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baodurs · 3 years

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i filled out this super cool button character profile by @extraordinarymage for sabrina! thank you for making this, it was a lot of fun to fill out <3 the bulk of it is under a cut and oh boy is it long !!!

Short, Quick Reference

Name: Sabrina Wiseman

Pronouns: She/her

Sexuality: Bisexual

Love Interest: Kent

Main personality trait: Confidence

Secondary personality trait: Morbidity

Relationship with Nick: Full of love, haunted by unaddressed guilt and frustration. But mostly full of love.

Nickname for Nick: Saint Nick (used sparingly)

Resentful or accepting?: Slightly resentful

Main strategy (interpersonal, insightful, innovative?): Insightful

Ethical or expedient?: Expedient

GENERAL

Name: Sabrina Larkspur Wiseman

Nickname(s): Sab, used by anyone; Sabby, only Nick and Sally; and, of course, Button for Nick.

Birthday: I think I made her an October Libra for the purpose of a template I did months ago, but I’m not sure! No concrete birthday yet, I’m always very slow to nail down details like this.

Age: 20

Pronouns: She/her

Sexuality: Bisexual

Hair color + style: Blonde. A little past shoulder length, sometimes wavy. Usually a middle part. For Aeon, tied back in a bun.

Eye color: Blue, entirely because of the section of Frank O’Hara’s “Meditations in an Emergency” that goes, “My eyes are vague blue, like the sky...”

Height: 5′5

Piercings: Multiple in each ear, but a couple have started to close.

Tattoos: None yet! Sab likes the idea of a tattoo but is worried about finding the perfect design, whether she’d end up hating it, that the pain might be greater than she expects and she’ll look like a baby in front of her tattoo artist. I’d like to think she eventually consults Sally and/or Glitch to come up with an idea that she falls in love with, but I haven’t come up with what that would be!

Clothing style: Mostly solid colors, not a lot of patterns. Nothing super bright, but a fairly varied mix of pastels, neutrals, dark colors, black. Partial to denim skirts and sweater tops. Ankle boots. Likes a good turtleneck. She’s bolder when it comes to formal wear, and especially loves suits. Big fan of silk and satin.

Since she has a pretty accurate face claim, I’ll link some gifsets I’ve rb’d for appearance ref if you are so inclined.

STATS

I’m always adjusting minor things and swapping scenes around, but these are from my most recent Sab run! Most scores hover somewhere around these values.

Personality:

Confidence: 53%

Humor: 5%

Morbidity: 22%

Resentful: 57% | Accepting: 43%

Strategy:

Interpersonal: 12%

Insightful: 50%

Innovative: 10%

Ethical: 43% | Expedient: 57%

KEY DECISIONS:

What is Nick’s nickname and why?: Saint Nick, used very rarely. It’s a joking reference to the time she thought Santa was an evil Ment out to ruin Christmas, and a point about Nick overdoing it with the cheer. “Saint Nick” is usually code for “I know you mean well, but please mind your own business.” Otherwise, she just calls him Nick.

What is their favorite type of cookie (and its name and why?): Salted caramel chocolate chip! No special name.

What was their initial reaction to Sally hugging them, as kids?: She just froze. That could just be me projecting adult Sabrina onto her childhood self; I don’t imagine that she was as uncomfortable around strangers or quite as cautious back then. But that’s what I’ll stick with.

How did they ace the ASE test?: The in-game option she takes is “My entire life has revolved around strategic avoidance,” but the one about being just plain smart also sounds like her. If Sab has the chance to thoroughly (over)prepare for something, she will do it. Her mind blindness also has her constantly (over)analyzing situations. So, hard work and relentless anxiety!

Did they manage to win their first assignment? How?: Yes, by having Sally block the door. I’ve headcanoned some slight differences in how it plays out, which I wrote about in-depth here. To summarize, Sab thinks of blocking the door as a desperate last resort, not a clever loophole, and she pushes back against Rosy’s praise because she wishes she could have done it the “real” way. Rosy goes from being impressed to being annoyed that she’s willfully missing the point.

What was the primary emotion Button felt during the Aeon bombing (love, gratitude, etc?): Guilt. She feels very guilty about how much Nick has given up for her in general, but I think that in the moment, it’s on a smaller scale. The fact that Nick was on the phone with her when it happened, coming to her rescue like always, becomes emblematic of their whole relationship for her, and she really fixates on that.

Who drove them home from the hospital from and why?: Glitch. Sab responds to her initial text with “Are you sure?”, and is relieved when Glitch takes that as “Yes, please.” She doesn’t relish the idea of being around someone more connected to her family or Nick at that point.

How do they feel about Nick riding around in their mind?: Worried, at first. Just because it’s so unknown and absolutely insane. After seeing Doctor Amari, she’s excited! Sab is thrilled to be a Pollard Five and intends to take full advantage of it. I am not looking forward to seeing how she reacts when that’s taken away from her.

Why did Button agree to do the undercover mission?: To prove she still deserves to be an MIV. Sabrina feels stupid and reckless for putting herself, Nick, and Aeon in this position, but she knows she’s smart, and she hasn’t worked this hard for nothing. She wants to prove what she could do with a normal Pollard Score and make herself too valuable to give up even when she’s back to Zero.

Told Glitch about your mind blindness?: Depends on the playthrough. I’m constantly going back and forth on whether Sab meets Glitch for coffee or wanders the city with Nick in her second chapter 5 slot (after trying to track down Kent). If she does meet Glitch, though, she absolutely tells her; with how touchy Sab is about privacy, she couldn’t stomach not warning Glitch that Nick could hear everything they said.

Figured out K’s secret?: Nope. She finds enough of the clues to be given the “I knew it!” option in-game, but she didn’t actually put it together. Sab is too angry and embarrassed by learning that Kent is an AMO to find any reason to interrogate it. “The random guy I met before school just happens to be a jerk” is a perfectly sound explanation to her.

Found Noh’s clues?: Not at the metro station. Sometimes she sees the Vengeance brooms in chapter 5 (again, depending on the playthrough), but that’s it.

ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP:

Love Interest: Kent

Why them?: Sab feels an immediate kinship with Kent after learning about the NPO program. It’s kind of funny how quickly he moves from the least sympathetic position in her eyes (Ment who got past me and read my mind without my knowledge) to the most sympathetic (non-powered child of a prominent family aiming a league above where he “belongs”). A lot of new respect for his competence. Her fate is sealed when she realizes that his kindness at the hospital wasn’t him trying to make up for some wrongdoing, but just him being very sweet. (She had scoffed over “You needed help.” But now she’s like, “Oh. He meant that?! Fuck.”)

As they spend more time together, Sab realizes how weirdly similar they are in other ways, too. And she starts to feel safe/secure around him in a way that she’s extremely not used to. Growing up surrounded by Ments, Sab has a lot of issues about being too much, too difficult, needing to “be worthy” of love. So someone like Kent who is not a Ment, who has no “obligation” to care about her, and whose judgement she trusts implicitly? Being around him and being loved by him mean a lot, and I think will go a long way towards helping her reflect on her other relationships!

What are their first impressions of each other?: Okay, there are like 3 first impressions with Kent. First: he’s tall and handsome and secretly adorable, and they have similar career goals, so she’s drafting a five-month plan to woo him and get his number. Second: he’s a lying, self-obsessed loser who owes her many explanations. Third: oh no, the first impression was true! And he’s been continually, selflessly kind to her in spite of her overt hostility. Scratch the five-month plan, because the crush was only fun when it was entirely superficial; now she really, really likes him and that just sucks.

We know that Button makes a good impression on K by stopping for their dogs, but apart from that... I mean, the “we confused each other” from chapter 7 is very apt. Sab has lots of shifting personas, and Kent sees pretty much every one within 24 hours. The prevailing impression before everything gets cleared up is probably just that she cares a lot? About everything? Her stopping for the dogs, how seriously she takes the first assignment, the way she seems so deeply affected by something he said or did that morning. It’s a rare side of her to meet first because she usually pretends to be above everything.

What feature does your Button find most attractive in their RO (ex. appearance, personality, etc.)?: Probably his composure. And his... steadfastness? The way he seems unruffled by anything, his soothing presence. She really admires that about him and finds the calm contagious.

What do they do to spend time together?: Going on drives together! Kent driving while Sab plays songs she thinks he’ll like, talking or not talking. Cuddling on the couch while reading their own separate books. Museum dates. Walking the dogs together.

Do they argue? How do they handle arguments and disagreements? How do they make up?: I imagine that the first month or so of their relationship would be difficult, just because they’re both bad at expressing themselves and not used to relying on other people. Kent kind of negates a lot of Sab’s impulses to get defensive or hostile, so instead of arguments, I think there are more likely to be awkward periods where she’s just stewing in something without addressing it. Most of their fights would be, like, one of them becoming really distant for a concerning number of days until the other tries to awkwardly check in on them.

What does their future look like?: Uhh some random lore: I think eventually they do get married, despite neither of them caring that much about it. Sabrina would be excited to have something to plan, and she knows it would make the people around her happy. They have a long engagement; there’s never really an “official” proposal, just an acknowledgement that yeah, they’ll get married one day, and then eventually they get rings. The engagement is almost Sab’s favorite part, honestly. She likes planning and showing off her ring and calling Kent her fiancé, a lot of fanfare on her part for a wedding that ends up being very modest and chill.

OTHER RELATIONSHIPS (Feel free to go in depth!)

Relationship with Nick: When I first started developing Sab, I thought that with as difficult/prickly as she can be, her relationship with Nick would be worse than it is. Never bad, but certainly strained, with more jealousy/resentment on her side. However, she rejected this. She is resentful, but never towards Nick—she internalizes the negative parts of their relationship so they manifest as guilt instead. And that’s the problem, not resentment. Sab thinks he’s overprotective, but that doesn’t make her angry; it just makes her sad. She wishes things were different and he didn’t feel so responsible for her, but she also doesn’t know how she could manage without him taking on so many of her burdens. So, guilt! So much love, but always looming guilt.

Having Nick in her head has helped. It’s added a new kind of guilt (“I’m a horrible person for being so giddy that people can’t hear my thoughts even though that requires my brother to be in a coma”), but getting inside Nick’s head for once and really feeling his love for her changes things. Makes her feel way more secure, I guess? It’s easier to see her brother as human person, a friend who loves her, rather than a perfect selfless paragon who sacrificed everything to raise her, which is an important shift.

There are also Things happening with self-presentation in the fact that they’re both models, and flirts, and pretend to be shallow. And the ways that they’ve responded to vastly different expectations. And selflessness versus selfishness. But I have no idea how to talk about that yet.

Relationship with Father: Strained and distant. Sabrina doesn’t necessarily blame him for leaving, but she hates how he’s handled it. She’s incredibly frustrated that John insists on keeping them in this miserable limbo of uncomfortable visits, even though moving away was (to her) a tacit acknowledgement that she and her parents are better off without each other. He’s trying to force a relationship that Sab thinks is ultimately harmful for everyone involved. For Nick’s sake, she’s willing to grin and bear the visits, but it never works because John can obviously tell it’s an act. He pushes her, she gets defensive, and so on to infinity.

Relationship with Mother: Like with John, Sab doesn’t resent Hope for the incident itself, or for leaving afterward. It was terrifying, and the idea of being around Hope makes her panic—but she thinks of that as just another irrational anxiety symptom, and she’s trying to work through it. What she does resent Hope for is letting it get to that point at all. Sab is incredibly bitter that Hope will suffer silently to the point of almost killing her (during the incident) and potentially herself (with the BRS), while Sab has no choice but to be completely open. Especially because they’re so similar in that way—she’s almost jealous. “Oh, so your silence is allowed to almost kill me and it’s ‘nobody’s fault’ but I can’t pretend to enjoy a single lunch with Dad without him calling me out for lying?”

And even though she doesn’t hold the incident itself against her, Sab is very hung up on “Why are you never quiet? Why are you always there?” She knows, on some level, that this was not a Personal Judgement against her. But because Hope keeps so much quiet, this is the only honest expression of her mother’s feelings that she can remember! It would take a lot for Sab to believe that Hope was really, genuinely interested in reconnecting with her, rather than just pretending to love her "enough” this time because to do otherwise would reflect poorly on Hope as a mother.

Relationship with Sally: Besties <3 Sally is the only member of the Wiseman inner circle that Sab doesn’t have complicated feelings about. They both have hidden morbid streaks that they bring out in each other, and can laugh about. They both have competitive streaks that work well together because they’re always on the same team. And their wants/needs from the relationship complement each other well, I think. Sally has always felt valued because she’s useful and not because she’s loved, while Sab has always felt smothered by love/care without feeling like she genuinely adds value to other people’s lives. So it means a lot to both of them that they’re able to help each other practically, while also genuinely loving and supporting each other outside of that.

Relationship with Gray: Full of trust and genuine care, but predicated on distance. Sab loves him a lot for being so careful not to cross any boundaries, physical or emotional, with her. She’s grateful that he’s there for Nick in a way that she doesn’t feel she can be. But "I like Gray because he doesn’t push me and is good to Nick” means that any hand he extend makes her defensive, because she’ll either view him as an emissary of Nick or start to panic because their normal routine is being disrupted (she doesn’t tell him about Hope in ch 3, for example).

They get along very well in a friend-of-a-friend sort of way, and bond over being cautious counterparts to Nick. Also, Sab never had a crush on Gray, but she is not immune to tall superhero and thinks it’s fun to fake flirt with him. (You know Isabela’s “You have pretty eyes” routine from DA2? Sab does that to Gray when conversations steer towards things she’d rather not talk about.)

Relationship with Glitch: I’m really excited about these two! They click from the start, and Sabrina feels immediately comfortable around Glitch, which makes her feel distinctly uncomfortable whenever she catches herself. Externally, they have pretty different personalities, but they’re both perceptive and... socially manipulative? aware of their self-presentation?... in ways that they both pick up on right away. So it’s a lot of conversational maneuvering and trying to figure out what the other’s game is, while also genuinely enjoying each other’s company.

Relationship with Kent/Kenna: I could go truly insane here. See the romance section above instead.

Relationship with Kim: Sab wants him to like her sooooo bad. He’s one of the only people to ever really get through to her, re: my headcanon conversation after the first assignment. Authority figures tend to treat her as special, whether that’s negatively because of her mind blindness or positively because she’s such an overachiever. She had no idea how to respond to that not being the case (and didn’t handle it well at first), but chapter 6 solidifies her respect for him.

It also turns Rosy’s opinion of Sab around; he was impressed by her in class but left his office thinking she was self-absorbed and naive. But the bombing is a reality check, and her response is very measured and practical in a way that surprises him.

Relationship with Lev: She doesn’t mind the comparisons to Nick or the “maybe one day they’ll fix you” comments as much as you might think. They aren’t her favorite, but she prefers that sort of thing to the inspirational platitudes belied by coddling that she got from her family growing up. Sab has fond memories of Lev and is grateful that he’s always been kind to her, but doesn’t have any particular feelings apart from that.

Relationship with Clarence: Holds a grudge against him for causing a scene, making her late, and generally being a jerk. But she can’t fault him for being right, after what happened! Mostly she just wants to avoid him, but she’ll be thrilled to lord her success over him if/when she proves herself.

Relationship with Dean Branham: Like Rosy, another authority figure that Sab desperately wants to impress. But without the personal investment she has in Rosy’s validation, more “Oh, this person is in charge, so I should make her like me!” Despite Nick’s and Rosy’s reservations, Sabrina doesn’t really have a problem with being “strongarmed” or manipulated into cooperating; for now, she figures Branham was just doing her job and respects her tactics.

Relationship/attitude towards Ments in general: Mostly just uncomfortable and wary around them. Sab doesn’t want her mind read, and she figures that no Ment wants to be forced to read it either. So she has a pretty strict “no Ments” rule for close personal relationships (excluding Nick, Sally, and Gray, of course. But only Nick really counts because he’s the only one who can hear her thoughts whenever she’s nearby). Not out of hatred or resentment, just because she knows it will be easier for everyone in the long run.

Do they have any other important relationships, past or present? (Relatives, friends, etc.?): Not many, but yes! Sab dated around a lot in the 2 years before Aeon (more like year and a half, because she completely shut it down once she was more focused on preparing for the MIV program), but there are 2 relationships that were formative/important for her. A high school sweetheart, and someone Sab met through modeling. She doesn’t keep up with her high school ex, but the model is her best friend outside of Sally and Nick, and they still keep in touch! I’m still developing them/the relationships, and I’ll probably post more about them someday. They’re fun!

PERSONAL BIO

Describe their personality: Confusing and contradictory. She has two main modes that confuse people who meet both (e.g., Kent). She’s either cold, stuck-up, and sometimes hostile, OR she’s charming, frivolous, and sometimes flirty. Mode 1 is tense but stoic and inexpressive; mode 2 is seemingly relaxed but very posed and insincere. Mode 1 is for when she feels uncertain or has no agenda apart from “get to point B”; mode 2 is for when she’s more comfortable or trying to manipulate someone. Her actual personality is a bit closer to the second, but she doesn’t pretend not take things seriously or hide when she’s annoyed.

Strengths: Analytical, methodical, detail-oriented. Very driven and hardworking. May not always act like it, but does have social skills/charisma; a great liar, if you can’t read her mind. Unfailingly loyal and loving to her favorite people, so so so warm and affectionate and supportive if she really loves you. Very perceptive.

Weaknesses: Way too proud. Can be petty and vindictive. Self-absorbed (she doesn’t mean anything by it, but it’s hard for her to see past herself sometimes). Stubborn, hates being wrong. And... emotional isn’t the word, but strong negative emotions can really cloud her judgement. It ties into her being proud, petty, and stubborn; if she’s really upset about something, she can cling to that emotion instead of re-evaluating it or moving forward.

Phobias: From this ask about the phobias that are planned to show up in-game, there are a few that I could see fitting Sab, but I want to wait to see how they’re implemented before I fully commit. Which is very metagame-y, I know (and I am very metagame-y about IF), but “fear of X” is so broad that it really does depend on when/how it manifests in the text.

That being said, agoraphobia is almost a lock; crowds do make Sab very anxious if she can’t keep track of everyone within a certain distance, and if she can’t leave when she starts feeling antsy. Claustrophobia is a maybe. The choice that triggers it (in chapter 4, about hating MRI machines) suits Sab, but I’m not sure if she hates MRI machines because she hates tight spaces, or if it’s more related to her general anxiety about hospitals, medical tests, etc. Which she definitely has!

What activities/club did they do in school?: She avoided anything group-oriented as far as possible. She took piano (maybe violin?) lessons and did recitals, but wasn’t in orchestra. The one exception was maybe National Honor Society or some equivalent, which she would have joined for her resume’s sake. And I think she would have tutored!

Where do they escape to when they need space?: A little used library corner, where she can people watch without being seen/heard.

How do they feel about/cope with their mind blindness?: Sab hates it but tries not to dwell on it. She knows that it’s no one’s fault, and she mainly just tries to... minimize it? Drown out her thoughts, limit her contact with Ments. And, least healthily, very rigidly managing herself. Because there’s so much of her that exists outside of herself, without her control, she tries to either filter or completely suppress everything else. Part of why she got into modeling, she can perform and be perfect and have total control over the final product of her body in the photographs for whatever campaign. Some Day This Will Be Better. But definitely not where she is in current canon.

How has your Button changed since the Incident with Hope?: Developed many new anxieties and disorders and syndromes :) She also became way more self-conscious, as in literally conscious of and way more tightly monitoring herself, what she’s thinking, what she’s expressing, how she’s sitting, etc. Less emotive face, more rigid posture.

If they weren’t an Aeon student, what would they be doing?: Sab would have beaten herself up forever if she “proved everyone right” by avoiding Unity/Ments entirely, so she’d want to stay in the family business somehow. She probably would have ended up doing scientific research on mental agility. Maybe even working for Mirrortech or some other biotech company, which I imagine would have been an interesting conversation to have with the family.

RANDOM FACTS:

Zodiac sign: Like I said, I assigned her Libra months ago for the sake of a template. But I don’t know enough about astrology to commit. Libra or Leo, probably.

Hobbies: Music, reading poetry, “cooking” (i.e., sitting on the counter and not helping while Nick makes dinner)

Likes: Watching other people (Nick) play video games, dressing up, taking long showers/baths, dark chocolate with caramel, back hugs

Dislikes: Being patronized, hot weather, going to the doctor, driving, doing anything she is not good at

Type of bedsheets: Bamboo.

Drink of choice: Cucumber mint lemonade! For hot drinks, some kind of caramel coffee. For alcohol, she refuses to get drunk because she’s terrified of having even less control of her mental broadcast, but at home/around people she trusts she’ll have a glass or two of wine. Doesn’t know enough to be picky, but doesn’t like it too sweet.

Favorite food: Probably some pasta dish Nick makes with asparagus and tomatoes and a lot of garlic.

Favorite color: Like a light turquoise!

Favorite music: Music to her was another mind-shielding tactic before anything else, so she tends to like upbeat-ish electronic/pop stuff. Catchy and repetitive, and/or with lots of personality to drown out her own thoughts. On the other end of the spectrum, she does have a soft spot for crackly, lo-fi, old or old-sounding slow songs—something about fuzzy recordings simulating a weak telepathic signal.

Favorite season: Hmm, spring and autumn are both good. She likes either side of winter.

Anything else you’d like to share: My heart and a long, fulfilling marriage, with anyone who reads all this 💍

#wow this is so long. insanity luv lit ral insanity #this was super helpful for articulating certain things about sab's character so it's already done its job #pls do not feel pressured to read Thousands of words about sabrina my beloved. but if you read all or even some of this <333 a kiss for you #why am i embarrassed to overshare about my own ocs on my own blog. i live here #oc: sabrina wiseman #also this was very much a stream of consciousness deal but i tried to go back and make it comprehensible. good luck all ye who enter here

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halothenthehorns · 3 years

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All in the Family

Chapter 1: The Accident...

It is recommended, though by no means a must if you know the Marauders history enough to be reading fanfiction about them, you read We Were first. The first five chapters are slightly AU to the continuity of this fic, but the grand point and especially the final chapter are key to the beginning of this fic as you get plopped in the middle. Link is below or you can find it in my profile.

Before you get started; Warnings include- Explicit Wolfstar (Remus/Sirius), and on the whole a rather flimsy premise that I honestly created to indulge myself because I didn't let myself do it the first time. A lot less logically based and a lot more I just felt like having fun with this one. It's not to say I'll let this degenerate into tropes and one note things, but there's going to be even less reading of the books involved, as in literally they're just interacting around the story with only passing mentions of what's going on in there. If you want a much more grounded basis and more 'realistic' approach to a reading series, I put my heart and every cell of my mind into The Life that Never Lived, PDF's upon request. I'm pretty sure this one grew from my funny bone that I broke when I was seven.

HPHPHPHP

The dungeons where Potions were held had always felt like the most oblique part of the castle, and Sirius had been in every corner of it to claim as such. It wasn't entirely the fault of the dark stone walls, sweltering hot air from the many flames, or the often unexplained fumes. The feeling seemed to seep up straight from the cold stone floor no matter how many fires were lit, as if the wooden stool itself were trying to pin them all with the unknown.

Sirius had never been more grateful for a Potions class to be over, and that was really saying something. It was the last one of this bleeding school semester, and if he had to spend one more day glaring at a cauldron and somehow inexplicably turning it the wrong color one more time without the usual helpful hint from Peter telling him why, he was going to chuck every last drop of it in Slughorn's face for constantly telling him he'd figure it out!

He'd never packed up his bag faster, even managing to multitask by muttering under his breath how stupid all this was. He was the first person to make it to the door, but collided with someone even less pleasant to see than the three people he'd most been avoiding lately. He cursed loudly, earning several dirty looks as the rest of the class was now passing. His bag had ripped upon stumbling into his little brother and smashed to the ground, sending his things flying and managing to spray him with ink.

Regulus hesitated in the doorway, muttering a quick, "sorry Sirius."

"Oh, it knows my name," Sirius growled under his breath, though his tone was far less hateful than usual, considering this was the first time he'd had a proper conversation with someone in nearly three weeks. His little brother was hardly his first choice, given his proud Slytherin status and being two years younger didn't remotely have them coming near each other most days, a fact he was usually grateful for.

"Yes, he does," Regulus' scowl looked remarkably close to Sirius', the two put side by side at once was rather eerie. His tone though was even more friendly than Sirius', which wasn't all that hard as he tried to explain his abrupt appearance. "I ah, I came sprinting down here to see if I could catch Slughorn, ask him if I could pick up an extra credit assignment."

Sirius straightened with his stuff still half strewn around, but again that pull for someone to talk to seemed greater, especially as he glanced back and saw who hadn't left yet, so he responded no matter how unenthusiastically. "Yeah, what you struggling with?" While tapping his bag and mending the tear, slowly bending down to pick each item back up while he absently listened. Regulus even began to help him while he explained in short, precise sentences like he was practicing for the teacher.

Frank Longbottom and Alice Smith slipped in past the two Black brothers at the doorway and found the room mostly empty, and they shared an exasperated look as they wondered if they'd just walked in on Slughorn telling this group off again. They were early for their next class after all, but the teacher was nowhere in sight. They did get a full view of what started quite an interesting journey.

James was hanging by Evans' cauldron, trying to chat happily with her, but mostly waiting for Sirius to leave first. He could hardly stand to look at him these days, let alone pass by him in such a restricted place, yet the wanker had struck up a conversation with Regulus of all people, someone he'd hardly spoken a whole sentence to in the past five years, but no, he'd chosen now! Probably just waiting for them to walk past first, like this was all still some game to him.

Remus and Peter were hovering on edge right beside him, Remus fidgeting with what was left of his cauldron on the desk while Evans was trying to pack hers up and being hampered by James staying in her way. "Won't you at least consider coming? It's our last game of the season! What if you're my good luck charm, you've always been the best at those! Do you really want to be the reason Gryffindor loses?"

"They've gotten on just fine without me there the past years," Lily snipped. She never knew why she even bothered responding to him half the time, but considering it no more discouraged him than ignoring him, at least this way she got to vent.

She tried to sidestep past him, James once again stepped into her way, and the two collided with each other, their hands accidentally slipping into her cauldron Remus had just mistakenly dumped his own potion into.

Whatever the concoction the two mixed together created upended the entire world.

At first though, nothing really changed. There was no marvelous flash of light, no force of nature that showed everyone outside of this room had vanished. Lily simply made a gagging noise as she pulled her hand out of the vat and glared furiously at the oddly pale teen, pulling her wand out at once with her less dominant hand she hadn't tried to catch herself with and banish the gunk off while hissing at him, "You are so lucky I turned that in already Lupin! What the hell did you even create? I've never seen this before," she finished with a critical eye at the now steaming mess, that vanished before their eyes.

"Wow Remus, you should do that more often, really makes cleanup easier," Peter chuckled while Remus looked rather concerned.

"I, err, I'll admit, I really screwed up my potion worse than usual. I think I added three things I actually wasn't supposed to, so you've got me."

James just flung the mess from his hand, which also vanished before it had even landed on anyone, and glanced back hopefully like he'd thought his source for this mess had left already.

He hadn't.

His face was turned in their general direction, like he'd been trying to subtly glance over and hope for the same, but now he was looking right through James. That wasn't uncommon lately, but the stunned look of confusion on his face was enough James grudgingly turned his head the other way to see what.

Back on the lip of the cauldron, was a slim red book with a golden one on the spine. It was just sitting there, like Evans had left it on purpose, but it certainly hadn't been a second ago.

Lily took his distraction as a chance to bolt from the room, Regulus gave his brother an awkward wave goodbye and went back out towards Slughorn's office since he'd clearly missed him, and Alice and Frank tried to casually step back out as well. Even being a year above those four had not left them oblivious to their fight. The whole school was aware of the fact the four Marauders had not been seen together in quite some time, and neither of them particularly felt like putting their nose into why.

James was still frowning in confusion at the odd title stamped across, which simply read Harry Potter Year One.

"Err, did either of you-" James looked at the two as if in some kind of explanation, but both gave a mystified shake to their head. James couldn't help it, he still looked automatically towards his best mate, and then he caught himself and realized they were the only four left. Sirius' eyes had still been locked in on the odd object, really ridiculous his mind supplied as James had no relatives named Harry, and wondered if this was some odd attempt at a prank?

Sirius didn't stick around to care, completely forgetting the rest of his things, he turned on his heel and finally exited as well, when they all heard a shriek.

As one, the four bolted up to the Entrance Hall, Alice and Frank right behind them as they hadn't wandered off far, to see Lily standing in the middle and stamping her foot in frustration upon seeing them. "Damn, I thought someone would have reacted to that."

"Err, Evans," James began in concern as if for her health.

"Where is everybody!" She demanded while gesturing to the Great Hall where there should have been a packed lunch crowd. Nobody was in there, and now that they were listening for it, the din of a castle filled with people, was deadly silent all around them.

As if given a signal, everyone began shouting all at once, sure the ruckus would cause someone to appear, but the only other arrival was Regulus coming up from the stairs as well, looking at all of them with great concern. "Geez, you lots shouting usually has a much greater audience."

"Thank you Regulus for that helpful insert!" Sirius snapped.

Regulus ignored that and seemed to look around himself and really acknowledge his own words, before realization slammed into him as well as he whispered, "What's going on?"

"We'd all like to know that," Frank put his hands up in frustration, this was what he and his girlfriend got for getting to class early.

"This is ridiculous," Lily seethed, stomping up towards the stairs. She was intending to barge into every crevice of this place and find someone other than these idiots to deal with. She didn't know what the school was playing at, but it wasn't funny.

Alice and Frank followed her as they still considered her the least craziest compared to the others.

Sirius still couldn't bring himself to look at the other three and bolted out onto the grounds for an exit, and Regulus couldn't think of anything better to do but follow him.

James waited until they were back alone before nodding to Peter, who pulled the Marauder's Map back out and cast the charm to activate it. On cue, the magical ink appeared, spreading through the tattered paper, but only revealing eight names instead of the several hundreds it normally housed.

"What the bloody hell?" Remus demanded, snatching it away as if sure somehow Peter had cast it wrong. He deactivated it and retried five times before looking up in exasperation, to see James flipping through the book. "Of all times, you chose now to pursue one of those!" Remus demanded.

"Remus, what the bloody hell was in that potion," James whispered to him.

Remus looked at him askance. "I told you I don't know, I was, well I-" it was hard to admit how thoroughly distracted he'd been, even more than usual in his potions classes. His past two attempts had been utter messes as well. Somehow without Sirius by his side and being a constant distraction, he'd found a way to blow up his more recent attempts, so he'd been rather proud this one had only changed the wrong color seven times. "What's your point?"

"This," James waved it around, his face still looking somehow detached as if he had no clue what he was really saying, "it's-" he broke off, and Remus huffed in exasperation as he snatched it away.

"Yes James, it has words, glory look at that they're even strung together with sentences! What's the big-" he stopped abruptly at what he saw quite clearly had Prongs so thrown off. Remus could feel it now, this book was giving off as if the most powerful magic to exist, certainly that he'd ever been around.

"This isn't, there's no way-" he tried to protest what his eyes weren't changing.

"What?" Peter demanded in exasperation of the two.

"That's from the future." James stated coolly.

Peter laughed, realized neither was pulling his leg, and then yanked the book to him as well.

"It, it's a joke or-" he tried to say, but it was the exact same to his eyes as well.

"Remus, what the bloody hell did you mix with Lily's Profligare potion?" James asked again like he'd have another answer!

"I, I told you, I have no clue!" Remus insisted, his heart restricting painfully in his chest.

"Why aren't their words in the rest of this book?" Peter asked curiously. There were an easy three hundred pages to this thing, but only the first sentence was visible. The rest was blank.

"Put that down," Remus suddenly yelped, slapping it away from him. It thudded to the ground and even skidded a few feet while Wormtail looked offended.

"Merlin Remus, James was holding it for a whole five minutes and he didn't explode."

"Let's prioritize for a minute," James insisted. "Ignore that thing and figure out where everyone is, maybe show that to Dumbledore-"

"That might be a problem, as there's no one else here!" Remus snarled.

"Well I'll say one thing, Evans sure can make one good banishing potion," Regulus commented as he stepped back into the Entrance Hall minus Sirius.

The question burst out of James before he could consider doing otherwise, "where's your better half?"

Regulus scowled hatefully, hesitated, but still answered, "still wandering the damn grounds, think he said something about checking the bottom of the lake. I don't know what you lot are fighting about, but for him to be saying that even as a joke really is something."

James flinched with the first spot of guilt he'd felt, and Remus looked away as if he hadn't even heard. Peter took the opportunity to shove the map back out of sight before he twisted his fingers together and just deciding to ignore that as well and said, "We might as well go find the other three and show at least them. Something Dark is going on around here, perhaps we shouldn't go wandering off."

"Oh that's nice, just leave him out on the grounds by himself then if that's what you're thinking," Regulus muttered as his two friends seemed to agree and took off up the stairs, Peter having to jog to keep up.

They found them already up to the second floor, and with every empty room they'd opened, they'd become increasingly more panicked. This just wasn't natural! Even during the holidays you were likely to run across someone by now! A ghost even! What was left of the Marauders caught up to them, and Lily's near hysterics weren't helped with their answer to this.

"Just come back downstairs!" James was trying to put his hands up in a comforting, surrendering gesture to the vivid redhead who hadn't stopped shouting for a solid minute, so her face was as bright as her hair. "We found something you lot really should see!"

It took a bit more persuading and Frank and Alice agreeing first before Lily conceded searching every room wasn't helping.

They went back downstairs and saw Sirius had rejoined his little brother, and the two were frozen in place over what had already been discovered with the book still open on the ground for all to see.

"You wanted to show me a book!" Lily demanded as she looked murderously at Potter. "How is that helping to find out what happened!"

"Just look at it," Potter insisted.

Without touching it, she went to where it had fallen on the floor, and then she too along with Frank and Alice saw.

Scrawled across the top was the title The Boy Who Lived, which meant nothing to anyone so their eyes skipped down to below that, which was just under the date 1981. Six years from now.

#Harry Potter #fanfiction #reading the books #James Potter #Lily Potter #Regulus Black #Sirius Black #Peter Pettigrew #Remus Lupin #Frank Longbottom #Alice Smith #all in the family

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sunriseintropicisle · 3 years

Text

Things that makes me happier

I gave up posting number in front of my post title, initially it was to mark whether I reach the goal of posting a writing every week, which made me had to post 52 writings for the year of 2021, and by this point I am pretty sure I am not gonna reach that number so yes, we can forget it.

So I personally feel like recently I am in a better state of being, and have lots of idea coming up in my head. While I still religiously write on my handwritten journal, I feel like writing, in case my nonexistent reader would like to know, or give some inspirations. Lol, like who you are.

No, really, I am just really believe in sharing, and I would love to know if my mundane knowledge or experience be insightful even to only one other person. Because I myself found multiple times that a knowledge/sharing that someone posted online impacted me greatly - hence I am just thinking about the other me who may be seeking the things I am about to say/share.

Things that makes me happier are:

Intermittent Fasting

I have been doing IF for 2 weeks now, and yeah, it makes me feel good. I started initially because, duh, like everyone else, I wanted to lose weight. Some might want to kick me in the ass for saying such thing, and assure me that I have normal body and yada yada. And, as straight forward as it is - I just want to be as skinny as possible. Hahaha. Maybe it is something to do with me very sold into the standard beauty, or maybe it’s got to do with something in the past - I was quite cheeky.

However, even though I always say that I want to lose weight, over the years I have never really made the effort. Some days I took it hard some days it just a normal day, me eating this and that and whatnot. But then I have noted the intention of me wanting to be so skinny, on top of those beauty standard I believe have huge impact in me and a quite hard time in the past for being cheeky is because it simply makes me feel lighter, not holding anything within my body. Because for the context and some TMI, I have a not so good digestion, so yeah. There was a period of the time that I often I feel stuffed and bloated - which felt so uncomfortable, that I can’t stand working while sitting because I felt my stomach is getting on my way.

I tried IF a while back, and it worked for me, so now I decided to try it again now. Intention achieved. I believe it was because the time window for eating that pool all the food I eat in a day to be only consumed for certain times (I do 7 hours, my best convenience). I used to eat on times where, looking back, I was not really hungry, you know. Like breakfast - turned out (I don’t know why I forget about this) that I am not a breakfast person. All through high school I don’t remember myself sitting, eating breakfast in my uniform.

But then I just picked up a habit of eating breakfast while my stomach is actually not really ready for it, which end up making me feel bloated that last long all through lunch and pretty much for the day - and then without me knowing the new day has begin, and the cycle starts all over.

So yeah, IF had helped me to be to schedule my eating time which made my digestion works better I guess, and no more me having a bloated stomach constantly.

Quitting Social Media

Finally I succeed in cutting myself with social media. This, I also had tried in the beginning of the pandemic I guess - went on without social media for weeks and at that time I really felt the benefit and all, until I came back to social media and can not disconnect ever since. Even though I have been wanting to detox myself, but at the same time I felt really dependent on it.

It took me one lows moment of life to finally be able to went cold turkey about disconnecting. It was when I felt frustrated on Twitter news where every day it seems like there were a bad news - people died, people lost jobs, people complaining, the news about our incompetent and corrupt government and so on. Without me realizing, it took a toll on myself. Other than that was me who checking in Linkedin constantly at the time and seeing my friends’ profile whose climbing up the corporate ladder, while I was unsure and questioning whether I am in the right place (sounds like the problem of these days youth who lives in their own bubble, yeah?).

So one Friday where I had one of my breakdown, I went MIA for the weekend to the people who are close to me, as well as to my social media. It’s only been 2 weeks now, but it is safe to say that I can reclaim myself within these times, suddenly lots of thinking came up to me, as if all these times the bad news maybe somewhat oppress it or something. And, I also feel more certain about what is going on my mind/heart.

I believe quitting social media has its downside as well, as like I really am not having an update on the news (90% of my news source is Twitter - how sad yet could not be truer for most of us), I completely blind on our Covid update I even think that Covid is slowing down in the territory. Yeah, as expected you lose win some as well as you lose some, but for now at leas, I decided to win for myself.

Olympic 2020

I have never watched Olympic before, as far as I remember. Nor that I care about it. But this time is different. I believe the fact that we are on privilege to be in the safety of home have a huge part in me having the opportunity to watch the Olympic - thanks for that. For almost two weeks I was hooked to my TV, even one time I was on my TV from 6am to 10pm and watched all the games they aired.

To have the company to watch was a big advantage as well. As now I have my sibling in the house, I teamed up with my sister to watch the Olympic, we both did not know that we enjoyed it so much that we invested in each game we watched. We cheered for athletics, we scream for badminton, we gasped for weightlifting. It was a very fun experience. For almost two weeks I change my work station in front of the TV and so did my sister.

On top of that, what made Olympic special and very intrigued me was the diversity of the athletes. I guess I just did not exposed to such diversity as it was presented in the Olympic. I was presented with some very foreign countries whose name I hardly heard, or the people whose features were different one another.

Questions like why some sports dominated my a certain race while other sports dominated by others also popped out in my head. And not to mention my awed to each of these Olympian athletes when they perform their sports, I always wonder what it takes for them to be there right now - how many years of training, how much tears were sacrificed and relationships had to be let go. There were just so many elements of the Olympics that made me really drawn and invested in it.

Youtube

Surprise, surprise.

Well, my attraction to Youtube recently was different because of the previous para - Olympic. Because of getting really drawn into the Olympic athlete, I was searching lots of reference videos. And as we all know how we are being spied and we are mere a number for these big tech companies, they get to know me better know and present me with more content that I love (or else I had never discovered).

I am not sure what I searched previously, but Youtube chose that I now an avid cultural researcher, jk. Yeah, I watched a lot about something culture-related on Youtube because it is funny, looking back, I was once really attracted to be a global citizen and what not (what a flavor of youth!!), traveling the world, meeting people from other countries, make impact in the NGO (before long I know the NGOs are mostly funded by big corporations as well, heart breaking reality for me).

What I am saying is that the savvy man-made tech of Youtube has made me rediscover my old interest about culture! And I just actually learn that you can learn a lot from Youtube’s comment section, which debates often open up you to things which are (1) people can comment based on data and have every intention to educate other people; and (2) people more often be ignorant, and how much you are on the right stance, with the wrong people, you can still be, yeah wrong.

Somehow the lesson I gained in the Youtube’s comment section was really grounding to me to realize these polar of people, and in the end what you can do is only simply be you because after all, people really will hold on to their own opinion and belief.

Jigsaw Puzzle

RECCOMENDED 100/100. Damn, wasn’t it a good choice when one day I decided to try out jigsaw puzzle to entertained myself while waiting my partner to reply my chat message?

On the one of the breakdown moment I mentioned I believe that I had to have distraction and I thought of either a puzzle or a coloring book. I ended up buying both, but I am positive that I am more drawn to jigsaw puzzle. I first ordered a 1500 piece puzzle and when it first came, I kind of secretly afraid that I will give up. Also my mother being my mother and she was pessimist that I would finish the puzzle.

But one time I was just playing by myself, not expecting anything or even asked anyone to help me (afraid that I put too much task on other people), yet my sister helped me out, and a while after my mom helped we out as well. Resulting in the puzzle finished in 3 days. Soon after I order new puzzle, and so did my sister. Her order came first and it was a 1000 pieces puzzle, which we finished in 2 hours (boo, it turned out to be too easy), and now we are opening up our 3rd puzzle and tried to work on it.

I am just really happy that I discovered it, it is really great way to bond and filling time. And every time I successfully put the pieces together - that just very satisfying feelings! I believe I will have more and more puzzle to come in the near future.

I hope one of the thing above will work out for you and make you happier as well as it had affected me. 🤗

#mentariwrites #mentaridaily #happier #puzzle #lockdown

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detectivedreameater · 4 years

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Missed Reservations||Anita and Marley

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @professoranieves SUMMARY: This wasn’t the threesome either of them wanted. CONTENT WARNINGS: Gun violence, Death

This wasn’t a date. Obviously. Marley just liked pushing buttons, and it seemed Anita was still willing to play. She wasn’t sure what about Anita drew her in, but Marley found herself coming back to her more and more. She liked Anita, and Anita played along with her stupid antics. Even after the whole phlizard mess. And it was nice, to have someone around that she could just be easy and casual with. And that knew but didn’t know. Someone that wasn’t afraid to look her in the eye, even with their red glow. And so, she’d dressed up a little. Not too much, because this wasn’t anything like that-- but a little. Nicer pants, no jeans. A real blouse, not just a button up, and a blazer instead of her normal leather jacket-- though she did opt to grab it on her way out. Just in case.

The drive to Anita’s was short, despite how close to the lake she lived. Marley had driven down the street to her place many times in the past week since the lake had been declared not safe, but it was refreshing to take the turn into the neighborhood instead of the turn to the boathouse. She remembered the house from last time she’d been there, noting specifically how different the inside and outside looked. Anita liked warm colors. It fit right in with Marley’s theory of what she was. Lifting her hand, Marley knocked on the door, putting on a cheeky smile for when Anita answered the door.

Anita was still a bit uneasy with how much she was seeing Marley recently. There was obvious attraction between them, and it definitely didn’t fade even after discovering that they were both less than human. If anything, for Anita anyway, that was part of what made her keep going back for more. She’d never knowingly been with someone who wasn’t human, and it was refreshing. She still kept her guard up, but part of the reason she cut people off after one night was the fear of them finding out about her. With Marley, that fear largely didn’t exist anymore. After she got home from work and took a steaming hot shower, Anita threw on a short black skirt and a bright patterned shirt. She finished her look with some nice high heels and a jacket. She was just finishing up her hair when she heard the knock at the door. A grin spread across her face as she saw Marley. “Well, you sure clean up nice. All that just for me?” She teased.

“Hey, I can look nice when I feel the effort is worth it,” Marley said with a bright smile. She didn’t even have her sunglasses on right now, though they were tucked safely inside her jacket pocket, lest she feel the need to wear them. But with Anita, she felt no reason to. “Besides, you never know who else might be watching, right?” She held out her hand. “Sorry I didn’t bring flowers. Or a boombox. But I figured since this isn’t a date, it doesn’t matter,” she teased back. “Although I will do that thing where I say you look rather good. Not that you don’t always look good, whether you’re in a bathing suit, clothes, or, you know,” she shrugged with a cheeky grin, “naked.” Stepped aside. “Shall we?”

An uncomfortable chill ran down Anita’s spine at the mention of someone watching them. She didn’t let that get to her though, why would anyone be watching them anyway? “Definitely not a date.” She echoed, stepping out onto the front porch and closing and locking the door behind her. Despite some basic research, Anita was still not able to figure out exactly what Marley was. Probably because all she had to go on were those mesmerizing red eyes and the occasional intangibility. Anita grinned, nudging Marley slightly. “You know, now that you mention it, you look very good naked too. In fact, I think we both might be at our peak attractiveness when we’re fully naked.” Anita softly placed her hand on the other woman’s cheek, then pulled her in for a kiss. “You know, we could always skip dinner and jump right to the being naked part.”

Marley couldn’t help but notice the momentary stiffness in Anita’s body as she stepped out. She wondered what could’ve caused it, but didn’t chance the glance away. It was both a gift and a curse, to always see everything through the lens of a behavioral profiler. She tried to brush it away, though, and smiled. “I think you might be right,” she agreed, leaning in as Anita kissed her, letting it linger for a moment, as if she were debating the offer. “But I made reservations,” she said with a fake pout, scraping her teeth along her bottom lip as she looked at Anita. “And you promised.”

Anita smirked softly and raised an eyebrow, “You made reservations? You sure you’re not trying to hijack this and turn it into a date?” She teased, then started walking towards Marley’s car. “But fine, I suppose since I did promise, I owe you that much.” Realistically, Anita knew that doing anything except sleeping with Marley was a bad idea. She didn’t really want to get to know her any better, because getting to know people leads to feeling for them. And that was just not something that she was interested in doing. Once she reached the car, she turned around, leaning back against the cold metal. “For the record though, this will be the first and last time I let you take me out for dinner. No matter how hot you are.” There was a teasing tone to her voice, but she hoped the look in her eyes let Marley know that she was being mostly serious.

Marley was mostly pleased with the turn of events, following Anita slowly towards the car, taking her time going down the drive. Enjoying the view. She wanted to know what made Anita so wary of dinner and dates. Marley knew her own reasoning for it, and she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Anita’s was similar. Maybe she’d found a sort of kindred spirit. Not that she cared to, or needed one. She was fine on her own. She had been all her life. It was just nice to know there were others like her. Licking her lips, she stopped just short of Anita on the driveway, watching her lean back against the car, tilting her head. “We’ll see,” was all she said, no inclination as to whether she was being serious or teasin, before she stepped past her and to the driver’s side. The drive was fairly quick and quiet and when they pulled up to the restaurant, she unbuckled quickly, stepping out. “So, why the Red Dragon?”

The drive was rather quiet, giving Anita time to think about her doppelganger she saw at The Velvet Rope the other day. But her worrying was cut short when they arrived at the restaurant. She unbuckled, then walked over towards Marley. “Quiet, good food, and close to my place for a quick drive back for dessert.” She said with a smirk. The pair walked into the restaurant, and Anita was pleased to see it wasn’t very crowded. “Guess you didn’t need to make a reservation after all, huh?”

“Wanna know a secret?” Marley asked as they approached the stand, leaning over to speak quietly so only Anita could hear, “I didn’t actually make a reservation-- Two for dinner, please!” Straightening up and speaking a little louder as the hostess greeted them. She held up two fingers and a smile and the hostess grabbed their menus, leading them back to a booth in the back. The place was unusually quiet today, and Marley, again, couldn’t help but wonder why. Sometimes she cursed her natural curious nature and her need to know everything. Trying to ignore it, she slid into the booth across from Anita. “Well, good choice, anyway. I order takeout from here all the time.”

Anita couldn’t help but laugh, and roll her eyes. Of course she hadn’t made a reservation. “All just part of your ploy to get me to not bail on dinner plans, huh?” As they walked back to the booth, Anita felt eyes on them. Not in a light and fun way either, she felt like someone, maybe something, was watching them closely. But as she looked around, everyone that was in the restaurant seemed to be preoccupied with their own meals, and not with them. Once she sat down she decided to shake off that feeling, focusing her attention back on Marley. Well, that was one thing to note. She ate normal food more than just on dates to keep up appearances. “So, uh, is this the part where we dive into the small talk about our jobs? Or does that come after the first round of drinks?”

“Got me,” Marley said with a wink. She picked up the menu and perused through. She hadn’t been lying, she did order from here a lot, but not because she wanted to-- simply because the dumplings were to die for. “Oh no, uh uh,” Marley said, shaking her head, “I have a strict no shop talk policy outside of work. Otherwise, it’s all people would have me talk about. All you need to know is that I’m a detective and no, I won’t give you a ride in my cop car. But please, do fill me in about your job. All I know is that you’re a bug professor.” A grin. “Which, really...how does someone get into a job like that?”

“What if I ask for a ride in your car real nice?” Anita asked, drawing out the last two words as she pressed one of her legs against Marley’s under the table. “I mean, I can be really persuasive.” Human food was okay, but Anita really didn’t have much of a preference for it. She went more for textures than flavors, so pretty much anything with the word “crunchy” in the description caught her eye. “Entomologist, not a bug professor.” She smiled coyly, partly frustrated that they were actually going to do the small talk thing, and partly fine with it because she loved talking bugs. “Well, you get a PhD in an uncommon subject, then a small town university pays you to teach their students all about the life-cycle of the praying mantis. Then before you know it you’re out with some detective who wants to hear all about it without offering anything in return.”

Marley felt her skin tingle as Anita pressed a leg against her own. A grin spreading on her face. “You’ll have to be very persuasive. I don’t let just anyone in my squad car,” she said back, knowing full well that if Anita asked she would say yes even without the convincing. The waiter came by for drinks and Marley ordered gin and tonic before focusing back on Anita. She seemed almost a little distracted, and Marley wasn’t about that. She leaned forward onto the table, letting the blouse she’d chosen to wear sag slightly open. “Right, entomologist. And did you always wanna be that?” Tilted her head, giving a light chuckle. “Hey, you were the one who said you weren’t interested in getting to know me better. All you gotta do is ask.”

“I guess I’ll just have to work on my persuasion skills and try it out someday then.” Anita said with a wink. As she looked up when the waiter came by, she could have sworn she saw someone in a black and white striped shirt staring at the two of them, but then in a blink of an eye, they were gone. She tried to shake the thought from her head, there was no way she had a doppelganger following her. Even if she did, it wasn’t really what she wanted to be thinking about right now. “No? I mean, didn’t even know what it was when I was younger. But I’ve always been fascinated with bugs, so I guess I always knew I’d end up doing something with that.” She hated this question. The real answer revealed too much about her family, and while she knew it was unlikely, she really didn’t need anyone connecting the dots from her to them, least of all a detective who already knows too much. “You always wanna be a cop?” She asked, her eyes flickering away from Marley back to where she thought she had seen something, just to be sure nobody was really there watching.

Marley watched Anita curiously, growing increasingly annoyed as her attention seemed to be pulling in different directions. She kept glancing around, as if looking for someone, or something. Marley grabbed her drink when the waitress brought them back and took a sip. “Bugs, huh? Well, at least it’s not boring,” she said with a grin, taking another drink. The alcohol felt nice in her throat, not that she needed it to enjoy the night. “Mostly,” she said offhandedly to Anita’s question. “I didn’t really think about it before I decided I wanted to be a detective when I was 13, so,” a shrug, before she followed Anita’s line of sight again. She raised a brow, setting her arm on the table, chin in her palm. “Something else catching your eye?”

Anita looked curiously at Marley. “Not a lot of 13 year olds wanna be detectives. I’d imagine.” She hated that she actually found Marley intriguing. It’d make things so much easier if she actually didn’t want to know more, but the more time they spent together, the more genuine questions she wanted to ask. The waitress came by to take their orders, and this time Anita could sense something close to them, but she couldn’t see whatever mime-infused doppelganger was following her around. “No, uh, sorry.” She replied, taking a deep breath and focusing back on her not-a-date date. “I just… don’t you feel like someone’s watching us? And not in a fun voyeuristic way?”

“Well, when your friend is murdered in front of you and no one cares to solve it, it leaves quite the impression,” Marley said dismissively, much more interested in what it was Anita was trying to say. “Watching us?” She stiffened a little, glancing around. She was usually attentive to these things, but in her intrigue with Anita, she hadn’t been paying too much attention. The waitress had come by for their orders, but Marley told her to give them a few more minutes. “You sure you’re not just saying this to get out of dinner?” she said, but now that Anita had pointed it out, she could almost feel it, too. A chill up her spine. Not that she ever got scared, but it was unsettling to feel. “Maybe we should just get out of here.”

Anita froze up at Marley’s response. About a million and one questions immediately began running through her head. She knew what that was like, hell, she’d probably murdered more than a few people’s best friends back in the day. She was about to say something when Marley asked about who Anita felt was watching them. “No. If I really wanted to just get out of going to dinner I wouldn’t have let us leave my place to begin with.” She said, a linger of flirtatious teasing coming off her words, but largely her focus had pulled from just trying to flirt with Marley. “Yeah, okay, good. Let’s go.” Knowing Marley was feeling something odd too made her feel a bit less paranoid. But she still was on edge. Grabbing her coat and purse, she got up out of the booth they were sitting in and made her way to the front of the restaurant. She wasn’t willing to tell Marley everything that had happened at The Velvet Rope, but she felt it was only fair to tell her a bit. “I, uh, I think someone’s been following me for the past day or two. I think that’s who might’ve been watching us.”

Marley managed to grab her drink and take one last gulp before Anita was bolting from the booth and she was chasing after her. The nerves seemed to be rolling off her now, and Marley watched her closely, her stiff movements and shifting eyes. “You think you’re being followed?” she asked when they got outside, heading towards the car. Marley looked around, eyes narrowing. It wasn’t quite dark enough for her to feel invulnerable, but she wasn’t about to back down if someone was following Anita-- them. If someone was following them. Sharp eyes glanced around, but she didn’t see anything or anyone. Still, the feeling was there, and Marley always trusted her gut. She backed up and put a hand on Anita’s arm. “C’mon, let’s get back to yours,” she said, leading them back to the car. “Did you get a look at them? Have they been at your home?”

Anita would never admit it, but it was nice having someone around at a time like this. In the past decade or so when shit went sideways she didn’t have anyone else around to protect her. And even if Marley wasn’t doing it for any other reason than that she was a cop and it was her job, it eased her nerves ever so slightly. “I just… I saw this person at the club last night, and ever since I’ve had this uneasy feeling that I’ve been being watched. Being followed.” Anita looked up at Marley when she put her hand on her, leaning into the gesture slightly. “No? I don’t know. The club was dark. They had facepaint on. They might’ve followed me home, like I said, I’ve been having this feeling almost non-stop since last night.” Anita was pretty sure that she had a Doppelganger, which she didn’t know much about other than it mirrored the person it stalked. What else would explain seeing an identical version of herself? She got into the passenger side of the car and sunk into the seat, her head dropped into her hands and she gently rubbed her temples trying to calm herself down. “Fuck, I’m sorry that I’m dragging you into this. You can just drop me off at home. I’ll be fine.”

Marley helped Anita into the car, keeping an eye out around them before getting into the driver’s side herself. “Don’t be stupid, I’m not leaving you alone if you’re being followed,” she said nonchalantly, starting the car and taking off. She made sure to do a few fake turns and loops around the block to determine if anyone was following them. “Not to mention I’m a cop and it’s my job,” she tacked on quietly as she turned back onto the road Anita lived on. No headlights around meant no one had followed them in a car, but in this town, it wasn’t always necessary. She didn’t get that strange guttural feeling anymore that they were being followed as she turned off the car in the driveway. “Stay here,” she said, opening her glover box and pulling out a small revolver. She held it out to Anita. “This end?” she said, tapping the barrel, “Point it at anything that’s not me. I’m gonna check the house.” Before slipping out and taking out her ankle holster gun, locking the car, and heading up to the house.

When it came to fight or flight, Anita was always flight. But that wasn’t really an option now. She was so settled in town, and even if she wasn’t she was not about to let one creepy mystical stalker ruin her life. Her stomach curled when Marley handed her a gun, she’d never actually held one before. It was so … heavy. “Uhuh. Okay.” Shakily, Anita gripped the revolver in her hands as she watched Marley make her way down from the driveway to the house. It felt like an eternity that she sat in the car waiting for Marley to come back out. But then she saw her appear from the side of the house? That was odd. Anita got out of the car, the gun still gripped in her hands. “Is it all clear? Nobody followed us?” She asked, but as the person approaching her made her way closer, Anita knew something was wrong. “You changed? Where’d you get those clothes?”

Marley crept up to the house and went inside. Before she even did anything else, she made sure to go intangible and shut the door. She stayed still for a moment, listening, but heard nothing. Crept through the house silently, like a shadow-- she’d done it so many times, sneaking through houses, invisible, intangible, up to the bedroom. Nightmares and more. But not this time. This time, she was there to see if someone else was in the house, and she was here to protect someone. But only because it was her job. Nothing else. She made her way through the house towards the back, gun at the ready. The hairs on her arms stood on end, which let her know that something was up. But what, she wasn’t sure. She wasn’t sure what compelled her, but something in her gut told her to go back, that the trouble was outside. She turned quickly to head back out front when she heard a scream-- and broke into a sprint.

Suddenly, the person Anita had been talking to started miming at her. They had the same face, they moved the same. But that was not Marley. Slowly Anita began backing away from whatever this was. Why were all of these look alikes dressed like mimes? “Sorry, I don’t speak mime.” She said, trying to make sure her voice didn’t give away how afraid she was. The gun in her hands stayed pointed at this creature. “I uh, I’m not afraid to use this.” As the creature approached her, she thought about pulling the trigger. But she didn’t really know what this thing was, and she just couldn’t bring herself to take another life. She felt the grasp of the creature, it grabbed her shoulders and slammed her up against the car. Feeling helpless, Anita let out a scream, writhing trying to break free from the grasp of this creature. Her only hope was that Marley could get there.

Marley sprinted straight out the front door, leaping down the front steps and skidding into the driveway. Someone had grabbed Anita and was pressing her against the car and-- no, not someone, her! Marley faltered for only a moment. Whatever it was, she was, they were doing, she didn’t care. Anyone who hurt someone she liked didn’t get a chance to answer questions. It was shoot first, ask later. Marley swept up the drive, aimed, and fired. Eyes flashing anger as she rounded the corner, barrel still smoking. Whatever it was-- a doppleganger or someone imitating her, or whatever-- it didn’t matter to Marley. No one took her face. She finally lowered her gun, putting it back in the holster, looking over at Anita. “Are you o--” she started, but the thing on the ground was suddenly standing back up, grabbing at Marley. Marley swerved, grabbing her throat, eyes flashing again. She glared into her own eyes, her own face-- covered in white paint. She hated it. She hated this. She was so over mimes and mimes stabbing people and mimes hurting people and mimes exploding on people. With a single inhale, she stole the breath straight from the mime of herself, hand on her neck. When the body turned limp, she let go and the body dropped to the ground. Marley took a moment to herself, to calm, before turning to look back at Anita. “Okay...where was I...are you okay?”

Anita was about to resort to Plan B, using her venom on this thing, when she heard the bang. The vibrations from the noise was so loud it disoriented her a little bit. Slowly she slid down the side of the car until she was almost sitting on the pavement. There was something wet on her face, blood she presumed. But when she brought her hand up to touch it but when she brought her fingers down to her eyes, she didn’t see red, but black. What the hell was that? Her heart started pounding fast, and she gasped when the mime creature got back up. She watched Marley in awe as she seemingly sucked the life out of the thing. Her chest got tight and she felt like she was seeing stars. “I don’t think so.” She stared at the creature, trying to figure out what was happening. “I - I have one too. Last night, I saw… it looked just like me.”

Marley looked at Anita. She was freaked out. This always happened. Always. Now she was going to be afraid of Marley, too, and right when she was starting to really like her. Sighing, Marley squatted in front of her, trying to meet her eye to eye. “Hey, hey,” she said with a soft voice, “you’re gonna be okay. It’s dead now, I promise.” She looked back at it, but something wasn’t quite right. It looked almost like it was...dissolving? In the next moment, it started smoking, with a very dark black and somehow white tinge. Marley grabbed Anita a little forcefully, tugging her up and helped her stand. “Let’s get inside,” she said. “In case more show up.” Because if Anita had one, too, that meant something really not good was going on here.

Anita nodded, slowly bringing herself back to reality. She grabbed Marley’s arm when she reached down to her, but her eyes remained locked on the mime creature as it began to slowly dissolve right before their eyes. There was a smell, something familiar and… buttery? She couldn’t quite place it, and she wasn’t very interested in doing so. Once she got onto her feet, she reached out for Marley without even thinking about it, clinging onto her arm. “Yeah, yeah, let’s get inside.” Anita’s heart was still pounding, and despite the fact that they had killed that Marley look-alike, Anita still felt like she was being watched. “Do you think you could stay? The night, I mean?” She asked, looking up at Marley as they walked towards her front door.

As Marley helped Anita stand, moving quickly away from the thing with her face, she couldn’t help but feel a pang. Anita seemed more freaked out than she was letting on, but Marley wasn’t going to push it. And then she asked her to stay and Marley froze a moment. After a pause, she nodded, trying not to think about it too much. “Yeah,” she said as they made it up to the door. “Yeah, I’ll stay.” She let Anita inside first, gently prying her off her arm. “Go inside, I’ll be right there, just need to...grab something from my car,” she said, making sure she was safe inside before heading out and going to her car. She grabbed her jacket, tazer, and dug around in some of the supplies she kept in her car. There, the motion sensor. Heading back in, she stuck it by the front door, locked it, then headed into find Anita. “House okay?” she asked, a little unsure of what to say.

It had been so long since Anita had been near a dead body, even one that dissolved into nothing shortly after being killed. Whatever that was, whoever sent it, there was one that looked just like Anita out there. No doubt just as violent a creature. “Yeah, okay.” She said with a nod, then walked through her front door, turning to watch Marley walk away. She walked inside and sat down on the couch, she felt dirty. Killing that thing was what was necessary, what was right, but that didn’t stop the flashbacks. “Yeah, house is good.” Anita shook her head softly, “What the hell was that? I mean... “ Running her fingers through her hair, she looked up to Marley. “Thank you. For what you did.”

Marley wasn’t good at this comforting thing, but it looked like Anita really needed it. “Um,” she started out, rubbing the back of her head. She pulled her blazer off and set it on the table. “Yeah, you’re welcome. But as for what that was?” She glanced back towards the front door, “I have no idea. Dopplegangers aren’t usually that...aggressive.” She came over to where Anita was but didn’t quite sit down, wondering what the right thing to do here was. “You said there was another one? That looked just like you? Was it, uh-- mime looking like that one was, too?” Took a seat finally, keeping a small distance between them.

Anita smiled ever so slightly. “I thought it was a Doppleganger at first too.” She settled into the couch, wrapping her arms around her own torso. “Yeah, it was a mime too.” This was possibly the first time that Anita had been alone with Marley that she wasn’t the least bit interested in having sex with her. But she still wanted her to be around. Which was a strange feeling, a new feeling. She wasn’t entirely sure if she liked it. For a little while she sat in silence, feeling both incredibly awkward and also slightly comforted. “I’m sorry our evening got ruined.” She offered with a slight smile, trying to somewhat lighten the mood. “You sure you’re okay spending the night?”

Fuck mimes, Marley thought bitterly. Bristling slightly, she flopped back on the couch for a minute. When Anita spoke again, she looked over at her. The question was kind of loaded, whether either of them wanted to admit that or not, which meant that her answer would be loaded as well. Sighing, she sat up again and tried to give a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about it,” she said, “and yeah, I’m sure. I was planning on staying the night anyway, so it’s not like I have anywhere to be.” She silently thanked that she’d fed earlier this week and wouldn’t need to sneak out in the middle of the night to do that, though maybe it would’ve made her feel better. She ignored the feeling. “Besides, it’s my job to at this point,” she tacked on again, not sure if she was reminding herself or Anita of that fact. She stood again, holding out a hand to Anita. “C’mon, you should go up to bed. I’ll do another sweep of the house while you find me something to sleep in,” she said, “looks like it’s my turn borrowing your clothes.”

Anita nodded, smiling back at her. “Yeah, good point.” She reached out and took Marley’s hand, standing up and letting her hand linger as she stood there for a moment. Part of her wanted to hug Marley, maybe even kiss her, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. “Okay, yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” Anita made her way back to the bedroom, pulling out a pair of pajama bottoms and a t-shirt for Marley. She then stripped out of her outfit from the night, noticing specks of the black goop were all over her top. She threw on a nightgown, then walked out into the living room with the spare clothes. “All clear?”

Marley did do a thorough sweep of the house, but it was more so to give herself a moment. This didn’t have to be anything more than just making sure someone didn’t die because of a mime doppleganger. That’s all it was and all it needed to be. If that meant staying the night at a girl’s house who she slept with sometimes, then so be it. She paused in the middle of the living room and looked around, before going to the kitchen and grabbing a glass of water before turning to head to the room, only to be greeted by Anita in the doorway. “Oh, uh-- yes. Yep. All clear,” she looked down at the glass in her hand. “Here, I uh-- got this for you.” She didn’t know what Anita needed, but people always needed to drink water after traumatic experiences, right? She took the clothes gratefully. “Thanks.”

Anita looked at the glass for a moment before taking it into her hands. It was an odd gesture, something she wasn’t really expecting, but it was also so nice. It was thoughtful. She didn’t really need water, but she took a sip out of courtesy. Anita set the glass down on the bedside table. “Thanks, for everything. I… I don’t think, If you weren’t here tonight… ya know.” She said, largely avoiding eye contact, as she pulled the sheets back on the bed. She climbed into bed, turning over on her side and looking over at Marley. It was oddly comforting to have someone there. Even if there was looming awkwardness too.

Marley nodded slightly, before pulling off her shirt and pants and putting on the clothes Anita had given her to borrow. It was strange, crawling into someone’s bed without having slept with them or without the intention. Though they’d slept together before, this was nothing like that. Just....lying in a bed with someone. Marley laid on her back next to Anita. She turned her head to look at her for a moment. “Don’t worry about it,” she said, “I won’t let it hurt you.” Hoping her words were some sort of comfort, any comfort-- and then immediately finding that thought unnerving. Still, couldn’t help but add on, “You’re safe with me.”

#chatzy #chatzy: anita #anita #missed reservations #wickedswriting

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collateralfiction · 5 years

Text

OBJ Short

DREW

“Aye, three stacks, where you at, my love?”

With a little help from my coconut and avocado oil concoction, I carefully combed through my tresses and slicked my hair into a low ponytail at the back of my head. I was growing frustrated with having my natural hair out for so long that I was honestly contemplating siting through 5 hours of faux locs. And God knows I have zero patience to sit for an extended period of time, let alone have someone in my head at that. With Air Pods sticking in my ears, I could barely hear my best friend yelling at me from downstairs. Sliding back into my fluffy slippers, I stepped out of my room, looked over the staircase and down at her with a cheesy smile.

“Well don’t you look amazing. Jimmy Choo?”

“Absolutely and why are you not ready?” she sassed, placing her hand on her hips.

“Girl, it’s only All-Star weekend. This is not the Met Gala and the only reason I’m going is because you asked me to go. If I had my way, I would rather sit home and not get classified with a bunch of thirsty women trying to trap someone else’s man. Been through that and I’m past that,”

“I know how you feel about it, mama. But honestly, we’re just going for a good time and to network like usual. Stop acting ugly,” Kory laughed.

“You know I would rather stay in and catch up on The Walking Dead but fine. My outfit is already picked out too. I just need to throw it on. Being natural is so time consuming,” I complained as I watched her take her time up my spiral staircase.

“But it seems like you had more than enough time to do that face of yours,” she laughed, hugging me tightly. It was always Drew and Kory or Kory and Drew. If you see one, you would see either one of us not too far behind. That’s just how it went. I would say I was a social butterfly but when I find people I click with, I tend to stick with them and have reservations on wanting to make new friends.

“Oh girl, you know I love a good beat. I didn’t do anything too crazy. Just foundation, highlight, eyebrows, eyelash and lips,”

“So again, a full beat,” she laughed, pushing me into the bedroom.

“Oh, bitch. Call us an Uber or something,” I said as I dropped my robe and quickly ran into my walk-in closet to pick up the outfit of the day. Since it was only a simple basketball game that would be filled with multiple press outlets, celebrities and spectators, I still had to look my best. I wore a bright two-piece neon green sweater skirt set, and paired it with my favorite Versace sandals- if you must know the name, they’re called the Triple Strap Platform High-Heel Sandals. The heels in itself is perfect for me because with my little above average height and toned legs, it’ll just bring out even further my Goddess like features. Not to bring all the attention on me, I grabbed one of my favorite fringed black jean jackets to seal in the look. I normally carried a bag with me, but I figure a Fendi fanny pack to sling across my body would be so much easier.

“No Uber. We got car service and it’s downstairs waiting,” she said as she leaned against the doorway. “Woah, mama. You look damn hot. You’re sure to get someone’s attention tonight. Use the Burberry Her scent. It’s so refreshing,” she suggested.

“Thank you, babe. I’m pretty much done. We can go before I find something else I need to do,” I smiled.

“Wait, we have got to take some photos first. Because you know after this, we’re going to the afterparty,” she expressed, walking into the connected bathroom. When I moved into this house almost five years ago, everything that I had in here was crafted to what I wanted specifically. Everything had to be of my standards and whether that was me ripping everything out and starting from the ground up, so be it. My bathroom had one of the largest mirrors in the house, spanning from the floor to the ceiling as soon as you walked in. That’s where most of my photos were taken as people have noticed a certain pattern on Instagram.

“Smile, bitch,” Kory said, immediately smizing like the professional model she is.

I turned to the side to show the profile of my body and the shoes, smiling seductively in the picture. We took turns taking solo pictures of one another until we both sought out at least three good pictures we both could put on IG. Soon after, we both dashed out of the house and into the waiting car.

The ride to the Staples Center was nothing short of traffic and corny jokes shared between Kory and I. We couldn’t help but laugh at all the Instagram models suddenly making an appearance at a sports’ filled event. I could understand if they were going to support their love ones or something else in between. But to just be here for clout and attention is lame. At least pretend like you keep up with the festivities.

As we entered the world-renowned arena, we were escorted promptly to our seats to make it in time for the National Anthem. But Kory and I couldn’t help but say hi to many of the familiar faces we passed. I preferred to be seated in the skybox up top, but this was the All-Star game. It was only right that we sit courtside and by Gabrielle Union, DJ Khaled and Ludacris. Kory had someone grab us some refreshments while we settled in comfortably and I couldn’t help but to take out my phone and do a photo-op with Mrs. Wade. The arena begun to darken with the announcement of the National Anthem beginning. As much shit this country has put people of color through, I didn’t feel the need to stand. But if the players were going to stand tall and hold their head’s high, that was the least I could do. So, we stood and laughed.

Fergie was chosen to sing the National Anthem. Aside from being a part of the Black Eyed Peas, and a few hits of her own, I wasn’t the first one to be eager to put her music on. But hey, this meant more publicity to her and probably a great marketing tool. I didn’t understand the need to change up the format of the song, but Fergie’s slow and jazzy rendition missed the target. “What in the world?” I muttered, stifling back laughter. Kory’s snickers and slick comments had me and Gabby ready to throw the towel in and walk out of the arena. After taking a look at Draymond’s face, I knew from that moment on I could no longer hold it in. It even progressively grew worse when she yelled “Let’s play some basketball!”

The chatter continued around Fergie’s interesting remix of a song before the game begun to really start. I was actually happy that Kory convinced me to come out tonight because it made me realize how lax and chill the All Star games are when they’re competing in the name of charity and having fun. By the time halftime came around, Team Stephen was ahead by two points and it was still a close game. Pharell, N.E.R.D and Migos led the halftime show performance which gave me enough opportunity to get up and walk around. Kevin Hart and Drake were on the opposite sides of the court and I made it my business to harass the two men who call themselves my big brothers before making a quick beeline to the bathroom.

“Ass check,” Kory said. I laughed as I turned around so she could take a look. The things she would say would be so out of pocket and random, but I swear she’s the only person I know who could get away with it. “Great so when Mr. Blonde Curls comes over here for a sneak peek, everything will look proper,” she smiled.

“Who?” I questioned, sliding my glasses atop my head.

“Odell Beckham Jr. He is so damn fine. But I know he doesn’t like black girls but the way he’s looking at you, would make me eat my words all over again,”

“Girl, you just said a mouthful that will have to be addressed later,” I said, shaking my head as I turned my head to follow the direction of her eyes before our eyes both locked together and my words got caught in my throat. It was him. I quickly turned around and grabbed her hand to move her back to our seats. “I think he was looking at someone else. Come on, let’s go sit before it starts back up again,” Out of curiosity, I turned my head around to see if he was still staring at me and to my surprise he was.

I hadn’t seen this man since LSU days, how does he still recognize me?

ODELL

“They ain’t never gone invite my black ass up here; we cutting up way too much,” Ben laughed, taking another sip of the Henny and coke mix. You couldn’t really take Ben anywhere but what would be a party without Ben? It was impossible. He was needed whether you liked him or not. I couldn’t miss the 2018 All Star Basketball game even if I wanted to. The stars were aligned for me to attend. I was in L.A. to see my pops and brother, have a few meetings lined up with Nike and hey, the All Star weekend just happened to fall in my lap. Right time and place. I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity. And, I had my right hand man Ben. Perfect. “You’re making fun of the back of this nigga head. He finna spin that camera on your ass and show them what they don’t really want to see,” he said as he continued to blabber on and on.

“Don’t be upset because Dave Chapelle ain’t laugh at your corny ass joke,” I snickered. “Or the fact that the bets these kids have been making thus far, you’re losing in all of them. That’s crazy, broskie,” I said.

“You know what? That just sounds like words from a true hater. My new mixtape gone have you as the very first athlete that gets dissed, can’t wait,”

“Don’t matter to me long as I can still dress,” I said, shoving his arm. He was always trying to come for my dome and by now, I was used to all of his antics.

“Ain’t no one worried about you and that damn Supreme satchel my nigga sold you on,” he said, kissing his teeth.

“Man, I’m tired of this. Keep my seat warm,” I said as I stretched a little and grabbed my empty cup of beer. The arena had plenty of employees but not for a tiny second would any of them leave our section alone just to make sure we were satisfied and had everything we needed. I’m sure they were excited to see big stars and this is probably not the first time, but I would get tired quick waiting hand and feet on us celebrities. Absolutely not.

The halftime show was underway which put everyone else’s attention on the performer, my eyes were locked on someone else. She passed me on the way to her seat and I couldn’t place a name to the face, but I knew her. Her laugh was the same as I remembered it; so vivid. But where did I know her from? I had to distract myself with things around me or else I’d be staring at her the whole time, trying to figure it out. And knowing Ben so well, he’d pick up the pieces. I was tempted to walk over there and say something but how do you introduce yourself to a stranger without it being strange? You don’t. I posed for a few photo-ops before finding myself a bathroom, grabbing some snacks and making my way back out just in time for the start of the third quarter.

I wasn’t too interested in the game after my mind was warped with trying to figure out how did I know her. After another hour and a half of the game, team Lebron came out with the win. It was a close game and it was no brainer that Lebron James was walking away with the MVP award and title for the night. He scored 29 points, had 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Tell me he wasn’t dedicated.

The floor was mixed with a bunch of people; reporters, players, celebrities, you name it. I lost her in the crowd of people, and it wasn’t helping that Ben was trying to build the courage to talk to Beyoncé, knowing damn well he was the last thing on her mind. “Yo, bro, we finna head over to the afterparty,” I wasn’t too interested in going out myself but after convincing myself that a night out wouldn’t do me any harm, I agreed to go. Besides that, I couldn’t let my boy have all the fun.

___

She was there again.

Cabaret was a popular club in New York and had recently opened up a spot in Los Angeles. It had only been opened for a month thus far but the way the lines were wrapped around the block, and the fact that the club itself was at its capacity just showed you how well thought out and lucrative it is to open a club of this magnitude. I nodded my head to the beat of the music as I followed behind the security team to Snoop’s VIP area. All I saw were girls, girls and more girls, big ass bottles of champagne and a thick cloud of smoke. But sitting behind in the corner was the same woman I saw earlier at the game, with her friend I’m assuming, talking to Lonzo Ball. What are the odds? Everyone must know everyone in Hollywood.

“What are you staring at so damn hard?” Ben asked, after grabbing a glass of champagne from one of the waitresses and handing it to me.

“Her,” I mumbled. “She looks familiar, but I don’t know where from,”

“You fucked her?” he said, stepping in front of my view.

“I gotta fuck everyone to say they look familiar?” I questioned, crossing my arms over my chest.

“You fucked-“

“Okay, happenstance which doesn’t really count. Move outta my way real quick,” I said.

“Aye, you want me to help? I could be the wingman, ice breaker, whatever your stiff ass needs,” he chuckled, throwing his hands up. I chuckled, shaking my head as I passed him by and went towards the direction of the lady in question. I stopped midway when I realized I didn’t really have a game plan and the fact that she was surrounded by people only really meant that this wasn’t the moment to approach her. Let me fall back.

“Beckham! Brody, what’s happening, boy? I haven’t seen you in weeks,” I turned around and smiled, bringing Drake into a brotherly hug. Out of all those that put on a show in this industry, Drake was really a stand-up dude and even a few months back, I was crashing at his place till I was well adjusted. I could never repay him for that.

“Ah man, Champagne Papi, what it do, man? I’m out here with Ben crazy ass, just getting in some fun in the sun,”

“Or stirring up some trouble. Aye, listen. I’m about to head on out but I’m having a little get together at my crib in Calabasas. Come through, I’ll send you the details,” he said as he patted my shoulder. “Bring Ben too. He’s good times.”

“This nigga finna be hype as shit. Will do, brody,” I said, giving him one last dap before I parted ways and greeted Snoop. I wasn’t that big of a drinker to begin with, but no one would know it by how hype and energize I was by just music alone. It was sort of like a painkiller for me. Just the beat alone could put me in a great mood no matter what the situation was. The club itself didn’t look like it dying down anytime soon and maybe an hour or two into the party, I had lost Ben in the crowd of people. With a dead cellphone and cloud of smoke hanging around me, there was no way possible I would be able to locate him. So, I sat on the couch, hoping he would notice his friend with the blonde curls wasn’t dancing any longer.

“I’ll be right back, Kory. I promise. I just need to get some fresh air,”

“Drew, I am not letting you leave by yourself. I’ll come,” My ears perked up at that revelation as I turned my head to the left to listen. They were there the whole night and in their own zone with conversation. We locked eyes a couple of times, but they were quickly cut short by either her friend, Kory, blocking my view or some random girl trying her best to persuade and talk to me.

Her name is Drew.

Drew Jordan.

DJ.

We went to Louisiana State University together.

That’s exactly how I knew her; a short flame that quickly fizzled as soon as I made it pro. I got up and grabbed my bottle of water and followed behind her slowly, watching her every movement. She still looked the same as before and I just didn’t know how I could forget a face like hers or a smile as radiating as hers could be. All of a sudden it felt like reality was sinking in. “Drew?” I called out as soon as I stepped outside. She stood off to the side drinking from a bottle of Sprite. I had watched her for five minutes before deciding to call her name. She turned around slowly and her eyes widened upon seeing me. “I probably caught you off guard, I ain’t mean to do that… I just been staring at you since the game and… I probably sound like a straight up creep,” I laughed, walking towards her. “Do you remember me?”

“Doesn’t matter if I remember you, everyone knows you,” she smirked. “But, how could I forget? How are you, Odell?”

“I’m doing great.. I can’t complain. I love how you say my name like we don’t got history, girl,” I teased, taking a step closer towards her.

She chuckled slightly and twisted the cap back onto her soda bottle and looked at me. “Well, if I do say so myself, I do recall once upon a time someone denying my phone calls so…” she trailed off.

“That wasn’t intentional, baby. I mean- Drew,” I said, tucking my bottom lip into my mouth to prevent me from saying anything else but I think it only had the opposite effect as the words already came out of my mouth.

“Calm down, Odell. It’s an Orleans thing, I get it,” she laughed. “I also understand that your career took off so damn quick, so I’m not surprised we lost touch. It happens in life,” she shrugged. I could tell she was cold by the way she tried to grip her jacket closer. It was corny but I was thinking I should offer up my jacket for an added layer of heat.

“Do you want my jacket? I think trying to look cute caught up to yo stubborn ass,” I teased, already shrugging my jacket off and placing it around her shoulders.

“Now you know I have a jacket of my own and now you’re going to get sick,” She said.

“That’s fine, that just means you gotta come to the crib and take care of me,” I winked.

“You haven’t changed at all,” she snickered. “I’m sure your girlfriend wouldn’t be too thrilled to see another woman’s face all in her man’s space,”

“Most likely not but you’re not just another woman. You’re a pretty woman that I got history with and I don’t have a girlfriend so it works out even better,” I smiled.

“Oooh, lucky me. Maybe I’ll finally get a text back from you,” she laughed, the dimples in her smile making my stomach flutter upside down.

“Nah, you ain’t never gonna let that go. Are you?” The quick shake to the head was all the confirmation I needed. “How about this, I take you out tomorrow from brunch or something along the lines of that and we just catch up completely. No bullshit, just like LSU days,” Her lips twisted to the side as she tapped her finger on her chin a few times in contemplation. From what I remember of Drew, she has always been stubborn but that’s what attracted me to her instantly. She had a good head on her shoulder and what could be looked at as arrogance was actually her just being confident which is one thing we had in common from the jump.

She was fiery, passionate and a damn bad ass athlete. Not to mention I thought she was so beautiful and still do, to this day. She was naturally a tom boy; she dressed in nothing but Nike tracksuits and Jordan’s. But she made it work because she always had her hair done up, nails on like Flo Jo and would do her make up every now and then. Then when she really wanted to show out, she would completely dress up and would wear the tightest possible dresses ever. And of course, that would piss me off because of all the attention she would get from guys. If it wasn’t from me and me only, I didn’t want her receiving anyone else’s attention.

We fit together like puzzle pieces.

“It’s a deal, but only on the ground that I get to choose the location,” she smirked.

“You know I like to take control. Let me pick it and you pay,” I countered.

Her laughter radiated and became louder as she bent down a little. “Fuck all the way off!” she continued to laugh. “You still owe me for running me dry from my Tiger card. I swear you was only my friend for the food,” she recalled.

“Nah, you know better than that. But the 5 dining hall was the spot. You know damn well I couldn’t resist them omelets,” I laughed.

“No, you’re absolutely right. Well worth it,” she smiled. “Well, I guess this is the part where I assume we exchange information again?”

“I follow you on Instagram already,” I admitted.

“Since when?” she questioned.

“Today. After the basketball game, actually. I had to make a completely new account once I hit the pros and your old handle no longer worked so I had to do a little extra work to get your current handle,”

“Boy, bye. What extra work? You still just as dramatic as ever,” she waved off. “I guess I can do a quick follow back,” she teased.

“And while you’re at it, maybe slide me your number too,” I said, reaching for my phone, only to remember that it was dead. “Shit, or maybe you put my number in and just text me. My phone is dead,”

“Ah, making me do the work. If I text and don’t receive a text back, you’re going on the blogs, Beckham,” she said, pointing her nails in my chest.

“Deal, baby girl,” I smiled.

#this was the original short I did before I switched it around to what is currently posted #does that make sense lmao #here sumn sumn

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surveys-at-your-service · 4 years

Text

Survey #262

WoW will probably start to take over my life again tomorrow oof so expect surveys to slow down some.

What do you wish people wouldn't call you? The only one I don't really like is Girt calling me "kid." He doesn't mean it in a derogatory way or anything like that; he's just always called me that since I was a high school freshman and he was a senior. Now as an adult that's been through things I don't believe anyone deserves, it's kinda weird but more so frustrating as, regardless of his intentions, I somewhat feel belittled. I've never said anything directly about my discomfort, though, so it's my own fault. I just don't want to make him feel bad for doing it for years lmao. What do people say about your name upon learning it for the first time? They don't say anything; my name is very ordinary. Why did you choose the hair length you have? I have a few reasons. The biggest is because I was just bored of average, long hair, and the fact I was at the time having a very hard time with self-care. My hair would get incredibly knotted to where it was hard to even brush it sometimes. Makes me shiver thinking back on it. For my own sanity and ease, it needed to be gone. Also, with how STUPID hot I get, cutting it all off helped with the weight of my hair (it's v thick) but more importantly how hot it made me it the warm months. Zero regrets chopping it all off, omg. If your hair could be ANY color, what would you pick? At this very moment, I really want silver hair. Do you wish your hair was longer or shorter than it is now? It needs a trim. Do you think you're attractive? (It's okay to say yes =P) No; I think I wouldn't look ALL to bad if I lost some more weight (I've literally been on a weight loss plateau for two fuckin years). When I was perfectly healthy, I didn't think I was very pretty even back then, but now that I look back, I feel I was decently pretty. Not gorgeous, but. What is your favorite band? Ozzy Osbourne. :') What is your favorite movie? The Lion King. The second one is like directly behind it. Finding Nemo is also very precious to me. What is your favorite book or magazine? The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. What is your favorite song? Ugh, this is impossible. I love way way too many. I suppose maybe... "Death Inc." by Motionless In White? Idk. What is your favorite color to wear? Black, duh. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go and why? South Africa because I want to spend time with and take pictures at the Kalahari Meerkat Project and especially pet a Whiskers meerkat. I WILL cry. Meerkats literally changed my life. So many people I wouldn't know... If you got the chance and wouldn't get caught, would you cheat on a lover? NOOOOO the guilt though. Someone drops a fifty dollar bill and doesn't notice. Will you tell them? Definitely. I'd feel awful otherwise. Would you ever pierce something on your face? I already have my lip and tongue pierced, and I did have my nostril pierced, too. I want more, particularly an undereye microdermal if I can switch to contacts... which I don't like. I think it'd look pretty dumb with glasses. Are you selfish? EVERYONE should be to a degree depending on the occasion. Doing what is best for you is not a bad thing. Are you mean to people who are different from you? Wow no. I find people "different" from me interesting. Do you make fun of obese people? By the BMI definition, I am one of those people. So take a guess? Do you eat when you're upset? I have to fight that extremely hard, because I usually do experience the impulse to comfort eat when I'm very depressed. I've gotten way better at it, though. What if you had to choose between feeding yourself or feeding your pets? I honestly don't know for sure what I'd do... but I think I would prioritize my pets, honestly. It would break me to watch them suffer and lose weight. What if you saw someone being beaten on the street? YOOOO I READ THIS AS "EATEN" FIRST. But anyway I'd call the cops ASAP. There's a possibility I'd intervene if I felt myself capable of taking on the assailant. What if it was you being beaten? According to the night terrors I've had beyond count, curse like a motherfucker and fight back while calling for help. Who's the most important person to you (related)? Mom. Who's the most important person to you (non-related)? Sara. What's more important to you, happiness or success? Happiness. What's more important to you, your happiness or someone else's? Depends on the person. List the ten most important things to you: Oh, yikes. No order: 1.) My peace of mind, health, and happiness; 2.) my family; 3.) my pets; 4.) my career future; 5.) my friends; 6.) a YouTuber I've never met lmao; 7.) my pebble from my partial hospitalization program; 8.) Teddy's ashes; 9.) the Mark mug Sara gave me sobs; 10.) and the RP site I'm on. Like if it disappeared tomorrow with all the profiles and history and stuff I would break the earth in half oof. Have you ever lived in a mobile home? No. Have you ever had your bedroom in a basement? No. How many times in the past week have you eaten fast food? Hm. I don't think once. In the house - shoes, socks, slippers or bare feet? Bare feet.\ Do you consider dogs inside or outside pets? Usually indoor, depending on the breed and the time of year. What’s your favourite piece of furniture in your house? ig my bed? Have you ever had a crush on a friend’s parent? Yikes no. Do you prefer carbonated or uncarbonated drinks? Sucker for carbonated over here. Favorite thing that you can see up in the sky? A full moon. Would you rather eat at the table or in your room? I'm so used to eating in my room. Do you like the sound of birds singing when you wake up, or is it annoying? I love it. If someone gave you a kitten, would you keep it? I'd love to, but it'd really be my mom's choice. What’s your ideal activity for a rainy day? Nap oh lawd. Favorite type of cracker? Cheez-Its. Banana sandwich... yum or yuck? Only yum with peanut butter. Animal you like to watch but sort of creeps you out: Spiders. Bagels or English Muffins? Bagels. Do you like to daydream about sex? I do it sometimes. Which of your parents do you laugh more with? My dad is really funny. Have you ever been to an open casket wake or funeral? Wake, yes. Who mows the lawn at your house? A family friend. Have you ever written a story from beginning to end? When I was little and was writing that meerkat story, yes. I started on the sequel but didn't get far. What’s a big turn on for you? Being genuinely interested in what makes me me. Actually wanting to know the littlest things about me. Just show sincere interest. Are you doing anything tomorrow? I do know I'm fuckin finally getting my laptop home. Does your car have a name? N/A Do you own clothes from any celebrity clothing lines? No, but a bitch is getting a Cloak shirt or hoodie at some point. Who was the last person you ranted about? My bitch of a cousin for being a disrespectful fuck when all my dying grandmother wants is to talk as a group with the whole family. I ranted to Mom though, not in the group chat because I'm actually mature enough to not talk shit when, again, all our grandma wants is peace and love between us at the end of her life. I was SEETHING. Know any magic tricks? I don't remember any. I LOOOOOVED those magic kits as a kid, though. Is there music in your head right now? Right now "Dirty Pretty" by In This Moment is on, so does that count as "in my head?" Would you like to become a dancer? It'd be very cool, most certainly, and due to taking dance classes so long, I tend to think of potential dances in my head when I hear like... any song, lol. I'd love to be one if I had the grace and endurance + no hyperhydrosis. Name one person of the same sex as you you wouldn't mind doing: Hunny I'm bisexual, there's a lot, lmao. Dream woman? Uhhhh. Maybe my friend Alon. She was like one of my first hints I wasn't straight, lmao. But idk, I find soooo many women to be attractive. What is the most gory film you've seen? One of the Saw movies. What a surprise, ik. Ever fallen down a hole? ZOINKS no. Do you work better in a clean or messy environment? Clean, durr. Do you know any vegans? Only online. Do you like bananas? I am VERY picky with bananas. They have to be perfect. My preferred ripeness lasts only like, two days. .-. What's a film you've seen that confused you? Oh boy, idk. I don't watch many films... especially if I'm confused and the plot isn't great, I'll stop watching. WAIT!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!! I went to see Warcraft when it came out and I was so fuckin lost just because the orcs' voices are so goddamn deep that I just sat there like "uhhhh sir come again????" I didn't play Classic, and I'm not great at remembering every aspect of the plot, so. I'm to this day p confused lmao. Do you ever wear black lipstick? I really only ever wear black. What is next to your bed? I have a white shelf to my left where I put my meds, a drink, the fan... that kind of stuff. My cat's food bowl is to the right of it on the floor. Are your fingernails dirty? Nope. Have you ever fell for someone believing you could "fix" them? Not for that reason, no. Describe a picture of yourself that you hate: LASKJDLKFJAOWJE my friend took a picture of me eating a hot dog once and joked she was putting that shit on Facebook and it was funny as shit but thank Christ she was in fact joking. Would you rather play a good or an evil character in a play? While I'd love to be the evil one, I'd probably make it too cheesy because I am a BAD actress. Has anybody ever lied to you just to impress you? Story of one of my "best" friendships. What's your favourite shade of blue? Baby blue, probs. Can you remember a world before iPods? I do indeed. On rides to school when I sat in the back, I would bring one of those portable CD players with me to play discs. Where did you go on your last date? I can't remember the place's name... Lume's? Something like that? Breakfast place in Illinois. Do people find you "cute"? It happens sometimes. Who does the best remixes? Oh idk, I don't pay much attention to this. Where do you get your news? Facebook, lmao. What social stigma does society need to get over? What DOESN'T it need to get over???? What was the last photo you took? Probably something funny on Facebook to send to Sara lmao. I will get memes to her some way. What mythical creature do you wish actually existed? As badly as I want to say dragons, I don't think it'd be a great idea, heh... Maybe dryads. What are you interested in that most people aren't? As of recently, TARANTULAS. I've fallen in LOVE with them. What's the most ridiculous thing you have bought? No clue. What sounds hit you with major nostalgia every time you hear them? The gem collecting sound from Spyro. It was my text ringtone on my last phone! I need to move it over to my current one. What was the biggest realization you have had about yourself? I was possibly the bigger villain than Jason in the breakup. But idk. What topic could you spend forever talking about? Gay rights. Which way should toilet paper hang, over or under? In the original patent, it was designed as going over. GMM knowledge. Therefore I find over as correct, BUT I ultimately don't care like... at all. I don't even really notice when I go in the bathroom. Are you usually early or late? Usually slightly early. What do you wish you knew more about? Politics so I could be a more helpful member of society alksdjfka;lw What is the most annoying question you've been asked? It's not really like, annoying I guess, but the closest would be just how frequently people see my lip ring and ask if it hurt. It's incredibly sensitive skin, and even if it wasn't, a needle went all the way through it. Like... guess. News flash: being stabbed hurts, lmao. Like I always explain that it's not awful, but duh, there is pain. What is your favorite milkshake flavor? Yummm chocolate. What was the worst phase in your life? 2020 thinks it's a bad guy, but lemme tell ya, shit's got nothing on 2016. Do you like sprinkles on your ice cream? I hate sprinkles on anything. Just an annoying texture with negligible flavor. The last time you went out to eat - what did you order? It was just a milkshake. Do you have all 32 teeth? I'm missing two wisdom teeth that just never grew in. Do you know how to do the moon walk? Never tried. What is one of your favorite comedy movies? White Chicks. Has anybody ever told you that you have a good singing voice? Yeah. I don't think I do. Onion rings or french fries? Fries. Not an onion ring fan. Who is the best cook that you know? Sara's mom is great, omgggg. She's cooked things I generally don't like yet I wound up enjoying. Can you name 3 different dinosaurs? Let's see: Spinosaurus, stegosaurus, velociraptor. I was a dino kid, man, just gettin' started. *finger guns* What's the largest amount that you can juggle at one time? I can’t juggle. What was your favorite thing to go on at the playground as a kid? I'd daaaash for the swingset. Do you know how much you weighed at birth? How much? Ummm I think 6-something pounds? 7? Where do you spend most of your time at? At home. In my bed. Exciting stuff, y'know. What noise does your favorite animal make? If my memory serves me right, they have over 40 vocalizations, but I'd say barking and chirping are the most ordinary/basic. Have you ever fallen in the toilet when you were little? lol I don't think so. What is the best kind of mac & cheese? I'm a basic-ass Velveeta bitch lmao. Who is your favorite oldies band? Boy oh BOY, you're asking a classic rock/metal addict. Of course it's Ozzy tho. But I love soooo many!! What is your favorite farm animal? Pigs! Do you like to play Monopoly? I'm not a big fan, no. What is the most fun restaurant you have ever been to? I like the vibe of Buffalo Wild Wings. Or I just have good memories there. What size bra do you wear? I'm actually not sure. I haven't bought new ones in a while and I don't think the ones I currently have are the right size anyway. Do you have a ceiling fan in your room? No. Who was your favorite Sesame Street character? I don't remember too well, but I think Cookie Monster? What about Muppet? Idr. What was going through your mind during the presidential campaign? I am sadly paying no attention. What do you think of the Duggar family ( 17+ kids )? Could you handle taking care of that many children? Ew, hell no. I don't believe the number of children warranted in a family should be legally monitored, it's much more difficult than that, BUT RATHER I'm very firm about knowing when it's more than enough. Population control is a thing. NOBODY needs that many kids imo, not even close to that. So far, what is the number one, best decision you have ever made? How has it affected your life? Letting go of Jason/accepting life without him. It has made my life much, much brighter and healthier. Have you reunited with any old friends recently? Was it awkward, or just like old times? No. When was the last time you talked to your first ex? February of 2017. Wow... been a long time. How different is your online personality from your offline personality? I am MUCH more outgoing and talkative online. What are your favorite holiday-themed movies? Jim Carrey's How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Hocus Pocus, The Nightmare Before Christmas, etc... Do you listen to Christmas/winter-themed music when the season comes around? No. Is there anything that you do that’s potentially controversial? Yes. What is your most recent obsession? Most recent, whew, tarantulas. I'm really gonna try talking Mom into letting me get one when/if we move. Do you say “merry Christmas” or “happy holidays”? To you, does it really matter which one is said/you say? Do you do your best to remain politically correct? Instinctually, I say "merry Christmas;" that's what has always been said around me. I personally see zero problem in calling it whatever... Like just appreciate someone wishing you well. You get the concept, and that's all you really need imo. As for political correctness, I'm kinda... down the middle? Like I feel it's been taken way, way too far, but I see some caution in wording as wise. If you could relive one week of your life, which would it be, and why? Would you do anything differently, or keep it all the same? Ugh, my first visit at Sara's. I just loved it so, so much. I think I wouldn't change a thing. It felt perfect. Is there a part of your life you wish you could remember, but can’t? Sometimes when I take these surveys and they ask "how old were you when...", ha ha. Frustrates me. What was the last thing/event to trigger a painful memory? It was last night, actually. The Final Fantasy VII remake is out, and I started watching a YouTuber I like play it. Jason got me to play the original, playing it a lot when we spent time together, but I only got a bit beyond half-way through before my PS3 broke. Cherished memories, so it was decently triggering indeed. I loved the game though and ABSOLUTELY want to see it played out in its entirety, so I shoved past the pain and am glad I did. Now I'm anxiously awaiting the next video aljkdsjfawe Y'ALL I wanna play more FF. What do you think of people that choose not to vote? I can't say anything, seeing as I never have voted before... Are you keeping anything from the people you love? Nothing important, no. Have you ever written a suicide note, whether joking or not? Yes, and that stupid novel is one of my biggest regrets. Who the FUCK would joke about that, though. When was the last time you let something ‘go to your head’? Not even like an hour ago. This happens allllll the time. When are you most likely to show off? Maaan Guitar Hero used to be good for that shit, ha ha. I was an expert at that back in its day. I haven't played it in forever, and on the rare occasion I do, I am suuuper rusty. Which would you prefer: spectacular view of the ocean, or of the mountains? MOUNTAINS!!!!!! Do you follow any dating rules/play any dating games? No. When was the last time you felt extremely confident about something? ME????????? CONFIDENT???????????? WHAT A CONCEPT!!!!!!!!!! When was the last time you blew the seeds off of a dandelion? Wow, not a clue. Probably not since we lived at my old house and I would go on walks down the path. What was the last thing that happened that you couldn’t explain? Oh I dunno. What do you do with all of your spare change? I just keep it in my wallet. Where did you hear about your all-time favorite band? He was and still is one of my mom's favorites! How many cans of soda do you drink in a day? AHHHHHH soda is my biggest nutritional weakness. I refuse to let myself drink more than one a day now though. It's funny and disgusting, when I was HEALTHY AND SKINNY I could on a rare occasion start a fourth can in a single day. Nowadays the thought almost makes me shiver. What is the oldest thing that you own? and the newest? The oldest thing, ummm. Not sure. Probably a stuffed animal in the attic. I just got two new books today! Is there anything you wish you had never found out about? Yep. A number of things. What is something that you refuse to believe in? Astrology. What is something you wish more people believed in? Gay rights. What food is your ultimate comfort food? Ice cream. Have you ever put anything inside a time capsule? What? OMGGGG I remember doing this in elementary school as a class! I don't recall what was in it, though. Is there too much violence on tv, or are people to sensitive? Too sensitive, but also negligent. It's got a lot to do with raising, imo. Don't show kids wild shit at too young of an age, and when they are shown this kind of stuff, you make it obvious that the behavior/content is unacceptable irl. Entertainment is not responsible for someone's shitty actions made with their own volition. What is something you used to fear, but no longer do? My first huge fear was thunderstorms. Now I enjoy them lol. Do you think it’s important to know a 2nd language? Not mandatory, no. Especially depends on if you're going anywhere. Do you know anyone that’s just naturally good at almost everything? My old friend Hannia IMMEDIATELY came to mind. She was the best in class GPA-wise, first chair for flute in band, and just in general STUPID talented. Do you know anyone that’s just bad at everything? BITCH ME What is one emoticon you use often? A sarcastic :^) or <3 What is one emoticon you almost never use? A lot, particularly ones with equal signs for eyes.

#survey #quiz #questions

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natsunoomoi · 4 years

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FFVII Thoughts

-This whole thing with Jessie is so much filler it’s mostly unnecessary. Plus I feel like the whole impact of Jessie and her arc and even this filler is detracted by her being a former actress. Like I mentioned before I feel like her being an actress and known for toying with men kind of takes away from her crush on Cloud and makes it seem cheap. Also even though she’s someone’s daughter who is more tech inclined, I always thought of her as an engineer herself and like a former Shinra engineer that quit would have been a more powerful message than that of an actress. Even if you keep her Dad getting sick it adds an extra layer. Like say she worked in R&D and they like pushed an experimental mako enhancement for the plant too soon and she warned it would make people sick and it made her Dad sick. There’s a lot of ways her story would have been better and fit more nicely into the narrative. :/

-Even though Jessie annoys me, Biggs is kind of okay but he comes off to me as a little cliche. Wedge is kind of a little nicer.

-Aww, they took out the pickpocket on the train during the ID scan. That would have been a lot harder to deal with, but yeah.

-Good lord they stretched out these areas.

-Completely lost in this lamp and platform maze, but after a long time I finally figure out how to get out even with the items.

-Another maze and more reactor context change.

-Robot change where you can screw it over. That’s interesting.

-Yay Aerith!

-Dang Reno. You hard.

-OMG stupid ghosts get out of the way. I bet I have to trek all this way back to get this materia.

-This church is now also a crazy rat maze.

-Now onto roof rat maze.

-Ugh, why do I have to take the long way just to avoid Rude?

-Let me explore the town!

-Cloud and Aerith are way more helpful in this game. The kids have a secret hide out. Cool, I guess.

-Chadley is seriously simultaneously frustrating and useful.

-Yay I can go back and get crap from the church.

-Okay, so sneak out. Why tf is there a pot right outside my room that I can’t see?

-Okay, so there’s Aerith. We have a secret tunnel-ish. So many ladders. So much up and down.

-Out of that maze and yay they kept that scene where Aerith brings up Zack. Still not sure I’m liking all the foreshadowing cuz this was a spoiler in the original game.

-Tifa looks nice in that outfit. Like in general in this game though. They gave her a pretty thoughtful makeover that like captures the essence of her original profile, but also with some added tweaks in style that I actually like better. Like she didn’t have those thigh highs before, but those are a nice touch. And instead of her mini skirt her skirt is actually a skort and is pleated. Plus like the better boob support.

-Good lord Wall Mart is so involved now. So many alleys. Get out of the way yo!

-Leslie seems kind of cool, but I’m not sure cuz he works for a creep.

-Ugh hussle of trying to figure out how to get in. This sponsorship thing is new. I guess Corneo got more exclusive in this game.

-I have to go to the coloseum? Ugh, why?

-This crowd is full of haters.

-Okay winning over the crowd....

-I have an extra battle? WTF is this BS. I almost wish it was the Turks making a surprise appearance. That seems like a silly stupid thing the original would have done.

-Obviously Cloud caught someone else’s attention.

-Yay! Finally dress up time.

-Awesome. I’m doing a bunch of quests now.

-Whoops I didn’t level up my materia all the way. I got most of them so it’s doing fine but just the medicine thing.

-I saw a lot of people complaining about Jules, but he wasn’t so bad? I just needed to remember the rhythm and what I was doing by saying it so I could keep track of the pattern.

-Ugh, Johnny where you taking me? I have to wait for someone not yet.

-Oh Aerith looks nice. I like her outfit.

-Okay time to dress up Cloud.

-Whoa, Folia is a honeybee? Teh shock.

-What is this mini-game? It’s hard to keep rhythm and sometimes I actually can’t see the queue. Why do you design a mini-game where you can’t see the thing clearly?

-Oh shit I missed a track because I didn’t want to sit there and keep playing a frustrating mini-game. D:

-Yay! At least I got the cute dress. But real talk I kind of miss the old way to dress up Cloud only cuz I would want to see what the different colored wigs look like, but that whole storyline is very trans insensitive. Or even drag insensitive, so I understand why they changed it.

-Andrea is kind of cool. I was worried they were going to make him into some kind of flaming stereotype, but actually although he definitely has some flare, he’s a pretty well balanced character and none of the characters really judge him for his personal choices. Although definitely some judgement for the stuff they make them do, but that’s fair because you’re being subjected to it. Good on Cloud for following along.

-Okay time to take down this fat loser. So how does this work? How do you know who he’ll choose?

-Wait does he just choose Cloud every time? That’s a little less fun. I liked dressing Cloud up as the prettiest princess so that you could get him picked.

-This bit of them threatening Corneo’s private parts is still one of my favorite things. It was teh shock when I saw it the first time back in the day and I still enjoy it now.

-Ugh, the sewer. Also a lot of denial. But ugh the sewer.

-My sister was right. The train graveyard is creepier.

-Oh crap I forgot to steal from Eligor. !@#$@#%

-Alright climb the pillar. This is kind of slightly more fun with the extra scenes from Reno and Rude.

-Whoa, they saved Wedge. Cuz he originally totally ate it. Like straight fell off the pillar several stories and was unresponsive.

-Biggs and Jessie still die. That’s fine. I actually feel less sorry for Jessie dying than I did with the original. :/ I think because they managed to actually make her irritating with how over the top they made her.

-Aerith and Marlene is so cute!

-Helicopter shots are annoying, but I like hearing Reno. It’s sad that Fujiwara Keiji died two days after this came out. This is like the last thing he did probably. But his voice fit Reno really well. I don’t think it fit Ardyn well. Ardyn I think deserved a lower register, but I think Square gave him the part probably because of his diagnosis cuz I think Ardyn’s in-game struggle in a sense reflected his real life trials in some way only in the game he became immortal. Real life not so much, but immortalized in a sense through these works. I wonder if Square would have wanted it to come out sooner so that maybe he could have played it himself a little bit before passing, but they had to push the date for quality and stuff.

-I don’t know why, but I really like looking at Reno’s open shirt. Like I think the way they did his abs are a bit different from Advent Children. I think his shirt is even open wider than in AC. *checks* Yeah, it is. AC it’s buttoned up toward the top and just the top one or two are left open. And okay for real Remake has his shirt open even more than even in the original. Nevermind him buttoning up more for AC, but like in original FF7 polygon Reno and original Nomura art Reno looks like it’s only unbuttoned to about mid-pecs. Remake Reno is like down to like the top of his stomach. I guess I can’t complain about the equal opportunity fan service.

-Tseng is actually done pretty well, but I keep looking at him cuz he just strikes me as odd.... Oh wait is it his hair? Is that a hair tie? I don’t think he had a hair tie before. I think we were just supposed to assume he had his hair slicked back and kept in place by gel or hair spray. Also his face is interesting cuz I think they tried to make him actually look Chinese, but I think he just turned out looking kind of like Tamaki Hiroshi. Oh and Suwabe-san!

-LOL Rude carrying Reno like a rag doll.

-And there goes the plate. Oh, no, Wedge. I guess he did die. But the kitties. ;o;

-Let me explore Wall Market! Ugh, fine.

-That Kyrie chick seems kind of a little annoying. I kind of want to let Barret hit her. But I’m probably biased because I had a hot mess of a flatmate with that name and she like didn’t clean up after herself and left dirty dishes in her room and like pushed it up against her roommate’s bed. >.> Like passing responsibility over them to someone else. And I think she maybe broke one of my cups? And like tried to use my stuff without asking? Maybe stole some stuff too but idk. And like worst of all was like she sold her car so she could get money because she couldn’t hold down a job and like needed money and instead of like you know paying rent and bills, she spent it on shoes and make up and left the receipt out for us to find.

-Wall Market is...different in the day time.

-All teh quests.

-Okay Kyrie is still kind of annoying and stupid when you talk with her one on one, but she at least seems better than my flatmate.

-Oh old lady is the Angel.

-Findin’ all the birds. It kind of strikes me that they added this in cuz of how much time it takes to get places and it’s kind of like XV and even the XIV MMO, but not. I guess it’s a staple now with their newer titles because of how grand they make the scenery.

-Down in the sewer again....

-I just really wanna find Corneo’s stash.

-OMG I got a chase this little asshole now.

-Okay so now Leslie. Leslie is a good guy after all. Not a bad new character too. Nice decent development and stuff.

-But gdi Corneo’s still alive. I mean, I knew that cuz Wutai, but ugh.... I think he deserved at least a punch in the face.

-Okay so anyway I guess I’m going up now. Just going to finish up stuff before I go past the point of no return. Get all teh things I can from the coliseum and all that.

-Climbing, climbing. Oops I missed a thing. Was I supposed to?

-Gdi this helicopter thinger is annoying. I can’t slash any boxes. Just kick them around.

-Okay done so I guess I’m going in.

-...Is this a parking lot?

-Oh okay so here’s the entrance.

-Shinra headquarters actually looks like a bigger version of Square Enix’s headquarters in Higashi Shinjuku. I’ve been there pretty recently and also like to cut through the office building to get to Artnia cuz I don’t want to walk all the way around. Decor and stuff and specifics are definitely different, but like the double tower U-shaped look with the walkway in the middle thing is very much how the building is in Shinjuku. Specifics with the stairs and escalators are also different, but kind of the same deal with some amount of ambient lighting at night time and the lobby and such is still mostly open in the evening for people who work late or want to pass through. Some of the doors being locked or like certain staircases and such being roped off are a thing as well. I just know this cuz I often go to Artnia around dinner time when I’m there, so it’s generally after hours already.

-I think even the parking lot situation might even be the same? I’m not sure because I usually take the subway and that let’s out into the mini mall downstairs, but parking if you go there and do that is like subterranean for sure and would be the first layer if it was on a plate.

-I mean, the HQ is also technically kind of on a plate also. Cuz the mini-mall is like below normal street level, but it’s like more cool with like a Lawson’s and restaurants. Coming up from the subway is also a lot similar POV-wise to coming up through grappling hook too in terms of perspective.

-Getting the key. Getting a glove on the way. This part is kind of cool. I always liked this part of the game in the original too and exploring an empty office.

-This is suspicious. I have to take a tour...?

-I guess this is interesting to learn about the company and stuff.

-Weird movie theater. Oh look a spoiler hallucination in the theater. It’s nice to see more of Sephiroth.

-Oh yeah the mayor. That’s a bit of a change that he’s secretly Avalanche. Whatever cool. Yay I got a weapon.

-I gotta do a battle simulator. Oh great I guess if I want items I have to sit here and do all the simulators.

-Oh look it’s Chadley. I have turn ins. Take my stuff.

-Okay so hike upstairs....oh shit they’re going in. Sneak slowly behind and like go around and explore stuff.

-Found the toilet. Haha. Tifa yells at Cloud if he goes in the wrong one. Good.

-This is a nice bathroom.

-Okay up in the vent.

-Interesting extra context and oh yeah Palmer saw Sephiroth.

-Hojo is more gross looking than I remember. Like piled on extra creep factor for him.

-Following into the lab. I guess I should be glad he wasn’t a dumbass and trying to mate Aerith with Red XIII.

-Interesting that it’s only now that they’re really making good use of Those Who Fight Further. I don’t think I’ve really heard it all that often before.

-Yay! Yamaguchi Kappei!

-This part getting serious with Sephiroth is appropriate, but kind of different with him starting to freak out.

-Oooh, Turks scene! It’s nice that they know they are fan favorites now and they put them in more scenes. I wish it would actually play their theme every time they show up like it used to. That’s what made them badass too.

-Aww, Aerith’s room.

-Interesting they are talking in Aerith’s room instead of getting captured and Aerith talking through the wall.

-Shinra science experiment...You’re probably not entirely wrong.

-Huh, wisdom from Red XIII. That’s different context.

-Wow, that’s different. Pointing out a different greater enemy so early. I guess it makes sense Aerith would know because of the whispers she hears, but also it kind of sucks the mystery of the progression of the original story.

-Dang, Sephiroth and Cloud confrontation-ish now? Not going to mysteriously take a body and stab the President?

-Oh joy another crazy rat maze.

-Hojo is definitely more gross than he used to be.

-Oh, nope. Just different order. There’s the trail of blood.

-Well, “blood”. Jenova blood is now apparently purple bubbling ooze.

-President Shinra is just hanging?! DISAPPOINTED. I liked it better when you just showed up and he had a giant sword in his back. Also wondering if you’d be blamed for it, but yeah, sword in the back!

-This is what you get for showing mercy. :/ Sword in back was better.

-Oh shut up already so Rufus can take over.

-Oh you get to watch the sword in the back.

-WTF. He’s not supposed to stab your party.

-Ghost things protecting fate is weird. But also I have some theories like the game is conscious that it’s a remake or something and for some reason they’re repeating history, but some things are different because people don’t do things in exactly the same way but certain things are fated to happen so they have to be preserved.

-Interesting that this game shows the cloaked figures going back and forth between Sephy. Kind of takes away the fun from years of debate on the subject about wtf is happening.

-And here’s Rufus. Still better than his Dad.

-I like that there’s more Turks footage than the original.

-Kind of nice that there’s more tender moments between Tifa and Cloud or rather we can experience them bonding more first hand.

-Did they make Wedge die in a different spot?

-Motorcycle bit is a bit different. Boss on motorcycle is kind of hard. Died once.

-I think it’s just cuz it’s a Remake that they added him here, but Sephiroth is at the end of the highway and I kind of think it sucks. :/ Cuz like it shouldn’t be like this.

-Why is Zack alive? Oh I think this is a flashback. Aww, this is supposed to be a hidden thing. ;o; Stop feeding them all the stuff. Let them find it.

-Whisper monsters...Okay this is just some kind of an AU. Like not really entirely a remake, but a different game in the same timeline cuz Sephy figured out somehow how to alter time and space. Aerith knows kind of what’s up because she became god essentially during AC. Would also explain why the game itself is giving away so many damn spoilers too.

-Holy shit, is Zack dead or not? D:

-Okay I looked up a thing and it said his death is ambiguous, but he’s never seen. Zack was an actual SOLDIER too so he could be a cloaked guy for all we know. But also at the end of AC it was both him and Aerith chilling together welcoming people to the lifestream so who the hell knows what she did.

-Biggs is alive?!

-So okay, if this is an AU things can change and I’m less gripey about the weird things that happened. Cuz it’s like just another pinpoint on the timeline that kind of has pseudo time travel and when you repeat things over again they’re not always exactly the same. I suppose for Square itself it’d be kind of boring to make an actual Remake because they don’t want to take away from the original and they want people to still buy that too cuz it was so good even though the graphics didn’t age so well. Instead they slapped Remake on a new title and trolled us all into thinking they actually did it when actually it’s like a timey wimey thing.

#ffviir spoilers

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greyias · 5 years

Text

SO. Apparently Tumblr is being an utter jerk today, and is not letting me put "Read More”s at all in asks today. SO. I improvise! *ahem* I think I might have something for this already written what would work perfectly! 😉

The automated search that Theron had set up on the HoloNet and Rishi comm hubs regarding the Red Hulls pinged with a few new results. He had set up a connection between his datapad and his implants so that he could know the instant any new information arrived, without alerting the rest of his companions in their hideout.

It was partially to preserve the fragile peace of their cohabitation from one more thing to argue about (Jakarro wasn’t fond of shrill noises, despite the droid that he hauled around with him everywhere) — but it was also to restrict the flow of information. Lana may have been his longest running partner, mostly out of necessity, but she was still a Sith. She may have done nothing but earn his trust over the past few months, but old habits were hard to shake.

Lana was currently listening to the latest in the long line of grand adventures of Onderon’s royal badass, Queen Lina. The glazed look in her eyes indicated that she had gone to whatever the Sith equivalent of a happy place was to survive the ordeal. Theron slipped away from the remnants of the party they had set up in their main communal area and off to a secluded corner so he could look at the datapad in relative privacy.

He was expecting some delayed reports on the ‘Red Hulls’ last raid on the Nova Blades, or maybe some general chatter on the exploits of their feared captain. Like anything else she seemed to do, Theron’s favorite Jedi Knight left quite the impression in her wake — even when she was pretending to be a pirate. As he scanned through the few short results that had been fed to his datapad, he frowned. Well, the part about her leaving an impression hadn’t changed.

After the fourth report he put the datapad down and kneaded his forehead in frustration. This woman was going to be the death of him. Despite having some privacy in this area, it wasn’t sound proof, and he didn’t really want Lana eavesdropping on what he hoped would be a quick conversation. As quietly as possible, Theron slipped outside into the alleyway, checking his surroundings even as he had his implants hail the Jedi’s comm frequency using his private channel.

“Um, hello?” She sounded confused—and distracted.

“Why hello to you too.”

“Theron?”

“How you doing?” he asked, unable to keep the sarcasm from leaking into his voice.

Apparently she didn’t pick up on it. “Fine… hey, Teeseven, there’s another one over there, could you…?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the sarcasm in his voice was unmistakable now, “did I interrupt something important?”

“What do you want, Theron?”

“I just thought I would check in, see how things were going.”

He heard a long sigh on the other end of the line. “I’m detecting some insincerity in your tone.”

“And here I thought I was being so subtle.”

“You called me.”

“That I did.”

“You mind telling me why?” she asked, a hint of annoyance leaking across the line.

“I wanted to ask about the scenery over there on Torch’s private little island,” he tossed back sarcastically.

“I’ll let you know about their interior decorating choices when I get there,” she said, biting back irritation. “Something came up.”

“Something that would say, have you going around passing out free medical care to people on the streets, repairing all of the monsoon baffles, volunteering for trash duty, and in general ruin the carefully crafted cover story of a fearsome pirate cannibal that I spent so much time on?”

“How do you even know about… wait… you came up with the cannibal thing?”

“Um—“ he was briefly taken off-guard, “no. That was one-hundred percent—“

“I knew it!” He wasn’t sure if she sounded scandalized or vindicated, and was suddenly happy for the distance between them. “Lana would never come up with something so ridiculous!”

“It’s not ridiculous,” he protested.

“Oh, then what is it?”

“It’s…” He almost decided to defend its necessity to the mission, but she’d already gotten him to admit his part in it, so what was the point in trying to talk himself out of the hole he’d already dug? “Honestly? It was funny.”

“Funny?”

“Yeah, the thought of the sweet, perfect little Jedi having to pretend to be a fearsome, literally bloodthirsty pirate was too good to pass up,” he snickered.

“I’m not perfect.”

He ignored the warning in her tone, and pressed on. “I really wish I’d had a holo of your face when someone asked you about your dietary preferences. It had to have been classic.”

He thought he heard her mutter something about “there is no emotion, there is peace”, but he wasn’t sure. After a few more moments of muttering, she grumbled so he could hear, “It was not funny. Everyone’s afraid of me.”

“That’s a good thing.”

“No, it’s not!” For the briefest moment, he thought he heard something more in her tone, but since he couldn’t actually see any facial cues, he was probably imagining it. “That’s not who I am…”

“That’s kind of the point of a cover identity, you not being recognized as yourself,” he said, sobering, “and by the way, you’re kind of undoing the whole fearsome pirate image with all of your sudden, inexplicable acts of kindness.”

“I’m a Jedi,” she said, as if that explained everything.

“Yes, in real life, but for the sake of the argument of, say, us trying to unravel a giant conspiracy, let’s pretend that you’re the cannibalistic pirate captain of the Red Hulls who doesn’t get a thrill out of rescuing nexu kittens from trees.”

“No.”

“No?”

“I need to do this.”

“But why?”

“It’s…” Her voice dropped a few decibels, and now he was sure he could hear some irrepressible emotion color her tone. Something almost like sadness. “It’s personal, all right?”

He tried to ignore the sudden needle-sharp stab of guilt and focus on the larger picture. The one about him and his merry band of n’er-do-wells (and one stubborn, guilt-inducing Jedi Knight) saving the galaxy from the machinations of an evil cult lead by his former Sith/Jedi ancestor come back from the dead — if only certain Jedi Knights would stop trying to run for mayor of Raider’s Cove and focus on harassing some Mandalorian retirees like they had all agreed on. And when he thought about it like that, he had to briefly wonder when insanity took over his life.

Oh, right. Shortly after he met said Jedi Knight.

The effort for him to focus past his own emotions took a little more effort than he cared to admit, which may have made him come across a bit more gruff than intended. “Fine. How long is this going to take?”

“I don’t know,” she said quietly.

The comm remained silent for a long few moments as Theron tried to reign in the flare of impatience that non-answer ignited. He lightly paced the alleyway, unable to ignore the gnawing sense of guilt at her quiet, chastened tone. Finally, he managed to swallow his annoyance enough so he could talk like a normal person. How she had managed to key him up so quickly was beyond him. Even Lana couldn’t push his buttons quite so efficiently, and he was pretty sure his Sith partner put in more effort to intentionally annoy him than his Jedi one. “Look, just try to keep a low profile, okay?”

“I haven’t been—“

“If you blow your cover, the Revanites might catch wind, and they might clam up and run. And we’ll be back to square one.”

“I know…”

“They don’t take kindly to people meddling in their business,” he said seriously, the bulk of his annoyance evaporating away into a fine misting of exasperation. “Look what happened to me, Lana, and Jakarro.”

“I’ll be fine, Theron,” she insisted, her tone warming to something something akin to fondness. “I appreciate the concern, though.”

“Well… good,” he said lamely. He thought he heard a quiet huff of laughter, but it could have been something else as her comm wasn’t sensitive enough to pick up quieter noises. “I better get back inside before they notice I’m gone.”

“You didn’t say anything to them?” she asked surprised. “About… this?”

“Nah,” he said softly, “figured it could be our little secret. If that’s what you wanted.”

“Thank you,” she said, almost so quiet the comm didn’t pick it up, before adding, “something tells me Lana wouldn’t approve of me getting ‘distracted’.”

“She’s terribly practical like that,” he agreed.

“That can be a good and a bad thing.”

“Tell me about it. That’s been my roommate for the past several months.” He made his way back towards the door, pausing before he keyed in the sequence to let him in. “Since you’re… otherwise occupied, I’ll see if I can’t get Jakarro to find you some transportation out to the local Mandalorian retirement community. Lana will probably appreciate the save so much she won’t realize you haven’t left yet.”

“Deefour?” Grey asked knowingly.

“If I never have to hear about another member of the Onderan royal house again, it’ll be too soon.”

This time the laugh came through the comm loud and clear. “You sure you won’t need rescuing soon?”

“Oh, I’ll be fine,” he assured her. “I plan on curling up on the couch and sorting through the rest of this lovely cache of data this fearsome pirate got for me. Should be boring enough to send Jakarro running for the hills, taking the royal storyteller with him.”

“You sound like you have this all figured out.”

“I have a good idea every now and then.”

“I might have heard one or two, I’ll admit.” The undercurrent of fondness in her tone caught him off guard, and he wasn’t sure what he had done to warrant that. Nor was he sure what to make of the sudden ball of warmth that had flared to life in his gut.

“Don’t have too much fun doing… whatever it is you’re doing.”

“I’ll try,” she sounded amused. “I’ll check in after I have that chat with Torch and her crew.”

“I meant what I said earlier,” he reminded her quietly, “be careful out there, okay?”

“I will,” she promised, and to her credit, she only sounded half like she was humoring him before she cut the call.

He shook his head, trying to banish the little warm ball of emotion in his gut before slipping back inside. If he wasn’t careful, that Jedi was going to get him in a lot more trouble than a Revanite cult. That was for sure.

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the-energon-hole · 7 years

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hi! can i request a drabble for bayverse crosshairs, tfp knockout, soundwave and smokescreen having like a nice soft moment w/ their s/o, cuddling and stuff and s/o tells the bot they love them for the first time and how happy s/o is to have them in their life? thank you!

Bayıverse

Crosshairs

There was a certain way that he liked to carry himself, and there was a certain way that he preferred to be seen by both his fellow bots and those who view him as a bitter enemy. He liked how he was perceived as an arrogant jerk who couldn’t play by the rules, the mech who was big and bad and not to be messed with. The kind of guy you’d pass by on the street and thought, wow what a bad guy- I’d never want to tussle with him! He is the leader that everyone needs, he can be the big bad driving force to prove once and for all whom the superior bots are in this war- which is why in situations that are seen as compromising like this, he would deny them sound anyone see what was going on.

Crosshairs both loved and hated these little moments.

He was lounging on a pile he made out of old cars and sheet metal, it was comfortable enough for him to at least sit and relax on- but he sure does miss having a nice big berth to stretch and recharge on. Ever since he got to this planet it has been nothing but scrounging and scraping in order to get by-the things he did for his fellow Cybertronians!

He would never admit it, and he most certainly wouldn’t say it outloud- but with you sleeping soundly on his chest as he just relaxes, well that also makes this planet a little more worth it to protect.

You somehow saw past his bad boy facade, you saw past his armored wall’s weakness, and you saw past all the words that he would spit out at you in anger and frustration.

You lay there, in the most vulnerable way your species could be, and you trust him enough to not only be like this- but to also utter words he never thought in his whole life span he would hear.

“I love you, nothing will change that.”

Love, what a silly thing to need or want- companionship and a battle partners he understands a need for, no one wants to be alone in the throes of battle and war, you want someone who understands and relies on you to be there when they need it. However, love was something he didn’t understand, who needs companionship all the time?

You sure proved him wrong though- he wanted nothing more than your companionship and love, but only when no one is around to judge him for it. He was glad you understood that, you were the understanding kind of person he needed- you knew he couldn’t always be lovey dovey like this, and you were ok with that.

He was starting to think he loved you to, and as he used his finger to touch your warm face, he couldn’t believe primus allowed you to be his.He would tell you he loved you too, eventually, it will take time and have to be on his terms- but you knew that as you smiled and leaned into his touch a little.

Transformers Prime

Knockout

Everything has to be perfection!

The night sky was clear and brightly light with all those pretty little gas bubble planets that glowed bright in the dark sky due to their chemical composition, the air wasn’t to warm to be hard to breath or to cold to begin to shiver; as it was the perfect middle ground for the season, and most of all you and Knockout were all gussied up and laughing as you sat and talked on top of secluded peak of desert littered with cactus and rocks.

You two rarely go anywhere fancy when you always dress so nicely, it wasnt so much your style to be seen in a bougies setting around the flawlessly rich and the beautiful- but it was always fun to just get dressed up and get fancy to drive to the middle of nowhere and just sit and talk under the twinkling stars. It was a way to get away from all the noise and the clutter, it was a way to bond and laugh without other people’s prying eyes to judge you, and it was a way to hide and pretend if not for a few moments that the world is safe and you aren’t in the middle of a giant conflict.

In reality you never really liked being this far away from civilization, it felt so lonely and cold as if there isn’t any life around you. That wasn’t true, as your planet was teeming with life, just not life you can connect to and understand, and it wasn’t until you met that big red colored Decepticon- turned Autobot not that long ago, that you realised that this life doesn’t have to be as lonely as you thought- no matter where you were located.

You both shared in similar experiences and pains, and you both shared in similar interests and ideals- and you both got along so very well, it only made sense that the two of you continue to grow and cultivate your relationship.It was nights like this- one with such clarity and understanding; as you both not only look perfect dressed in wonderfully beautiful clothing, but the fact that you both matched so deeply in your personalities and lights that helps fill the night air is with laughter and love, it just felt so right and so real.

You couldn’t stop the words before they flew out-

“I love you.”

It slipped, and you felt your heart stop for a split second as you begin to sweat in just the slightest way- that wasn’t supposed to come out yet! Your eyes grew wide as it hit you like a ton of bricks being thrown by a Decepticon with a vendetta; it was far too early and far to unpredictable to say, even though in that moment everything felt so right, you began to feel like the biggest loser on the planet- and for gosh sakes you shared a planet with someone like Starscream!

Despite your mind racing a mile a minute, you heard a deep chuckle from the handsome bot that was sitting next to you, and as you felt yourself spiral into a small panic, that smooth voice only made it worse- what was so funny!?“You humans sure do love to go fast don’t you? Good thing too, I love to go fast” He said, in that sweet and suave voice that you felt such a strong need to hear all the time“I must say, you have caught my full attention, and it would appear that I am too a little smitten with you- even if you are a squishy little human.”

In that moment, your heart began to settle on a rapid beat, and you could feel the blood rush to your cheeks as a warm sensation followed soon after that- did he just say what you thought he just said? Sometimes Knockout tries a little to hard to be cool- so his words don’t always come off the way they are supposed to, but this made the most sense than anything he has said all night.He said that he loved you too, in his own Knockout sort of way- it was probably one of the greatest things you could think to happen from your small little accidental word spill earlier.

This might was so perfect, it couldn’t be any more perfect.

Soudwave

So many individuals find him to be unapproachable and terrifying, which is good for a bot in his position of power- being such a high ranking and high profile individual in the entirety of the Decepticon Army, however he wasn’t always the malicious and vindictive bot you see before you today. He would once argue that he used to have “a heart of gold” as you humans would call it, but he has just been through to much to allow himself to open up again like this- it was probably one of the only things that actually scared him.

He used to be a much more open and accepting mech before the time of war was upon them, but years of loos and anger has hardened his spark and has created the mech you see before you. Not to say he was a particularly good bot before the times of autobots and decepticons- but being surrounded by the worst the planet had to offer was what made him even more cynical and bitter than before- so much so that it was starting to become a point that he did not miss his old self, the mech who used to care deeply for so many.

Now he only cared for a few- and the list was so short that it could be counted on one hand,

Megatron, their glorious leader whom would raise them all into victory- Laserbeak, his last remaining minicon that has served him for such a long time they could be considered one entity- and you.

It was true, as much as he would try to hide it, but he grew a fondness for your personality and your appearance that it could almost be considered obscene and wrong to partake in all the things he thought of doing to you- be those acts sexual or otherwise. He never thought eh would feel warmness in his spark for anyone ever again, and it was a bittersweet moment for him when you spoke those words out loud for his audio receptors to receive.

“I love you.”

Certainly, those were words he wanted to hear, especially from one so special such as yourself, but when you spoke those words to him- he couldn’t help but remember all the bad and the evil he has gone through.

So many of his minicons destroyed and slaughtered before his very screen, so many simply taken out without so much a second thought to who they are and what they could be.

So many important allies and big players in this game of power, simply gone and snuffed out without any regard to whom did it and for what reason.You-you could be just like them, and it scared him more than he thought it would. It scared him more than him actually opening up and loving you back.He absolutely loves you to, and will try even harder to protect you just as he protects everything that is important to him- and you have to be ok with that, as there is no going back on this relationship now.

Smokescreen

If he was going to be honest with you like you wanted him to be, he wasn’t much for these soft moments or these tender feelings that arise when he has things like this happen. Sure, it’s fun to sit around and cuddle with you when things are slow and he has nothing much else to do, but sometimes it becomes too much for him and he just needs to go- go where? Anywhere but here.He needs time to process, he needs time to think, and mostly he needs time to just be free and run.

He doesn’t want to be away from you, that isn’t true in the slightest bit, and it took you a while to come to that conclusion. ESpecially when he only got this way when you two would share very soft and tender moments together, like light touches and small intimacies.

Instead it was all on him and not on you, he is simply afraid of all these new feelings that are rising up in his spark- they are foreign and strange to him, he doesn’t know what to do with them except do what he always has done- and just go.

Go and drive and not come back for awhile.

He was young and inexperienced, and you could relate a little to it, but sometimes it is easier to face problem like this head on rather than run and hide and hope it goes away, and it looks like it’s up to you to teach him this important lesson- so once you were finally able to catch him alone and not running, the words slipped out with much more force and frustration than you hoped t would.

“I love you.”

You wish this was a more tender moment, you wish things could be perfect and romantic, but it looks like these were the cards that were given to you- everyone told you that you needed to be more forceful with the bull-headed mech, and well, this was your way of doing so. As he stood there before you a little bit shocked, it made you almost laugh at the thought of “could Cybertronians blush? What color would it be?”

Before you could continue with those kinds of thoughts you heard a very quick-“YeahIloveyoutoo, bye!”

And he was transformed and out the door so fast you could barley process this new information.

Yeah, you are going to have to push the poor mech a little bit harder if you two will want to share any more soft and sweet moments together- but that was ok, you had all the time in the world to get him to sit till for long enough to talk, you will be here with open arms when he is ready. After all, there was no challenge that he couldn’t face without a little encouragement from a very special person.

#Bayverse #Transformers Prime #Crosshairs #Knockout #Soundwave #Smokescreen #Drabble #Cute

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impurelight · 5 years

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Two Weeks With Flutter

For the two last weeks I've been playing around with Flutter which is a framework for building Android and iOS apps (it also has Web/Windows/Mac/Linux/ChromeOS support in development). And I really like it. I mean, I didn't always like it. When I first picked it up I thought it was needlessly complicated and frustrating. But as I started to learn what the things actually did I started to think it wasn't so bad. It might even be fun. But I guess that's the way with most programming frameworks.

So Flutter makes Android and iOS apps. How'd you expect it to do this? Probably something like HTML, right? Nope. Flutter uses Dart. The way it knows what to build is you have to override the the build() method and make it return your entire UI. The entire UI in one method. Yeah... that's going to get messy fast. Just take a look at one of my build() methods.

Widget build(BuildContext context) { return Scaffold( body: SafeArea( child: Stack( children: <widget>[ FutureBuilder<list>>( future: DatabaseManager.getAllTasksAsTasks(), builder: (BuildContext context, AsyncSnapshot<list>> tasks) { if (tasks.hasData) { return ReorderableListView( children: createWidgets(tasks.data), onReorder: (int start, int current) {}, ); } else { return Center(child: CircularProgressIndicator()); } }, ), Container(color: Color.fromRGBO(0, 0, 0, 0.4)), Hero( tag: "TaskCreate", child: new AlertDialog( title: const Text('Create Task'), content: new TextField( controller: textController, autofocus: true, ), actions: <widget>[ new FlatButton( onPressed: () { Navigator.of(context).pop(); }, textColor: Theme.of(context).primaryColor, child: const Text('Create'), ), ], )), ]// This trailing comma makes auto-formatting nicer for build methods. ) ) ); }

Yeah, I tried to move some things to their own methods (or classes which is more performant but you really only have to worry about that once you call setState()) but there's only so much you can do and so much you have time to do. If some normal person saw this they would probably say it's ugly. And to be honest when I first saw something like this I thought it was ugly too. It's even more messy if you try adding something to it. Paste your text, watch the entire thing go red, then try to add the end bracket in just the right spot (although a better way appears to be cut the old code, create the old container, and paste the old code). But as I got to know how it worked there was something actually pretty elegant about this.

It's sort of like designing something with Legos. You have your root UI, your scaffold, and that can have a child which is a list view and a floating action button. Only instead of Legos they're widgets. There's widgets for almost everything: list views, cards, centered content, images, text, etc. And if you can't find a widget that serves your purposes you can find one on pub.dev or code your own.

So apart from Widgets there's scenes... no views... I mean routes. OK, different frameworks call them different things. Basically just a page of your app. In Flutter they're called routes. In Unity they're called scenes. And the way Flutter handles routes is pretty interesting. It's like a stack of routes. When you go to a new route you call .push() and when you want to go back or if someone hits the back button .pop() is called.

It's pretty simple. But the code to create one of these routes is not. Like look at this:

class TaskRoute extends StatefulWidget { TaskState createState() => TaskState(); } class TaskState extends State<taskroute> { ... }

Every single time we want to create a new route/widget class. Why do we need all this boilerplate? Why do we need Stateful/State/Stateless (not pictured). I think it's for optimization or something but it's still annoying.

So now I should probably talk about the language Dart. Oh, Dart. It's not a bad language. Not as bad as Javascript anyways. The best way to describe Dart is to say it's a modern COOL (C-like Object Oriented Language) similar to other COOL's like C# and Java. Emphasis on modern. So as languages mature there's a tendency of adding random syntactic 'sugar' that no one really needs or asked for that only serve to alienate newcomers to the language. Like take C++. C with classes, right? Nope. Now it's this giant behemoth of a language that takes ages to compile. And I've noticed the same thing with C#. In fact most of the newer syntactic sugar additions to C# are in Dart. Almost as if the Dart team is copying from C#. Hmm...

And this is a particular sore spot for Dart which has a million ways to do everything.

So take typing. There is static typing which means the compiler knows the types of everything at compile time and can alert you of any problems. Then there's hipster typing which means you're going to get a nasty surprise when you run that line of code you haven't tested yet. So which one do you expect Dart to choose? Trick question, Dart uses both. And different tutorials use one or the other. It can make it seem like a tutorial is written in a different language.

And it's not even like some dedicated keyword. This is the difference between static typing and hipster typing in Dart:

// Statically typed; will not compile var myVar = "Hi"; myVar = 5; // Hipster typed; will compile var myVar; myVar = "Hi"; myVar = 5;

Also: allocating new object. You can define new objects (oh, and by the way everything is a reference type in Dart) using the new keyword. But you don't have to use the keyword. It's completely optional. Which, why even have the keyword? Also it's possible to define a method that returns something without actually returning. I mean, you get a warning if you do that but it'll compile just fine. There's also a bunch of weird syntax like Dog({this.id, this.name, this.age}). This is basically the same as saying:

Dog(int id, String name, int age) { this.id = id; this.name = name; this.age = age; }

And there's a large amount of using functional map-like syntax instead of for loops. You know, the standard syntactic sugar stuff.

So syntactic sugar isn't in and of itself bad. The problem is when you have so much syntactic sugar it gives you syntactic diabetes meaning the language gets so inconsistent that it is difficult for new comers to learn. This is definitely a problem for Dart: one tutorial might use the new keyword and explicitly type all their variables. Then the next tutorial might not do any of that and it gets very confusing very fast.

But it's not all bad. There are a few neat things you can do in Dart. For one there's no public or private. To make something private by starting it with an _. It sort of reminds me of Python where you make a function by just indenting. I think it's pretty neat. Also you can have named constructors. It's pretty cool as you can name a constructor something like FromDatabase(Map<string dynamic>) if you just read from a database.

There's also two type of exceptions: error and exception. Error is bad, you should not be getting errors. Exceptions are, well, exceptions. So just catch them normally. I don't really know the difference between these two though. There are assert which is only called in debug builds. Oh, yeah, Flutter compiles to a debug build by default but there are also release and profiling builds.

Also when defining a list, which you'll do a lot in Flutter, every element can end in a comma, even the last one. This is something I've been thinking about whenever I code outside of an IDE. Adding a comma when there shouldn't be one results in a lot of compiler bugs (or in the case of hipster languages runtime bugs). So I think putting a comma after every item, even the last item is the way to go.

Lastly there is Future and async. A function signature that implements these is something like:

Future<list>> getTasks() async

and then you call it like:

tasks = await getTasks();

This is a major thing in Flutter. The main way I use it is when I push another route. I say something like await push() and that stops executing until the route being pushed calls pop(). And then I can do whatever management I need to make sure the data is saved.

Another way this comes into play is I can use an async method to load a database.

Although, to be honest, I sort of think this feature is a little superfluous. Especially in the database example. Reading from the database is so fast that stopping the whole app as the database returns its results is likely good enough. And the poping of pages could be done with a callback instead.

So how is it to actually develop for Flutter? Pretty good, actually. The first major feature of Flutter is the hot reload feature. Everytime you save your app it is instantly recompiled and sent to your phone (if it is already plugged in and the app is started) so the app updates faster than you can turn your head to look at it. It's pretty cool. It sure is a big shift from Unity's builds that can take minutes just to get an APK that you then have to install. Although it can fail sometimes. Usually when you rename something, but that rarely happens. I should probably mention here that I use my phone to test. You can also get a virtual device but that's like a 1GB download and I don't want to do that.

As for debugging instead of crashing flutter will give you a red screen of death.

Which, I mean, looks pretty ominous. Couldn't they have put a smily face on it or something like Windows?

There's also the call stacks when you get an error. They're not as compact as Unity and there's a lot of scrolling and they usually contain tons of information about Flutter's internal calls I don't care about before and after the relevant parts of the callstack. But I mean it's serviceable. Better than not having a callstack at all or a callstack that rarely points to the right thing like... some other languages.

Now there's Android Studio. It's basically a less good version of a JetBrains IDE. There's no telling you how many times something is called, there's no refactoring tools, it doesn't tell you to import packages to fix errors, it takes an extra click to get into the search all screen (Ctrl+N vs Ctrl+T), and it doesn't alert you if something isn't used. And it still takes more RAM than Chrome. Like, what are you doing? But at least it supports the Material theme I'm using on Rider. Like, it doesn't matter if the IDE sucks, as long as it looks good, right?

The only thing it really has over Rider (which I was using for Unity C#) is that it automatically inserts a comment telling you that this end brace corresponds to a particular widget. Which given the nested nature of build() method is quite useful. Not useful enough to get me to not jump ship to IntelliJ though.

So last but not least: the problems I have with Flutter. And there are a lot of them. The biggest one is the documentation. You know, for something made by Google that is almost 3 years old you'd think it would have better documentation. But no. You still see things like: "Enables the form to veto attempts by the user to dismiss the ModalRoute that contains the form." In all fairness this is the exception rather than the rule. Most of the commonly used widgets do have good documentation. But when you click to what a class is you still get this nonsense.

And there are a few bugs still. I encountered one where if you use Navigator.pop() it does not trigger the onPop callback. You need to use Navigator.maybePop() instead.

So all in all Flutter is a fine framework and pretty fun to program for. The foundation is pretty solid, it's just some of the documentation that is not quite up to snuff and some things can be hard to do due to not having the proper widget. Two problems that I'm sure will be solved soon. And once they are I think Flutter has a pretty good shot at being the most popular framework in the world due to its ability to run on Android, iOS, Web, Windows, Mac, Linux, and ChromeOS with an identical experience on all platforms.

#flutter

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johannaadriaansen-blog · 5 years

Text

How to Strategically Use Instagram Highlights

Instagram highlights. Are they dead or are they thriving? Are they serving your account or are they a waste of time? Instagram highlights are kind of like

hashtags

in my opinion, they aren’t going to make your account blow up but they are part of Instagrams key features and should be used properly!

WHAT ARE INSTAGRAM HIGHLIGHTS?

Instagram highlights are a way to save Instagram stories passed. Users were getting frustrating that the valuable content they put on stories was getting deleted after a mere 24 hours. So Instagram created highlights. Highlights are the row of circles you may see below the bio on someone’s profile. They are essentially albums of Instagram stories sorted into specific categories of your choosing. I’m here to share with you today how you can use Instagram highlights effectively to convert profile views into follows and continue to drive traffic back to the content you’ve worked so hard to create. So how can we strategically and effectively use Instagram highlights?

KEEP YOUR HIGHLIGHT CATEGORIES ON BRAND

I did a little highlight audit recently and realized that some of my highlight topics, while fun, were not on brand. I had an entire Instagram highlight called ‘Eats’ which, to be honest, had a lot of great food tips and recipes in it but it doesn’t align with the content that I regularly post. So I had to kick it to the curb. It’s crucial that your highlight categories actually match with content you consistently share and ultimately drive more people into your business in some way. Maybe that means saving stories that have swipe ups to your blog. Maybe you have a behind the scenes highlight that shows your creative process as a maker and directs people to your etsy shop. Maybe you have a highlight featuring testimonials from past clients.

Speaking of, I’d LOVE to get a

follower testimonial

from you! Feel free to put me under lifestyle *wink wink, nudge nudge*. I had another highlight called travel, and while it was nostalgic for me to tap through and reminisce over past trips it wouldn’t be accurate for someone coming to my page to see, because a Travel highlight suggests I share travel content, which I do, but it’s not the type of content that drives my business forward. At the end of the day we want to make sure our Highlight titles are serving our audience and serving our business not serving US or our personal entertainment. Make sense?

MAKE AN INTRO OR WELCOME HIGHLIGHT

I don’t know about you but when I’m looking at a new profile I want to know WHO is behind it ASAP. Who is the person behind the pictures? What are they all about? The first thing I do is click their most Instagram recent story, hoping to find a clip of them talking so I can meet their personality. If they don’t have a story live I go to the highlights and click one that peaks my interest. If I can find video content of them talking there is a way better chance I’ll follow. So what Highlight topic can we have that promotes this connection? A couple of weeks ago I had this idea that it would be cool to have an ‘intro to me’ highlight where I quickly talked about who I am, what I’m up to and how I show up on the ‘gram. But, the only way to make this highlight is by of course physically posting it to Instagram stories which might feel a little random and awkward. I went on stories and prefaced it by explaining what I was going to do and then jumped into the intro. I created a new highlight called “Welcome” and then added the appropriate clips.

MAKE HIGHLIGHT COVERS

Highlight covers are a great way to bring a branded element to your page because you can create a color scheme. If you have a website that has specific colors you definitely want to use the same colors. This is to create cohesion in the experience as someone moves from your Instagram to your website. If you don’t have brand colors but your feed has a color-vibe this is a good place to start. You can actually use Canva’s color palette picker. Canva also provides for you the actual color codes which makes

making your highlight covers

way easier! To make your own highlight covers with solid colors, simple graphics or text head to

Canva.com

, make a free account, then create a new design with the dimensions 19020 x 1080. You can simply change the background color to one of your brand colors, export the files and air drop to your phone. Or get creative by adding elements or font to the cover. HOW TO ADD HIGHLIGHT COVERS WITHOUT POSTING TO INSTAGRAM STORIES Once you have your new highlight colors as jpeg. files you can add them to a pre-existing highlight WITHOUT having to upload them to your Instagram story. Remember back in the day when we had to tap through everyone’s highlight covers? No more! Just click a pre-existing highlight, select edit, edit cover, upload from camera roll! Pro Tip: You could also make solid color highlight covers by taking a photo within Instagram stories, selecting the paintbrush tool, choosing a color and pressing and holding for three seconds. Save this new solid color image to your camera roll and upload to a highlight as I explained above. Highlight covers make your page look clean and organized, don’t skip this step!

KEEP THE NUMBER OF INSTAGRAM HIGHLIGHTS TO A MINIMUM

Users are likely not going to scroll horizontally through your highlights. Ideally you want all of your topics visible from your profile view. And since highlights are organized by which was most recently updated they are always changing in order. If you don’t update your 9th highlight for months it will be stuck in the back and likely not seen! Ideally we prioritize and aim for a maximum of 5 highlight topics. IF you have more highlights, and maybe that makes sense for you, you CAN bring a highlight to the front of the list. You’ll have to go into your Instagram stories archive, chose a recent slide and add it to your highlight. It’s okay if it’s not an actual fit because you are simply going to remove it from the highlight right after. Save the highlight and then go back in and delete the slide you just added. Doing this will move this Instagram Highlight to the front of the row without affecting the contents of the high light!

USE HIGHLIGHTS TO REPURPOSE CONTENT AND CONTINUE TO DRIVE TRAFFIC

So once we post an Instagram to our feed it pretty much gets lost into the abyss within 48 hours. That caption you worked hard to write, and that image you spent time acquiring is basically a dead zone now. Not ideal! Just the same blog posts and podcasts can be promoted and SHOULD be promoted more than once! So we can use Highlights to bring a little extra life to these things. You could have a blog post Instagram highlight where you save stories in which you featured a blog, even better if you are over 10K and have the swipe up link. You could also save stories in which feature a podcast episode if podcasting is your thing, and of course you can create a highlight out of your Instagram posts if you post them to your story. So what we often see is users posting their new post to their story, with a huge sticker covering the images and a call to action that says tap here or new post. I would recommend taking it one step further and adding a bit of text that describes what they will get or read if they go to that post. Once you have this in place you can save this story to a highlight and then as someone is tapping through your highlight they can kind of navigate to the type of content they want to see. For example, I have different Instagram posts that I have posted on my story saved under highlights called ‘IG Tips’, ‘For Influencers’ or ‘Freelance’. So if someone looks at my feed they are going to choose a photo that catches their eye. BUT if they look at my highlights they can find content based on what they are interested in. And that is the entire goal!

THE BEST WAYS TO USE INSTAGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

To recap when it comes to strategically using Instagram highlights you are going to make sure that the highlight topic, title or theme is actually on brand for you and in alignment with your content. Your also going to make some pretty highlight covers through Canva.com or within Instagram stories itself and also make sure those are on brand and cohesive with your blog or website if you have one. Third you want to get a little uncomfortable, get on camera and make a Intro to you highlight! Please tag me if you do this because I’d love to see what you’re up to. You can even blame me in your disclaimer story and say “hey Johanna is making me do an Intro story so that I can save it as a highlight, here goes!”. And then you can do your intro and it will be amazing! Other things to keep in mind are that you want to keep the number of highlights you have to a minimum and lastly create highlights with the intention of repurposing content such as IG posts, blog post or podcast episodes. And while I’m thinking of it, if you have in your bio you could actually write a little call to action that directs people to your highlights maybe something like ‘check out my highlight for how to work with me’ or ‘check out my cooking highlight for easy breakfast recipes”. Whatever makes sense for you! Alright friend that’s all. for me. today.

#instagram #instagramhacks

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dave-meowstaine · 7 years

Note

All of the asks ! !

Should have seen this coming!

1. You woke up naked next to the last person you texted, what would you say? - I would be super happy and excited seeing as the last person I texted was Lizzie. I would probably be like “OH MY GOD BABY!!!!!” and then cuddle and kiss the shit out of her

2. What’s going on between you and the last person you kissed? - Lizzie is my girlfriend

3. If your boyfriend or girlfriend was into drugs, would you care? - Depends what it is. Weed and hallucinogens are chill but anything hard like coke or heroin and shit could potentially be a deal breaker (if they didn’t get off it)

4. Is your last name longer than six letters? - My last name is double barrelled so… yes?

5. Was your last kiss drunk or sober? - It was sober

6. Have you ever wanted to have someone but you messed it up? - I mean, kinda? I did want her, but at the time I didn’t, and then when we got back together it wasn’t the same so… I don’t really know haha

7. What does your last received text say? - “I love you!!!”

8. How many times have you kissed the last person you kissed? - Too many to count yet not enough!!!

9. Where was your last kiss at? - It was at Heathrow airport in London. Lizzie was going back to America… :(

10. When is the last time you saw your sister? - About 5 minutes ago

11. What do you drink in the morning?- I always have a cup of tea and a glass of water

12. Where did you sleep last night? - In my bed

13. Do you think relationships are hard? - If they are hard, then you’re probably not doing it right. A proper good relationship should feel like the most effortless thing in the world. That’s how I feel with Lizzie

14. If you could go back and change something in the past 5 months, would you? - Not at all

15. You’re locked in a room with the last person you kissed, any problems? - Hell no! Maybe noise complaints but no real problems hahaha

16. Would you rather it be sunny or rainy? - Sunny, to be honest. Unless I’m snuggled up in bed. Then definitely rainy!

17. Do you know anyone with the same middle name as you? - My middle name is my dad’s first name

18. Are you wearing jeans,sweatpants,or pajama pants? - Jeans

19. Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 years from now? - Definitely still be with Lizzie

20. Does anyone like you? - Obviously Lizzie haha

21. Have you ever kissed someone with a name that starts with an S? - Nope

22. Is the last person you kissed gay? - Lizzie is bi

23. Is there a person you CANNOT stand? - Yeah, I can think of a couple of people

24. Have you ever considered getting a tattoo? - Yes! I want to be covered. I’m thinking of getting one really soon, actually. Just after christmas

25. In the past week have you cried? - I cried last night

26. What breed was the last dog you saw? - Jesse is… um… we have no idea what my dog is. Some sort of Terrier haha

27. Do you dry off in the shower or out of the shower? - Out of it

28. Have you ever kissed a football player? - Nope

29. Do you think you’re old? - I know I’m not because I’m 19. Then I remember that kids born in 2000 will be able to get into clubs next year and…

30. Do you like text messaging? - Depends who it is I’m texting

31. What type of day are you having? - It’s alright. Been working out and skateboarding all day

32. Have you ever thought about getting your nose pierced? - I have septum pierced. I’ve thought about getting the side of my nose pierced but I don’t think I would

33. Do you prefer warm or cold weather? - Warm weather so I can go out and do stuff

34. Is there a person of the opposite sex who means a lot to you? - Lizzieeee

35. Would you prefer a relationship or a fling? - Definitely a relationship. I’ve had flings, but they just aren’t my sort of thing

36. Are you a simple or complicated person? - Depends on how you see it. I like to think I’m a simple person. What you see is what you get with me, there is no hidden agenda or anything

37. What song are you listening to? - Nothing at the moment, but I have Lil Peep stuck in my head

38. When you say you’re sorry do you mean it? - Of course! I would never say sorry unless I meant it39. Is there a girl that knows everything or almost everything about you? - Lizzie literally knows me inside and out40. What made you start liking the person you like now? - Just so kind and caring and passionate and funny and beautiful. Looking back I think I fell in love with Lizzie as soon as we started talking. It was like meeting the part of me that was always missing41. When did you last receive a text message? - About 7am this morning42. What is wrong with you right now? - I really want Lizzie and I miss her so much and that makes me sad and not motivated to do anything43. How well do you know the last female you texted? - Lizzie has literally told me everything about herself. There isn’t a single thing I don’t know about that woman44. Does anyone disgust you? - Maybe people’s attitudes and the way they see things, but I wouldn’t say a person as a whole disgusts me45. Would you date someone right now if they asked? - No, I’m dating Lizzie46. Are you in a good mood right now? - I’m in a fairly good mood. Kinda frustrated because I’ve been skateboarding and am really close to landing a new trick but I can’t quite get it right, so I’m taking a break and answering these!47. Who was the last person you talked to in person? - My dad48. What color shirt are you wearing? - It’s plain dark green49. Has someone recently told you something you didn’t want to hear? - Ummm not recent recent but about a month ago50. Anyone you’re giving up on? - Not that I’m aware of51. Do you hate the person you fell hardest for? - Definitely not! I’m head over heels in love with Lizzie!

52. Have you ever thought about giving up on someone but couldn’t? - Nope53. Do you like rain? - I love the rain! Especially when I’m snuggled up in bed54. Do you care if your boyfriend/girlfriend drinks? - Not at all! When Lizzie was here, we went to the pub a couple of times with my friends and my sister and one night we got completely wasted hahaha55. Have you ever liked somebody and never told them? - No, actually. I’ve actively pursued every crush I’ve had. Some worked, some didn’t. That’s just life. You never know unless you give it a go56. Do you like to cuddle? - I fucking love cuddles!57. Are you shy? - Kinda when you first meet me. More awkward than shy. But as soon as we’re acquainted and we know each other, I’m no where near shy 58. Do you get along with girls? - I do59. Have you dated the person you texted last? - I am currently dating Lizzie60. What do you carry with you at all times? - My phone and my headphones61. If you were paid 1 million dollars to spend the night in a supposed haunted house, would you? - I live in it if it meant I got $1 million! Would be pretty interesting to see if anything spooky happens62. Do you think you can last in a relationship for five months? - Lizzie and I will have been together for 5 months and known each other for 6 in 10 days so… 63. Think back to October, were you in a relationship? - I was. In fact, Lizzie was here in England for half of October, including Halloween!64. The person you like kisses you on the forehead, do you find this cute? - Omg yes please65. Did anything “cute” happen in the last week? - Lizzie told her parents about me and we’re finally free to be together 100% and tag each other in shit on Facebook and post about each other on social media and that made me super happy!

66. How old are the last three people you kissed? - 19, 18, and 21 (Lizzie is the 21 year old, fyi)

67. Would you rather pay to get your nails done or do them yourself? - I wouldn’t get my nails done (unless Lizzie wanted me to for fun haha) but probably professional. Unless it was Lizzie messing around and just painting my nails, then that would be adorble 68. Which do you like better- Zebra print or leopard print? - Neither. Both are pretty tacky, if you ask me. But hey, you like what you like! 69. Do you have any stickers on your car? - Nope 70. Would you rather listen to Luke Bryan or Lil Wayne? - I don’t know who Luke Bryan is but I think I would rather put my dick in a blender than listen to Lil Wayne so I guess Luke Bryan…?71. Blackberry, Anroid, or iPhone? - Android 72. When’s the last time you had pizza from Pizza Hut? - 25 days ago. The day before Lizzie went back to America, we went on a date and we went bowling and then had a proper meal at Pizza Hut 73. Do you like diet soda? - I prefer regular but yeah 74. What color are the walls in your room? - White except one which is light blue 75. Are you 16 or older? - I’m 19 76. Do you watch Pretty Little Liars? - Nope, never have and probably never will 77. Do you have a job? - Not at the moment. College is taking up all of my time so I’m focusing on doing the absolute best I can in that 78. What are your initials? - T.A.W-P 79. Did you ever have braces? - Nope. My dentist said I could have gotten them but my teeth weren’t fucked up enough so we would have to have paid a lot 80. Are you from the south? - South East London

81. What does your last status on facebook say? - I haven’t posted a status on Facebook in literally years! The last post on there is me changing my profile picture to a picture of Lizzie and I 82. Do you still talk to the first person you ever kissed? - No, I do not 83. Are you closer to your mom or your dad? - I’m equally as close to both of them, but I feel like I can talk to my mum more 84. Have you ever done cheerleading or gymnastics? - Gymnastics but that was because we all had to do it back in school 85. What’s the last movie you saw in theaters? - I think it was a film called Allied with Brad Pitt. My best friend, Ed, and I went to see it and then went to Costa Coffee afterwards. Great night out 86. Do you smoke? - Occasionally. More social than not 87. Would you rather wear heels or flip flops? - Neither, but I guess flip flops. Although I do rock a mean pair of heels 88. Is your phone touch screen? - It is 89. Do you normally wear your hair straight or curly? - Lol good luck getting my hair straight without a pair of straighteners and a lot of hairspray 90. Have you ever snuck out of your house? - Not really. I have crept out of the house to go for a cigarette in the early hours of the morning, but that because I don’t want to wake anyone up 91. Would you rather swim in a river, lake, or pool? - I’ve never swam in a river or lake so I can’t really say 92. Have you ever made out in a car? - I have 93. …Had sex in a car? - I haven’t outright had sex, but I have done stuff 94. Are you single or in a relationship? - In a relationship 95. What were you doing last night at midnight? - Reading my book in bed and texting Lizzie 96. When’s the last time you saw fireworks? - 5th of November on bonfire night with Lizzie 97. Do you like the camera on your phone? - Yeah, it takes pretty good photos so I can’t complain 98. Have you ever had a friend with benefits? - I have, more than once, and it actually sucked 99. Have you ever passed out from drinking? - Many times 100. Are you friends with people on facebook that you actually hate? - I wouldn’t say I really HATE anyone, but definitely people I dislike101. Have you ever had a pregnancy scare? - Not me personally, yeah I thought I got someone pregnant. Wasn’t scared though 102. Name your favorite Kesha song - The only Kesha song I know is Tick Tock and to be fair that is a banger hahaha 103. Do you have any tan lines right now? - Nope 104. Would you ever wear cowboy boots with shorts? - I don’t think I would ever wear cowboy boots to begin with

Thank you!!! :D

#asks #anon

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imnoexpertblog · 6 years

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Lonely Netflix Movie Binge

6/21/18

In my boredom with Baby being gone on his business trip and needing something to watch/listen to while I pack up our apartment, I have been watching random Netflix movies that were suggested to me based on my interest and past viewings. I never watch new movies alone. I can re-watch anything I want by myself but I like seeing new stuff with someone else. Over some intense self-reflection the past few years I think this is because I have always had company in some form throughout my life. I was rarely alone. I never had to do anything myself. My mom was very social when I was growing up and she always had friends over. My siblings were also always with me. Then as I got older, I was usually in a relationship. When I was single, I had a roommate I was very close to. I’ve become used to doing things with someone else. Going out to eat, watching new movies, going to events, even just hanging out. It’s not to say I can’t do these things by myself, I have grown to appreciate my alone-time. But. I prefer to have company when doing certain things. I like sharing experiences with people; talking about what we are doing, making memories, having someone else to enjoy time with. But with Baby being away, I forced myself to watch six whole new movies by myself! These are the ones and what I thought about them. (I tried to pick unique and understated ones but that were still specifically recommended to me by Netflix and that went… Not so great).

Adore

“Two lifelong best friends each begin a steamy affair with the other's son, but trouble begins to brew when one of the two young men desires a lover his own age.” I have seen the cover art for this movie for a long time now, maybe a year. I don’t know why I have skipped over it every time until this week; maybe because I never read what it was about. The synopsis intrigued me enough to start watching it though. Seems pretty risky and taboo, doesn’t it? That always makes something enticing. I will say, though, it is odd. It has a soap-opera type of feel to it. Instead of being really cliché, it turned out to feel a little deeper than that. I am not sure how believable the whole plot is, but who watches a movie to see a boring realistic story? I was pleased with the cast and the acting. I think it was scored well, too. There is tension and drama, but it’s a calm flick. I wasn’t sure what to make of this movie until I found out it’s actually a French production. That changed my perspective a bit, considering the difference in culture. The setting made it easy to watch; the beach is absolutely gorgeous. I was genuinely interested to see how in the world this unique situation would turn out. The reviews aren’t very good, but I didn’t hate it, my any means. I thought it was interesting to see how everything played out for them all.

Open House

“A teenager and his mother find themselves besieged by threatening forces when they move into a new house.” This one I was excited for initially when it was new. I like thrillers and I like the main actor, Dylan Minnette from 13 Reasons Why. But man oh man. This movie is so slow. Not until half-way through the film did I actually feel some excitement or anticipate what comes next. The whole beginning half I was just kind of waiting. The “build-up” didn’t build me up at all. I was bored watching this. The real excitement did start until there was 22 minutes left in the movie. A lot of wasted time, if you ask me. The same “scary” weird things happen through the entire first 3/4 of the movie and it was just redundant and anticlimactic. But once it got going, HOLY COW. I will say I was so confused because there didn’t seem to be anything in the movie that would point me in any direction of guessing what was happening once the action was going down. So, that also frustrated me. It was a pretty intense last 20 minutes or so, but that is not to say it was good. Thumbs down for sure.

Below Her Mouth

“Jasmine is a successful fashion editor living with her fiancé. On a night out in the city with her best friend, she meets Dallas, a roofer recently out of a relationship. Surprised by the confidence with which Dallas pursues her, Jasmine turns Dallas down but can't get her out of her head. When Jasmine finally succumbs, the two women embark on a steamy affair that forces them both to re-evaluate their lives.” Okay. I didn’t expect this movie to have so much sex in it. Again, I watched it out of intrigue for the taboo nature of it. And taboo it was, oh my goodness. There was no limit to nudity or openness of sexual scenes. I have no issue with intimate scenes, but I was surprised to see just how much there was involved in the film. It seemed to be overkill at some points. I was fascinated by how these two women acted with and towards each other so early on in knowing each other. I guess I can’t judge. Baby and I felt like we were together forever by the time we were a week into seeing each other. We acted like it, too. Anyway, this movie just seemed like a lot of erotic moments with little substance. I did need to know how this affair would unravel, though. Not sure how I feel about the ending. All of that being said, I wasn’t sure how to rate this. It is rated pretty poorly overall. A lot of people attacked the main focus being on sex. Which it was. It got in the way of getting to know the characters. There was nothing to invest myself in. The acting was also dull until the erotic scenes. The more I type, the more I realize that I was unimpressed, as was everyone else. I’ve read that this is a crappy version of another movie on Netflix, “Blue is the Warmest Color.” Maybe I will watch that next.

Friend Request

“Laura is a popular college student who graciously accepts an online friend request from Marina, a young social outcast. To everyone's shock, Marina takes her own life after Laura decides to unfriend her. Soon, a disturbing and mysterious video appears on Laura's profile and her contacts slowly dwindle. When her friends suddenly begin to die one by one, the frightened young woman must figure out a way to stop the carnage before it's too late.” I remember seeing the trailer for this in theaters back when it came out 2 years ago. I did NOT want to watch this movie. I thought it looked ridiculous, to be honest. I have never been interested in the social . I know I shouldn’t watch anything remotely scary if I have to sleep alone (I have issues with a type of nightmare/sleep disorder but we will get into that another time) but beyond my better judgement, I watched it anyway. I was actually very interested the whole time I was watching. I did think the kills were different. The reviews are horrible. People have ripped this movie apart. Maybe I’m a broken human being (LOL) but I didn’t mind it. I also actually really enjoyed the ending. I wasn’t sure how this could end up, but I like the way they did it. Again, I’m on the fence about rating it. I wouldn’t say it was great, but I wasn’t struggling to watch it either.

Inconceivable

“Angela develops a friendship with a mysterious woman named Katie and offers her a job as a live-in nanny. The natural bond soon turns into a dangerous obsession as Katie becomes overly attached to the family's young daughter. Enduring lies and manipulations, Angela and her husband realize that sweet Katie is actually trying to destroy their family from within.” This started off with a bang. It also revealed the twist within the first half of the movie. I was pretty interested in it the whole time because I liked the story-line. You get enough information at the right pace. It didn’t drag and it didn’t bore me at any time. I was a little apprehensive with how all these movies have been underwhelming this week, but I liked this. I didn’t find it predictable. The reviews, you guessed it, are bad. I actually rarely agree with reviews on movies that aren’t huge. I didn’t this movie to have crappy reviews though, to be honest. I recommend this movie.

Dismissed

“An optimistic, straight-edged teacher finds trouble when a star student is willing to do anything to get an A.” Alright. First of all. Dylan Sprouse acted the hell out of this role. I was thoroughly impressed with him in this film. He was so believable! A great film about psychopathy. I was hooked right away, even with the vague synopsis/summary. There was so much potential for this to be so cheesy but it wasn’t at all. They didn’t hold back in this film; the incidents that occurred. Some reviews said it was predictable but I highly disagree. Reviews also said it was low budget (is also said that they did well with such a low budget) but I didn’t see it that way. I don't want to give too much away because really liked it and I recommend it.

I wish I had better suggestions for you guys, I really only recommend Inconceivable and Dismissed out of these six movies. I guess I’d say watch Adore if you are bored and wanna throw something on for background noise; something to catch every now and then while cleaning maybe. Friend Request might have been something I liked just because I like scary movies, but watching those can be fun. Below Her Mouth, honestly is just super erotic. Take that as you may. And lastly… Please, I beg of you, never waste your time on Open House.

In other news, I have decided to take this day to myself. If you are not my fiancé, I can't promise I will be talking to you today. I have packed a lot (which I wouldn't have gotten done without the help of my sister Vanny, my best friend from work, Ryan, and his best friend named Cal), slept less than I've wanted to, been to the bank too many times, and have seen my mortgage lender too often lately. It is time to shower, sleep, watch better movies for sure, and lay around without having to answer ANYONE. If you feel like you've been stretched too thin or you're stressed, you should consider doing the same. I've been non-stop going at it for about six weeks now and I deserve this. I love you all, but I need today. Comment away, just expect a response tomorrow. Xoxo.

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thesteadydietofeverything · 8 years

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Let It Die is cool, but it’s also cold

It’s hard not to look at Let It Die as some sort of gauge on the viability of the free-to-play model on the greater video game landscape. While the model has obviously had a lot of success within the realm of mobile games, and even quite a few high profile, big-budget PC games have adopted it after failing to meet their profit goals the old fashioned way, Let It Die still feels like something of an anomaly in the category at large. It’s the newest game by one of the mediums’ few unequivocal auteurs, Suda51, and his company, Grasshopper Manufacture, and as such, has a sense of gravity to the expectations of quality and artistry that few other free-to-play games have to contend with.

The microtransaction-heavy model has long been criticized as a just kinda generally shitty business tactic, but in today’s gaming landscape, where even $60 AAA games no longer even have to pretend to be shameful about milking extra dollars out of players hungry for extra skins or blind boxes, making a game that charges you nothing to start it almost even sounds generous. Thus, Let It Die feels like it’s arriving at exactly the right time, a relatively higher-tier developer embracing and, theoretically, elevating the gaming model at a time where the fluctuating status quo would only require one great game to change hearts and minds. Unfortunately, despite the surprising degree of success that the game has seen in the last month or so since its release, Let It Die just isn’t a great game. While it’s overflowing with the wacky and undeniably cool style that Suda51 has been perfecting throughout his career, the core gameplay elements largely left me feeling empty, and reinforced for me the inherent pitfalls of free-to-play gaming.

The beautifully detailed picture that the player sees when she first start up the game is the Tower of Barbs, a monstrous overgrowth of 40 hellish levels erupting from the remains of the orphaned island that used to be South Western Tokyo. It’s a powerfully rendered image that pairs immaculately with the glitchy 8-bit style embraced in the menu screens. By the time Uncle Death, a grim reaper wearing 3D glasses, came riding his skateboard in and addressed me as “Senpai,” I was ready to go wherever this game took me. One of the most frustrating things about the game is that as much as the gameplay pushed me away, the sheer style of it remained omnipresent, urging me to stay in that world. Every floor of the tower seems to get more fucked-up looking as you go, rewarding progression with a new, weird, environment until that one gets stale. Every enemy explodes in a high-pressured geyser of gore upon death in their own slightly unique way, and it’s morbidly satisfying, especially after a particularly harrowing encounter.

Every trip to the waiting room of the tower or The Hater Arcade promises some intriguing interaction with one of the surprisingly compellingly rendered characters. There’s the Mushroom Magistrate, whose vocal performance by Isabelle Fuhrman does a pretty good job of convincing one she really has gone insane from too much mushroom consumption. Naomi Detox, the teenage arcade attendant, never fails to find new, creative ways to complain about her loser boyfriend between assigning you new quests. Meigin actually has some pretty useful tips for bettering your performance, as long as you can get past his uber-gamer elitism. If you care to shell out real money to take the express elevator, the operator, Rin Torai, will share some delightfully awkward rides with you. None of these characters are much more than the one-note characterizations they seem to be; as far as I’m aware, there are no actual plot arcs or anything involving them. Regardless, they play their roles well, and serve to color the world of the game in with some remarkable personality.

If I were only grading this game based on its aesthetic impact, it would be a lot more glowing, but unfortunately, there’s also an actual game here, and I have a lot fewer nice things to say about that. The gameplay of Let It Die has rightfully earned some comparisons to Dark Souls, with its challenging, timed-swing focused melee combat and moveset-containing weapons, not to mention the amount of time between “checkpoints.” These comparisons do the game no favors, though, as these are all difficult mechanics to pull off in a game without making it unnecessarily frustrating, and while Let It Die might do better than some other Dark Souls clones, it still fails to meet that standard of engaging the player rather than pushing her away with its systems.

Combat takes both skill and practice to get good at, and while getting good certainly is a possibility in this game, it’s not nearly as rewarding as I would have liked it to be. There is little weight to most of the weapons in the game. While in Dark Souls, learning how to properly use any given weapon is a matter of spending enough time with it to memorize its moves, there is just a certain feel that you get from it as well, something that comes off as intuition but is really a combination of the careful animation of your character and the tight controls that provides instant feedback on your performance. That feedback is practically nonexistent in this game. Each attack animation feels generic and unintuitive, leaving you with nothing but sheer memorization of the amount of time an attack takes and what weapons are preferable for which enemy. It’s not just boring, it’s straight-up repellant in the early hours of the game.

Going along with the Dark Souls comparisons, this game has a similar lack of a pause button and long stretches of levels to cover before the player can return to their main hub, in this case, an elevator that you can ride down to the waiting room in order to level up, buy necessary upgrades and equipment, chat with characters, or maybe even just stop playing (quitting mid-level is considered a death). Again, while Dark Souls will use this mechanic in combination with clever level design in order to add to the level of dread and immersion, Let it Die’s levels feel practically procedurally generated, a random series of halls and rooms with repetitious textures and lazily placed enemies, and the feeling that builds as one traverses these maps is less dread as much as just tedium. The relief that I’d feel as I’d spot an elevator in the distance had little sense of accomplishment mixed in with it; mostly I was just happy that now I could stop.

As relatively “fair” as one-on-one combat can feel, I never really found a way to successfully take on two or three enemies. Oftentimes I’d find myself stuck in an enclosed room with little environmental factors to kite and isolate enemies with, and the second I’d try to put in a single attack, I’d get pounced on. In short, these encounters feel basically designed to kill you, and that’s where the insidious free-to-play factor comes in. When you die, you have a couple options. You can follow the advice that the title of the game seems to be giving you and simply let your character die - they’ll be reborn as a “hater,” an especially tough enemy that another character can face off against if you return to that spot, and if you defeat them, can be sent out to raid other player’s games (the game has some fairly extensive online features that I never really touched, so I’ll say little about them in this review).

Your other option upon death is given to you by the helpful insurance saleswoman who greets you upon each death - to revive yourself with a death metal, a form of currency in the game that is very nearly only earned by purchasing packs with real money. In effect, this is essentially the equivalent of putting another coin in the arcade machine, an apt mechanic given the game’s framing device. This is really what you’re more likely to want to do, as it takes time to level up your characters, and having a well of available, trained fighters becomes more and more important as you progress through the tower. And I’d almost feel tempted to forgive this if some of the encounters felt a little bit more doable, but as it is, death seems essentially unavoidable. It feels like a rote exercise, that rather than defeating enemies through sheer skill or adequate leveling, you simply pay to bring your health back up and start back right where you left off; it eliminates the challenge and the reward possible in these encounters, and any time the “risk” side of a risk/reward situation is actual money, it’s going to be pretty hard to convince me to go for that risk.

To the game’s credit, it manages to work its style even into these microtransactions, such as the express elevator, that actually is much nicer looking than the regular elevator, making one feel like she paid for first class. That it treats such a potentially damning game mechanic with a nod and a wink is legitimately funny, and surprisingly tempting, but the lack of fun I was having with the rest of the game convinced me against it. This was essentially the main problem I encountered throughout the game: wanting to like it so much more than I did because of the style but finding myself unable due to the lack of substance. And the style really is nothing to gloss over: Suda51’s artistic success has largely been defined by the aesthetics of excess, and the way that this game manages to balance its stylistic gratuitousness with something approaching tastefulness is an oxymoron that’s a wonder to behold. If only it felt as inspiring to play as it does to look at.

5.4/10

#Let It Die #Suda51 #Grasshopper Manufacture #Video Games #Review #Pop Culture #Dark Souls

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