#finding out that the purple time rifts were different than the blue ones was such a pleasant surprise oohhb

[potatobugz]

The Fungus Spreads (AHIT doodle dump)

[mikoyamisheadcanonblog]

Ash's profile (One Piece OC)

Name: Asherah Yue (Ash)

Gender/Pronouns: Female; She/her 

Origin: North Blue

Blood Type: S (O)

Hair: Black

Eyes: Purple

Weight: 115lb (52K)

Height: 5”5 (165cm)

Age: Pre-Timeskip: 19-20 Post Time skip: 21-22 

Occupation: Spy

Wanted Poster:

Bounty: 25,000

Affiliation: Marines: 15-16 Baku Pirates: 16-18 Boots Pirates: 18-21 Heart Pirates: 21- Present

Devil Fruit: N/A

Family: (Names of Family will be added over time) Genghis (Father) Mother Older Brother First Older Sister Rena (2nd Older Sister) 1st Younger Sister 1st Younger Brother 2nd Younger Sister

 Backstory:

Ash is the fourth (Middle child) of a family of seven other kids, thus shaping her personality. She has clear signs of middle child syndrome, acting on impulse and causing trouble just to gain a little attention from her parents. Though her parents weren’t perfect parents they did love their kids a lot but due to being busy and having a large number of family members were prone to a lot more mistakes. Her father was a military captain and her mother was a famous singer in the North Blue. Having Ash have some respect for the military and a love for music.

Ash would often get attention from her older sister, a soft-spoken, sickly child due to being born prematurely. Rena was the one that gave Ash the attention she craved when her parents were busy. The girls formed a special bond and promised one another they would travel to the Grandline together and finding the One Piece together.

 Because of that promise and Ash’s dream of adventure, she would push her sickly sister to be more adventurous. Even pushing her sister too far often and having her sister end the hospital due to declining health or doing something dangerous. Because of a dare to prove how brave she was, Ash explored a pirate ship that was docked on the island while her father was out of town. With Rena following Ash begging her to get off the ship. Unfortunately, the girls got caught in a battle. Ash woke in the hospital a few days later hearing about her sister’s death.

Ash has a lot of guilt about losing her sister, due to her own mistake. Often time blames herself, causing herself to spiral more out of control and causing more trouble. Causing more of a rift between her and her family.

 Falling for the resident bad boy of the village who was a few years older than the fourteen-year-old girl and pushing her to cause more trouble. At age fifteen she almost lost her virginity to the boy at the back of the church till her parents caught her.

Her father furious at his daughter’s action and the direction she was heading signed her up for the Marines wanting her to shape up her attitude. Leaving her bitter and hurt by her parent’s choice again and feeling abandoned yet again. Ash joined the Marines and found herself dragged into the Grandline for training.

There she met her first love, having been a wild teenager on hormones Ash gave her heart and everything to him. He used her to get a higher rank in power, and the two were fighting with one another causing Ash high stress in her relationships. And acting out again as she had been improving.  Also being in the Marines she began to see and understand shady stuff she was never aware of as a child. And questioning her morals.

 One night out of town at a bar she met a Pirate captain 20 years older than her who told her the life of a pirate. Ash memorized by the idea of becoming a pirate joined the Baku pirates after burning her ex’s bed for revenge on him cheating on her. But this was also the last straw for her parents disowning their daughter and causing a bigger rift in their relationship. 

She fell in love with her pirate captain and soon started a relationship with him, despite the age difference. It messed Ash up a little as it was her first healthy relationship where she was respected, but still, he wanted to change her fiery personality or have her mature more quickly. Often times would compare her, to other women, wanting her to better herself as a person.  Something her parents used to do when frustrated with Ash.

After a while, they had a mutual break-up and Ash Captain Boots pirate crew. A temp agency selling services to pirates new to the Grandline and unprepared. Her job being the spy. That is where she met Law, who heard about Boots and he formed an alliance hiring Ash as a spy to work with him after Dressrosa finally convinced her to be part of the Heart Pirates.

Character Relationships: Law (Slow Burn Romance), Bepo (Favorite Heart Member), Rena (Older sister), Parents and Siblings (Unnamed), Captain Boots and his crew (Past Captain), Captain Somnium and Baku Pirates, Straw Hats (Ash's favorite Straw hats is Luffy as she can't be mad at him and Chopper)

SBS

 Birthday: N/A

Name meaning: Woman who walks on water/ Canaanite pantheon goddess/ Asherah Pole

Hobbies: Playing Violin/Piano, Reading

Favorite flower: SnowDrop

Flower Resemblance: Purple Hyacinth

Favorite Animal: Spotted Snow Seal (Harbor Seal) Recently Snow Leopards

Animal Rebalance:  Snow Lynx

Favorite food: Curry Bread and Melon Bread

Least Favorite Food: Eggplant and Mushroom (anything slimy)

Real World: Chinese/Persian

Real World Job: Therapist or Music Teacher

Violin Name: Rena (It is her sister’s old violin)

MBTI: INFP/ISFP

Hair: Black

Eyes: Purple

Trivia:

~Asherah will correct everyone who calls her by her full name. She prefers to go by Ash. A few people know her full name. 

~The village Ash is from is popular for their Harbor Seals (spotted seals) which is why Ash has a lot of attachment to the animal. Her first meeting with Law was to comment on how his hate looked like a spotted baby seal, in a way to insult him.

~Ash’s favorite food relates back to her family, on cold days her and siblings would often eat Curry Bread during the cold days and Melon Bread on hot days. Memories she knows she can’t get back as she grows older but cherishes. (Her second favorite animal is a polar bear)

~Ash still shops for her siblings seeing things they would like and purchasing them, even uncertain of never seeing them again. She has a small box of trinkets under her bed.

~She fears needles, often fighting with doctors and nurses by biting and scratching. A fear that carries well into her adulthood, but Law figured her weakness is Bepo and has him help when it comes to her checks.

~She doesn’t like visiting doctors or hospitals due to PTSD. She finds doctors and hospitals often bring only bad news. Only a certain doctor.

~She is also scared of ghosts and scary movies. Law does and will take advantage of her fear just to hold her or have her hold on to him.

~Ash is quick to learn to play any instruments and wishes to learn to play them all at least once. Her talent is at playing String instruments and struggles with Percussion instruments.

~Ash and Law met two-three times as kids when Law was staying with Mr. Wolff. Both have found one another annoying. As she used to fight with him, Penguin, and Shachi whenever they neared her sister.  Law enjoying Rena’s company a bit more.

~But even if Rena had lived Law would have fallen for Ash in the future. 

~Ash can’t cook, she struggles to figure out recipes and how to work in the kitchen.

~Ash can’t eat by herself, coming from a big family she likes to eat with other people. She has no issue with snacking. Law would often stop his work to eat with her when he knows she is hungry. It helps him get a regular eating habits.                               

~Ash is really good at singing but rarely sings or dislikes it due to not wanting as to punish herself for her sister’s death. But she does sing when deep in thought a soft song to herself. Law is usually listening in.  Or to Law and the Heart Pirates when bond starts to form.

~Ash has a scar on her waist from the flying sharp objects she got as a child when she lost her sister.  When asked where she got her scars she would answer with a wild story avoiding the truth and changing up her answer from person to person.

~She has three tattoos. A heart treble clef tattoo under her right ear that she keeps hidden with her hair. She got it when she was drunk at age 16. 

~A heart tattoo meant to look like Law’s jolly roger on her right handLaw got the tattoo with her. It is his basic way of claiming her without claiming her. Around the two-year time skip.

~And a small heart tattoo on her ring finger, slightly faded away and hard to see. Again while she was drunk and her friend wanted to experiment with tattoos. ~Ash when drunk either cries a lot or seeks comfort in someone's arms. Law usually makes sure he is around her drunk before some asshole takes advantage of her. Or she spills all her little secrets to Law and tells him not to share her embarrassing story and tell Law. 

Q&A and Fanfics Profile OTP Q & A (1), OTP Q & A (2), OTP Q & A (3) Q & A (1) Night Terrors (Loving Law Zine)

[pyreo]

deltarune megapost

I wanted to make a Deltarune post about the lore and the things that aren’t  obvious. And once I do that I wanna focus on why Mettaton is incredibly important to this setting

And also why he poses a problem

Why did Toriel and Asgore get divorced?

Without the setting of Undertale, Asgore and Toriel’s marriage still broke up after they had Asriel. There needs to be a reason though. In UT it was Asgore’s ‘worst of both worlds’ decision regarding killing anybody that fell from the human world, including children. We saw how close they were before this happened. Only something deep and serious caused that rift. In Deltarune, what on earth did Asgore do?

What happened to Dess?

Mentioned a handful of times by Noelle, Dess was her older sister and is mentioned In Undertale.... in that Xbox exclusing casino thing. The way Noelle talks about her, the conspicuous way Noelle gets locked out of her big house - it implies Dess is gone or deceased. Berdly recalls a spelling bee when he and Noelle were younger where she, despite being smarter than him, misspelled ‘December’, allowing him to win.

In the two-player spelling puzzle, it also spells out ‘December’ as Noelle recalls the past and her silhouette regresses to a child while she does so. Being distracted by her sister’s disappearance, rather than pure shyness, could account for her misspelling her name on stage, and it clearly left a big psychological mark for her to have this visual regression in the Dark World.

However, there’s a graveyard in Hometown with no Dess. I heard another theory that she has been missing for years, because where each character’s personal room is made by Queen to reflect their tastes via their search results, Noelle has a calendar where every day is December 25th. This could imply that Noelle continually searches the internet for ‘December Holiday’, her sister’s name, to see if there are clues to her disappearance, but of course the only result you would get is the date of Christmas.

Who is the Knight?

It’s now implied to be Kris, who has been forcibly removing the player’s influence to act on their own. By all accounts the Knight is the game’s main antagonist. Spade King and Queen both mention the Knight as someone who influenced their position - they brought Spade King to absolute power, and showed Queen that creation of new worlds was possible.

We’re led to believe that Kris was doing this, because they’ve been acting outside of the player’s control. Eating the entire pie between chapter 1 and 2 might have been a red herring to cover that they also went to the library and used that knife to slash open a dark fountain there.

However. This has issues. How would they even manage to shuffle slowly all the way to the library and get in the computer lab? The Knight is also the one creating the hidden bosses. They talked to Jevil until he realised he was in a game and he lost his mind; they ruined Spamton’s life by elevating him to success and then crushing him. Whatever the Knight is doing seems to be deliberately planned with key players in mind.

Kris opening the fountain at home at the end of ch.2 can be explained in that you just figured out in Cyber World that anyone determined enough can do this, and so, Kris decided to. So a better question might even be...

What does Kris want?

We have no idea. They are capable of removing the SOUL, ‘us’, temporarily, and putting things in motion we cannot influence. But they also keep putting us back in control afterward. This is hinted at right when ch.2 starts, where if you inspect the cage in Kris’s bedroom they threw us into, the description says it’s inescapable. Meaning Kris came back and took us out, willingly.

They allow us to pilot them through the game. Why? Because they cannot live without the SOUL for long for some reason? Because they’re bad at bullet hell? Why did they slash Toriel’s tyres before opening the fountain, making sure nobody could drive away?? Why did they specifically open the door?

You can find out details about Kris through the creepy way you interact with the townsfolk, who think you are Kris. They play the piano at the hospital waiting room - better than you. They used to go to church just to get the special church juice. It’s all normal, relatable things, not like someone who’s trying to plunge the world into darkness. Judging by their search history portrayed in their Queen’s castle room, they really want to see their brother again. However the castle has a room based on Asriel’s search history too, and Kris (not you) closes their eyes and won’t look at it.

What is Ralsei?

His name is an anagram of Asriel. Is he an extension of Asriel? The slightly flirtier dialogue in ch.2 would point to no. Is he an extension of Kris themselves, given the link between Kris’s childhood habit of wearing a headband with red horns on it, to pretend to be a monster like their family?

Ralsei knows exactly where the Dark World in the school is located, and unlike regular Darkners, knows the world is folded up inside the ‘real world’. There’s a certain whiplash to Ralsei telling you to hop out of his reality into yours and go down the hallway to retrieve all the board game items.

How does he jump from one Dark World to another, without assistance? How does he not get petrified like Lancer and Rouxls? Is this a power level thing because he’s a prince or something else? We definitely do not know enough about Ralsei.

He also says this incredibly suspicious thing after you spare Spamton NEO. Susie was also curious but accepts that maybe it ‘didn’t mean anything’, which is a sure tell that these optional bosses do mean something.

Someone is orchestrating what’s happening, opening fountains, manipulating the rulers, and influencing NPCs to become the optional bosses. Why? I suspect Ralsei for both knowing too much, and pretending something doesn’t matter when it clearly does. Until Asriel actually comes home from college I’m going to suspect he’s involved in this too.

How much does Seam know?

Seam on the other hand knows a lot about what’s going on but is openly withholding information while helping you. He’s nihilistic. He says things like:

One day soon... You too, will begin to realize the futility of your actions. Ha ha ha... At that time, feel free to come back here. I'll make you tea... And we can toast... to the end of the world!

Either this ‘end of the world’ is a reference to The Roaring, where opening too many dark fountains dooms the Dark World and the real one... or, I can’t get out of my head the idea that Deltarune takes place in a fake, or weird reconstruction of Undertale where things don’t match up, and eventually it will have to disappear. After all, powers of determination and creating and manipulating universes are Undertale’s basic bread and butter. How can we look at an Alternate Universe containing the characters we already know and not suspect that? Seam also uses Gaster’s key words, ‘darker, yet darker’, seemingly to clue us in that he’s not off track here.

Why haven’t we seen Papyrus?

This is a bright neon flashing ‘something’s not right’ sign. It’s not like Papyrus’s voice actor was too busy or anything. His absence is noticable and for a reason. Nice of Sans to promise we could meet him despite being aware we’re piloting a child’s body around, though, even if he didn’t follow through.

What locations in town could be used for dark fountains in the next 4 chapters?

If the sequence continues, we have chapter 1 in the school games room, chapter 2 in a computer lab, and chapter 3 in front of Kris’s television, where the aesthetic of each setting influences the world, characters, and enemies in the Dark World created there. Future possibilities include the church, the hospital, sans’s grocery store, Noelle’s house, and the closed bunker.

What the hell’s in the closed bunker

This one’s too obvious, honestly. I think it’ll open for no reason in chapter 7 and a little white dog will bounce out and steal one of your key items and nothing else happens.

Why does Asgore have these

Unlike the bunker feeling like a joke teaser, I gotta believe this is foreshadowing something weird. For example, what does opening a dark fountain in here with the seven flowers do? Does it just take you into Undertale?

Each chapter will have a hidden boss with a ‘soul mode’ from Undertale

Chapter 1 let you stay red, but I think each subsequent chapter is going to change your soul mode to one of the seven colours and design the encounter around that. Purple, yellow, green and blue were used in Undertale, leaving the light blue and orange modes yet to be revealed.

How does Spamton emulate Mettaton Neo’s name, body, and incorporate his battle theme, and the ‘Dummy!’ theme, with no actual connection between them ingame?

This is a really fun one that’s explained over in this post here. Swatch is the Dark World creation from the paint program on the library computers, so he’s able to explain that a Lightner made the robot body decaying in the castle basement that way.

Mettaton went to the library and drew his ideal form, Mettaton NEO, in MS Paint, and the Dark World formed that into a puppet body which Spamton was able to hijack temporarily. So by doing that Spamton was able to channel Mettaton’s appearance, attacks, music, and SOUL mode for the fight.

This might mean that the future hidden bosses, each with their own SOUL mode, might be based on the associated character for that mode (Muffet, Undyne, and Sans or Papyrus), and the boss will take on some aspect of them from their world to leech their fight mechanics.

The Problem With Mettaton

We don’t exactly know what Deltarune is about. It’s an alternate universe where the characters from Undertale already live on the surface, have completely normal lives, but diverge from the storyline of Undertale and, crucially, have not lived through the changes Frisk brought to their lives.

Remember how Undertale had a dozen different ending routes depending on who you befriended? The constant reinforcement in Undertale was that your choices mattered. Through Frisk, you chose to bring Alphys closure about her mistakes, you chose to befriend papyrus instead of attacking him, you chose to help Alphys and Undyne realise their feelings for each other and it’s only doing that that leads to the golden ending and escape to the surface.

Deltarune is the opposite, your choices do not matter. The only thing you can do to force the route of the game to change is to force Noelle into a No Mercy run, which is indirect, and also, a total desperation to mess with an otherwise set course. This version of the characters have not been helped by Frisk - Undyne and Alphys are not together, Papyrus has no friends, Asgore cannot get over himself, and they’re clearly the worse for it, but potentially, you COULD still do these things. In fact it’s hinted that you already are.

But there’s Mettaton.

He’s still a ghost and does not leave his house. In Frisk’s world, Gaster deleted himself, promoting Alphys to royal scientist by bluffing with Mettaton, and she then build him his ideal body. In Kris’s world... Alphys is a school teacher. There’s no barrier to break, no reason to experiment on souls, no Flowey mistake, and no body for Mettaton.

It was sad in Ch.1, but now with the Spamton NEO fight in ch.2, it’s unmissable. Mettaton wants that body and he cannot get it. Alphys in this universe is not going to leave her teaching job and suddenly be able to build a robot. Mettaton is just... screwed out of his happy ending and cannot get it.

So what resolution could this have? If it wasn’t for Mettaton I might believe in the vaildity of Deltarune and Hometown. But. How can you doom this character? If Undertale was the only way Mettaton could be befriended, then Undertale is Primary Universe A and Seam is right - the world of Deltarune is doomed as some kind of aberration. It all relies on how this gets explained in the future, but the core mystery of Deltarune is how exactly this universe intersects with Undertale and whether one is an offshoot of the other. How the Dark World links into that is another complication. But even as we get more fun characters and neat stuff in the Dark Worlds, let’s not forget we have absolutely no idea why Undertale’s characters are living here with no mention of underground or why there are no other humans beside Kris.

[waveypedia]

and now, for my next number, i’d like to return to the classics

Rymin Week Day 7: Domestic

1 2 4 5 6

Ao3

~

It’s been years since he lived primarily in his van on tour, but Ryan will never not be grateful to always have a kitchen.

Early morning sunlight streams through the soft white curtains as he goes through the motions of breakfast. The curtains were a gift from one sister, the cookware a gift from their old manager before she got promoted. The sleek fridge, which Ryan opens next, was a careful purchase he and Min worked together to carefully pick out, as is the same for most of their furniture. The eggs he pulls out from inside it are from their local farmer’s market, where all the vendors know them by name. Not because they used to be semi-famous rock stars, but because they come by every week toting instruments to serenade the shoppers with.

Ryan coats the pan in nonstick cooking spray and cracks the eggs into it. Salts it. He puts the ingredients away while he’s waiting for it to cook and pours two glasses of water.

Then, all that’s left is the waiting.

Ryan finds one of his guitars leaning against the wall in the next room. Their apartment is chock-full of all kinds of musical instruments they’ve accumulated over the years. After all the fuss Ryan had to go through to get his first guitar as a teenager, it feels both strange and gratifying to see how far he’s come.

One instrument they do not have is a viola. Min has played it on his own, usually on lease from friends, but he won’t play it regularly enough to buy one. Ryan is more than happy with that.

Ryan sits down on top of the counter and plucks a few, soft notes on his chosen guitar. He doesn’t have any particular melody or song in mind; he just lets his fingers play what they wish.

In no time at all, the eggs finish cooking. Ryan regretfully sets down the guitar to flip them and slide them onto plates. Just as he’s turning off the stove, the sound of a door opening down the hall and resounding footsteps reaches his ears.

Ryan snorts.

His husband emerges into the kitchen, hair still messy from bed. Even after all these years, Ryan’s heart flutters at the sight of him.

Min leans down to steal a kiss off the top of Ryan’s head. “Ooh, eggs. Are those for me?”

Ryan swings the plate away, nearly spilling the coveted breakfast. “Of course not. I cook for myself. Never for my handsome husband.”

“Hmm, too bad.” Min grabs a fork and leans in for a bite. “Hey, these are good!”

Ryan laughs and leans against Min’s chest. “Almost as good as your ability to come running as soon as there’s food ready. I swear, Min, it’s superhuman.”

“Only if it’s your food,” Min promises, struggling not to laugh.

Ryan cackles. “Of course. I see how it is”

Min kisses him again and steps away. “I’ll get the table set if you plate the eggs and get some fruit, dear.”

“I can do better than that!” Ryan dishes out the eggs on two plates and cuts some oranges up. He walks over to the toaster and drops two pieces of toast in. “A full breakfast. How about that?”

Min laughs and pulls a tub of butter out of the fridge. “Lovely, thank you.” He peers at the plates. “Eggs and toast. How downright American of you. Would you like some bacon with that?”

 “Hey, at least it’s not post-war,” Ryan quips back. He stretches his arms over his head and sets the plates down on the table. “Eh, that would take too much time.” He leans over to peck Min’s cheek. “After all, I would hate to miss breakfast with my lovely husband.”

Min beams. “Good choice.” His wedding ring twinkles in the early morning sunlight.

Ryan sighs dreamily. “Man, am I glad I married you.”

“Me too.” Min’s smile is fond and so full of love it makes Ryan’s heart swell. When he smiles, all his wrinkles soften and curve upwards like little smiles themselves. Ryan loves to kiss each one.

“So.” Min straightens out and pulls out his phone. “We have a practice session at 4 today, booked at the venue for Saturday’s performance.”

“Okay, good.” Ryan nods. “I want to run through the new arrangement Train to Nowhere.”

Min shakes his head, chuckling. “We’ve been playing that song for forty years, Ryan. Shouldn’t you know it inside and out?”

“I just want to tweak some things for this arrangement,” Ryan shoots back, not unkindly.

“Ryan.” Min reaches across the table to lay his hand on top of Ryan’s. Their wedding rings make a soft clink sound when Min’s hits his. “It’s going to be fine. The fans love that song, as do we. We know it well.”

  I know, I know.” Ryan squeezes Min’s hand and glances away. His eyes catch on a vase of beautiful purple flowers. I need to water those today, he notes offhandedly. “That’s why I want it to be as good as it can be.”

“It will be,” Min promises.

Ryan smiles. “I believe you.”

Min laughs, reaching across with his other hand to squeeze Ryan’s cheek gently. Ryan laughs, batting his hand away. “Of course you do. You should listen to your husband more often, Ryan.”

“What are you talking about? I always listen to you,” Ryan snorts.

Min waggles his finger. “Ah-ah, that sheet music you bought last week would beg to differ,” he says. “I told you we already had it in a songbook somewhere.”

Ryan crosses his arms, faux-affronted. “Excuse me for wanting more music to play!”     

“I don’t care about that. Just spend our money on music we don’t already have,” Min says, leaning back in his chair with a smile.

Ryan shrugs and lets out a small huff of laughter. “I can do that.”

“Good.” Min gets up to clear their plates. “I’m going to go grocery shopping and then call my parents. Do you need anything?”

“No, but I’ll pop on that call if you don’t mind,” Ryan replies, standing up. “And can you grab some cheese? And the-“

“Those crackers you like, the ones that come in the blue box, I know, I know,” Min says, laughing and shaking his head affectionately. “It’s on the list.”

Ryan walks over and wraps an arm around his husband. “Ah, you know me so well. Thanks, babe.”

Min shrugs him off, laughing. “Stop calling me that! It’s not classy!”

“Pfft, okay.” Ryan kisses Min on the cheek before releasing him. “See you in a few hours?”

“You know it.” Min waves and kisses him goodbye before he’s out the door.

Ryan hums softly to himself as he cleans up the kitchen. It starts out as a B-side from one of Chicken Choice Judy’s earlier albums - their third, if memory serves correctly. Four years after they’d escaped the train, when their career was steadily taking off and they started touring outside of North America.

Ryan shook his head, chuckling softly to himself as he wiped a dish clean. “Man, what a time.”

As he works, the tune slowly shifts into something more original and unique. Something new. When he notices the change, he immediately scrambles for a pen and paper. Luckily, there’s a large notebook of blank sheet music in the drawer under the microwave for this exact reason.

Ryan flips past pages of sheet music penned from similar scenarios to a blank page. He leans against the counter, writing down notes and chords and lyrics as time slips away. Before he knows it, he has a full song on his hands and Min’s returned.

“Hey, honey,” Min says, dropping the grocery bags on the kitchen table and leaning in for a kiss. “Whatcha got there?”

Ryan tips the sheet music notebook over so Min can see. “A new song. I’m calling this one ‘Sunsets’ for now. What do you think?”

Min hums thoughtfully as he peruses the notes. “It sounds pretty, Ryan! May I suggest a ukulele rift here?” He taps the third line down as he talks. “I think that would add to the image.”

Ryan grins. “You’re a genius, Min.” He’s said similar statements many times over their forty-year music-writing career, but it never gets old.

Min preens, laughing. “Oh, I know. I’m gonna call my parents in a few, okay?”

“Sure. Call me when you’re ready.” Ryan doesn’t take his eyes off the music as Min leaves.

When he eventually hits a block, he puts away the groceries. He’s just finished when Min pokes his head out of the office door and beckons.

 “Hello, Ryan!” Min’s mother greets when he steps inside. “Lovely to see you.”

“You as well, 어머님,” he replies, squeezing into the office chair next to Min. It’s not supposed to be big enough to fit them both, but they always seem to manage. Min laughs and tries to bat him off, but it’s halfhearted at this point. Ryan has been doing it for long enough that Min gave up a while ago. Besides, they both know Min likes the subtle affection.

“Just get another chair,” Min’s father grumbles, not unkindly. His wife gives him a small nudge on the shoulder.

“Leave them alone. Let them enjoy each other’s company,” Min’s mother replies, shaking her head in mirth. “If they’re still in their honeymoon phase after all this time, that’s on them.”

“엄마, please,” Min sighs, burying his head in his hands. His mother just laughs.

--

At precisely four P.M., he and Min are settled onstage at Saturday’s venue. It happens to be a beautiful outdoor amphitheater with vines and greenery gently climbing up the pillars holding up the stage’s ceiling. The audience area is open-sky and curves gently downward, like a bowl.

Ryan stands in the center of said “bowl”, guitar hanging from his shoulders by its strap. He raises his arms to the sky and spins, taking in everything.

From his place onstage, behind his synthesizer, Min laughs. “What are you doing?”

“Just taking in the sights.” Ryan does a final spin for good measure before turning to face Min. “It really is quite pretty.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Min gazes up at the orange-tinted sky with a soft smile. “Our manager really outdid herself with the booking this time. We’ll have to thank her.”

Ryan clambers up on the stage, silently wincing at the height gap between the audience floor and stage floor. He’s really not as young as he used to be, is he? “Should we send her flowers?”

“I think she really liked the sunflowers we got her last time. They were on her living room table when we visited her.” Min places his fingers on the keys, hovering just above them. “Maybe chocolate, too.”

Ryan laughs. “How cliché. Is there something I should know?” He waltzes over to Min and wraps a lazy arm around his husband, leaning all of his weight into Min’s shoulders.

Min laughs and shoves him off. “Please, do I have to come out to you again? Not all of us are interested in women, you know.”

“And what a great loss to the female community it is. The ladies of the Min-Gi Park fan club will have to go in mourning,” Ryan giggled. “But really, flowers and chocolate sound nice. She’ll like it.”

Min gave him a thumbs-up. “Sound check?”

Ryan gives his guitar an experimental strum. It echoes across the amphitheater beautifully, filling the bowl with sound and vibration. He whoops. “Let’s get this party started!”

“Not until Saturday, or else we’ll have some very unhappy neighbors to contend with,” Min admonishes, laughing. His fingers fly across the keys. “I’m good too.”

Ryan taps his mic. “Then let’s get ready to rock!” His voice booms across the venue. A few peacefully roosting birds take flight, squawking indignantly.

Min rolls his eyes. “Leave the poor birds alone, and you have a deal.”

“Please, we all know they just want to hear us play.” Ryan fishes his guitar pick from his jacket pocket and holds it poised over his guitar strings. “How do you feel about Train to Nowhere as a warm-up?”

“Fine by me,” Min says. His eyes don’t leave his synth. “It’s my favorite song to play with you, Ryan.”

“Well, of course,” Ryan says. “It’s what got us together, after all. In more ways than one.”

Min laughs. “Well, I can’t argue with that. Care to count us off?”

“Oh, I was just waiting for you to ask.” Ryan raises his pick and grins. “Five, six, eleven, twelve!”

Somewhere in Canada, the sun sets over a practicing music duo in the early 2020s. They laugh and goof around on an empty stage as birds and a few curious passerby stop to watch. The notes of their original hit song, “Train to Nowhere,” grace the evening air.

In the middle of the song, their eyes meet. They do not speak outside of the song lyrics, but an entire conversation passes through their gaze. It’s all they can do to not run to each other and hug each other right then and there.

After all, Ryan and Min-Gi Akagi-Park have lived a lifetime with each other. And they will live out the rest of their lives with each other, happy and content beyond imagination. 

~

i'm not korean so i'm not sure if the words i used for min's mother are right. if anyone knows better and sees i'm wrong, please tell me! the website said the word min uses ( 엄마 / eomma) is the informal way to say mom, and you only use it for your own mother. the word ryan uses ( 어머님 / eomeonim ) is formal and often used for mothers-in-law. eomma is really similar to the hebrew word for mother, which is amma. i think that's fascinating because hebrew and korean are not similar languages at all. lingustics as a whole is fascinating because you can see where languages and dialects split off from each other and where/why that happened in history. it's also really cool to see languages so similar to each other you can communicate with someone else in two different languages. languages also have cognants (not sure if i'm spelling that right) where a word is basically the same across multiple languages. it's really interesting to see in this modern world of quick and easy communication how many cognants we have, especially for semi-recent terms (the technology unit in french was SO easy). anyway sorry for the tangent i just really love linguistics

man i wasn't planning to write for today until i realized i'd overestimated the chapter count and it felt weird to not write aksdgfjs. i hope i can keep to this schedule of writing every day but school will probably put a hard stop to that. gotta get out as much writing as i can before then! i started writing this at like 9pm i'm so sorry if it's messy dkfhjfkd

we've come full circle! this started with baby rymin and now we have much older rymin. poetic cinema........

the euphoria i got everytime i wrote "his husband"......... they are MARRIED gamers!!!!!

this is a callout post for every time i pour myself a bowl of chips at my aunt and uncle's house and all five of them suddenly think my bowl is a free-for-all even though the bag is sitting right there. stop i am not a chip dispensary. do not be min-gi akagi-park leave my chips alone

title is from uhhhh i don't know what it was called (some indie thing) but it was in my last winterguard show (fuck covid i wanted a senior season) and it just popped into my head. or it might have just been a voice line from something i heard it in another show with different music. whatever it's almost 1 am i'll look it up later. i put it on my titles doc (which is 90% song lyrics and which my brother likes to call the "song lyric moodboard" even though it's just a bullet list) out of impulse and nostalgia and never really intended to use it but it actually fits really well here?? who knew

it didn't make it in but i imagine that ryan and min have a parrot named kez and they've taught it some of kez's favorite and most iconic phrases. imagine you are visiting acclaimed musical duo chicken choice judy's house and you hear a parrot squawk at you "Why do you hate fun, Min." another thing that kind of made it in but not quite was that ryan has all those weird guitars. im picturing this one my temporary songleading teacher at camp, who's a professional musician and probably the most famous jewish folk artist out there (which is a very niche group so he's not really famous), brought out once. it was really small and had like eight tiny strings all crammed in together and it both fascinated and terrified me. i have no idea how you can play that without accidentally pressing all the wrong strings all the time but dan nichols can do it so i've decided ryan can do it too

tomorrow is au day... you know what that means... *shoves rymin into my current hyperfixation*

if you ever wanna talk infinity train, writing, these amazing characters, or really anything hmu here on my tumblr or on twitter! thank you for reading, and please leave a reblog/like/comment if you enjoyed it!

@ryminweek

[aricazorel]

OC Questionnaire

I was tagged by @enasallavellan Thank You! This was really fun!

Answering for my Dragon Age: Inquisition OC from my ongoing fanfic series on AO3.

(This got a little long so more below the cut)

THE BASICS:

Character’s name:

Anyssa McBride

Role in story:

Inquisition Historian from Earth (MGIT story; Anchor series on AO3)

Physical description:

5ft 6in, wavy honey blonde hair that currently reaches midway down her back (on Earth it was roughly shoulder length, ice blue eyes

Age:

She is 26 when she arrives in Thedas and currently is 29 in my story. (She will be 30 shortly after the events set in Trespasser)

MBTI/Enneagram Personality Type:

I took two different tests when I created Anyssa and both labeled her as ‘ENFJ’—the giver or mentor. (I would argue that while she tested as an extrovert she does appreciate introvertedness and the current situation dictates which she chooses to be)

INTERNAL LIFE:

What is their greatest fear?

Being used and taken for granted

Inner motivation:

To help others and support them, hoping to see them happy

Kryptonite:

Having her self-doubts realized

What is their misbelief about the world?

Anyssa believes that everyone wants help and they just do not know how to ask for it. Unfortunately she has found out that some people just don’t want help no matter how sincere you are.

Lesson they need to learn:

She needs to learn to trust herself. Those around her know of her past on Earth and have made efforts to help her learn that. But no matter what, she still struggles with it, sometimes to the point of questioning whether she deserves the life she now has.

What is the best thing in their life?

A group of people who love and care for her. In other words, Friends

What is the worst thing in their life?

A history on Earth of those that were supposed to care for her, using her instead…and abuse. After her parents died in a car crash during her junior in high school, she went to live with her aunt and uncle who proceeded to steal the money her parents had left her for college. Later she entered into a relationship with a seemingly charming man named Bryan who turned out to be emotionally and physically abusive towards her. After two years she worked up the courage to attempt to leave. After multiple tries, she finally succeeded only to end up in Thedas.

What do they most often look down on people for?

Taking advantage of others, being cruel/mean to others, judging other without taking into consideration what they have been through

What makes his/her/their heart feel alive?

Writing stories based on those around her, sharing her knowledge with people who appreciate it, learning about the cultures and people around her, horseback riding, rock climbing, exploring the tunnels under Skyhold

What makes them feel loved, and who was the last person to make them feel that way?

The people she had come to know as friends in Thedas. They have become her ‘found’ family—something she thought to never have again. The last person to make her feel that way is Cullen. He always knows the right thing to say or the right thing to do to let her know she is loved.

Top three things they value most in life?

Acceptance by others, support of others, friendship

EXTERNAL LIFE:

Is there an object they can’t bear to part with and why?

No personal items from Earth made it through the rift to Thedas with Anyssa. What she has come to cherish most is the small items her friends have given her in an effort to make she feel at home. Most notably is the Cullen’s coin she wears around her neck and a stuffed dragon named Puff he gave her before they ever began their relationship.

Describe a typical outfit for them from top to bottom.

For her normal duties as historian, she wears simple dresses common to Ferelden fashion as well as blouses and skirts. For more formal affaires she wears one the many dresses Vivienne had made for her that incorporates Orlesian, Fereldan, and Free Marcher styles. For when she explores the caverns below Skyhold or travels away from the keep, she prefers typical traveling clothes and pants over skirts.

Most of her clothes are shades of light blue which Cullen said matches her eyes. She also wears purple in various shades being as it is her favorite color.

What names or nicknames have they been called throughout their life?

Nyssa and Nys. Most of her friends have called her Nyssa at some point in her life. Nys is only used by Cullen. He has also been known to use the endearment “sweetling” after they began their relationship.

What is their method of manipulation?

Anyssa isn’t known for manipulating anyone out right. Most of the time, she will rephrase an argument point to make the other party believe they are making a choice freely. This is not something she employs with people she is friends with or allied with. It a trick she holds in reserve when dealing with unreasonable nobles, especially when she has been called on to aid Josephine.

However, she is not above manipulating Cullen to either ensure he does not take on too much or because she would like some private time with him. A bright smile and repeatedly saying ‘please’ usually works. The first time Cullen realized he could not say no to her was when she asked to see a real dragon. In the end, he gifted her a stuffed dragon she named Puff and then took her to Crestwood to see the dragon there (from a safe distance of course.)

Describe their daily routine.

Anyssa’s routine various from day to day depending on the work load and what other duties she’s been tasked with. Normally, she holds any meetings in the morning and she makes time to watch the sparring ring from the battlements (especially if Cullen is participating). After that she may conduct any research she can on historical items the Inquisition has acquired and writes any correspondence to allies that might have knowledge she does not. She frequently checks in with Dagna in the Undercroft and reports the archanist’s progress to those interested. (Most people tend to shy away from Dagna but Anyssa finds her fascinating and funny.) She often finds Cullen for lunch and reminds him to eat. Her afternoons might involve cataloging artfifacts and tomes recovered in the hopes of returning them to their proper owners. If time allows, she can be found exploring and mapping the caverns and tunnels below Skyhold much to Cullen’s dismay. Throughout her day though, Anyssa has learned to work in time for her friends as well as for herself (though it has been a struggle in learning to do so)

Their go-to cure for a bad day?

There a several different answers to this. One is Sera. Both Anyssa and the Red Jenny enjoy pranks. Frequently Anyssa may provide the idea or inspiration while Sera carries out the actual pranks itself.

Horseback riding alone or with Cullen.

Playing Wicked Grace with Varric and/or Bull, Blackwall, and the Chargers. (Drinking and storytelling maybe involved.)

Reading a book with Cullen.

GOALS:

How are they dissatisfied with their life?

Overall, Anyssa is exceedingly happy with her life in Thedas. It is something she never thought to have again after her parents death and the abusive relationship with her ex-boyfriend. She had friends, a family, a career, someone to love her (whom she loves with all her heart), and a new purpose in life. If there was one thing that she would be dissatisfied with, it would be the knowledge that despite all the good the Inquisition did there will still be people who still cling to the old ways. In other words, she wishes that everyone could find the acceptance and support she has found but knows that the old ways are easier for some to hold onto instead of embracing change.

What would bring them true happiness or contentment?

Finally realizing that she did nothing wrong and it was not her fault that anyone left her or treated her poorly. Those were decisions made by others and she is not responsible for that. Cullen has aided her greatly in making progress with this but it is a struggle she will always have. But then again she has found a support network and love, so in the end she is already happy/content.

What definitive step could they take to turn their dream into a reality?

This is something Anyssa initially struggled with. Cullen was the first to admit he loved her and it took seven months before she could say it back. After that, they talked circles around making concrete plans about their future. Finally, they decided to just make the plans as they went (making a list of things they wanted.) When Cullen decided to start a Templar sanctuary after retirement, that solidified things. Now all that remains to be done is see the Inquisition through to the end and then begin their future.

How has their fear kept them from taking this action already?

Her past relationship colored how she reacted to Cullen’s affections and made her question whether she could trust his words. (she learned to trust his actions first and then his words)

Haven and Skyhold were the places she first felt welcomed in Thedas, like she had a real home again.

She questioned whether she could be lead historian in a world she knew nothing of, questioning even the skills she had learned on Earth.

How do they feel they can accomplish their goal while still steering clear of the thing they are afraid of?

Anyssa has decided to focus on what she can do in the present and prepare for the future she wants. She has begun making plans for how to transfer her skills to a slightly different career path aft her the conclusion of the Inquisition and has told Cullen she will support his dream of a Templar sanctuary while pursuing her own path. To ensure that happens, she will more than likely rely on Cullen for reminders to believe in herself and trust that she knows what she is doing. In the end, it all comes down to trust for Anyssa and her Commander is the one she trusts the most.

Tagging @commanderadorkable, @shadoedseptmber, @raflesia65, @noire-pandora and anyone else who would like to play! No pressure, just fun!

[fluxofthemouth]

(Please don’t reblog!)

important headcanons and details that have come to my attention while writing Piter:

- he packs for trips like the gif of the fox trying to fit as much bread in its mouth as possible [xxx] he’s 5′1″, his suitcase is more than half as tall as he is, and he will maneuver that shit around with the confidence and purpose of a movie star

- he’s deeply afraid of teachers. you’re scared of the twisted mentat, but what’s he scared of? obviously the mentat twister?? he likes to cheerfully show off his own cleverness, but if he ever specifically takes on the tone of a teacher educating you about the world, that’s an act of profound disrespect in his mind. that’s taking on the role of the people in his life who were determined to change who and what he was, people who saw what he already was as incomplete and not very valuable to the empire or any great house. if he’s like chasing you and you want to buy some extra time or just fuck with him, act all stern & tell him to sit down and stop being unruly, like this is YOUR classroom & he’s a tiny little bug. it’s not guaranteed to be much help at all and it might just make him mad, but it will rattle him to the core. your muse doesn’t know about that, but it’s something they could conceivably find out about.

- he isn’t *scared* of kings/emperors/nobility/etc., but as a tool trained by an empire to be useful to the empire, it’s built into his training (in both subtle and not so subtle ways) to not be dangerous to nobility. if he meets someone who *very* believably acts like nobility, it will take him a lot more time to decide to hurt them, if at all (nobles generally agree not to hurt each other directly, to keep up an illusion of being just a little more untouchable and invincible than the little people, per Dune canon). the morality of his training doesn’t hold one life above any other life as more valuable, but on top of the subtle brainwashing, he’s motivated to support the continued existence of the system that will give him a cushy life for being a terrible person. again; your muse probably doesn’t know that to start with, but they could conceivably find out.

- if he has to go on a long trip in some kind of vehicle (car, plane, etc.), he would prefer be as unconscious as possible for that. doubly so if faster than light space travel is involved.* who wants to sit still for that long anyway?

- in Dune, Piter has total blue-in-blue eyes with no whites due to a spice addiction. when I make different verses for him, I’m on the lookout for excuses to give him eyes like that in other colors. in a vampire verse, his eyes are red-in-red (with no particular explanation; he’s a vampire ok). in a fantasy verse, his eyes are violet-in-violet (from peering into forbidden cracks of reality or something). I’ve been picking at a dragon age inquisition playthrough with Piter, & as the DAI main character his eyes would be green-in-green because of the whole business with the fade rifts of course. and of course his outfit color scheme has to match his eye color, with a blue lab coat as a Dune villain, a red Victorian-inspired jacket as a vampire, & a purple wizard robe as a wizard/alchemist. he has gray eyes when there’s no fantastical element to reach for, to satisfy the monochromatic pattern. I’m low key curious to see how many color variations I’ll end up with,, like super smash brothers options...

* did you know that a ‘small’ stellar mass black hole will kill you a lot faster than a ‘large’ supermassive black hole? gravity starts to act weird a lot faster & in a much smaller space. the difference in gravitational attraction to the singularity between your feet and your head gets so extreme it starts to stretch you into spaghetti before you even cross the event horizon! no one would accept space travel if it was *likely* to be dangerous, but the Spacing Guild is a for-profit company! they are thinking about a lot more than lives when they design their error margins! Piter is from Giedi Prime, he knows exactly how this works! No thank you!! If he has to put himself at risk of being spaghettified by a black hole, he’s not interested in being awake for it!

[remmushound]

Curse of the Clan Part 2! @scentedcandlecryptid @brightlotusmoon @digitl-art-monstr @selfindulgenz

“Yoshi...”

Splinter gasped. The voice that had just whispered in his ears was lost to him the minute he opened his beady, black eyes to find no one was there. Not his sons, not April. Just a bad dream. He had been having a lot more than usual lately— averaging three or more a week instead of his normal two. He had always been able to remember his nightmares before, but now the horrors he experienced eluded him like sand washed away by the waves of consciousness. He stretched out the length of his fat body with a squeaky yawn before he got dressed and wandered into the kitchen to indulge in the last of the Fruity Pebbles.

He scooped up his first spoonful of the colorful cereal bits and raised the utensil to his mouth, but before he could get any further than that, his noticed a passing silhouette.

“April?” Splinter let the spoonful fall back into the bowl as he lifted his head to look to the door. The figure, as fast as it had gone, was undoubted human. “Are you alright? Do you need anything?”

When April didn't respond, Splinter got up from his chair and hurried to peer around the doorway. There was no sign of the young girl in either direction.

“April…?” Splinter stared a long moment more before slowly turning to return to his bowl. The minute his back was turned, the silhouette appeared in his peripherals again, this time going in the opposite direction. Splinter spun on his feed quickly to bolt to the door, his eyes following the direction the figure had gone in with just enough time to see a red kimono disappear down the hall. He ran after it.

Whoever it was, it certainly wasn’t April. Now that he had seen it again, the figure was far too tall, and their hair far too long. The chances of a regular human wandering down into the lair and acting this peculiarly was so slim that Splinter didn't even consider it. Whatever it may be, he was certain it was yokai. And an unknown yokai wandering the halls of his home could not stand!

Another turn brought him into the main living area, and a quick search around the exit tunnels had him spot the creature again. This time, they were more clearly seen. Their red kimono was stitched with pink flowers and long, black hair fell down the length of the intruders back. She turned, just enough time for her brown eyes to meet the rat’s black ones before she disappeared around the corner of the tunnel and out of sight.

“Wait!” Splinter scrambled to catch up to her, falling to all fours to take advantage of his speed. The tunnels were like a maze and he knew that he could easily get lost in them, but he didn't care. That kimono, that hair. Those eyes— he knew those eyes! And he had to see them again!

Splinter bounced to a stop when cold stone gave way to soft grass. He gave a confused squeak as he looked to his paws and found them planted firmly on healthy green earth. Looking up again, he saw a bridge stretching out over a blue, rippling pond, and in the center of the pond was an island hardly big enough to be considered such. It was just big enough to contain two large rocks crossed over one another almost like an arch, providing shade for the single inhabitant.

Splinter looked down at his hands and moved them slowly back and forth as a curious thought occurred to him. The thought was proven true when he saw a violet ripple effect following his arms as they moved, as if through water. He wasn’t awake, he knew now, though what he didn't know was when he had gone into the meditative state to begin with. It wasn’t of his will— he hadn’t willed meditation for almost twenty years and there would have been no reason he would start today. That simple revelation explained so much to him. He slowly stood back on two legs as he made his way across the wooden bridge and onto the island.

The other soul on the island had her back turned to him, kneeled in the grass just at the line where water met earth. She was tracing her fingers through the water to watch as the impossibly clear stream rippled and held generations in its reflection. She hummed a soft tune as she stared into the cold depths, drawing her hands out only to trace them through the softness of her hair.

“Mama…” Splinter breathed softly as he finally came upon her, reaching a paw out to touch her before a barrier he couldn’t see stopped him. He gave a frustrated growl and tried to force his way through it, but it didn't work.

Atsuko stopped her song and turned to look at Yoshi, her eyes like the soft mud that followed a recent rainfall. Delicate lips parted into a smile as she raised her hand to the barrier separating her from her son, touching the same spot his paw was so they could be as close as the barrier allowed.

“Yoshi…”

“Why— why can’t I touch you?” Splinter panicked and started to try and claw through the barrier, “Why can’t I get through—?!”

Atsuko shushed him gently and kept her hand planted gently where it was. “Calm now, my Yoshi, or else you will hurt yourself. I am here. Talk to me.”

Splinter tried several minutes longer to claw his way through until he relented, collapsing to his knees in tears. His stringy, white hair fell in front of his face and, though he tried to raise a paw to brush it back, his hair just kept falling back down. He rested his head against the impossible force of the barrier and joined his hand to Atsuko’s once more.

“I’m sorry, mama…”

“No need for sorry, my Yoshi.” Her voice carried in a haunting melody, “We weren’t enough…”

Splinter looked up curiously, his nose twitching as he tried to pick up the scent of his mother, but it wasn’t there.

“We defeated Shredder— we— we were enough, mama. My sons— they—“

“I was the last guardian, Yoshi.” She hardly acknowledged Yoshi’s panicked reassurance. “And the seal grows thin. He cannot be allowed to escape.”

Splinter’s fur ruffled, his ears twitching his curiosity as he leaned forward to look his mother in the eyes. Her brown windows held the stories of a life lost, stories Splinter could see playing in the haunted memories of her eyes, but not enough to understand what they were.

“Who is he?” Splinter asked, “You went away to be a Hamato guardian but I— I never got the chance to know why. This is my chance, right? Let me help make this right!”

“You have already done so many good things, my Yoshi. To burden you with another weighs me down heavily, but such is your duty. You are the sire of the Clan and you must make sure that the sacrifice of your ancestors was not for nothing. Five decades I protected The Evil in the Mountain until my body gave out, and for a decade more the rift has been stable enough to keep him trapped. But now it is not. There must always be a Hamato there to take the task, and now there is none.”

“I don’t understand, mama… I’m sorry, I don’t understand…” Splinter shook his head, tears staining his light fur dark with no shame.

“I know.” Atsuko hung her head. “You were lost but now you are found. Your family grows ever stronger. You did good, Yoshi, but now they must do the same.”

Before Splinter could ask any more questions, Atsuko stepped away from the barrier and held out her hands, closing her eyes as she let energy flow freely through her chakras. From the glowing marks of the kunoichi came an odachi, a set of Tonfa, and a kusari-fundo.

“My sons weapons...” Splinter breathed.

“When they were lost...”

Hovering above his mothers head, Splinter saw images of the same weapons materialize almost like a cartoon, shattering and fading away one by one.

“So too was the spell…”

The mirage shifted to a seal blocking a great cave, rippling with red and blue and orange and purple until it shattered, and left only purple behind. There was a rumble from within the cave as two pink eyes made themselves seen and a tentacle reached from the darkness to grip the purple bars.

“There is still one weapon left…”

Atsuko held out her hands and gave the image of a bo staff with a metal spear point and a single sickle claw on one end.

“And it is all that holds him in his prison of ice.”

“But— but my sons! They have new mystic weapons!”

“They have no mystic weapon. They have Nimpo Weapons.”

“I— I didn’t know they were any different! Is there anything we can do to defeat this evil?” Splinter asked.

“Without the mystic blessing, the mystic seal can only hold for so long before he is released. You must find a solution before then.”

“What happens if we don’t?”

Atsuki didn't answer. She stared at Yoshi with sad, mournful eyes and shook her head. “You must stop it; only Hamato may.”

“But… why?” Splinter asked. His ears pressed flat against his head and his tail curled around one of his legs seeking comfort. “Why must it fall to us?”

“It must.” Was all Atsuko said. She seemed almost transparent now, like she was fading away. Her voice followed the same, softening trend. “It must be Hamato or all will be lost…”

[salandition]

Dizzy

Leon/Male!Reader

Summary: When you stop making the room spin, an unsettling whistle leaves your lips and Leon slowly backs away from you as you keep stalking toward him- and all of a sudden he’s aware of the feeling you’ve been giving him the entire night. Something intoxicating that makes him feel like prey.

Warnings: Rated T. Consumption of alcohol, making out while inebriated, and sexual themes, but no smut. Just a lot of tension and dancing.

A/N:My first Leon fic! Hoo hoo! I wasn’t sure how I felt about making my first fic a male insert, and I juggled with the idea of making it gender neutral instead, but the narrative of a male reader fit better. Plus. I am... very gay for Leon, and I wanted to indulge. SO i hope you all don’t mind the assigned gender in this fic! 

--- --- --- 

Maybe it was the drinks. Maybe it was the atmosphere- the dancing, the bodies pressing against each other, the neon lighting flashing in the dark room, painting everyone's skin with its fantastical colors. Maybe it was the music that Leon could feel in his core as he was tossed around the crowd, from person to person, his hair sticking to his sweaty neck that glowed pink and blue. 

But something was happening. There was a certain energy in the air, buzzing around the entire bar, and it lit Leon aflame, stumbling and falling as he tried to keep up with it. Keep up with you. 

You felt untouchable. You looked ethereal- your body and your voice that swayed with the lyrics you sang on stage, guitar in your arms strumming chords that Leon felt vibrate through his spine. Your eyes that trailed him up and down- 

Everything about you was so intoxicating that it might be dangerous . 

Raihan was the one that suggested they go out tonight. ‘To loosen up,’ his friend had said. Leon didn’t think he needed to loosen up, he felt just fine, but spending a night out drinking and relaxing with friends didn’t sound like a bad idea. And Nessa had insisted that she ‘knew a place’. The perfect place, apparently. 

That’s what led Leon underground in Spikemuth, to a bar he had no idea even existed; and at first, it was fine. The group sat at their private little booth in the corner because Leon had a reputation of being seen and ruining the vibe with his fans, not that anyone would admit that out loud (besides maybe Raihan). But this place was special. It was dark in the bar, the only light provided was from the neon lamps placed on bar tables, the rings that people wore, and the poles and stands that were on the stage in the back. 

When Leon asked what the stage was for, Raihan said they liked to play music. It wasn’t much later after that when things started to turn.

The drinks the bar served were full of flavor. Citrusy and sweet, lulling you into a false sense of security that you weren’t really drinking that much alcohol. They seemed to glow as well, leaving your teeth a sticky color, which Leon had laughed at when he first saw it. 

It didn’t seem as funny when it was used against him. 

The champion had gone to the bar alone, ordering the next round of drinks for his table. He was feeling confident with the dark atmosphere and the fact that no one had noticed or pulled him aside yet. The confidence seemed to falter when the bartender asked him what he wanted, and he realized he didn’t know the names of their glowy-type sweet drinks, and it was too dark to read a menu. If a menu even existed.

That’s when someone had slipped behind him. He could feel someone’s chest lightly touching his back as they leaned over, placing a hand on the bar counter beside him. The champion bristled but didn’t say anything as he turned around, expecting it to be Raihan messing with him- 

Instead, he met your eyes, and that’s when the fire in his belly started. 

You didn’t meet his gaze. Your teeth were glowing, like his, and your lips were stained and smeared with purple as you listed several words he wasn’t familiar with to the bartender, and suddenly the man was working, his hands busy as he whipped up several drinks. 

That’s when you looked down at Leon, and he felt like his throat was suddenly drier than it should be. 

“Are you new?” You asked him quietly, only for Leon to hear, and Leon felt the need to suddenly shiver. 

“Ah- I suppose it’s obvious, isn’t it?” He laughs lightly, joking at his clear inexperience with the bar, and your teeth disappear when you smile at him. 

“Just a tad. I don’t mind lending you a hand, though. You should have a good time, this place can get overwhelming,” you lean a little closer, making Leon feel the heat radiating off your body, and it’s making him sweat, “if you don’t know what you’re doing.” 

Leon opens his mouth, but no words come out. Thankfully, he’s saved by the bartender, who places several different drinks on a tray and puts it on the counter. You smile again and push the tray toward him, and Leon looks at you in confusion before reaching back for his wallet. 

You’re already close enough that you easily stop him by placing a warm hand on his arm. “It’s on me. Bring the drinks to your friends.” You lead his hand to the tray, and you finally take a step away from Leon, giving him room to breathe. Leon  really shivers then by the sudden shift in temperature- he was suddenly much colder than before. “Have a good time, new boy,” you told him with a wink, and suddenly you disappeared as if you were never there at all. 

Like a figment of his imagination. 

Leon tried his best to shake it off. If you were real, you were certainly strange. The aura you carried and the way you talked to him- 

No one ever talked to him like that. 

But, again, he shakes it off. He brings the tray of drinks to his friends, all who holler and cheer when he returns. When Sonia asks what took him so long, he doesn’t know what to say, so he just hands her a drink instead. 

Raihan gives him a look, and Leon ignores it. 

Things start to fall back like they were before. Leon laughs, he jokes, he wrestles with Raihan. Ordinary things for a night out. And then, finally, people start to set up on the stage. Somehow it gets even darker in the club, but the light stands that surround the borders of the stage glow brighter. 

You step onto the platform, electric bass in your hand, and you go right for the microphone in the center. Leon once again feels his throat dry up when he sees you, for reasons that he really can’t find the right words to explain. 

Music starts to play, slow and sweet and alluring. Leon can’t help but ask because he can’t seem to tear his eyes away- “who is that?” 

“Him? That’s ___,” Nessa replies, resting her head in her hand as she looks at the stage. Her body naturally sways to the beat. “Him and his band play here a lot. Not sure about the name of the band because they never really announce themselves. They don’t really have a schedule either. They just come up and play, and no one says anything. They’re really good, though.” 

Hm. 

The slow beat only lasts for so long. The bass players behind you and the drummer all start to amp up, and eventually, your voice comes through the speakers of the club. “It’s about time we livened things up, don’t you think?” The patrons of the clubs all woot and cheer, making you laugh. “Mm, I thought so. Alright. I want to see some of you pulling your best moves, then.” 

You strum your guitar, and the mood changes. 

Here I am, tied and bound, 

Every night, feeling low,

Bad days come back whatever,

Raihan chuckles from beside Leon as his head starts to bob to the beat, and Sonia wiggles out of her seat. “We should get up and dance!” She suggests, and Nessa seems to agree as she leaves the booth. 

Leon doesn’t want to dance, not really, but he’s basically torn from his seat and pulled into the crowd by his friends as they all begin to move with the beat. The lights on the stage begin to glow and change color, reflecting on the sea of people in waves, bouncing and sinking into sweaty skin as Leon keeps his eyes on you. 

In the sun I bathe, in everyday light, 

You draft me down for a split second tomorrow, 

What am I supposed to do?

Somehow, your eyes find his. They stay on him, bore into him as you sing, even as Nessa twirls him around and laughs at how distracted he is. 

I know you would make me happy, 

Girl, I found my way out,

I found it at last now I’m sober

Oh-oo-oooo-

Your eyes practically shine as your head raises high, 

Let’s go!

The bass guitars thrum loudly and everyone enjoys the rift, and Leon’s forced to tear his eyes away as he dances and laughs when Sonia nearly trips, falling into Raihan instead, and then he twirls her across the floor until she falls into Nessa’s arms and the two start to dance in sync together. 

 Leon distracts himself with the music. He tries to ignore the feeling of your eyes burning into him as the music continues, gets louder, vibrates through him just like your voice had done to him earlier. He lets himself enjoy the sweat and exhaustion that comes from dancing so much, the ache in his feet- he thrives in it.

You had told him to enjoy himself, hadn’t you?

His cheeks hurt from how much he was laughing and smiling, and he starts to forget about your purple-stained lips, but then you did something unexpected. 

 The songs you and your band made, easy to dance to, come to a quiet, and Leon had noticed how you removed your guitar and set it to the side. Music comes again as you walk up to the mic with a whistle, but the intense beat had him stopping in his steps to stare up at you. Slowly your hands went around the mic as you sing, 

Woke up in the morning feelin’ cynical, typical,

Tryin’a rub the sleep out of my bloodshot eyes, 

Did I just die? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, 

You smile as you take the mic away from the stand, but your eyes remain somewhat neutral and cold as you look out to the crowd. 

I’ve been feelin’ self-destructive, but I love it, 

I can’t help myself- your taste is so seductive, 

Leon’s surprised when you hop off the stage, the line of the microphone following behind you as you twirl the wire between your fingers, but no one else seems to think it’s strange. Maybe you do it often. Naturally, people move out of your way as you continue to sing, but Leon finds himself frozen in place. 

I’m feelin’...

Dizzy dizzy dizzy dizzy- on my mind, can’t rewind, 

Dizzy dizzy dizzy dizzy- all the time, that’s my life, 

And you’re headed right for him. 

Somehow, he felt like he should have predicted it from how your eyes bore into him as he swayed and danced to your voice. But now? Again he realizes he doesn’t feel like dancing, but you reach for his arm just like before and pull him toward you anyway, making him twirl with you, everyone’s eyes on the two of you.

He doesn’t see them, and neither do you. The two of you are too busy twirling, twirling, twirling. 

Dizzy dizzy dizzy dizzy- on my mind, can’t rewind, you sing, 

Dizzy dizzy dizzy dizzy- all the time, that’s my life, 

When you stop making the room spin, an unsettling whistle leaves your lips and Leon slowly backs away from you as you keep stalking toward him- and all of a sudden he’s aware of the feeling you’ve been giving him the entire night.

Something intoxicating that makes him feel like prey. 

Frontin’ about my day, I’m feelin’ criminal, habitual,

I try to hide my pain behind a broken smile, so out of style, 

Leon keeps backing up until his heel meets a surface- the stage. He backs up as far as he can against it, and you reach for him again, your hand smoothly running against his stubbled jaw as you move in close. Close enough that he can feel that same heat from before, the kind that makes him want to shiver. 

Your hand holds his jaw, keeps him in place as your chest's touch and the microphone is the only thing keeping you away from his lips as you stare deep into his golden eyes. 

I’ve been feelin’ self destructive, but I love it, 

I can’t help myself, your taste is so seductive,

The tension is left unresolved as you pull on him again, away from the stage, and once again, you spin with him. 

I’m feelin,

Dizzy dizzy dizzy dizzy- on my mind, can’t rewind,

Dizzy dizzy dizzy dizzy- all the time, that’s my life, 

Dizzy dizzy dizzy dizzy- on my mind, can’t rewind, 

Dizzy dizzy dizzy dizzy- all the time, that’s my life, 

At the end of your chorus, you wink at him again and send him flying, twirling toward the crowd and right into Raihan’s lean, firm chest. You meander around the crowd some more as you sing, but after that, you eventually hop back on the stage to finish your song. 

Leon, to put it simply, is out of breath, but you don’t look affected in the slightest. Maybe because it’s your job. Maybe because you're from another planet?

“Holy shit, man,” Raihan laughs from behind Leon as he grabs the Champion’s arms, twirling him once again, and Leon thinks he might just vomit if someone makes him spin like that one more time. “What the hell was that?” 

The song isn’t over, but he can’t even hear it anymore as he’s swarmed by his friends. Nessa looks blown away. “We can’t take you anywhere, can we?” She laughs.

“Apparently not!” 

“Har har,” Leon groans, a hand moving to clasp his sweaty forehead. “I think that’ll be enough dancing for me.” Behind him, he’s mildly aware of someone messing with his hair, and suddenly it feels a bit cooler as his hair is tied up into a ponytail, away from his neck and shoulders. Half his mind still intact, he reaches behind him, clasps a hand that feels like Raihan’s and squeezes it as a form of thanks- and then he’s stumbling away, back to his booth where he can catch his breath. 

 Time swirls in his head unsteadily, his head throbbing with the beat of drums and electronic noise. Leon still feels so hot- a heat in his belly that’s swirling and twirling and making him woozy. Resting in the booth he undoes a few buttons on his dress shirt, just wanting to cool down, but his tight pants keep him constricted and sweating. 

Cool down. Leon just wants to cool down. 

Blurry visions of purple lips and teeth cloud up his mind, and his pants are so tight,  and a painfully unfamiliar and alluring voice still bounces in his skull. He hardly even notices when imaginary becomes reality as you eventually sit next to him in the booth, your hand on his thigh, and your chest pressed against his arms as you flash those bright teeth at him again. Weren’t you singing on stage? When did you leave? Where were his friends?

Are you really real?

He wants you to prove it to him. 

Your laughter rings out, and suddenly you’re closer than before, and his disoriented mind hardly cares when your hands wander around his form. Purple lips press softly against his own, probably stained another hideously lovely color, but Leon’s so hot that it feels like a fever as his body moves to straddle you and he kisses you again. Again. 

Something pulls on the loose strands of hair spilling out of his ponytail, and he moans, and then his hair is pulled once more- harder- and there’s a tongue in his mouth that tastes like razzberries. 

Are you real?

Your lips trail against his jaw, hands holding his hips firmly- when did you get under his shirt? Leon can feel warm breaths on his ear, and there’s a whisper that rings through his hazy, clouded mind. 

“I’ll prove it to you.” 

It sounds like music. 

---

Waking up wasn’t pleasant when it felt like you were only waking up to a nightmare. 

His dreams- he had barely dreamt- but his dreams were fuzzy and warm, pleasant. Nothing like the painful throb that he woke up to, thrumming through his whole body and his skull. The Champion doesn’t even have the pleasure of waking up in his own home. 

When he opens his eyes, he sees that he’s in a living room of some sort, but he’s never been to this place before. 

 Which begs the question of how he got here at all. He has a feeling it’s not because of his horrible sense of direction- especially when he moves up from where he was sleeping on the couch and the blanket draped over him pools in his lap, letting him see the various marks that scatter across his body. 

Hickies, love marks, predatory bites. Call them what you will. 

There’s a lot of them. 

 “I see the Champion is finally awake,” a voice that’s only vaguely familiar cuts through his thoughts. Leon looks up, finding a blurry form of a body in a doorway. He can’t make out who it is, but when they step closer, his mind quickly catches up and does the math for him.

It’s you- that singer from last night. No longer bathed in neon lights, you look dramatically different- especially because you’re wearing a loose shirt and no pants, and Leon can easily see the bright marks scattered on you just like they’re on him. 

He must have done that. To you. 

“You know,” you speak up again, breaking Leon out of his thoughts. You move to sit carefully on the coffee table placed in front of the couch he’s on. You keep your distance, and the gesture is appreciated in the back of Leon’s mind. “I was surprised when I woke up this morning. I had no idea it was you.” 

“You didn’t?” His voice is croaky and dry, and that’s when you hand him the glass of water that he hadn’t noticed you were carrying, along with two white pills that are probably aspirin. 

“To be fair, the club is really dark. And I had already had a few drinks in me when I went up on stage.” You watch as Leon chugs the water you gave him. “But I was miles more sober than you were. I should have noticed.”

The information doesn’t make him feel better. There’s an uncomfortable feeling spreading through him from his gut, making his shoulders tense- 

“We didn’t do anything,” you say. “Besides making out and all that. You were certainly tempting with how eager you acted,” you smile impishly at him, chuckling, “but I knew you were also out of your mind. Nothing happened besides some innocent grinding. You passed out on my couch, too, after a while. Woke up again and threw up all over yourself, but I cleaned that up. Should probably shower when you get home, though.” 

 Leon blinks once, twice, three times as he processes the information you gave him. There’s a chance you could be lying. The Champion hardly remembered anything from last night, just flashes. But when he looks at you, sitting half-naked as you twiddle nervously with your hands in your lap, he feels like he can believe you. 

Especially the throwing up part. His stomach feels unsteady enough that he can certainly believe that part. 

“...Thank you for doing that for me,” Leon murmurs eventually. “Do you… have any idea where my clothes are?” 

“Ah,” you nod and stand up, hands on your thighs. “Yes, I had put them in the dryer earlier. Since you threw up on your clothes and all that. I’ll go see if they’re done.” 

 You leave for a separate room, leaving Leon alone in your living room. His head is still throbbing, but the aspirin is slowly kicking in. 

As he slowly starts to assess the situation he’s in, the only words he can find to describe it is… odd. Very odd.

Getting drunk and making out with strangers isn’t like him. Especially male strangers. Especially coming home with said male strangers. 

So what happened that made him so drawn to you, anyway? Leon honestly doesn’t know. You were attractive, that’s for sure. 

Maybe he was lonely. Desperate. 

He doesn’t get to think more about it because soon you walk into the room again- wearing some shorts this time- his clothes in your hand as you smile at him. 

Your teeth aren’t glowing purple anymore, but there’s still a tint to them that makes him huff out a chuckle as he takes his clothes from your hand, murmuring a thank you as he does. You also hand him his phone, which he hadn’t even thought about until he saw it. 

 Turning the screen on, he sees a headache of messages waiting for him, so he turns it off for now. 

 “So where, uh… Am I, exactly?” He asks you as he puts his shirt back on, fumbling with the buttons. You sit back down on the coffee table. 

“My apartment in Spikemuth, not that far from the bar. I know you’re pants with directions, so I can help you head back to Wyndon if you’d like. But I,” you look away from him again, and Leon notices how you twirl your hands in your lap again, “uh, I understand if you probably would like to head home by yourself, too.” 

It clicks in Leon’s head then. For someone who acted so confidently last night, the confidence that lured Leon in to begin with- you were oddly cute once you were pulled into the light. It���s almost endearing. 

Leon doesn’t reply in favor for shuffling on his pants instead- you glance away and hide your eyes with your hand as you do, which Leon audibly chuckles at since there’s not much for him to hide that you haven’t seen already, but he appreciates it none the less. 

Instead of replying to your request, he asks a question. “What’s your name?” Your eyes meet his, and he smiles in a fluster. “I never really caught it last night. If I did- well- I forgot.” 

“Right,” you nod and you don’t look like you mind. “The name’s ___.”

“___,” He tests the name on his lips. It sounds a bit familiar- so perhaps he did learn your name last night. “Well, ___. To be quite honest, last night was very unlike me. I’m a bit out of my comfort zone,” he says, and now his own hands are twirling around. “But I’d appreciate the invitation to get to know who I was smooching on last night if you’re willing to chat as we head to Wyndon.” 

Your eyes light up in surprise- perhaps you weren’t expecting that. Again, the word ‘cute’ crosses his mind, especially when you smile at him. That was the most familiar thing- your smile and how you managed to still send anxious twirls in his stomach. It was odd…

“Yeah- that’d be nice. I’ll get changed and- well- you probably want to use my hairbrush. And maybe we can slap some make-up on your neck, too,” you laugh as you stand, Leon following close behind as you lead him to your bathroom. 

Yes, the feeling you made him feel was odd… But not bad. 

Not bad at all, really.

[flowerfan2]

David x Patrick, 37k so far, A03.  Read from the beginning here.  Updates weekly.  Angst, h/c, with a happy ending (honestly the happy happens way before the ending...)

Summary:  Being stuck in the Milwaukee airport is bad enough. Then David realizes that the man who broke his heart is sitting right next to him. After a rom-com worthy reunion, David decides he won't walk away again.

Chapter 12

Patrick wakes up the next morning to David smiling at him, already dressed in his running clothes.  He stretches up and David leans down, giving him a chaste kiss that shouldn’t make either of them blush the way it does.

“Have a good run,” Patrick says, and David purses his lips to hide his smile.  

“Thanks.”

After David leaves the room Patrick turns and flops over, looking for a cool place on the pillow to hide his face.  

He knows why he feels so exposed this morning.  He and David have finally confronted the elephant in the room (not an elephant - “elephants are not sexy,” he can hear the David-in-his-mind chiding him) about their lack of intimacy, and although things almost went absolutely to shit, it all worked out okay.  More than okay.

And to be fair, saying that they haven’t been “intimate” isn’t quite right.  David said something last night that lights Patrick up inside when he remembers it.  

“I kind of liked just being close to you.”

David said it like a confession, like a beautiful secret he was holding close.  And Patrick loves him for it, because even while Patrick was feeling guilty about not going further physically, he was soaking up the joy of being close to David.

Patrick wants to kick himself for trying to rush them past this, this opportunity to give each other the comfort they both so desperately need.  Because Patrick was so busy worrying, he almost missed it.

They’ve gone about things differently this time around, for sure.  Back in Schitt’s Creek, the beginning of their relationship was full of firsts, and it was as heated and horny as Patrick always wished he felt as a teenager. This time, although they were drawn together from the beginning, it has been for warmth and tenderness, rather than sex.  And David doesn’t mind – more than that, he likes it.

It makes Patrick nearly cheer with glee, here under the blankets that are still warm with David’s body heat, that still smell of his cedar cologne.  He knows they have a lot to talk about, and a lot to process, but he can feel the bond between them growing stronger with every difficult conversation.  Every time they confront something that has the potential to drive them apart, and instead use it to heal and make new connections, Patrick thinks they are that much closer to something that will last.

He can hardly believe all that has happened over the past few days.  Stevie appearing on their doorstep was a real change-up that could have ended in disaster.  Instead, Patrick discovered that the rift between Stevie and David was caused by David being concerned for Patrick, even while believing that Patrick had cheated on him.  Patrick can’t help but find this endearing, even though David was wrong about him, and wrong in assuming that he should cut ties with Stevie the way he did.  

Frankly, Patrick has felt pretty bad over the past few years, knowing that Stevie and David weren’t talking.  Their friendship had seemed to be rock solid, and he knew it must have hurt for David to lose her, and vice versa.  But he had never imagined that David had arranged the whole mess himself.  He feels a pang of guilt for not pressing Stevie harder about what happened, but then again, it sounds like Stevie didn’t really know at the time, either.  

And regardless of what David did and why, he and Stevie seem to mended things.  Last night David’s face lit up when Stevie texted him silly photos of her and Ruth at Disney World, posing with princesses at a character dinner.  Although he might deny how much it matters to him, David is clearly thrilled to have his friend back.

Patrick finally forces himself to get out of bed and into the shower.  He stands under the hot water for a while, pleased to find that his various aches and pains are really much improved.  Even the nasty bruises on his ribs are better, most of the area now yellow or a faint green, instead of the dark purple from ten days ago.

David’s still out of the house when he finishes, so Patrick takes his time shaving.  He finds it easier to look at himself in the mirror these days, and it’s not just because his hair is starting to grow in over the healing gash on his head.  

David’s toiletries are spread out all over the countertop.  Patrick recognizes most of them, although there are some face creams that seem to be new.  Not everything is RA branded, probably because they stopped carrying some of the products when the brand cut down to just items needed for the motels.  

Patrick picks up David’s cologne and sprays a little bit on himself, knowing it will make David smile.  There’s a moisturizer that looks familiar, and of course the body milk, still a Rose Apothecary favorite.  He pauses when he sees a little round pot of lip balm.  Raising it to his face, Patrick twists the top off and breathes it in.

It’s a citrus blend with a fresh scent, a pale yellow balm that Patrick can’t help but sample.  He purses his lips and smooths it on, and suddenly feels a wave of déjà vu.

This is the lip balm David had been sourcing just before everything fell apart.  Patrick liked the scent, and thought it would be popular; David found the vendor difficult and didn’t want to agree to the terms she was requesting.  And both of them were annoyed that the vendor insisted on using a hard to find base for the product which might delay production.  They had almost agreed to go for it anyway (“it’s not La Mer, but it is remarkably moisturizing”) when their relationship imploded and new products were the last thing on Patrick’s mind.

He’s lost in thought, holding the little tub in the palm of his hand, when David leans against the open door of the bathroom and dances his fingers along Patrick’s bare shoulders.  “Find something you like?”

Patrick holds out the lip balm.  “I didn’t know you made this one.”

David stills, then takes it from Patrick and plays with it in his hand, tightening the lid and then showing it to Patrick.  <i>Limited Edition</i> appears under the Rose Apothecary logo.  

“You said it smelled like sunshine,” David says, looking anywhere but at Patrick.  “I ordered a box.  I was going to give them to you, one of the million or so times I imagined finding a way to see you again.”  David squirms, rolls his eyes and then holds it out to Patrick.  “Here.  Better late than never.”

Patrick smiles and leans over to kiss David, so David can taste his lips, already coated in citrusy goodness.  After they broke up, David had the lip balm Patrick liked made.  He wore it on his lips, thinking of him.  His heart swells.  “Thank you.  I love it.” Patrick sets the lip balm back down on the countertop, tapping it with a finger.  “Do you have any more?”

David gives him a wry smile.  “I think there were 144 in the carton, so, yeah.  I have a few left.”

*****

“Tell me again why we can’t go out?”  David is pouting, looking outside at the bright blue sky.  

“You are welcome to go anywhere you want,” Patrick says.  “But the window company is coming to install new hurricane screens, and I told my mom I’d be home to supervise.”

David turns towards Patrick, who is idly channel surfing, looking for something interesting to watch on television.  “Wait, what did you say?”

“The window guys are coming, and I told my mom I’d be here.”

“I believe you also said <i>hurricane</i>.”

“Well, yeah.  There are these special covering screens that you can pull over the windows in case of hurricanes, and some of them got dented or something and don’t extend right, so we’re having them fixed and some new ones installed.”

“Patrick.”  David backs away from the large patio door and into the center of the room, eyes wide.  “You did not tell me about hurricanes.”

“It’s Florida, sometimes there are hurricanes.  This isn’t exactly news.”

“I agreed to alligators, and bugs, and apparently I am also risking my toes to fire ants.  But hurricanes were never mentioned.”

“You didn’t ask for a disclosure form.”  Patrick stands up and approaches David, who is looking around the room as if the wind was going to pick up any minute and blow the house away like Dorothy’s farmhouse.  “And there’s really nothing to worry about.  It isn’t even hurricane season.”

“There’s a season?”

“Yup.  And it ends in November.”

“It was November just a few days ago.”

“Even if it was still November, there are hardly ever any hurricanes that late – maybe a tropical storm or two.  Most of the hurricanes are between August and October.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel safe?”

“Yes, it is.”  Patrick runs his hands down David’s shoulders, grasping lightly at his elbows.  “Would it make you feel better to hear more about how the hurricane screens protect us from the scary storms?”

David frowns, and then gives his shoulders a shake.  “Yes.”

Patrick pulls David down to sit on the couch with him and takes out his laptop.  “Look, the nice people from the hurricane screen company emailed us all kinds of information.  I bet they’d even let you watch them work.”

David glares at Patrick.  “I don’t appreciate you making jokes at my expense.”

Patrick grins back.  “We can watch a movie later, continue your education.  Maybe <i>Twister.</i>”

“You think you’re funny.  That’s not about a hurricane, anyway.”

Patrick thinks for a minute.  “There’s the one with the boat, in New England.  </i>A Perfect Storm.</i>   George Clooney’s in it.”

David smirks at Patrick.  “George Clooney, huh?  How old were you when that movie came out, maybe ten?  Eleven?”

“My dad likes movies about boats,” Patrick protests, his face feeling warm.

“If you’re in the mood for George Clooney, we should watch <i>Ocean’s Eleven,</i>” David says.  “At least that’s got Julia Roberts.”

“Leave it to you to know that.”

“I’ll have you know that Clooney’s been in other movies with Julia too, and one with Sandra Bullock.”

“Sounds like someone has a bit of a fixation.”

“I know everything there is to know about Julia and Sandra.  This cannot come as a surprise to you.  This body of knowledge just happens to include some information about George Clooney.”

Patrick catches David’s gaze, and then rakes his eyes up and down his body, as obviously as possible.  “Maybe I have a type.”

David looks like he’s about to jump out of his seat.  “Are you telling me I look like George Clooney?”

Patrick does think there’s a certain something about both of them, around the eyes, and the way they smirk.  And David will look fantastic if he goes salt and pepper the way Clooney has.  But they’re not really that similar.

“No.”

“Oh.”  Disappointment flashes across David’s face.

Patrick leans in and traces David’s cheekbone.  “You are much, much prettier than he is,” he says, his voice low.

Sadly, it is at this precise moment that the doorbell rings, depriving Patrick of the chance to bathe David’s blushing cheeks in kisses.  He gives David a quick peck and goes to answer the door.

*****

David excuses himself to do some work in the office while Patrick talks to the window installers, and reappears only after the workers have left.  They settle on the couch, bickering for a while about what movie to watch, and finally agree on Ocean’s Eleven (although David won’t commit to the entire trilogy, as Julia Roberts isn’t in Ocean’s Thirteen).

David seems jumpy all through the movie, and it makes Patrick worried.  He thinks about their conversation last night, both of them noting – correctly – that they should have just <i>said</i> something about what was going on, and David practically begging Patrick to tell him if he thought there was something David should do differently.

He pushes away the small pang of hurt at the memory that David rejected his advances, reminding himself that David is scared about this, too.  Not to mention that he doesn’t ever want to fall into the category of people who David regrets having sex with.

A shudder runs through him as he remembers David implying rather strongly that he’s been in sexual situations he didn’t consent to.  Of course it’s at this moment that David interrupts his train of thought, doing exactly what Patrick had been working up to.

“Patrick?  Everything okay?”

Patrick focuses on David, looking gorgeous in a leopard print sweater that fits snugly around his chest and shoulders.  “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

David fiddles with the remote and mutes the television.  After a long moment goes by, he gives Patrick a look.  “What?  I asked first.”

Patrick snorts a little bit and slides closer to David on the couch.  “I was thinking about last night.”

David nods.  “Mmm.  Me too.”  He glances quickly at Patrick’s hand, resting on his knee, and lets go of the remote to grab it.   His palm is sweaty, which is very unlike David, and that’s when Patrick is certain that he’s nervous.  “I hope you know that I do want you,” David says, a slight blush tinting his cheeks.  “Very much.”

Patrick can’t help the shiver of arousal that goes through him just at these simple words.  He realizes with relief that he hasn’t felt this way in a long time, that last night was really the first time in ages that he was attracted to someone and comfortable about it, excited and happy and pleased and – safe.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Patrick says, pressing his knee against David’s.  “I want you too.  I mean, you probably figured that out, but in case there was any doubt, I do.”

David gives some sort of disbelieving head toss and purses his lips.  “I’m not naïve enough to think that just because someone comes on to me they actually want me.”

Patrick feels his stomach swoop.  “David?”  He shuffles closer and lays a hand gently on David’s shoulder.  “You know that’s not me, right?”

David rolls his eyes, but Patrick can tell he’s not convinced.  And <i>oh,</i> there it is, that’s why David hesitated last night.  Beneath all of his new athletic accomplishment, his designer sweaters and his continually impressive pompadour, David is still unsure of himself when it comes to his worth.  David took a leap, coming with Patrick to Florida at a time when Patrick himself was wobbly with self-doubt (he’s still wobbly, he knows it), but inside, he’s still David.  And whatever harm was done when the two of them broke up won’t be fixed in a week.

Patrick lays his head on David’s shoulder and puts his arm around him, pulling him close.  He can feel David relax against his body, and he waits to make sure his breathing calms before he speaks.  

“You’re going to trust me again, David,” Patrick says, and it’s not a command.  It’s a promise.  “We’re going to be okay.  We’re going to get through this, and when we come together again, it’s going to last.  We’ll be solid.”

David nods against his head.  “I’d like that.”

“Just give it a little time.  It’s okay to be nervous.”

David stills.  “Does being nervous mean I don’t have enough… faith in us?”  

“No,” Patrick says, trying to pour every inch of sincerity he has into his words.  “Absolutely not.  Being nervous is natural.  It’s expected.  Given what happened between us, I’d be surprised if you weren’t a little nervous.”

“I don’t want to hurt like that again,” David whispers, and Patrick’s heart clenches.  

“I don’t want you to ever hurt like that again,” Patrick says.  

“How do we do it differently this time?”

“Maybe just like this.  We talk more, if something’s wrong.”

“I didn’t say anything was wrong.”

Patrick smirks.  David can’t help himself, even in the middle of this heartfelt conversation.  “You’re right – nothing’s wrong.  We’re doing it right.”

David sighs and leans into him.  “Doing it right is hard, and kind of terrifying.”

“Don’t worry, the hurricane screens will protect us.”

[danwhobrowses]

Why ‘The Karate Kid Part II’ Deserves More Respect

So guess what film I finished watching today? Of course, the Karate Kid franchise is considered iconic mainly for its first entry; Wax on Wax off, Skeleton fights, Sweep the Leg and the Crane Kick all cemented its legacy that allowed Cobra Kai to also be such a success. But imagine my shock when the approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes for Part II is 45% - 21% lower than the Jaden Smith ‘The Karate Kung Fu Kid’ version (and Part III is scored 15%, which is also super harsh but hard to debate outside of the magnificence of Terry Silver). Originally this was just gonna be a general post of how much I enjoyed retreading Part II, but upon seeing that score I had to give it my ‘Deserves More Respect’ posts.

It is an off-chance, but if you haven’t watched this film there will be spoilers within, I encourage you to watch it before reading, and maybe watch it again if you have so it’s fresh in the mind

Let’s start with a controversial point shall we? There are several parts where Part II is actually better than the original. Now I know! There’s a lot about the original which is iconic, but nostalgia does blind you to other shortcomings and while it’s easy to sell the first part because of its mystique, a sequel has the added pressure of rising above and developing on old and new themes set by the predecessor. The Premise In case you decided against refreshing your memory. Karate Kid Part II starts with a recap of Part I, a bit of content that was meant to be Part I’s final scene (in the script, not for filming) and then a timeskip. Ali with an i is gone - brutally dumping Daniel for some Football Player before Senior Prom and after crashing his car, Daniel’s mother is in Fresno for work and Miyagi has received a letter from his home Okinawa in news of his father’s fading health. The stage is set for Daniel and the audience to learn more about the iconic Mr. Miyagi and the life he left behind. Okay, so there is bad in this film Part II deserves respect, but it’s not perfect. It definitely gets messy near the end with Daniel’s antagonist Chozen, he mainly took beats from Johnny Lawrence in physically confronting Daniel when he could with a bunch of no-named goons and he fought pretty similarly to Johnny in catch counters and leg strikes. The opening recap did take a lot of time too, while the ending remained somewhat abrupt having just beaten up Chozen to embrace Kumiko (who had a delayed recovery after being punched once). While not bad, a fair amount of retreaded content felt like downgrades of the original; Chozen and Sato lacked the charisma of Johnny and Kreese, the crane kick was far more impressive than the drum technique and the Tournament setting was grander than the O-Bon festival. But, there are Iconic Moments in this film too Part I may have the Crane Kick and the Skeletons and the Training and Sweep the Leg. But people may forget that Part II had awesome moments too.

Like Daniel chopping through 6 Sheets of Ice! If that isn’t one hell of a power play I don’t know what is. It is a moment genuinely impressive in and outside of the 80s cheese universe of Karate Kid, and it gets referenced in Season 2 of Cobra Kai.

Also referenced in Season 2 is Miyagi vs Kreese. While this is the intended ending for Part I, it certainly acted better at the start of Part II, especially given that is foreshadows the situation Daniel finds himself in at the end of the movie. This moment is equally iconic as it completely encapsulates the character of both senseis - Kreese the confident brute brought to a sniveling mouse when size and power failed him and Miyagi the cool-headed and vastly more intelligent fighter still with the cheeky prankster lightness to him as he honks the scared shitless Kreese on the nose. Perfect.

While I did want to cite the Tea Ceremony as well I think the more iconic moment for Part II had to be Miyagi chopping the log during the storm. The storm itself is a very well-done scene which unmasks several characters in the face of adversity. True tension, worry and stakes are sold as the village are in danger of the cruel whims of nature, an act which is all too real for Sato when the house he’s in collapses on him in the calm before his scheduled deathmatch with Miyagi. Not only is this again some great foreshadowing by the rule of three (Daniel asking if Miyagi can chop a log like Sato is doing with a banner and then Miyagi and Sato meeting and seeing Sato fail to chop a log) it proves a pivotal point where Sato turns from aggrieved antagonist to repenting ally. A great show of power and friendship as Miyagi metaphorically breaks the rift between their friendship that weighs Sato down. Okay, we hear you, but how is it better? I do have to preface that I do still love Part I, I have to because in pointing out where Part II is better I have to pick at Part I’s faults. While the ending is messy Part II definitely has much better pacing, until the skeletons scene Part I doesn’t really pick up because it has to set up, Part II while it does recap doesn’t need to worry about it. Giving Miyagi the main plot was definitely Part II’s strongest suit. Part I profited from Miyagi being the ‘mysterious old teacher’ but learning a lot more about his humanity and history was engrossing and it allowed positive development for Miyagi and Daniel, especially their bond as a surrogate father and son when Daniel personally goes out of his way to support Miyagi on a very personal matter. The main characters maintain their charm as well, still a lovely array of life lessons in Part II more than just finding balance, Miyagi teaches Daniel through words and action on taking time to breathe, to refocus when imbalanced, to forgive rather than to harbour hate, mercy, selflessness and humbleness

“never put passion before principle. Even if win, you lose.” - Mr. Miyagi

The scenes involving Miyagi and his father were some of the most deep and emotive of the series up until Cobra Kai, some still haven’t been topped such as Miyagi’s dad’s first words to his son or when Daniel talked about when his father died.  And say what you will about Chozen, he does have a lot of Johnny vibes but a lot of the character we believed was Johnny due to nostalgia goggles was more fitting of Chozen’s manner. The story did a great job in making sure Chozen was always an asshole, at times Johnny did at least display honour and grace but Chozen was always sore about stuff and quick to claim dishonour even when he was in the wrong. Contrary to Johnny it’s more about his family than it is about a girl, which allowed a lot more freedom in the plot. Whether you felt Elizabeth Shue’s Ali with an i was prettier than Tamlyn Tomita’s Kumiko is up to personal preference, but the messy-haired Kumiko definitely had a slightly improved presence in Part II than Ali did, with actual focus on her own feelings outside of attraction to Daniel, her ambition to become a dancer directly linking to the O-Bon Festival - which in turn related to the Drum technique - as well as the delicately beautiful Tea Ceremony scene and actually contributing to the final fight (granted Ali wouldn’t be allowed to). Also Daniel didn’t try to eat her face which is a general improvement to the romantic subplot, extra applause has to go to Tomita here too because this was legitimately her first role - Shue had her second so that’s impressive too - and both women had good careers going forward. The increased stakes definitely worked in the favour of Part II as well, as sequel culture is forced to do, but by moving to Okinawa (actually filmed in Hawaii) we opened the door to better suit Miyagi’s world while keeping Daniel the fish out of water. I can’t speak too much for appropriation because there is still kinda some ‘white saviour’ undertones but I didn’t feel like Japan was treated negatively in this light, its culture of the O-Bon Festival and the Tea Ceremony was treated with the utmost respect and explained without pandering, the flute music had definitely stepped up its game for the soundtrack as did the imagery. Can also appreciate that Daniel does go for the Crane kick when fighting Chozen but is parried. Added hat tip has to go to costuming too. A lot of costumes would have to have distinct Kamon such as Sato’s twin fish and Miyagi’s bonsai on a lot of their clothing

Between Sato and Miyagi the colours of their clothes often code their emotions towards each other, with Sato usually in grey and Miyagi in white or cream, when Sato and Miyagi prepare for death they are in black and when Sato wants forgiveness he moves to a lighter shade. While Part I also used black and white to differ Johnny and Daniel, Part II put Chozen and Daniel in the more Japanese-themed Red and Blue. While both men wear red, blue and whites at time, Chozen’s clothes almost devolve from the white he debuts in as his darker side comes out before flat out embracing yellow after his chance to prove his honour in the storm is refused (and he’s in white then), while Daniel often moves to Red or red tones even in his blue shirt. Kumiko also moves from white to blue, sometimes even purple, in set up to the final fight to have the primary colours stand out in the colourful crowd of the O-Bon festival, but even in the blue Kumiko had red to pair her connection with Daniel. Also her Yukata at the festival is just stunning, the Great Wave off Kanagawa print is a nice touch.

Anything else we should know? It might not be much else about the film itself I can tell you, but I do appreciate something I’m starting to call ‘The Rocky Connection’ when it comes to Karate Kid. Like Part I’s ‘You’re the Best (Around)’ was shortlisted for Rocky III, Part II’s song ‘Glory of Love’ was shortlisted for Rocky IV’s theme, losing to ‘Hearts on Fire’, Bill Conti also chose to score this film instead of Rocky IV. I like to pair this with Daniel’s Rocky-esque character, he has that same kind of swagger but a lot more naive and childlike. Martin Kove also gets a nod because those bleeding hands were legit, he had an accident on-set and the footage was kept for the final cut. Tamlyn Tomita wasn’t the only film debut for Part II, B.D. Wong of...well, several famous roles including but not limited to Shang in the animated Mulan, Dr. Wu in the Jurassic Park franchise, Hugo Strange in Gotham and many more, also had his debut here in a minor speaking role when he’s handing out flyers for the dance party to Kumiko and Daniel before the Ice Chopping Scene. So, why does it deserve respect A film that adds to a beloved character in a respectful fashion without having really any god awful moments does not deserve a 4.5/10 rating. It may not have as emphatic an ending or as great a villain but it has a captivating plot and a good pace, better stakes and much more emotionally driven and responsive scenes. A lot of effort and dedication went into this film to explore new dimensions of the main characters in a fashion which was enjoyable and at times heartwarming. And characters are given human moments, even Miyagi confesses himself not to be perfect and it keeps each character grounded. Even to this day parts of Part II are remembered fondly rather than the campness that Part III had outside of Terry Silver and his magnificent ponytail, the fondness also continues to reflect in Cobra Kai with homages and fan theories of Daniel going to Okinawa again and even re-encountering Chozen. Not to mention it grossed $113m on a $13m budget and got nominated for a Best Original Song Oscar (losing to Top Gun) Part II was a good and enjoyable film which deserves far more credit than to be rated this low, for that it deserves respect.

[havens-most-wanted]

Jak 2 Opening Scene as Written by a Bot

Exactly as the title says. I plugged in snippets of the Jak 2 script into an AI text generator and got this. Bold is original script. Regular text is not. [text] is edited for continuity and clarity (doesn’t help much though). Enjoy.

Credits to: Rexy (game script, minor edits done by me) https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps2/914535-jak-ii/faqs/26498

AI Bot https://inferkit.com/

Warnings: Implied incest, random nonsense.

Here we go...

Samos's voice: For every age there is a time of trial.

It may be that it has happened to us and to me, but the Father tests everyone so that the just can become children of light.

We can only try to get through it with a minimum of fuss.

Like the soft - ball test.

When you're a kid, your parents throw you the soft - ball test.

They throw you the ball, and you run and run and run and run and run, and then you fall on the ground, and it's time to get up, and your ball rolls away somewhere else.

But then you remember your lessons.

The scene then shows up outside a hut in Sandover village, one of the locations in the previous game, where Jak, his ottsel friend Daxter, his female companion Keira, and her father Samos, the green sage, were seen near a large machine.

Samos: Today's the big day, Jak. I hope you are prepared, for whatever happens...

Keira: I think I figured out--

Samos: --That if I ever see you again, I'll…

Keira: W-what?

Samos: Sorry.

Keira: I think I made it pretty clear how I feel about you.

Samos: Sorry, but I can't be sorry.

Keira: You can't be? You can't be sorry you're sorry? I don't get it.

Samos: I'll just…

Keira: [Samos], it's okay.

Samos: (concerned tone) I'm sorry, but you can't just leave me like this. I'm not a man who cries over girls that he never even knew. I'm just gonna…

Keira: (muttering) Whatever, it doesn't matter anymore.

Daxter’s finger hovers in front of a large red button on the rift rider.

Samos: Daxter! Don't touch anything! Though the Precursors vanished long ago, the artifacts they left behind can still do great harm.

Keira: Or great good! If you figure out how to use them.

Samos: I've had some experience with the Precursors, Keira. They're not something I want to mess with.

Keira: Samos, have you ever considered being a scientist instead of a soldier? You're a brilliant scientist, with an education, and a lot of potential. You could build incredible things, not just weapons, but maybe something greater than a weapon.

Samos: That sounds like a lot of work. It's easier to use my powers to fight.

Keira: I'm sure you could come up with some other use for your gifts.

Jak activates the rift rider.

Daxter: Looks like Jak's still got the moto!

Keira: Interesting... it appears to be reading out some preset coordinates.

Daxter: Wow, look at that!

Then, something started to shake, and the ring started to spin before some of the bridge leading to the hut started to break away, and the skies turned dark.

Monster voice: Finally! The last anybody who is here for long. If you are seeking...The lobster roller is in the Oasis. Have a good time. See you later!

Daxter: Uh, why are you reading out coordinates?

Monster voice: This is a museum. You must have been asked to come here. I thought you would find something interesting, like one of my friends.

Daxter: What friend?

Monster voice: I thought maybe you would like to see something in the museum.

Daxter: What did you just say?

Monster voice: Do you not hear me?

Metal Heads begin flying out of the opened rift gate.

Daxter: Aaaaargh! What are those things?!

Samos: So THIS is how it happened…

The monster's head showed up from inside the gate.

Monster: You cannot hide from me boy!

Keira: Do something, Jak!

Daxter: *starts pointing at the buttons* What's this do?

Keira: Shove a building up against it!

Keira started to stomp on the monster's head.

Monster: That'll only make it madder!

Keira: Shove it back in it's hole!

Keira pulled up the floor. The monster hit the ceiling and fell to the ground.

Monster: ...You cannot hide from me boy!

Samos: ...and so it starts. I hope your instincts don't get you in trouble.

Daxter: Uh, how do we start the mission?

Keira: Go up there! It was right on the map.

Samos: Here, I'm staying out here with Keira.

They get sucked into the portal past the giant monster, leaving Sandover behind.

Keira: What was that thing?!

Samos: Hang on everyone!

Daxter: YYAAAAAAHHHHHH! I want off this thing!!!!!

Then... it wasn't long before the machine exploded, throwing Samos and Keira, and Jak and Daxter, far apart from each other.

Keira: AAAAAHHHHH!!

Samos: Find a way back to me Keira. We can't be separated this way.

Keira: I know... I'll go and try and find a way out!

Samos: Please be safe and come back to me…

Keira: I will!

The two of them were separated, and this made the story change. But they were still together, and Keira knew that they weren't really separated, so she was still fine, and they could still be together. So she went in search for Daxter, because he must be stuck somewhere. 

--

Jak and Daxter fall from the sky and crash onto a paved walkway. They looked around, and saw tall metal buildings everywhere. Daxter's face contorted in anger, he tossed a lead pipe he was holding on his hand down to the ground.

Daxter: Okay, I swear that's the last time I ever, EVER, touch lead!

Jak: Yeah, Daxter, the last time I help you, is the last time you use your lead pipe on anything!

Daxter: WHAT THE (CHECK ALL CAPS) (HEADING)WHAT THE HELL!

Then, from in front of them, a bunch of soldiers appeared, lead by Erol, a sleek man with spiked orange hair only just hidden by his armored helmet.

Soldier: There he is. Move in.

They stop in front of them both.

Soldier: Step away from the animal!

Daxter: YYAAAAHHHH!!!!!

Daxter runs between Jak's legs, and away from the group.

Erol: Forget the rat. The Baron wants to talk to you.

Daxter: Y-you ... do ... u-um, yeah …

They talk in a rough, but still kinda giggly voice.

Erol: So, the Baron wants to talk to you.

Daxter: Yeah. Well, he's standing right here!

Soldier: Then why don't we escort you into the castle?

Daxter: …

Soldier: …

Daxter: Mmm…

Erol: Yeah, but he's standing right in front of you.

Daxter: ... OK!

They split. Erol to Erol's troops to take Daxter into the castle, and Octo and Snake to take Jak back out [to the prison].

Daxter: Don't worry Jak! I'll save you before you know it!

{TWO YEARS LATER}

The scene then changes to a prison-like area, and this is where we see a completely reformed Jak with sleeker hair and a goatee on him, strapped to a  chair, where what looked like a ray gun was zapping him. Surrounding him were two figures - Erol again, and the ruler of the city, Baron Praxis.

Computer voice: Dark Eco injection cycle complete. Bio readings nominal and unchanged.

Praxis: Hhhppp. Nothing! I was informed that this one might be different!

Erol: He is surprisingly resistant to this substance. Perhaps we'll find that he too is resistant to other Eco...remodeling them.

Praxis: (picks up Jak's hand) Niiice. A different mind. Would that I could use that to draw out my other subjects. They're a lot more expendable when they don't fight back...but I guess this would be different than what they have to deal with.

Erol: The city is dying, but we can't help them if we don't take these to the Emperor. That won't happen if I'm not there. So make it happen...Master Praxis.

Baron Praxis grabs the barely conscious Jak's hair and lifts up his head.

Praxis: Aaaagh! You should at least be dead with all the Dark Eco I've pumped into you!

Erol: What now? Metal Head armies are pressing their attacks. Without a new weapon, my men cannot hold them off forever!

Praxis: I will not be remembered as the man who let you run away! I will be remembered as the man who destroyed your army!

Praxis unleashes his Juggernaut; the knight's remains are vaporized. Erol raises his blade to Praxis' throat.

Erol: I don't know what I can do to repay you.

Praxis: Do not apologize. I did what I did to protect the life of the one I love.

Erol: (lamely) So, you think that deserves a reward?

Praxis: Oh, no. I don't want anything from you. I want you to live and keep doing what you do best.

Erol: And what is that?

Praxis: Working.

Erol: Because I had to teach you that skill?

Praxis: …

Erol: If you want me to leave this world then I will. I don't need it.

Praxis: Do you need a reason?

Erol: I'm just being honest. I'm trying to save you because you can't save yourself.

Praxis: What? I don't want to die. I just want to stay here.

Erol: The first time you can't make this decision. Then you can't ever decide.

Praxis: [proudly] And now you're leaving?

Erol: (leans towards Jak) I'll be back later…

The pair leave the scene. Then... a small platform rises from down below, revealing Daxter.

Daxter: Ding, ding... Third floor... Body chains, roach food, torture devices.

He jumps onto Jak’s chest, landing on both feet.

Daxter: Hey buddy... you seen any blue wool?

Jak: Nuh-uh. That's the seventh floor. Not enough wool.

Daxter: No? Really? Well... hey... you know that purple tunnel that goes off to nowhere? You can't climb it.

Jak: Yeah? Well... I've got a plan. What if we try that tunnel?

Daxter: And what's your plan?

Jak: The tunnel leads to that room. I know where that room is.

Daxter: Hmm... I remember it. You know, how I worked with Daxter on this game.

Jak: Yeah... that.

Daxter: Well, I don't see why we have to go through this.

Jak eyes briefly flutter open at the voice, but close again.

Daxter: That's a fine hello! I've been crawling around in this place risking my tail, literally, to save you! I've been looking for you for two years! Say something! Just this once!!

Jak's eyes suddenly fly open.

Jak: I'M GONNA KILL YOU FOR THAT!

Daxter: Hang on, I know you're awake... [Bleep]

Jak scrambles to a sitting position, much faster than Daxter, and punches Daxter in the jaw with a left hook.

Daxter: Bully.

Jak then grabs ahold of Daxter's body, swinging it up in the air, causing Daxter to fall, and fling him to the ceiling. Daxter flies to the ground and lands, rather gracefully, on his tail.

Daxter: Gotcha!

Jak: Never underestimate your own hide, you little rascal!

Daxter: Slight overkill.

Jak: AAAAAGGHHH!

Jak changed into a more demon-based form, to be now known as Dark Jak.

Daxter: Or aaah... you could do it.

Jak then starts approaching Daxter with an aggressive look, his mouth pulled back into a feral-like snarl.

Daxter: Jak? Easy now. Easy buddy. It's, it's your Dad.

Jak: What?! I thought I said I didn't want to see him again!

Daxter: We'll see about that, buddy.

Jak starts backpedaling as Daxter stands and looks at his friend/father.

Jak: AAAAGGHH!...

Jak tries to attack, claws out but... he suddenly came to a stop right before striking his friend.

Jak: Daxter?

Then, Jak changed back to his normal form.

Daxter: What the heck was that?! Sheesh, remind me not to get in your face again, I don't think I can take it!...

Then Daxter gave him a friendly tap to the head.

Daxter: Hey, no problem! Why don't you tell me all about it!

Jak: Well, it happened while I was on patrol. I got bit by a crazy Mystian, so I've been recovering from it ever since.

Daxter: Oh.

Jak: I wasn't too sure how to act when you first came here, so I kind of was just acting like I normally did.

Daxter: What you mean by that?

Jak: Well, I did whatever I did when I came back

Daxter jumps on his usual spot on Jak's shoulder. The pair leave the scene together.

Daxter: I, uh, brought you some new shoes!

Jak: They're nice.

Daxter: Don't worry. You can wear them with some shorts or long-sleeved shirts.

Daxter walks off and Jak is left standing there alone.

[lindendragonart]

AHIT Headcannons?

Hmmm, kinda vague question but I'll see what I can do. Oh actually, looking at my drafts I do have some space kids personality headcanons so I'm just gonna copy paste it here and add to it.

Some Hat and Bow personality headcanons, particularly for my au (which I'm probably gonna stockpile until I'm done)

While both Hat and Bow are both playful, as kids usually are, Hat is more outgoing, while Bow is more on the shy side, though she loves adventuring and making friends just as much as Hat does.

While both are generally kind people, Hat can be smug and mischevous sometimes, Bow can too, but milder and way less often, and she knows when to stop.

Hat means well, but sometimes she cannot properly read the situation or people's emotions which, along with her slight lack of social skills, can sometimes make her say things that are not completely appropriate for the situation at hand. Sometimes, what she says may even come off as a little brash. Bow is more emotionally intelligent out of the two of them, so she is better at properly handling certain social or emotional situations.

Their backstory I've basically taken from Lemonadesoda's fic "Hide and seek" except Bow is there too. In short, their parents died when they were little so they were left in the care of the parents' colleagues but they see the kids as an incovinience and don't pay much attention to them, one day an evacuation takes place on the colony and the kids accidentally get left behind. They put a ship together out of scrap and go to fly back home but get stuck on earth when they lose their Time pieces.

Bow is slightly taller than Hat

Oh! Just remembered, alien species headcanons! Got them saved on my phone

Alien society

Time pieces are generally used as spaceship fuel, to produce energy, and as a regular citizen you may have the right to reverse a recent, minor incident. Anything more mayor done by an unexperienced or hasty mind could have grave consequences (like Mustache Girl's unstable time rift which would have eventually collapsed and killed the whole planet)

All citizens are under a moral code where they are sworn to protect the proper flow of time. Only authorities authorized by the CEO of time may use the Time pieces for bigger scale endeavors such as reversing major catastrophies, but it's a slow process and by the time they fix one, a hundred more happen in just one sector alone, so don't get your hopes up about having your tragedy reversed.

The aliens actually did visit Earth centuries before, but they have a policy not to interfere with outside communities too much if their society hasn't technologically advanced enough yet, so as to not sully their natural progress or ruin their culture due to colonization or similar. They are allowed to essentially "hang out" should the native community be willing to continue benevolent contact, so they do end up sharing information about each others culture and technology, which is why Earth has an affinity for hats with special abilities like the alien society does.

The aliens also found out about cats while on Earth and they liked them so much they took some home, so now they are a semi-popular pet there. (look I just really needed to explain why Bow's default outfit is cat-themed)

The alien society has developed a vaccine that can permanently grant your immune system the ability to succesfully fend off most foreign diseases. These are also given to any outsiders joining their society to prevent them from immediatelly dying from their diseases. On the topic of that. All space travellers must go through a decontamination process before setting off, so as not to infect foreign worlds.

Alien biology

Aliens don't really keep track of their age unless it's for legal reasons due to all the time shenanigans that happen while traveling screwing with their passage of time, but generally speaking, aliens grow up at a similar speed to humans until they mostly stop growing at around 10-11 in Earth years, then they stay mostly the same until hitting a growth spurt at 15-16 that will continue until they hit 18-19.

Their blood is a kind of reddish+magenta, would definitelly look off to a human.

They come in all the skin tones humans can come in, with the addition of more pinkish skin tones

Most of them have saturated, brightly colored eyes like blue, red, yellow and purple. Brownish/ dull colored eyes are kinda rare, which is how you may be able to tell apart a human from an alien at first glance.

Their species has through the centuries of space-traveling adapted to being able to eat many things which may be poisonous to the average non-space faring creature, to ensure survival on a new world.

As we see in canon, they are incredibly strong compared to humans too.

Random headcanon about the horizon

The Horizon is a plane where all "magic" comes from. The aliens learned to harvest it and weave it into hat yarn long ago, while on Earth, the horizon leaks through in more impure forms, once the magic finds itself in a creature or object, it can form different characteristics depending on the person, forming the types of magic people like Vanessa and Snatcher wield. Having magic on Earth is kinda like having a symbiotic spirit that has no consciousness of its own. Earthlings do not understand most of it, and simply call it magic.

Also here are some Subcon headcanons but they will be short cause they are either widely known about or I talked about it before

Vanessa's mother was abusive and would lock her in the cellar (without chains) when she misbehaved. Vanessa had no control over her life which later made her possesive and controling towards the prince.

The Prince knows about Vanessa's mother being horrible to Vanessa but not the full extent of it.

Vanessa frequently guilt tripped the Prince with her own insecurities and how her mother treated her, and the Prince always either gave in because he didn't want to upset her further or got backed into a corner with it when he actually tried to defend himself, dismissing his own concerns as trivial.

Snatcher steals souls because Vanessa's powers are still running rampant and might even freeze the whole world if Snatcher doesn't use soul power to melt the ice. Kind of a "forced to become a monster to protect himself from one" situation.

Okay I hope that answered everything! Thank you for the ask

[theunquietgwyneth]

Adventures with a rift

*based on a dream I had so if it doesn’t make much sense that’s probably why*

A new day dawns in the house, the self-named “House of Chaos”. The Doctor sits on the couch watching television while Gwen finishes drying her hair upstairs. The days always pass the same way recently. No excitement, no adventures. I can see the Doctor is getting restless, he’s repainted the fence twice and hoovered the whole house three times. 

Suddenly the Doctor springs up from the couch and flies across the room to where I’m standing in the doorway. “Do you feel that? The earth’s sort of… bouncy. It’s like living inside a bouncy castle.” I look down at my feet and realise he’s right. The ground is doing something it shouldn’t. It’s moving. 

“Gwen!” I yell upstairs, praying she’s turned off the hairdryer and can hear me. “Don’t you two ever stop arguing?” She responds, annoyance dripping from her voice. I curse internally, only Gwen would assume I’m arguing with someone at a time like this. “No we don’t but that’s not the issue right now” A few loud, angry thuds later, Gwen is standing at the top of the stairs looking rather uncomfortable out of her usual clothes. Dressed in a bright pink top, a thin black cardigan and black jeans, the doctor double-takes upon seeing her before mumbling out “you look nice” to which Gwen simply looks slightly uncomfortable. “Right no one is talking, this is uncomfortable. The floor is moving, is no one concerned?” Gwen looks down the stairs to the floor I’m standing on which now resembles a liquid as opposed to a floor. She turns to look at the Doctor, slowly making her down the stairs which are also slowly changing to a liquidy mess. 

A noise from behind me catches my attention and I turn to see a mess of blue and purple appearing in the back garden. “Doctor- Doctor I-” He turns to me, following my line of vision until he sees what I’m seeing. By this time Gwen has made it downstairs and is also looking outside. “Shit” she mutters under her breath.  Watching both their expressions change I start to wonder if I should be concerned. What Gwen says next tells me I should be.   

“There is a rift in your back garden. A rift is in your back garden.” Gwen announces, sounding slightly terrified. Before I have time to question what’s happening the Doctor is in the back garden, scanning the so-called rift with his screwdriver.  As Gwen and I make our way outside, struggling due to the moving floor, the Doctor is looking at his screwdriver, concern etched into his face. “How long has this been here?” he asks, sounding more serious than I’ve ever heard him. “I- I don’t know it’s never appeared before, maybe all my life?” Fear crosses his face and Gwen pipes up “What does it mean? What’s happening?”. Her voice gets a little higher with every word and the fear is audible. “Does time ever feel… different? Like it moves faster or slower than everywhere else?” the Doctor questions and I can see Gwen wondering what’s happening. “Yeah, I guess, I just assumed it was me but it does feel odd” The Doctor looks around as if trying to figure out what is happening here and Gwen is chewing her sleeve nervously. “How old are you?” the Doctor demands turning to face me. Gwen steps in front of me, sensing the rising anger coming from the Doctor. I squeeze her hand gratefully and smile at her. “I’m 19, I turned 19 a month or so ago” I respond. The Doctor stands for a moment as if trying to understand something. 

“This is a rift in time… through there could be the past or the present, any day in any time period that was or ever will be” the Doctor starts before Gwen cuts him off. “We get it okay? We’re not stupid now what do we do about it!”. The Doctor stops for a second, looking slightly shocked at Gwen’s outburst. “What? Not used to being spoken back to?” I question, enjoying myself in spite of the situation at hand. Gwen looks slightly shocked but before she can speak the Doctor answers me. “No I’m not but right now that’s the least of my concerns. I need information, I need answers, I need- I need. I need to know more about this rift before it’s too late. Right now no one needs to get hurt by this, it’s small, inconsequential even but if it spreads then it won’t be those things anymore. It will be a problem.” 

Gwen looks at me and for a second I’m confused but then it hits me. “The folder” I whisper and she nods. The Doctor’s eyes jump back and forth between me and Gwen, eventually settling on me “Wait there,” I tell him, turning to run back inside. As I’m leaving I hear the Doctor tell Gwen that we spend too much time together and begin to question what we do together and just for a second I wish I could stop to hear her response but right now that’s not important. Entering my bedroom, I desperately try to recall the location of the folder I’m thinking of. “Under the bed” I mutter before dropping to my knees and looking under my bed. “Bingo!” I think to myself, grabbing the folder and running back downstairs. 

As I exit the house I see the Doctor look at me with a confused look on his face and Gwen won’t meet my eyes but I decide it’s a problem for another day. “I’ve been making notes in here since I was five, I don’t know what made me start but maybe it has something to help close this rift in it? There’s a whole section of just numbers.” I say, handing the folder to the Doctor. He looks at me confused but before I can do anything else he starts to flip through it. Muttering to himself, he flips through pages and pages of writing. I struggle to meet Gwen’s eyes. “You okay?” I question quietly. She nods but before I can question her any further the Doctor turns to me. “What is this?” he demands, pointing at something I’ve written. “That’s a 2, 4 and a 9, it’s the date I wrote this,” I tell him. He stops for a moment and I use this opportunity to speak to Gwen. She’s chewing her sleeve again, never a good sign. 

“Gwen, what’s happening here?” I ask gently. She shrugs, “I don’t know, he talks a lot but none of it makes sense. He says it has something to do with you and that this was always going to end this way but truthfully I don’t understand half of what he’s said. I just hope that it has everything he needs in it.” I take her hand, squeezing it gently. The Doctor turns back to look at us and hands me his screwdriver. “You need to push that button and point it at the rift, it’s already programmed to close the rift but you have to do it.” Taking the screwdriver I turn to face the rift, trying to hide how scared I am and do as the Doctor says. The rift gets smaller and for a second I think it’s over but then it stops shrinking. “Keep going,” the Doctor urges. I shift position to show him that I haven’t stopped. “Something’s missing, it’s got to be or that would’ve worked” I hear him say and from his voice, I can tell he is running his hands through his hair as he speaks. 

Gwen speaks up, so quietly I almost don’t hear her at first. “Have you put anything in today?” she whispers. I shake my head, realising I haven’t had the chance to yet. The Doctor gasps, “numbers, I need those numbers. And that screwdriver” I hand him the screwdriver and stop for a second. “Um- um I don’t know” I whisper. Gwen grabs my hands, looks me in the eyes and whispers “I love you okay? You can do this” She leans in and kisses my forehead. I smile at her, not knowing what to say and she smiles back.

Turning to the Doctor I take a breath and reel off a list of numbers and words that I don’t remember thinking. The Doctor plays with the screwdriver before handing it back to me. “As you were, “ he tells me. Taking the screwdriver from him I point it at the now tiny rift and push the same button as earlier. The rift shrivels up smaller and smaller before seemingly turning in on itself and disappearing completely. 

“Is it gone?” I hear Gwen ask. Still staring at the spot the rift was in, I sense that there is movement behind me but I keep staring. I can hear the conversations, I hear the Doctor confirm it’s gone and Gwen sighs in relief but I still can’t seem to move. “Is she alright?” I hear the Doctor ask and Gwen responds but I can’t make it out. Suddenly I find myself moving and yet I keep staring at the spot. Entering the house snaps me out of my reverie and I realise Gwen is carrying me. I glance around, looking for the Doctor. The Doctor appears in my eye line with a look on his face I don’t quite recognise. It almost looks like fear, maybe apprehension. But as quick as it appears it goes again. Gwen puts me down on the sofa and I instinctively pull my legs up, allowing her to sit also. The Doctor sits on the floor, one thing that quickly became clear when this house-sharing situation began, is that he doesn’t do well with conformity and that extends to sitting on chairs. 

For a few minutes, silence reigns over the scene. Then the Doctor speaks. “Are you okay?” he asks, hesitantly. I sit up, trying to come up with a witty response but there’s nothing. “I don’t know” I respond truthfully, realising how shaky my voice sounds but not caring enough to do anything about it. I sense movement from the end of the sofa and realise Gwen is shifting, seemingly unable to sit still. “Do you two know something I don’t?” I ask, sitting up. The Doctor has a look on his face and it’s not one I like. “If this involves me in some way I’d like to know. That was not human and you are both sitting here keeping things from me” I snap. Gwen looks taken aback and keeps glancing over at the Doctor. 

The Doctor sighs and gets to his feet. I shift position, steadying myself and preparing for the Doctor to speak. “Before I start, I need you to promise me that you won’t blame anyone for this, not me, not Gwen, not yourself. Because this is no one’s fault.” I nod, reaching out for Gwen’s hand which she takes. “So, how to explain this” the Doctor starts. I glance up at him but I find myself unable to meet his gaze. “You’re right, that’s not human. It’s a rift in space and time. And all that means is somewhere in the whole wibbly-wobbly earth timeline something has gone wrong and the rift tries to compensate for it. Now obviously you can’t leave that wide open like that but they need a specific set of numbers that correspond with some other numbers that are part of the rift to work together to sort of mesh everything back together and repair that rift or else it just gets bigger. Usually, the person who opens that rift knows what they’re doing and has the numbers to close it. But this one was different, it’s been sort of building up for years and using you in a way. Not necessarily as a bad thing but someone has been using you to note down the numbers needed to close this thing. Now I’ve been around you long enough to be certain that this hasn’t damaged you in any way. You’re not part alien or monster, you’re as human as Gwen is and that’s what’s confusing. But it’s a good thing. You’re the same person as you would always have been, the only difference is that you just saved the world by writing down some numbers and words” The Doctor pauses for a second and it gives me a chance to process everything. Gwen doesn’t look as shocked as I feel and for a second I think she must be in on this. Then she speaks. “What, and I cannot stress this enough, the hell are you on about?” I can’t help but laugh at her comment and even the Doctor manages a smile. 

“Did Jack not teach you anything?” the Doctor teases. Gwen scowls, “My first day he left Owen Harper alone with a young girl who had been taken over by alien pheromones that made her so irresistible I sort of snogged her.” She responds and the Doctor’s face takes on an expression I’ve never seen before, but Gwen continues before he can speak. “Don’t worry though, Owen got what was coming to him. She’s fine, back home with her friends, she thinks she had a little too much to drink one night and doesn’t remember a thing” The Doctor looks Gwen up and down and a glint appears in his eyes. “Don’t suppose you remember the creature's name do you? I’m assuming Jack bothered to tell you what you were up against if he even knew” he asks. Gwen nods, “I have notes on most of the creatures we faced, they’re a bit sketchy when it comes to the 456 because, well Ianto kept the best notes and he’s, well he’s not alive anymore but all the others I have records of” The Doctor nods and I cough quietly, trying to remind the others that I’m there. They turn to me and then back to each other. “Let’s do it,” they say in unison.

[inkribbon796]

Like a House of Cards Ch. 11: Opposites React

Summary: The heroes go looking for Dark and Logan’s group.

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

As they stood on the street, the Anomaly that would appear in a bank vault gone from the Host’s hands, they had to recover from the power of the Anomaly coursing through them for a second time.

Chase collapsed onto his knees, feeling just a soul-deep sorrow. He was crying from memories and loss he couldn’t remember. “Fook.”[1]

“Chase?” Jackie dragged his feet over, he was feeling sluggish but it was thankfully easing from his body quickly.

“I’m fine,” Chase wiped his face with his arm. “I’m fine.”

“We can stop fer[2] a bit,” Jackie promised, helping Chase up.

“I’m grand,”[3] Chase promised.

“The Host and Chase will form one group, and Silver, Ethan, and Jackie will form the other as they try to find Dark’s group. “He asks that the heroes get their outfits back on, and for Silver and Jackie to try not to get themselves into trouble.”

“Ehh, we should be fine,” Jackie promised. “So long as Chase is gonna be okay.”

“We gotta talk anyways,” Chase nodded at the Host. “Try not ta[4] fight a hoard ‘a[5] bears.”

“No promises,” Mark smiled, and then the three of them left.

Silver, Crank, and Jackie waited in the alley for almost five minutes, getting bored. Ethan’s ADHD kicked him in the teeth before Mark’s did. Then a shootout started next to them. Several people were screaming and someone that the heroes thought looked a lot like Dark when he was pretending to be Damien. Except he wasn’t in his typical outfit, his hair was wild, and there was a streak of blue in his hair.

Ethan immediately cloaked them with his invisibility. They began to approach.

Two guys jumped on him and dragged him away. And then someone who looked almost exactly like Chase passed by the mouth of the alley.

“Don’t fookin’[6] let that arsehole[7] escape again!” Chase shouted.

The heroes got closer as the men used magic to tie “Damien” up.

He looked down at the bonds and then smiled at “Chase” which made the other man groan, “Dames, Don’t.”

“Kinky,” Dames smiled, his smile huge, leaning forward as much as the bonds would let him. “Chase. How’s life, doll?”

Chase glared at his captive before leaning in to get close to his face. “What the fook is wrong wit’ yeh?”[8]

The bound man just smiled, shrugging, “You’re going to have to be specific?”

“I meant Marvin, yeh mad fook, are yeh tryin’ ta kill my kid?”[9] Chase spat.

Dames’ only answer was, “If you wanted to get rough in bed, we’d need a bed for that.”

Chase grabbed him by the front of his shirt, “Keep yer[10] brat away from my kid, I don’t want the General killin’[11] him.”

“What’s with all this “killing” business,” Dames chuckled. “You and Gen are worried so much for your little games. They’re old enough to make all kinds of decisions.”

“Yeh taking the boys ta’a whorehouse isn’t a good choice, ya nutter,”[12] Chase spat.

“True,” Dames agreed, “they really had more fun with each other.”

“Fook this,” Jackie finally decided, as his whole body began to shake.

Silver grabbed Ethan and flew up, Ethan keeping them invisible as Jackie punched one of the thugs and then grabbed Dames, racing off with him. Silver flying in to keep up.

“What are you doing?” Silver demanded. “We’re supposed to be laying low.”

“I don’t know, I’m makin’[13] this up as I go along,” Jackie yelled, tugging Dames with them as they ran.

“What are we doing?” Dames asked. “Are we playing tag?”

“Yes!” Jackie yelled before anyone else could speak. “An’[14] Brody back there’s it.”

“Oh,” Dames said with a soft realization, then he smiled and grabbed them. “Well, we won’t win like this.”

Then they suddenly found themselves being slammed into the concrete wall of an alley, Jackie taking an especially hard hit because of his momentum.

Dames was looking them up and down as the heroes regained their composure, the corner of Dames’s mouth twitching a little bit. “You three aren’t from around here.”

“How’d yah[15] guess?” Jackie smiled as he got up, Silver floating before he was able to stand.

“Silly cheaters,” Dames laughed. “Couldn’t win your own game so you jumped to a new board.”

“It is so weird seeing you like this” Silver set his feet on the ground.

Dames shrugged, and then a portal began to twist open. It wasn’t quite like Dark’s dark purple-black Void magic. It was a deep red-magenta that felt more like hands ripping their way free.

Ethan tried to shield them but Dames couldn’t be cloned and excitedly stepped free to meet the man who stepped out of the portal. He had a sharp black suit and a bushy black mustache. A red and magenta aura coming off of him like Dark’s red and blue aura. He had dark red and magenta after images that echoed and stuttered off of him.

“Gen,” Dames smiled excitedly, holding his arms out.

“Where’s Junior?” Gen asked.

“I don’t know,” Dames denied, his good mood quickly starting to evaporate. “Ask your little trackers you put on them.”

General glared at Dames, “What were you two doing?”

“Nothing,” Dames almost giggled.

Dark’s glare became more baleful and he grabbed Dames by the front of his jacket, Dames giggling in response. “Don’t give me that bullshit, Dames. Did you let Bim go off with that hooligan?”

“Mayhaps,” Dames’s smile became almost giddy.

“Dames!” the General pinned him against the closest wall. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten what you did,” Gen spat. “You can waste your time at brothels and clubs all you want, but you leave Junior out of it.”

Dames began giggling, “You have to admit, yours and Chase’s faces when you saw they were gone was pretty hilarious.”

“This isn’t funny!” the Entity snarled. “Bim is impressionable, no thanks to you. It burned down with them still in it!”

“At least I show him how to have a good time,” Dames dared. “You’d have him at a desk working papers until he died. He’s a kid.”

“Not anymore,” the General warned. “He stopped being a child when he turned sixteen. They all did.”

Dames rolled his eyes, “Ughh.”

The General stepped closer, “You cannot insist on treating them all like children, they are not.”

“Only because you wanted them to grow up, they never got to be children in the first place,” Dames argued back.

“You’re absolutely insufferable,” the Entity scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Why is being alive and safe so unfavorable to you.”

“You’d have him die in an office,” Dames spat.

“No I’d have him alive doing something,” the demon spat. “You insist on treating all of them like children. They are not, nor have they been for years.”

“I want my babies back,” Dames looked away, clearly upset. “What was so wrong with them being my babies? You said I could keep them.”

“They are safe, that should be enough. Do I make myself clear, Doomstrum?” Gen spat, his aura coiling just a hair too tight around the mad mayor.

Dames struggled in his hold for a bit before stopping, clearly refusing to look at or answer him.

Mark would have forced himself out of Ethan’s invisibility bubble, but the hero watched the demon’s expression soften for a couple seconds and then sighed before opening up a massive portal to show a relatively spartan office except for a very nice looking desk and a couch that looked extremely comfortable to sleep on. He let Dames go. “Let’s go Dames.”

The madman frowned and took a step before turning around, a smile spreading on his face again, “Oh, Gen, I have to introduce you to my new friends.”

“Your what?” The demon growled in frustration.

“Yeah they’re just,” Dames began, pointing to the three heroes at the end of the alley right before a portal ripped open behind them and a dark purple aura pulled them in and swiftly closed before the General or Dames could really react in more than surprise.

The three heroes landed on their backs around Dark’s feet in a dimly lit room.

“There we go, problem solved,” Dark announced.

“How does this solve our problems, you’ve led him straight to us!”

Jackie looked up in confusion, Virgil didn’t come with us?

When he looked up at Virgil however he was in a huge dark grey-black overcoat. His hair was different, but the eyeshadow still darkened his face.

Dark brought his aura up in time as a red-magenta magic tried to get into the room. He threw his aura against it and it was gone. “Nonsense, I can cloak areas to keep 

 magic from getting in.”

“Andy,” someone in a black beanie insisted, tugging on “Virgil’s” coat. The Side had some vitiligo marks on his face and hands, his eyes a deep golden yellow.

“Dee, not now,” Andy hissed.

“But they’re telling the—” Dee tried to report, before he was protectively pushed behind Andy.

“No,” Andy nudged his companions back and pointed to Dark. “I don’t trust you.”

“I don’t trust you,” he pointed to Wilford.

“And I sure as shit don’t trust you,” Andy spat at the Host. His voice was practically dripping with contempt.

“All we need to get to the next rift and we’re gone,” Dark scoffed. “We don’t need your trust.”

“So what’s the actual plan for getting home?” Silver asked the Host. “Seems like they’ve got a lot to deal with right now.”

“Simple we go into what is probably a horribly designed version of my office, and activate the Anomaly so it takes us home.” Dark dusted off his suit with his aura. “The plan’s already been made if you want to talk to the others.”

The Host dispelled an illusion and they saw the three Sides talking to Glitch Logan, and J.J peacefully napping in the corner. There was no sign of his double anywhere.

“I will have everything under control,” Logan spat at his doppelgänger.

“I don’t need to be reassured of anything,” Glitch Logan dismissed. “I have made redundancies and failsafes to ensure they do not die. If I was not certain, I would have raised my complaints. You will protect them, that is the only objective I need to give. If you work with the heroes, or with Google, I care not. Roman, Virgil, and Patton’s survival is all I care about. We spent a year’s worth of time working for it and I have come too far to fail now.”

“I will do so without needless killing” Logan promised.

Glitch Logan gave an inhuman smile, “We shall see, either way it’s inconsequential to me.”

The Anomaly glowed and it engulfed the two Logans completely before just Logan was standing there. He gave a shudder and a bunch of nanites fell to the ground around him, twitching once and then going offline, their components frying themselves so they couldn’t be used by anyone else.

Logan stiffened and Roman raced in to catch him.

“Lo, sweetheart?” Roman pleaded desperately as Logan blinked and coughed as air returned to his lungs.

The Host used a couple words from his narrations and the nanites were all gone from the floor.

Janus briefly checked on Logan before clearing his throat and drawing attention to himself, summoning his staff.

“The Host allowed us to speak with the other Sides, we got but a minute but we’ve come up with a plan,” Janus reported. “There is one fusion we have that enables us to make as much noise and commotion as possible, while showing that we are different people. I have spoken with this world’s Deceit and they cannot fuse—”

“Please don’t call me that, that’s not all I do,” Dee asked.

Janus paused, looking at Dee, “Of course do you have a preference?”

Andy was just watching Janus, staring at him.

“Dee,” Dee told him.

“Alright,” Janus agreed. “Anyways, I have spoken with Dee and they can’t fuse so it will be the easiest way to get the message across.”

“So we’re gonna use Remy?” Jackie asked.

“No,” Logan cut in. “Even before the merge I was not in the right emotional or mental mindset to fuse. My fusions are impossible without that mindset. My future self hinted the feeling would get worse and unfortunately he was right.”

“Okay, you’ve never exactly told us how fusion works,” Ethan reminded. “But I’m guessing that I’m gonna take a group in?”

“The heroes will not need to cause a distraction because the fusion will be enough to convince the General that they are different. Besides, the General will wish to speak to the Entity.”

“Will he?” Dark asked. “Last time he saw me he tried to take my head off.”

“Maybe we should talk to him,” Wilford smiled. “We never gave them a chance.”

“It is so weird seeing him in pink,” Andy commented.

“Why, what’s wrong with it?” Wil frowned. “Pink is a lovely color.”

“Nothing wrong with it, it’s just you’d rather set yourself on fire than wear pink,” Andy explained.

“No I wouldn’t, I’m wearing pink right now,” Wil gestured to himself.

Dark rubbed at the bridge of his nose, “This is going to take forever now.”

“No, I meant the other you, the douchebag in Armani,” Andy explained.

“Well then he should wear pink too,” Wil decided.

Andy let out a snorting chuckle, “Oh, trust me everyone in this city would love to see that.”

The group started to plan a bit so that Silver and Jackie knew what they were doing, and during that time, Janus leaned over to Roman.

“This means nothing, I’d rather Remus was here,” Janus told Roman.

“Well I'd rather Patton was here,” Roman agreed, emotions still running high from the mess with the doppelgängers.

“Good,” Janus spat.

“Good,” Roman glared at him.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Accessibility Translations

1. Fuck

2. for

3. I’m alright

4. to

5. of

6. fucking

7. asshole

8. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

9. I meant Marvin, you crazy fucker, are you trying to kill my kid?

10. your

11. killing

12. You taking the boys to a whorehouse isn’t a good choice, you nutter

13. making

14. And

15. you

[ladyirontiger]

LIT LEGACY RULES

LADYIRONTIGER (LIT) LEGACY

Here's my take on the old legacy challenge found here.

BASIC RULES:

Lifespan: normal

Money: cheats are allowed, I guess, but that does take some of the fun out of it. Generations can leave inheritances for the heirs not to exceed 10k.

Housing: sims can move from one generation to the next, but not during the generation. i.e. gen 1 must live in ONE place only; however, gen 2 can move out and then live in one place only.

Colors: are just listed to help me keep the generations straight during gameplay. You don’t have to use them.

Traits: Are just suggestions; however, the heir must inherit ONE trait from the previous generation.

SUCCESSION RULES:

Gender Law: MATRIARCHY - The Founder must be female. Only girls are eligible to be named heir unless there are no female children, at which point boys become eligible for that generation.

Bloodline Law: STRICT TRADITIONAL - To be eligible to be named heir, a child must be naturally born from their previous-generation parents and be able to trace an unbroken bloodline back to the founder. Adopted children may never be named heir.

Heir Law: LIVING WILL - The eligible child with the highest friendly relationship score with their previous-generation’s parent will be named heir. If there’s a tie, preference goes to THE FIRST BORN.

Species Law: TOLERANT - The species of the child has no impact on their eligibility for heir status

Gen 1: The Old Soul (yellow)

It’s almost as if you were born in the wrong era. You do everything the old-fashioned way, down to the way you “court” not date, and the way you dress. You’re naturally nurturing, and energetic. You’d do anything for your family. You’re the perfect matriarch, no matter what year it is.

Traits: dog lover, creative, active

Aspiration: Lord/Lady of the Knits

Career: Stay at Home Parent/Plopsy Seller

Rules:

Live anywhere except the city

Have a dog. Teach it 3 tricks. Become its companion

Have 2 children. Become good friends with both

Have one partner only. Do not have romance with anyone else.

Master Gourmet Cooking (reach level 10) and Pet Training skills (reach level 5)

Gen 2: The Homesteading YouTuber (purple)

Your parents provided everything you could ever want, and you’re so grateful. You’re going to pay it forward to make the world you live in a better place for yourself and your own children. You’re documenting your eco adventures for posterity and to increase the reach your message of sustainability.

Traits: active, maker, music lover

Aspiration: Eco Innovator

Career: Social Media Internet Personality

Rules:

Graduate from university. Do not live on campus

Have 2 children

Become a 5-star celebrity

Live in a tiny home, or in Evergreen Harbor, or both (a tiny home in Evergreen Harbor)

Master the violin and photography skill (reach level 10)

­Gen 3: The Moody Musician (blue)

Living in the shadow of a perfect parent, and constantly being hounded by paparazzi wasn’t easy growing up. It left you with a profound distrust of people. The one thing your parent did give you, which you’re grateful for, is a passion for music. You’re determined to make your own way in the world, away from the cameras, and share your passion with aspiring young minds. While you love teaching, and you’re unswervingly dedicated to your craft, you lack the flair for parenting that your mother and grandmother had. Though you try your best.

Traits: music lover, loner, hot headed

Aspiration: Musical Genius

Career: Education Professor

Rules:

Live in the city

Leave someone at the alter. Never marry.

Have only one child

Write a book

Master 2 instruments (reach level 10)

Gen 4: The Adventurer (green)

While your music-loving parent is in their own head, all you can dream of is getting out, being in nature, under the stars, and having a big, loving family. You want your children to feel connected to the outdoors the way you do, and the way your grandmother did.

Traits: hot headed, loves outdoors, outgoing

Aspiration: Outdoor Enthusiast

Career: Conservationist

Rules

Have three children

Mentor all children in fitness

Go camping as a family

Go to the beach as a family

Master the fitness and comedy skills (level 10)

Become good friends with grandchild heir

Gen 5: The Good Wife (red)

It’s hard for you to commit to relationships because you’re so focused on your career. Having a big family was nice and all, but having to share resources and fight for attention isn’t something you want to ever relive. You’re the star of your own show both in your romantic relationships and in the courtroom. That means there just isn’t room for your children to be more than props in your life. They’ll live.

Traits: outgoing, noncommittal, romantic

Aspiration: Serial Romantic

Career: Law Judge

Rules

Go to University. Do not live on campus.

Have at least 2 failed relationships before marrying

Have 2 children by 2 different partners. Be disliked by both children

Master the debate & charisma skills (level 10)

Gen 6: The Spy Mom (black)

With a mom seemingly married to justice, who had no time for you, it was easy to get away with sneaking around, and little swipes here and there. You honed your skills for manipulation and deception, and now you’re putting them to good use. You still want to have a family, but keeping your job a secret for their safety inevitably causes an irreparable rift between you and your children.

Traits: romantic, kleptomaniac, family oriented

Aspiration: Soulmate

Career: Secret Agent Diamond Agent

Rules

Become best friends with grandparent (heir from gen 5)

Marry a good sim, then divorce

Have at least 2 children, be disliked by one of them.Master logic skill (level 10)Mentor children in logic

Gen 7: The Bake Sale Mom (pink)

Finding out your mother is a secret agent is bound to make an impact, and on you it certainly has. All you want is a “normal” life, and a big, loving family. You love baking, and feeding your loved ones brings you great joy. You turn your passion into a business, and you get your family to be part of it all. Money might be tight at times, and things aren’t always easy, but you’re doing it together. That’s what matters.

Traits: family oriented, foodie, perfectionist

Aspiration: Big Happy Family

Career: Chef

Rules

Master the baking and parenting skills (level 10)

Have 5 children and be close friends with all of them

Own a retail store or restaurant

Have a weekly family dinner with all extended family still living

Gen 8: The Silicon Valley Mom (white/beige)

Gaming takes you to another world. Not that this one is bad or anything, but you enjoy being a hero, and the stories about your grandmother the spy fuel your desire for (safer) adventures. Unfortunately for your children, you have unrealistic expectations of them, and hold them to impossibly high standards.

Traits: perfectionist, geek, ambitious

Aspiration: Computer Whiz

Career: Tech Guru eSports Gamer

Rules:

Master programming and video gaming skill (reach level 10)

Have two children be geniuses, get honor roll, and max out 2 skills

Have a weekly bowling night with family

Gen 9: The Orange County Mom (peach/orange)

You’ve grown accustomed to a certain standard of living, and you’re much too smart and good looking to let it go to waste. You’re goal is to become fabulously wealthy by any means necessary. Being a bawse isn’t always easy, so you take every opportunity to relax with some yoga or a spa outing. As nice as it would be to have your children join the family business, it’s a dangerous game.

Traits: ambitious, materialistic, snob

Aspiration: Fabulously Wealthy

Career: Criminal Boss or NONE

Rules:

Have three “frenemies” of the same gender who are also snobs

Marry a sim for money not for love

Master the wellness and handiness skill (level 10)

Mentor a child in handiness.

Gen 10: The Flower Child (teal)

You can’t be tied down by the man, but you don’t want to turn to a life of crime like your mother. You’re level-headed, and you know what you want out of life: fun and freedom. Some might say your job is frivolous, but your family has a history of being at one with nature, and being popular. You want to marry for love like your great, great…grandmother. You just want to be…excellent.

Traits: snob, self-assured, cheerful

Aspiration: Party Animal

Career: Gardener

Rules:

Master flower arranging, singing, and mixology

Have one child of your own, and adopt one

Have a cat

Marry someone you adore

Write your memoir

Write your family’s history

[jennifercrowart]

D&D Diary - The Yawning Rodent, 11

Refresher: Our adventurers Lugs (grung barbarian), Lurk (grung rogue), Aelia (tiefling cleric), and Valas (drow sorcerer) with tagalong Deku (ratfolk cleric) levelled up to 3, and Lugs and Lurk were able to get their new subclass abilities - Lugs becoming a Path of the Storm Herald barbarian with a swamp storm aura, and Lurk becoming a Soulknife rogue using psychic abilities.

The party went down the well shaft into the lower floor of the Sunless Citadel, lying to Yusdrayl about still needing to find Calcryx down there when, in reality, they'd found her earlier and taken her to the Rat's Nest to recover from her mistreatment at the hands of the Kobold Gang and Goblin Gang. They defeated a bugbear hunter and his two giant rat pets, and looted his old cave room. Next, they found a laboratory, and subdued the goblin interns working there. They found and rescued Chadley Hucrele, one of the Hucrele siblings they were sent to the Sunless Citadel to rescue in the first place. He'd been experimented on by a man they've heard of called Belak, who seems to be the boss running the lower floor of this citadel and controlling the Goblin Gang, so Chadley had started to transform into a plant creature.

Sunless Citadel spoilers!

The party decides to start exploring more of this floor by checking out the large rift that opened up from the back of one of the laboratory's empty rooms. The tunnel quickly becomes pitch black, with no luminescent fungi growing off the walls and providing light like in the other rooms of the temple. Luckily, Lugs has his candle of Continual Flame strapped to his head to provide a source of light as he goes down first.

Chadley asks if the party knows what they're going to be doing, and if he should do anything as well. Aelia tries to check out if he's got what it takes to fight, but in his current state - sickly, beaten-up, and scared, with plant-like growths growing out of his barky skin, and stripped of his armour and weaponry - it's nearly impossible to tell. Not wanting to send him back upstairs alone, they decide to take Chadley with them.

The rift they're going down looks like the earth has split to either side, probably when the citadel sunk beneath the ground. The lower walls and floor are littered with 2-foot-wide holes. As they go further down, they find what looks like corridors to the left and right sides of them - a single corridor of the citadel that had been rendered straight through when the rift formed, offsetting the two halves from each other. They try the left-side corridor first.

At the end of the corridor is a small room, no traps or locks on the door. The lovely tiling in the room has since been shaken up by the earth, crumbling and falling off the walls and ceiling and smashing on the floor. Everything is covered in thick layers of dust and dirt. On the floor in the centre of the room is a decorative circular tile, with writing on it in Draconic, and in front of it against the back wall is a stone statue of a dragon with a tray in its mouth. Deku translates the writing on the tile into Common, stepping back and telling the others that it says, "let the warrior's strength embolden my body."

Everyone starts having a look around the room. As he's normally quite good at investigating already, Deku casts a spell on Lurk to help boost his abilities even more. He opens his purple eyes and a laser grid shoots out, scanning the area. Lurk determines that this place looks like it was made to be a small offering and prayer chamber for the lower class occupants of this citadel to worship the statue. Aelia, recalling her basic archaeologist research about the Sunless Citadel that she'd looked up before they got here, realises that the statue is of a red dragon in particular, and must be of Ashardalon - the red dragon the Cult of the Dragon (AKA Keepers of the Secret Hoard) worshipped when they once lived here, before the citadel fell. Deku confirms this, having read about it in his Cults Around the World book.

Lugs tries putting 100 gold pieces into the offering tray the statue is holding, but nothing happens. Deku, wondering if the people who would come here to pray would do so while standing on the decorative tile, tells Lugs to stand there and copy the words he says in Draconic; "Let the warrior's strength embolden my body."

Although he doesn't really understand, Lugs is eager to play along as he usually does, and mimics what Deku says while standing on the tile. Suddenly, a torrent of blue flames - not real flames, just an illusion - jet out of the tile's seams and wash over him, imbuing him with strength. He tells Lurk that he feels sturdier than before, as he now has advantage on constitution checks and saves for the next while. Happy with this service, Lugs puts 200 more gold into the offering tray. Amazed, Aelia and Deku scramble to do the same so they can get a boost to their wimpy spellcaster constitutions, but the tile and statue no longer react, even when Aelia tries to offer some gold in the tray. Sighing, she returns all the gold to her pockets.

The party goes back through the corridor to the rift passageway, and Lugs, again, goes first while the others try to look out for any traps. The rift splits into an open cavern, full of more of the holes in the ground and lower walls. Just in front of the doorway is a littering of what appears to be goblin bones, picked clean. At the back of the cave, one of the larger holes glows with a warm red and orange light from within. As Lugs walks gung-ho into the cave and his companions talk amongst themselves behind him, the light from the hole starts to waver, and then disappears further down the hole until it's no longer visible. Suddenly, a large red snake with tendrils of flames licking off its head and body looms out from the hole closest to Lugs, the source of the light now clear as it radiates a hot fiery glow from its body. Lugs' frog skin tingles uncomfortably as it starts to dry out from the close proximity. The fire snake hisses, revealing their long fangs.

Aelia, for some reason not phased at all, marches from the thick of the group up to Lugs and the fire snake. As though she was a snake wrangler in a past life, she wastes no time in outstretching her fingers towards the creature and upcasting Guiding Bolt. A huge flash of light sparks from above her head and shoots towards the snake, and everyone tries to cover their eyes, blinded for a moment from the flare. As their spotty vision returns, they find that the fire snake has already been completely annihilated by the extraordinarily strong spell. Aelia blinks, eyes wide in disbelief at what just happened and how strong her spell was, and slowly lowers her hands.

Lurk goes to check out the rest of the snake's cave, the holes clearly leading to a tunnel system beneath the ground that it had made. In its nest at the back, he finds a few gems, which he pockets immediately. Aelia notices but doesn't say anything, like their secret siphoning off of treasure before the rest of the party notices has now become a game between the two. Nothing else is really in the cavern aside from the remains of toasted goblin skeletons.

The party heads back out into the rift, backtracking to find the other half of the corridor from earlier and going down it. Showing a bit of confidence for once, Chadley smirks and flirts, complimenting Aelia on her strong spell, but she doesn't really take any mind. The door at the end of the hall opens up - as they suspected - the final unexplored door from the garden chamber they'd entered into at the start of this floor, after dropping in from the well shaft above.

As they're back here again, they decide to explore the nearby bugbear hunter's cave tunnel that they'd left behind earlier. Lurk tries to go down it, and it's lit with the luminescent fungi, but it appears to fork, with one path leading upwards and the other path leading further downwards, presumably into the Underdark.

They go back through the laboratory, to where Lugs had once passed through the weapon storeroom and found a door to the adjoining unexplored hallway, its walls decorated with etchings of dragons torching cities. Knowing that Lugs had seen another bugbear gardener with a mean sickle-bladed glaive on their back when he'd poked his head in earlier, Lurk goes on to scout ahead, quietly sneaking out the door and hiding behind a pillar. Sure enough, the bugbear is patrolling the hallway, and doesn't see him. He creeps up behind her, and, after quickly coating his scimitar with the poison from his Grung skin, suddenly stabs her in the back before she even realises he's there.

The bugbear yells in pain and surprise and whirls around, lifting her glaive to defend herself while backing away from Lurk. The grung rogue, not bothered by the normally-intimidating height difference, suggests she drops her weapon and surrender, or he'll kill her. Frustrated and badly hurt, the bugbear hesitantly complies, and Lurk snatches up her glaive as soon as it hits the ground. Having disarmed her, Lurk goes and opens the main door from the laboratory, inviting the rest of the party in. The bugbear, dripping a lot of blood from the wound in her back, sinks to the ground to sit against a pillar, defeated.

They try to ask her questions, but the bugbear is flippant. Lurk tries to offer her 25 gold to buy her loyalty from her boss, Belak, sure that it would beat the wage he pays her. She doesn't seem to care about the money. Growing frustrated with her rude behaviour, Aelia steps forward, hands glowing with a spell to finish the bugbear off - but Lurk stays her hand. He suggests the bugbear leave the citadel and go to the Rat's Nest to find honest work, but she spits back, saying she has no idea what's waiting for her on the upper floor if the party of adventurers have already killed Durnn and the other goblins, suspecting Lurk just wants to send her into a death trap. Valas and Deku realise that she may be right, as the Kobold Gang are still upstairs, and would surely kill anyone they perceive to be a Goblin Gang member if the bugbear were to try and pass them. The bugbear also doesn't know how to get to the Rat's Nest at all. Valas comments that she doesn't seem to necessarily be loyal to Belak or to her job, but just nervous about testing her boss' power. She says she took the job here with her best friend - the bugbear hunter, Balsag - because it just sounded interesting and like she'd get to fight. Additionally, she adds that most of the goblins on this floor are just untrained interns doing research jobs for Belak, not fully trained bandits like Durnn had on the upper floor.

The party starts talking about how they want to proceed. The bugbear says the rooms connecting to this hallway are mostly arboretums where the interns are working, as well mentioning a snake being in one. Deku asks how to get to where Belak is, as she says that he must be working as usual, and she gives him the directions which he dutifully scribbles down onto a piece of parchment: go up through this hallway to the northern arboretum, take the southwest door from there into the big dragon shrine, go up through the library, down and along a very long corridor, and there at the end he'll either be in his study, or he'll be at the back of his massive main garden. Of course, Lurk hears that they should start by going north, and he immediately goes south into a different arboretum.

In there, he finds a few goblin interns and a bandit gathering white fungi from the garden beds into little baskets of test tubes. He casually commands them all to drop to the floor, and the interns immediately do so, hiding their heads beneath their hands as they cower. The one trained fighter in the group initially draws his scimitar, but when he sees that the others have surrendered, he drops his weapon and puts his hands up. Valas, Deku, and Aelia set to work on gathering all the white fungi, convinced it must be the same ingredient used to make the potion that Chadley was forced to drink to turn into a half-plant creature. Valas uses his Frostbite cantrip on the pile of fungi they gather, killing off the plants so that no one can continue using them for such nefarious purposes.

Lurk moves on to the southeast arboretum off the dragon hallway. After a cursory look, he sees that no one is in this one. As he's walking through and having a poke around, another fire snake suddenly rears out from a hole in the centre garden bed, poised to strike him. The realisation dawns on him that, although this room was otherwise empty, a lot of the plants here look burnt and charred, which he'd noticed too late. Before the snake can attack, he flees the room and slams the door shut.

Lugs, instead, pokes his head into the same room, as the snake slithers around to face him. Reaching into his pocket, he grabs the strips of jerky pet treats he'd taken from the bugbear hunter's body, and tosses them in front of the fiery monster while rubbing his fingers together and saying "pspspspspspsps" like trying to coach over a cat. The snake stops, staring him down for a few minutes, before it greedily snaps up the jerky. Lugs grins widely, and dashes off to retrieve one of the goblin carcasses slain by Lurk in the laboratory earlier. He eases into the arboretum to drop the body in front of the snake, before running back to hide behind the door, eagerly peering through the crack to watch. The fire snake, again, stares at him, flicking their tongue in and out and trying to gauge the grung's intentions, before they unhinges their jaws and begins swallowing the goblin whole. Lugs tears a small strip of fabric off of his pants and rubs it on his skin, apparently trying to make sure the fabric clearly has his scent on it, and tosses it over to the snake's meal so the snake can get used to his scent. He closes the door all the way, and turns to Lurk, proudly saying that he's feeding his new pet snake, so Lurk should tell the others not to go in there. Lurk's amused.

The party goes back into the laboratory, taking the bugbear gardener with them. Lurk sets to work rounding up all the surviving goblins they'd terrified into submission (as well as waking up the confused and scared goblins who had been sleeping in the bunk room), but is suddenly surprised that the goblins - particularly the untrained interns - are so scared of them now, shaking in terror as he tells them to all line up. He tries to calm them down, but also says that they have a choice: they can either go up to the upper level and face the Kobold Gang, or they can go into the hunter's Underdark tunnel. Valas cuts in, saying that, as an Underdark native, he says it's definitely not a good idea to send them into the Underdark - they'll surely die, as it's such a dangerous place. Deku asks the goblins why they're torturing humans (like Chadley) for Belak, and the bugbear confirms that the Goblin Gang had been taken over by Belak and his aggressive bugbear crew, giving the weaker goblins the choice of either obeying him or being killed - so they obeyed him.

The adventurers decide to take the goblins and bugbear with them, potentially back to the Rat's Nest or to the surface where they can be let free. Finally, Lurk asks the name of the bugbear they've captured. She says that her name is Grimwarg. They start tying up the prisoners so they're linked around the waists by a rope, still able to climb up the well shaft to the upper level but unable to easily escape their captivity.

Before they leave, Lugs ducks his head into the snake's arboretum again, and says in Grung, "goodbye for now, Snakey, I love you!"

They all climb up the vines in the well to the upper floor, with Valas and Deku leading the way. As they climb up, Deku says that he thinks Valas will do a great job of lying to Yusdrayl about Calcryx,  and gives him a friendly pat on the back while stealthily casting a charisma-boosting spell. Valas notices the spell, but wilfully ignores it, taking the encouragement.

When they reach the top of the well, Yusdrayl is dozing in Durnn's old throne, still sitting upright with her head leaning on her propped-up hand. The two elite guards on either side of her tap the stone throne so she wakes up with a start, greeting Valas and Deku and asking how they've gone on their search for Calcryx. Valas tells her that they haven't found the dragon yet, but they did find a laboratory where the real boss controlling the Goblin Gang has been experimenting on people. Since they haven't found Calcryx yet, he theorises that this is because Belak must be keeping her with him, not letting the valuable creature out of his sight. Yusdrayl agrees that that's probably the case.

As Grimwarg and the other goblin prisoners start to come up from the well, Valas also tells Yusdrayl about how they captured most of Belak's workers from his laboratory. The Kobold Gang leader is impressed, and mentions how her guards escorted Durnn and the last of his gang members after the big fight out via the tunnel the Kobold Gang has that leads to the surface, used by their foragers to find and bring back food. She suggests that these prisoners be escorted out by her guards as well, but Valas politely declines the offer, saying they have it handled. Grimwarg comments that this must be the Kobold Gang leader that she's heard about before, and Yusdrayl tilts her chin up at her, boasting about how she's beaten the Goblin Gang and chased Durnn out.

Because of his broken arm, Chadley wasn't able to climb up the well by himself. When Lugs reaches the top, he throws back down a rope that Chadley can hold onto with his foot put through a loop at the end, so the strong grung and everyone else can haul him up. When Yusdrayl sees the human, she's appalled, disgusted at his transformed body, and agrees that Belak must be stopped. Chadley looks embarrassed and ashamed.

The party suggests that Chadley can get seen to at the Rat's Nest, though Chadley says he could probably contact his mother to send someone to fetch him so he can be seen by the family's private and expensive medical professionals. While he would like to stay and help find his sister, he's aware he's in no shape to do so.

Ready to leave the Sunless Citadel so they can take the prisoners away and get themselves a good rest at the inn, the exhausted adventurers leave Yusdrayl and continue on their way out.