#god I hope the budget is decent

[viperbunnies]

this is not the news i expected to see when i get home

[janeyseymour]

Love Thy Neighbor

saw a prompt from @givethispromptatry

So... here we are... as usual, not edited in the slightest and hoping it's alright!

WC: ~3.45k

After your (not so amicable) split from your dirtbag of a husband, you packed your things and moved back to Philly. It was the city that held a special place in your heart, you knew the area like the back of your hand, and your parents still resided in the place that you grew up. It only made sense now that as a single mother to a six year old girl, you would move to be closer to your parents so they could help bear the load of being a working mom. Elizabeth, but you usually stuck with the nickname Ellie, was a rather easy child. But moving from across the country and leaving the life that she knew and loved behind was rather hard for her- and it was even harder knowing that Mom and Dad had split, and that Dad didn’t necessarily want anything to do with either of you anymore.

So, after about a month of living with your parents, making trips from Utah to Philly and back multiple times to gather all of your things from the house, show the house, sell the house, and deal with the divorce lawyers… the two of you have finally found a little apartment that should be an appropriate size for the two of you while still staying within your budget.

You had been granted full custody, not that your ex would fight you on that, but you also managed to get him to fork over a decent amount of child support- and you would need it. You still haven’t found a job in Philly, and while little jobs here and there were helpful (you mostly did DoorDash on your bike, Ellie’s bike trailer attached so you could bring her along and hold the food), you knew that you absolutely needed to find a job- and quick.

In between attempting to unpack all of your things, get Ellie settled, looking for a new job, and Doordashing, you haven’t been able to take a breath at all. You don’t even know who your neighbors are or what they look like. And you feel a little guilty at that, but none of them have stopped by to introduce themselves to you either. You remember though, that Philly folks aren’t nearly as kind as the people that you had surrounded yourself with in Utah… so them not introducing themselves to you isn’t the most unheard of thing in the world.

Today was brutal. You had signed Ellie up to start school next week, searched and applied for a few teaching jobs (one of which would be at your daughter’s school if you could land it), gone grocery shopping, and then done a nice load of Doordashing with your daughter in tow because your parents couldn’t watch her.

The little girl had missed out on the nap that she usually takes after a day at school, so she’s absolutely miserable the entire time that you bike around. You had tried to placate her by bringing along her iPad so she could watch videos while you navigated the city, but she wanted nothing to do with it. All she did the entire time was whine about the fact that she wanted to go home and cuddle.

After hours of delivering food, you’re satisfied with the amount of money that you made today.

“Okay, little love,” you turn and look at your daughter. “Are you ready for home?”

“I’ve been ready,” she grumbles, arms crossed and brows furrowed.

You give her a soft smile. “I know, sweet girl… but Momma has to make money so we can stay here.”

“Why can’t we just stay in Utah where I like it?”

You bite your lip. “I want to be closer to my parents, baby… and this way you get to see Gram and Pop more than you used to. I think if you give Philly a chance, you’ll learn to love it like I do.”

She huffs a little. 

Deciding that you probably aren’t going to get much more out of her, you turn and start biking in the direction of your apartment. As you’re doing so, you silently thank God that you’re in good shape. At least if anything comes out of this, your legs are going to look incredible.

You chain your bike to the bike stand in the garage of your apartment complex, only to remember that you had forgotten what you needed to make dinner tonight. With regret, you begin to unchain it- much to Ellie’s dismay.

“Momma!” she stomps her foot.

“I know,” you say softly, but you gesture for her to get back into her trailer.

“No!”

You take a shaky breath. You really don’t want to have to put up with a trademarked Ellie tantrum, but it seems that’s what is in store for you tonight. “Love bug, please. We just have to go to the store, and then we can come home, I’ll make dinner, and we can cuddle.”

“I want to cuddle now!”

“Well, we have to fill that belly of yours with food first,” you poke her stomach gently, trying to elicit a giggle out of the little girl. 

It absolutely does the opposite of that. She bats your hand away, and you raise an eyebrow before standing back up straight. “Ellie, you know we do not try to hit.”

“I don’t care,” she tells you defiantly.

A redhead that lives in the building comes into the garage, eyeing you and your child. You hope she isn’t judging you for the fit your child is currently in the middle of having. She climbs into her car and rolls down her windows, but she doesn’t quite pull out yet. She glances at her phone instead.

You blow out a breath, eyes closed and trying to ground yourself, before looking at her again. “Elizabeth, we need to get food for dinner. All you have to do is sit in your trailer while I bike us to the store.”

“Why can’t I stay home?!”

“Because you are six and too little to stay home by yourself.”

“This isn’t home!” you daughter stomps her foot and bursts into tears.

The woman that lives in your complex is still sitting in her car, and you know she can hear your daughter’s and your words. Why hasn’t she pulled out yet?

You soften immediately, crouching back down and opening your arms for her to hug you if she needs to. She does. She immediately curls into your arms and clings to you. “I know, love bug. I know it doesn’t feel like home right now… but no matter what, Momma can’t leave you in the apartment alone. So, I need you to get into your trailer so we can head to the store. The faster we get there, the faster we can come back and curl up on the couch together, okay?”

Your daughter clings to you a little tighter, but you feel her nod into your shoulder.

The woman pulls out of her spot and gives you and your daughter a small wave as she drives past. 

You hold your little girl until she begins to pull away, and then you wipe her tears with the pads of your thumbs. “I love you, Ellie.”

She climbs back into her seat before mumbling back the same sentiment.

You’re able to do your quick run to the grocery store, and Ellie refuses to walk but also refuses to sit in the cart like she usually does. So, you carry her on your hip the entirety of your walk through the aisles. As you’re strolling up and down, you see the redhead that you had seen in the garage earlier, and she gives you a questioning look at the sight of you carrying your daughter when she could be in the cart that you’re pushing along.

You just give her a little shrug and continue on your way. Ellie is getting heavier and heavier by the minute though, so you pick up the pace and are out of the store.

You make your way back to the complex, bags around your arms and in the trailer with your daughter. When you lock your bike to the rack, you look in, and the little girl is fast asleep. Shit.

“Ellie,” you crouch down and whisper. “Sweetheart, we’re back. You have to wake up and carry the bread and juice in for me.”

The little girl stirs slightly before repositioning herself and closing her eyes again.

“Baby girl,” you say softly. “Please wake up for Momma.”

You see headlights, and the car that has the redheaded woman in it pulls in. Great. You get to make a fool out of yourself in front of her yet again.

Not being able to hide your stress, you decide to grab a few of the lighter bags, put them on your arms, and then wiggle Ellie out of the trailer. She’s asleep on your shoulder as soon as she’s in your hold. You silently take a moment to pray that your produce won’t get stolen in the few minutes it will take you to get Ellie upstairs before making your way into the building.

The elevator is broken. Of course it is. So you’re forced to carry three bags of groceries and your six year old daughter up four flights of steps. By the end of it, you’re wheezing. You manage to unlock your door before gently setting her on the couch. With a sigh and a wipe of your now sweaty brow, you lock the door behind you and begin to head down to get the rest of your groceries.

There’s that woman again… and she lives in the apartment across the hall. You give her a friendly nod of the head and a smile that doesn’t quite reach your eyes before you continue your trek back down.

After your second trip up, your body is entirely exhausted. You hardly have it in you to cook dinner, but you dragged Ellie out, so you have to make the meal.

You’re able to wake her with the scent of her favorite meal, but as soon as she’s finished, she’s curling up against you and falling asleep.

After your daughter lays on top of you for quite some time, you know you have to put her in her own room. So, you silently make your way into her bedroom and tuck her in. With a quick kiss to the forehead and a soft “I love you”, you make your way back out to the kitchen.

Ellie is out for the night- she was exhausted halfway through your DoorDash shift- so you grab a glass and fill it with wine. The sweet drink helps to melt away some of the stress as you clean the dishes and settle on the couch for some much needed adult time.

That time is interrupted though when you hear a few rough knocks rattling your apartment. Instinctively, you grab the baseball bat that you keep behind the couch and make your way to the door.

Who the hell could be at your door at this hour? You don’t know anyone here, it wouldn’t be your parents… Could it be your ex-husband? No. He’s out in California with the woman he was cheating on you with. So who the hell is it?

“Who is it?” you yell, gripping the bat so tightly your knuckles turn white.

“You the woman that just moved in?” a gruff voice calls back.

You move a bit closer as you call, “What’s it to you?!”

“Saw you have a kid. Was wondering if you needed help with anything. You look real stressed.”

At that, you move closer to the door and glance out the peephole. It’s the woman that you ran into in the garage and at the grocery store. You open the door just slightly, still unsure of her.

“I ain’t gonna bite,” she teases. “You looked really stressed, so I thought I’d come over, introduce myself, and see if you needed any help.”

You lessen the grip on your bat as you open the door a little further. You take in the woman’s full appearance now that you aren’t trying to calm your daughter and aren’t terrified of being mugged. She’s… she’s really pretty.

You don’t realize that you haven’t say anything back until she’s waving a hand in front of your face. “Hello?”

You shake your head to bring yourself back to the present. “Hi. Sorry… today’s just been… a lot.”

“I could gather that. Can I help?”

You shrug. “I think I’m good at the moment, but I appreciate it.”

“Well,” the redhead purses her lips. “You ever need anything, I’m just across the hall.” 

She turns to walk back to her apartment, but she stops when you call a gentle, “Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“I uh, never got your name,” you say quietly.

“Schemmenti. Melissa.”

“Nice to meet you,” you smile at her. “I’m Y/N, and the little girl you saw me with is my daughter, Ellie.”

She looks at you thoughtfully before nodding. She heads back to her apartment after that.

You run into her a lot in the following few days after that encounter. She sees you haul Ellie with you pretty much everywhere, and she has quite a few questions that she just can’t seem to work out on her own. So, one day after you’ve brought up Ellie and the groceries, she can’t help but knock on your door.

“Who is it?” you call, not bothering to move from your place on the couch with your daughter.

“Melissa,” the familiar voice calls back.

You sigh before making your way over to the door. “Hey. What’s up?”

“Just checkin’ in on you,” the redhead says. “I saw you hauling up Ellie and your groceries.”

“All good,” you chuckle. “Just about to make dinner for the two of us.”

“You haven’t had dinner yet?” She looks concerned.

“About to get the microwave pasta going now,” you admit sheepishly. “I was gonna have it made earlier, but El decided that she would die without Momma cuddles… and who am I to deny my sweet girl of such a request?”

“When’s her bedtime?”

“In about an hour,” you tell her. “Why?”

“Let me make youse two dinner,” she offers. “I’m a damn good cook, and I can make a pasta dish way better than the packaged sh-stuff.”

“Oh,” you say softly. “You don’t have to do that.”

“No, please,” she argues gently. “I insist.”

“O-oh,” you rub your collarbone nervously. “Are you sure?”

“I haven’t had dinner either,” she lies through her teeth. “So let me make us all a meal while you relax and hold your daughter.”

You finally manage to nod- she does not seem like the type of woman who would lose an argument.

“Just give me a couple minutes to gather some ingredients, and I’ll come back over?”

You smile in lieu of an answer. You close the door gently once she’s back in her apartment before making your way to Ellie.

“Sweet girl, our neighbor, Miss Melissa is coming over for dinner tonight. Can you be the polite little girl I raised?”

She nods, but she reaches for you. You pull her into your lap and hold her close until the redhead knocks on your door again. You pull yourself and your daughter off the couch to go open the door.

In her arms are a few different cans, some produce, and pasta that has clearly been homemade.

“Baby,” you tease the ends of you daughter’s locks gently. “This is Miss Melissa. Can you say hi to her for me?”

“H-hi,” Ellie manages to squeak out. “You’re really pretty.”

Melissa smiles at her, and when she speaks her voice has turned to butter. It’s much softer than when she’s speaking to you. “Thank you, hun. I’m Melissa. It’s so nice to meet you, Ellie.”

“How do you know my name?”

“I’ve been talking to your momma,” the woman chuckles gently.

The little girl’s lips form into an ‘O’ shape, and you can’t help the gentle kiss that you plant on her temple.

“Miss Melissa is going to make us dinner,” you tell your daughter softly. “Does that sound alright?”

She nods against your neck.

“I’m gonna make spaghetti,” the redhead tells Ellie. “That sound okay?”

“You might become her new favorite person,” you joke. “Little girl eats so many noodles, she’s gonna turn into one someday.”

You girl giggles against you. “Nah uh,” she scrunches her nose and makes a funny face at you. “That’s not possible, Momma.”

“I know, my love. I’m just teasing,” you chuckle before returning your attention to the woman in your doorway. “Well, come in, come in. Make yourself at home.”

She carries her things to the kitchen before starting her prep. The way that she gets everything done so efficiently is mind blowing to you, and you can’t help but watch in awe as you continue to hold Ellie.

“Sit down, hun,” Melissa instructs softly as she stirs her sauce. “Take a load off. I got this.”

“Are you sure you don’t want any help? Maybe a glass of wine for your troubles?”

“I won’t say no to a glass, but you absolutely are not helping. I got it.”

You pour her a glass and offer it to her before quietly sitting down and continuing to watch as she makes her way through your kitchen effortlessly.

Dinner is placed in front of you before you know it, and Ellie is nearly wiggling with glee at the plate in front of her. She dives in, and her eyes light up.

“This is so yummy!” your little girl cheers as she takes another forkful to her mouth.

“I’m glad you like it, sweetheart,” Melissa smiles. She gestures for you to take a bite as well, and when you do, you can’t help the small sigh that comes out of your mouth.

“Wow,” you say softly. “This is… incredible.”

“Thanks,” she chuckles as she take a bite of her own creation. “It’s a family recipe.”

Dinner is pleasant. The woman does her best to ask Ellie all about herself, to which your little girl answers delightfully. She’s even able to ask Melissa a few questions of her own. But once her plate is cleared, Ellie climbs into your lap and lets out a yawn as she fiddles with the chain around your neck.

“Is my little girl tired?” you coo softly.

She nods against you.

“Why don’t you start getting ready for bed, sweetness? Momma will be in in a few minutes to say goodnight,” you tell her. She nods again. “Well, off you go. But first, what do you say to Miss Melissa?”

“Thank you,” your daughter smiles brightly before climbing off your lap. Surprisingly, she makes her way over to the redhead’s side of the table and hugs her. Melissa wraps her arms around the little girl gently.

“You’re welcome, sweetheart. Get some good sleep tonight, yeah?”

Ellie nods before wandering down the hall to get to her bedroom, leaving you with Melissa.

“Thank you for dinner tonight,” you say softly.

“Any time.”

“No, seriously. I usually cook, but I was not feeling it tonight. So, thank you.”

“I’m sure. I saw you biking all around today, starting with this morning when I was heading to work and ending with you coming back from the store.”

“Yeah,” you sigh. “I’m a busy woman.”

“Where are you always biking anyway?”

“I’m in between jobs at the moment, so I’ve just been DoorDashing with El until she starts school next week,” you sigh. “Hopefully I get a job soon… I need all the money I can get to keep this place and give El everything she needs or wants.”

“You’re doing great,” Melissa tells you honestly. “She adores you.”

“She likes you too,” you say quietly. “You’re really good with her.”

“Well, I have some experience with children,” she chuckles quietly. “I guess I should head out so you can get the little one to bed and get some sleep yourself, but I’ll see you around?”

“Next time, dinner’s on me,” you tell her.

“We’ll see about that one,” she laughs as she heads for the door. “If you need anything, don’t be afraid to holler.”

“Thank you, Melissa. Goodnight.”

You see her out, and as you close the door behind her, you sigh. You lean against it for a second, a little confused with the way you’re feeling after this diiner. 

Maybe this new neighbor will become a close friend of yours… maybe something else. Only time will tell. But for now, you have to get back to your daughter. 

Next

[apomaro-mellow]

Family Planning 8

Part 7

“So who did you end up leaving Kimberly with?”, Steve asked, figuring Eddie must’ve asked a favor of one of his friends and was hoping they took this project as seriously as he and Eddie did. 

“My uncle was free tonight, so I asked him to do it.”

“Your uncle is watching over a sack of flour?”, Steve looked at him incredulously.

Eddie would’ve given anything to see that expression, but kept his eyes on the road. It was almost worth swerving, though. A car crash would’ve been a low way to start a date though. Eddie could count on one hand the number of times he’d been on a date and it was never with someone like Steve. Someone he really wanted to impress. 

Tonight had to be perfect.

The perfect night started with a meal in the fanciest restaurant in town. Well, second fanciest. Eddie didn’t have Enzo’s money. But there was a decent place nearby that was more within his budget. It was the kind that usually had some kind of game playing on the tube so Eddie was counting on that to fill the void just in case there was a lull in the conversation.

His stomach dropped out of his ass when he drove up and there was a fire engine out front. He stopped and rolled his window down, grabbing the attention of someone nearby.

“What happened?”

“It was craaazy man! The kitchen went up in smoke! Or someone was lightin’ up in the bathroom, I don’t know. I just know it was wild!”

Eddie sighed as the guy walked off in a daze. He pursed his lips, really not wanting to look at Steve’s disappointed face. But then Steve’s stomach growled.

“Hungry?”, he grinned before wincing. “Sorry that plan fell through.”

“There’s always plan b”, Steve said, pointing down the street.

Eddie’s eyes widened as he took in the gas station Steve was pointing at. He drove up and in the night the interior glowed through the windows like a beacon. Steve unbuckled his seatbelt.

“Wait here.”

He went inside and Eddie obeyed, staying put. Steve got a couple things and when he got to the register, Eddie was just barely able to see him. Steve was leaning over the counter, bent at the waist. He came out moments later and got back in the van. He’d gotten two root beers, two hot dogs, and a bag of chips to share. 

“I know it’s not quite what you had in mind but, I got it at a discount”, Steve said.

“By sweet talking the cashier no doubt”, Eddie guessed.

“Sure, but I save my sweetest for my date.”

Eddie almost fumbled, scratch that, he definitely fumbled opening his root beer. Thankfully, the cap was still secure, but it was clearly shaken up. Steve just snickered in his seat next to him, clearly enjoying the effect he had on Eddie. But that was good right? That meant he liked him.

They ate, really talking about nothing in particular until Steve brought up their pretend baby.

“I just can’t believe you gave her a name like that. I’ve never met anyone with five middle names.”

Eddie swallowed his last bit of hot dog. “You haven’t figured it out yet?”

“Figured what out?”

“Take the first letter of her middle names”, Eddie said, watching with great interest as Steve mouthed out her name. Farrah Lisbeth Odette Ursa Rebecca. They looked beautiful on his mouth. Though he supposed most things did, coming from such pretty lips. And then his eyes got wide and there was both a spark of anger but even greater humor.

“You made her initials spell out ‘flour’?!”

Eddie’s grin was so wide it threatened to break his face. He thought it was pretty clever in the moment and the way Steve laughed at the confirmation proved he was right.

“Kimberly F.L.O.U.R. Munson. God I pray for whatever kid you actually have.”

“Hey, I’ll spend more than five minutes on my actual pup’s name.”

Steve sobered up rather quickly. “So you actually want to one day? Have pups, I mean.”

“In a ‘if the right person comes along’ sorta way”, Eddie shrugged. “What about you?”

No one had ever really asked Steve before. Most just took it as a given that he would have them some day. Even his parents. They never pressured him with grandkid talk of course. But they were clearly planning on them. 

“I’ve never seen myself as motherly”, Steve admitted quietly. “But…”

“But?”, Eddie urged. 

“Sometimes I see newborn pups, little ones and I just…I want that. I want a tiny thing of my own, son or daughter who just looks at me and-” Steve stopped short, realizing how it sounded, at least to himself. 

Eddie reached out and boldly took his hand. “Hey, for what it’s worth, you’ve been doing pretty good with Kimmy. I think you’d make a great pare-shit! What time is it?!”

He checked his watch and then turned the van back on, putting it in reverse while Steve hastily put his seatbelt back on.

“Where’s the fire?”, Steve asked.

“Besides our plan A? I had a movie I wanted to take you to see and it starts soon.” Eddie had read and re-read the times for the romantic comedy of the season. An omega finds out she’s pregnant but doesn’t know who the father is between two alphas. Hilarity ensues. He figured it was right up Steve’s alley. 

But despite driving like a madman, when they got up to the ticket booth they were told that ‘It Takes 3’ was sold out, as were many of the other movies. The only thing that was still available was a horror. One that absolutely didn’t look like Steve’s thing. It was Eddie’s thing but he specifically chose a movie that would get Steve in a soft mood. He was really hoping to butter him up for a kiss goodnight when this date ended. 

“We’ll take two tickets to that”, Steve said, surprising him.

“Didn’t think you’d be into a flick like this”, Eddie said.

“Not really. They kinda give me the creeps”, Steve admitted as they got to their seats. “But I’ve got a big, strong alpha to keep me safe.” He hugged Eddie’s arm and laid his head on his shoulder just as the lights dimmed. 

Eddie, for all his wanting, didn’t actually know what to do when such a sweet smelling omega was pressed up against him. At least not while awake. He was saved from thinking as the movie started and it turned out Steve wasn’t just being cute. He flinched at the first scare and Eddie cooed softly in his ear, head leaning down on top of his. 

The content might not have been what he’d planned for, but the outcome was still the same. He had Steve cuddled up to him, something they had never really down before. When the movie ended and they walked out, Steve was still clinging to his arm. They parted to get back into the van and Eddie really didn’t want this night to end. But he knew how it must. He would drop Steve off, walking him to his door, and he would ask for a kiss.

On the way back, Steve had a surprising amount to say about the movie.

“I just don’t understand why they never call the cops in those movies”, he pointed out.

“If you’re a cop, are you gonna believe a bunch of teens when they tell you they’re being hunted down by the supernatural?”, Eddie argued.

He drove to the Harrington driveway and heard Steve sigh. They both took their time walking up to the door. Steve looked him in the eye and Eddie waited with his heart in his mouth.

“How are you at climbing up windows?”

“B-wha?”

Steve leaned in like he was giving a kiss but whispered instead. “There’s a ladder right under my window. Go and park down the street.” Then he kissed his cheek and went inside his house.

Eddie stood there star struck for half a second before bounding back to his vehicle, cranking it on and going where Steve told him to go. After parking, he snuck around the back of the house and saw the ladder. He also saw that Steve’s window was the only one lit up, a soft glow like he’d only turned the lamp on. 

As quietly as he could, he climbed up, hoping the squeaks sounded loud just to him. When he got close to the window and thus the edge of the ladder, he tapped on the glass. Steve opened it and pulled him inside, Eddie’s entrance muffled by some pillows on the floor.

“I would’ve let you in through the front door, but my parents are home”, Steve whispered.

Eddie brushed himself from imaginary dust while Steve closed the window. “No worries”, he spoke just as quietly.

 Even though he made it all the way up here, he was sure what Steve intended to do. He found out when Steve pushed him onto the bed and crawled on top of him. Steve on top and his bedspread under, Eddie was surrounded by the soft sweetness of his scent, one that was spiked with the tang of arousal now.

“I’ve been wanting to do this all night…”

Part 9

Taglist

@marklee-blackmore @aol19 @im-really-annoying @ellietheasexylibrarian @queenie-ofthe-void

@redfreckledwolf @lololol-1234 @cuntyfiedcatholicbisaster @themagicalari

[elementary-my-dear-daddy]

Earning Your Keep

Analogical (Virgil & Logan)

This story will be a series for the sugar daddy idea i've had running around in my head for some time now lmao. I really hope you guys like it since I enjoy writing it :)

Read it on AO3!

Virgil likes to take care of those he holds close, and maybe also a stranger that offered him a ride home.

Virgil was never rich. His family was big and his parents couldn’t make very many ends meet for most of his life, leading him to work his way through school. Once he graduated with a bachelors in psychology, he picked up two jobs to start paying off his loans, one in retail which drove his mental health into the ground, and the other as a behavioral health tech at a rehab center, which only had night-shift positions open and kept him up all night. He was paid and treated like shit, and on the cusp of breaking down when he got extremely lucky. For his 27th birthday he got the usual card with a cheesy message from his grandparents, but instead of the typical twenty bucks or a gift card, he found a lottery ticket sitting neatly inside. He didn’t think much of it, handing it over to the convenience store clerk when he was picking up an energy drink before his next shift.

“I don’t think this is worth anything, but if it has anything on it can I just use it to pay for this?” Virgil put his drink on the counter while the clerk scanned the ticket.

“Woah, woah. Oh my god.” 

“What?”

“Dude, you just won.”

“Huh?” Virgil knit his brow in confusion. He glanced over at the cashier’s screen, noticing the rather large number it displayed.

“Yeah, you won the jackpot! It’s over like 200 million! Holy shit! Here, sign it and take it to a lawyer!” The person handed him back the slip of paper and a pen. Virgil’s brain had short-circuited, causing him to just follow instructions. He didn’t really understand what was happening, so he just took the ticket back and walked out and back to his car, driving straight home and immediately typing ‘what to do if you win the lottery’ into his computer.

A bunch of results came up saying a bunch of stuff- tax experts, lawyers, and a bunch of steps that caused Virgil to lay down on his bed and rock back and forth for a little while. He didn’t believe this was happening to him. Maybe it wasn’t real? This was just a nightmare right? A really good bad nightmare.

All the things he saw online said not to tell anyone, but he couldn’t just sit there not making a decision. He picked up the phone and dialed the only person he knew who could possibly help him out.

~~~~~~~~~~

“You what ?” Janus’ voice hissed through the speakers on Virgil's phone, “Is this some weird joke, because it isn’t landing well.”

“No, no, I promise it's real, I-I checked and the numbers match up and I verified it at the gas station and, and-”

“Virgil, breathe. Calm down. I’m coming over so we can talk. I’ll help you get this figured out, and make sure you aren’t having delusions of grandeur.” Janus sighed, “I’ll be there in 10.”

Janus was over shortly, Virgil working with him to figure out the next course of action. Everything was going so fast. The next day Janus helped him set up meetings and accounts, and get lawyers and a budget going. The week flew by in between the contracts and calls. Even the next few months seemed to go by in a blur of bureaucratic processes. 

The first thing he did was set his parents up with a decent place to live and help them with their debts and medical bills. He did the same for himself, getting his student loans paid off finally and allowing himself to move into a spacey yet cozy penthouse. He quit both his jobs, but tried to end on a good note with his boss at the clinic in case he did ever want to go back. He was, probably for the first time in his life, comfortable.

~~~~~~~~~~

Time kept passing and Virgil had to now figure out what he wanted to spend his time on. He’d picked up his passion for music again now that he could afford nice equipment, but never had the intent to go anywhere with it. He looked into some online classes he could take, just for fun and to keep his mind stimulated. He even worked with Janus and some of his lawyers to start a charity for helping disabled students with loans that didn’t have the luck that he had. That was as close to a job as he had, once they had an office set up he made a regular schedule to help sort things out with it.

The routine he made helped him adjust to his new life. Getting up, going to the office, processing applications, working on his classes and playing music. He didn’t really spend his money anymore beyond his needs. Nothing fancy brought him much happiness. He didn’t host parties or have many friends that hung out with him before he became well off. He’d tried to go on a few dates, but the people he’d seen either knew him from the news when he originally won or they’d act disinterested until he brought up his money. The one time he actually thought he’d found someone he was interested in, the guy had thrown a fit that he wanted to end their 3rd date early to not have a panic attack.

They went to a planetarium, which for the most part Virgil enjoyed, but the segment about how small of a spec the earth was in the grand scheme of the universe triggered the existentialist anxiety of dying alone and not mattering. He had to run out and go calm down, but that proved difficult with his date shouting.

“Do you know how fucking rude it is to just run out on your date? I had to pay for these tickets, you know, and they aren’t cheap!”

“I-I know, i’m sorry, I can, um, here I’ll pay you back-” Virgil started to reach for his wallet.

“Whatever, it’s fine, let’s just see if they’ll let us back in, cmon.” The guy tugged at Virgil’s arm.

“Um…Actually I was wondering if…s-sorry uh, could- could we just go home?”

“What, are you not having a nice night? You could at least not waste my time, you know.” 

“I know, I'm really sorry, we should- maybe, uh… you can go and I’ll just head home and call an uber-”

“Ugh are you serious?” His date frowned, “You know what? Just go, I don’t wanna deal with this anymore. Don’t call me again, we’re done.” 

He watched his date head back into the planetarium and sighed, resigning himself to a bench outside to shake off the rejection. He shivered as a spike of anxiety hit him. He had to count his breaths, but it wasn’t working. He was gonna end up alone and live a completely inconsequential life that had no impact whatsoever and-

“Are you alright?”

Virgil looked over at a man a few feet away from him. He stood tall, sporting glasses and a polo with the logo of the planetarium. Virgil didn’t couldn’t quite make out the name on the man’s name tag through his watery eyes. Oh shit, was he crying? No no no this couldn’t happen in public, he was a grown man crying in public-

“Oh, apologies, I didn’t mean to startle you. I just thought I should intervene.” The man looked at Virgil with concern, “May I sit?”

Virgil nodded, easing slightly as he did. He took a shaky breath and wiped away his tears, “I-I’m so-sor-ry. I could-n’t stay in there. S-sorry.”

“There’s no need to apologize, take as much time as you need to gather yourself.” He spoke calmly. His tone comforted Virgil enough to steady his breathing and collect his thoughts.

“I’m…I’m good. Sorry.” Virgil sighed, “Just had a shitty date.”

The man frowned, “I see. Was he your ride home?”

Virgil nodded, “Figured I’d just get a cab or something.”

“Don’t waste your money, my shift just ended. If you’re comfortable with it I’d be happy to offer you a way home.”

“No no I can’t, I mean- It’s fine it’s not like money’s the issue I just don’t wanna leave him here alone.”

“After he just left you?” 

Virgil looked towards the doors of the planetarium. He slumped his shoulders in resignation, “I guess you’re right.”

“I don’t mean to intrude on your personal affairs, but he is not worth your time if he does not respect your boundaries, and I don’t feel comfortable leaving you in a potentially unsafe environment. I would feel much more assured if I knew you returned home unharmed.”

“Fuck it, ok.” Virgil sighed. He looked over at the man and was able to see him a little more clearly. His name tag attached to a Dr. Who lanyard read Logan in bold font. He looked rather lanky and had bags under his eyes comparable to Virgil’s own.

“Would you like another minute to calm down or would you like to walk with me to my car now? I don’t mind waiting.”

“Uh, no, we can go now. Th-thank you, um, Logan.” Virgil offered a half smile.

“Of course, uh…”

“Virgil.”

“Virgil.” The man- Logan, stood up and motioned for the other to follow him.

Virgil stood and accompanied him to the car. It wasn’t the fanciest thing in the world, far from it. It looked like one of the windows had been punched out and was covered with cardboard and duct tape. It looked like an older car, and when they got in Logan had to start the engine a few times before it actually got running. 

“Please excuse the state of my car,” Logan said pulling his seatbelt on, “I’d fix the window on my own if I could but I’ve been too busy to do so. Here, do you mind putting your address in so I can get directions?”

Logan handed Virgil his phone, the other quickly inputting the info and handing it back. Virgil fastened his own seatbelt as they drove out of the parking lot.

“So, you work at the planetarium?”

“My shirt indicates so.”

“Right.” Virgil nodded, “What started that?”

“I needed a part-time job to work during nights while I attended college. I studied astronomy and a professor recommended applying for the position. The job just stuck after I graduated.” 

“That sounds pretty cool. You get to go to all those shows, right?”

“No, I get to sit in the ticket booth.” 

“Oh.” Virgil looked out the window as they drove, “I didn’t realize.”

“It's alright,” Logan said, shrugging, “I’ve seen them all anyway, when I had more free time.”

“You can’t take a day off?”

Logan’s lips pursed, “Not really. I work two other jobs.”

They both spent the rest of the ride in silence until the car approached the area where Virgil lived.

“You…live over here?” Logan questioned, looking around at the tall, well-kept buildings of the city.

“Um, yeah. I guess.” Virgil sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, “I moved here a few months ago. Doesn’t feel like it though.”

Logan hummed in acknowledgement, still looking around at how different this place seemed compared to where he lived. He pulled up to a decorative building with too many stories to count from his view. He parked the car and turned to Virgil.

“Thank you for allowing me to take you home. I’m sorry you had a rough night but hopefully you’ll find someone else that will accommodate your needs appropriately.” Logan offered a smile.

Virgil returned it, before clumsily reaching to take off his seatbelt and pull out his wallet, “Uh, here.”

He offered a wad of cash to Logan, who in return pushed it back, “No, please don’t worry about covering gas. It isn’t far from my-”

“Take it. Get your window fixed too. And if you need anything else just, um, give me a call or something. Thanks again, Logan.” Virgil said, getting out of the car and shutting the door.

Logan watched him greet the doorman (his building had a doorman?) and head to his apartment, before staring down at the cash. It added up to about $350, plus Virgil's business card. He blinked and debated trying to go after him, but decided he wouldn’t be able to find him since he didn’t know which apartment was his. He pulled out his own wallet and stuffed the cash inside. The card Virgil had given him had his name and number, along with the name of a charity Logan heard the name of a few times from the news. This was too much to process, so Logan just put the card in with the cash and drove home. That was a problem for someone much more well rested.

~~~~~~~~~~

Virgil flopped down on his bed as soon as he got home. He pulled out his phone and immediately blocked his date’s number, writing him off as just another insensitive asshole trying to take advantage of him. He let his mind relax in the safety of his home and tried to just forget about tonight. Except Logan. He couldn’t get him out of his mind.

Working two jobs had Virgil on the verge of a panic attack almost every night, he couldn’t imagine working three like Logan had. And how long had he been driving that car? Wasn’t it dangerous to drive when your engine doesn’t turn over and you don’t have a window? Those bags under his eyes, was he not sleeping well? Was the money he gave him enough to cover everything? 

Virgil exhaled through his nose and flipped onto his back. These were morning problems. Or at least wake up at 3 am and worry about life problems. He glanced at his clock- 10:30. Definitely something to deal with tomorrow.

[sherrymagic]

Lana, do you have any wishes for GMMTV part 2 tomorrow 🫰🏻???

hi there anon!!

to be honest, most of what i was wishing for for Part 2 has already been confirmed to not be happening, and the rest of my top wishes is likely not going to happen as well (not this time at least) since most of the actors involved are not even attending the event.

so in the end this is all i have left on my wishlist:

rumors about the PerthChimon series being a mafia story being true and the budget to be decent, if not super high at least higher than last time. i'm also praying the gods for a director that hates rallenty takes of the same scene from 17 different angles + repeated flashbacks of stuff that happened 3 minutes ago just as much as i do, i don't deserve to go through those things ever again

a FirstKhao/EarthMix mess. and i mean a really messy plot, which for knowledge is 10 times messier than whatever Only Friends was trying to do. FK can have their romcom too i just crave this one imaginary series more than anything ever since i watched Moonlight Chicken, it doesn't need to be done now, i don't even need it before 2025 but if the universe wants to make up for all the stuff i wanted that i'm not getting this is the way to go (unrealistic i know, but a girl can dream)

this is mostly based on a tumblr post i read a while ago but vampire!JoongDunk sounds good. or anything fantasy/supernatural, i feel like Dunk would pull of that sort of character really well with his looks and general aurea

Louis Thanawin back in action with a bl pairing, preferably with a chance of displaying his true potential with something different since i feel like it hasn't happened with the bl characters he's played in the past. give him the thai adaptation of La La Land he was born to play with the most perfect partner assigned to him by my delusion

more gl shows, and apparently it's pretty much confirmed we're getting at least another one although i'm rooting for more. if i could chose i'd especially love to see Earn, Lookjun and Jan getting their own pairings and i think it's about time for Lookjun to get a lead role in a gl, but as long as the plot feels solid i'm not that picky on the pairing combinations & actually ready to be surprised!!

this is it, pretty basic and mostly non-specific i know, but it's all i have to say for this round. hope some pleasant surprise is coming my way though, perhaps something i didn't even think of!

this was fun to write, thank you very much for asking ♡♡♡♡

[catholicism-connoiseur]

"And lo, came a sign"

So lately I've been remarkably unemployed and unremarkably depressed. Been an eventful few months emotionally and mentally speaking, and between that and new medication, I've been in a slightly bizarre headspace at times. However, recently, I've been attending regular therapy, and after one such session, I found myself at a loss for something to do whilst still in town. Bars not open yet, friends either off for the day or still in work for another few hours, and I'd already had myself some of the only decent coffee in town.

And so I think to myself; "What's the most fun a girl can have on a budget?"

And lo, came a sign: St. Peters Roman Catholic church, in all its 19th century French Gothic glory. I entered the church's lofty doorway to take brief shelter in its comparative warmth. Notably, this wasn't the first time I had stopped into the church. What with the state of the modern economy and the greed of corporate capitalism, it is increasingly difficult to leave the house without spending money on some product, amenity or service, if even for the simple pleasure of sitting down someplace. Drogheda's meagre few and underfunded free public services compile a rather short list, so the litany of churches to which entry and perusal costs nothing becomes a more appealing option to pass time.

This time though, I happened upon the church at an opportune time. Turns out, Wednesday is St. Peter's day for confession, that ever-sought-after absolution of sin and wrongdoing. As my current belief system does not revolve around the rotting guilt that Catholicism so often stitches seamlessly to one's psyche, the procedure and philosophy of confessing one's "sins" to an oh-so-forgiving god is one not un-abhorret to me, but admittedly, and quite simply, I was curious. There is no such danger to the mind as a complete lack of doubt; blind faith in anything can be exactly that, and one can easily reject one staunch absolute for another. I wanted to experience that which I held such complex contempt for, to examine within myself whether it was justified and founded in an accurate representation of the practice.

So for the first time in my adult life, I sat in line for confession.

Upon entering the room, my first impression was genuine surprise. There was no booth. No conventional two-part stall in which one could discreetly absolve their burdens of sin. I was taken aback: to my mind, and through all media representation, the booth is a staple and arguably crucial part of the procedure!

To forego the anonymity of the booth was a shock I had little time to assess though, as I now sat across from the priest and had to look him in the eye (an encroachment I was not remotely prepared for) as I verbally fumbled for a reason to be there. I mumbled an ambiguous and vague misdeed, trying to balance a transgression that would feasibly warrant a 21st century lady such as myself going to confession with something I actually considered to be a moral "sin" in hopes to maintain a scrap of my wildly precarious integrity in the moment.

The priest, to his credit, maintained professionalism in the face of what was no doubt an unusual character for his line of work, and prescribed 5 Hail Mary's and 2 Our Father's: a reasonably indistinct penance for a similarly unclear sin. I promptly thanked him, muttered a "Peace be with you", silently questioned whether that was even standard protocol for confession, and left.

As I descended the time-softened steps of the church, I contemplated what I'd seen. Overwhelmingly, I felt that it would be a disservice to both my own piqued curiosity and to the potential for a uniquely funny personal project to abandon further analysis here. So I resolved to bring this to counsel from my friends and companions and gather their input on the matter.

And later that week, the plans were laid out.

[marinerainbow]

And finally- Shiny🪻!

14, 20 and 21 ^^

Again just to remind you- only do them if you want to and have the energy! ^^

The best girl!! Let's go!!!!

14. Would they agree with the term ‘guilty pleasure’? Do they have any?

Similarly to Terry, nope! She doesn't really believe in that spectrum. You like what you like, and it's ok, or you should burn in hell for it (if you like using roofies on people, Shiny will damn you to H E double 🏒 in her mind). She's been around, so she's seen some pretty weird shit. But as long as it's harmless, who cares?

20. What do they like that nobody else does?

The dancer giggled and set down the bouquet you offered her, her jewelery sparkling and bringing life to her outfit despite the clubs dim lights, "Thanks for the flowers, honey. I've got plenty of 'tabboos', I'm sure. In and out of the sheets. Off the top of my head, I like those god-awful movies. You know the ones. The budget went nowhere, the plot is practically non-existent, the actors lied on their resume, whatever the reason is. Pick your poison. They always get a laugh out of me. Makes my boyfriend jelous sometimes, and he'll try to distract me his own way."

"... Depending on what I'm feeling, I'll let him get away with it~"

21. What would it take for them to break up with someone? What would be the last straw?

Shiny is surprisingly tolerant of a lot of things. She knows she's not a Saint, and she knows that when you point a finger, you point three right back at you. If her partner did some awful shit and she was in love with them, she'd be willing to try to make it work... Unless they did that horrible shit to her.

I'll use Griny as an example. Greasy, we know how much he loves women, yeah? How he loves them yet seems to be allergic to being decent about it? Well, as we know with the ship, Shiny is aware of the kind of lascivious man he is, and she doesn't tolerate it, but she still loves him. Not to mention all of the crap he does for Smartass and Doom, to other toons. Shiny has lost the will to care about complete strangers so she doesn't bat an eye to any story she finds in the paper. But if Greasy ever started treating her how he would treat other women, then it's over between them. And he knows it; there have been plenty of close calls between them where Greasy almost slipped up.

So yeah, Shiny is fine shacking it up with an awful person. She won't agree with what you do, but if she loves you, she's loyal. The fastest way to lose her is by betraying her loyalty like this.

I hope you like these answers! Thank you so much for sending this ask in! ^^

[too-destiny-panda]

Wyllvember Day 27: Genre Swap - Sci-Fi

A/N: Only three days left in Wyllvember! Time passed by so fast! Some of you may notice I din't post anything yesterday, and the reason for that is that I decided to use that day as a break, since I began feeling a little burnt out. Plus, I already did a similar prompt during Wyllweek, and I felt like I would be repeating myself anyways, so it all worked out! I still made today's prompt slightly longer to make up for it, so I hope you like it! Tagging @sagscrib and @commander-yinello WC: 921

The alarms blared as personnel rushed through corridors, the overhead speakers almost completely drowned out by the various shouts and footsteps.

Attention, the vessel is under attack. All personnel please man your stations. Attention, the vessel is under attack. All personnel, please man your stations. Attention…

The robotic voice continued to repeat its automated sequence. You were rushing too, hastily buttoning up the front of your uniform to at least be somewhat presentable. If your body was destined to be found floating space, you would at least look decent damn it! Gods, why did this have to happen while you were sleeping? Though you supposed it made sense to target a mostly sleeping ship, but weren’t there at least AIs for some of these things? And you’re pretty sure the more important workstations, such as yours, has a rotation of staff. Ugh. If this happened because your shift replacement dozed off… Come on, sure, merchant ships have a tight budget, but surely, they can afford to hire reliable people to monitor communications and frequencies, right? Right.

As you sprinted down the hallway, towards the bridge, familiar footsteps joined you in tandem. Your friend, with whom you have been taking jobs since you graduated, is running alongside you, not nearly as panicky as the others you have passed, but definitely the grumpiest.

“One of the kids didn’t monitor the radar properly,” they huffed out, air beginning to be in short supply, as the dormitories were practically on the opposite side of the very big ship. “I swear, once I get my hands on the fucking walnut that didn’t turn on the stealth detection mode—”

A sudden, harsh impact, sent both of you sprawling on the floor, skidding to a stop a few feet in front of the bridge. Now the flashing lights turned on, their red colour signalling that someone unauthorized is currently trying to board the vessel. You hoped the airlock would hold for only a little while longer. You pull yourself up, hauling your friend with you and finally stumble onto the bridge, which is in even worse shape than you thought. The captain is nowhere to be found, multiple sections are arguing and blaming each other, it is utter and total chaos. You note with a sour scowl that your station, which should be occupied at all times, is conspicuously empty. You rush over to it, beginning to send out a distress signal, as well as shutting down and locking all doors leading to the airlock, hoping to at least slow down the pirates.

As that is all you can do, you check the register to see who was supposed to be here, only to find it empty, the slot blank. You blink, once, twice, before you realise that whoever was here was probably a mole. You groan. This is why you didn’t like merchant ships. Too cheap for their own good and they often don’t bother with the goddamn background checks. You yell towards another sector asking who was here before you. The answer didn’t disclose much, other than letting you know it was a new guy, scrawny and jumpy. At least you have witnesses you did everything right. And from the sound of it, you weren’t alone as your illustriously well-spoken companion began cursing up a storm about whoever was hired onto their position.

Panic grew as someone screeched that the airlock has been breached, now arguments were being made on who would get to leave in the escape pods instead. You were just about to cry out of both frustration and fear, when a booming voice carried itself over the commotion.

“Calm yourselves, my good folks, there is nothing to fear, for I, the Blade of Frontiers, will take care of the pirates and keep you safe!”

His words had an effect, the cacophony of sounds quieting down as everyone looked towards the young human standing in place of the captain (who no doubt already fled). You studied this new arrival sceptically. You didn’t really pay attention to the rumours about this new space hero, who would defeat fleets of pirates singlehandedly and end rings of slavers without breaking a sweat. Understandably, you doubted most of those things were true and therefore tuned out of any conversation that brough him up. Who could blame you? Such feats often couldn’t be accomplished by entire squadrons, let a lone a lone person, who by the looks of it was in his early 20’s. He was handsome enough to be a hero, you admit, and his charisma was undeniable. You wracked your memory as to how such a well-known person made its way onto the ship, before settling on the explanation you were probably too busy working to pay attention to gossip about passengers.

You watched as he gave a few directions, before turning to you.

“My good citizen, would you mind opening the doors leading to the airlock? You can lock the rest. Do not worry, I will take care of everything”.

You simply nodded at him and did as he asked, watching in disbelief as he unsheathed an actual sword and rushed head on towards the enemy. You could only shake your head, sharing a look with your friend as another crew member began displaying the camera footage of your potential saviour. You would find out soon enough that all the stories were true, and that this was not the last time you would work together.

[mooodyblue]

Hi Lily! Hope your day is going great!

I have a question regarding the movie and specifically Elordi's performance. He basically just let out a "statement" (I read it on some popculture updates account on IG) in which he basically says that it's "fucking absurd" that ppl are comparing him playing Elvis with Austin. I mean- Austin set the bar VERY high, that's for sure. From what I've seen, I wasn't really satisfied with his performance (imo; everyone has different opinions). I'm just very troubled on this, bc Elordi isn't exactly new to acting. What do you think of this?

austin will always be my elvis (again, haven't seen all adaptations of him so....)

jacob could have been a good elvis if the movie had the budget and he had more time to prepare as elvis. i'm not saying to go as deep as austin, but his southern accent was very......well. it was something. the effort was there, but again...if he worked on it a little more, he could have been a pretty decent elvis.

i feel like no matter who is chosen to play elvis in literally any sort of biopic or movie (god help us all if we get anymore.), that comparison to austin will always be there. austin's now the standard, and he definitely set the bar very very high.

honestly it's very crazy to me that this movie is supposed to be about priscilla yet the focus is still on elvis.

[crystalelemental]

Unit Viability Speculation - December 2022

Boy, I sure hate Greninja.  If there’s one Pokemon I can’t stand even more than Charizard, it’s Greninja.  I sure hope there are no Greninjas in this update.

*checks Twitter*

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I can’t believe they made two of them.  At the same time!  And they’re both Master Fair, are you serious?  Ugh.  Barf.  I hate them.  Which is a pity, because Serena’s outfit is one of the best in the game.  She’s so pretty, I’d kill for that, but...Greninja.

I will say outright, I had reservations.  These are the first master fair units since 5/5 grids dropped.  But you will be delighted or disappointed to know, Master Fairs do not get 5/5 grids.  Yet.  So Serena and Calem only need 3/5 for max performance.

Champion Serena Serena is a Water and/or Dark Tech, specializing in multi-hit Water Shuriken and defense debuffs.  She seems honestly fine?  The only benefit she has over other Water-type damage dealers is a Rebuff, but so does Hilbert, so I guess they just really want Water content dead.  The big draw, at least on my end, is Dark.  Dark is a fairly rare offensive typing in my book, and this does cover that option fairly nicely.  But to be frank, Serena feels like a problem.  Her self-setup caps crit, but does not cap either offense.  She needs offensive support, and is a Master Fair, meaning you ideally want that to come from your own region.  Which means Calem, since she also kinda wants both offenses so her Buddy move works well.  The big money is just in debuffs.  Unfortunate Strike 9 means she hits a target for -5 in one Water Shuriken, does it again for -10, then gets -2 to both defenses on Buddy move and another -1, for -15 in one cycle.  That’s pretty good.  Her Dark form also has Staggering and Discombobulate, which...sure.  It’s worth noting, transformation occurs prior to damage being dealt, so you’re always with the preferred passives in either type.

That said, her grid seems like shit.  I can’t find too much that’s exciting about it.  Double Power Play, and Furious Brain, are about the only useful tiles.  Everything else feels like fluff.  I think Champion Serena will be good, because Master Fair with tremendous 1/5 debuffing kit, but I feel like this is a notable step down from the third year anniversary power level.  Thank god.  I hated the rats.  But Serena’s great.  It feels like just the right level of power.  Shame about Greninja.

Champion Calem Calem gets hit with the Support bat, welcome to Aura Cynthia status my dude.  Look at this dude trying to push into SS Kris’ territory.  His Buddy move can set Dark Zone or Rain, depending on its own type, and gives 2 stacks of physical (Dark) or special (Water) moves up next.  Calem’s similarly focused on Water Shuriken, but instead of max hits every time, he gets a 30% chance to restore some of his own HP per hit.  His trainer move is 1 use, and doesn’t cap anything.  Calem doesn’t seem so good at base.

Grid slaps.  Umbral Healing 9 is great.  Giving the entire team Endure on entry is bonkers.  Guaranteed Triple is at least getting decent consistency from his multistrike move.  Group Fortification seems fun, if you get evasion running.  Crit Squad at least caps crit.  There are legitimately great things here.

But.  Master Fairs tend to differ from PokeFairs in their 1/5 sufficiency.  They tend to have everything they need in their base performance.  SS Kris does this.  While speed can be a concern, her main role of Rain and capping special attack/crit for a team is all there in the base 1/5 kit.  Calem does not do this.  Calem feels hard required to take 3/5.  His consistent healing is 3/5.  His useful buffing is 3/5.  Capping any stat is 3/5.  He’s a Master Fair that’s demanding of move levels, and that feels...not ideal to me.  Of the two, I think Calem has overall more utility because of the field effect setting, but Serena’s more budget friendly given all of her best tools, barring one multiplier, exist at 1/5.

Lodge Serena Serena’s also our lodge unit!  Yay?  She comes with Fletchling.  Cute.  It’s a Flying Tech.  Sure.  Peck, Dire Hit+, Flame Charge, Trainer move gives +2 attack, +1 evasion, and Reflect for some reason.  Neato.  What’s really, endlessly funny to me is Overwhelm 9 and Trip Up 9.  She’s a debuffer.  Okay.  Oh I’m sorry, a debuffer with Staggering 2.  Sure.  Okay.

Grid got Unfortuitous 4, Slippery 1, 50% burn when she hits a foe for Gauntlet shenanigans, Fast Track 9 on Flame Charge, and...Cakewalk.  Ugh.  UGH.

She’s fine.  Like every other offensive Lodge unit, needs offensive support, but I think in this case, optimal play is something like Hop.  Just get rid of the trainer moves, and spam Flame Charge.  Guaranteed max speed and -3 speed on the foe for sync purposes.  Seems easy enough.  Though admittedly, I kinda like this less than Kahili and Winona.

Winter Whitney Good lord, what is happening over there?

Okay, let me start with some stuff.  Headbutt with Aggravation 1.  Great.  Already useful.  Horn Leech.  Chad Sycamore 2.0?  She has the speed and offensive stats to back it, but there’s more.  Move Gauge Boost.  Now, before you groan.  Hear me out.  Trainer move.  Crit Defense, Move Gauge Acceleration.  But.  Depending on the remaining PP on Move Gauge Boost?  Field Effect.  If 2, Grassy Terrain.  If 1, Psychic.  If 0, Electric.  Friends.  Whitney’s healing is through the roof.  Not only is this Chad Sycamore 2.0 with better offensive stats, it’s got inherent Terrain.  And blocks crits.  I...love this.  Oh but it gets funnier.  Her passives work with different terrain.  So in Grassy, it lowers the defense of all foes, then boosts the defense of all allies.  Yeah.  Defense debuffs and Terrain with a healing move.  I won’t even be mad if they don’t give her Master Healer, I don’t think she needs it.  Under Psychic Terrain, it’s special defense, so welcome another support to Giovanni.  And under Electric, it’s speed, so like...alright.  Sure.

Grid gets Mad Strength 9.  ...do...do I need to keep going?  She gets this shit at 2/5, man.  Empowering Overgrowth 3 for more damage under Grassy Terrain.  Sure girl.  Whatever you want.  Terrain Sync and Interference Sync 9.  That’s really good, but she is a Normal type, so...you know.  Flabbergast with Mind Boggler.  This is so unnecessary why are you like this?  Shock Recovery.  Can’t get your Grassy Terrain anymore?  How about another stack of passive recovery, on the house?  SYNC BURST?!  SHE GOT SYNC BURST ARE YOU SERIOUS?!  Okay, hold on.  ...okay.  Okay there’s the limitation.  She doesn’t get natural MPR on her trainer move.  Got it.  For a second, I thought she was the best unit in the game.

Whitney’s good.  Whitney might be real good.  A lot of this comes at 1/5.  The only thing 3/5 really does for her is her sync nuke, and Aggravation, which you’re probably not going for that often with Horn Leech around.  The core of her build?  The terrain and debuffs?  That’s natural.  She’s a sustain tank like Sycamore, but the offensive partner.  I kinda love it.  This is justice for Whitney.

Winter Jasmine I can’t believe they actually gave me the Jasmine I wanted.  She’s a support with Mega Ampharos.  No Electric Terrain, sadly, but like...it’s fine, I can flex with it.  Why?

Death to Classic Red.  About a year and a third ago, Classic Red came out, and people were mixed on the response.  On the one hand, Supereffective Up Next, applicable to a unit for sync nuking purposes.  That’s neat!  On the other, very little that he did was impressive outside of that.  We’ve since gotten to enjoy the concept of fast-ramping, so he’s still useful, but now there is another.  Jasmine can apply Supereffective Up Next.  Delightful.  She also has Potion, so that’s great.  Thundershock is the one-bar spam.  Trainer move...is Jasmine’s problem.  It buffs defenses of a target by 3.  A target.  Singular.  She does not buff the team all at once.  This...bugs me.  Her passives salvage a bit.  Endurance is nice, and she buffs team crit when she uses a trainer move, so that’s helpful.  She also buffs her own defenses by 1 when using a trainer move.  So that’s the plan.  She buffs an ally’s defenses to cap, then gets +1 to herself as well.  It’s not a terrible plan, except that her baseline defenses aren’t ideal until she mega evolves.  They’re not bad, but they’re kinda...Halloween Caitlin, if that helps categorize.  This is doubled to +2 per use when mega evolving, so in an odd twist, I kinda feel like Jasmine wants to save her buffing for after mega evolution.  Never thought I’d see the day.  It also replaces Endurance with gradual healing, so that’s nice.

Grid’s a mixed bag.  Thundershock gets Hostile Environment 2, but this is a fakeout because she has Static Cling 9 to paralyze regardless.  Team Shout 4 is big money.  When she takes hits, she can buff offenses for the team.  Unfortunately...SS Blue.  I don’t think I need to explain beyond that?  Like, if you want a defensive supporter that boosts offenses, SS Blue has Team Shout 9.  She gets Team Entry skills for attack or special attack, but it’s only +1, so not saving anything.  Double Potion MPR is great, and I like that her trainer move can also give stacks of physical or special moves up next.  That’s a niche.

On the whole...she’s fine.  I don’t think she’s exceptional.  I’m kinda bummed she’s not the Electric Terrain support we’ve been waiting for.  But she’s good and I like my defensive supports.  Just pair her with someone who can cap their offensive stats reliably, and you’ll be fine.

Fantina Grid Yes sir, I like it.  Mind Games 4, Smarty-Pants, Super Preparation 9, Sharp Entry to remove the need for MPR.  It’s good!  I like it a lot.  She does need help though.  Still not a self-sufficient buffer.  Still not a consistent debuffer.  But most importantly...she’s more consistent about her supereffective up next sync than Anni Lillie.  *sigh*

SS Leaf Grid Bad.  I’m sorry, it’s bad!  It’s bad.  Toxic Power 1?  On a PokeFair?  Seriously?  Toxic Freebie is something, I’ll definitely take it, but what is this Venomous 2 shit?  Just give me Venomous 4!  Make it guaranteed at base, then keep the 50% chance when mega evolved!  You don’t have to be like this!  Pinpoint Entry, Noxious Hit debuffing offensive stats, and Power Play are all solid.  Noxious Hit in particular is great for stall cores, effectively compressing the Toxic, offense debuffing, and healing into one role.  But, she got no additional support for healing.  And these nodes are full cost.  I’d have to see layout, but I’m willing to bet SS Leaf runs into energy problems out the ass.  I don’t like it.

Marnie Grid Solid.  Does what she wants.  High paralysis rate, buffs team speed per hit, buffs crit rate per hit, debuffs Atk/Def of a paralyzed foe per hit.  Very useful.

Common Grid War Act 13 Surge, Janine, and Agatha.  What’s good, you three?

Surge got Trip Up, Hostile Environment 3, Static Shock 3, Charging Infliction 1 on Eerie Impulse, Devastation, and Pep Rally on X Speed.  Oh, and Sharp Entry, for whatever that’s worth.  It’s fine?  Can’t complain.

Janine the stall queen, what is good girl?  Hostile Environment 5, and Hostile Environment 3, that is comedic.  Discombobulate is hilarious for a stall unit, just potentially dodge shit.  Venom Drench MGR4 is beautiful.  Safety Tether and Hit and Heal is hilarious.  Pep Rally is amazing.  But you may notice.  No sync multipliers.  Crit Strike 1, I guess, but come on.  Janine remains the stall queen.  Little else exists for her.  Which...is sad given how rough stall has been for the game lately.

Agatha does not have Troublemaker on grid.  I need to get that out of the way now.  She gets accuracy +10 and Pinpoint Entry, but don’t.  80% is too inconsistent.  Healthy Healing is fine.  On a Roll 1 and 2 is...sure a thing.  That’s like an 80% shot, right?  Into Brainteaser, not bad at all.  Lick Hostile Environment is nice.  Ramming Speed is nice given she instant caps.  First Aid 4 is cute, but HP Tradeoff 5 is hysterical.  Ramp Up on trainer move is something.  Rude Awakening 5, which you may as well given it’s the natural multiplier.  It’s solid!  I think she’s good, but I also think she’s a little bit of a mess?  Lick goes away on mega evolution, so sure hope you weren’t using her for damage purposes if she’s paralyzing.  They gave some decent move damage modifiers, and a great special defense debuffing rate, which I think is her new niche.  Sync doesn’t seem all that special, and is hard to set up with sleep.  But they didn’t perfectly lock in Hypnosis accuracy, which is funny because they did for Ramos’ Sleep Powder.  Not sure how much I love it yet, but she sure is interesting. 

[jihef03]

So here we are, I assume it’s the last trailer before the movie’s release. So Imma talk about it a bit. (my opnion is lowkey the same as one of the french youtube comments but hey)

The okay stuff:

-The soundtrack sounds good. It definitely sounds grand and calls for adventure so there’s that.

-Gilles Lelouche seems to do a decent job as Obélix. He certainly feels like the more likeable of the bunch. (which might have to do with Obélix being an inherently likeable character himself tbh) The trailer focuses fairly on him actually, which sort brings back to the tacit idea that Obélix *is* the protagonist of the series so that’s not bad.

-Vincent Cassel looks good as César, he certainly brings the charisma for it if even they’re playing him as a bit of ajoke here, like “Dude’s trying to be cool” kind of deal. And his quarrels with Cleopatra Cottilard*might* be a bit enjoyable to watch.

-Between the battle scenes and the landscape the budget starts to show a bit, so that’s nice.

The ominous stuff :

-Hope you liked the love plots of God Save Britannia cause we’re a getting a second round of these! Asterix and Jonathan Cohen want to get the princess, and Obélix falls in love with the bodyguard.

-Speaking about Astérix, I still not sure about Canet’s take. It looks like he wants to do something interesting with him buuuut we’re veering closer to Baer’s Astérix rather than Clavier’s or even Cornillac’s soooo....

-The movie will likely have a lot of comedy club bits. Granted we always have these in Astérix movie but these are like handling mercury and it really boils down to one’s sense of humor.

Anywho this is probably the best trailer of all three, even if I’m not sure it’s gonna win more people.

Prediction it’ll be above God Britannia and maaaaybe a bit higher than the Olympic Games at best, but yeah Against César and Mission Cleopatra stay on top.

[the-emblematic]

I finally watched Blood Origin and it was…fine? Like the plot was okay. Most of the acting was decent, with a couple of stand out characters (Meldof my beloved) and Sophia Brown has a great voice. Definitely want to hear more from her

It was obviously lower budget and felt super rushed with only 4 episodes but I guess that sort of worked with the storytelling framing device they used

I’m glad Jaskier was in it because I always want to see more of him but that song at the end… guys I’m just gonna say it. The song was bad. Like joey’s singing was good but the lyrics were god-awful. Worse than toss a coin by far imo. It makes me so sad. Netflix has got a great musical talent in joey and they’re just not using him to his fullest potential and idk why. I sincerely hope they let him write some of the songs for the next seasons

Anyway the biggest thing that got to me was how much they messed around with the lore. Like are they implying the wild hunt starts because Eredin gets stranded on another sphere….completely alone? Because. No. Where is everyone else, how can that make sense? And is Ciri supposed to be a descendent of Eile and Fjall??

overall I give it a 4.5/10. Some decent bits but overall not worth it

[fanfictionatic]

I’m sorry

This is probably going to make a lot of people upset, but I have pretty much been forced to use an AI for concept art of my OCs. I still want to commission someone eventually, but unfortunately after doing a lot of digging I just absolutely could not find anyone willing to do 3 character concept arts for a story as dark as mine and even if I could, I would probably have to scrap if I ever publish physical copies of my book since no one I have seen with slots open is willing to do art for that kind of thing at all (which would make me feel bad if I did publish my book as an actual book because if I like the artwork I would want to include it and give the person I commissioned a cut for every copy sold with the cool art). My plan is to use these images as place holders as long as Outcasts is completely free and there are no physical books/I find someone that I can actually commission for the art I need.

Money isn’t really the problem, I have a decent budget for this. But the fact is no human will draw my characters at the moment and stock images have their own issues so I have nowhere else to turn to. My first story was so unpleasing aesthetically with the stock image I picked that I’m worried it might sink any chance of people reading it if I continue like this. I have spent years writing up the plot and characters for this story and I can’t let it fail just because someone picked a more colorful header than me and the post with my story slipped through the cracks. I spent sooo long just working on writing that chapter alone and it was all for nothing because other horror writers can actually draw and I can’t because I am pretty much just a writer and nothing else. Having all of that work go to waste broke me after looking at the numbers my non original work gets, but no one is going to click on a boring grey post with a stuffy old stock image when there are pages and pages of OC sheets in the tags and incredible art that I could only ever dream of making.

I don’t blame people for not wanting to draw for something this dark, but at the same time I need to do something. I can’t just sit back and let my original work be hidden like this forever because I couldn’t make the posts visually appealing enough with what I have.

Let me make this clear, I do not like what the AI art industry is doing. I am not by any means a capitalist. I am aware that the AI can be used for theft and while I used to do a lot of AI art back when it was fun and memey, I have taken pretty much all of it down that I can remember posting. While I like the tech behind it, I am not going to dance around the fact that the creators of these programs are money hungry bastards that don’t care if actual art thieves use their programs and have no regard for the actual artists that got the programs there in the first place.

This is why I’m apologizing. Because I know that currently there is no ethical way to use these programs unless the people that make them start putting in safeguards against theft. This is a bad thing I am doing and I fully admit that. You are absolutely free to hate me and unfollow me for this because damn, I would probably do the same thing and I hate myself for doing this too.

But this story just means too much to me to let it die in a hole. At the end of the day I hate the people that ruined this tech for everyone because of capitalism and theft, but I do not hate them more than I love my characters and the world I built. They have kept me company when my real friends and family literally and figuratively left me to die. I feel like I owe it to them to do this so that their story can be shared the way it needs to be.

So I am sorry to everyone, but I am going to do what needs to be done for one of the few things that makes me want to live anymore even if it is a very horrible and ugly thing to do.

I really wish it hadn’t come to this. I don’t plan to make money off of these things and I can only hope to whatever god exists that someone comes along that I can commission eventually because I’m still not willing to publish a paper book with art made using programs run by these awful people. If I have to keep it free/virtual forever and never publish a physical book so be it. I wanted to eventually turn it into a physical book because physical books are another dying media that I enjoy that got ruined by tech, but I’m not in it for the money, I am in it to tell a story and to create my own art which is my writing.

I know I am still an absolutely awful person for doing this and refusing to make money off of this isn’t much of a protest, but it’s all I can really do when I’m backed into a corner like this.

Also I hope one day someone can train one of these programs and safeguard it the right way so that people like me aren’t strong armed into supporting people that hurt artists, because there are sadly probably more people like me out there with dark content that will run into the same problem. Artists shouldn’t be forced to draw things they are uncomfortable with and maybe in some brighter future, AI could be a more ethical substitute for that than it is now.

[davespit]

9/19/24

weird to start this. sitting on the toilet watching it's always sunny and typing this out but. you get it. i'll get up in a second. i've started this because i have a feeling i won't be able to sleep until i can figure out my whole life in like twenty minutes...... i wish life worked like that. i'm so tired of waiting or feeling lost and letting things happen but i probably should let go sometimes too. i think i have a hard time letting go but in the way that i either let go too much or not at all? how do i let go a Decent amount of time but not all the time? like a realistic amount? i need to figure out my budget tomorrow and write a cover letter but i don't know when i'll have the time... maybe after i get home from work? getting mpox vaxxed tomorrow or maybe i should just push it to another day because i kinda wanna come home and be with b. his aunt passed and i've been so busy and i miss him a lot. i wish i could skip to the part of my life where everything is ok. i wish i could skip to when b and i live together and i have no worries except what to make for dinner or how to cuddle that night. god i can't wait to see him. i hope i can get to the gym tomorrow, i'm gonna sleep now-ish so i can get up since i wrecked myself last night and today. maybe i am getting old.

mood: apathetic, lethargic, stressed, dehydrated

affirmations: i can do hard things, do what you can with what you have, things will work out for me

goals for tomorrow: gym, work, budget, cover letters

until next time...........

[libraryofcirclaria]

07 February 1282

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Seven: Sarah Marks

I have to admit that despite all the drama last year, Dyla Cormick is someone with whom I mesh very well, thus the reason she and I decided to be roommates this semester.

Well, we definitely share one thing in common: our contempt toward Peter Crane. We knew, along with half of the Society Membership, that he would be quite an incompetent individual as a Dungeonmaster, especially when he and Kara Martins went on that charismatic platform against Ceri Mains and the Darkfire Community, and then falsely accusing random Members of willfully assisting her in hijacking the Arturian Realm. Kara did most of the talking but Peter Crane was a supporter, not just an enabler.

So why did slightly more than half of the Caucus vote for him? Simple: the budget.

For roughly the last two decades, ever since Jon Beyon and his console model, the Third Level Society, under every successive Dungeonmaster, had been taking on project after project. That included building up the Interglobal Arturian Void and the many planets, constructing renovations on Society venues like the Chamber and the Society Library, and more recently building the "block realms," separate realms accessible through portals on certain worlds and constructed by Contributors for individuals not content with the Arturian Realm and wishing to rule through their avatars as gods over them.

These "block realm" projects, and all the other aforementioned projects cost money, of course. And admittedly, up to this point, though revenue versus expenditure had always been a concern, there was no real alarm raised or serious action taken. And during the 1281-82 school year, we overran our budget by about 17 percent. Luckily, we had reserves to float our finances, but even I agree that this was a problem.

And none of the Dungeonmasters, or Dungeonmaster candidates, made this an urgent priority along with Contributor project requests, which all hoped would ultimately draw in more revenue to balance everything out on its own.

Peter Crane was the first outspoken Society Member to highlight this issue.

That was how he won majority of Member voters. He made it very clear that we were operating on a budget deficit with more projects on the pipeline, the most expensive of which being a venue for avatar dueling. Peter made a very clear goal, in fact using a spreadsheet, to balance the Society budget by eliminating unnecessary expenses. He vowed to ax the expensive projects and then go further by doing a thorough inquiry on the budget to find and eliminate other sources of wasteful spending.

The problem I and half of the Caucus saw with his agenda was that, past the unnecessary projects mentioned, Peter did not mention concrete examples of wasteful spending sources, nor were there examples of his solutions. But with all the tense politics happening both inside and outside the Society, and also the fact that Peter is actually a finance major, just enough Members voted for Peter to gain the Dungeonmaster position.

Moreover, while the duel between Kara and Dyla last year was quite the source of amusement, it did earn both of them a reputation for being emotionally unstable. And against the relatively dry and objective personality of Peter Crane, Dyla stood no chance.

So now Peter Crane is the Third Level Society Dungeonmaster.

A lot of my friends, who hated Peter Crane last year, have come to accept the loss and have resolved that "maybe Peter will make a decent Dungeonmaster if we give him the chance." But I did not let down my wariness. Last month, he had the Bookkeeper, John Edwards, pull every employee record for every Administrator and Contributor and rank each one from highest rate of pay to lowest. At the top stood Tom Rohrbaugh, Administrator for the Galacian Realm, the Terraworld Plane, on Arturia proper. Peter mentioned at a small meeting that he would do the ranking; and I know now that Tom was the highest paid because of what Peter did next. He accused Tom of having pulled ropes in the past to get higher pay and also to do favors for Ceri Mains.

Per the motions of the Bookkeeper, the Caucus had to meet this week. But they voted Rohrbaugh innocent. So Peter's agenda there was a failure.

That is all and well because Tom Rohrbaugh is a very good Administrator and a very good person. It's only his brother, Richard Rohrbaugh, that I have a problem with. There's nothing wrong with Richard. In fact, he joined the Legalize Darkfire Movement long before Tom did. But Richard is quite inspired by Dyla and me; in fact, excessively so.

I cross my fingers and hope that it's only the common interests that spark the inspiration and not something else.

***

That is the sum of politics inside the Third Level Society. There is, of course, the situation outside the Society, primarily the strike.

Kara Martins mentioned it. And though everyone sees her as charismatic and unstable, what she said did contain a grain of truth.

So there is this franchise known as the Global Academy of North Circlaria. They have been acquiring ownership of numerous schools across various nations throughout the Circlarian Realm for quite a few years now. And since the 1270s, they have been acquiring schools here in Middle Remikra. Though Cabotton University has not been directly acquired by the Global Academy, for the University Constitution does not permit that sort of thing, it did sign a contract with the Global Academy where they hired a figure from that organization to preside over Cabotton University as a Provost-In-Lieu of the Global Academy. We pay his salary, and he writes statements for everything happening in the University from the curriculum to budget reconciliations. Though these statements, and the Provost-In-Lieu, hold no real power over Cabotton University, the Global Academy will award special Global Academy Certificates in addendum to University degrees so that Cabotton University graduates have advantage in employment in the real world. That is, the Global Academy will do this if the University and its democratic institutions fulfill the statements issued by the Provost-In-Lieu. For University leadership there is incentive because those with such degrees, or Global Academy degrees from the "directly-acquired" universities are put on a special Federal Registry that employers must consult first and give unconditional job offers to without screenings or interviews, in accordance to a federal law passed in 1276. When hired, these graduates will get higher pay, but will also see a portion of paid salary go back to Cabotton University and a portion go back to the Global Academy.

Another advantage was for the faculty, who were promised a minimum of a 7.5 pay increase each year; and that has been implemented since Cabotton University entered this agreement shortly after that federal law was signed. However, every three years or so, the Global Academy leadership has been implementing a 25 percent pay cut, stating that this was due to "economic concerns and that the Academy will seek to recover losses in pay in due time." That promise, though, was never delivered. And this has been happening repeatedly so that by the time Cabotton entered its arrangement, numerous faculty across numerous Circlarian Schools had grown frustrated.

With each acquisition came a call from the United Educators of Circlaria, UEC, to have the faculty at each school acquired collaborate and form a union, and sign to become a chapter of this labor organization. Ninety percent of schools across Circlaria have some sort of affiliation with the Global Academy, and about ninety-five percent of those schools have each a UEC chapter.

By the way, Cabotton University also has a UEC chapter.

Last summer, shortly before the Ceri Mains incident. An assembly of UEC representatives met in the Global Academy Lobby in Cenofan, and brought the Global Academy Board of Trustees to a negotiation, during which UEC Leader Roger Kline presented the pay cut issue, along with a list of numerous other grievances. These talks went very poorly, as the Board was quite stubborn, especially with the faculty pay. At the end, one Trustee was reported to have said, "We are willing to risk a general strike if it means defending the integrity of Principle Five."

Principle Five is a clause in the Global Academy's little Constitution that dictates the almost absolute power of the Trustees over faculty pay. When the Trustee said what he said, Roger reportedly snapped his book shut, said, "So be it" and exited the chamber.

So there is a real possibility of a general strike, that is, a coordinated general strike carried out by every UEC chapter across every Global Academy school across Circlaria. The Congress of Circlaria Judiciary ruled surprisingly that even UEC chapters in independently-affiliated schools, of which Cabotton University is one by the way, had a right to bargain with Global Academy leadership.

In fact, they said that "any UEC chapter in any organization affiliated with the Global Academy" had such bargaining rights. That includes the Third Level Society, which recently had its faculty union join as a UEC chapter. And they definitely had their own list of grievances against Peter Crane as well as the Academy.

News of the possibility of the general strike was not as high of a concern last year as it is now, thanks in part to the Weyne-North feud and the Ceri Mains incident. But now with no progress made in talks with the Global Academy since then, the Flagstaff is writing more and more articles on "if there is a general strike." It's being discussed more and more among us, especially at the Slack.

In fact, Dyla and I have planned for such a thing, promising to completely disengage from the Arturian Realm and help the striking educators.

Meanwhile, Peter Crane to this day denies that there will ever be a strike. I think he is completely removed from reality in that regard. True that he cared about the Society budget, but he gives off an impression of being removed from the ninety-nine percent of the outside world. After all, both of his parents are bankers and have indoctrinated him into pursuing the same lucrative vocation despite not feeling passionate about it. Or so that was what Kara Martins has been saying. I hear that she and Peter have broken up.

Nevertheless, Peter Crane keeps making this vague statement: "In the unlikely event that we strike, I will ensure as a Dungeonmaster that nothing with the Third Level Society will be disrupted." Of course, he refuses to answer what approach he would take. But based on his first month as the Dungeonmaster, I can venture a guess.

-> 23 February 1282 ->

[kellodrawsalot]

SHORT Sonic animation review from bad to good

ADVENTURES OF SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

I put this as the lowest, as I really get bored watching this. It's obnoxious and not funny

The low budget animation doesn't help. Robotnik is anoyying. 4/10

Sonic Prime

Wasted potential, having a multiverse story and you use the most boring ideas that was already boring when archie comics did it in the 90s. Eggman gets shelved to make evil Tails the villain. He's badly written. Don't even talk about Sonic's writing...the 2010s was the start of Sonic being lame (and if you want to pretend Sonic was cool in Lost World or Forces, im already convinced you're lying to yourself to pretend Sonic Team never does anything inconsistent, please, they are flawed writers consider the weird retcons they make) but PrimeSonic is so far removed from gameSonic that it's laughable and then there was the ending...

It means nothing, making you think what was the point of the series? The fact the showrunners said it was canon, shows to me that Sonic team doesnt care about the lore as much as the fans do. I could ignore all of that if the show was good or enjoyable ...but its not. Its boring and so generic. But Hey Shadow is atleast cool here. 5/10

Sonic Underground

This is honesty not as well made as Prime. But unlike Prime I don't get too bored watching this. The off model scenes are hilarious and some of the songs like the opening are ..pretty nice? Badly written? Yes, this was made to promote the Sonic adventure games and nothing on the show has anything related to Sonic adventure. Who is Manic and Sonia???Sonic's siblings? Sonic is a prince?! Wait is that Athair from the archie comics?...and Where is Amy and Tails? Wth went wrong here? But you know what, it's so bad its almost good. Series got canceled without a proper ending too. But I honestly hope to see a detailed history about how the heck this series was made. Probs more intreseting then the series itself

5+/10

Sonic Boom

Based on the Sonic Boom spin off that bombed super hard and DIDNT add anything decent to the Sonic franchise. Except for this TV series.

The animation is nice, but god the opening is a blatant lie. It gives you the vibe that we get some action and adventures. But the show is just a Sonic comedy with friends. Sonic Is anoyying. Amy Rose is a different character all together but name and is changed into the smart mom type in the group. Why? Sticks character and comedy gag of being paranoid gets old fast. Arround this time, the Sonic games decided to make Knuckles into a dumb dumb. Boom decided to make that trait his only trait. Boom is partly responsible for me no longer liking Knuckles anymore lol. Eggman Is again just a joke character. The salvation this show has, is its stong comedy. It's jokes about media tropes, life and the Sonic fandom are spot on. The voice acting is pretty good too.👌 if you just treat it as a comedy/parody of Sonic you end up enjoying it more.

6/10

Sonic Satam

Ngl this show has not aged well. But for what it is, it's a fine show. Sally is an enjoyable character and her chemistry with Sonic is well done. The animation is pretty good for its time and low budget. The ost isn't bad either. Robotnik is a threat here! The message this show wants to tell is pretty good. The creators had good intentions. But there are other things that bother me. The French coyote is annoying as hell. Him being a coward stops being funny after ten seconds. Why is Tails demoted to a helpless child ? And Rotor takes his place as the smart guy who is a Sonic fan boy? Why ? He just isn't as interesting as Tails. This show would have been better of if Ben Hurt made this into his own ip. The series is so divorced of Sonic's game vibe and story. Making it a nice cartoon but not a Nice Sonic cartoon. Also ends on a anoyying cliff hanger. Making this series feel so incomplete. For what it is, it's a fine series.

6/10

Sonic X

Finally a TV series based on the games! A show i loved as a child but didnt age well. Tms is normally great with their animation series but Sonic x feels half assed. I renember reading in an aniway anime magazine that during the production of the show they decided to add Chris, a child character for the western kid audience. They kinda knew this wasn't going to be a hit in Japan, and they were right, because Sonic x had such poor raitings, its last season aired in other countries, not even in Japan.

The Japanese ost is good and for the most part it got the characters right, With some exceptions of Amy Rose being flanderlized and Eggman forgetting he's a bad guy at one point. Sonic is done correctly, a jerkass, impatient, taunts his enemies without being obnoxious, not super on physical affection and Hates staying in one place. He's not the modern cape-super hero as Sonic is shown nowadays. But Sonic x's issues is that outside of the episodes based on the games, most episodes in season 1 and 2 are a bore to sit trough. Chris adds nothing to the cast and his presence hinders the overall enjoyment of the show. (Not helping that Chris steals scenes from the characters in the episodes based on the games ) Most of the human characters are quite anoyying. (Outside of Topaz and Helen, the show missed its huge chance by not making Helen the main human child in Sonic X! Super lost potential there) the anime picks up by season 3 with a new arc and introducing Cosmo. It gets intriguing! Sadly Chris is back too (just why) but two seasons with mostly mid or boring episodes is just to long to sit trough to get to the good parts.

6+/10

Sonic the movie/Sonic ova

The Sonic ova that was used as a pilot for a potential Sonic anime series in the 90s, sadly the vhs copies didn't sell well in Japan and the Ova remains at 2 episodes. I'm serious when I say: Too bad. Because this is the best Sonic animated thing there is! And the only Sonic cartoon I enjoy with a rewatch. (Which is depressing because Sonic has like 7 cartoon series and this 2 ova episodes is the best ones) The animation is a feast to the eyes, the ost is super good. "Look a like"" is such a yam. Sonic is at his best here, an impatient, rude teen, that doesn't save the day to be a superhero. But does it because he feels like it. (THANK you princess Sara) there is such a 90s vibe but it aged so well! Metal Sonic is cool as heck and we get Knuckles here too! Is this very canon to the games? Not really, it takes a different route from its story of its game Sonic cd. That being said, I don't care because for what it is, it's good! I didn't get bored any second. Is it perfect? No offcourse not, it still sucks that Amy Rose isn't present here, despite Sonic cd being her introduction. Would have loved it if Amy was here. I tried some digging but couldn't find any reason to why she was removed in place for Pricess Sara, I can only assume they added Sara to appeal to boys who like cute bratty anime cat girls? 🤔 I can't really think of any other reason why Sara is here. Eggman is at times silly too and him wanting to marry Sara who Is a teenage girl is an uncomfortable 'joke" but outside òf that, Sonic ova Is a super enjoyable anime. And the only Sonic title that I put on my lost as good animated video game adaption.

8/10.