealth of shops, services, and traveling traders (Liyue has its own baggage of problems which tbh seem more serious to me but that's another topic). It's just not the most profitable occupation! Almost everyone we see out on the streets does their own resource supply, production, and service. Naturally, this means that those people don't earn enough to hire their own workers. In turn, that means that there are no jobs to be found in those places. So, where are all the jobs? For that we have the Dawn Winery, the Knights of Favonius, and the option to leave for Springvale to become a hunter or go to a different country altogether. The winery is described as the city's most powerful industry both for local consumption and export, but how does it actually treat its workers? Well, for example there's Patton who accidentally broke a bottle of expensive wine and is now basically an indentured servant to Diluc. He says that even if he worked without any breaks he still would need 48 years to pay off his debt. We can meet his daughter near Venti's statue who has to play by herself because her father is always working. Does that really seem like freedom to you? There's also Guy's father who works at the winery itself and can't afford to rest even when he is heavily sick and old. These are the worst examples for sure but others also have their own smaller problems like Charles who confides in us that he often feels tired and only takes nights off when Diluc is in a mood to tend the bar himself etc.  It is kind of telling that we don't have the option of engaging with their problems and we can't really talk to Diluc about it either. For all that he defends the city each night, he shows no interest in defending his own workers from his business's predatory tactics. To say nothing of the great damage he does to the adult populace of the city, always supplying alcohol and tempting people with deals and sales when there are already too many drunkards even among the named characters. When the opposing tavern (which also only has Diona for a bartender even when her own father has alcohol dependence) chose to present a non-alcoholic beverage during the holiday Angel’s Share doubled down on alcohol. And it doesn't even have snacks? This one bit was probably just for joke purposes, but tbh it's pretty dangerous to drink without any snacks at all, it makes sense why people get so heavily drunk in the first place. Note that Diluc himself doesn’t drink, showing good judgment when it comes to himself. Meanwhile the only person Diluc seemingly has no problem cutting off is Kaeya and it’s not obvious whether that’s out of concern or pettiness. Nobody is cutting off Nimrod who is ruined by his addiction! Now this is probably the core reason why Nimrod turned to crime, and I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that he and his wife are dependant on Kaeya who at the very least knows to appreciate his informants. Kaeya himself is also a gleeful enabler, by the way, which makes sense considering his uh.. everything. And his upbringing at the Dawn Winery didn’t hurt, no surprise why he’s so keen on wine himself. He might be shrewd and oh so clever when it comes to getting information in taverns, but his story details and voice lines confirm that there actually is a problem even if we don’t know the full scope of it.  Now, the Knights of Favonius? Aside from being corrupt in the past they happen to hire minors (we can read that in their handbook) whom they don't even pay. What's that, free labor for the simplest of tasks? Makes sense why some of the adult knights laze about if all the work gets done by minors or the more focused and accomplished senior knights with Visions. That's a wonky structure for sure. Guy tells us that he became a squire at 16 and still has the boring job of guarding the back gates despite repeatedly showing signs of great dissatisfaction. I wouldn't be surprised if he betrays us later or something, honestly. Maybe Kaeya is preparing him for double agent work, who knows. Right now he has no opportunities for climbing the career ladder to take better care of his sick father, stuck in a pointless job for months. And that's a talented and focused young man! what about regular folk? Well. In the end, regular people have several options. They can give up and overwork themselves while spending nights looking for coins in the wishing fountain to try and scrape enough for their sister’s medicine. They can go to the Adventurers' Guild which has highly dangerous commissions with the most profitable ones taken on by Fischl and other professionals, hardly a dependant job for a regular person. There’s also Church which we know very little about. Likely it's dependant on taxes and donations and it’s the one organization that cares about the orphans of the city (no, keeping Klee in solitary doesn’t count as caring, Knights of Favonius!). There’s Springvale for hunters, farmers and chefs, a difficult lifestyle to maintain when the hunting grounds are in one of the Four Winds’ domains with strangely intelligent wolves.  And then there’s the other more accessible and obvious option! You guessed it, it’s crime!!  And there it is, the reason why there's such a big problem with bandits and overworked people in Mondstadt :)  Honestly after writing all that down, if I were to RP a normal person in Mondstadt I’d try to get into the Treasure Hoarders guild at like 5 years old I think. Better than standing around watching random people kill my pigeons anyway. Tbh this is less of a 'makes you think huh!!' take and more of a commendation towards the writers of the game. They obviously have a more conservative outlook if they're so keen on condemning the thieves who have to steal in order to survive, but the world itself makes a lot of sense. It makes the game a lot of fun to explore.

[cerasus--flores]

All of the cocktails for Vespar.

All of them.

~🍁

for. for fuck's sake maple.

cocktail ask game !!

𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿 〜 if your oc can drive, what kind of vehicle do they have? do they have a dream vehicle?

vesper rides a motorcycle to work and back~ he is also always the designated driver if someone brings a car, y'know "make the drinks don't drink them" and stuff. xe doesn't have a dream vehicle tho.

𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗻 〜 what does your oc wear to sleep? do they have a dedicated set of pajamas or do they just wear whatever?

well, whenever they're sleeping at their own place, they do have a set of sleepwear !! they try to not mix up street clothing with sleep clothing bc it mixes up the smells and they don't like that. you know how it is w catpeople.

rest utc !!

𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗱𝗮 〜 if your oc has a bag or a purse, what are five things that’d be inside?

in no particular order~

his handgun. yeah. it's that bad.

bottle of water. many uses!

a travel sized spell book. he knows his usual spells by heart, but some reference can't hurt, right?

keys, wallet, that stuff.

hand sanitizer. you'll never catch him without it. freak /lh.

𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 〜 what was one of your oc’s favorite tv shows/movies as a child? do they still enjoy it now?

okay okay projection time but. the princess diaries. xe LOVED it and STILL LOVES IT to this day. knows the dialogue and shit. you know. like a Normal Person™ would.

𝘄𝗼𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗼 〜 what’s their relationship like with their parent(s)/guardian(s)?

what's this cocktail's name lsbdlsbsk it's uh. not great! it was already a bit wonky, what with his career choices and whatnot (since he's wanted to be a bartender since he was 16 y/o), and then he found out that they lied to him about the nature of his existence for his whole life, which, uh... yeah. they still "care" for him, but they think they have a relationship with him that's simply... not there. the mixtios believe vesper is eventually going to crawl back to them. and he won't.

𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮 〜 does your oc have any disorders or disabilities?

catboy /j. they have adhd though. bc of course.

𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗮 〜 who are some of your oc’s best friends?

QUINN ATRUM MIERAN ATRUM APPRENTICE REAPER OF CHALKED PIGMENT THE SCHOLAR- *i am shot with a tranquilizer dart* but. um. yeah! ves and quinn (and later on, ves and mieran) are best friends! they care for each other a lot! and xe's also friends with lumio and heath. hasn't met mayra or nuberu yet but they'd probably be instant besties as well.

𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿 〜 describe your oc’s personality

easy question /s. ahem.

"Vesper Mixtio comes across as easygoing, charming, and silver tongued. Flirtatious, but not a flatterer, he knows his ways with words. And yet, he's quite closed off to those who have not earned his trust, never letting too much slip, using his drinks and magic to escape if necessary."

is the dainsleif-esque paragraph good?

𝗷𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗿𝗱 〜 has your oc ever made any choices they regret?

not caring more for quinn before his death. their abilities were telling them that the scholar was running out of time, and yet, they couldn't take advantage of this. even now that they have him back in the form of mieran, they regret not letting him know how much they truly cared for him.

𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 〜 post some images or a moodboard that fit your oc’s aesthetic

vesper moodboard here u go~

𝗱𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗮 〜 post a song or a lyric that fits your oc

why just a song when it could be his entire playlist, hm? hehe

𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗶 〜 does your oc’s name or design reference anything? i.e. music, movies, etc.

he's literally named after the drink vesper lmao. i can't go fully into detail w his design (mainly bc it's not fully done yet), but one thing is that he got his heterochromia alongside his cat features, bc it's very common in cats !!

𝗺𝗼𝗷𝗶𝘁𝗼 〜 does your oc have any tattoos and/or piercings? if so, what are they? if not, do they want any?

he has ear piercings (not visible in the picrew but like. trust me bro.), and sometimes he'll wear a lipring for the fun of it (again, i remind you, he can do illusory magic). he doesn't have any tattoos, but he wouldn't mind getting some.

𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗶 〜 is your oc a smoker? (tobacco, cannabis, etc.) if so, do they plan on quitting?

not really!! because of their job as a "renowned" merc, vesper is v wary of stuff like smoking and drinking, they're not out here painting even more targets on their back by getting intoxicated, y'know?

𝗺𝗶𝗺𝗼𝘀𝗮 〜 has your oc ever committed any crimes? if so, what did they do? if not, what would they be most likely to commit?

he's a merc. he kills people.

𝘁𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗻𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 〜 what kind of hobbies does your oc enjoy? is there anything they’ve always wanted to do but never had the time/resources to try?

xe's... *sigh* a gamer. action games are xyr shit. other than that, studying spellcasting and mixology (not simultaneously) are also things xe enjoys. xe's always wanted to try art, but could never afford to.

𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗶𝗶 〜 does your oc speak any other language(s)? if they didn’t learn to speak the language(s) when they were growing up, when and why did they learn it?

vesper's first language is english, but his second language is spanish! buenos aires spanish, to be more specific, since that's where his mother comes from. he's fluent in both languages, and has a STRONG GBA (gran buenos aires) accent when speaking spanish.

𝗰𝘂𝗯𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗲 〜 if your oc wears any perfume/cologne, what’s their favorite?

they make their own perfume !! the one they wear most often is a mixture of lavender and mint. comfy.

𝗰𝗮𝗶𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗵𝗮 〜 what does your oc’s voice sound like?

he's mostly calm when speaking. soft-spoken, but not hushed. he tends to speak in his medium to lower register, and will sometimes slip in cat noises in his words without realizing.

𝗴𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘆 〜 what does your oc consider to be their best feature? alternatively, what’s something they’re most self conscious about?

they're most confident in their mixing skills. they've been at it for almost six years now, they make really good drinks, they look hot as fuck when doing so, and by god are they aware of all of these things.

they're mostly insecure about... their lack of genuine connections, in a way. they notice that they don't have that many close ones, people that would care if they were gone one day, and it makes them... generally insecure. they can't figure out why people who do get to know them won't ever stay. one of the reasons they're so flirty and smooth, i suppose.

𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗻 〜 what kind of people does your oc hate the most?

people that don't hold themselves accountable for their actions. it's one of the reasons he dislikes the atrum clan (and, by proxy, disliked quinn). "if you personally can't own up to what you've done, don't fucking do it. don't use excuses, don't blame it on someone else, if you're in a situation where you can assume responsibility, then do so." is his mentality.

[bentforkent]

merry christmas, spencer reid

derek morgan x spencer reid x penelope garcia

a/n: this is a spencer-centric morceid fic. i find spencer the easiest to write, so i enjoy framing these moments through a spencer-lens...hope that's okay with y'all :)

content warnings: none! this is straight FLUFF, love, and banter baby!

word count: 2087

in which derek, penelope, and spencer are at the airport, heading to chicago for christmas

- - - - - 

Arrive at Airport - 6:47 AM

It’s cold. Spencer Reid is certifiably a genius, and all he knows at this moment in time is that it is cold. A fog has settled over the airport drop-off zone, wet and enveloping. Spencer thinks it might be melancholy if not for the sun just barely peeking over the horizon and Penelope’s bright pink coat bouncing around in front of him. She’s wearing enough layers that it’s difficult for her arms to move, leaving Derek and Spencer to pull their luggage from the trunk of the Uber. To compensate for her lack of involvement, she flits around the pair, pressing gentle kisses to their cheeks.

She’s moving a little too much for Spencer’s liking. It’s still early and he’s feeling quite overwhelmed. Late minute packing, bickering, and a sugary coffee before 6 in the morning will do that to you. But he loves Penelope--oh, he loves her so much--and he’s been working through this type of sensory overload response in therapy, so instead of snapping at her to calm down and please stop moving, he reaches for her hand with the one that isn’t white-knuckling a heavy suitcase.

Penelope, ever intuitive, ever loving, laces her fingers with his spindly ones and slows to a still next to him. “Oops. Sorry, lovebug,” she says, and Spencer, relaxing, kisses her flushed cheek.

“Are you excited?” She asks him.

Spencer nods rapidly, curls bouncing. It’s Spencer’s first Christmas spent with Derek and Penelope, his first time going to Chicago with them, and his first time meeting Derek’s family. He’s nervous, but so excited. Spencer watches as Derek lifts the luggage onto the curb, and finds himself wishing it wasn’t so damn cold so he could watch Derek’s muscles flex in the absence of a heavy jacket. Penelope follows Spencer’s gaze and squeezes his hand as if she can hear his thoughts and agrees.

As if on cue, Derek thanks the Uber driver and turns to them.

“You guys are no help,” he remarks, gesturing to the disparity between the amount of luggage each of them were carrying. Penelope pulls her empty, suitcase-free hands from Spencer’s, hiding them behind her back to playfully feign innocence. Spencer’s heart swells as he watches Derek’s smile widen and overtake his whole face.

“Spence, you want me to take that bag?” He asks. He reaches for it, brushing against Spencer’s exposed wrist tenderly.

Spencer beams at him. “No, you’ve got all of them. I can handle this one.”

As they bustle into the airport, the cold air feels a bit warmer.

Check Bags - 7:12 AM

“Babygirl, I hope you checked that bag’s weight twice, because I am not paying extra for you going over the 50 pound limit again,” Derek says, looking down at Penelope where she’s perched on the edge of her suitcase. The line they’re in to check their bags hasn’t moved in a while, and once Penelope had discovered that her suitcase was sturdy enough to hold a human body despite the wonky wheel she’d broken trekking through this very airport last Christmas, she’d been sitting on it ever since. She offered Spencer a spot next to her, of course, but he was enjoying standing with Derek. Every so often, he reaches over and pinches Spencer’s hip playfully, kissing his cheek when Spencer squirms in response. So yeah, Spencer is enjoying it.

Penelope kicks her leg out and hooks it around Derek’s. “Oh, you love me, you’ll pay for it,” she replies, with a toothy smile up at him.

“Did you know that there was once a tiny Samoan airline that actually determined ticket prices based on the weight of their passengers, instead of weighing their luggage? Each kilogram someone weighed was 93 cents onto the price of their ticket,” Spencer says.

“How did that work out for them?” Derek asks intently, enthralled by Spencer’s words. 

“They closed. A lot of people were really upset by the weight thing, but because it made children’s tickets cheaper than the average ticket, a lot of traveling families actually preferred that method.” 

Penelope hums, standing from her seat and wrapping her arms tightly around Derek’s waist. On instinct, he rests his hand on her lower back protectively, holding her close and pressing kisses to her forehead in quick succession.  

“Probably would be cheaper for us to fly that way,” Derek says. “Penelope’s earrings alone are about 49 pounds in there.” He gestures to her floral luggage. 

Penelope turns her head to make mock-serious, unwavering eye-contact with Spencer. “He’s mean to me,” she says matter-of-factly. 

Derek shakes his head with a chuckle. Spencer notes that his smile hasn’t left his face. He hadn’t thought it possible for Derek to be any happier, but apparently Penelope makes it so. Spencer knows the feeling. 

“I love you, Penelope, you know that,” Derek replies, kissing her chastely.  

(Penelope’s suitcase weighs at 27 pounds.) 

Go Through Security - 7:44 AM

“Hey, those are my socks!” Spencer says, looking pointedly at Penelope’s feet.

The socks are yellow, ankle-high, and covered in rainbows. They’re cute, and Spencer knows they’re cute because they’re his, a pair he’d picked up at a random general store in Des Plaines, Illinois, while on a case. He remembers sending Penelope a photo of them that night, just his socked feet next to Derek’s where they laid on the hotel’s puffy white comforter. She answered with a smattering of emojis, saying she was “So jealous!” Spencer had thought she was referring to the quality time with Derek, but it’s apparent now as she puts her shoes into a gray bin, sliding them onto the conveyor belt, that she’d really been jealous of the socks all along.  

“If they’re your socks, why am I wearing them, loverboy?” Penelope counters in jest, back turned to both Spencer and Derek as they follow behind her through the security checkpoint. She flashes a genuine smile to the stoic TSA agent ushering her through as if to say, “Boys, right?”  

Instead of arguing, Spencer turns to Derek. “Those are my socks.”

The TSA agent, still sporting a neutral expression and seemingly unimpressed by Penelope’s charms, calls for Spencer to move forward. He’s trying to keep up, obviously, but this morning he double-knotted his shoelaces as always and has slight trouble getting them off quickly. Once he manages to get all of his belongings--belt, shoes, coat, and hat included--into the tray, he stumbles into the security scanner.

“Sorry,” he mumbles. The TSA agent gives him a half-smile in return, and Spencer takes the emotion and holds it close to his chest.

It’s only when Spencer and Derek finally meet Penelope at the bench she’s at, lacing up her boots, that Spencer looks down at Derek’s feet.

“Der,” he says.

Distracted with putting his belt back on, Derek replies absentmindedly. “Yes, baby?”

“Those are my socks.”

Derek looks down at his feet. Two bright pink kittens smile up at him.

Arrive at Gate - 8:17 AM

Penelope passes the sweet-smelling hand sanitizer towards Spencer as they sink into the grimy, uncomfortable seats at the gate, dropping their carry-on bags.

“‘Frosted Snowball,’” Spencer reads aloud from the glittery blue bottle. He pours a generous amount into his hand, watching earnestly as the glitter spreads across his hands and in between his fingers. Something about disinfected hands and shimmer makes him feel as awake as he’s felt all morning, although he secretly hopes Penelope will propose going to get a coffee to help him maintain the feeling.

“Isn’t it cute? I got a few, there’s one in your stocking at home. I couldn’t leave it, look at the little polar bear!”

Spencer passes the sanitizer to Derek, who inspects it with a raised eyebrow.

“Why couldn’t they just call it ‘Coconut,’ if that’s the scent?” He asks, squirting a bit of the gel into his hand. “Makin’ me squint and read the fine print to find out what it actually smells like.”

Penelope presses her lips into a faux pout. “Because ‘Frosted Snowball’ is a cuter name than--” She lowers her voice to mock Derek’s--”’Coconut.’ And, it’s festive! Winter themed!”

Spencer pipes up. “Looks like someone isn’t getting ‘Frosted Snowball’ in their stocking this year.” He grins at Derek.

With a shrug and a smile, Derek slings his arm around Spencer’s shoulders and pulls him to his chest, pressing his lips to Spencer’s temple and letting them linger there. Locking eyes with Penelope, Derek smiles. “C’mere, pretty girl,” he says, patting the seat next to him.

“You don’t have to ask me twice,” Penelope says, patting Spencer’s thigh as she leaves his side to sit next to Derek.

The airport bustles around them, but they stop and sit, a peaceful bubble of limbs and public displays of affection and glitter and coconut scent.

Board Flight - 9:07AM

“Are you feeling okay?” Derek whispers into Spencer’s ear, letting his lips brush against it. Spencer leans into his touch. Penelope is tucked into her knitting already, and she’s pulled out an extra set of needles and yarn for Spencer.

Spencer nods.

“You’ve been quiet since we boarded,” Derek observes.

Spencer speaks quietly. “I’m just nervous, I guess. I read an article in Psychology Today about how your partner’s parent’s approval can affect how much love and affection you feel in a relationship, and I just don’t want to mess up.”

There’s a pregnant pause. Derek wants to quell Spencer’s fears and reassure him that everything is okay, but then Spencer is talking again, equally as hushed, but more panicked.

“I’m also nervous because, I know your mom and sisters love Penelope, and I’m...I’m new.”

Derek frowns. His palm finds a spot on Spencer’s chest, right over his heart. Derek knows the weight and warmth of his hand will stabilize Spencer, regulating his breathing, and preventing any anxiety attacks from blooming. Grateful for the touch, Spencer continues.

“They’re gonna think it’s weird that we’re together and that it’s weird that I’m a man and that I’m awkward and gangly and I’m not good with social situations and sometimes I say the wrong things at the wrong time and...yeah.” He stops himself from continuing, noticing how he’s working himself into a frenzy. Derek smiles a tiny half-smile, and Spencer returns it in acknowledgement.  

Penelope, having overheard bits of the conversation, pulls Spencer’s right hand to her lips and kisses his knuckles softly as a reminder of her presence, then turns back to the new scarf she’s making. It’s in a deep mauve, close to Spencer’s favorite shade of purple. (She hasn’t decided if she’s going to give it to him yet. On one hand, it is his color, and he wears scarves more than she does; but on the other hand, because it’s his color, whenever she wears it it would be a reminder of him. She’s torn. They’ll end up sharing it.)

Derek tucks a piece of Spencer’s hair back behind his ear.

“Let me ask you something,” he says. “Do you think it’s weird that we’re together?”

“No,” Spencer replies.

“Do you think it’s weird that you’re a man?”

“No.”

“So,” Derek shrugs as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “If my family feels some type of way about it, that’s their own issue to get over.”

Spencer nods, letting his eyes search Derek’s.

Derek kisses his forehead. “But, I would never intentionally put you into a situation where I know you would be uncomfortable or unwelcome. You know that, right? Tell me you know that.”

Spencer nods, again. He knows. Derek always protects him. He taps Derek’s hand where it lies on his sternum as an example.

Derek nods, then plants a firm, wet kiss on Spencer’s pouted lips. “So trust me when I tell you it’s all going to be okay, okay?”

“Okay,” Spencer says, and he means it.

Derek pats his chest lovingly and moves to put in his headphones. He’ll catch up on his sport podcasts, but in approximately 23 minutes, he’ll feel bad about having headphones in and offer one to Spencer. Spencer eagerly awaits this interaction, although he’ll decline, waiting for Penelope to get bored with her knitting. Then, the two of them will watch some campy 90’s movie together, and share the peanut M&Ms he snuck into his coat pocket to surprise her with.

But for now, Spencer takes Penelope’s extra set of knitting needles, laying them across his lap. 

Content in where he’s at, he smiles and folds up his itinerary.