#and the fact the expansions are going to be free? heck yeah

[fandomfourever]

Paralives Gameplay Video

(Note: There will be the occasional comparison to The Sims franchise, because it's only natural to compare and contrast with the only life sim we've really got.)

So I just watched the Paralives gameplay reveal and I’m so excited! It’s not even at Early Access level yet, and it still looks really good. Obviously it’s very basic things, but those basic things have been fleshed out nicely so far, and seem pretty in depth. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this sure exceeded whatever vague expectations I did have, lol.

The personality points remind me a lot of Sims 1 and 2, but then they add in Vibes, Social Perks, and Talents (or no talent lol), as well as little lifestyle options like if your Para is vegetarian, their sleep habits, and cleanliness habits. If it had just been the personality points I might’ve been a bit disappointed, but these other options add more depth. And not only that they level up? I like that aspect, since it gives you a little goal to work towards, but naturally through interactions and skills. However, there aren’t a lot right now, so I don’t know if more will come in the (FREE) expansions or if there will be more at launch. It’s still got pretty decent options, though, so I’m not mad about it.

Speaking of interactions, I also really like what I’m seeing of the interactions between the Parafolk. I was thinking we might get a social wheel like the Sims, but we get little pop up cards. It’s definitely something I’d have to get used to, but it’s interesting. What I really like is how the interaction options that pop up are context based! Like with the girl playing guitar, your Para can then comment on it, and it becomes something they can talk about later as well, since it’s something they have in common. Or how your Para can apologize for a messy house if it’s dirty or cluttered. It’s such a little detail, but it really makes the interactions feel more alive. And then we see the Para in the video have a reaction to the guy, Carl, at the gym. She already seems to have a positive opinion on his appearance, based on her looking him up and down, but then you get to decide if they pursue that attraction with developing a crush or not. It feels like a nice blend of spontaneity and micromanaging. As someone who usually has a specific story in mind when playing with the Sims I make, I do like being able to micromanage to a point, but I do like some surprises here and there based on personality, so this is looking so far like the right balance for me, personally.

We didn’t see too much in the way of jobs, however, what we did see also looked interesting. As per the FAQ section on the website, and updates through reddit, we are starting off with essentially rabbit-hole jobs, which is fine by me—especially since it sounds like eventually they’ll change that up and add some playable jobs. It is cool that we can see into the cafe where the Para in the video got a job, and that when she’s not working, you can visit it as a customer, which is awesome imo! It makes me really curious about what other jobs there are. We did see the cafe jobs, her friends worked as a Music Composer and Programmer, and Carl worked at the High School. I’m curious as to if we’ll actually see the school, even though it’s also a rabbit hole at this point in time, or if we’ll be able to have Paras go into the school afterwords for activities even if we don’t see them attend classes. Or maybe it would just be hanging around the school grounds to play sports or do clubs? Just have to wait and see I guess.

Now, we did see two Paras playing the guitar in this video. I do hope they eventually add in (either in an expansion or otherwise) an electric guitar, and that it will actually sound like an electric guitar and have it’s own little songs they play.

Aaand now for some little things I spotted in the background that either made me laugh or made me curious. First, I spotted the Para equivalent of the Stanley Cup, the Karen Cup:

lol

And I also spotted in the inventory for Hobbies, a musical instrument I hadn’t seen mentioned before. The triangle:

That’s a really unique addition for musical instrument options for a game like this. I like it! It makes me wonder what other instruments they’ll eventually add (cowbell perhaps? lol). I am wondering what the picture frames we're seeing are, considering those are in Hobbies. Different canvas sizes for painting, maybe? And that table next to the piano... Idk. But I like that we get a normal sized telescope and some decent fitness equipment options.

Outside the cafe on one of the days, there’s a dog bowl!

I know we’re getting pets in the base game, but we don’t see any in this video. But the inclusion of the dog bowl was a good reminder! Because it seems to show up on only one day, I wonder if that’s something that your Para can order if they have a dog with them when they visit the cafe. Or maybe it only shows up on certain days? Hmm. Interesting either way!

Also at the cafe, a puzzle!

I can’t tell if it’s purely decorative, or if it’s something the Paras can actually interact with. I certainly hope it’s interactive.

And those are my thoughts! Again, I really, really like what I’m seeing so far. I’m looking forward to more information and videos being released as we get closer to Early Access release. This first showing is very promising. It looks so cute and fun already!

[thetruemasterofgames]

OK pride month is here so time for a little thought post on something I've been mulling for like the past few years.

Rainbow. Capitalism

*dodges flaming bricks*

Alright alright I know I know you fools are anti-corporate anti-capitalism ect. But hear me out for a moment..

So we all agree to some extent exploitation is bad yeah however it's a scales moment. Yeah exploitation bad but it's also a marker and a tool in progress. The fact companies feel it's an interest to market to LGBT now rather than ignore and lash against openly says something about how we are progressing as a society. It marks that we are beginning to be on the cusp of normalization, not to say it would happen like tomorrow but you know it's further than we have been.

And if I may get abit personal for a moment for this post's point:

I know for a fact it can help change people's minds. Why? Because believe it or not I once was one of those gay bad people. I was raised in a place that told horror stories of LGBT people and their behavior primarily about targeting children and such. You wanna know what was one of the big steps into me growing past that bullshit? No fucking joke it was the fucking pride merch I eventually started seeing creep up here and there and I was wondering to myself "wait what's all this and why is it being sold in public?" It's also what made me start using tumblr more avidly back then on my old account rather than being a passive user. I started looking into it and saw that LGBT people were NOTHING like what I was taught.

Because I saw a dang rainbow shirt with Venus symbols on it and was like "the heck is this?" I went down a rabbit hole of information and learning and saw counters to information I was raised with and saw expanses into the psychological field I had not found in my old books and so on. And now I'm who you know today I know more of the science behind it I know more that its natural I no longer have the it's predatory viewpoint.

In such I've also been more up to date with this information and advances in the movement because corporates try to pander to it and I get to see the reactions.

There is some exploitation yeah and it should be pointed out but when even bastard places like chick-fil-a and fox news, places that in the past have been massively anti-LGBT, are pushing pride it does something in perception and makes people who have seen them as pillars before second guess and take a double take. What path they go down is up to them but it does something and might do for someone else what it did for me and help put people on the path to open their eyes. (We should still laugh at and point out the hypocrisy of these type of places though never forget even if you forgive guys)

All in all rainbow capitalism might be explotive however it is also a powerful tool in marking progress and pushing it more. The more we have in the public eye the more something can be spoken on. One of the biggest arguments I always heard growing up was how there are so few of them that it doesn't matter, the talk you'd probably never encounter someone who was lgbt. But when it's being showcased as it is in June now that can't be said anymore people speak more on it which means there is more chance of someone to have a change of heart. For some people as well it lets them know they aren't fully alone, this existing in common media will let it be accessible and help others find themselves. I've known many who's first seeing of self was in porn or anti-lgbt media, media that fetishized or demonized and that honestly is terrorfying knowing. And honestly I think as bad as this is it's a better alternative a lesser of two evils. In this new age I'm proud to see resources more avalible, more knowledge in the public eye. But we would not of gotten there without working with the big corps as much as I don't like it.

I hope this made sense though I'd love to hear feedback so feel free to leave your thoughts and expand as well. Happy pride everyone, stay safe out there, and keep being your amazing selves.

[capricornsims]

Strangetown Mystery 15: RUN 

“ We’re stuck here because  you!”

“ I don’t want to argue about this, Johnny. I love you, and I want to keep all of you safe. “

That was the last conversation Johnny had with his father.

Hope was long gone, buried in the cyclone of purple spores that poisoned the air. The streets of Strangetown were silent save for the groaning of spore-infected zombies, most people stood inside these days, too afraid to venture out and encounter their fallen brethren or become infected themselves. The weather that day would have been sunny if the spore clouds didn’t hang low in the atmosphere. 

Unaffected by the bizarre spores, Johnny often ventured out of the Bunker to catch the glimpses of the outside world beyond the barbed wire fence. Looking out into the horizon only drove home the fact that his family was nowhere near freedom, things were only going to get worse and he had his adulthood to look forward to living inside of a concrete box… or being transported to Division 47 to be experimented on… After all, he had not seen his father in weeks and questioning Buzz was out of the question. The General said that PT9 was running experiments, but what if he was being experimented on? He watched his family’s morale deteriorate after their father disappeared behind the laboratory doors. His mother dropped whatever façade she was putting on, choosing to stay locked in her bedroom holding onto the last piece that she had of PT9. Meanwhile, Jill was growing even more restless crying herself to sleep most of the time, and lighting things on fire in rebellion. Johnny did not want to acknowledge the schemes his uncles were plotting, the last time he saw Pascal enter the lab he looked completely insane! 

 Johnny needed to get out. The cement walls of the Bunker only served as a reminder of the freak of nature that he was, the result of an unorthodox union between a human and some extraterrestrial species. Jill even got it in her head that she deserved to be imprisoned, feeling “safe” in confinement compared to the outside world. The thought of being trapped forever instilled a fear that Johnny never felt before, as if the walls around him were closing in on him, so tight that he could not escape and return to the life he made for himself in Strangetown. If he ended up behind the laboratory doors, he would never see Ophelia or Ripp again… he needed to RUN.

He returned to the bunker before he rose suspicion, entering the bleak facility once more. The cell that his family resided in held an uncomfortable atmosphere of dread, masked by Jenny’s failed attempts at keeping things normal. That night she burned the food again because she was spacing out at the wall, too deep in her thoughts to notice Johnny turn off the stove and lead her to the couch.

Johnny: I made up my mind. I’m leaving tonight. 

Jenny: Leaving? Now? I mean- what would your father think if he returned. 

Johnny: If he returned? It’s been weeks… You and I both know that he would visit every day if he was actually working here. 

Jenny: Don’t say such things… he is fine.

Johnny could tell she was at the brink of snapping, her smile faltered as she gripped onto his arm. 

Jenny: He is fine…he’s going to come back.

She reassured herself, but the tears streaming down her face said differently. She turned to her son and nodded in agreement, she had a feeling that something was very wrong with their situation. Jenny had to face the guilt that she failed to protect her husband but she had a chance when it came to her children. If Johnny escaped the bunker, she would know he was safe. Her first son was always resilient and the harsh words he dealt with over the years made sure of that. It was hard enough to see her son grow up so fast, and the thought of throwing her firstborn  out into the dangers of the infected world scared her.

Johnny: I am going to be fine, mom. I swear Ripp is going to get me to Deadtree. That is where Ophelia lives so I can hide out there.

Jenny: I know you will be fine… but I can’t help but worry that my boy is running out into an apocalypse. But whatever it is you have a better chance in Deadtree than in here. Tell Ophelia I said hi...

Johnny: If dad does show up, tell him that I’m okay, and I that I’m sorry for yelling at you guys. 

Jenny: I’m sure he already knows… He’s proud of you. 

Tears welled up in his eyes when she mentioned his father. A pang of guilt struck at his heart knowing that their last conversation had been an argument... and even then his father would still be proud of him. Now was not the time to be emotional, but the tight hug his mom was giving him, let some tears escape before he pulled away.

Johnny leaned down to his little sister, and she wrapped arms around him tightly and hugged him close. She clung to him like a koala so he couldn’t pull away if he tried.

Jill: Promise me that you’ll come back! 

Johnny: Can’t promise much but the next time you see me we’re getting out of here! 

Jill: Then come back sooner !! 

Johnny: Look after mom, and baby bro. I will be back soon.

Jenny: Watcher, protect this boy. Don’t let him get hurt. 

3:00 a.m. 

Johnny approached the general store just as it was about to close, the sight of Ripp leaning against the wall filled him with relief as he approached him. The stars shone brightly in the sky and the sound of crickets and coyotes filled the air as they spoke. He could hardly contain his excitement as Ripp shoved snacks into his shirt pockets and planned their escape. This was happening, he was going to be free or die trying in the process. 

Johnny: Alright Ripp let’s get the hell out of here! Where is the car? 

Ripp: Car? We don’t have a car. The best chances we have is if we run as fast as we can until we reach the edge of town. 

Johnny: RIPP! That’s insane! We can’t run that fast! 

Ripp: Keep it down dude... Look I disabled Tank’s computer, he won’t be able to check the security cameras until someone fixes them... plus we need to at least try. 

Johnny: Fine we will go with your plan just open the gates already so we can get a head start.

3:05 a.m.

Ripp opened the gates of the compound, the loud sound of creaking metal rang through the air as the teens slipped through the small crack that they made. What was the point of being stealthy when their plan involved running for their lives! Johnny and Ripp shared laughter as they bounded through the desert, exposed to the outside world and tasting freedom for the first time in ages. Johnny couldn’t believe that this was actually working since Ripp’s other plan was to “Run faster!”. But so far, They were in the home run!

Tank: Huh... All the cameras seem frozen.. F*ck I need to tell the General about this. 

3:10 a.m.

Jenny: Do you really think head counts at this time is sane?!

Buzz: JENNY NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR GAMES. WHERE IS THAT GREEN BASTARD?!

Jenny: I don’t know Buzz... maybe he’s in the bathrooms or went out for fresh air. 

Buzz: THAT IS GENERAL BUZZ GRUNT TO YOU- I ONLY COUNTED TWO of YOU! Where is the SON!

Jenny: WHERE IS MY HUSBAND GENERAL BUZZ GRUNT?! Shouldn’t YOU be more concerned that he isn’t here!? 

Buzz: I-I know where he is I am asking about your - 

Tank: * over the phone * General, the security cams are tampered with, someone must have messed with them. 

Buzz: * over the phone * Not now, Tank I am with Mrs. Smith....What?! What do you mean messed with,Tank?! ... What do you MEAN THE GATE IS OPEN!?

He heard he alarms blare out, signaling the escape of Johnny Smith. His face grew a deep shade of red, the sound of Jenny’s frantic nagging pierced his ears as his mind tried to conceive what the hell was going on. He escorted Jenny back to her cell, trying to ignore her comments about PT9 and the way she broke down when she was locked inside. “ Don’t hurt him!” Was the last thing he heard as he rushed out of the bunker towards the open gate. 

3:15 a.m. 

The General shoved Tank out of the way, yelling at the top of his lungs about how incompetent's he was, the alarms blared as they stood there, looking out at the expansive desert and the darkness ahead of them. Through the haze of the darkness there were vague sounds of shuffling zombies and coyotes 

Buzz: I’m going after them! Do your job and watch the bunker, soldier!

The cool night air was thick with spores as Johnny and Ripp ran through the infected desert. The cyclone rose into the sky, as lightning struck into the crater, a great rumbling shook the ground beneath their feet as growls rang through the sky. Johnny even spotted one of the infected, dazed and sputtering nonsense as she moved and jerked around them. He had no time to waste taking in the absolute disaster that Strangetown had become. Freedom in this new world felt odd, sure he was safe from becoming a science experiment, but now he was exposed to the infection, the zombies and the townsfolk that knew who he was... He couldn’t wait to get to Dead Tree after all of this. 

3:15 a.m.

Buzz: I WILL CAPTURE YOU SMITH! YOU CAN’T RUN FOREVER!

Buzz: MARK MY WORDS, BOY YOU WILL BE SORRY!

Buzz: RUN ALL YOU WANT BUT YOU CANNOT ESCAPE!

4:00 a.m

Johnny and Ripp broke out of the desert and into the other town located near by. The atmosphere was eerie and a thick fog hung over the neighborhood as they walked through the empty streets, the faint breeze carried the sounds of ethereal groans but the source was unknown. Ripp lead Johnny to one of the creepier buildings found in Deadtree, the Meeting house. The structure was foreboding and held the odd sensation that entering it would get them killed, yet this was where Ophelia lived now, and the only place Johnny could hide.

Johnny: Oh my watcher, thank you for helping me, Ripp. I can’t thank you enough. 

Ripp: Any time bro, I wouldn’t know what to do If I found out that you were vivisected or something. It’s shady as hell so I’m glad I got you out first. 

Johnny: Can you do me a solid and look after mom and Jill, they are still in danger...

Ripp: Heck yeah, I’ll even look out for your dad and see if he’s around. Anyways, I’m sure Ophelia is tired of waiting. Let’s get you inside. 

Ophelia stood silently in the Meeting house, pacing around the small apartment she had above the main hall. She wore a plain brown jacket and the look on her face showed that she had not slept in ages. She turned when Ripp opened the door, a small smile formed on her lips as she asked about Johnny before turning back to the television she had on. 

Johnny: Ophelia, I’m here. I made it out alive. 

Ophelia: Johnny! You’re here! I missed you so much I could barely sleep. I’m so happy that you’re alive! 

Johnny: I’m happy that i’m alive too... I am here to stay for a while so we can catch up a little. 

Ophelia: I wouldn’t mind catching up with you, Johnny.

Johnny: Yeah we’ll get to that too. hehe

Ripp: Alright guys get a room. I’ll sleep on the couch tonight.

Ophelia: Yeah right! Come with us, Ripp. I think we all just need a nice break.

Strangetown Mystery 15.5: Test Subject 

The weeks following Nervous’ disappearance were agonizingly painful and dull at the same time. The moment he returned to the castle he was met with a sharp needle to the neck and the unwelcome prospect of newly designed experiments for him to be subject to. He had heard about the Strangetown Syndrome and the effects it had on the human brain, the way that it spread into the spinal chord and made the body into a vessel as the person remained in a state of unconsciousness. The way that it made the body jolt and convulse made the joints ache incredibly, the spores taking over had to get used to walking on two legs and speaking the way humans do, after all. 

All of these notes were taken down by Loki and Circe during the weeks that Nervous remained grounded in the basement, he could only tell time from the shifting of light in the glass windows and the routine experiments Loki was running on him. His entertainment was swiftly taken away upon his return, and any hand-me-down clothes he owned were confiscated, leaving him in a simple cotton hospital gown. To make matters worse, the Beakers were not holding back on the level of their brutality, as form of punishment they rarely paid attention to his pleas of mercy and continued experiments without hesitation. Not that he was fully conscious most of the time, his mind overtaken with pain killers, sedatives and the spores infecting his brain. 

Sometimes he could feel the world around him grow dark, the welcoming embrace of nothingness enveloping his body and bringing him out of the world of pain and sadness he was in. The cold boney hands of death never touched him, but he begged for him to do so, the more he pleaded for escape the bastard only spared his life, returning him to the excruciating routine of electrocutions and chemical baths. He never understood why Death never came to him, over so many years he’s seen him many times bringing him a few seconds of relief before he woke up to Loki and Circe prodding his dying body. They seemed to enjoy the prospect that even he couldn’t escape through death. 

Today, Nervous wasn’t sure what Loki was doing with him, only mindlessly following orders as the scientist tapped away at machines and made things glow and buzz. Sometimes the machines took a scan of him, sometimes they electrocuted him- he wouldn’t be surprised if it did, his right arm lost feeling long ago because of it. 

Nervous: What are we doing...today..Loki.

Loki: Silence ! You, nervous subject, address me as Dr. Beaker in this lab. 

Nervous: *grumble* Dr. Beaker.. What are we doing today? 

Loki: I’m glad you asked, test subject. We are revolutionizing medicine in this lab. The Curious brothers have failed to produce a viable antidote in the time The Government allotted them. So I, Loki Beaker went out of my way to generously aid the public and produce a vaccine for them.

Nervous: I - don’t think that’s - 

Loki: LEGAL? Well, Nervous, now’s not the time to do things the legal route. People are desperate, and they will come to ME for a cure. Thanks to you, my Nervous subject, people will be cured. 

Loki: Now drink the f*cking antidote!

Nervous: No thank you! I’ve drank enough today. I can’t keep food down...I’m tired. 

Loki: I will be sure to write that down...but THIS is a new formula. THIS will work, So DRINK IT! 

Nervous: No! I said I was tired, Loki...

Loki: DR. BEAKER - How many times do we have to go through this? And you are tired? Nervous, you aren’t the one slaving away at this antidote! I AM! All you do is drink it and puke up all my work! You are Lucky that I don’t throw you out into the street!

Nervous: We have been doing this for weeks, Dr. Beaker, it’s not going to work.

Loki: I have been doing this for weeks. Nervous, we have come so far from the beginning. You don’t cough up blood, break out into rashes, or shake uncontrollably anymore. This. Will. Work. 

The mad scientist forced Nervous to sit down in the chair next to them. His face was a deep seething red as the beaker was tipped into his test subject’s mouth. Nervous had no choice but to choke down the purple liquid while Loki glared down at him, making sure that he kept the chemical mixture in. The antidote tasted sweet at first, then the burning began at the back of his throat and spread throughout his body. He dropped the beaker and the glass shattered across the stone floor, sending Loki in a fit of rage as Nervous doubled over in pain. 

Nervous could not make out the onslaught of Icelandic curses, he could hear the beating in his heart along with an ear piercing ringing. He felt his joints tense and ache as the world grew dark once more, but this was not death... Death was comforting even if temporary, this was excruciating. 

Loki: That’s IT I’ve had it with you! You are clearly nothing but a useless guinea pig.....get out.....you are nothing....die...

Loki’s words were drawn out in between the ringing. The last thing he could feel were rough hands grabbing at his shoulders, lifting him out of the chair and dragging him across the stone floors. 

The cool desert air hit his skin as he crumbled to the ground somewhere in front of the castle. Nothing mattered now....

ŦĦ€ ΜØŦĦ€Ř ĆΔŁŁED ΔŇĐ HE ΜUŞŦ Ř€ŞPØŇĐ 

[sorry-apsalar]

Is This a Date?

Another request, yay! It was, “It's maybe a little convoluted, but I'd love to see you write something involving Leela and Fry breaking up and Bender using the chance to whoo him and show him there's other people worth dating. It takes Fry a lot to realize what's going on so Bender tries to pull all the stops for Fry, finally convincing him with some grand gesture.”

~

“Stop moping.”

Fry rolled over to look at Bender standing in the doorway of his bedroom. “What do you want?”

“I told you. I want you to stop moping. I’ve tried being nice about it, giving you your space and stuff but you’re still moping and it’s starting to get annoying.”

“I’m doing it alone in my room though. So if it really bothers you, just don’t come in here.” Especially since he hadn’t been invited.

Bender wasn’t budging though. In fact, instead of fucking off, he stepped further in. “It’s been almost a month now, it’s time to get over it.”

“How can I possibly get over it?” Leela had agreed to be his girlfriend only to turn around a few months later and say she didn’t feel ‘that way’ about him, that she’d been trying to for his sake but just couldn’t. Meaning she’d never actually been into him at all. How could Fry ever possibly recover from that? She insisted she loved him as a friend but… if she really did why had she led him on like that? It wasn’t fair.

“Just uh… ugh. Try dating someone else maybe? Like uh… Amy did when Kif broke up with her that one time. She got over that real fast, remember? You could try that too, I’ll help. Maybe it’ll even make Leela jealous, wouldn’t that be fun?”

“I can’t date anyone else though because I’ll never love anyone as much as I love Leela.”

“Now you’re just being dramatic.”

Maybe so but Fry didn’t care. He was in a rather dramatic mood. And Bender trying to pull him out of it was only making it worse so… “Just go away already. If me being sad is really that annoying to you then you shouldn’t…” He cut off with a yelp as Bender stepped closer to grab his wrist and yanked him partially off the bed.

“Come on, I know what’ll cheer you up.”

Fry was forced to scramble the rest of the way off the bed and to his feet or risk being dragged across the floor as Bender turned to leave while still tugging on Fry’s arm. He was tempted to hold his ground and refuse to leave but if Bender really wanted to physically force him out of his room, there wasn’t much Fry could do to stop him so he followed willingly for now. That didn’t mean he was going without compliant though.

“Look, I appreciate the thought but I don’t really…”

In the living area, Bender pushed Fry onto the couch, making him cut off again. “We’re watching TV like we used to.” He sat down right next to Fry. Grabbing the remote off the coffee table, he switched the TV on to of course All My Circuits. His favourite show. Fry’s too but he wasn’t in the mood for it or TV in general right now so…

When he tried to stand back up, Bender put a not subtle hand on his shoulder, holding him in place. Not hard but the threat for such was there.

“I’ll even share a beer with you.” Bender’s tone was causal as if he wasn’t forcing Fry to be here with him. He opened his chest compartment to pull out two beer bottles. One of which he handed to Fry after even opening it for him. “Better already, right?”

He didn’t willingly share his stuff often, refusing would likely only make him mad and well, the fact that he was serious enough about making Fry feel better to share was rather nice. So, with a sigh, Fry accepted his fate. “I guess so,” he said as he relaxed back into the couch, lifting his feet off the floor to rest on the coffee table as Bender did likewise. Maybe he was starting to feel a little better. It had been a while since they’d sat and watched TV together at home.

 -

A few days later Bender had to drag him out of his room to make him stop moping again. This time he brought Fry all the way out the apartment and to the bar they used to hang out at. Leela didn’t like it so Fry hadn’t been here in while. Heck actually…

“We haven’t hung out outside of home in a while, huh?” he said as they settled at their usual table, sitting across from each other. “Like… just the two of us and no one else.”

“Yep, because you’ve been too busy being preoccupied with Leela to spend time with anyone else even your best pal.” Bender gave him a mildly annoyed look which well, Fry couldn’t blame him for, huh?

“Oh uh… yeah, sorry.” Fry hadn’t been being a very good best friend, huh?

“Eh, it’s whatever. You two tried the whole dating thing, it didn’t work out and now that you’ve broke up, you can finally move on from her. It’ll be like old times, just you and me except maybe better because you’re not focused on wanting to date Leela anymore, right?”

“I don’t know, I still feel pretty focused on her and uh, wanting to date her. You think maybe she might change her mind eventually? Like maybe if I stop being clingy and stuff. Or uh… maybe if I try to be smarter or something?”

For some reason Bender seemed to deflate a little at Fry’s words. “No.” He sounded fine though and quickly recovered so it was probably nothing. “Face it buddy, you just don’t have what she’s looking for in a romantic partner.”

“Yeah… you’re probably right.” As sad as it was and as much as Fry didn’t want to admit it or believe it, he couldn’t deny that anymore. Even when he tried to his best to force it he just wasn’t what Leela wanted.

“I’m always right and you know it. Now no more talking about Leela, we’re here to have a good time and get shitfaced, got it?”

“I uh… you know what? Yeah!” Fry hit his fists on the table, making it rattle. “Let’s get drunk and have some dumb fun like we used to.” He could certainly use the distraction. And maybe Bender was right in general, maybe it was past time he at least try to start getting over Leela even if would be hard.

A few weeks of Bender trying and failing to get Fry to notice him romantically later

“Are you sure this a good idea?” Fry asked, leaning over the pilot’s chair as Bender started up the ship.

“It’s a great idea.” Bender brushed off his concern with a dismissive wave his one hand. “Now go sit down unless you want to fall over when we take off. … Nah actually on second thought, watching you fall over would be funny so feel free to stay standing.”

With a sigh, Fry went over to his usual chair and sat down to buckle up. “Yeah, but remember what happened last time we took the ship out for a joyride? We almost got fired. … We did get fired actually. We’re lucky the Professor decided to hire us back on. He might not be so generous this time.” While Fry didn’t like working, this job did let him see other planets and he was getting pretty decent at flying the ship which was pretty cool, so losing this job would be less than ideal. Especially since he’d then have to look for a new one that would undoubtedly be far worse.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I made sure that won’t happen this time. And I stole enough dark matter to completely fill the tank twice. So we could run her all the way out, refuel and still return with enough to fuel top her off again and hide that we ever took her out. Meaning no one will ever know about this so stop trying to be a killjoy.”

Fry didn’t have time to respond before the pilot’s console beeped, signaling that the ship’s engines had finished warming up. With an excited chuckle, Bender took off, he was getting rather good at flying the ship too.

As they exited Earth’s atmosphere, Fry let go of his doubts. Taking the ship out when they weren’t supposed to was fun. And Bender, an expert at getting away with things he wasn’t supposed to do, was probably right; as long as they were careful, they wouldn’t ever be found out and thus no one else need ever know about this adventure of theirs.

“Where we going?” Because after how insistent Bender had been about dragging Fry out here after night fell for this, he had to have a cool destination in mind, right?

“Nowhere or anywhere we want, it doesn’t matter. It’s just you and me with the entire universe as our playground.” He made a grand gesture towards the cockpit window and the vast expanse of stars that could be seen through it. “So we can go wherever and do whatever the fuck we want.” Or that worked too.

“Uh… all right let’s go do something fun then.”

 -

They spend the next few hours taking turns flying the ship around to random planets to see what sights they might have and occasionally messing with the locals – in Bender’s case, stealing from them sometimes too. With no one around to tell them to stop messing around or to be responsible or more careful or anything else of the sort, it was reminiscent of the first time Fry had been set free in a theme park but on a much larger and therefore more fun scale. The fact that he was with Bender made it even better.

Eventually Bender brought them to one of Jupiter’s many moons, the largest one according to the some of the signage. On it some rich person was hosting a fancy dance party of some sort. It was Fry’s idea to sneak in for a bit mostly because rich people’s parties were always fun to sneak into and because they always had fancy food and drink that if nothing else was often interesting to see and taste. The fact that Bender had brought along fancy clothes they could wear to make sneaking in even easier was odd but not surprising, he carried strange but often useful things with him all the time. But what was surprising was his suggestion that they go for spin around the dance floor.

Fry had agreed to it because why not, it seemed like it could be fun. He’d figured that Bender had suggested it to use it as a way to move around the room more and pickpocket stuff off of more people. But while he was doing a little of that, it didn’t seem to be his main goal. Instead he seemed to be far more focused on actually dancing with Fry. Which, now that Fry thought about it, Bender had been noticeably more focused on him than usual during this whole outing. It was nice but… odd.

“Did you plan to come here to do this?” Fry asked once he was sure he was settled into their slow dance enough that he could continue to follow Bender’s lead while also conversing with him. How close they their bodies were made it a bit harder because… it was kind of distracting. Bender had been the one to teach him to dance like this – in another failed attempt to impress Leela a while back – so it was nothing new but still weird, not in a bad way though.

“Maybe.” Meaning ‘yes’ based off his teasing tone and the fact that if he hadn’t planned it, he’d have just said ‘no’ and possibly made fun of Fry for thinking such a thing.

“Why though?”

Bender groaned. “I swear you’re the densest guy I’ve ever met. It’s cute and funny most of the time but sometimes, like right now, it’s really frustrating.”

Fry stumbled and missed a step at being called ‘cute’. That wasn’t a word anyone had used to describe him in any way since he was a small child. And the context of it coupled with what they were currently doing made it seem almost… “Is this a date? Like… a date that’s supposed to be romantic?”

“Bingo! Thank you for finally realizing, it only took you just about a hundred not dates to figure what I’m trying to do.”

“Oh.” Fry looked away as his face grew uncomfortably warm. Had Bender really been trying to go on a date with him for a while now? Come to think of it ever since Bender had decided he was done with Fry moping about Leela he’d been taking him out of the house fairly often, going out of his way to make sure it was just the two of them too. And he’d mentioned multiple times that Fry can and should move on from her now and try dating other people. More like another person because hadn’t he more often than not phrased it as a singular? As if maybe he wanted Fry to consider him for that role.

“Yeah. I can guess you’re not interested though, huh?” His tone edged with bitterness, Bender slowed their dance to a stop and started to pull away. “If you were, you’d have…”

“No, no!” Jerking back into motion, Fry pulled him close again. “Don’t stop, I’m having fun.” Bender wasn’t resisting so Fry took the lead in their dance. He was much clumsier and uncoordinated but whatever. Even if he didn’t know what to think about that revelation, he did know he didn’t want to stop dancing yet and even more he didn’t want Bender giving up and pulling away from him.

“So… you are interested?”

“I uh… uh… I’ve never thought about you that way before but… uh… Yeah. Yeah, I’m interested.” And saying that, even with how impulsive it was, didn’t feel wrong or like a lie. “This had been a… great date so far. Even if I only just realized that that’s what it’s supposed to be.”

“Good because getting invitations to this place was a real pain in the ass.”

“You mean we didn’t even actually sneak in?”

“Nope. Getting caught and kicked out would’ve made getting you to finally realize what I was trying to do almost impossible. So yeah, this was planned from the beginning. Or did you really think I carry around a fancy suit in your size for no reason?”

“Well, you might’ve. You do carry a lot of weird stuff around inside you all the time.”

“I guess that’s true.” With that Bender took the lead back, making the whole dancing experience much smoother and easier.

Fry was more than happy to let himself sank into the rhythm of it, matching Bender’s pace. He could consider what the new dimensions of their relationship was later as well as how they were going to tell the others if at all, they could just let them figure it out on their own. For now he was going to enjoy the rest of the time they had alone together for this date until they had to return the ship back to the Planet Express hanger.

[sourbat]

For the kiss prompts, 20 or 33 with Magnus and Toki? But only if you wanna. :)

Nothing like a daily dose of Magtok :)

An unexpected kiss that shocks the one receiving it. Kissing in a stairwell, giving them an artificial height difference.

Enjoy!

When Toki suggested they visit the largest bookstore in the city, it was done more as an act of kindness towards Magnus, and less because he was genuinely curious to peruse three floors worth of dusty, old books. He barely read as it was, and only brought it up because Magnus let him pick what movie they were going to see when they visited the theater, and was super patient when he took him over to one of the few remaining music stores left in the state. Toki was surprised he even remembered the name, but Magnus shined at the idea, mentioning he could go for a few new reads. 

Toki stood on his toes, peering over a row of dusty novels bearing forgettable names, wondering if he might accidentally stumble upon mouse, a spider’s web or perhaps some long-forgotten token–a keychain, a piece of jewelry or hidden note–left behind by some hypothetical being who also made the mistake of taking their boyfriend to a boring bookstore. He honestly had hoped that a massive bookstore would contain more than just…books. Sure, there was the obligatory magazine and music section tucked deep in the corner of the first floor, and it was one of the more louder sections, too; however, it proved only a brief reprieve from the impending boredom that had now consumed Toki’s soul.

The bookstore, despite its multiple levels, fancy lighting and pillars, recycled books sculpted into long tunnels and fancy designs, decorative art that covered the walls and filled the building with a warm, comforting glow, and the entire third floor dedicated to the arts, was still just a bookstore. Nothing changed the fact that the air tasted dry, that most of the books Toki picked up were boring and contained no captivating pictures, and that he had to maintain an “inside voice” while he waited for Magnus to sort through an ever-changing collection of novels.

Toki left the fantasy cubicle where he had sequestered himself in, turned a corner and, remaining partly hidden, viewed Magnus some several feet away. He sat on the floor, two books resting on top each leg, and silently analyzed each one, trying to determine the lucky cover that he’d take home. Toki had already attempted to use some of his allowance, but was immediately rejected, with Magnus reminding him Toki already spent money on tickets and several records, and didn’t want their manager hounding him for unnecessary spending again. A shame, because Toki just wanted to leave and return to the bustling streets. Hollywood was literally right around the corner, and Toki was spending its eve in a store he wasn’t even allowed to run around in, toss yarn, touch the paintings, or have fun.

Still, whether Toki wanted to admit it or not, there was something nice about seeing Magnus struggle over something as mundane as picking a silly book. Watching Magnus unconsciously nipping at his own lip, bringing a leg up to chest once he picked up a book, or playing with his own hair was a peculiar, but welcoming sight to behold. If only Toki hadn’t already spent nearly… forty-three minutes in this blasted store, he might have considered sneaking a photo of Magnus’ intense resolve as he discarded one book in favor of picking up a new title.

Instead, Toki just about had the right mind to call Abigail and ask if he could afford to buy the whole bookstore; that way, Magnus wouldn’t have to worry about having to decide anything! 

It was a nice little fantasy, but even Toki couldn’t excuse such an extreme purchase, and over something as stupid as literature. Instead, he pulled himself off from the corner, and decided to try yet another secluded section of the expansive store and see if there might be anything to keep him sane for a few minutes longer. 

He ended up in the early sci-fi section, and although Toki had no intent on reading anything, did find some solace in viewing the covers. The pictures of pale, big-headed aliens exiting long, phallic-like spaceships provided some amusement.

Toki was busy staring at a cover of some stereotypical American hero ogling a purple-skinned, but otherwise pretty alien, when a finger prodded his side. Toki squirmed, stumbling back as he recoiled from the surprise attack, and bumped right into Magnus.

An arm grappled around Toki. “What are you looking at?” Magnus asked, giving Toki a firm shake before setting him free. 

Giggling, Toki rubbed his side and answered, “Nothins.” He noticed three books stowed under Magnus’ arm. “Oh, you founds somethins?”  he asked, feigning innocence, and trying desperately to not sound too helpful.

“Yeah, I did,” Magnus replied. The answer alone was a huge relief, but Magnus’ enthusiasm filled the otherwise still and stuffy atmosphere, and for a moment Toki didn’t think the store was too bad. If Magnus could find something worthwhile and smile at him like that, then perhaps the trip wasn’t a bust. “You find anything?” 

Toki pulled a holographic bookmark from his pocket. “Just this books-mark.”

“I’ll take that,” Magnus said, snatching it up and stowing it into one of the book’s pages. “C’mon, let’s go.”

Never had such a plain statement sounded so sweet. “Alrights,” Toki said. He let Magnus take the lead, smiling at the way while Magnus talked about the ingenuity behind one of the author’s work, how literary theorists were still actively writing about the other, and although he hated the third, didn’t mind getting the book because it was second-hand. They descended the stair, and Toki kept nodding his head, not quite understanding what the heck Magnus was talking about, but was still pleased to see how excited Magnus got when talking about the cultural impact a book could have on society. 

“Hey, stop for a second.”

“Hmm?” 

Magnus remained put, three steps in front of Toki. Moreover, he was three steps beneath Toki, and with their current position, Toki hovered over Magnus by a good couple of inches.

Magnus pulled out his phone. “Here, get behind me,” he said, gesturing to Toki to move with the sway of his device. Confused, Toki rubbed the back of his head. The ends of Magnus’ mouth lifted in a sly smirk. “C’mon,” he said, “you’re telling me we’re about to go through an entire store decorated with sorta of crap without you stopping me for one of your selfies?”

The remark warranted a quick snort of the nose, and Toki humbly breaking into an embarrassed, but happily little smile. The bookstore did have a few locations that merited a snapshot, a romantic pose between partners, but Toki had been so bored he hadn’t really noticed until Magnus waved that glowing screen, calling him to position.

Bookstore or not, Toki wasn’t going to pass on the chance of having Magnus be the one to take a picture of them together. Toki stood behind Magnus, hands cupping his pointed shoulder before kneeling just a little so that their heads were aligned. To his continued pleasure, Magnus rubbed his cheek against his, scratching the side of his face with a rough tickle, then raised the phone, adjusting it accordingly so that it captured both their likeness.

“On the count of three,” Magnus slowly announced, and Toki’s already cheeky grin extended up to his ears as he prepared for Magnus’s index finger to snap the photo. “One…two...”  

Toki held his breath, ready for the photo, when he felt that same scruff rub his face again, only this time it changed, going from rough to soft as Magnus turned, planting a sudden kiss on Toki’s unprepared cheek. His eyes widened, detecting that sudden transition, but not making complete sense of it until Magnus lips pushed against his skin, sending a surprise flutter of delight across Toki right as the camera took the photo. 

Magnus removed himself from Toki before he had the chance to react. “Nice,” he announced, grinning smugly at Toki. His finger and thumb rolled over the photo, enlarging it and earning a somewhat cruel chuckle from the man. “How cute,” he said, then offered up the photo to Toki.

Fingers brushing over his cheek, Toki glanced at the picture, at himself and Magnus kissing him.

“Oh,” he said, voice turning a little faint. He took the phone in his hands, bringing it close to get a better look at it. It was slightly off, and when Magnus had turned to kiss him, must’ve shook the phone a little, because the surrounding lights had a mild blur to them. Still, Toki’s fingers tenderly brushed over the screen, thumb grazing over past-Magnus kissing his round cheeks, and past-Toki’s expression capturing that tickle, the simple pleasure of being an object of affection, reaching his heart. “Oh. Wowee.”

“A little gift for you, for being so patient with me,” he heard Magnus say.

Toki snapped up, feeling his heart tremble upon realizing he’d been caught. “Oh,” he said, voice dropping as he nervously shuffled in place. “Uhm…”

Magnus chuckled again, and if Toki didn’t know any better, was sure he saw the start of a blush before Magnus turned his back on him . “Don’t worry, I’ll still buy you the bookmark.”

[darkspace7]

Northern Nights-Southern Lights

"For all my part I know nothing with any certainty but the sight of stars makes me want to dream." -Vincent Van Gogh [Or alternately: An ancient ghost, his teenaged son, and a pokémon all get stuck on a rooftop and have to wait for the kid's co-guardian to come rescue them.]

Words: 3,200+

Rating: T

A/N: So the general premise of this is an AU where Riley (who is Ash's biological dad) gets custody over over him after Delia passes on when he's a baby and eventually (through a rather convoluted series of events) meets up with a rather ghostly Sir Aaron and the three of them travel together with their pokémon and they have adventures together as a family as they teach their kid the ways of an Aura Guardian.

Oh, and I don't own Pokémon or any of it's affiliates.

Got it? Good.

"For all my part I know nothing with any certainty but the sight of stars makes me want to dream."-Vincent Van Gogh 

                                                            {-x-}

Ka-thwunk!

"…For the record, I did say that if it wasn't going to work the first time you tried it then it probably wasn't going to work the next fifteen times-"

"..."

"-but maybe if you had just stopped to actually listen to me for once instead of blithely plowing on ahead-"

"..."

"-then perhaps we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place."

A dull thunk reverberated loudly as the rubber-clad sole collided soundly with the sturdy metal frame.

"I actually think it moved a little that time..."

"Urgah!" The teenager threw his hands up and stomped away from the recalcitrant slab in disgust. Pointedly looking away from the specter hovering beside him, dark brown eyes drifted over the darkened horizon before finally shifting back to the entrance of the rooftop observatory. 'Stupid hunk of junk.' He fumed as he plopped himself down with a huff. 'How the heck did we even get into this mess in the first place?' He wondered as his thoughts meandered back a few hours prior.

                                                         {-+-}

The morning sun had just poked its head over the far horizon and already did it hold itself with the promise of being an absolutely beautiful day. They had finally reached the city's outskirts and both he and his electric companion had been rather eager to scope out the local gym scene. It was at that moment, however, that the fourth member of their party had declared that there were some things that he had to take care of and was (understandably) reluctant to leave them their own devices. Naturally, this had lead to an inordinate amount of whining before their co-guardian finally relented, much to their utter delight.

But before the duo could even let out a shout of approval he had doubled-back with a list of stipulations: first being that if anything –and he meant anything– happened that they were to contact him immediately, second was that whenever they were done with whatever it is they were going to do they had to rendezvous at the Central Pokémon Center, and lastly –they would only be allowed to go if Aaron agreed to go with them and serve as a chaperone.

Three sets of expectant eyes zeroed-in on the drifting apparition for the verdict. He caved immediately. The gleeful duo cheered, speeding off towards this new adventure without so much as a goodbye.

The now trio meandered through the urban expanse this way and that, periodically stopping to investigate each and every little thing that had managed to catch their fancy. Enjoying every second of it even as they gradually became more and more sidetracked until they realized they had managed to get completely lost.

It had been Aaron's quick thinking to suggest that maybe they should find some place to stop and ask for directions. This had somehow led to them finding this really tall office-type building and the cleaning guy there and seeing that it was that he probably couldn't even see Aaron to begin with and was highly unlikely that he could understand pokémon either the two had wandered away, leaving the task to the last member of their party. It was there where Ash had learned about the rooftop observatory.

He remembered thinking at the time that maybe it would be nice to take a quick look around and have a break from all that walking they (well, namely he) did earlier and the view from that high up could probably help them find their bearings. That had been the plan at least, until the door locked behind them. Various methods had been dedicated to reopening the portal until eventually he just resorting to kicking the damned thing when all else failed.

They were well and truly stuck.

                                                        {-x-}

'How was I supposed to know the dumb thing was messed up?!' He glanced down at a piece of paper with a cheerfully stenciled 'out of order' that seemed to have fluttered to the ground and went unnoticed during his assault upon the door. '…I mean, yeah, okay, I guess there's that...but still!'

"And the day was going so well too…" The young man sulked. The soft click-clack of claws meeting tile stopped as their owner made its way over to him. The small being drew up on his haunches with a chirp, resting one of those tiny yellow paws on his trainer's arm, and gave it a sympathetic pat. Huffing slightly, he pulled the mouse onto his lap and allowed the creature to snuggle up to him as he began to rake his fingers through the other's vibrant fur, stroking it in a soothing manner as his gaze returned to the middle distance.

From somewhere behind him there was a sigh. The youth didn't need a set of eyes in the back of his head to see the nigh imperceptible furrowing of his co-guardian's brows and frown that came with.

"Ash."

He said nothing.

There was a slight pause before he forged on, "I'm sorry, I was just trying to draw your attention in order to prevent something like this from occurring." He gestured vaguely to the paper and around them, "Alas, it seems my efforts were in vain." Ash could almost hear the small upturn of the other's lips as he shook his head. "But honestly, I don't see how sulking like a meowth who lost its treasure is going to remedy to this predicament." Despite his best efforts, the man's amusement at the whole thing seemed to have bled through somewhat. "I'd have to say it would probably be as effective as your earlier attempts at becoming a battering ram, which is to say not at all."

"Argh I know, I know!" He ground out exasperatedly. A free hand came up to clutch at his dark hair, the action knocking his hat askew. "There are a billion other things we could be doing right now. Like..." He made a vague grasping gesture as he searched for something off the top of his head and, when unable to do so, simply let out a frustrated noise and flopped back onto the tiles instead. "But instead we're stuck and it just really sucks!"

Pikachu, having been accidentally tossed off with the sudden shift in position, shot the young man a disgruntled look. The yellow rodent chittered agitatedly, having regained his footing, and twisted around to face his friend. After a lengthy stare he gave the boy a soft but reprimanding bap on the cheek.

"Sorry." At least he had the decency to look abashed.

Aaron's hand covered his mouth in a somewhat unsuccessful attempt to mask the laugh that threatened to spill out as he observed the duo's antics. The urge faded a bit but a note of fondness remained steadfast in his voice when he spoke, "Come now, Ash. Instead of growling about the things you cannot change why don't we take this as a chance for a...momentary respite? I don't believe it will prove harmful if we were to do so at any rate." He paused for second, hearing the boy mutter something that sounded suspiciously similar to "speak for yourself" before plowing on, "Besides, if I correctly recall do you not still posses that one particular device?"

Ash tilted his head back to look up at the other man, confusion plainly evident on his face. "Device?"

"The small communication device that you presented to me a while back. That strange…ah, what was it?" The man coloured slightly, (a feat that never ceased to amaze the teen for how did a ghost blush if you didn't have any blood? He hadn't the slightest clue.) Fumbling slightly, he glanced away seemingly embarrassed. "Forgive me but I don't quite recall what it was called." He admitted quietly.

The trainer stared at him for a long second before a look of comprehension dawned upon on his face. "Wait, you mean a phone?"

The elder's gaze flicked back to the other and he quickly nodded. "Ah yes, that was it was called. A phone." 

"A phone…That's right!" He sprang back into a sitting position, glancing at the other two before going to rifle through his pockets in an attempt to locate said gadget. "We can just call Riley, tell him where we're at and have him come get us! If I can just find it..." He grimaced comically, patting himself down. "Where is it? Where, where, where-!" When his frantic search came up empty he flopped back down with a huff.

"Pikapi?" The little mouse pokémon squeaked in concern.

The boy's eyes flickered briefly to the mouse. "It's not there." He groaned, "I must've left it back with Riley along with all of our other stuff."

"Well that really is unfortunate." The ghost allowed himself to frown. He heard the other shift and observed as the lad pulled the electric pokémon into his arms and cuddled close to the small being, the other reciprocating in kind. His thoughts began to wander. Soon night would be upon them and the temperature already had begun to dip lower and lower. He looked at his ward's clothing with a critical eye, lips pursing slightly. It seemed like a decent enough overcoat at first glance but would it be thick enough to block out a normal chill and serve as a suitable enough blanket as well? It was getting pretty late after all, his gaze trailed upwards to peer at evening sky. Plus the fact that they were both so very high up and from what he could tell by the gentle swaying of the boy's dark hair there was a muted wind blowing. Sure it wouldn't affect him as much due to his...corporeality issues…but Ash (and by extension Pikachu) on the other hand...His lips pursed slightly.

"Hey Aaron."

The phantom jolted from his musing to see the other staring at him. "Hm?"

"Could you go to the ledge over there for a sec and take a peek over the edge? Tell me if you see anything."

An eyebrow rose faintly but he nodded nonetheless, drifting over to the roof's edge. He looked back to the boy before peering over the edge and…oh wow that was...they really high up weren't they? "No...?" He said once he had regained his wits about him, "It's just the building and the ground far below us…why?" He glanced up to see a peculiar look cross the young man's face. It was a look that when coupled with the youth's penchant for attracting trouble foretold nothing but ridiculous shenanigans and tomfoolery for all parties involved. "Ash."

The teen cringed and scratched at the back of his neck, "Well...okay so, I was thinking that we'd see if there was a fire escape or something and use that to climb down but that idea's pretty much a bust." A slight frown, "Plus just jumping's out of the question. Don't want to wind up falling to your death or anything like that because do you know how badly that'd hurt-"Ash reddened as he remembered just who exactly he was talking to, "Oh..." Brown eyes flickered away from the other with a small wince, "Um...sorry." He murmured as an afterthought.

Long used to the other's rather spectacular lack of tact the ghost just waved him off with a shake of the head, motioning for the other continue.

"Right." A cough, "Okay, seeing as the first plan's a no-go let's move on to number two shall we? I just had an idea which is basically…well...just because I'm stuck here-" He gestured to himself then back at the other, "-doesn't mean you have to be."

"I'm not leaving you here."

"But right now you're the only one who can though!" He protested with a shake of the head. "You could go and just make your way straight down, after all it's not like you can't float and pass through walls and stuff, and you could go and find Riley wherever he is–" The pikachu in his lap nodded along with his master's words as he went on. "–and he can help us and just–"

"Ash."

The boy stopped his tirade and glanced up at the other man.

"I'm not going to leave you here alone." It was spoken with such finality that it bore no argument. The teenager, however, did not seem to get the memo.

"But I won't be alone!" He protested, "Not as long as Pikachu's here with me." The mouse softly chattered in agreement.

"My answer remains the same. You know how you have a penchant for attracting misadventures wherever you go Ash, if I were to leave here and venture off on my own I fear I would not get far without being ill at ease." 'After all, it wouldn't so much be a question of if you were to get in trouble but rather when.' Aaron shook his head wryly, his expression faltering. "Besides, it just wouldn't feel right to abandon you here on your own."

Ash stared at him for a long moment before giving him a reluctant nod. "You're probably right." He sighed, sprawling back with his furry little buddy still clutched tightly in his arms. "'Sides you would probably just wind up getting lost and then we'd have to hunt for you too on top of everything else."

'Well, he isn't exactly wrong.' The ghost thought to himself and allowed the conversation to lapse into silence. They were, as Riley had once put it, "directionally challenged". For Aaron though, this was simply due to the fact that the landscape of the world had changed so drastically since his time on earth that anything that he might have once used for navigation was now nigh unrecognizable. Ash on the other the other hand, just simply could not read a map to save his life.

His thoughts drifted to the pokémon held carefully within young man's grasp. Strong arms kept the lounging creature safely locked in place as deft fingers stroked static-charged fur while their owner's dark eyes stared contemplatively out into the night sky. Apparently having forgiven his companion's earlier theatrics, the pokémon purred happily, lavishing in the affection presented by the other male. Pointed ears perked when the specter shifted from his position, coming over to sit down behind them before relaxing again. The trio fell into an easy silence.

"...Sorry."

"Hm?" Aaron glanced down at him.

"For earlier-" Ash started to say but was cut with a shake of the head.

"It's okay."

The boy reluctantly his eyes trail away to the distant pinpricks that had begun to twinkle in the dusk sky. Only but a few of brightest seemed to cut through the pollution of the city's lights but it was enough he supposed. "I..." Lips tugged down into a vague frown, "I just don't like feeling helpless, ya know? Like there's nothing I can do except sit quietly and wait to be rescued." He shifted slightly, "It just doesn't feel right." Dark eyes traced patterns in the stars. "Plus, I'm kind of worried."

He felt Aaron hesitate slightly behind him before making a small noise, perhaps a signal for him to continue?

"Well...Riley's gonna come back and see that we're still not there right? Neither of us left a note and he can't really call us or anything so he's probably gonna get real worried." His voice quieted as so not to break the calm between them. "I just don't want to see him upset again."

A pause then ethereal fingers began to card gently through his dark locks, the action a soothing one. "It was an accident Ash. You didn't mean to get us stuck up here or be gone so long." The man's tone was a warm one as he spoke, "Both he and I care for you enough that a mishap such as this is nothing compared to the knowledge that you're safe son." Incorporeal lips quirked a bit, "And if he takes fault with it I could always have a word with him."

Ash only response was to snort, his eyes drifting shut as he leaned into the other's ministrations. Thoughts wandering as he slowly slipped further into the dark he couldn't help but muse that for a ghost the man's hands were rather warm. It was nice, he found himself thinking, between both the steady warmth of his father at his head and Pikachu snoozing away on his chest, perhaps he should follow his little buddy's example...

                  ��                                        {-+-}

Creak

The sound of metal shifting against tile dragged the man from his thoughts, his gaze flickered to the new arrival as he approached and sat carefully beside them. He leaned over slightly, meeting the other in a quick kiss before pulling away and turning to watch the youngest of their cadre and his pokémon, both clinging to one another as they slept.

"So this is where you were."

Aaron slipped his hand over the other's and gave him a affectionate smile, "Indeed."

"How long have the three of you been up here anyways?"

"Since late afternoon at the very least. We had thought that we could use this building's height a foil to our 'directionally challenged' nature without taking into account our collective talent for getting into peculiar situations."

"But why didn't you call me? Wait, let me guess…" Riley held up a hand as he stifled a soft laugh, "Ash forgot his phone again."

"Yes." Aaron shook his head with an exasperated fondness.

"Well at least you were here him. To keep an eye on him so you all wouldn't get into any more trouble." He teased lightly.

"Hn." His gaze trailed up to the stars when suddenly a thought occurred to him. "Say Riley,"

"Hm?"

"Did you remember to find something to prop the door open so we could make our way back down?"

"..."

Aaron gaze flickered over to his partner then back behind them at the door which he had allowed to fall shut. The utterly flat look that the other guardian gave him caused the man to flush slightly and look up and away from his partner.

"Ah...well...right. At least it's not too bad of a night tonight." Riley remarked.

Aaron sighed, his eyes trailing up to the sky above. It was going to be a long night.

[f4liveblogarchives]

Fantastic Four Vol 1 #205

Sat Sep 7 2019 [02:15 PM] Wack'd: Previously on Fantastic Four: Reed, Sue and Ben went into space with an alien lady named Adora to save her world from Skrulls. Meanwhile Johnny checked out a college for the rich and famous, where he is unknowingly targeted by an assassin who shoots lasers out of his camera and has atrocious facial hair [02:16 PM] Bocaj: Did they meet catra [02:16 PM] Wack'd: No [02:16 PM] Wack'd: It'd be better if they did [02:16 PM] Bocaj: They did meet Tigra though [02:16 PM] Bocaj: It’s a similar concept without all of the same trauma [02:17 PM] maxwellelvis: And to also recap, this is like the first time the Four have gone up against the Skrulls since the Lee/Kirby run, and their old enemies have gone up in the galactic food chain since then. [02:17 PM] maxwellelvis: They also no longer look like goblins. [02:17 PM] Wack'd: They're just in time for the end of the world!

[02:17 PM] Bocaj: If they don’t look like goblins the. What’s the point? [02:17 PM] Wack'd: Agreed [02:17 PM] maxwellelvis: See what I mean? [02:18 PM] maxwellelvis: This is the Skrulls at their peak. [02:18 PM] Wack'd: Skrulls are a superstitious and cowardly lot

[02:19 PM] maxwellelvis: This must be before the Skrull Emperor and/or Empress [02:19 PM] Bocaj: A lot of things have a Supreme in marvel [02:19 PM] Umbramatic: SUPREME [02:19 PM] Bocaj: The Kree, the skrulls, the sorcerers, the AIM [02:19 PM] Wack'd: The SuprAIM [02:19 PM] Bocaj: Nice [02:20 PM] maxwellelvis: No wait, that cannot be. [02:20 PM] Wack'd: Anyway the Skrulls are using hit and run tactics. Show up, fuck shit up, retreat from weapons range before the enemy has a chance to retaliate, launch another attack, repeat [02:20 PM] Wack'd: The upshot is that this buys Reed, Sue, and Ben a little bit of time before things get too bad [02:20 PM] Bocaj: I mean, good tactics if you can get it [02:21 PM] Wack'd: Yeah this is actually a clever way to establish stakes while still giving the team a chance to get their bearings [02:22 PM] Wack'd: SCANMAN! WITH THE POWER TO...SCAN!

[02:23 PM] Wack'd: I give Keith Pollard a 6/10 for wacky hat effort

[02:23 PM] maxwellelvis: In that big spread, I just noticed, you can see that the artist took pains to show that Adora's people aren't getting entirely curbstomped; you can see that they've managed to down about three Skrull ships, if you can figure out the color coding on the lasers. It's just, that's three ships out of... a lot more than that. So it shows that they're fighting courageously, but are still outgunned, outmanned, and almost out of time. [02:23 PM] maxwellelvis: S'a Kirby original, Dorrek's hat. [02:23 PM] Wack'd: Pollard's kinda toned it down but I guess it's the same general idea as this 60s one [02:24 PM] Bocaj: Skrulls have dogs [02:24 PM] maxwellelvis: I can't find a picture of him from then, but have this screenshot of Dorrek from the 1967 cartoon [02:24 PM] Bocaj: I want to believe in green shapeshifting doggos [02:24 PM] Bocaj: That’s not green [02:25 PM] maxwellelvis: Nobody was the right colors in that cartoon. [02:25 PM] maxwellelvis: It's got coloring errors worse than Star Trek: The Animated Series up the wazoo, and I'm pretty sure this show doesn't have the excuse of a colorblind guy doing the colors. [02:26 PM] maxwellelvis: Also love that Dorrek says it's not fair that the Fantastic Four are here when the way he's been waging war here hasn't given the illusion of any sort of fair fight. [02:26 PM] Bocaj: Love those giant ears [02:27 PM] Umbramatic: ye [02:28 PM] Bocaj: Apparently one of the skrulls reed turned into a cow (which was later turned into hamburger and eaten) was a relative of Dorrek’s [02:28 PM] Bocaj: To put it lightly he hates the fantastic four with all his hate [02:28 PM] Wack'd: So the Watcher creates the illusion of an incoming Earth starship, freaking the Skrulls out and causing Dorrek to point all his troops at it. And then the Watcher mopes a little about breaking his oath again [02:28 PM] Bocaj: All he does is break his oath [02:29 PM] maxwellelvis: I'll reiterate, Uatu is like the Doctor but lacking the backbone to actually chew his people out for their total non-interference policy. [02:29 PM] Wack'd: Meanwhile back on Earth...Johnny's already moving into a dorm! Things move fast at Security College [02:29 PM] Bocaj: Like the doctor I think he got put on trial once [02:30 PM] Wack'd: well that's not creepy

[02:30 PM] Bocaj: Wow that’s very illegal [02:30 PM] Wack'd: So it turns out this was all a Batman Gambit [02:30 PM] maxwellelvis: Wait, that’s illegal [02:30 PM] Bocaj: I can’t believe Johnny rebellious youth supports the police state [02:31 PM] Umbramatic: oh no [02:31 PM] Wack'd: That random lady who insulted Johnny for being intellectually uncurious and immature a few issues ago was hypnotized into doing so by The Monocle because by weakening his ego and making him doubt himself he'd be easier to convince to go to this school [02:31 PM] Bocaj: .... [02:32 PM] Umbramatic: oh [02:32 PM] Bocaj: Villains sure have incredibly specific plans sometimes [02:32 PM] Wack'd: He didn't have hypnosis last time we saw him but "murders people with camera lasers" is kind of a weak gimmick so I don't mind [02:32 PM] Wack'd: Also: Lanie had a point! Johnny should be more interested in the fact that he got go literally go to space numerous times [02:33 PM] Bocaj: Hypnotism is one of those powers villains tend to get for free [02:33 PM] Bocaj: I think super Skrull has it [02:33 PM] Wack'd: Oh hey another shadowy mastermind. Not sitting in a chair facing away from the camera though

[02:34 PM] Wack'd: What's the point of video calling if you're not going to show your face? Just call him on the fucking phone [02:34 PM] maxwellelvis: This doesn't surprise me. The Monocle just doesn't have the presence to command an entire story by himself. [02:34 PM] maxwellelvis: @Wack'd Ask the Sovereign [02:34 PM] Wack'd: Eh he was a hired goon in his original story too [02:34 PM] Wack'd: He's an assassin for hire [02:35 PM] Wack'd: So Johnny goes to bed. And then he and every other student on campus hear a compelling voice that leads them to the administration building. HYPNOSIS [02:36 PM] Wack'd: Also the compelling voice is calling Johnny "John" and. Nope. Wrong. never gonna get over that [02:36 PM] Wack'd: MEANWHILE BACK IN SPACE [02:37 PM] Wack'd: Oh hey this weird bubble city of survivors are from Xandar! [02:37 PM] Wack'd: Their planet it looks a lot less destroyed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe [02:37 PM] Bocaj: Yeah I don't think Xandar gets destroyed until 200something with the Annihilation story [02:38 PM] Wack'd: ...but it's [02:38 PM] Wack'd: it's already destroyed [02:38 PM] maxwellelvis: COMPLETELY destroyed [02:38 PM] Wack'd: this bubble city is all that's left [02:38 PM] Bocaj: I just realized that Xandar might be a riff on Kandar [02:39 PM] Wack'd: Aliens love brain uploading

[02:40 PM] Bocaj: What a perspective [02:40 PM] Wack'd: hahahaha ben points out they stole this shot from *forbidden planet* [02:40 PM] maxwellelvis: That's a heck of a way to preserve your culture, but I sure hope the brains are happy in there. [02:40 PM] maxwellelvis: Metahumor, or Marv Wolfman ribbing the artist? You decide. [02:41 PM] Wack'd: Anyway the Skrulls want this computer, or more specifically the fucking metric ton of power it takes to operate it, to give themselves an upper hand against the Kree [02:41 PM] maxwellelvis: Or, with the changeover in how comics are made, would that be more like directing the artist? [02:41 PM] maxwellelvis: And there we are. [02:41 PM] Wack'd: Probably conscious homage [02:41 PM] maxwellelvis: Gotcha [02:43 PM] Wack'd: Anyway the Skrulls come back! Fight scene! [02:44 PM] maxwellelvis: Anyways, I should have figured that this was motivated by either expansion or asset acquisition. [02:44 PM] Wack'd: Kinda weird that the Skrulls have ground troops (or, uh, anti-grav troops) rather than just using spaceships for everything [02:44 PM] Wack'd: But it gets us a fight scene, so [02:45 PM] maxwellelvis: It's a fool who commits all his resources to one branch of his military. Don't know if that's an actual saying about war and warfare, but I feel it's true, at least from my limited strategy gaming experience. [02:46 PM] Wack'd: I mean this is a little like if Germany sent troops into Britain during the Blitz. Really you're just risking blowing up your own dudes

[02:46 PM] Umbramatic: SPLAM [02:46 PM] Bocaj: Spinel [02:47 PM] Wack'd: Yes [02:47 PM] Wack'd: So! Reed, Sue, and Ben are knocked out and taken to the Skrull ship [02:47 PM] Wack'd: And so we cliffhanger into...*sigh* [02:47 PM] Wack'd: Nova #25 [02:47 PM] Wack'd: Dammit

[sternenteile]

★*･ lovely ooc meme.

TAGGED BY:  y’all i stole it from multiple ppl on my dash TAGGING:  idk just take it from me and let the thief train continue

NAME:  nikki NICKNAME:  nikkibun, bun, assturd AGE:  26 weeps......... FACE CLAIM:  my bunsona!! my bunsona’s icons are so old and crusty tho so i’ve just. been using geno’s. rip. PRONOUNS:  she / her, but they / them is fine, too! HEIGHT:  5′3″ i am berry tinie BIRTHDAY:  april 4th

AESTHETIC:  cute animals (namely bunnies and cats), a basic n64 with a purple controller, pastels, piles of tasty chicken wings, and. and. more terribly charismatic buns.

LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO:  y’all listen the lavender town theme from pokemon lgpe is absolutely destroying me and it was absolutely the last thing i listened to. i love it.

FAVORITE MUSE ( S ) YOU’VE WRITTEN:  my boy papyrus ( @outbraves ) was easily one of my favorites ever. i just had... so much fun with him and had a lot of development for him, and just. i have such fond memories of rping him. i love my bone boy, even though his muse has long gone.

tbh, tho? geno is climbing up there, too. in so short a time, i’ve already got so many ideas and so much development plotting going on. given how expansive the mario universe is, too (esp. compared to undertale’s), there is just... so much room for different things to do with him?! i’m really excited. the potential is bananas.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO TAKE ON YOUR CURRENT MUSE ( THAT YOU ARE POSTING THIS ON ):  ok i’m not going to lie. this is a bit of a story, and it starts off in a very interesting way. at first, i actually... didn’t really give a single floppy titty for geno? seriously. i didn’t care. i played smrpg and i just fell for mallow that much more. i was like, gee, i wonder what people see in him. he’s cool and cute, but mallow has all this development and stuff! basically, based on my memories of smrpg and how ‘overrated’ i felt he was, i just didn’t really give geno much of a chance.

now, rosalina is my favorite mario character. ever. i used to rp her a long time ago. i absolutely adore her. thanks to smash speculation really bringing geno to the forefront of peoples’ minds again, i was like, huh. i wonder what kind of lore could come from her and geno? a lot of stuff i saw was implicating ship stuff, and i was... not impressed LMAO. i was like, naw, i see them being like mother and son. he’s a star spirit, after all, very similar to a luma. she’d totally be his superior + mom figure.

and then i started headcanoning more between them, which... via causation, started the headcanon train going for geno in general? i was like, no, i’m not going to get attached to this dumb doll, he’s overrated, blah blah. then i started thinking of him more, started doodling him, seeing why people liked him so much, and i was like... fuck. shit. damn. i used to have a weird disdain for you, you fuck puppet, why are you wiggling your way into my heart. no. get out.

needless to say, he didn’t get out, and i had to unleash my creativity with him. i missed rping, too, and i was like... this, this will do. voila. here we are.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE ASPECTS OF YOUR CURRENT MUSE:  where do i even begin omg... ok. let’s see.

first, his design in general is just? really great. he’s a design that fits in the mario universe while also feeling so unlike it. mallow feels more integrated, yet geno feels... so... otherworldly? so different? his design philosophy hinges on round, soft familiarity while also being colorful, complimentarily so, and encapsulating it in a way that comes off as both cute and mysterious. i just love his design. even in all of my disdain for him initially, i’m pretty sure i always liked his design.

with that shallower bit out of the way, let me tell you about the virtues this boi has that i love (or, at least, in terms of my version, most of it not being canon oops). i love how courageous and forward he is, even if at times, it results in some fumbling. he’s fascinated in the world around him and has an innate desire to explore, to experiment, to experience. he gets pretty into it, but it does result in some very silly moments where his cultural differences play a large factor. he’s so distant from the modern world in a lot of ways, and it shows. between this and his curious nature, he’s just... god, he’s just a dork. he’s just a huge dork.

but boy, his vices. he doesn’t have much of... any at all in canon, but it’s clear how attached to his duty he is, even in what little we see. building flaws off of that has been a blast. i love how he feels so tied to his purpose that he feels branching out isn’t an option, yet it conflicts with his desire to break free and just be. he’s still figuring out how to be his own person, how to be geno and not just ♡♪!?, the protector of star road. even then, he’s trying not to fail his most precious person, rosalina, and those who depend on him. it’s a lot of conflict that pulls his heart in a lot of directions at once. chances are that he’ll progress and then harshly regress multiple times, going through a bunch of shit before he finally manages to find a happy medium. it’ll be a long road ahead, and what can stem from this has me soooo excited.

also he’s just rly cute. did i mention he’s cute? he’s so cute. he’s literally a doll and i need to cuddle him.

WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST INSPIRATION WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING:  honestly? steven universe and undertale have played huge inspiration into the way i write. undertale is obviously because i love it (and deltarune) and have written a muse from it. it’s just kind of integrated into my writing to the point that it feels natural. it’s... it’s something that’s just there now, lmao.

steven universe, however, is more particular. it hasn’t really influenced how i write in general, per se, but some aspects have inspired my geno, actually. garnet’s cool demeanor with inner conflict and a goofiness that she often shows? yeah, that definitely inspired a good chunk of my geno’s exterior personality. 

in terms of his inner self, those bits of garnet, plus the pearl + rose and steven + rose conflicts, pretty much shaped that up in my head. pearl + rose on its base level minus the romantic aspect definitely touches stone on how geno feels about his duty, his dedication to rosalina, and how he’s trying to become his own person, not just a star spirit in servitude. steven + rose more represents the mother + son aspect, the way geno wants to live up to her and what she wants, the way he views her as a parental figure that’s just unattainable (even if in a more figurative sense than steven and rose). there’s also a tiny, tiny bit of lapis in there, solely the tendency to flip a switch and bail if he thinks it’s best, just for less selfish reasons and more dutiful reasons. it’s. it’s very minuscule and very base-level, but it’s there.

in terms of geno himself, those two have to be my biggest inspirations at this point. ye.

FAVORITE TYPES OF THREADS:  god. anything is great, but these two are especially important:

slice-of-life. given geno’s distance from earth traditions, customs, and general livelihood, slice-of-life threads are immediately that much more interesting and even a bit crazy. being able to show how much of a curious little nerd he is and Hecking Things Up is always a good time.

finally, anything that draws out his insecurities. something that conflicts with his view on his purpose in life, that stirs his longing for parental recognition, that turns his beliefs on their heads... things like that. just. yes. gimme that.

BIGGEST STRUGGLE IN REGARDS TO YOUR CURRENT MUSE:  honestly, the fact that he’s such an old character that nintendo and square doesn’t care for is easily the worst part of playing him. it’s rough knowing that, even with all of the fan demand, he’ll likely never get a revival. he’ll just fade out of a lot of peoples’ memories more and more, and he’ll be even more irrelevant than ever. every time someone so much as knows who geno is, it just makes me giddy. i want that to stay alive, even if nintendo and square won’t do anything with him. the fan base keeping him going makes me feel so warm.

[camkablam]

Of Wands and Bubbled Cupcakes

(14th birthday present to @lunarthemooncake . Happy Birthday, Lunar!)

In total honesty, Toni had little idea as to how he started hanging around a fourth year. He was fairly certain Ariza had been the one to introduce them, but beyond that he had no idea; she’d simply shown up one day and hadn’t left. Not that Toni wanted her to leave. He liked having her around, even if some of the other students thought a friendship between a seventh year and a fourth year was strange.

Another thing Toni didn’t care about.

Something he did find himself caring about quite a bit was the fact that Ariza, his girlfriend, had already graduated Hogwarts and hadn’t returned with him and Lunar this year. She was working at a little store in Diagon Alley, something both Toni and Lunar had helped her set up over the summer. It was just down the road from the little bookstore Rainy had deemed her own.

With both Rainy and Ariza gone, things were considerably quiet. Of course, Toni spent the better half of his free time writing letters and sending owls back and forth with Ariza, sometimes Rainy- something Lunar also did, although not as much.

The school year had hardly started- they were only just finishing week two- and yet Toni already found himself being a little miserable. He kept making to ask if he could hold a hand or peck a cheek that wasn’t there, only to falter a second later as he realised she wasn’t there. Sure, their relationship had started off long distance and had been that way for years before she transferred to Hogwarts, and even before that she always returned to America for the summers- same with Lunar. She’d just come over to England a few days earlier to see Ariza before she and Toni jumped on the Hogwarts Express.

He missed her.

But he definitely hadn’t meant to forget Lunar’s birthday.

He’d been sitting at the Ravenclaw table during breakfast, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he spread jam across his slice of toast and waiting for an owl to come with a new letter. He must have been particularly tired (staying up all night to read will do that to you), because it took him a moment to realise Lunar had slipped into the seat across from him and was helping herself to some pasties.

Her bright yellow tie clearly stated her as a Hufflepuff, but sitting at each other's tables had been something Toni and his friends- the majority of which were from different houses- had done regularly. Ariza herself had been a Hufflepuff, as was Rainy. Gommie had been a Gryffindor and Red a Slytherin, although Gommie had been pulled from Hogwarts and now attended Ilvermorny. Toni wasn’t sure what happened to Red. Maybe he moved back to France, attending Beauxbatons, or was in Ilvermorny with Gommie.

That aside, it wasn’t uncommon to see students sitting at different house tables during meals so they could be with their friends anymore. Toni found the fact that it had, at first, seemed like some sort of unspoken rule to only ever sit at your own house table ridiculous. They’d certainly gotten themselves a few odd stares when they’d first started doing it.

Not that any of that really mattered anymore. Especially considering Lunar had taken to watching him somewhat expectantly.

“You want coffee?”

“Coffee,” Toni echoed, “Coffee sounds wonderful.”

She poured a cup for him and passed it over a platter of bacon and eggs. He accepted it with a grateful smile and took a sip at the steaming liquid.

“So, uh… anything planned today?”

“Not really,” Toni shrugged, “I mean, I should probably get started on that Transfiguration assignment. What ‘bout you?”

Lunar blinked up at him, fork frozen in her hand. Then, abruptly uncertain, she bit her lip and her eyes darted to the side. “Um… I dunno. Maybe I’ll do some more writing for The Lodge.”

“Can’t wait to read it,” said Toni, biting into his toast, “Not sure how much reading I’ll be able to do this year, what with my NEWTS and all.”

“Yeah,” Lunar muttered, her eyes trailing down to her untouched plate, “Exams suck.”

Toni did exactly what he said he would- well, after messing about for a good bit, but he did get to that Transfiguration assignment. Not before checking the Owlry about twelve times, because Ariza had yet to send a letter that day. Maybe the bird had been forced to take a detour or had been caught in a storm.

Whatever the reason, the letter wasn’t here. He spotted Lunar in the library a few times, and she even sat across from him and started to scribble on a piece of parchment without a saying a word. It must have been around dinner time that he lost track of where she was, and around dinner time that he finally got that letter.

Silly things, silly things. How things were at the shop. How her brother was going to be visiting for a week. How she and Rainy went out to lunch yesterday. This new book she was reading. How her games were coming.

He froze near the end.

Wish Lunar a happy birthday for me.

He hadn’t meant to forget. He honestly, truly hadn’t. He could make an excuse and say that his calendar had been torn to bits during the first week (which it had), but it certainly wasn’t good enough. The thing was he’d forgotten, point blank, and it didn’t take much to make him feel like a crappy person to begin with.

But Lunar was nowhere to be found. He tried asking a few Hufflepuffs- some girls he knew shared a dorm with her- to see if she was in the dormitories or the common room, but they came back a few moments later to tell him she wasn’t. He tried to Ravenclaw common room next, because Lunar somehow always seemed to be able to figure out the riddles (he absently wondered if she either had superpowers or had somehow managed to get Google to work at Hogwarts) and frequently popped in herself if she was looking for him or just wanted to browse through the common rooms expanse personal library. It took him a good fifteen minutes of pure frustration to figure out the doors stupid riddle (he sometimes wondered why the heck hack he was a Ravenclaw), only for it to be a total waste of time upon discovering that the common room was practically bare.

He checked the kitchens. The halls. The classrooms. The grounds. The library. The Great Hall. But she might as well have never been there to begin with.

Curfew drew nearer and nearer, and Toni made it just in time to get some Hufflepuffs to see if she was in the common room or dormitories again, but, just as last time, they came back and told him she wasn’t there. That they hadn’t seen her since before lunch.

He stayed out past curfew. The lights flickered and dimmed to the point that they might as well have not been lit at all. Shadows drew lengthy figures along the walls and floors. He kept expecting something to jump out at him; be it a monster or a professor.

There were a few close calls. He was able to duck behind a pillar, a statue, around the corner or into a classroom mere seconds before they could spot him, and it always left his heart pumping so loud he was almost certain they’d be able to hear. He drew his wand and cast a few cloaking spells, that unpleasant sensation of an egg being cracked on his head and trailing down the back of his neck making an appearance. He wasn’t the best at this particular spell; he just hoped he’d be able to find Lunar before any of the professors (or monsters) could find him.

He wasn’t sure when he decided to go up to the Astronomy Tower, but he soon found himself mounting the spiralling staircase up to the top after a particularly close call with a certain cat. His feet had started hurting an hour or so ago, and exhaustion weighed heavily on his shoulders. When he reached the top of the blasted staircase, he tilted on his feet and almost went tumbling back down them again. He was thankfully able to grab the bannister before that could happen; he’d rather not have to explain to Professor McGonagall or Professor Flitwick why he was up in the Astronomy in the middle of the night. Or climb back up said stairs again if he’s somehow not caught or his bones don’t get broken too badly.

Toni tried the door that would lead to the circular room where their lessons took place and, to his surprise, the handle submitted and it swung open. He faltered in the doorway, peering into the shadows. There was no one there. The telescopes and moon charts were all packed away, the desks pressed up against the far wall and the chairs seated on top of them. But then his eyes found the small figure leaning against the railings on the other side of the classroom, looking up at the stars, and he almost fell back down the stairs again in his relief.

It was, without a doubt, Lunar. She had a notebook open in front of her, balancing precariously on the bannister, the only thing stopping it from falling all the way down to the grounds being her own hand gripping its corner. She was twirling a pen in her other hand- quills were fun and all, but after a while they became a bit tedious, especially when you’re a writer and random ideas pop into your head that needs to be written down immediately before you forget them- and she wasn’t star gazing as he’d originally assumed; her eyes were glazed in deep thought.

She didn’t come out of it as he shut the door behind him, nor as he made his way over. In fact, he got as far as leaning against the railing directly beside her before she blinked the glaze from her eyes and looked up. To her, it must have been as though he’d appeared out of thin air; she jerked, pen dropping from her fingers to clatter against the cool floor (thankfully not the grounds below). Her notebook wobbled dangerously, and would have likely tipped over the edge had Toni not reached out and steadied it.

“Hey,” he muttered. Lunar gaped up at him for a moment, still seemingly coming to terms with his newfound powers of teleportation, before releasing an almost shaky breath and returning to the bannister.

“Where the heck did you come from?” she asked in a quiet mumble; her eyes darted over to the clock mounted in the shadows on the far wall, “It’s past curfew.”

“I came from my mother,” Toni informed her, “And I could point out the same to you.”

“I didn’t realise it was that late,” Lunar declared. Toni rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, and you daydream up here often.”

Lunar bit her lip, tapping her finger against the bannister. Toni flipped her notebook shut and handed it back; the girl accepted it with a tiny, thankful smile and tucked it into one of the pockets of her robes.

“How come you aren’t in bed?” she asked, after a moment. Toni shrugged.

“Was looking for you,” he glanced at her, “Why aren’t you in bed?”

“Because I’m a vampire.”

Toni snorted, “Fair.”

They sat in silence for a moment, staring up at the dark sky of sparkling stars. Then Toni shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a glistening bubble about the size of his hand. There was something inside it.

“What is that?” Lunar asked. In answer, Toni pulled out his wand and tapped the tip against the bubble, causing it to pop. He held it out to her.

“Happy Birthday.”

It was a chocolate cupcake, purple frosting swirled on the top. Lunar accepted it tentatively; Toni sent her a somewhat forced but no less apologetic smile.

“I, uh… I’m sorry I forgot.”

She blinked, then huffed a small laugh, “It’s fine. Thanks.”

“It’s not fine,” Toni insisted, smile slipping, “I’ve known you for years and I forgot your birthday.”

“What do you want me to say, then?”

“I- I dunno,” the boy frowned, running his fingers through his short hair, “Just… not that it’s fine. ‘Cause it isn’t. I guess just that you… forgive me or something. But I want you to know that it isn’t fine; I know I probably hurt you, and even if I didn’t, it’s not okay.”

“Alright,” said Lunar, holding up a hand as though to stop him, “Alright, I forgive you. I know you didn’t mean anything by it.”

Toni’s shoulders slumped in relief, and he sighed, “Okay. Thank you.”

Lunar smiled at him, then turned her attention to the cupcake, “Where did you even get this?”

“The kitchens,” Toni admitted, “Those house elves are adorable, honestly. Like hairless cats.”

The girl snorted, “I can’t believe you just compared them to hairless cats.”

“Well, they are,” Toni huffed, “Like, everyone thinks they’re a bit creepy looking but they’re actually adorable. You know?”

“Whatever you say, Toni.”

He smiled at her. It turned a little sheepish. “I, ah… didn’t know what flavour of cupcake you liked, so I…”

He reached into his pockets again and pulled out another bubbled cupcake. Then another. And another. And another. The floor was quickly covered in bubbled cupcakes. Lunar looked torn between laughing her guts out and hiding her face in horror.

“Oh dear Merlin,” she breathed, covering the smile threatening to take over her face, “What- How did you- Why?”

“Well, I’d originally wanted to get you a cake,” explained Toni, still emptying his pockets of bubbled cupcakes, “But then I realised I didn’t know what flavour you’d like. So I asked them to just make me a cupcake of every flavour. It didn’t really occur to me that there’s a heck of a lot of cupcake flavours out there.”

“Oh my god.”

“Also,” Toni continued, tossing yet another bubbled cupcake into the ever growing pile around their feet, “Now that I think about it, I don’t really know how I would’ve been able to carry a cake around. It wouldn’t fit in my pockets.”

“How are these fitting in your pockets?”

“I have no idea. I might’ve been an expansion spell on them. Would explain why I keep losing my pens.”

That earned him a disbelieving laugh. Toni pulled out one last bubbled cupcake, ruffled around in all his pockets to make sure that truly was the last one, before standing back and observing the giant pile of bubbled cupcakes surrounding them.

“Huh,” he muttered, then turned to look at Lunar, “You know, some of these are bound to be really interesting. I mean, one’s Dark Chocolate Bacon. And another’s, like, Parsnip and Maple Syrup or something.”

Lunar’s eyes bulged, “Seriously?”

“Yup. I think one of them’s Beer and Sauerkraut Fudge.”

“Beer? Beer?”

Toni nodded, “Beer.”

“With fudge?”

“With fudge.”

“That sounds disgusting.”

Toni grinned, “I guess we’ll find out, huh?”

Lunar shook her head, unable to smile her own smile, “You’re ridiculous.”

“You love me.”

She sighed, “I do.”

“I think there’s a spicy one too.”

Lunar raised an eyebrow at him, “A spicy cupcake?”

“Yeah, like, Mango Chilli or something.”

“Ariza would like that.”

The boy chuckled, “She would, yeah. Wonder what one Rainy would like.”

“Maybe we can send each of them one.”

“That’s a great idea!” Toni exclaimed, eyes sparking, “I mean, I love cupcakes, and I’m pretty sure you do too, but I don’t think all these’ll get eaten before they go off even if it’s the two of us.”

Lunar chuckled, shaking her head, “Yeah, that’s… that’s a lot of cupcakes.”

“Most certainly.”

The girl chuckled again, looking up to smile at him. But then that smile slipped, before falling entirely, the joy draining from her face at a startling rate. Her eyes had become almost desperate. “Please don’t go.”

Toni blinked, staring down at her, startled, “What? Where am I going?”

“You’re leaving,” Lunar clarified, “Hogwarts, I mean. This is your last year.”

“Oh,” he muttered, blinking again, “I… yeah. It… it is.”

“Rainy and Ariza have already left,” Lunar continued, not looking at him now, “And- And sure, I’ve got other friends here, but… I’m gonna miss you guys.”

“Lunar,” said Toni, taking a step forward and reaching out to grip her shoulder, “We’ve still got a whole year together. And it’s not like we’re going to stop being friends or anything. And we’ll write, just like how we’ve been writing Ariza and Rainy.”

“But it won’t be the same,” the girl sighed, rubbing her forehead as though to hold back a headache, “You guys’ll be living somewhere in London or Diagon Alley and I’ll be up here in Scotland through the school year and then over in America during the summer. You can’t tell me that we won’t start to drift apart. We can’t even text for the majority of the year.”

“Yeah, I’ve always wondered how Rainy got her headphones to work here,” Toni muttered, before shaking his head and returning to the matter at hand, “But you know what, Lunar? Just because we’re not together every day doesn’t mean we’ll drift apart. I mean, I hardly even talk to my twin anymore, but that doesn’t stop us from being brothers, right?”

Lunar sighed, “I guess.”

Toni squeezed her shoulder a little tighter, “Hey, Riza and I picked an apartment with two rooms for a reason, you know. You will always be welcome there, be it for the Christmas holidays or during the summer or even if you decide to sneak away for whatever reason during the school year.”

She looked up at him, a tiny smile lifting her lips, “That sounds great.”

“And it’s not like we’re going to be staying in England forever,” Toni continued, “Well, we’re still debating over it, but I’m still good for moving to Canada once you’ve finished school.”

Lunar laughed, before stepping closer and wrapping him in a hug, burying her face into his chest. Toni immediately returned it.

“I love you,” she mumbled, “You and everyone else.”

He smiled into her hair, “Love you too, Lunar. Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks.”

They hugged in silence for a moment. Then Toni, without pulling away, spoke again.

“We should probably do something about these cupcakes.”

The girl laughed, “Uh, yeah, we probably should. And get back to our dorms before any of the professors find us.”

“Or worse. Filch.”

Lunar pulled a face, “He gives me the creeps.”

“He gives everyone the creeps.”

“Very true.”

They finally pulled apart, turning to regard the bubbled cupcakes again. Toni tucked his hands into his seemingly endless pockets and flapped them.

“Help me get these back in before he finds us, please.”

“Great idea,” said Lunar; then, seeming to realise she was still holding the chocolate cupcake, bit into it, “This is good.”

“Oh, by the way,” Toni said, as they got on their knees and began to scoop the bubbled cupcakes off the floor to shove into their pockets, “Ariza says Happy Birthday too.”

Lunar smiled.

“Good to know.”

Characters: @toni4eyes, @lunarthemooncake, @arizaluca (mentioned) and @raintagwasalreadytaken (mentioned)

[muscleunit]

IBO OP THOUGHTS!!!

Okay, so: I have this theory that the IBO opening songs are each intended to fit a specific character. The lyrics are general enough to apply thematically to whatever is going on in the story at the time, but each one still has parts that are specific enough to relate directly to an important character. This is particularly true when you look at the lyrics for the full song and not just the parts used in the TV size.

Raise Your Flag - Orga (https://www.lyrical-nonsense.com/lyrics/man-with-a-mission/raise-your-flag/)

Early series Orga is firing everyone up, taking over, and bringing all these broken kids together. This song is a call to arms. It’s pretty self-explanatory.

From the TV version:

“Under pressure you are waiting for direction Going on the road without your mind All misleads they give ignoring our decisions Killing yourself your soul we have inside

No one else but you are I’m waiting for We can start it on just right here right now Fear and circulation But I am ready now We can struggle and muzzle the world before it fades away”

And then in the second verse:

"Taking this ship or not depends on your intention to be the soldier or one bystander Keep struggling, collapsing and losing your spirits, Then crawl on up and just keep running!”

Orga’s been through shit, they’ve all been through shit, and they’re embarking on another difficult struggle, but it’ll be worth it. He’s got a thirst to prove himself and a massive grudge against the world that put them through hell, but he loves his family and he wants to build them up into something great.

Next, you have Survivor. (https://www.lyrical-nonsense.com/lyrics/blue-encount/survivor/)

This song is for the second half of the first season, for the Dort colony arc and the battles on Earth. Though this one is a bit more general, I think the tone of it really suits Kudelia’s leadership role in the story at this point. These are the arcs where she really comes into her own (and she is featured very prominently in the opening animation).

From the TV-size:

“We’ve taken the long way around, but now’s the time- all our futures have fallen into place: We are the last survivors. It seems things might just work out…with these camouflaged ideals…and ideas So c’mon and do something…about these armed ambitions…and hopes”

and then in the full version:

“We’ve taken the long way around, but now’s the time- the future’s wound back to zero, But I’m telling you, don’t despair: today’s still not as bad as yesterday was! We’ve taken the long way around, but now’s the time- our prayers are shrouded in fog, but we are the last survivors!"

Though she is mourning the loss of Fumitan, she makes up her mind to keep pursuing her ideals no matter what it takes. Like Raise Your Flag, it’s a call to arms for the Tekkadan crew, but it’s softer and more ideal-focused than Raise Your Flag. Kudelia and Orga are both strong leaders, but their approaches are different. Raise Your Flag is about taking charge of your situation and moving forward, while Survivor is about summoning the strength to protect the people and ideals you hold dear. Kudelia is the Maiden of the Revolution, and on a more literal note, she was indeed the only survivor of the labor revolt massacre. There are also bits in the song that remind me of her and Fumitan, but those are definitely open to other interpretations.

Moving on to season 2:

First up, you have Rage of Dust, which I really think fits Mika. (https://www.lyrical-nonsense.com/lyrics/spyair/rage-of-dust-gundam-iron-blooded-orphans-op/)

He just hecked himself up in his fight with Ein, and he shows again throughout this arc just how far he’s willing to push himself in order to help Orga. He’s not particularly ambitious, he just wants to be strong so he can do that as effectively as possible.

“You’ll never become an apathetic fool Without a goal in mind. You’re fine just the way you are! Living life on the edge, You have something you’re willing to die for, So shove it in the face of this era! You can’t let things end while you’re still powerless- That’s why you have to go! But if you’ll eventually end up as dust, You may as well live like stardust, Bearing someone else’s dream.”

This bit is from the TV version, and it really captures Mika’s recklessness when it comes to following Orga. It also captures Mika’s “powerlessness” and self-destructive tendencies- he tears his body to bits, disabling himself except when he’s inside Barbados. He’s going to these lengths for someone else’s dream.

In the full version, there’s another stanza:

“It doesn’t matter either way; It’s not like worrying about it will give you a fresh start in life. Disliking group mentality, your sense of self seems about to fade away.”

This really captures Mika’s aloof personality. He has accepted the fact that he likes killing, and it’s not like he can change what has happened to him. He’s an aloof character, kinda teetering on the brink of sweet, quirky dude and hollow, sociopathic killing machine.

And then lastly, we have Fighter. (https://www.lyrical-nonsense.com/lyrics/kana-boon/fighter/)

You’d think that if they were sticking to the main 4, they would pick a song for Atra, but NOPE. This one goes to my boy Akihiro, who reaches the climax of his narrative arc in the latter half of the second season. This song is pure suffering with a very catchy boogie beat.

“Somebody’s screams are crumbling away… Each time you step forward, you can hear sounds of pain You’ve grown so used to hearing the fragments of that wailing voice… You’ve known from the start that it was your voice all along.

(…)

A lonely fighter, Devoid of love…amidst unending decay… Even if you can’t reach eternity, keep on fighting! Go now! To a world free of grief, sins, and pain… Even if you can’t reach eternity, reach out your hand, Fighter!"

Akihiro has had a foot in the grave since the day he became human debris. Joining Orga gives him a family and hope for a better future, but every time he starts to heal, someone close to him gets killed. He wants to be a decent person, because he is a kind and loving soul, but by this point in the series, he has decided to throw that away at least in battle, so that he can protect the lives of those who remain. He’s not a cold killer like Mika- doing all that brutal stuff hecks him up. All that matters is living just long enough to do his duty to protect Orga’s dream and the lives of those carrying it out. Without love, with everyone around him dead or dying, he makes one last stand against Iok Kujan and then goes to a world free of grief, sins, and pain.

And if that doesn’t hurt badly enough, the full version is even heavier.

“You drown amidst an agony no one else can fathom… The battlefield of solitude is an ocean, expansive as the cosmos. You may wait for the call, That would summon you somewhere other than here… But God has already turned away, departing into the darkness.”

Akihiro is suffering. A lot. And he’s gotta tough through it in order to do what he has to do.

And then lastly:

“Go now! Change even grief into love and let it ring aloud! Without waiting for permission, head somewhere other than here! Your brilliance is fleeting, So live like a flower blooming on the battlefield, Fighter!”

No matter how shitty things get for Akihiro, what this really captures is how he doesn’t completely lose his kind heart even if he becomes extremely brutal. He turns his sorrow into a soft compassion for Derma. He often reflects on his dead brothers and Lafter, and asks them for forgiveness (rather than permission) for his brutality. His love is what fuels him to become an even stronger fighter.

So yeah. Again, these songs are general enough to where they fit the series themes/Tekkadan as a whole, but there are certain elements that really resonate with specific characters. These are my thoughts on the matter, but if y’all have input, please share. This started out as me realizing that “wow, Fighter is basically Akihiro” then putting the other pieces together bit by bit. 

Why yes, I did take literature classes for fun in college because I enjoy over-analyzing the heckie out of things.

Also, @themimsyborogove definitely reminded me of this at 7:30 this morning, so shoutout to her for that haha.

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #465

Top Ten Games I’d Like to See on Game Pass in 2021

After a few weeks of earnest thinking and tyring to be creative, I’ve lapsed back into a wishlist this week. I used to do a lot more of these – films I’d like to come to Prime Video, games I’d like to see on Windows Phone, that sort of thing – so regular readers should be thankful that I’ve branched out more as time’s gone on.

In a way today’s list is another chance to review my big Christmas purchase, the Xbox Series X. Through a combination of presents and canny offers I was able to get, alongside the console, a year’s subscription to Game Pass Ultimate. Game Pass has been called Microsoft’s “real next-gen console”, in that they are very clearly positioning the future of their games business around it. And it is a very, very tantalising offer: dozens if not hundreds of games available at the touch of a button, playable on console, PC, and – via streaming – mobile phones. I had Game Pass once before, last year, and it was great; I chose not to keep up the sub because £11 a month (or even £8 for the most basic service) is still quite expensive when you’ve got large games that you own outright sitting there unplayed or uncompleted. But last time around the “xCloud” streaming service was still in closed beta, so it’s nice to see it rolled out more officially now. The interface is better and it seems to run a bit better, and games that support touch controls on a phone certainly perform better. I’ve found it a great way to play Slay the Spire, for instance; a turn-based card game is quite forgiving if you momentarily lose connection or the visuals start artifacting or something. Anyway, it’s great; the whole service is great. I love the fact that you get frequent (if very slight) rewards just for using it. It’s a great incentive to come back regularly or try new games. I wouldn’t have played something like The Medium or Ori and the Will of the Wisps without Game Pass; and allows me to play something like Planet Coaster or Crackdown 3, that I enjoy dipping in and out of, but probably wouldn’t buy at the moment. And for the kids, it’s great; Disneyland Adventure is a really fun game for the nippers. Although they mostly just play Minecraft.

But of course like Alexander Hamilton I’ve never been satisfied, and in that grand old tradition of doing wish lists, this week’s list is just the games that I’d like to see on the service. That’s it! Nothing complicated about it. just ten (or, well, kinda more actually) games that I think should be on Game Pass. Now, I’ve tried to be realistic about this; so I’ve not added games that aren’t actually out on the Xbox yet, such as Fall Guys (which I really hope will be on Game Pass). Ditto games that have just come out; you’ll see Assassin’s Creed down there somewhere, but not Valhalla, as that’s, I dunno, less likely right now? Same with Hitman 3; I really want to play that, it looks excellent, but I’m not expecting it to turn up on Game Pass anytime soon, coz it’s just come out and been a really big hit. There’s a slight exception to this rule though, as you’ll see.

So there we go: if anyone from Xbox is listening, here are the ten games I’d most like to see on Game Pass, if you please. Oh, and everything is meant to be on the Xbox unless otherwise stated.

Civilization VI (2019): and its assorted expansions please! Civ is my absolute must-play always-on go-to game on PC, and from what I’ve played of the console conversion, it’s a very good adaptation. Last year I was on the xCloud beta and Civ VI was one of the games you could stream; but oddly it’s never, to my knowledge, appeared on Game Pass proper. With Quick Resume, dipping in and out of a session would be even easier (and good god damn it takes a long time to load on my PC). Bonus: this works pretty well on mobile, although it can be hard to read the text on a phone screen.

Assassin’s Creed Origins and/or Odyssey (2017/2018): I’ve never really gotten into an Ass Creed game, so it’d be nice to experience one of the newer ones, but that’s not the real reason I want these on the service (besides, the one I really want to play is Valhalla, coz Vikings innit). Last year Ubisoft offered the “Discovery Tour” modes of both these games up for free on PC; my kids ate them up. They loved exploring ancient Egypt and Greece, and it tied into their studies at school. To free up my PC and because they’d look a lot nicer, I’d love them to be on the Xbox, too.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 (2020): I guess Skate or something is on Game Pass through EA Play, so I could scratch my board itch if I wanted, but it’s not quite the same. I want that nostalgia blast of Tony Hawk action. We used to play this on my girlfriend’s (now wife’s) computer, although I must confess I’ve utterly forgotten all the controls. Regardless, it’s a good fun party game and feels perfect for the service. This update in particular looks really worthwhile, with nice graphics but – hopefully – the same excellent gameplay. Dunno if Spider-Man is still in it, mind.

Minecraft (2011): now, yeah, I’m pretty sure Minecraft is actually on Game Pass on the Xbox; and, indeed, we own it. Whilst I feel that Minecraft is now so ubiquitous and has its own ecosystem that maybe it could become free-to-play, I definitely think that the PC version of Minecraft should fall under Game Pass for PC. Although I’m not sure that would really help my kids, as they’d need to be signed into my Game Pass account to play, wouldn’t they? See, MS needs some kind of family account thing going on.

Hades (2020): another PC games! Yeah, I quite fancy Hades. I remember playing the first Diablo, sometime very shortly after the actual fall of Satan, and liking it. Hades has got a lot of good reviews and all the nice people seem to be saying all the nice things about it. So I’d like to try it out, but I know, deep down inside, that I’ll just keep going back to playing Fallen Order and Gears 5 (or Civ on PC), so it’s not really worth buying. But if they added it to Game Pass on PC? Yes please.

Control Ultimate Edition (2021): ah, is this adding a brand new game? Depends on your definition. I really like the look of Control (2019). It looks like the sort of game I’d enjoy playing. And, yes, Control is technically on Game Pass. But with the super-shiny next-gen version imminent (with sexy ray-tracing!) then that’s the version I want to play. Not the filthy old degenerated version that can run on my old Xbox One. There’s a lot of justifiable controversy about the release structure of Control on next-gen, but given how pretty much all Xbox One games on Game Pass automatically give you their Series X/S versions through Smart Delivery, Control really stands out. As Ultimate Edition is on PlayStation Plus, I feel like a Game Pass version should come through sharpish.

Lego Marvel Super Heroes (2013): this is arguably the first of my “just being lazy” picks, and really it could stand in for a few different titles. We love the Lego games in this house, and our favourites (that is, mine and my kids’) probably remains Marvel Super Heroes and its 2017 sequel. Seeing as quite a lot of Xbox 360-era Lego games are on the service, it’d be really cool to add some of the newer ones, what with the excellent-sounding Skywalker Saga imminent. I mean, the first Marvel Super Heroes was an Xbox One launch title; they’re not exactly “new”. We own these, along with several more, but it’d be so nice to be able to hop in and out quickly without having to root around for a disc. And y’know, if they wanted to add the Lego Movie adaptations, or DC Super Villains, then why the heck not?

Cuphead (2017): I really want to play this! It looks amazing. I just want to experience that, y’know? Except here’s the problem: I know I would utterly suck at this. I’m pretty rubbish at platform games in general, and 2D shooters I’m even worse at. I’ve heard this game is quite hard. I am not good at hard games. And especially nowadays, when I only have time to breeze through stuff on super-easy (I have come to terms with playing games in “Story Mode”). So I just don’t think there’s any point in my buying it. But on Game Pass? Instant download.

Marvel’s Avengers (2020): is this “new”? I dunno anymore. Regardless, it feels like it’s had its moment, so coming to Game Pass wouldn’t be too outrageous. I’m gonna be honest, I’ve never felt like this looked particularly good, but then I hear people say how it’s a decent third-person action game where you play as Ms Marvel, and that sounds pretty cool. Maybe divorced of the hype and the unrealistic expectations there’s a fun no-frills game to be found. I’d love to discover it on Game Pass.

Star Wars: Squadrons (2020) or Cyberpunk 2077 (2020): now this is where we really get into lazy territory. I got both of these games for Christmas (and, obviously, they’re both new), and I really like them both (Cyberpunk runs really well on Series X). However, I got them both on disc; Cyberpunk specifically I wanted on disc to get the gubbins such as a map of Night City (I’m a sucker for stuff like that). And I think – yeah this sounds terrible – having to get up and get the box out and put the disc in is actually an impediment to my playing them. Sometimes I’m sat there and I think, shall I play Cyberpunk? And I realise I’d have to move, and I think, nah, I’ll just play Red Dead or Fallen Order or Witcher or Gears Tactics or Forza or Halo or Planet Coaster or Ori or Medium or Slay the Spire or Full Throttle or Crackdown or Two Point Hospital or Minecraft Dungeons or Perfect Dark or Doom or… you get the picture. I know I’m going to hell, don’t worry.

Anyway, there we are! Good games? Good games. Cheers in advance, Microsoft.

[med-blahg]

2017: Year in Review pt. 1/??

After compiling most of the notable pictures of the year and hoping to make a nice twitter thread as is the bandwagon, I’ve decided to do this year-end reflection survey instead, since a) I was a bit too lazy to organize my thoughts, and b) surveys!!! This was the shit back in the multiply days.

What one event, big or small, are you going to tell your grandchildren about?

I’m going to cheat on this a bit because two events came to mind.

TRP - Two-peat Championship! Once again, batch 2020 proved itself legendary. TRP chorale season was extra memorable this year because I ran for the position of Music Head. Fed, my predecessor, warned me that scheduling rehearsals was especially a logistical nightmare, with last year’s different schedules for Blocks A and B. What more for LU5′s eight blocks, right?

I think there were three main challenges we had to go through for this to happen. The first was the very beginning -- the creation of the song itself. There was an added pressure since our piece last year was deemed the best, and even the same composer and arranger had a difficult time creating one for our last chance to grace the stage. We had two nights of brainstorming at Fed’s place (with free Angel’s pizza... and an out-of-post PER ICC huhu).

As far as I remember, he was already on his fifth or so attempt to make a song as the first ones garnered negative reviews. It was hard to get inspiration unlike last year where he was just especially moved after a lecture in Ther. In his words, pigang piga na siya. We were also having creative differences which really hindered us from making any real progress. Fortunately, on the second night, we finally overcame this with a switch to major chords and a great concept from James, giving birth to our wonderful chorus with the lines,

Bawat segundong nilaan, bawat hirap nalampasan,

Katumbas ng buhay na maliligtas.

...which tied very well with the theme, Orasa: Ang Dakilang Maestro.

The second challenge was actually a personal one. I got a taste of this logistical nightmare that Fed spoke of. It was particularly nerve-wracking especially for an irresponsible person like me, who has always clung to the clutch life. Getting venues for rehearsals was the main problem for this. Our choices were limited (MSU, Paz Men, Student Lounge, Tipunan) and in high demand, because many groups had to rehearse for TRP. It was my first time to attempt reserving a Paz Men room, which was surprisingly a lot of work -- needing to go to the Dean’s Office to check the availability of the rooms, go all the way up to the eighth floor of PGH to get it approved, go to the Cashier’s Office in OUR, and then go back to the Dean’s Office for them to confirm the payment, and then finally to Paz Men to submit the permit. But wait, there’s more! It actually cost a lot of money, which was the worst part, for me. #WeNeedSpace !!! I used my own money, which I was going to reimburse, but then we won, so... yeah, my treat then. (No one knew anyway heheh.) After all that, Paz Men obviously got scrapped from possible venues. I then had to coordinate with the MSC and MedChoir to get the free ones, being careful not to affect the batch dance schedule as much as possible.

You can then imagine getting all that work done, albeit very crammed which was entirely my fault, and then getting a poor turnout for rehearsals with just mere weeks before the competition (oh and that stupid ASEAN week which took more precious time away), to be quite disappointing, to say the least. The schedules of the different blocks and other TRP practices just couldn’t fit. This leads us to the third problem, which was to get the class motivated. This was my first reason for running to head the whole thing anyway -- I really just wanted to get the class together and to sing their hearts out once again! Thankfully, with a few motivational messages from me and our conductor, Joker, that I’m sure every one in the batch admired and respected, the attendance started going up, with one week to go.

My babies. (Sorry for the distorted faces.)

One of the final practices in particular really just transformed the song. I asked the class to do a simple exercise of singing to each other. They had to stand in a circle so they could look at each other’s faces. It was funny and awkward at first, but it was the first time I heard the piece sung with heart, and I knew they felt it too!

There were some issues with the final scoring during the competition itself, and I honestly wasn’t quite sure how to take it. But seeing how my batchmates rejoiced and hearing the audience do the winner clap (THIS IS LEGIT THOUGH HEHE) made me feel like we really deserved the win. Very grateful for the talented and hardworking music team and my bibo batchmates!

Abendlied: An Evening of Songs for the Benefit of Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus -- our year-end concert for A.Y. 2016-2018. It was my first time to sing for a benefit concert. We took this opportunity not only to share our love for choral music, but also to spread awareness of SLE, a rather common condition found in PGH. I was very proud of how big this event has gotten -- thanks to sponsored boosts and our first time to get media partners (and, admittedly, our high ticket prices), we were able to procure a few hundred thousands, a part of which was donated to the PGH Lupus Club.

UP MedChoir always has a lot of major and minor events like these, but I’d choose this to share to my grandkids because in this concert, I really felt that I was blessed with talent that could help others. (Oh, which just reminded me of something, haha. Maybe it’ll get featured later, or in some other post.)

If you had to describe your 2017 in 3 words, what would they be?

Mistakes, lessons, cycle. I repeatedly did a shit ton of mistakes this year, with repercussions not only for me, but regrettably to the people around me. This came with the responsibilities I chose to accept this year. But heck, I’m proud of myself for accepting and embracing these new roles. I was brave enough to challenge myself. #characterdevelopment

What new things did you discover about yourself?

Oh, man. Haha. One of the things I discovered was that I am quite quick to forgive and forget. And then one day, some stimulus will come that will take me all the way back to when it hurt. A lot. Many of the tears shed this year were still in relation to the past aches of 2016.

What single achievement are you most proud of?

I am proud of always finding reasons to stay.

For one, there was a time when I really, really wanted to quit MedChoir. I felt that it was taking too much of my time and energy, and was also taking a toll on my mental health. There were many days with triggers, days where I just couldn’t manage to perform well, days where I was always on the brink of crying during rehearsals. It’s not supposed to be that way, I thought. There has to be another reason of staying besides the fact that I was needed. But then I saw some post saying that continuous pressure can make you hate doing the things you love. I have forgotten what turned me around during this time -- probably my friends, or taking a step back to appreciate the music like I once did. Or just the energy that we get from each other. Whatever it was, I’m glad I stayed.

I’m also proud of myself for staying in med school. Not that I actually have the choice to leave anyway, what with the millions my family would have to pay. But the thing is, I actually want to stay now. (Well, most of the time.) I’ve always feared that maybe the doctor life isn’t for me, but this ICC year has proven otherwise. Although a big factor of this is that we’re still babies in the hospital, the mere baby steps of actually enjoying interviewing, examining, and just getting to know patients was life-changing for me.

What was the best news you received?

I can think of two off the top of my head. The first, that one of our Christmas gigs got us an unexpected @@ thousand pesos (so that was around @@ thousand per song... what???), and the second was the news that one of my aunts was going to adopt a baby. This has some MMK style plot behind it, by the way -- politics, cheating, and whatnot. It didn’t push through, though. I hope that baby lives well.

What was your favourite place that you visited in 2017?

South Korea, no question!!!

1) Day 4 - The Garden of the Morning Calm. This day was my favorite. Our morning was spent in the astoundingly beautiful Nami Island. Picturesque. Trees, nature, ...and a very ideal place for dating, haha! For all ages pa. We saw couples young and old, holding hands while walking. This was where we made a pact that we’ll go back to Korea when we all got our own SO’s. That night we went to The Garden of the Morning Calm, where I thought the expanse of land decorated with lights just wouldn’t end! It really seemed like a different world back there.

2) Day 2 - Palace hopping! We went to the Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung Palaces. We joined the free English guided tour of the places and learned a lot. We even joked about making it like an SGD, like the bibo kids we are, hungry for learning. Haha! Photo (c) Bana

3) Day 1 - My travel buddies, Bana and Reg. For our first day, we walked around the makeup and skincare heaven that is Myeongdong and ate a lot of oh so glorious streetfood.

4) Day 3 - We went to the Namsan Tower to cap off the day... Featuring the toilet that got away.

I’m so so so glad this trip pushed through, na nakaldkad ako nina Bana and Reg to this land! I wasn’t even a hardcore Kdrama fan and I think I was initially invited just because Gio was supposed to go as well, haha. But these two welcomed me to their group, and it was such a beautiful experience! Lots of walking, sites, damn Korean couples, and food!!!!!!!!!!! These pictures are just a preview of the places we’ve been to, and the photoshoots we have so shamelessly done. Here’s our itinerary from Bana’s blog, and photos from Bana’s album, and my album!

Which of your personal qualities turned out to be the most helpful this year?

I honestly don’t know, haha. Whenever I’m asked about my strengths, I tend to think of my weaknesses instead. For this, maybe the best answer is my openness to try new things. Or just that I really tend to appreciate some people and experiences in my life. I’m in no way consistent in any of these qualities, but during the occasions that I am such, I could really feel the difference.

Who was your number one go-to person that you could always rely on?

This constant used to be Gio. After he left, I can’t say that I really have that single go-to person. Nevertheless, I could often rely on #clingy2020 and our thorough SGD’s whenever we’re going through a rough patch. I will specially mention my beshie Ian, who could always make me have a good laugh and at the same time discuss the not-so-lighter things in life.

Okay, I didn’t expect this post to be this long haha. I haven’t even gone through half of the questions yet! I guess I’ll do this in parts instead. Next year na yung iba. (He he he.)

[scifimagpie]

Diversity Isn't Enough: The Importance of Radical Inclusion

Hello hello! Well, a friend of mine has now been to 78 agents and gotten as many rejections. Surely, this indicates that the book is simply Not Good Enough, right? That's the thing. I've read it, and the book is excellent. Featuring a character with PTSD, who is both gay and from a mixed heritage background, it's full of funny moments, intelligent thought experiments about robotic consciousness, and has a very solid mystery through the core. The cast is populated by well-rounded and differentiated characters - of mixed abilities, genders, ethnic heritages, and sexualities. And in this setting, their societal and work crew composition is pretty normal. So in addition to featuring a robot love story and a murder mystery, there are plenty of moments where the night crew assembles, and a deaf character sits at a table with a young hijabi clinic worker and her mechanic girlfriend, and two divorced people who remain friends, as well as the main character - all so they can play cards in the park, out of the sight of a nearly omniscient AI. The thing is, while audio-visual projects - which often spring from book series these days - such as A Wrinkle in Time, American Horror Story, Sense-8, American Gods, The Adventure Zone, Welcome to Night Vale, Penumbra, Who Fears Death (Nnendi Okorafor), Steven Universe, Blackish, Dear White People, Master of None, Switched at Birth, Fresh off the Boat, Luke Cage, Dark Matter, The Expanse, and Westworld include cast members of many shades, there's still a focus on able, attractive, mostly straight people - not to mention that in more than a couple of these, white characters still end up dominating front and centre roles. Yes, this is getting better, but there seems to be a genuine fear of addressing the (surprisingly large) populations of trans and genderqueer, aromantic or asexual, Deaf, visually impaired/blind, and visibly and invisibly disabled people. Not to mention that a lot of these populations intersect. I personally know plenty of people who are people of colour, genderqueer, and disabled. I've read articles by a surprising number of genderqueer, mentally ill people of colour. Add present and former sex workers to the mix, and you have a pretty good sampling of humanity.

So what's the problem?

The problem is that these diverse shows, which are not radically inclusive yet, are only the tip of the iceburg. Producers and studios and publishing houses tend to hire just one or two people to demonstrate their wokeness, and keep the rest their content steaming along as though it's business as usual - teen YA love triangles, stubble-covered male power-fantasy thrillers, gritty sex murder mysteries, soft and juicy chick lit, spicy supernatural sex romps, and tooth-gritting fast ship space porn.  I've edited these books, read them, and enjoyed them - but the fact remains that the market's determiners keep orienting themselves to what they think is a safe bet, an easy seller. We still live in a world where an alternate history series where the South won was greenlit by HBO. So yeah, Nnedi Okorafor's series is getting a production deal, but so is a slavery fantasyland series. So is Ready Player One, too. A Minecraft book by Max Brooks is at the top of the bestsellers right now. So yes, diversity's making inroads, but The Problem Is Not Fixed. Radical inclusion, i.e. just treating people like people, and writing stories where non-white, non-able, non-cisgender, non-heterosexual, non-Christian people are allowed to exist and be in starring roles is absolutely revolutionary. 

Ready Player What, now? 

For those not familiar with RPO, it's basically a pop culture slurry of references; another Teenage White Boy Saves The World book, with virtual reality, and somehow he's the only one who knows Stuff About the Eighties - and Steven Spielberg is attached. You'd think he'd pick a more challenging project or have better taste, but no, fanboy fantasy it is. The biggest problem is that people think Ready Player One is like, subversive somehow? Or self-aware? But it absolutely isn't. It's sincere. Max Brooks is one of the guys who launched the zombie craze--he's very good at commercial writing, to the extent that he's actually a Name, but yeah, he's not exactly known for challenging or artistically mold-breaking projects. And all of this would be fine, except that it, and the dozens of imitators who crop up to try and skim that flavour, crowd out the more innovative and interesting projects.

Is this another Commerce vs Art rant? 

Absolutely not. It's not that Commerce and Art are Enemies. Heck, it's *fine* to monetize the daylights out of something. Art's relied on Commerce for basically all of modern history. If it wasn't Commerce, it was religion. But - the problem is *how* those selections are done, and the way people trust their preferences to be free of bias. Which just isn't the case. It's OKAY to have biases. The problem is that we treat a certain kind of bias as objective, and it gets far, far more sway over the stories that get told than anything else. To the point where just including people is considered revolutionary and gamechanging. Simultaneously, there are so *few* of these inclusive stories that individual properties are often torn apart for being 'not good enough'. Yet meanwhile, mainstream stories with sparkling white casts somehow get a break. But including people is how you GET different kinds of stories. Now, to be clear,  I LOVE the Hunger Games. A lot. But we have a market where agents are like, 'eh, this sold, let's get ten more that are basically variations of this flavour'. There's very little willingness to risk the core of the market, and it becomes a self-fulfilling cycle of, well, crap. Like, if you go to a corner store you can buy some chips. And chips are good, I like chips, but even if you put zesty spice or cool ranch or sour cream on them, they're *still* chips. they're not zucchini chips, or sweet potato crisps, or whatever, ya know? The problem is that the market tends to focus on chips, and assume nothing else will sell...

Wat do? 

The solution is simple. Readers have to step outside their comfort zones - unfortunately, the readers who might not even read this blog are the ones I'm addressing - and writers and publishers have to band together. There is definitely a need and an audience for diversity, and moreso, radical inclusion. People often talk about 'not seeing colour', which is an issue I won't even get into right now, and complain that they want stories that are 'normal', and aren't focused on 'identity politics'. That's the most bitter irony of all - these stories exist, and they're fun and delightful. And yes, inequality issues do crop up in some of them, because of how those issues affect people's lived experiences - but a lot of the time, people across the ability, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality spectrum just want to have fun. A transgender plus-sized psychic lady who talks with the dead to solve murder mysteries? Yes. A deaf Chinese-American engineer who discovers the secret to time travel and accidentally changes the course of history? Definitely. A love story featuring an asexual mobility-impaired Indian woman and a Zulu warrior king from an alternate world? Why not? *** Thanks for returning to the nest. Leave a comment and say hi! I want to hear from you. Keep up with the new releases by getting on the mailing list. Buy my books on Amazon, and keep up with me on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and the original blog. This is the one and only SciFiMagpie, over and out!

[seokjin-ish]

Deeper -Junhong [Zelo]- *smut*

Part three of B.A.P Skydive smut scenarios

Title: Deeper Pairing: Junhong + Reader
 Plot: You’ve been good, just not good enough. Warning: Oral, teasing, orgasm denial, pet names, etc. There is no actual sex, this is only fingering and that shit sorry. A/N: wHy is THis So LatE?? WeLL Who KnOWs?? This is actually so late though what the heck.

“Junhong.” You whined. “This is really difficult.”

“I know, baby. But you have to stay safe.” He smiled at you from where he stood at the wall, his gaze soft as he watched your chest move up and down with every heavy breath. Yeah, Junhong was teaching you self-defence, and yeah, this was mainly for your benefit, but damn, did he think you looked good, sweating and panting.

Swallowing, he walked closer to you. “Let me see your kick.”

“Jun-“

“Come on. Do the ‘side thing’.” A smile formed on his lips as he quoted you from earlier. He even demonstrated, kicking his leg out from the side with so much force and strength that you felt a stir in your stomach.

Well, that stir was coming from the fact that Jun looked so fucking hot when he was so rough, so passionate, so dominant.

You tried to imitate him, but you stumbled when you should’ve stepped forwards, and you fell backwards. You let out a scream before you fell into the safety of Junhong’s arms, breathing heavily and gasping. “How did you get there?” You asked breathlessly.

“You should know to just trust me, baby girl. I’ll never let you fall.” He smiled as you grabbed onto his upper arms, dragging yourself up with his help, brushing off your shorts before regaining your posture.

“Of course.” You laughed, punching his arm softly. “But Hong, you’re the one in the gang, not me. I don’t need to fight people.” Your tone turned into a whine, and you heard just how pathetic you sounded.

“You never know when you’ll need to.” He said matter-of-factly. “You know, they got Yongguk Hyung’s girl last week.” Junhong’s voice was soft as he brushed hair out for your eyes. “And she could fight them off.”

You blew out heavily, causing a strand of hair to fly up. “Of course she did. She knows everything.”

“Baby gir-“

“Junhong I really can’t do this.” Your fingers were pushing him back, your hands on his chest and a soft begging tone in your words. “Anything but this.”

“Come on, one more thing, okay? Let me see how high your leg can go.”

“What?”

Junhong laughed, before slowly running circles into your thigh. “Just, you know, lift up you leg as high as you can without feeling pain.” Your eyes creased into a frown as he turned you around so your back was pressed to his chest, his hands turning to your thighs and placing a firm grip on your right one. “It’s a flexibility test.” His lips were awfully close to your chest, and you felt a flush of heat rush down your body as your eyes closed. “You can do it, angel. Come on.”

Junhong grabbed the inside of your thigh as soon as your muscles began tensing, and it took all of your self restraint to not moan, to lean back into him and just let him take all of you, every single part of you.

You grimaced as a shot of pain burst down your leg and you gasped out loud as Junhong began rubbing circles over the skin of your stomach. “Baby girl, you were supposed to stop me when you felt a stretch.” A soft pout was forming on you lips and despite your aroused state of mind, you couldn’t help but laugh, turning around slightly to kiss the pout away. His eyes shone, bright and beautiful, and today, like yesterday and the day before and the last three years, you get lost in them, sucking you in and engulfing you.

His hands begin to massage the expanse of your bare and inner thigh and for the tenth time today, you can’t breathe. Your hands were pressing into his biceps, nails causing marks as your head fell back into the crook of his neck, the softest string of moans escaping your lips and entering his ear, his pupils dilated and head spinning.

Of course, Junhong didn’t expect this outcome, but that didn’t mean he absolutely adored the idea of fucking you against the nearest wall until you were begging and crying for his touch, for him. It would only ever be him.

“I don’t think we-“

“Junhong, I really need you to touch me.” Your whispers were breathless and the sudden increase of breathing speed and heavy heartbeat in Junhong’s stiff body hit your core in tingles and sensations. Your mind was filled as usual yet ten times more, with Junhong, nothing but Junhong.

You couldn’t breathe.

Maybe that was normal, for today, for everyday Junhong touched you, for every second you spent with him. But the whispers and feeling which shook your body as his hand travelled, higher and higher, until all there was between his fingers and your entrance was thin lace, were too much today, stronger than usual but making you just as desperate.

But then again, you were always desperate for Junhong.

“You’re really wet.” He whispered softly, causing yet another chill to travel down your spine. Oh, would this torture ever stop.

“Touch me.” Your voice was soft and you couldn’t keep the trembles away. “Jun, please.”

“You want me to touch you?” He hummed, and you furiously nodded your head in response. His fingers had begun to massage over your sensitive skin, occasionally pushing the fabric off your panties in with his fingers, past your folds in a painful yet pleasurable impression, your entire body screaming and crying for him.

Your pussy was throbbing and your fingers were around his wrist, making him push your panties to the side, teasing yourself with his thumb, pushing him deeper, the tense in his arms softening as he let you.

“God.” You breathed, your body falling forwards against the wall as his free hand finally took your wrist, pushing your hand away and pinning it to your back, simultaneously grabbing the other hand. You let out a heavy whine, mewling his name with your forehead pressed against the cool metal of the wall. “Junhong, please-“

“I’ll touch you baby girl.” He chuckled at your begging tone. “It’s just funny how you get so desperate so quick-“ You interrupted him with a soft call of his name, which caused him to press you to the wall, his body flush against yours. “It’s just so, so hot.” His lips were awfully close to your ear, and you felt the warm breath shiver down your spine.

It was beautiful. Pure and utter sensational bliss, your finger intertwining with themselves, pressing hard until you were sure you could feel your palms bleeding. You felt him, though nothing could prepare you for what was coming next. You felt his lips softly brush over your bare legs as he crouched down, breathing heavily, his lips rough and tempting.

“What do you want me to fuck you with baby girl?”

The question caught you off guard, and you were brought to your senses by Junhong quickly grabbing your thigh firmly. “Baby girl, I asked a question. Finger?”

With the single word, his finger slowly pushed into your entrance, painfully yet pleasurably slowly, and you whimpered his name as he pushed in deeper, his fingers going deeper and deeper with every noise from your throat sending shocks in his body. God, there was no denying that you were beautiful like this, and all Junhong wanted to do was fuck you into oblivion, until you could barely breathe and was just filled with him.

“Deeper.” You whispered. “Please.”

Junhong smirked against the back of your thigh. “Well, of course.” Before the last word had even escaped past his lips, his fingers were so deep inside of you, brushing dangerously close to your g-stop, one time, two time s, until you were crying and tears were in your eyes and you couldn’t speak, even if your life had depended it. Your knees were buckling, and one of Junhong’s hand was  kept  firm on the back of your knee, pushing it to the wall so you stayed up, your whole body pushed against the wall as you breathed in heavy, sobbing louder and louder, begging for him to stop teasing.

When his fingers finally brushed over your spot, the spot that had you seeing stars, your head fell back, your hands unclasping from each other and grabbing his hair, the strands tickling your lower back and heightening your sense.

You wanted toy ell when he pulled his fingers out, and your body began to shake, your mouth opening but no words coming out. You began to whisper his name, but he broke your gasp off with a lust induced whisper.  “You didn’t answer my question. Do you want my tongue?”

You opened your mouth again, but the second words were about to spill, his lips were on your lower ones, and you began whispering his name, the word repeated a million times today and due to be repeated a million times more, until you were sick. His teeth grazed over your entrance, his tongue smoothing over the path of the light stinging.

His large hands pushed your thighs further apart as his tongue finally dipped inside you, the soft chuckle emitting from your whines shaking your entire body, the feeling of vibrations enhancing your pleasure.

“Tongue, or finger?” He whispered against your core, his lips quickly encasing your clit, sucking softly while his tongue lapped at the swollen flesh. You let out a string of moans as his teeth softly, only to induce pleasure, pulled at the flesh before his tongue began lapping at your entrance.

“So fucking wet. Shit, you’re so wet. Did I do that?” You gasped breathlessly whilst nodding furiously, your fingers threading into his hair and pushing him closer to your core, his tongue still licking up your pussy but not entering.

“Junhong-“

“Come up with an answer?” Junhong moved himself from your pussy and blew over it, alternating between sharp short bursts of air and prolonged ones, covering your whole expanse. “Finger or tongue?”

“What about your, you know.” You began to trail off, a wave of heat covering your face suddenly. It didn’t occur to you that while you stood in front of your boyfriend, half naked, you would feel embarrassed by saying you wanted him to fuck you with his cock. It amused you slightly, but it seemed to amuse Junhong more.

“My what, angel?” He asked, the smirk evident in his voice.

“You know.” You mumbled bringing your arms up and hiding behind them.

“My?”

You whined before muttering out the words. “Your cock, you idiot.”

“How polite.”

“How fucking funny.”

He tutted softly, before placing a soft kiss on the inside of your thigh. “You’ve been really bad today, you haven’t been cooperating at all. You don’t deserve my cock.” He spoke mater of factly. “But you’ve been good enough to get off. What will it be?”

“Junhong, I really need-“

“And I really need an answer.”

“You groaned. “Junhong, I am really fucking close. Can you not just do both?”

Junhong hummed, slightly amused. “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”

“No, it doesn’t.”You sighed breathlessly.

Junhong pulled you forwards and turned you around, standing up so that you bodies were pressed together and all you could feel was pure fire, emitting from both of your bodies and causing your skin to crawl with discomfort and longing.

His lips found yours, the first kiss in what felt like centuries, his tongue sliding over your raw and bleeding lips. You frowned momentarily. When had you bitten them?

His fingers sliding down your body, heat grazing down your cold skin, caused your mouth to fall open and his tongue to take sanctuary in your mouth, twisting and sliding and massaging against yours, your legs squeezing together around his hand which had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“Junhong-“

“I’ve got you baby girl.” He mumbled onto your lips, catching the gasp which fell into his mouth seconds later.

His fingers hooked into your panties, pulling them down quickly and letting them pool around your ankles, and you hadn’t noticed his touch until his fingers were inside you, teasing and fleeting and just below the surface, massaging your walls before dipping back out.

“Help me.” You begged softly, falling forwards and resting your forehead onto his shoulder. “It hurts.” Your voice was a broken sound, between a whisper and a moan, and his fingers played with your clit, massaging and pulling with his thumb fleetingly stroking your entrance.

A loud moan escaped your lips as he pushed you back until you were resting against the wall, your hips arched in his direction as his fingers massaged your inner thigh, going down on his knees and kissing the bottom of your stomach.

“I want to taste you.” His voice was soft and a small mumble that you could barely hear it.

“I’m already so close-“

Before you could finish your sentence, his tongue had dipped into your entrance, pushing deeper and deeper until you felt him brush past your g-spot, his tongue moving and brushing repeatedly over it, fuelled by your moans and your fingers entangled into his hair.

His nose brushing at your clit repeatedly and his mouth moving forwards, tongue darting at every spot it could reach, massaging your walls thickly and passionately, he groaned into your care, a string of sounds causing deep vibrations to enter you so deliciously you were reeling.

“I’m so close-“ Your words were cut off by a loud moan breaking from your throat, breathless sounding as you slowly approached your orgasm, Junhong moving at a quicker pace every time you pulled at his hair. Thank God he was being a little more cooperative.

He removed his tongue from inside you, the feeling of emptiness hitting you hard, as his lips enveloped your clit, his tongue darting out to stroke the skin in his mouth and softly massage it with the rough face of his tongue.

“Close?” He mumbled against the skin, the coarseness of his voice sending sparks up your body.

“There.” You choked breathlessly, your orgasm hitting you and washing over you every cell with no warning, the sharp intakes of breath and heavy pants escaping your lips seemed to be the only thing around you as pleasure shook you to the core. You felt as if you were floating as if your feet weren’t firmly pressed to the ground.

You felt Junhong’s tongue, still heavily pushing into you, his nose still fleetingly brushing your clit, as you pushed him away, you body slouched against the wall, whisperinf=g about overstimulation and God you feel so good.

“You done?” Junhong stood up, his nose brushing over the skin of your neck, teasing kisses placed over the expanse as you nodded. “Good.” His smirk was large and his tongue darted out to wet his lips.

“I’m guessing I deserve a little something now, don’t you think?”

[aerialflight]

Moana Snippet

Well, I did it. I wrote a Moana thing. I haven’t written anything in a while, so I just wrote a little snippet on how Maui could’ve possibly met our favorite sentient Ocean. Hope you all enjoy! Comments and reblogs are everything.

The burning, scorching sun was the first thing to greet Maui when he first woke up. Blinking away the familiar feeling of sand latched onto his eyelashes, he got up, grimacing when he felt gritty sand irritate the back of his neck.

Impatiently brushing away the golden grains from his rumpled curls, he glanced around and felt dread start to pummel in his stomach.

Rocks. An island of stones and not a single coconut tree in sight.

Te Ka sure knew how to pick them.

“Perfect.” He grunted, dread twisting into anger and indignation. “I try to help mankind and what do I get? A vacation house made of pebbles? No boat, no fishhook-”

Everything suddenly screeched to a stop. Fear made its way down Maui’s spine along with denial.

The gods can’t be that cruel-

He bolted, trying to find the magical gift in vain, desperation fueling his need to search. The one thing that made him worth anything, his ticket to escaping, his reason for being. Hours blurred as he fruitlessly tried to find the familiar tool that was an extension of himself. It didn’t even cross his mind that Te Fiti’s heart was gone until much later.

Nothing. Nothing but a deserted island he’s been exiled to unfairly.

He dropped to his knees, unable to stand anymore. He glanced up, seeing the night sky with its vibrant stars twinkling back as if mocking him. A map he knew so intimately that it was seared into his mind, the knowledge completely useless to him without having any way to leave. Another method of torture, a reminder of how trapped he was.

He curled into himself, burying his head into his knees and wrapping his legs up like a lost child.

It was the longest night he’s ever faced.

Solitude was a slow, creeping thing that snuck up on him.

It was a fact he didn’t accept immediately.

At first, he howled until his voice got hoarse at the sea, a volcano exploding at every syllable as he cursed the gods and the damn Heart for having him stranded here. He threw rocks, ripped apart shrubs and tossed shells far into the water just to send the message much more thoroughly. It went on for weeks, months, (he wasn’t sure how long to be honest) before all his fury eventually depleted itself and left him frantic.

He begged like never before on his hands and knees with his head resting the sand. He bargained like the trickster he is, admitted his crimes as if it would absolve him, honest pleads stumbled off his tongue, yet nothing happened. The gods weren’t listening.

The fact sunk in and left him colder than the sea’s abyss.

He laid on his back by the beach, completely listless as hopelessness and depression ate away his usually gregarious personality. He stared up at the blue expanse, longing to fly his way out and feel the breeze flutter his feathers as he glided above the glittering ocean. The best of both worlds at his fingertips, a free spirit in every sense of the word.

Now, he was a literal caged bird, wings clipped by the gods who gifted it to him in the first place.

It was a fitting punishment.

It left a lingering, bitter taste in his mouth.

This phase, however, was a passing thing. He wouldn’t have survived this long if he let something like this stop him. Resourcefulness and making the best out of his circumstances was practically his origin story if you think about it.

He eventually got up and started to explore the sorry excuse of an island, noting dryly that there was absolutely nothing he could use to build a boat or any means of leaving.

After that, there was unfortunately not much else to do.

Boredom became an issue really, really quickly.

Time may pass strangely to a demigod – one time, he sailed at sea for an entire decade without resting and wouldn’t have realized it if it weren’t for the fact his boat started breaking apart from constant use and his heavy bulk – but it seemed to crawl after he ran out of things to do.

He wasn’t used to being this antsy, usually always on the move to explore new islands or battle monsters that terrorize helpless mortals who later tell stories of his heroics and deeds. It always left him feeling accomplished, the praises making him more daring to prove himself even further that he was worthy of such legends attached to his name. Worthy of being loved.

(But the starstruck expressions so full of awe and thanks only partially filled up that loneliness that has haunted his every step, leaving him craving for more.)

This overwhelming isolation has led him into the habit of talking to himself.

Well, technically his tattoo, but it was the same difference really. He only noticed the miniature cartoon version of himself coming to life when he felt an unnatural tug pull his bicep that completely startled the daylights out of him.

And no, he did not scream like a little girl, thank you very much.

Turns out he created his own companion. Which was pretty sad even by his standards. The fact it has quite an attitude and apparently liked to nag him a lot was something he was not going to inspect closely. It said things about himself that he created someone like that out of his longing for any form of interaction. It didn’t help that he was irrationally jealous of the fact the little guy has its own fishhook.

He was evidently losing it.

With nobody around, he found himself narrating his actions, bickering with the expressive Mini-Maui who disapproved of his tendency to use bad words when he stubbed his toes on rocks or hollered at the sky like a crazy person whenever a storm rumbled above and left him drenched.

It kept him busy when he told himself his own stories that people have created about him, as if he needed reminding on how awesome he was. It was amusing to watch the miniature tattoo figure dance and whack monsters on the head whenever he did, following the story with zealous enthusiasm.

Most of the time, he did this near the ocean during the day, the sight of the sea always calming the restlessness inside him. It was a comforting view, and he could almost imagine himself sailing across the great blue if he closed his eyes, hand touching the water to test its temperature and hear the crashing waves. His voice unconsciously grew deeper whenever he spoke, as if whispering secrets to the water as he wove tales that weren’t just about himself if he ran out of his own adventures – a rare occurrence – and describing terrible sea monsters parents told their children as bedtime stories.

(Not that he knew. He never knew his own.)

There were times he swore that the ocean was listening, an attentive presence that left him feeling comforted and less alone. By this point, he was accepting the probability he was going insane.

So slowly he didn’t even notice, he formulated a routine. He was coping to the best of his abilities, telling himself he’s biding his time and waiting for an opportunity to escape.

And when he fell into deep slumber that stretched on for what felt like months, he dreamed of flying.

It happened on an ordinary day that turned his world view upside down and left him hanging there continuously.

He was having one of his bad days, brooding by the shore with cynicism poisoning his heart. The cheerful sun irritated him and the sea breeze was incredibly annoying with how his hair kept slapping him in the face and leaving him wishing for a stronger hairband that didn’t consist of braided plant stems. They were snapping far too quickly, much to his aggravation.

Pint-sized Maui was looking up at him anxiously, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to sit down and do nothing, delve deep into his pondering thoughts and bury himself in resentment that was becoming more familiar to him by the day.

“Oh who am I kidding.” He was muttering to himself, scoffing. “Escaping? There’s no escaping this place. I’m just going to waste away here and all anyone’s going to say about me is,” he raised his voice into a falsetto, batting his eyelashes for effect. “‘Oh, Maui? You mean the demigod who screwed it up and died on a rock from utter boredom? Wow, he sounds sooo amazing!’”

He sighed, his spirits plummeting even further. “Yeah, real amazing. Amazing you’ll be remembered at all.”

That, more than anything, terrified him beyond anything the gods could throw at him. What if hundreds of years pass and everyone forgets him? What if he really was stuck here forever and slowly be driven insane until one day he won’t be able to take it anymore and drown himself?

It was a gloomy line of thought.

He was so busy frowning down at his lap that it took him a few minutes to realize that something was shading him from the sun. He looked up, expecting to see clouds in the sky even though he was pretty sure the sky was spotless the last time he checked, and was met with something completely impossible.

The ocean lifted itself up and was looking at him.

“Aaah!” Maui’s screech did not resemble a squawking chicken as he scrambled away from the shore so vigorously, he didn’t even notice how he scraped his hands and feet on the gritty gravel.

The towering wave – Head? Arm? What in gods name? – jerked back like it was startled by Maui’s very understandable reaction to an animated ocean. The two beings that existed beyond mortal comprehension went into a standoff, staring at each other for a very long moment before Maui registered the stinging hurt on his palms and soles. He winced, holding his hands up to see them angry red with little cuts all over his fingers and the insides of his wrists.

He glanced up from his inspection and barely managed not to back away again, heart jumping into his throat when the ocean wave came impossibly close to him by stretching itself ahead of the shore line.

By Papa, he never connected the word sneaky to the ocean before now. You learn something new every day.

Heck, he swore that the ocean was nearly hovering in worry with how intently it was focused on the angry, red lines that were starting to slightly bleed.

Maui was briefly struck with an absurd thought. Has it never seen blood before? But people have died at sea, impaled by their broken boats or eaten by monsters or thousands of other scenarios more serious than something this minor.

He was giving himself a headache.

“It’s no big deal.” He found himself saying. He didn’t know if he was telling this to himself, or attempting to reassure the blue, apparently sentient sea that may or not be a figment of his imagination. “This is nothing to the great Ma-aaa!”

He yowled as a blob of water suddenly consumed his feet, the salt bringing needles of ratcheting pain. He involuntarily curled his toes and tensed his shoulders from shock. The ocean quickly retreated, releasing its watery grip at his shouting.

“What was that for?” Maui yelled, flailing his hands with all the refinement of a jumping jellyfish. All his frustrations at his general situation, inconvenient injuries, and constant black mood bubbled to the surface and was now targeting itself at the overcasting water. “Is this a pastime of yours? No wonder people say you’re a sadistic-Hey!”

He lurched back his hands, dodging the wave that was determinedly darting towards his appendixes like a fruit fly to a rotting banana.

“Would you just-Why are you so-Son of a-”

He didn’t get to finish when the ocean literally splashed him hard on the cheek, momentarily stunning him from the unexpectedness of it, and victoriously engulfed his hands with sea water.

Maui hissed, a hundred piranhas biting his tough flesh before the sensation disappeared as abruptly as it came when the ocean withdrew. His eyes widened when he realized rather stupidly that all the sand that had been irritating the injuries were cleanly gone, a much smoother process than if he had done it manually.

“Oh.” He voiced out, the word uncharacteristically small. He looked up and felt any sense of gratitude die a ghastly death when he sensed smugness practically radiate off of the ocean’s head.

Scowling, he instinctively tried to shove the water away, which was kind of senseless in hindsight. He ended up getting his hand stuck in the suspended water with the associating pain of his wounds already something he was getting used to.

He half expected the ocean to let go or pull some sort of mischief over him. Instead, it slowly bobbed up and down with his hand following the motion, a strange gesture that bewilderingly resembled a gentle handshake.

Hello. It seemed to be trying to say. Or even, Nice to meet you.

And then just as gently, it let go of its hold and sunk back, becoming a small unnatural hump above the lapping waves, akin to a child peeking at him with a cautiousness that made guilt latch onto his conscience. He didn’t have to glance down to know Little Maui was looking up at him expectantly to make a move.

Maui sighed and rolled his shoulders, bracing himself.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you.” He tried not to look down or cross his arms defensively. Pride and a lack of sustaining conversations made him unpracticed in the art of apologizing. “You didn’t deserve it.”

The sea seemed to go completely still, which was unsettling in how deliberate its lack of movement seemed to be. Maui’s not used to seeing the waters not be in constant flux, especially when he’s travelled across the waves countless times before. It finally rippled when a sudden stream of seawater hit him right in the face, breaking the tension effectively.

“You little-”

In the end, Maui had streaked into the ocean and spat out angry expletives in the water, uncaring and not noticing how much his feet stung for thumping on the sand so many times until afterwards. In response to his justifiable rage, the ocean kept dumping buckets of water on top of him or aimed at his ticklish armpits the moment he let his guard down.

When the rather one-sided battle was over, his hair was a mess and salt was permanently imbued in his scalp and locks, making it frazzled and smelling like fish. His feet and hands ached and itched, and he only got warm once he set a fire going as the skies darkened. Whatever brought the ocean to life had waded off and left him alone again, doing whatever it is annoying, lively oceans did.

He refused to think about the fact that not once did his sorry situation cross his mind during the entire day, having been fully distracted the whole time.

And hey, at least he learnt that the ocean was a mischievous brat instead of the wise, old revered force of nature everyone thought it was.

Who knew?