#and yes i have done more gem posting than joel posting what of it

[foxeroni]

Gemini 'I have some duplicates of hermit heads' Tay with a casual 57 etho heads in a random chest

[echoes-abound]

So I have recently heard of a little thing called the 'Space Opera AU'...

(au by @kingtheghast)

...and I have some thoughts.

So every great crash-heavy startup space-racing team needs a good rival, right?

Ren's first thought upon meeting them is 'dear god why are they all so hot'

Their mechanic, some green creature with four arms (two natural, two metallic), a cybernetic eye, and a knack for the electronic catches his eye first, mostly by walking straight up to their own old (Red preferred the term 'classic') junker and declaring "How in hell are you still alive?"

Their gunner made her presence known next, a little pixie spitfire of a young woman with pink hair and a blaster strapped to her back longer than a grown man's leg. She pulled the doctor away, apologizing somewhat. He got like that sometimes, couldn't help himself when he saw a nice ride, or at least one that belonged in a scrapyard. She herself was more interested in the more... explosive side of things.

Their captain, their pilot, came last, a blonde man with an easy smile, a charismatic personality, and a way of leading their oddly patchwork group of three to victory in their very first match against one another.

"What, think that just because you're cute meant we were going to go easy on you?"

So this more or less all started with the thought of 'heh what if the three people Ren's been shipped with a lot recently were his biggest rivals in Space Opera au and every race was a good bought of bisexual panic'. Also I definitely wrote all of this before most of the recent posts bu the au creator, so whoops-

Martyn's the ringleader, he's known Lizzie since they were kids in the middle of nowhere and picked Doc up after an unfortunate crash-land. His team's saved his life more times than he can count in the field, and he's done the same to them. They're like his family.

Martyn drives like a maniac, with a blaster in one hand and a coffee in the other. Man steers with his knees and speeds with his soul, even outside the race courses, but has yet to get into a single wreck (that the authorities know about).

Certified morosexual. Sees this man struggling to make eye contact with a single member of his team and decided 'yes, that's the one I want'

Lizzie's something else entirely. She's not good at leading like Martyn, and she's definitely not the one who keeps the braincell (Doc). She's got raw competitive energy that leads to stupid race-winning clutches with nothing more than a damn-good shot.

Her weapon of choice is a heavily-modified renegade high-power blaster, definitely illegal in most parts of this galaxy and the next, and pleasantly decorated with bedazzled gems and heavy pink and yellow swabs. She calls it Pixie Dust. Cute name for something packing more punch than being hit by a ground-level speeder.

Absolutely adores False, though is inexplicably creepy to most who come across her. Maybe it's the gun. It's probably the gun.

Also a morosexual.

Lizzie: I have very high standards for those I wish to date.

Joel: *almost gets himself killed by seeing if he could clean the mechanic's trash compactor while it's not powered down*

Lizzie: I want that one.

Doc's a little more of an enigma. He doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve and can't instantly charm anyone he meets, but he is smart when it comes to machines. Very smart. He built the ship their team uses from scratch, named Frankenstein, and anyone who knew the technical side of things knew that ship was a beast.

Where he came from, how he lost two of his arms and one of his eyes, how he had such meticulous knowledge of mechanics and machines, why he loved his team so much after just one crash-landing, nobody knew, but they certainly couldn't live without him.

After all, the Doctor's the one with the braincell. If Martyn wants to have a little fun rigging a betting pool in an underground race, Doc's the one who keeps him from getting killed. Lizzie wants to get her weapons packing even more of a punch? He'll be there to make sure she's at least safe about it. They need him.

So that's a cool 3/4 page of a google doc written at 11 at night on a post for you all. Hope you like it! Like I said, I wrote all this down before most of the lore had been put out, so maybe it's not quite Space Opera au, but hell, I'm a sucker for the ascetic. Thank you!

[rebelcourtesan]

I’ve Played . . .

I finally replayed this gorgeous gem on the PS4 Remaster edition and I had forgotten how wonderful this game was.  

SUMMARY:  A fungal infection that turns humans into the “Infected”, zombie like monsters that attack humans on sight and can infect others with a bite have taken over the world.  Most of humanity live in Quarantine Zones operated and maintained by what’s left of the US Military who run what’s left of America by martial law.  Fireflies, a group of rebels that oppose martial law are fighting to restore America to what it was.  All the while, groups of humans have become Hunters, bandits that prey on travels and raid colonies.

In the forefront of this world is Joel, a harden man still grieving his family, and his young charge, Ellie, a plucky young girl who know nothing of the world before.  Together, they will brave the many dangers as they cross a post-apocalyptic America.

WHAT I LOVE:  Everything.  Yes, that’s right, EVERYTHING!  From the animation, the gameplay, the characters, the world, the lore, the enemies, etc.  EVERY FRICKIN’ frame is just gorgeous.  I cannot gush over this game enough to show my love, so I’ll try to summarize it up.

The post-apocalypse never looked so beautiful.  The city streets are fraught with abandoned cars, skeletal bodies with their looted luggage around them, peeling advertisements about upcoming movies that never made it to cinema, and closed and looted stores.  And all of this is covered with grass and weeds as nature slowly takes back its land over the twenty years the cities have been abandoned.  Every building and every house has a story to tell.  One has had been a bachelor pad with music posters on the wall, a dart board, and even a cocktail bar in the back.  Joel and Ellie explored an old office building where you still see family photos and desk and business plans still written in market on white boards.  The world as we knew had just stopped in the middle of people’s lives with a finality that grows heavy as you continue your journey.

The game play is never repetitive nor cumbersome.  Everytime I heard the click of a “clicker’, (another name for a type of infected) my heart stops and I check Joel’s gear for the coming fight.  You can stealth your way around enemies, but sometimes you don’t get that option and must fight your way through via guns, melee weapons, and craftable items such as can bombs, molotov cocktails, smokebomb, shivs, and medikits to restore health.  Guns can be upgraded to carry more ammo, reduce recoil, and fire rate.  

The animation was done with amazing motion capture where you can read the myriad of emotions that cross Joel and Ellie’s face as they both experience, joy, fear, and sadness.  I don’t want to talk too much about the story because I don’t want to give away any spoilers to anyone who has yet to play The Last of Us.  (what are you doing!?  Do yourself a favor and go play this game RIGHT NOW!!!)  You watch Joel and Ellie bond over their journey.  Joel, a tight lipped, no nonsense man who’s done questionable things in the past to survive is softened by Ellie’s innocence that slowly erodes with every close scrape they endure.  

Now I come to the Gem of this game.  Ellie. 

Ellie is a fourteen year old girl born after the world went to hell.  Knowing nothing of what life was before the Infected, she often looks at the ruins and asks Joel about what the world was like.  Ice cream trucks, going to University, and the carefree nature of the world past is strange and amazing for her.  She begins our story has a young teenager wanting to prove herself and we watch her mature throughout her journey with Joel.  She goes from a girl hiding as Joel takes on the baddies and becomes a survivor in her own right, but that comes at a cost.

Ellie’s story is both heartwarming and heartbreaking.  Joel may be the player character, but Ellie is the lead character in this tale.  And I am thrilled to see it continue with her in Part 2 which cannot get her soon enough.

WHAT I HATE:  Isn’t it obvious?  Nothing.  There is nothing about this game I dislike other than it has an ending.  Fortunately, there is the DLC Left Behind which is an Ellie central side story that explores her past and gives me a few hours with The Last of Us.  

I’m sure that if you wanted to nitpick, there might be some flaws somewhere in this game that I’ve missed or went unnoticed, but they are very hard to see under the glow of great story telling, gameplay, and animation.           

[silvermoonartz]

Second Meeting (Mercury Green)

Rated T

Strangely this is the first chapter of Mercury Green (my superhero AU) I’m publishing and it’s a really random one so a lot of things don’t have the right context. I wrote most of it on August 19th when I was thinking about Sabina’s/Mystery Girl’s role in the AU (its way more fleshed out now) and how Pearl and her met in this. The first thing that came to my mind was apparently some crazy stuff and this chapter is the aftermath. I finally went back and finished it this morning. Once I write more I’ll make a master post with the correct order.

Pearl

     I took another huge swing of my iced tea, finishing the sixteenth bottle I've gone through as I typed the last grade into my computer for the day. I absolutely hate the fact that I can hardly stay awake while grading the projects of my class. I love it when I have time to grade things, but this is absolute hell. I really hope I didn't mess anything up. 

     Once I shut the computer down I got up to clean up the chalkboard like usual. While this is the twenty first century, and most teachers wouldn't have chalkboards anymore, I enjoy keeping things old school. I took the chalk duster and brushed of my intricate diagrams of the work my class had to follow today, then cleaned it off with some spray and a rag, making sure it was spotless. Although, I would soon come here the next day to find the most annoying spots left on it to my dismay.

     "Great!" I exclaimed with satisfaction, "Now all that's left is organizing every little piece of chalk by color."

     I took all the chalk off of the ledge they laid on and set them into a little pail while I wiped it down. I then reached down to grab a small pink stick of it and started to gently lay it down on the ledge perfectly straight when a set of three knocks on the door made me jump up and it flew out of my hands.

     "Come in!" I shouted groggily.

           The door opened up and Peridot poked her head out. 

                "Hey Pearl! Er, Miss Halite. I just wanted to stop in here to pick up my dress before I head back home if you're done grading it. Though, it's okay if you still need it," she said as she stepped in. Another girl came in behind her with a phone as Peridot closed the door. She seemed super tired.

She was a huge muscular girl that made Peridot look even more like a midget than usual, since she only stood just above this girl's waist. She had nice curves and she probably would have a lot of cleavage if she weren't wearing a collared jacket. She was really hot and that dyed pink hair corresponded well with her jade eyes. That really warm and strange feeling you get when you are sexually attracted to another person flooded though my body. 

What the heck Pearl! This is probably a student and you're a teacher! You could get fired if you go after her! My consciousness barked at me. 

     Peridot walked over to me. 

          "This is Sabina. She's the girl that found me in the alleyway after that whole chemical mercury accident I got into. If it weren't for her, I'd probably be dead!" Peridot exclaimed as she looked in her direction. Sabina was still looking down at her phone.

     "Stupid Kevin. Stop texting me already," she muttered.

          "Aren't you two in a relationship? Don't couples text one another a lot?" Peridot asked her. So Sabina is dating a guy then?

     "No. According to him I decided to dump him last night, and he wanted to know if that was still the case since I was tipsy when I told him that. I then told him that hey, if I broke up with you, I probably had a valid reason for doing so. Go find someone else to fuck around with. He still won't stop texting me!" She explained to Peridot, "Honestly, I'm glad I did that even if I don’t remember. He's really clingy and kind of a fuck boy."

     "I sort of can understand that. I haven't really been in any big relationships before, but I have this one girl I said no to once and she still won't leave me the hell alone!" Peridot exclaimed. I knew that she was definitely referring to The Purple Cougar.

     "I guess some people just won't let go of things, huh?"

          "Yeah."

               I guess I'm not much better. Pink Diamond has been with Greg for around twenty years, but I still can't get it out of my head that I can still be with her. I suppose that something inside me is telling me that when Greg dies of old age I'll just be able to take her back again. That's pretty morbid. Especially since Greg and I are good friends now. I know that I desperately need to let go of her but I don't know how or if I can find anyone who I can love like that. I did have a small crush on Peridot's ex, Bailey, but that was soon shattered once I found out that she had a girlfriend back home in Arizona.

     "Well, anyways, Sabina is coming over to my place so I can help her study for a big Calculus test that she flunked today," Peridot told me, getting back on topic.

     "That's nice of you," I told her.

          "Yeah. What kind of grade did you give me for my dress?!" Peridot asked when she suddenly remembered why she was here. 

     "I gave you an A," I told her.

          "Really? I accidentally cut the fabric shorter than I wanted, I went too deep on the v-neck, and it has one seam that didn't go in that well," Peridot was surprised that she'd gotten an A.

     "Trust me. That A was well deserved. The stitches are absolutely perfect besides that minuscule one you missed and that's hardly noticeable. It looks professional!" I reassured her.

     "Well, you're the teacher and I'm not going complain about an A," Peridot said with a smile, as I walked over to get her dress from the pile of projects I'd graded. I handed her the small folded up black dress and she took it.

     "Can I see that?" Sabina asked Peridot.

          "Yeah!" Peridot said happily.

               She unfolded the dress to reveal what it looked like. It was a short flowy dress with a sharp v-neck, thin straps, and a silky ribbon tied around it. 

     "Wow. Are you trying to impress someone with that?" Sabina asked her.

          "No. I don't have romantic feelings for anyone right now," Peridot replied casually,  "and even if I did, I definitely wouldn't use this. I wouldn't want them to like me just because I'm sexy," she said with a proud little smirk when she said 'sexy'.

     "That's smart. Though if it were me, I wouldn't be afraid to show off to someone I liked," Sabina said, glancing over at me when she saw that I was staring at her chest. My face heated up and I quickly looked away. You need to stop!

     "I guess it's different for different people."

          "Yep."

               Peridot turned back towards me, "So anyways Pearl, I suppose you're wondering why I stopped in for my dress now instead of just picking it up during class tomorrow like everyone else."

     "Honestly, I didn't even think about it. I'm not really thinking much at all," I told her. Then I quickly walked behind my desk to grab my seventeenth bottle of iced tea from the cooler I had and took another swig as I walked back over to them.

     "That's exactly why I came now. I'm really worried bout you. You're always very alive and perky, but you seem really out of it today. I wasn't going to mention anything during class since you probably wouldn't want attention drawn to it," Peridot told me.

     "Yeah. I've had horrible headaches today, I threw up this morning, and I'm super tired. I think I might have a hangover or something," I said exhaustedly.

      "Don't I know how that feels!" Sabina exclaimed.

           "Is that why you look so tired?" I inquired.

               "Yep. I've been drinking coffee all day just to stay awake."

                    "I've been drinking iced tea! There's like eighteen and a half fluid ounces of caffeine in these things!" I said excitedly.

     "Wow. That's a lot. I should just do that next time."

          "Yeah. It tastes way better than coffee too."

                "You never really struck me as someone who would drink, Pearl," Peridot piped up.

      "Well, what most people do when their heart has been broken is drink it away. Though, I do it way too much and I honestly need to quit. Haven't you learned about that by listening to all of those country songs?" I asked her. 

      "That actually makes a lot of sense for you now that I think about it," Peridot admitted.

     "You listen to country music?" Sabina asked Peridot.

            "Yes! It's the best! Though I do like Classic Rock," she replied.

                  "Rock is the best in my opinion. What artists or bands do you like?" 

                      "I mostly listen to Journey, Bon Jovi, The Eagles, Guns and Roses, Pat Benatar, Billy Joel, John Mellencamp, Poison, and Rick Springfield. Oh! And Bonnie Tyler too. I really like 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' and 'Holding Out for a Hero'," Peridot told her. These two really seem to get caught up in their own conversations. These songs and artists are so nostalgic. I kinda miss the eighties.

      "Those are all good ones! I really need to take you to a rock concert sometime."

           "That would be fun. Though Pearl, I was wondering that if you drink often and we hang out a lot, why haven't I seen you like this before?" Peridot asked me.

     That's because before I had on that silver collar with my magic pearl keeping me healthy. Though it's weird that I can still get drunk but never have any side effects from it with that thing on. I'm still trying to find out how those magic gems from my home planet even work. 

      I scratched my neck as if to cue to the fact that I didn't have my collar. Peridot would naturally be smart enough to understand since she knows about it, but to anyone else, I'd look as if I were itching the huge black ribbon I had tied around my neck.

      Peridots eyes widened when I did that, so she certainly caught onto my message. Those dilated fake green eyes clearly asked, how the actual hell are you alive?!

           "Wow! I was so wrapped up in how sick you seemed that I didn't even notice that you didn't wear a fashion scarf today like usual," she said, looking at my ribbon, "Though you don't really seem like someone who'd wear a huge ribbon like that around your neck." 

     "You wear a fashion scarf all the time? I'm pretty sure most girls would use that to hide hickeys. Although collared jackets and sweaters work well for that too," Sabina stated. How would she know that much about hiding hickeys?

       "Actually, that reminds me Peridot. I need your help with something quick, since you're as smart as I would normally be-"

     "Smarter."

          "Yeah, whatever. So anyways, I'm in no condition to think straight-" I snickered, "Ha! I never think straight! Wow I really need sleep! Okay, so I can't think straight so it'd really be nice if you could help me," I told her. 

     "Sure, lay it on me," Peridot said nonchalantly.

          "Promise you won't freak out?" 

               "I promise."

                    I took a breath of air and blew it out as to calm myself, then I reached behind my back and gave a light tug on the long part of the ribbon, causing the bow to fall apart and the ribbon drifted down onto the floor.

     "Well someone sure had fun last night!" Sabina exclaimed in amusement when my neck was revealed.

     "What the actual hell Sabina! She was probably taken away by some stupid jerk that was set to have sex with her that she despises and since she was drunk she was perfectly okay with it and now she's going to live with a broken and traumatized mind for the rest of her existence!" Peridot spat.

     "Are you alright?" Sabina asked her.

          "No. I'm actually not," she said, looking down at her feet. That poor girl, she's even more broken by what happened between her and Cougar than I thought. I know that she wouldn't dare do something like that to Peridot sober, she may be too flirty but she’s far too kindhearted for that. It still makes me angry though. I think the best thing I could do for her is to go on with my story so she can stop thinking about that.

     "So, I woke up on the floor of my apartment this morning with these all over my neck, no sleep, and a throbbing head," I told her as she silently offered to throw away my finished bottle of iced tea.

     "Pearl, there isn't eighteen and a half fluid ounces of caffeine in this thing. There's sixty nine milligrams of caffeine out of the eighteen and a half fluid ounces that is the entire bottle!" Peridot stated as she was about to throw it out, examining the label.

     "Ha! Sixty nine!" Sabina laughed out loud.

          "Wow. You both need sleep badly. Sabina, you're overly tired as hell, and Pearl, you look like a freaking vampire! More so than usual," Peridot pointed out, disgusted by Sabina's immature response to her comment about the label. She quickly threw the bottle away and went back over to us.

     "And that brings me to the next part of the story. So I had to go to the bathroom to throw up, which is absolutely disgusting, and then when I came back out I saw that there was a piece of paper on the floor by where I was laying," I told her as I reached into my pack pocket to take out a small piece of paper and handed it to Peridot.

     "Call me if you ever want something to sink your fangs in again~," Peridot read with a struggle, the writing was pretty messy.

     "And that number on it looks kinda familiar," she stated with wonder, "I just don't know where I've seen it."

      "Really?" I asked. Perhaps it was worth letting her check it out.

           "It could be Amethyst's. You've met her before. She's my fun roommate..."

                Please don't let it be Amethyst. I know her way more than Peridot knows I do, even more so than Peridot herself. She is definitely someone who I desperately hope I didn't sleep with. Not that she'd even be interested.

     "Nah, her number is different."

          Thank god.

               "Hmmm... It could be R-" Peridot started to say before Sabina cut her off.

                    "Oh, just give me that!" Sabina exclaimed as she snatched it out of Peridot's small hands. She carefully scrutinized it, then her jade eyes widened in shock.

     "That's... my number," she breathed before slowly looking up at me.

           My face started to burn as it flushed a bright red. I didn't know what to think.

                "Oh my god," we said simultaneously as we looked at each other. The two of us were completely stunned and at a loss of words. 

     I really don't know how to feel at the moment. Am I happy that it was her? I mean she is incredibly beautiful and sexy.... my mind trailed off and I felt myself heat up even more. No! What if this is something like the whole Purple Cougar and Iron Mage dilemma and she doesn't want any of this, but it was out of our control because we were completely drunk? Gah! I don't know! How did I let this happen.

     Peridot took a while to process things herself.

          "What that hell!" She exclaimed once she finally comprehended the situation.

               Sabina had also done the same, while I was still a flustering mess.

                   "Well I suppose my writing on that paper explains this," she said as she unzipped her jacket. She had a low cut tank top on underneath it and wow. I was right about her having nice cleavage. Stop checking her out! 

    She pointed at a small bite mark on her neck. She had a few hickeys as well, not as much as I did, but they were still hickeys nonetheless. But why would I bite her? That's just weird. Not that this situation itself is any less weird.

     "That's it. I came here for my dress and to check on Pearl. I don't know if she's fine, but we're leaving," Peridot stated curtly as soon as she saw that. She started heading towards the door.

     "Oh. Okay. Thanks for helping me figure that out I guess," I said as she turned to leave.

   "No problem."

        Sabina zipped her jacket back up and walked over to me. Why is she coming over to me? She took my hand and I felt blood rush back up to my face again. 

     "Here," Sabina said as she placed the paper into it, "Keep it."

          She then looked up at me and smiled. 

               "Maybe we'll see each other again."

                    And with that she dashed off to catch up with her tutor, leaving me a flustered mess.

     All I know is that this has to be the start of something good.