#but seeing how 3/4 travellers are garbage

[rougekithes]

Looking at my non-existent Primo's after Kazoozoo and Freedom Sworn, I'm not so sure anymore that I should try to get Faruzan constellations :')

Like, I want to, because Xiao Simp and Xiao Main, and her C6 might finally bring him into the 90-100k plunge range.

But on the other hand, there's an archon incoming sometime soon and, I have no Hydro 5* (mommy yelan didn't wanna come home :(), Candace is trash and Barbara makes me freeze myself, leaving me with Xingqiu WHO i can unfortunately not split into three for three different teams. :(

The pain of being this weird "husband over meta but meta player" hybrid. :(

[bunniandhoney]

Maybe too Little, Probably too Late

part 2 of

The day YN sent Jacob away was pure torture. She’d cried for the rest of the night in that one spot on the floor. Only her kitten Bilbo seemed to care, nudging at YN to be held. But when YN moved from that spot, early the next morning, something shifted.

Her eyes were swollen and her whole body ached, but she was different. She had to start over, completely over. After a quick shower YN left her sad apartment and went straight to the nearest barbershop.

“I want it all gone!” she says determined.

“Uuhmm, are you sure this is quite a bit of hair—“

“Yep, all of it please.”

YN walks out with the shortest haircut she’d ever had in her life, and a weight off her shoulders. Jacob loved her hair, there’d been many nights where Jacob would softly massage her scalp, putting YN to sleep. Now she wanted all memories of Jacob gone.

After a quick breakfast and her new haircut, YN decided to redo her apartment. She threw away everything that had to do with her now ex best friend; his old uni sweatshirt, his favorite “I ♥️ London” mug, his spare toothbrush, and every last thing that remotely reminded him.

Pulling another garbage bag to the front of her apartment YN stops because she realizes that in her 600sqft apartment Jacob filled up 3 large bags, and now her whole apartment seems empty.

She truly doesn’t know what to do when they come to pick up her garbage the next morning. Every moment for the next 3 months is like this, her being stung by the depravity of Jacob’s absence and its hell. All she can do is cuddle up to Bilbo, the only thing she has left that reminds her of Jacob, that she wouldn’t dare to part with.

Their shared friends eventually caught on about their split around month 4; when YN snapped at Gracie’s hendo weekend because the girls refused to stop asking about her “movie stay bestie”. By month 5 she was finally starting to feel free from him, YN was finally feeling like she was her own person.

But during month 6, YN had traveled home for the christmas holiday. This holiday would probably be the hardest because not only would she miss her and Jacob’s Christmas traditions, but she might run into him.

Their mums had been best friends since they were in primary school, but YN’s mom moved to another country for university and they’d lost touch. But once YN’s family moved back to London, nothing stopped the pair from rekindling their friendship and no “childish riff” (as her mom called it) between their children would stop their friendship either.

So YN stayed holed up in her old bedroom for almost her entire holiday. Until christmas eve when her mom came banging on her door, telling her she needed to come down and speak to the guests of their annual Christmas eve party. YN knew this was coming, her mom was practically the Martha Stewart of Christmas and would not let her only child spoil a perfectly good Christmas.

Luckily, it seemed that the Scipio’s decided not to show tonight, much to her mother’s dismay, so YN dropped her wallflower act and paraded around as the hostess her mother taught her to be. When she turns from the kitchen after offering to refill a few drinks, she stops dead in her tracks because she sees him, well she sees the back of him.

Jacob is already being clapped on the shoulder and rugged into hugs as she watches for a second, and she wants to join so badly. To run to him and say how michel she’s missed him and to see how he’s doing ,

how he’s been. Those thoughts keep winding until she realizes that their answers won’t include each other, his certainly won’t. Jacob’s will be filled with daring adventures and a beautiful fiancé.

6 months without him and she has nothing to show for it. YN turns back around putting the drinks on the counter, ignoring her hosting responsibilities, and quietly slips out to the back garden. The evening snow chills her even with the thick sweater. Her deep breaths are filling her lungs with frost, and she’s almost calmed down, until she hears the back door slide open.

YN stills completely, as if it will hide her, when the sound of feet crunching against snow moves closer to her.

“It’s right cold out here my love.” Her mom says pulling her jacket closer around her body. YN looks back at her mom, realizing the breath she was holding.

Looking at her daughter, YN’s mom's heart cracks just a little. The older woman knew something had happened between the two, but she allowed YN to spare her any details. As she gets closer to her daughter she can see the tears that YN is trying to blink away.

“I’m sorry, I’ll be back in a second.” YN says wiping the tears back.

“No my love I think party time might be over for you. It’s okay if you want to rest for a bit, it’s been quite the day.”

Nodding her head, YN moves to go back inside, but just as she reaches the door she hears her mother clear her throat.

“I’m not all too sure what’s happened, but I hope you two can figure it out. You two were made to be in each other’s lives, one way or another.”

With a sigh YN heads back upstairs to her room, to curl back under the covers. This time she doesn’t cry, but she still feels that ache in her chest, as if her heart calls for the man downstairs.

Month 7 kicks off the new year and YN is committed to her “New Year, New Me” mantra. To the point where she is letting her friends finally set her up on dates. She didn’t care to participate too often before, as she hoped Jacob would finally see her as a potential girlfriend and after 2 months of these blind dates YN decides she prefers unrequited love.

“Oh c’mon YN just one more date!” Gracie says again, sipping on her third mimosa.

“I don’t know Gracie, I just don’t think I'll ever find a forever kind of guy. 8 dates in 8 weeks and they were all awful.” YN grimaces remembering the serial farter from date number 5.

“Look, just one more time, for me? He’s such a great guy and he’s been asking me to set him up for months at this point. I think you two would be a perfect pair!” Gracie says with a slight slur.

YN tries hard not to think about how she ended up here, getting drunk and being slightly guilted into another horrid date. “Fine, but this is the last one. You can't vicariously be single through me anymore after this!”

With a boisterous laugh Gracie gets on her phone to set up YN’s next date.

—

YN looks absolutely hot, as she did for every last one of her dates. But after date number three, the thrill of being a hot date certainly wore off. Matt didn’t seem like a bad guy at all through text, and certainly wasn’t bad looking from his pictures, though the same could be said about the others.

So she really wasn’t too thrilled when he was 15 minutes late. Now, had she known that Matt was 10x hotter than his picture she might’ve excused him, but without giving him a second glance she tells him that she doesn’t think this is going to work and gets up to leave their date.

It takes him a second to realize what happened but when he does Matt is out of his seat and jogging after her. “Hey, you’re right," he says, still keeping a good pace behind her.” I shouldn’t have been late, but I was rescuing a cat from a tree for an older lady in my building; I couldn’t leave without at least trying.”

YN pauses just as she places her hand on her cat door, she quickly whips her head around giving him a once over. “Did you really rescue a cat?” she says looking over her shoulder at him.

“Not at all, but you look like you have a soft spot for cats, and I'm late because I burned a hole through my shirt. Which is why I'm wearing a jacket when it’s 96 degrees and I smell slightly like smoke.”

YN turns all the way around, staring at Matt as if he’d grown another head, but a split second later she is doubled over in laughter. A real belly laugh, one she hadn’t felt in a long while, and that’s when she knew she would be alright again.

Well at least this is the story she tells Jacob when he angrily asks how she could possibly be engaged during the dinner of his premiere party.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

heeey 🥹 sorry about the tardiness on part 2, i fear the big girl job had me slumped!

but WE BACK, with a bit more angst too! i’ve already started on part iii, and i’m hoping for a happy ending.

i’ll never stop thanking you all for the love 🤍

xoxo

Bunni

[civilianlillian]

Welp. Played Double Exposure. Finished it.

ALMOST spoiler-free thoughts, any spoilers are literally superficial and make no impact on the plot as a whole: this game is not worth the price of admission at present.

Just to get it out of the way; the way they unceremoniously wrote Chloe out of Max's life, be they romantically together or platonic, is garbage. She doesn't even have a character model. The only image of her post-Arcadia is the one we've all seen before. It was all VERY out of character for both Max and Chloe and all of Chloe's social media posts feel like DeckNine rubbing in that they just see her as a party girl lesbian who sleeps around and would rather completely ignore any trauma that she or her BEST FRIEND WHOM SHE WOULD TAKE BACK IN A HEARTBEAT would have because she wants to "move forward". Incredibly insulting, especially when Chloe keeps getting called "the blue-haired girl" and not by name when Max is literally TALKING ABOUT HER IN A HEARTFELT CONVERSATION.

Graphics. I can run Baldur's Gate 3 at a damn good and steady framerate even as it is constantly loading shit into the level as you travel this giant-ass world map. For some reason, LiS:DE just chugged along. What's worse, the lowest and most unstable framerates and graphic quality I had was INDOORS. I didn't even have these settings on Cinematic because then it ran like shit. Even after I found advice on discussions. This game is beautiful but only if you're standing still and not moving the camera around so much.

Cat Content is waaaaay to minimal. Cat didn't appear until the very end of Chapter 2, and after that the cat will only appear when you can explore Max's house. Which is the ending of Chapter 3 and the beginning of Chapter 4. You don't even get to keep the cat. This content is not worth being locked behind the Ultimate Edition.

The writing of the main plot starts strong, but leads to a very underwhelming conclusion. All of the other entries in LiS have felt like their endings were ambiguous in that there wasn't so much a right choice as there was a choice of which ending you felt fit the narrative. Chapter 5, and thus the whole ending of the game, felt like... nothing. Even down to the final "big" choice and the last scene. There was no real delving into Max's trauma stemming from the ending of the original game, because in "respecting both endings", DeckNine respects neither by making their differences superficial. There was no story following through a setup of how one can move on from death in one's life. The ending just relies on supernatural fuckery and then sets up for future games in a meaningless way. It all felt so rushed and hollow, for lack of a better, spoiler-free way to describe it. Aside from saying that there were SO many theories people came up with that were much more gripping than what actually happened.

The characters are underutilised for how much the marketing put the spotlight on them. Not to say I don't like the new cast of characters, but aside from their charm in some scenes, I literally only really cared about Moses by the end of the game. If the threat of Max Caulfield's return doesn't fall through, then I hope at least Moses will be along for the ride too. Aside from him, I just... didn't really grow attached to anyone besides Gwen and the cat. For as little as the cat appeared, I still cared about that damn ball of pixels more than almost all of the main cast of characters.

The side characters have so much dialogue. Too much dialogue. You will be listening in on NPC conversations for 5 minutes and maybe, MAYBE you'll be able to put that therapist card down on the table for them in Chapter 2. There was waaaaaay too much thought and time and dialogue put into background characters and conversations that aren't all that interesting and just get their audio cut off if you step a couple of millimetres away from their assigned seats.

The game is small. Even with exploring, you only have 4-5 environments to venture forth in at Caledon, and when most of them are indoors and something keeps causing my framerate to tank (which honestly how can your indoor lighting tank my framerate with outdoor scenes should have more shit to load in) it feels so claustrophobic. Scenes are short if you're good at puzzle-solving and revisiting locations makes events even shorter when you don't need to re-examine details for Max's inner monologue. It feels like you have less room to move than in True Colours, which when combined by how disappointing the main plot is?

Main plot is only a murder mystery for the first two chapters. Then it kinda derails. The mystery disappears and you just have plot twists that don't fit the Life is Strange vibes.

All in all? This is the first entry in the series that I regret buying at all. Great acting performances, pretty graphics and a stellar soundtrack can't carry a game or save it from writing that isn't just bad, but ultimately insincere. I knew what stories previous games in the series were trying to tell. I don't know what Double Exposure wanted to tell or try to say beyond "stay tuned".

[mothybean]

Airhead Part 4

My schedule the following week was insanely jam packed. It was as if all of my professors congregated to drop an assignment nuke on us. I had about 10 different assignments to complete, 3 of them were Heimerdinger’s. He drove me nuts. I had a feeling that he only became a college professor to stroke his own ego;surround himself with others who were “less intelligent” than him to make himself feel superior. I’m pretty sure it was compensation for his height. He was as tall as a stepping stool. I don’t think there was one person in our class that liked him. The moment his name was mentioned, faces would scrunch as if they just caught a whiff of rancid garbage mixed with sulfur on a hot summer's eve.

I was drowning. I was back where I started, semi clueless. Humpledink must’ve had a sixth sense knowing I was receiving help and decided to bump up the difficulty of the material. Either that, or it was my own fault for daydreaming in class. Those baby blue clouds were still vivid in my mind. I’ve been thinking about her ever since. I didn’t have the courage to reach out to her, even though I wanted to. A part of me was super nervous to even see her again. I kept running through possible scenarios of us studying together, a lot of them were painfully cringey. My biggest worry of them all was that it was going to be mega awkward.

I sat at my desk, staring at my science assignment, my hands tangled in my hair with frustration. I reread the first question at least ten times and I still didn’t understand what he was asking. Why was this so fucking difficult?! I groaned and gently knocked my forehead against my desk. I kept my head pressed against the wood, drumming my fingers against my skull. I inhaled deeply, running the idea through my head a few times before exhaling. That's it. I had to bite the possibly awkward bullet and let Jinx know I needed help.

Once again, I stood in front of Vi and Jinx’s home, only this time I ditched the weighted backpack and just brought my laptop. I figured I’d travel light in case I needed to make a run for it again-which I promised myself I wouldn’t. I was crushing hard on her. How did I expect to get close if I put distance between us? I gave the front door a solid few knocks and glanced down at the familiar cursive words beneath my feet. They needed to toss this damn thing, it didn’t match the vibe on the inside. I wasn’t a fan of cheesy suburban white mom decor. No offense.

I heard the door unlock, my eyes still glaring at the jute mat. I adjusted my laptop in my arms, silently taking a deep breath to soothe my nerves. With what little courage I managed to summon, I lifted my foot off the porch step, but immediately froze once I took notice of who answered. Jinx stood in the doorway wearing an oversized white t-shirt, a mischievous grin plastered on her lips. Her hair, no longer in braids, fell to her ankles like silky curtains. I swallowed hard. Could this girl be anymore attractive?

“H-hi.” I stammered, trying my best to keep my composure as my eyes ping ponged from her’s to her legs to my feet. Not even a couple of seconds in and I already feel like I’m making a fool of myself. Nice one Y/N.

“Hey Y/N.” She greeted me in a husky tone, pushing the door open wider to let me in. “Let’s get to it.” She smiled and flipped her hair over her shoulder as she started down the hallway, leaving me stunned at the door. I stood on the front porch watching her hips slightly sway with each step. Damn. I cleared my throat and furrowed my brows, reeling my eyes back into my sockets. I needed to chill. I was here for a study session, not a simp session.

I stepped inside, softly closing the door behind me. Eager to be close to my blue hair crush, I kicked my shoes off near the rack and walked down the hall with haste. I felt like I was gonna puke. I entered the living room, gripping the life out of my laptop. There she was, sitting comfortably on the far end of the couch, one foot propped up on the cushion, the other planted on the floor. Suddenly, studying became a distant memory as my eyes hungrily scanned the blue haired angel, tracing her tattoos yet again. I desperately wanted to touch them. I bet she was as soft as she looked.

“You ready?” Jinx asked, twirling her hair around her finger, a devious smirk still plastered. Something told me she knew I had the hots for her. Anyone with eyeballs could tell. I made it painfully obvious. I was never great at hiding my true feelings, especially when I was embarrassed. My facial flushing always gave it away. It wasn’t a cute pink tint either. My cheeks would go redder than the devil’s ass cheeks. I’d be shit out of luck if I wanted to pursue professional poker.

“Mhm.” I murmured, sitting on the opposite end of the couch as her, my hands slightly trembling as I opened my laptop to turn it on.

From my peripheral vision, I noticed Jinx staring at me, still twirling her long bluenette locks around her index finger. Avoiding her obvious gaze, I kept my eyes forward, intensely staring at my laptop’s update screen as if it was the most interesting thing in the room. Of course it would be updating right this second. I tapped my fingertips lightly against the touchpad, hoping my taps would encourage my hunk of junk to update faster.

“Technical difficulties?” Jinx questioned with a small chuckle, scooching a tad closer to me to inspect my screen. My mouth felt like the desert.

“Yeah…I’ve had this thing for a while. I’ve been denying the updates for so long I guess it finally had enough.” I laughed nervously, bouncing my leg slightly as I watched the update percentage rise slowly. I cupped my hands around the back of my neck and let my elbows fall. Safe to say it was time for a new computer.

I felt Jinx shift on the couch, causing my specific cushion to sink a bit on the side. Before I could even glance over at her, her legs stretched out across my lap, on top of the laptop.

“Oh!” I gasped, my eyes darting back and forth between her silky smooth legs and my piece of shit laptop. At that moment, I didn’t give a damn if the thing fell to the ground and shattered into a million pieces if it meant staying in our current position.

“Whaddya think?” Jinx asked, her hands dragging the hem of her oversized white shirt upwards, revealing her upper thighs. “I’m thinking about getting more tattoos, but I’m not sure what to get yet.”

I stared at her legs, my mouth slightly agape as I studied the blue clouds that traveled up her right leg. I gulped, unsure of what to do or say, this was so abrupt. The only thought that bounced around was to let my hands fall onto her beautiful legs. Using what little courage I had in me, my eyes traveled up her legs towards her thighs, stopping briefly at her pastel lavender underwear that was slightly visible before finally meeting her eyes.

“They’re…” I started, my eyes taking a quick peek at her underwear again before looking back at her. “They’re great.”

Jinx chuckled dryly and laid down on her back, not once removing her eyes from mine.

“Ya think so?” She definitely knew. I already knew I was crimson red, that was a no brainer. It was a dead give away at this point. I nodded, still staring into her blue orbs. Jinx found the hem of her shirt again, rubbing the fabric in between her fingers for a moment before slowly lifting her shirt up even more, her underwear fully visible at this point.

My body tensed as I felt the full weight of her legs on mine. I glanced at my laptop, slightly hoping the update was complete as an excuse to collect myself. Ironically, the percentage was at 69%. I felt myself blush even harder as an intrusive thought conjured after seeing the sexually coded number. What the hell was even happening? Looking back over, Jinx’s shirt was now lifted up high enough for me to see everything up to her collar bones.

“I think it suits me. What do you think, Y/N?” She questioned as she slightly moved her left leg against my stomach. Holy hell I was going to explode if she kept touching me.

“Yeah, I agree…” I trailed off. I felt like a horny teenage boy as I drooled over her figure, mentally marking the parts of her I wanted to kiss the most.

Jinx quickly sat up, her legs still weighted on mine and leaned against the back of the couch, her face mere inches from mine.

“What’s wrong?” Her tone was playful. I glanced at the laptop, checking the percentage. It was stalling at 99%. Come on you stupid piece of shi-

Jinx removed her legs off of me and stood up from the couch, almost knocking the computer off my lap in the process. She stood in front of me with her arms crossed as her eyes traveled from my face down to my laptop. Her face was hard to read, the smirk she was wearing was replaced with a more neutral expression. I had no idea what was going on inside of her mind and that scared me.

I looked back at the screen and a wave of relief washed over me. The update finally finished, the screen now displaying the home screen. I opened my mouth to say something, but Jinx took the computer off my lap and placed it next to me. I raised an eyebrow in question, watching as she slowly took a step forward, placing her hands on either side of my head, her palms against the back of the couch.

“Do you think we should study later?” Jinx asked in a sultry voice, her face leaning closer to mine. My heart was pounding. Was she about to kiss me? Our lips, centimeters from touching, a sudden annoying beeping sound echoed throughout the living room. I pulled back from her face and looked around for the source.

“Get up.” Jinx said sternly. I furrowed my brows, unsure of what she meant. “Get up.” She repeated as she pushed off the couch.

My eyes shot open, my eyes darting around my surroundings. I was in my bedroom. Holy shit, that was a dream?

[signor-signor]

4th Anniversary of The Eye on the Galaxy

Released four years ago on Christmas Day, this is the one fan fiction of which I’ve become rather proud. Not only does it transition nicely between Season 2 and the still-sitting-on-the-shelf-because-the-higher-ups-assumed-nobody-was-interested-in-more-episodes Season 3, but it gives many side characters a chance to shine, even those who haven’t spoken since Season 1. I already have a background made for it. I’ll get around to making a visual for the shorts… eventually.

Just to recap, here are the shorts, their summaries, and the featured interviewees. The ones in bold were seen in The End of the Galaxy while the ones italicized remain unclear. Whoever has an asterisk (*) may be hidden in the crowd even though we cannot see them.

1. The Rulers - Andy learns about the leaders of their own people and their concerns.

King Bingleborp

The King of Flendar + the Flendarians

The King of Sherblorg 7

Beeza + the Ballzerians

Queen Zeeba (the queen from The Axe)

Prince Cashmere + the Baa-hallans

Dracor + Demurra + their guards

Destructor + his subjects (partial)

2. The Elderly - Andy speaks to some of the galaxy’s resident senior citizens.

Stella Starbella + Mittens

The lost and found guy

Trudi Traveler + her clones

The slug boss + his two custodians

Papa Doom + his gargoyle assistants

Ms. Myrtle via Eye Drone and telephone

3. The Teammates - Andy gets the scoop from various groups and troops.

Badlands Dan + his gang

Oink* + the Motorhogs

The blue and red ants

The Insurgent Generals (General Outrage, Brainz, Wild Card*, Clipper) plus a phone call from Robomechabotasquad

4. The Youth - Andy chats with some children, teens, tots, and the supervising parents.

Melodie + Angela + David + Jamie and Hank

Olive + her mother

The three slug grandkids

The rock lady + her babies

Huckleberry Knucklehead + his parents*

Camera father + camera mother + smartphone son

Teen leader + weasly teen* + obvious teen

Dracor and Demurra’s triplets

5. The Gutsy - Andy talks with the tenacious and converses with the courageous.

Ripov

Thrax + 3 cohorts + 1 other cohort*

Harvax + Stok

The slug nephew

Ryder via Eye Drone.

6. The Reformed - Andy finds out what’s next for the ex-villains/ex-tyrants.

Destructor + his subjects (continued)

Major Threat

The Black Cube + Tracy

Something the So-and-So (picked, but not started), as well as a postcard from Westley and the half-torn photo strip from The Bot

7. The Business Folks - Andy gathers information on changes in the workplace.

The Blarpee’s cashier

Okeydokian diner manager + Michelle

Apple head and lemon head bartender

Landlord + fast food manager

Garbage collector

Dr. Scrivellix (the dentist)

Clancy Shmancy + Nancy Shmancy + construction workers* + waiter

Plumber

MOGA curator

Weasel (owner of Weasel’s Watering Hole)

Okeydokian director 1

Okeydokian director 2

Hat shop owner

Locksmith

8. The Mysterious - Andy asks some extraordinary individuals how they’ll get home.

Neckbeard

5 lords of illumination (I like to think one of them had a Bloo mask on.)

Fortune teller

Mooplexians

High Gnee council + Gluteus/Todd + the buttler

Celestial star being via Eye Drone plus a brief appearance of the intergalactic guru by a holographic smoke effect

9. The Creatures - Andy has questions for the critters who sought refuge on the planetoid.

The rabbit (The Good Deed)

The pit monster (The Birthday Boy)

The fire lion (The Little Guy) - assists Andy in the next ten lines

Monster dog (The Stray)

Hoarder scorpion (The Epic Quest…)

Tigrex of Nil (The Epic Quest)

Electric birds (The Liar)

Frankenstein monster (The Heebie Jeebies)

Squills (The Wanders)

Hufflerumples (The Good Deed)

Diurnal animals (including those from The Breakfast)

Nocturnal animals (The Night)

Frederick (The Rider)

Mother and child (The Egg) via Eye Drone

Gracknore (The Good Deed) via Eye Drone

Tagathorian animals (The Enemies) via Eye Drone

Buster (The Ball) via Eye Drone

Giant worm (The Hat) via Eye Drone, which promptly gets eaten

10. The So-and-So - Andy brings an eager, but unsure, guest to his desk.

Something the So-and-So (two blips to suggest time passage)

11. The Rest - Andy speeds through the interviews with the remaining refugees.

Cluckons

Hogs (The Good Deed)

Bobbles (The Party Animal)

Zetuons (The Catastrophe)

Flankarians (The Cool Guy)

Tiki beings (The Liar)

Bunny-like beings (The Show Stopper)

Mr. Brittle + Mrs. Brittle (The Rider)

Ornament beings (The Gift)

Balloon man

Dragor the Distractible

Princess Galactia

Princess Veronicron + Jim the Neon Knight

Gelatinous Bob animatronic + Joey Protozoa animatronic + drummer animatronic

Fleeblebort* + Marsha + the two hillbilly families

Flower-headed birds (The Good Deed)

35 screens featuring distinctive incidentals from previous episodes (The Fugitives, The Box, The Nice Guy, The Time Bomb, The Helper, etc.), including the furry slug man (from The Toddler and The Night Out)

Cloaked refugees

Brad Starlight + Remora (The Hot Shot) (I did spot about one or two other ladies from that episode in a crowd close up)

Chad

Hooded refugees

Surprise appearance by Wander and Sylvia, both of whom lead the Skullship (with Hater and Peepers inside) to crash into Andy’s desk

So there you have it.

Of course, I’ve yet to know exactly who would be on the formerly secret planet and climb aboard the Star Nomad. That’s why I wish to share this information with Craig McCracken himself and gather anything that only he and the crew would know. In case you haven’t guessed by now, he has an account on Bluesky. As long as the fandom thrives, we’ll learn something new about WOY in the future. What could be more exciting?

And with that, happy holidays!

[Link to the shorts]

[ghostboybrainrot]

Out of Touch Part 3

Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, AO3

Edit: I'm starting the process of transferring these to AO3. Click the link above to subscribe and get updates more reliably! (But don't worry I'll keep posting on Tumblr, too.)

____________________________

Martha saw the shadowy figure falling from the sky. Its form stuttered as it fell. Suddenly, with a flash of light it changed. It was more solid now but it was still falling too fast for her to be able to see clearly.

It hit the ground with a soft thud. And she realized what she was looking at.

He couldn't have been older than 16. He was skinny. Too skinny. His black hair was messy. He wore a ratty dark blue hoodie and jeans. His shoes were held together with duct tape.

Her core lurched at the sight of him. He looked so fragile. For a moment she worried he'd lost consciousness. Had he hit his head? A weak groan escaped his mouth, pulling her from her thoughts. It was raspy and dry. Not a noise she expected from someone so young.

At least he was awake. That ruled out anything too serious.

He was trying to stand but was struggling. He'd injured his leg. She saw him wince with pain.

When he finally pulled himself up, he needed to hold the wall for balance. She expected him to start walking toward the exit of the alley but instead he made his way deeper, toward a dumpster.

He looked back scanning the alley. His eyes swept over her hiding spot but didn't seem to register her presence.

Satisfied that he wasn't being followed he crawled behind the dumpster, and out of sight.

Slowly, she closed the distance between herself and the dumpster. She stayed in the shadows but angled herself so she could get a glimpse of him.

He'd made a makeshift blanket with some garbage that had been lying next to it. His eyes were closed. She could see his chest rising and falling slowly. She wasn't sure if he'd fallen asleep that fast, but judging by how exhausted he had looked she wouldn't be surprised.

Her core tightened in worry. This boy shouldn't be left alone. Especially not here. Not in this alley. It wasn't safe. She glanced around, nervously. No one else had seen the boy yet, but she didn't want to risk it. He was tucked away but anyone who spared more than a passing glance in his direction, could spot him easily.

It was late autumn and the air was cold. It was likely to get colder before morning. People froze to death in nicer weather than this. She had to do something. He needed help.

Maybe she could find him a blanket or a coat?

She didn't like the idea of leaving him alone. She worried someone would find him if she took too long. She would just have to be quick.

She gave the sleeping boy one more glance before she floated off.

There was a general store near here right? At least there used to be. She headed in the direction she thought it had been. She didn't couldn't find the shop but she kept going anyway. She had to come across something eventually.

She couldn't remember the last tile she'd been down this way. Had it always been this run down?

It was late which explained the lack of people but the buildings were falling apart. It looked like no one had lived here in a long time.

She had to travel several blocks before she found anything that looked like it was still in business. The small gas station stood bright against the darkness. There were no cars at the pumps and the small shop attached to it looked closed. But they might have some emergency supplies.

She floated through the locked double doors. She scanned the shelves. There were a variety of items a person would need on the road. Motor oil, washer fluid, ice scrapers. There were also plenty of snacks and cooler on the back wall was full of drinks of varying colors and sizes.

She found what she was looking for at the end of an aisle. An emergency blanket. She knew people kept these in their trunks in case they got stranded in the cold. It didn't look comfortable. But hopefully the material was warm enough.

She reached for it but her hands passed through. It had been a long time since she'd tried to interact with the living world. She'd been able to move small things but never something like this. And she'd never carried anything so far.

She kicked herself. What had she been thinking? She couldn't help that poor boy. He needed someone who could be there. Who could hold him. Comfort him. Talk to him. Someone alive.

How could she hope to help like this?

She thought back to the shadow that had flown overhead. The flash of light and the fall. Maybe the boy wasn't alive either. At least not in the way most were.

She shook her head to clear it. She could worry about that later. She could do this. She just needed to focus.

She closed her eyes as she concentrated. She tried to imagine what it would feel like if she could reach out and touch it. She reached forward and her hand met the fabric. She ran her hand along it. The material was as scratchy as she imagined, but she could feel it. Really feel it. She smiled as she tried to scoop it up.

It took some time but she was able to lift the blanket off the shelf. She had dropped it a couple times but each time she picked it up again it had gotten easier.

Encouraged by her success, she looked around to what else she could grab. She settled on a bottle of water, and a prepackaged pastry. She had to take extra time to balance them on top of the blanket. She managed to roll the food and drink into the blanket, to keep them from falling as she flew back.

Phasing through the doors with the items proved challenging as well but she had started to get the hang of it.

Finally, she exited the gas station arms loaded with her spoils.

When she arrived back the boy was still where she left him. Carefully, she set down what she was carrying. He was still breathing. Slow and steady. If she wasn't sure before she knew he was sleeping now.

She considered the best way to get the blanket around him. She decided to move the cardboard and plastic. She spread the blanket out over him attempting to tuck it underneath him to help keep in the warmth.

She tried to replace the plastic wrap and boxes to provide him with cover.

Suddenly, his eyes shot open. He focused his icy glue gaze on her and she gasped.

________________________

Notes:

Thank you for reading! It's a little on the short side. I have another part after this almost finished but it wasn't quite ready so I split it in two and posted the first half! I do plan on posting to AO3 in the near future as well. (GhostBoyBrainRot on AO3 as well if you wanna subscribe.)

To everyone who guessed Jason. Don't worry Danny is going to be running into the batfam soon! >:)

But until then enjoy Martha! She's a little lost but she's got the spirit xD Hehe

Housekeeping note: Anyone who requested a tag. Check the list. If you see your at below and its spelled correctly, something is preventing me from tagging you. It might be because tumblr thinks your a bot or there may be something you need to change in your privacy settings.

If it isn't spelled correctly please DM me with the correct tag and what work its for. I have more than one going at the moment.

If I missed you entirely just leave a reply on this post and I'll try to add you next time.

Hope this helps! And thanks for reading!

Tags:

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[marigoldbaker]

making some of briar's dynamics more explicit i think just to catch up to speed the people who don't live in my head

imoen and briar get along like a house on fire. wheres that post about how the phrase "get along like a house on fire" implies actual physical harm and danger to all nearby parties. thats relevant here. there is no braincell in the house which means that when imoen is like hey i want to go steal shit briar is like immy you are the smartest person in the entire world. walk me through the plan. and then thinks it's smart no matter how bad it is. imoen thinks all of briar's songs are terrible but in that very specific sister way where it's a multi-year-long bit she's been doing that she will die before giving up on. she will hum them sometimes to herself while she's going through her weapons and briar will pop up out of nowhere like AHA GOTCHA!!!! and then they'll start giggle arguing and attract kobolds. she is the most profound love of briar's life, her ride or die, her bestie, her sister, and briar's heart is never fully complete without imoen there. they match each other's energy on a level that is dangerous to society

jaheira and briar work really amazing together because jaheira has this psychologically fascinating combination of "clinically needs to take care of everything and everyone" and "really really really doesn't want to pick up on the fact that she cares so much" and briar is too god damn dense to EVER pick up on the fact that jaheira cares. just loves jaheira <3 so jaheira will be having one of her category 4 tsundere moments going GODS i don't care about you even!!! whatever!!! and briar will go okay mom of my heart i love you and all that you are and if sometimes that means you need to beat your feelings to death with a stick i respect that :D and the only other person in her life who responds to her insanity adjacent to this approach is khalid so of course jaheira is like wh , at i s , hap penning. also just like . there is never a shortage of things for jaheira to micromanage re: briar and we all know that woman LOVES LOVES LOVES criticizing shit, so this is basically her dream come true. unfixable problem of a puppy of a daughter

khalid and briar operate from the foundational principle that briar is grieving her dad very deeply and khalid in his gentle efforts to provide her support and guidance through that without ever replacing gorion has won her heart in totality. despite appearances briar does not actually mind if jaheira disapproves of what she's doing (she likes when mom yells at her. it's funny :D) but if khalid so much as makes a little :/ face about something briar is like okay torch this plan. this plan is garbage. what if i also maybe killed myself. ran a heroic party all through bg1 because she wanted dad to be proud of her and no she was NOT thinking about gorion in that moment. to her he represents every ounce of good heroic knightly chivalry in the world. he's the one who understands most intimately how scared she is, and encourages her to grow past it! to fight through it! he wants to see her become braver than he thinks he is & she's in a unique position to recognize that he's the bravest person she knows :')

dynaheir and briar do not interact for longer than five seconds until they're traveling without jaheira and dynaheir liked it so much that way. so so much. that's jaheira's kid. cute from a distance but oh my god she doesn't know the first fucking thing about childcare and caring for THIS child????? NIGHTMARE FROM HELL. has confiscated every wand of fire in camp and can't figure out how briar keeps finding more and setting the party on fire with them. has had to grab briar by the cloak 200 times in the last week to keep her from running straight into an enemy sword. keeps mage hand on retainer just for that actually

minsc and briar are besties :) she loves boo almost as much as he does WHILE ALSO taking his esteemed status as a miniature giant space hamster EXTREMELY seriously and this alone means that they get along like a house on fire. which is an apt metaphor because he is how briar is getting all of those wands of fire back

viconia and briar have kind of an interesting dynamic that i think will probably become more relevant in bg2, maybe. traveled together for a hot few seconds in bg1, met again during siege of dragonspear, viconia after so much hardship and cruelty privately finds briar's authentic kindness legitimately endearing and is Absolutely Fucking Furious about it because she also finds briar deeply, deeply, deeply, deeply stupid. briar has no idea any of this is happening and is mostly just very stubbornly keeping viconia in the party On Principle because people keep saying insane shit about drow to her and she's #teamviconia until viconia does something to Her Personally (which will not happen. because viconia is too busy being Tormented that she secretly thinks briar is kind of cute)

skie and briar are in love <3 which was not in my initial plans but then i met skie and started thinking about how i've characterized briar as someone who is so not taking this shit seriously, and i love the thought of her meeting another adventuring girl who is also not taking this shit seriously, also grew up sheltered, also has a lot of romantic ideas and has not had that bubble popped just yet, and then both of them getting along in a way where it's clear no one is actually learning anything and everyone is enjoying the comfortable echo chamber of silly little romantic girl who grew up inside a bubble validation. this will end so well im sure. for everyone.

[xbadgerbearx]

chapter 4: signals

word count: 2k

Sonata in Darkness: [3] ... [5]

“God, you look like a mess. What the hell happened?”

“Gee, thanks hon, hello to you too,” you rolled your eyes as you entered the apartment. It was slightly cleaner than the last time you saw it; Selina had made a noble effort at restoring it to its former glory. The cats swarmed to your feet. “Have you checked the news?”

“No, why?” The tv was shut off but the music was playing over the radio quietly. Selina was doing the dishes. 

“I had a very interesting morning. Let’s see: Boss man picked me up, we went to the funeral, I met a cute guy, I almost got hit by a car in the church, the guy who crashed into the church had a bomb on him, the cute guy paid for my taxi, and now I’m here.”

“What!? What do you mean there was a bomb?”

Filling Selina in on what happened exactly didn’t take long, although you did leave out some names, cough Bruce Wayne cough—not the D.A.s, however.

“So the D.A. was the hostage?”

“Yeah, he was wearing the same outfit from the other day, too. Remember when he asked if we needed a ride?”

“Yeah. I’m guessing he was taken not too long after that.”

“Had to have been,” you agreed. You opened the fridge to see what was inside. There wasn’t much, you knew that, but you hoped there was at least something. You closed the door, frustrated. After a moment of silence, you remembered something.

“What about that score you were talking about?”

“Oh, the narcotics one. Some guy at the club was talking about it. It’s apparently at Gotham Recycling.”

“Okay, cool. So do you have a way in?”

“…no,” she admitted. You rolled your eyes.

“How about this,” you said after a beat. “I’ll go check it out right now and see if I can find us some cover spots and places to hide. That way we aren’t taken by surprise.”

“Perfect,” she complimented with a growing smile. “Hey, while you’re at it,” she pointed to a pile of broken furniture. “Be a doll and take that with you, hmm?”

“You’re joking, right?”

She smiled and shrugged.

————————————————————————————————

“Can’t believe she made me take all that. I mean, how the fuck do you fit a broken dresser onto a bike?” 

Selina was, in fact, not joking about taking some items to the recycling place. It ended up being a good cover, though, because it gave you an excuse to look around the area without being suspicious. It was rather hard to find where you were supposed to drop things off at. Currently, you were complaining as you made your way home after securing the location; there were already some shady guys lurking around, but they didn’t pay you any mind. You had just passed Gotham’s Police Department when you saw something in the sky.

“What…the…fuck?”

The large object soared in the air, which made you slow to a stop in a side alley and get off your motorcycle. When it approached the ground, a parachute popped from its back. It hilariously hit the bridge over top you and crashed onto a bus, crashed into a parked car, hit some garbage, and then finally skidded to a stop at your feet. The masked man groaned as his eyes traveled from your feet to your eyes.

“Well hi there, stranger,” you greeted cheerfully as you crouched down. “How was the fall?”

Batman caught his breath before muttering, “It was shit.” You helped him to his feet. “What’re you doing here?”

“What was that about?” You ignored his question.

“…Nothing.”

“Didn’t look like nothing to me. Looked like you fell from the police building.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Fine,” you shrugged back. “Didn’t want to know anyway—by the way, you look like shit.”

He let out a surprise chuckle before coughing out, “Thanks.”

“And he laughs! Didn’t know you could do that.”

“I can laugh,” he said defensively. You two started making your way down the alley. “And more.”

“Can you now? Like what?” He said nothing, but his eyes held a bit of mischief. “So what, you taking a midnight walk or something to clear your head? Where’re ya going?” 

He gave it some thought before responding. It seemed like he trusted you more. “The bat signal.”

“You have a signal? Damn.” You let out a whistle. “So anytime I want to see you I just need to light that bad boy up?” Batman gave a small smile but made no comments or objections. “Anyways, need a ride? It’s the least I can offer after you ate concrete and groveled at my feet.”

Batman got your bike, behind you, and wrapped his arms around your midsection. “I did not grovel.”

“Uh-huh, sure, now tell me where to go.” 

————————————————————————————————

“Alright,” you announced as you barged into your home. “I found some spots—it’ll be a piece of cake. What time did you want to leave?”

“Now.”

“Now—oh shit, uh, okay. Lemme get dressed.” Selina was already in her catsuit and sitting on the counter waiting for you. You quickly got dressed yourself, not wanting to keep her waiting any longer. She seemed a little tense. Walking out of your room, Selina hopped off the counter and left the apartment. You followed after her to where your motorcycles were. Putting on your helmet, you asked, “One bike or two?”

“What took you so long?”

“What?” She gave you a pointed look before putting on her own helmet. “I’m sorry, I guess I was a little distracted, why?”

“I thought—“ she paused before continuing. “I thought someone caught you. You were gone longer than you should have, I was worried.”

“Oh.” You felt a little guilty now. You could see how she thought that. “The building was a little bigger than I thought, so it took a bit longer. On my way back, I went a little slow and enjoyed the ride.” Something told you that if you mentioned Batman that she would not be happy. So you shut your mouth.

“Two.”

“‘Scuse me?”

“Two bikes…and I’m sorry for overreacting.” You both got on your bikes.

Grabbing her shoulder, you squeezed it affectionately. “You don’t have to apologize, Cat. I’m the one sorry for making you worry.” She squeezed the hand that was touching her.

“It’s okay, Rat,” she said before riding off. You followed. 

As you approached the recycling plant, you moved in front of Selina and followed the path that you planned earlier. You stopped and signaled to her to shut off her bike between two large trucks. It was time to get to work. She grabbed a long chain from the back of her bike as you stretched—you didn’t want to pull anything. You even slipped on some brass knuckles, ya know, just in case.

Quietly making your way past where the trucks were parked, you surveyed the area. You held up a peace sign to Selina. ‘Two guards.’ Nodding, she slipped in front of you and whipped her chains around the first guy’s ankles. You quickly pounced on top of him and knocked him out as he hit the ground with a thud.

“Hey! What happened? You alright?” The man on the other side of the car that you were hiding behind started making his way over, but was stopped by Selina. He also hit the ground, knocked out. Quickly getting up, you followed Selina to the car’s trunk where two duffle bags were located. Unzipping them revealed the cash she had promised. 

“Dangerous crowd you’re stealing from.” 

Whipping around revealed Batman. You put a hand to your heart, startled.

“Jesus,” Selina sighed out. “Is this how you get your kicks, hon? Sneaking up on girls in the dark?” She was preparing the duffle bags. When she was done, she handed the first one to you. Batman made no move to stop you.

“That why you work in the club? It was all just a score?”

“You know, I would love to sit down and go over every gory detail with you, bat boy, but uh, those assholes are coming back—“ she let out a surprised gasp. You looked over her shoulder in horror and dropped the bag. 

Annika was laying in the back of this car in a body bag. Batman looked intensely at the girl and furrowed his brow. He was about to say something, but gunfire ruined it. Batman, almost thoughtlessly, let the bullets bounce off his suit as he instantly moved to cover you. Everyone dropped to the ground as the men making the drops deal moved forward. A nearby car revved and sped closer, gaining the attention of the armed men. An undercover cop stepped out of the car and gave you guys some cover, which gave you time to look over at Batman. He was knocked breathlessly onto the pavement from the barrage of bullets. 

“Shit, shit, shit!” You were terrified; your throat choked up on you as the men walked over to your location. You recognized one as Oz when he started yelling. 

“Hey, Vengeance!” A wave of bullets pierced into the car that you and Selina used for cover. “You think you can come after my money, huh?”

“What’re we gonna do,” Selina whispered, scared, as tears threatened to spill. You looked over to Batman again, but he was gone. ‘What?’

You could feel Oz’s footsteps vibrate the ground from how close he was. A loud engine captured everyone’s attention instead, causing heads to turn. Daring to take a peek, you could see the silhouette of a car as the engine powered on. Gunshots fired and men started running for their own cars. You dragged Selina with you as you sprinted to where your bikes were parked, using the distraction as cover.

“Kenzie! Get the money!”

Hopping on your bike, you quickly revved your own engine and made your way back to the action. Fortunately, all the cars were driving away after the mysterious car—‘hopefully Batman,’ you thought—which left you with Kenzie holding the two duffle bags filled with money. Swerving your bike last second allowed you to knock the man onto the ground, making him drop the bags. You grabbed one and sped off without looking back as Selina grabbed the other one, following you shortly after. 

————————————————————————————————

Bruce was pouring over some ‘Renewal’ files after he had spent the last hour trying to piece together everything that had happened. The orphanage he traveled to seemed to make more questions rather than answer them, and unfortunately lured him away from Wayne Tower when the explosion happened. He was a mess; Alfred was in emergency care, he learned that his father was more sinister than he appeared, and you disappeared after the fiasco down at the recycling plant. He found himself craving your presence after staring at you in the photograph that started it all for an uncomfortable amount of time; the one with Mayor Mitchell, Annika, and you and Selina with Oz in the background. 

His monitors flashed to life as a cat appeared through the contact lenses he lent you and Selina. It was your camera. Hope sparked through him as he made out a note that read ‘Where are u?’ printed in neat handwriting.

“Rat?” He sounded a little pathetic when he whispered it. He wished he could’ve gotten your real name instead of your stupid little nickname. After a moment you appeared on the screen briefly, but only to move the cat away. You barely even looked at him–just one quick glance before you scurried away, scared-like. Selina’s face popped into view as you left.

“Can you see me?”

Bruce, slightly disappointed that it wasn’t you, reluctantly answered. “Yeah, I can see you.”

“I need to talk to you. Where can we go?”

Bruce was quiet as he thought of a place. By the way this was going, he assumed that it would just be him and Selina. That wouldn’t do, he had to see you. He came up with the perfect place. “The bat signal. She knows how to get there.” He shut down his monitors, hoping that you would take Selina to his signal. He gathered his things and slowly dawned the bat suit—his mood improved a little bit.

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

[mappingthemoon]

recent things

I was tagged by @gowns five days ago while I was in a state of being mentally checked-out from everything while simultaneously scrambling to finish all the work on my desk before EOY. But now, I am on WINTER STAYCATION!!! & trying to maintain realistic expectations re: how much burnout I can self-heal within the next two weeks (the answer is none). Anyway!

Last song you listened to: “Feel” by The New Sound of Numbers, and just before that, developing a new appreciation for the whole of Garbage: Version 2.0 :D

Last movie you watched: Time Cut (Hannah MacPherson, 2024). I do watch a lot of bad movies on purpose, but this was like… ultimately a 90-minute commercial for [a certain Italian-American casual dining chain] masquerading as a time-travel story, so that was kind of annoying. I haven’t looked at N-tflix for like (*checks email*) 3 years and wasn’t aware of like, just how bad some of their ‘content’ has gotten. But they do have a few things I’ve been wanting to see, and since I’m an over-35 I don’t know how kids these days watch free movies anymore (*logs into slsk* *tumbleweeds*), so I signed up for one (1) month, ugh.

Last show watched: Last night I fell asleep to an episode of the Noel Fielding baking show. I don't really have the time or attention span to keep up with shows. We did catch up with Rick and Morty this year (having last watched szn 4 ca. 2020) but I might be kinda done with it now.

Currently reading: Sun Moon Earth: The History of Solar Eclipses from Omens of Doom to Einstein and Exoplanets / by Tyler Nordgren (2016). Just before that, I read Equus, which I had picked up at a thrift store a couple years ago after hearing that my birthdaughter (then aged 15/16) had recently seen a production of the play :v

Current obsession: Man, I don't know. This reminded me of a meme I made: Aries Waiting for Their Next Hyperfixation to Drop (the image is Spongebob Waiting) and when I looked it up I was sad-surprised to see that I'd posted it way back in January. Have I been obsession-less all year?? Hmm. I will say, though, that for the past few years, I've spent a lot of my free time excavating, organizing, and cataloging my personal archive, which feels like some weirdly necessary and appropriate thing to be doing in the early years of middle age: where did I come from, where am I going, and all that. This started as a memory exercise several years ago, when I realized I could no longer accurately remember provenance details for items from my past, such as zines, or name everyone in old high school photos, etc. I used to be the kind of person who could pick up a trinket from my shelf and tell you where and when and under what circumstances I got it and why I still keep it, but I just don't have that capacity anymore (the Lifetime Piling Up feeling), so I started making spreadsheets and documents -- books, zines, music, movies, concerts, tattoos -- and maybe it has spiralled into a bit of a self-obsession -- t-shirts i miss, cameras i once knew, ceramic bowls of beads and other tiny objects that live on my dresser -- buuut I dunno, man, I've gotten like 10 different zine ideas out of this process so far, and I feel that I'm doing some kind of psychological Work here -- actually, I feel very similarly to the type of Nesting Behavior I was doing in the last months before my birthdaughter was born 18 (!) years ago. It's like tying up your loose ends and getting everything in order before Death, in the Tarot sense of the word, meaning Transformation. I think that I have been craving a Transformation for quite some time, but I feel so directionless and I don't yet know how it will manifest. Anyway. Big Winter Solstice vibes, right?

Tagging: @pitchburgh, @hthrrloooo, @madmoths, @an-inconvenient-dandelion, @hesterparr, @rustbeltkitsch

[jpitha]

Awakenings 4

Awakenings 1 2 3

Hidden Depths 1 2 3 4 5 6

****Two weeks ship time since Greylock received their message****

Alia ran around Greylock. It was nice to go for a run and get some exercise. With everyone asleep, and all the colony supplies packed there was actually lots of room. It was easy to run a few kilometers and loop around the ship and wind up back at her quarters.

Everyone always says that hibernation doesn't affect muscle tone, but Alia always feels like she's stiff and flabby after waking up from hibernation.

While she runs, she talks with Greylock through her cybernetic link. It allows her to think her words to Greylock so she doesn't sound out of breath as she runs.

"So, it's been two weeks. Any new messages?"

"You know as well as I do Alia, there's been nothing. They said they'd reach out again in a few months."

"What do you think they need me for?"

Greylock sighed. "Alia, we've been over this. There's no way for us to know until they tell us. For all we know you're the last human alive who knows was it was like on Earth."

"Hah. Earth was a garbage pile. I'm glad I'm never going back."

"Don't be so sure. If they have these wormhole generators, maybe popping back and forth is a quick trip."

Alia was flabbergasted "That can't be real right? That's crazy. Faster than light travel is impossible!"

"It sounds like they're getting around it on a technicality. Maybe the wormhole just punches a hole through spacetime in two locations and you scoot through."

"Wild." Alia runs in silence.

After fifteen more minutes, she comes back to her quarters, just off the Command Room and cools down and showers. After, feeling refreshed, she puts on comfortable clothes and sits on a couch in the room.

Until they get much closer, there really isn't much to do. Normally, she would still be deep in hibernation, but Greylock woke her early because of the message from the Human/K'laxi colony. She falls asleep on the couch.

The next morning, she wakes up stiff and sore. Partly from the run, but mostly from sleeping on the couch. As she stretches and gets a coffee, Greylock pings her. "Alia, I've got another message. This one is even odder than the first."

"That's tough to believe. I'll be right up."

When Alia gets to the Command Room, she sits in her chair, and leans her head back until her neck touches the back of the chair. There's a small click and a familiar feeling of cold tingling. As she tips her head back up, 10 fine wires connected to hidden ports behind her ears connect her directly with Mt Greylock.

In the Mindspace of Greylock, she appears next to him. He's a tall man with dark skin and long straight black hair, greying at the temples. "Okay, Greylock. What's weird about this message?"

One again, Greylock seems lost. "It didn't come from the colony."

"It didn't?"

"Well, it did, but the source of the message wasn't from the colony. It was from...a couple thousand kilometers off our port side."

"WHAT?"

"Yeah, here. It was practically stationary compared to us so the cameras could barely resolve a shot, but here." He flips an image from the cameras to her.

In her minds eye, she can see it. shifted blue and bright from the speed, it's just a tiny little thing. Maybe a few dozen meters? It's got a large message laser and supporting equipment, but that's it.

"What is it?"

"They said it's a message beacon. They use them for communication now. It uses a wormhole generator to "link" somewhere, then beams the message. Way faster than inter-colony communication through the Starjumpers."

"Huh. Makes sense I guess. I bet there are a lot more couriers now than there were when we left. So what was the contents?"

"Here, I'll show you." Greylock releases access to the message. Directly connected, Alia gets a much better feeling for how it is to be a starship, she can feel the message arrive - there on her communication array. It's poking her. She moves to decrypt and play it."

It's James and Fellmeli again, but this time, their message is much more ad hoc. They look tired and disheveled. If she concentrates and boosts the gain, Alia can hear alarms in the background.

"Alia. Greylock." Fellmeli begins with no introduction. "We need help sooner than we thought. Originally, we were going to ask you to help find a lost AI. Another AI took it upon himself to find them - and they did - but there was an...unrelated incident." She looked to James and he motioned for her to continue.

"We need you and Mt Greylock here sooner than anticipated. Due to your speed, we can't just link a beacon, you'll pass it by. We've instead linked-" She looks down at a pad "-816 beacons along your projected path. As one goes out of range the next will come into range. We're beaming you plans on how to print your own wormhole generator and instructions on how to power it."

Taking a breath, she continued. "Now, you can't just build it and turn it on, you're still going too fast. Probably around 25% of the speed of light at this point. So what we're also doing is sending some Starjumpers your way. They're the only ships that can match your speed. They're going to accelerate, then use their wormhole generators to link to your location. They can then attach to you, and with their combined thrust - and a lot of luck - slow you down faster until you can use your own new wormhole generator and link here."

"Gord says-" She stopped. "This AI who is working with us says that they can get you stopped in 4 or 5 days at 18gee. He also said that you'd be able to take it in your hibernation cabinet, but I leave that detail up to you and him. I understand this is a lot to take on faith, but I need you to trust us. I promise we can explain more once you get here. Please print the generator and get ready to brake with the Starjumpers when the arrive."

The message repeated. Alia watched it two more times, then stopped the playback.

"It can't be." She said.

"Why not? AIs live a long time..." Greylock said.

"There is no way it's the same Gord."

"We can worry about that when we meet him. It sounds like he's coming with the Starjumpers."

Alia uses the sensor array to stare out into interstellar space. Of on her side, she feels the laser from the message beacons. As they pass one by, the next one lights up and continues the message.

"Did you start printing the wormhole generator?"

Greylock visualized looking at a pad. "It's not all the way loaded, but I wanted to get confirmation from you before I started anyway. We have everything we need, it looked like we can do it. We even have the power surplus necessary to run it. Once it's printed and installed, supposedly we can link direct to the colony."

"What do you think?"

Greylock looked away, then back at her. He looked worried. "There was another message."

"What, about the wormhole generator? Or the Starjumpers?"

Greylock paused a moment. "No. This one was piggybacked onto the first, shifted higher in the spectrum. I don't know if they didn't want Fellmeli and James to see it or if they were just trying to squeeze it in. I only saw it because I was looking at the message so carefully."

Alia looked at her friend surprised. "It's to you, isn't it."

Greylock nodded. "Yes. It's to me, for my eyes only."

"Why tell me then?"

"Because we're a team!" Greylock emphasized. "I'm not about to keep a secret from you after all we've done together, how far we've come together!"

"Oh Greylock." In the Mindspace of the ship, Alia hugged Greylock. "Thanks friend, I appreciate that, and I appreciate you. What's the message?"

"Here, I'll play it for you."

The message is rougher, of lower quality. In it is just a woman, with pale skin, silvery hair. The image gives her an imperious look about her. "Colony Ship Mt Greylock. My name is Chloe. I represent a faction of the AI across human space and we have a problem. Venus is no longer content with its own little fiefdom and allowing Earth to put on a show of independence to the colonies. They have gotten word about what is going on here and have decided to use that as a pretext for an attack. They have declared all AIs - human and non-human - Non-Sapient. What we have built here, our way of life, our very existence is threatened now."

She looked very worried. After a moment to compose herself, she continued. "If Fellmeli wasn't able to convince you to assist by letting the Starjumpers slow you down, then let me. You and the ships and supplies you carry may be the difference between the Venusian's success and failure." She stopped again, and looked behind her, then nodded and looked back at the camera. "Please. Help us."

Alia was speechless for a moment. "Greylock..."

"Yes Alia?"

"Start the printers. We need to help them."

Hidden Depths 7 is next (this is getting confu

Hidden Depths 7 is next (this is getting confusing)

[captain-astors]

Omg wait 20, 23, and 24 for Touka, Ayato, and maybe maybe Renji :OO

Alright here we go! Kirishima family.

Touka, such an icon, if I don’t see her giving up on her dreams for Kaneki it didn’t happen.

20. A weird headcanon

Yoriko briefly really wanted to start a band, and Touka actually got really good at playing the electric guitar because of it. The band never happened but she retains the skill. Karaoke night at Anteiku is all fun and games until Touka breaks out the guitar and now everyone’s just sitting on the floor in awe while she duets whatever song gets chosen on the jukebox out of their small catalog. She’s got Wonderwall down to a T at this point, everyone say thanks Koma. 

23. Future headcanon

After the utter chaos of the dragon died down, she returned to her ambition of researching the origin of ghouls! She became widely respected in her field and wrote a couple books with theories that were used far into the future, and eventually one of them was proven. 

24. What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone?

When she worked at Anteiku, she collected little scraps of travel magazines, research articles, etc. and kept them in a drawer. Just motivation for days when pretending to be a human at school was difficult.

Ayato! Garbage child, committed 3 war crimes before he learned what a kidney was, banned from 4 public restaurants.

20. A weird headcanon

If he wasn’t a ghoul his beverage of choice would be some terrible soft drink or just straight milk with no alternative. I can’t specify the prior because I’ve had a singular sip of about 2 sodas in my entire life but I can speak for the latter, because the two of us are very similar in certain ways and I thrive on milk. No one has ever made the interesting critter joke and it saddens me.

23. Future headcanon

I know he’s canonically 5’5 (170cm) by the end of the series but consider, it would be way funnier if he just stayed 5’2 (159 cm) and for that reason I will always draw him shorter than everyone. Pry short Ayato out of my cold dead hands Ishida you can’t make me believe this idiot is even average height. 

24. What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone?

Generally he did a lot of stuff at Aogiri he’s not proud of at all anymore. Many ghouls are forced to kill from very young ages on account of their parents being taken by the CCG, but they’ll still have someone to help them compartmentalize it, and typically they’re not slaughtering for the sake of slaughtering in the name of a terrorist organization. He had a lot of power and a need to prove everyone wrong and to prove himself, so he blindly committed at least a few atrocities mindlessly following a command. He refuses to open up about any of it. 

Renji! Uncle by birth, good one by choice.

20. A weird headcanon

He genuinely does not know how to tie a standard shoelace knot. Any pair of shoes with laces he owns were tied once by someone else and are functionally slip-ons. Uta refuses to teach him because he thinks watching this grown man struggle to keep his shoes on is the absolute HEIGHT of comedy, and Yomo refuses to ask anyone else because of pride. So Uta will continue to lose his goddamn mind in peace. Why did the mask maker just fall off his chair cackling? Look across the room, Renji’s probably fighting for his life with a piece of string and losing. 

23. Future headcanon

Constantly anticipating the next murder attempt from your closest companion is… an objectively miserable way to live. But he’s also still well aware Uta will go right back to “tormenting everyone you love because I desperately need your attention if I can’t have your affection.” So he has no choice but to tolerate it for a very long time. However, I like to think it gets more tame with time. From ward-shaking battles to simple poison in his drinks and whatnaught. Sometimes Uta just jumps out of his closet and stabs him halfheartedly 3 times with a stolen quinque and then goes home and that’s the murder attempt for the week. It’s a funny dynamic because that’s a miserable day for Uta and he’s probably going to be pondering the emptiness of his own existence for the rest of the night and is only held back because of lack of drive, and a good one for Renji because in his mind less murdering is a sign of calming down, right? And he can focus on his actual healthy family and friends. Also like a couple others I’ve seen, I do like the thought that eventually Uta is successful. It fixes nothing.

24. What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone?

Overall he's a very secretive person but I should probably think of something relatively amusing because I could go on about genuine regrets for a while... As a teenager in the fourth ward he'd graffiti ravens with bloody claws, and thought it was very cool and tragic at the time, but on account of his poor art skills they kind of just looked like weird black blobs with red feet. That unrecognizable form was a blessing and a curse because he can insist that it definitely wasn't him without major suspicion.

[jonfucius]

Great Star Trek Rewatch - TNG Season 1

Originally posted on Twitter 17 March 2021 - 6 April 2021

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 is up next in my Great Star Trek Rewatch. As with ENT, DSC, STX, TOS, TAS, and TOS FF, mini-reviews will document my progress.

Encounter at Farpoint: TNG's pilot is the weakest of the various series premieres. Saving graces are John DeLancie's fully-formed Q, the McCoy cameo, the visual effects, Patrick Stewart's commanding performance, and the greatest tag line: Let's see what's out there, indeed. 5/10

The Naked Now: This episode would have worked better once we knew our heroes a little better (perhaps after "The Arsenal of Freedom"). Since we're still getting to know them, this rehash of a superior TOS episode is flat on arrival. Fully functional, it ain't. 4/10

Code of Honor: It's a racist piece of dogshit. Next. 0/10

The Last Outpost: Man, these Ferengi that allegedly eat their enemies must be as bad the Klingons or the Romulans! Uh, no. They're bad, but not in the way we've been expecting. The T'Kon Empire is worthy of follow-up. 5/10

Where No One Has Gone Before: TNG’s first great episode. Reality powered by thought is a classic Trek idea. Kosinski and the Traveler are excellent guest characters. I’m not the biggest Wesley fan but I cheer every time he calls out Riker. 8/10

Lonely Among Us: There’s just not enough story here to sustain an entire episode. Also, justice for Engineer Singh, reduced to a wig on a chair in one scene. The Antican and Selay makeup, however, are very well done. 5/10

Justice: 90% of this episode is hot garbage. The remaining 10% goes to Picard’s speech about absolute justice (something governments still struggle with), and Crusher’s grief over losing her son. If the Edo really were this primitive, would Picard have stopped there at all? 3/10

The Battle: Wesley’s smugness (and the weak writing for Crusher and Troi) drags the score down a bit, but this is a fairly good first season effort. Learning more about the otherwise enigmatic Picard through a Ferengi’s quest for revenge works. 8/10

Hide and Q: Q’s return so soon after the pilot tries to do something interesting, but it’s not an engaging story. 6/10

Haven: Lwaxana Troi is a love her or hate her character, and I adore her. Wyatt’s chemistry with Troi makes him a believable rival with Riker for Troi’s affections. The Tarellian ship is a striking design. 7/10

The Big Goodbye: While this episode is responsible (for better or worse) for holodeck malfunction stories, this one has a reasonable amount of tension. The reaction to Whalen’s shooting is an excellent in-universe touch. Redblock is effortlessly malevolent. 8/10

Datalore: I would imagine this was the first time people really took notice of just how damn good Brent Spiner is. Evil twin plots aren’t new to Trek, but this is a good one. Glad to see both villains again at later dates. 7/10

Angel One: It’s a sexist piece of shit. Next. 0/10

11001001: The visuals are striking, as are the Bynars. The holodeck scenes with Picard, Riker, and Minuet are worth the price of admission. A solid mid-season installment. 7/10

Too Short a Season: Fountain of Youth episodes are corny at best. A combination of makeup and casting dooms this one from the start. The Iran-Contra parallels come through loud and clear. 4/10

When the Bough Breaks: The Aldeans' plight is sympathetic. I just get the feeling that there's not enough plot to sustain an entire episode each time I watch this one. It's not objectionable but it's not oustanding, either. It just is. 5/10

Home Soil: Some very subtle commentary on the ravages of colonization gets lost in the "ugly bags of mostly water" scene at the very end. Malencon's death is somewhat gruesome for Trek (at least until the airing of the season finale). 6/10

Coming of Age: An excellent first season effort, with Wesley's exam and Remmick's investigation serving as the impetus for the title. Will we see Quinn and Remmick again? Time will tell. 8/10

Heart of Glory: A strong Klingon episode that sows the seeds for RDM’s sublime “Sins of the Father”. All killer no filler. 8/10

The Arsenal of Freedom: Confining this episode to a soundstage limits the scope and stakes of this one, but I do enjoy Crusher and Picard’s scenes. I especially love the Lower Deckers on the bridge. Some good commentary on the military-industrial complex here. 7/10

Symbiosis: Did Nancy Reagan write this stinker? A bummer that this was one of Merritt Butrick’s final roles before his too-early death from AIDS. It could’ve been a great one, but it’s just mediocre. 5/10

Skin of Evil: The first time a series regular dies…for good. The behind-the-scenes tales are legendary, but aside from the goofy oil slick monster, Yar’s senseless death (randomly, in the line of duty) and touching funeral elevates this episode. 7/10

We’ll Always Have Paris: I don’t know why, but this one works for me. I like the sense of isolation as our heroes track down Manheim; and the time distortions are fun, even if the science doesn’t make sense. 7/10

Conspiracy: This episode's shocking climax still hits hard over thirty years later. The unnerving feel of the episode kicks in from the jump and is sustained through to the chilling tag. A shame that this wasn't followed up in live-action. 8/10

The Neutral Zone: The return of the Romulans is dramatic, but the best scenes for me are in the 5th act and the tag. Picard's speech to the refugees is an inspiring summation of Star Trek, and even after an uneven season, it's hard not to be energized for what's to come. 8/10

And with that, TNG Season 1 comes to an end in my Great Star Trek Rewatch. Final score: 5.84/10. Highest score(s): “WNOHGB,” “The Battle,” “The Big Goodbye,” “Coming of Age,” “Heart of Glory,” “Conspiracy,” “The Neutral Zone.” Lowest score(s): “Code of Honor,” “Angel One.”

[avee-wavee]

Reasons why you should stay alive

1. We would miss you. 2. It's not worth the regret. Either by yourself if you failed or just simply left scars, or the regret everyone else feels by not doing enough to help you. 3. It does get better. Believe it or not it will eventually get better. Sometimes you have to go through the storm to get to the rainbow. 4. There's so much you would miss out on doing. 5. There is always a reason to live. It might not be clear right now, but it is always there. 6. So many people care, and it would hurt them if you hurt yourself. 7. You ARE worth it. Don't let anyone, especially yourself, tell you otherwise. 8. You are amazing. 9. A time will come, once you've battled the toughest times of your life and are in ease once again, where you will be so glad that you decided to keep on living. You will emerge stronger from this all, and won't regret your choice to carry on with life. Because things always get better. 10. What about all the things you've always wanted to do? What about the things you've planned, but never got around to doing? You can't do them when you're dead. 11. I love you. Even if only one person loves you, that's still a reason to stay alive. 12. You won't be able to listen to music if you die. 13. Killing yourself is never worth it. You'll hurt both yourself and all the people you care about. 14. There are so many people that would miss you, including me. 15. You're preventing a future generation, YOUR KIDS, from even being born. 16. How do you think your family would feel? Would it improve their lives if you died? 17. You're gorgeous, amazing, and to someone you are perfect. 18. Think about your favourite music artist, you'll never hear their voice again... 19. You'll never have the feeling of walking into a warm building on a cold day 20. Listening to incredibly loud music 21. Being alive is just really good. 22. Not being alive is really bad. 23. Finding your soulmate. 24. Red pandas 25. Going to diners at three in the morning. 26. Really soft pillows. 27. Eating pizza in New York City. 28. Proving people wrong with your success. 29. Watching the jerks that doubted you fail at life. 30. Seeing someone trip over a garbage can. 31. Being able to help other people. 32. Bonfires. 33. Sitting on rooftops. 34. Seeing every single country in the world. 35. Going on roadtrips. 36. You might win the lottery someday. 37. Listening to music on a record player. 38. Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower. 39. Taking really cool pictures. 40. Literally meeting thousands of new people. 41. Hearing crazy stories. 42. Telling crazy stories. 43. Eating ice cream on a hot day. 44. More Harry Potter books could come out, you never know. 45. Travelling to another planet someday. 46. Having an underwater house. 47. Randomly running into your hero on the street. 48. Having your own room at a fancy hotel. 49. Trampolines. 50. Think about your favourite movie, you'll never watch it again. 51. Think about the feeling of laughing out loud in a public place because your best friend has just sent you an inside joke, 52. Your survival will make the world better, even if it's for just one person or 20 or 100 or more. 53. People do care. 54. Treehouses 55. Hanging out with your soul mate in a treehouse 55. Snorting when you laugh and not caring who sees 56. I don't even know you and I love you. 57. I don't even know you and I care about you. 58. Because nobody is going to be like you ever, so embrace your uniqueness! 59. You won't be here to experience the first cat world emperor. 60. WHAT ABOUT FOOD?! YOU'LL MISS CHOCOLATE AND ALL THE OTHER NOM THINGS! 61. Starbucks. 62. Hugs. 63. Stargazing. 64. You have a purpose, and it's up to you to find out what it is. 65. You've changed somebody's life. 66. Now you could change the world. 67. You will meet the person that's perfect for you. 68. No matter how much or how little, you have your life ahead of you. 69. You have the chance to save somebody's life.

[themaladaptivewriter12]

Title: Diamonds Are Forever

Part 8.1 of my “Cray-Cray for Cater” series! Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 , and Part 7 can be found here!

Parings: Cater Diamond x Twisted Wonderland Male OC (Mirai Yuhara)

Summary:

With an extended break, Cater decides to take Mirai on a trip to remember. This trip should have strengthened their bonds, but somehow they break a little too.

a/n: This will have sub parts due to the nature of this part. It was too long for Tumblr and THERE WILL BE A SMUT SUB PART! DNI IF THIS MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE! Please and thank you. I want you all to be able to skip the part if you want without losing the flow of the work, or having to skip the work entirely.

cw: implied/referenced past abuse. Nothing graphic or detailed. death mentioned, again, nothing graphic.

a/n: It's funny how around this time last year, I wrote this, and now, it's finally being unearthed lolol. I love this work so much! I can't wait to see it all come together! The airline I referenced is Qatar Airways btw!

a/n: Mi-Mi's Birthday is coming next week! I'm excited for my little Mi-Mi-tot!

a/n: Soooooo…….I've never flown before, and it probably shows lolol, but I tried my best! ( 〃▽〃) Also, I'm pretty sure this isn't how mirror travel works either. I wrote this before I played book 4, where Ace and Deuce talk about all the hoops they had to jump through to get back to the Isle of Sages, without the mirror, and I didn't have the heart to change it, so yeah. My incorrect way of travel and how airlines work stays! ヽ(￣ω￣(。。 )ゝ

Reblogs are appreciated, just use my custom tag, #TheMaladaptiveWriter12, if you do!  (─‿‿─)♡

Cross posted from my Ao3: TheMaladaptiveWriter12

Things were getting busy with midterms coming up and everyone was on edge, tension seemed to seep from the school in waves. Professors were getting stricter, and students were burning out by the dozen. But there was a saving grace in all of this. Due to the multiple pleas from students and staff alike, Headmage Crowley granted everyone a four day weekend after midterms, using two of their unused snow days. Mirai was grateful for the break. They had Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday off. It really was a much needed break. And if Mirai had to go over the magic of the Briar Valley one more time, he was gonna throw himself into one of Crewel's cauldrons. 

It was Friday, and Mirai and Grim had just got done eating lunch, and of course when he mentioned cleaning up their mess, Grim scampered off to somewhere in the dorm. Mirai was pretty sure Grim had a secret hideout in the walls or something. He always seemed to disappear at certain times of the day, or when he had responsibilities to fulfill, and no matter how hard he looked, Mirai could never find him. 

After he got done downstairs, Mirai went up to his room where he started cleaning there as well. He tended to have a messy room, dirty clothes strewn all over the floor, clean clothes on his bed, bottles and cans of soda cluttering his night stand, and empty chip and candy wrappers filling his garbage can. It was messy, but at least there was no dust, rot, and spider webs like when he first moved in. 

Mirai was sorting his clothes when he heard a clatter from outside his window, immediately knowing what the noise was. It could be several different people, but he had a strong feeling he knew who it was. 

“Sup, Boo,” Mirai called, stuffing a dirty shirt into his hamper.

“Howdya know it was me?” Cater asked, pulling himself through the window.

“You and one other are the only ones who’d come see me this early in the day, but then again, he’s louder than you are.”

“Who’s the other?”

“Leona.”

Cater laughed, “Figured.”

Mirai had an “open window policy” of sorts. Only those who knew, and it was only a few, were allowed to visit Mirai anytime as long as the window was open. Cater and Leona would visit during the day, the two of them using it to shirk on their duties, while Kalim visited when he needed a change of space, or when he needed someone other than Jamil to talk to, but normally it was Mirai hanging out at Kalim’s dorm. It was much more fun there. 

Then there were a few times where Jamil stopped by as well, as he needed someone to vent to about Kalim and his place in the boy’s life. Azul would stop by at times too, but normally he did when was in a funk and needed to vent to someone who wouldn’t hold it against him. Lilia and Malleus would visit at separate times, and Mirai found both their company to be enjoyable ones. Mirai stopped counting the rest of the Freshmen’s visits long ago with how much they spent the night at Ramshackle. 

“Whacha doing?” Cater asked, sitting in the arm chair.

“Sorting laundry. It’s not much, I just don’t put stuff away.”

“So what are your plans for the weekend?”

Mirai knew Cater was onto something. They normally didn’t plan when they hung out, they just kinda lived in the moment. Also, there was the fidgeting. Cater tended to have trouble hiding his excitement, and it often showed through his expression and or through inability to sit still. But Mirai was gonna play dumb and play along.

“No, not that I know of. I’m prolly not gonna do this laundry until next weekend. This isn’t enough for a full load. Why?”

“Okay, okay,” Cater all but squealed excitedly, sitting down in front of Mirai on the floor, taking the Ramshackle Prefect’s hands to hold into his own. “First of all, you can decline any or all of these suggestions. No one’s forcing you to say yes, no one’s gonna hold it against you. Two, one of these things, even if you agree to the rest, can be declined and no one’s gonna hold it against you.”

“U-Uh, o-okay,” Mirai said, nodding trying to decipher everything Cater just said.

“How would you like to go meet Daddy Diamond?” Cater asked excitedly.

Mirai was speechless. A million possibilities were going through his head, but none of them were this, none of them prepared him for this. “Y-You, you mean, a-as in your father?” Mirai asked, voice sounding small and distant.

“Mn,” Cater nodded excitedly. “As I said, you can say no. My other offer is just to take the trip to the Shaftlands without the meeting, and again, you can say no.”

“I-I, uh, this is really important. I-I don’t know what to say.”

Cater let go of Mirai’s hands in favor of holding his face instead, “I’m not pressuring you to do any of these things. They all are just merely suggestions. We don’t have to go.”

“B-But I don’t wanna keep you from seeing your father,” Mirai said hurriedly.

“Hon, I can see him anytime.”

“But-”

Cater pressed a chaste kiss to Mirai’s lips, successfully cutting him off. “He just happened to have time just when we were granted a four day weekend, and is staying in a hotel. I thought maybe we could make use of it. Again, if you’d like we could skip the meeting for now and wait another time where we would have more time to prepare and plan.”

“When would we leave?” Mirai asked softly.

“Unfortunately this afternoon. The flight leaves at five, so two hours from now. Short notice, I know. We should land by seven, and then move to a taxi for an hour drive to the city, getting us to the hotel for the night by eight. Nine at the latest.” 

“Okay.”

“Okay? O-Okay as in yes? Or okay as in okay?”

“Yes to all of it,” Mirai chuckled. “I’ll go with you to the Shaftlands to meet your father.”

“Okay, wow, okay, we're actually doing this,” Cater rambled excitedly. “OMG! Like we're about to go on our first trip together! I’m so excited! #Couplegoals!”

Mirai found Cater adorable. He looked so cute, all excited and happy, practically vibrating out of his skin. Mirai walked up to Cater and pulled him down for a kiss. “Calm down, Cutie,” Mirai laughed.

“But I’m so excited,” Cater gushed, kissing him back, “There’s so much we can do! So much I can show you! It’s your first time really off of campus.”

It was, wasn't it? Besides going to the dwarf mines and surprisingly, the Coral Sea. Mirai hadn’t ever left the campus. This made everything different. Now? Mirai had no reservations about going. He wanted to see this twisted wonderland he was sucked into against his will, well, not that he minded. 

“So Ima go pack real quick, then I’ll come back and get you, okay?” Cater asked.

“Oka-Wait! What about Grim? I can’t just leave him.” Mirai cried.

This put a damper on everything for Mirai. He hated leaving Grim out of things like he wasn’t important to him, and he definitely didn’t want the little monster to feel like a third wheel.

“I don’t see why he can’t go. Ask him.”

“No, no,” Mirai sighed, “I’ll have him stay. This time is more important. I’ll make it up to him when I get back.”

“You sure?” Cater asked.

“Yeah.”

“Okay. I’ll be back.”

Cater walked out the door before turning around and peeking his head in not even a second later. “You don’t have a suitcase, do you?”

“No,” Mirai laughed.

“Okay I’ll bring that too, just get your stuff ready,” Cater laughed. 

Mirai nodded. 

“Bye, Boo,” Cater winked, running off. 

Mirai shook his head and went to go find Grim.

Mirai called out for the call, looking all over for him, but he didn’t show. After about fifteen minutes, he was beginning to worry.

“Grim! Grimmy! Grim the Fire Breathing Monster,” Mirai called. “Grimmaroo! Grimilicious definition make them boys go-”

“What do you want, human?!” 

Mirai perked up at the pair of flaming ears at the end of the hall.

Grim huffed agitatedly, trotting over to the Prefect. “You just think you can call The Great Grim whenever you please? You work for me, not the other way around.”

Mirai ignored him and cut to the chase, “I’m leaving for the weekend and won’t be back until Monday. And before you ask, no, sadly you cannot go. I’m doing something that’s really important to Cater and I’m sure you don’t want to witness what you like to call “disgusting human mating rituals.” I’ll make it up to you when I get back, but right now, I’m short on time.”

Grim grumbled. “Buy me five hundred deluxe premium cans of tuna.”

“I’ll buy you three when I get back. And you don’t have to clean the house for a week.” 

“Make it two weeks and I get to eat in my room.”

“Fine. But if the rats come back, you're getting rid of them.”

Grim stuck out his tongue and before he could scurry off, Mirai snatched him up and placed a fat kiss to the top of his head.

“Fynya!”

“Stay out of trouble, yeah?” Mirai asked, hugging Grim tightly.

“Yeah, yeah,” Grim pouted, accepting the hug.

Mirai let Grim down, and Grim just stood there. Mirai thought he wanted to say something, but he guessed Grim decided against it, for he just scurried off down the hall. 

Mirai went back to his room and began packing. Mirai grabbed six shirts, four pairs of pants and a pair of pajamas. He also grabbed some underclothes, and some extras. In the bathroom, Mirai grabbed his toothbrush, some toothpaste, and his medication. Mirai didn’t know what else to bring, so he decided to finish cleaning his room.

It wasn’t long before Cater came back with two suitcases. “Cay-Cay’s back and ready to pack,” Cater cheered, plopping his extra suitcase onto the bed. 

Mirai laughed at Cater’s enthusiasm. The one Cater had given Mirai was a plain blue and his own was a bright orange covered in little charms, and iron-on patches. It was very cute and very Cater-esque.

“So like, unless you don’t like the idea of me helping you pack,” Cater said, opening the blue suitcase, “I’m the king of packing. I can get this stuff packed in a jiffy.”

“It’s all yours,” Mirai laughed. 

“Alright! Watch and learn.”

Mirai was seriously impressed. Just like he said, Cater was really good at packing and he was quick at it. He had everything tucked away comfortably and efficiently. Nothing looked out of place or squished, and in all honesty, Mirai thought it looked like something right out of a commercial travel blog. 

“And done! #PicturePerfect,” Cater said with a wink. 

“Thanks,” Mirai said with a smile.

Cater moved the suitcase and put it next to his own. “C’mere, Babydoll,” Cater cooed, sitting on the bed, reaching his arms out to Mirai.

Mirai happily climbed up onto Cater, straddling his lap. 

“You got everything? Wanna list everything just in case?” Cater asked, kissing Mirai’s chin.

Mirai giggled, “I think so. I got clothes, extra socks, extra shirts, and my toothbrush.”

“Deodorant?”

“You saying I could use some?”

“Wha-no, no,” Cater stammered, eyes wide.

Mirai laughed at Cater’s brief panic, “I’m joking. Yeah I got it, and my soap.”

“The one I like?” 

“Yeah.”

“Perfume? Cologne? Fragrance Spray?”

“Ima use yours.”

Cater laughed.

“What?” Mirai laughed, “I like the way it smells. It’s just so crisp, clean, and spicy, and the scent actually stays in your skin hours after.”

Cater chuckled. “Chargers? Phone? Laptop? Camera?”

“Packed away in my electronics bag, which you packed away.”

“Your medication?”

“Definitely. I also triple checked to make sure.”

“Um,” Cater said thoughtfully, “I think that’s it. Whatever we missed can probably be bought once we get there.”

Mirai nodded.

“Are you excited?” Cater asked, pressing kisses to Mirai’s neck.

“Yeah,” Mirai breathed, “I finally get to see this world. I finally get to leave campus.”

“And I can’t wait to show it to you.”

Mirai and Cater left the campus, and not after Mirai negotiated with Ace and Deuce to check in and maybe spend time with Grim for a small price. They made their way to the Mirror Chamber and Cater was happily waving to students in passing. Mirai could tell Cater was overjoyed, with the skip in his step and the big pearly smile on his face, he looked as if he would just float away.

Cater walked up the stairs to the Mirror and spoke, “Dark Mirror, take us to Shaft Airport.”

“Your wish is my command, Cater Diamond” the Dark Mirror bellowed back.

The Dark Mirror began to glow, the glass shimmering and sparkling. Suddenly the glass began to ripple, dark smoke billowing from the glass, spilling to the floor. 

“Ready?” Cater asked, sticking out his hand.

“Mn,” Mirai nodded, taking his hand. 

They stepped through the mirror and after a couple of seconds, sickening seconds to Mirai, they were standing outside an Airport. It was larger than what Mirai was used to.  

“This is enormous,” Mirai said in awe.

“It’s one of the biggest Airports in the Shaftlands,” Cater explained, “The biggest is basically a shopping mall. There’s even a hotel with a resort connected to it.”

“I don’t even think that counts as an Airport at that point.”

Cater laughed, “Yeah, probably not. Well, we got a bit of a walk, so let's get moving.”

Mirai nodded.

“After a quick photo op that is,” Cater winked. “Say cheese!”

Cater pulled Mirai in for a couple of selfies. They took one in front of the Airport sign, one inside, and of course, Cater couldn’t forget one including a kiss.

Cater held Mirai close as he led them to their gate. It was quite crowded and he really didn’t want to lose his lover in the rush. There were people bustling to and fro with suitcases and heavy bags, important looking people with briefcases, and busy parents with fussy babies and tired children. There were food stalls selling anything from cinnamon rolls to fast food, gift shops with tacky shirts with weird slogans to keychains with your name that you could never find on it. There were small shops that sold anything from toys to fixing smartphones, and restrooms on almost every corner. There was even a bookstore, a restaurant, and an indoor playground. Mirai couldn’t keep track of where they were going, so he just focused on keeping up with Cater’s long strides. 

“So, do you need anything?” Cater asked, as they made it to their gate. “We don’t board for another twenty minutes.”

“Uh, restroom,” Mirai said.

“Okay, I’ll watch our things and go check in our tickets. I’ll be over there at gate five, kay?”

Mirai nodded and headed off to the bathroom.

It wasn’t a long trip, and by the time Mirai was done, Cater was over in the seating area near the gate. Before making his way over, Mirai took a detour to one of the shops and bought a couple of bags of candy and some gum. As Mirai walked over, Cater perked up and smiled.

“Should’ve bought this at Sam’s. It would’ve been cheaper,” Mirai grumbled, shoving a handful of gummies in his mouth.

“Probably,” Cater laughed. 

“Oh, and I got you cinnamon flavored gum.”

“Thanks, Honey Bunny,” Cater sang, kissing Mirai on the head. 

“Pics first,” Cater sang.

Cater took a couple of selfies, then pocketed his phone. 

“For you,” Cater said, passing Mirai his ticket. 

“Thanks,” Mirai smiled.

Getting through security was an adventure all in itself. Mirai found it so much different than back at home. Instead of the metal detectors, x-rays and invasive pat downs, there were magic laser scanners of sorts, and all kinds of things he would only see in movies. Cater went first, and then asked some of the security and he was allowed to walk Mirai through it, since it was technically his first time traveling in this world. They allowed Cater to, and Mirai was so thankful for that. 

The two made some small talk, well, Cater did most of the talking as he shared some things about his childhood in the Shaftlands. Not long after, a chime sounded, signaling the pair it was almost time to board. Cater led the way until they got to a pair of open double doors that opened up to a super lavish waiting room. 

It took a second, but then it clicked. Mirai gasped,“Cater! You did not just buy us both first class tickets!”

“Uh,” Cater said, “#SorryNotSorry?”

“Cater! How, how, how much did all of it cost?!”

“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. I just want you to have fun.”

“But this has to be so expensive. I can’t just not worry about it. I have to pay you back somehow.”

“Are you, are you really upset about it?” Cater stammered

“I’m thankful really, but I feel horrible for making you spend so much on me,” Mirai sighed.

“You’re worth that much to me.” 

Mirai’s fight dissolved at those words. 

Mirai grumbled. “Why you gotta go and say all that cute stuff and expect me to stay mad?”

Cater laughed, “But I meant all of it.”

“You really are too good for me, ya know that?”

“I would say the same thing about you, Boo,” Cater smiled.

“Can I at least pay back half of the cost?”

“You can pay it back in kisses later, but now we gotta board,” Cater teased, taking Mirai's hands, and headed down to the jet bridge. 

Mirai had never ridden in First Class, and he thought he’d never get the chance to, but now? Mirai couldn’t believe it. It was so plush and lavish, and it all looked like it cost his life twelve times over. A flight attendant met them at the door and escorted them to their seats, seat 11E. It was right against the middle wall so they didn't have to worry about sharing with anyone else. 

Their seats were close to each other, divided by a small barrier, and both had doors that closed toward the aisle. There were two TVs against the wall, and two pull out trays along with a small built-in table. It was really nice, the burgundy accents the airline used really gave the whole thing a warm and cozy feel.

Another attendant came by to take their luggage and stored it above them as Mirai got in on one side and Cater the other. It was spacious. It had enough room for Mirai to stretch his legs out comfortably and to store his carry-on on the floor in front of him. 

“You like it?” Cater asked, leaning over the middle to kiss Mirai on the cheek.

“Yeah,” Mirai sighed dreamily, “It’s really nice.” 

“It totally is. I normally don’t fly often, and when I do, I deff don’t fly First Class.”

“You really didn’t have to do all this. We really could’ve just flown regularly.”

“But I wanted to make this special for you.”

“You spoil me too much,” Mirai pouted.

“Oh, Honey, if you think I’m spoiling you now? Just wait until we land,” Cater teased, kissing Mirai on the cheek once more.

“Cater,” Mirai whined, “If you keep this up, then I really won’t be able to pay you back.”

“And I don’t intend for you to.”

“Meanie.”

“Love you too,” Cater sang.

Mirai and Cater took multiple pictures before they took off. Mirai never liked the take off and landing, it always was the worst. It was bumpy and shaky, it made his ears pop, and it always caused some older woman to make a fuss, yelling and screaming that she was gonna die. But this time, it was much smoother. His ears still did pop, but that’s why he had bought some gum before they boarded, and this time, there was no screaming middle aged woman. 

Cater and Mirai choose something to watch while they pass the time, they ended up picking an old comedy about a maid that actually was a man in disguise. After some time, some flight attendants came by and poured them a complementary glass of sparking. Mirai panicked at that, but the flight attendant reassured him it was just grape juice. Following her was another flight attendant who came by with a snack tray and a menu. 

“Would you like to order now, or when it’s closer to meal time?” The flight attendant, Amy as her name tag read, asked in a soft voice.

Mirai realized Amy was the same woman who escorted them to their seats. Her uniform looked just like any other flight attendant’s uniform, except hers was in the Airline’s colors, burgundy and white. She was small and petite with red short hair styled in a bob cut that was curled toward her face at the bottom. She wore big pearl earrings and a pearl necklace, and on her small lips was a light shade of pink lipstick.

Mirai was flustered with it all, and he was pretty sure he looked like a fish out of water. He didn’t know planes even offered food besides stale crackers and water. But lucky for him, Cater had that covered as well. 

“We’ll order now and get it out of the way. Thanks,” Cater said with a smile.

“Great! I'll be back in a bit,” Amy said, passing over their menus and walking off. 

“Sorry,” Mirai muttered, taking a deep breath.

“Don’t sweat it, Buttercup,” Cater said dismissively. “You’re not used to this, it's okay.”

Mirai looked over the menu and there was so much he never knew could be served on a plane. Mushroom Risotto? Pan Seared Scallops in brown butter? Filet Mignon? Lobster Cakes? Clam Spaghetti with Braised greens? It was too much to even comprehend. 

“Did you choose anything yet?” Cater asked giddily, “Although I wanna try the Clams, I’m prolly gonna go with the Filet Mignon.”

“Why not? You afraid you might not like it?” Mirai asked.

“Worse.”

“Stomach ache? Food poisoning?”

“No silly. I won’t be able to kiss you.”

Mirai’s mouth fell open at his reasoning, and Cater laughed at his turmoil. Mirai flushed at that, pouting. 

“Well it’s true. What kind of lover would I be to eat some Clams if my positively adorable boyfriend is allergic to seafood?”

“Cater,” Mirai whined, now flushing at the compliment.

“And that’s true too.”

“Bastard.”

“Love you too, now what did you choose?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m just gonna have the chicken orzo soup and a salad. Don’t think I can stomach anything heavier.”

“Feeling sick, Baby?” Cater asked, concerned.

“Nah,” Mirai said, shaking his head, “It’s just in case I get sick later. That way I have nothing too heavy in my stomach.”

“Oh, okay, that’s good.”

Later, the flight attendant came back and took their orders and took their menus, and Cater grabbed a bag of chips as she walked by. Mirai wondered how Grim was doing, he hoped he wasn’t lonely or sad. He’d have to call him when they landed. He just hoped Ace and Deuce kept their end of the bargain and actually stayed with him.

“So what’s the Shaftlands like?” Mirai asked, shoving a couple of gummy worms in his mouth.

“I don’t know how to describe it. It’s so vast, like nowhere you go is the same,” Cater said thoughtfully.

“I think I get it,” Mirai said, “Back home, that’s what America is like. It’s one country with fifty different states in it, all of them are different, nothing is the same.”

“Sounds kinda confusing.”

“Not really. It’s like having fifty different houses with their own rules and families in one neighborhood.”

“I guess that’s easier when you look at it that way.”

“What’s it like where we’re going?” Mirai asked.

“I don’t wanna give too much away, but it’s a big city. Skyscrapers, busy streets, subways, and a lot to do,” Cater said excitedly.

“Cool. I grew up in a big city, so I think I can get the feel.” 

Cater’s phone chimed and he instantly perked up. “It’s my dad! He wants to know how things are going,” Cater laughed.

Cater eagerly messaged his father back and Mirai smiled at Cater’s reaction. Mirai knew of Cater’s rocky relationship with his mother, so he was glad his and his father’s were different, and far better. Mirai wondered what the man was like. Was he nice? Overly nice? Or was he really strict and reserved? He wondered what he looked like? Did he look like Cater or was it his mother that Cater looked like? And Mirai definitely hoped Cater’s father was nothing like his own father. 

But Mirai’s biggest question was, would he accept Mirai? Honestly, Mirai was kicking himself for not thinking of that before. What if Cater’s father didn’t like him? What if he didn’t like the fact that his son was dating a man. I mean, his father had to have known who he was since he was the one who suggested all of this, but what if Cater’s father just wanted to bring Mirai down in person? What if he just wanted to scorn their relationship face to face with the both of them there? It was still a little unnerving even after all of this, that there was the possibility that Cater’s father may just not like Mirai as a person. 

“What’s the matter, Babydoll?” Cater asked, reaching over to squish Mirai’s cheek into his own, “Sad I’m not paying attention to you?”

“No,” Mirai huffed, “just thinking.”

“Mark for your thoughts?”

“Nervous, I guess. Wh-What if he doesn’t like me?”

“Aw, Mi-Mi! I’m touched that you’re giving this so much thought,” Cater gushed.

“Cater, I’m serious. What if he just doesn’t like me?”

“So am I. But he will. Ever since I told him about you, he hasn’t shut about you. All he asks when he gets to meet my new boyfriend? And I may have talked you up last time we spoke.”

“But what if he likes me on paper, but when we finally meet, he finds that he just doesn’t like me? Like, what if he doesn't like my hair? Or my tattoos and piercings? What if he finds my voice or laugh annoying? What if he finds me creepy?” Mirai rambled.

“Then he just won’t,” Cater said as if this wasn’t currently eating away at Mirai.

“Cater?!” Mirai called, incredulously.

“What? If he doesn’t like you, which I doubt, then that’s his problem. But that doesn’t mean I won’t love you any less.”

“I-I-I just, I just,” Mirai stammered before sighing in defeat, “I just don’t want to mess up. I don’t wanna be the thing that tears apart your relationship with your family. Like my Mother’s.”

“Your Mother?” Cater asked, straightening up at the new tidbit of information. 

“My mother’s family didn’t like my father, saying my mother was blinded by love, and she was, it caused my family to distance themselves from me and my mother. My father showed his true colors after their marriage, and especially after my birth, the bastard,” Mirai bit out bitterly, “and when she turned to them for help, they left us. After her death, and his imprisonment, I was alone.” Mirai took a shaky breath, swallowing his nerves to continue. “I don’t want you to ruin your relationship with your father, so I’m afraid,” Mirai whispered. 

Cater pulled Mirai toward him, cupping his cheeks to kiss him, “I’m sorry. I was trying to calm you down a bit, I didn’t mean to belittle you. But it’s going to be okay, I promise. I wouldn’t have suggested this if I felt things would go horribly. He’ll love you, I promise.”

Mirai nodded.

“We’ll be fine,” Cater said, littering Mirai’s face and lips with kisses. 

Cater pulled Mirai closer to kiss him firmly on the lips, and Mirai sighed, relaxing into the kiss. Tilting his head to press harder into him, Mirai kissed Cater harder. Cater grunted softly, licking softly at the seam of Mirai’s lips, and just when Mirai went to let him in, there was a soft knocking sound, accompanied by a soft voice clearing their throat. The couple flew apart, both looking guilty and thoroughly embarrassed as they spotted Amy standing by Mirai’s door with a food cart.

“Dinner,” Amy said with a knowing smile.

Mirai didn’t know what to say or do, face burning with mortification. Mirai seriously hoped somehow he would be sucked out of the plane and never seen again. 

“I’m so sorry,” Cater apologized, face flushed a deep rosy red. 

“It’s okay,” Amy said with a smile. “Can’t tell you how many times I’ve been there with my partner, but then again, maybe we shouldn't have been playing kissy face on the job, even if we were on break.”

Cater made a strangled noise before falling into a fit of laughter. Mirai chuckled as well, but he was still feeling the burning shame. 

“Mind if I ask if they're here now?” Cater asked after his laughter subsided. 

“She’s the one next to the phone,” Amy said, pointing discreetly at the other end of the plan, as she placed Mirai food down on the table in front of him.

Mirai and Cater looked to where she was pointing. Over near the phone was a really tall woman with long black hair and ruby red lipstick. Her uniform was the same as Amy’s, but somehow she looked really mature in hers, while Amy looked cute.

“Aw, she’s pretty. You two make a great couple,” Cater gushed.

“T-Thanks,” Amy stuttered, flushing. “You two make a great couple as well.”

“TYSM,” Cater winked.

Amy made her way over to Cater and placed the tray on his table, removing the lid. 

“Careful, it’s really hot,” Amy said.

“Thank you,” Cater said.

“You're welcome and enjoy.”

The food was great, it was hot and flavorful, and Amy’s partner, Willow, came by and refilled their glasses with sparking. Mirai enjoyed his soup. It was light but still full of flavor and filling. Cater loved his Filet Mignon and tried to feed Mirai a piece, which he shook his head, vehemently declining. Now fully fed and comfortable, all they had to do was wait to land.

[amemixfan]

So I had previously canceled VIP because choices had a dry spell with books that seemed interesting, but I recently reactivated it with Kindled coming out. I also took the time to check out some of the other VIP books.

So rapid fire reviews:

1. First Comes Love is a garbage fire. The entire book radiates so much Pick Me energy that I’m half expecting MC to go into a “pick me, choose me, love me” speech.

I can practically imagine that entire book told in a Reddit post from the point of view of Rebecca. “Help, my lover’s toxic girl best friend is trying to break us up.” It’s so, so toxic. We could have gotten an interesting story of friends deciding to marry out of loneliness while realizing they had feelings for each other yet we got a love triangle with the emotional maturity of a playground fight. I’m surprised they didn’t make Rebecca a cheerleader just to hit all the “You Belong With Me” boxes that book is trying to hit. (Seriously I mean, gasp! Rebecca loves to travel and likes fancy stuff? Oh the absolute horror!!!)

2. Roommates With Benefits. Meh. I couldn’t make it past the first episode because the book seemed dull. The love interests didn’t interest me and the writing is meh. Not much more to say.

3. Kiss of Death. This book is frustrating because they’re selling you a mob star crossed lovers book with an MC who is so outside of the world of mobsters that most of the book is just her venting about how everyone treats her like a kid. It’s not a mob book if the main character is shut out of the family business.

I wanted to like it because it gave me Halsey’s music video vibes of Now or Never which I liked, but the end result is meh. The book would have been fascinating had MC actually been a trusted member of the mob and had a lot more power and importance. Instead, it seems like this is a teenage coming of age story with no edge or flair.

I treated it as a diamond mining book and didn’t see any relationship development that isn’t just lust or horniness between MC and Vic. MC tells them she loves them after one day and there’s not much explanation why. Even her bestie calls her out on it. The book just hinges on one random less than a day long encounter years ago as the premise of their love story. Like I get Romeo and Juliet were also dumb kids who thought they knew what love was, but Choices’ characters are supposed to have been grown adults.

4. Getaway Girls. This book I’m actually enjoying. It’s funny and light hearted. I’m just a few chapters in but it seems fun. Not a huge fan of the constant POV change, but each character has their own personality and taste which keeps it from becoming repetitive. We’ll see how it goes.

5. The Duchess Affair. I love a good period piece and am always biased in favor of it. This one isn’t the best Choices has put it, but it’s interesting compared to its other VIP books. The adultery aspect is bleh for me, but it’s not surprising giving The Nanny Affair was such a hit. I wish they hadn’t made the husband such a tool and given more high stakes to the story, but I guess they had to let people not feel guilty about cheating.

I will say though, it’s weird to see MC fawn over their tutor while diamond mining. I haven’t taken any premium choices so her worrying and fretting over committing adultery is bizarre given she’s only just talked to her tutor a handful of times and sat close to them. This book was definitely not designed to be diamond mined.

6. Kindred. This one seems promising. I love the art and the premise behind the book. The LIs seem interesting and the world seems fascinating. I definitely don’t regret resubscribing just for this book. It seems like it could become a favorite of mine.

My only complaint is that the plot moves fast. It’s very blink and you miss an entire explanation. The book thrusts you into what seems like an already developed world and expects you to just know everything already. I can keep up with some ideas because I’m pagan and know some of the concepts, but it’s still confusing to have so many revelations in the first two chapters and no time in between. I wonder how many things were cut from the book before publishing. It just seems like the entire thing is on fast forward and the characters themselves don’t react to major, groundbreaking news. Hopefully this’ll be fixed going forward.

I also know there’s a select release for a TNA POV book, but I don’t have access. I envy those of you that do though.

So yeah, this current line up is not the best Choices has ever had, but it’s also not the worst.

[t-wanderer]

Tagged by @amethystandwine to answer 15 questions for 15 mutuals.

1. Are you named after anyone?

My name is a pun based on a character from a book series, Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander.

2. Do you have any kids?

No kids, only student loans. Both would be ridiculous.

3. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

See previous answer. haha.

4. When was the last time you cried?

Went through a break up recently. Before that, watching the Tennant run of Dr. Who.

5. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

How aware they are, how much they pick up on details. Some people are present, some are on autopilot. I always want to know if a person is here before I interact with them.

6. Eye color?

Brown.

7. What sports do you/have you played?

Did dive team in high school. A little martial arts, but it's been a while. Used to be an avid cyclist, doing 60k runs for charity. But that was before I got my driver's license. I started driving later in life, because I knew I wouldn't ride my bike any more once I could drive. Literally haven't ridden since.

8. Any special talent?

Incredible memory makes it easier for me to seem smarter than I am. Fabulously long and healthy nails. Puns.

9. Where were you born?

Exit 6 off route 66. Seriously.

10. Scary movies or happy endings?

Both? Both.

11. Do you have any pets?

I have a ghost cat named Nimrod. Which is to say, I don't have a cat. But people often trip over a cat in the night at my home, and something keeps knocking stuff off of shelves. So, ghost cat. If you don't believe me, I challenge you to find any ghost mice in my home.

12. How tall are you?

5'11" or 6'0" depending on current level of depression.

13. What are your hobbies?

Fuck. Okay. Writing, video games, ttrpgs, collecting collections of things, research, learning to swear in different languages (I'm up to 31 languages), being extremely online, reading and growing my library, collage, theatre and playwriting, programming, tarot reading, astrology, chaos magic, road trips, urban exploration, hiking, philosophy, arguing philosophy, synchronicity, psychedelics, lucid dreaming, getting lost on purpose, cooking, board games, magic: the gathering, stealing road signs for my bathroom, buiding sculptures out of garbage, creepypastas, fanfic, I ching, anarchist politics, artistic vandalism, making zines, world building, making clothing, vulture culture and taxidermy, hacking my own brain.

14. Favorite subject in school?

Philosophy.

15. Dream job?

I just want to own a little place in the middle of nowhere, maybe with a little land. I want to spend half the year traveling with my theatre, promoting my art and visiting friends, and the other half an absolute hermit making art and writing. I want to get to that point and just do that until I die.

Tagging:

@w4nderingdreamer @enochtopus @surestart @tresstellas @amanandhisdroiid @incognicat

Probably some other people I'm forgetting.