#honestly what mea is missing/j

[grimwarden]

pussy and ass cheek details of mass effect suits........

[aziraphales-library]

Hi! I’m planning to go on a binge read once this term of uni ends and im stacking up on christmas related fics. So far, I’ve only gotten around to bookmarking two. May I ask for some suggestions?

Hello! We have a lot of asks, so this is only getting answered now, a couple of months after christmas, i'm afraid. We do have a bunch of fics on our #christmas tag that folks can check any time. Here are some more to add to the collection...

Mistletoe and wine by HolRose (T)

Crowley is just settling into life post-failed apocalypse when he receives an invitation to the annual Heaven and Hell Christmas party. It turns out Aziraphale has one too, and makes a plea for Crowley’s help with a particular assignment he has been given. Crowley, of course, can’t help getting involved even if he does put a little demonic ‘spin’ in more than one sense of the word, on the assistance he decides upon giving.

When The Lights Go Out by Sleepless_TurtleBoy (M)

“Look at this one dearest. Absolutely stunning.” Aziraphale’s eyes sparkled as he took in the changing colours, the inflatable reindeer, and the lit-up candy canes that were stuck in the ground. Children were running around pointing at the lights as they flickered into a new colour, and their parents were smiling brightly as they took it in. Most couples were holding hands or had some form of skinship happening. It honestly made Aziraphale feel like he was missing out. Crowley was right there. Right next to him. But he wouldn’t want to hold the angel’s hand. That’d be absurd.

While Aziraphale is setting up for Christmas in his bookshop, Crowley is making plans for a temptation. He'd like to get it over and done with, but it'd be easier with a helping hand. He turns to Aziraphale with a brief explanation, and the angel agrees without much hesitation. What could possibly go wrong?

The Christmas Party by LadyMango (M)

Two strangers meet at a Christmas party. Neither of them got the memo that it was no longer fancy dress.

The Christmas Wedding Scammer by Aracloptia (T)

“And - thank you for saying yes on such short notice! I tried to plan the thing myself, but … sometimes you actually do need help, right?” “Yeah”, Crowley mumbled, grabbing his phone to write down the name of the restaurant. “Yeah, absolutely.”

“That’s what everyone kept telling me; it’s always better with a wedding planner. I guess I should have listened earlier.”

“Er”, Crowley said. “Did you say-“

“Anyway, I have another call to make! I have to fire the costumer, the dress we agreed on turned out horrendous. Hey, in the future that’ll be your job! But I’ll do it just this once. See you tomorrow! And please bring suggestions for the bridal wear. Bye!”

“Hold o-”

The famous wedding planner Antonio Cowley is retired, sworn to never plan a wedding again. Perhaps the right sum of money can persuade him?

He is not to be mixed up with out-of-business Anthony J. Crowley, former florist, currently unemployed.

OR: In which Crowley accidentally becomes a wedding planner.

You're All I Want For Christmas by theshoparoundthecorner (G)

"Soho was uncharacteristically empty. As the wind calmed a bit, the streets were as quiet as the snow that fell upon them, not a single person in sight.

A good thing, too. No one should be caught dead in this weather.

The bookshop was wonderfully empty, and Aziraphale had spent the whole day doing as he pleased, knowing the weather would deter potential customers from sticking their noses in. Sure enough, he hadn’t had one person come in to bother him. He had been completely alone with his books all day, free to read, and watch the snow, and not worry about anyone dropping by unexpectedly.

But that thought didn’t thrill him as much as it usually would.

It was Christmas Eve. And he was alone.

Aziraphale didn’t mind being alone. In fact, he rather enjoyed it.

But tonight felt different. Tonight, as he had sat down for his annual re-read of 'A Christmas Carol', a melancholic feeling had washed over him, like he was meant to be doing something else at the moment. That was absurd, of course, he hadn’t made any particular plans, but something just felt…wrong.

Someone was missing."

Five Times Aziraphale and Crowley almost spent Christmas together, and one time they did.

Turning Page by Beckers522 (T)

Alone on Christmas Eve and finding himself in bad spirits, Crowley has a bit too much to drink and wakes up to find Santa Claus inside his house. What follows is a series of meetings one year after the next as the two slowly come to learn more about each other and eventually fall in love. But Crowley is human and his visitor is far from it. They come from two very different worlds with every odd stacked against them. Can they figure out how to cross the distance between them and find a way to finally be together?

Based on the Norway Postal Christmas Commercial (When Harry met Santa).

- Mod D

[renwritesstuff]

ren beat me:a

TIME TO HEAR REN’S HOT SPORTS OPINIONS ON IT. Of which there are many. Also gifs.

I generally like to explain my history with a game series first (if applicable), because obviously that can shape my perspective of a game. 

I started the Mass Effect series way back with ME1. I’d heard of it and the second I saw my friend play it, I knew I had to have it. I saved my first-job moneys and plunked down my entire tax refund for 2008 on a shiny new Xbox 360 and ME1 (plus Orange Box and Assassin’s Creed). I was entranced by the graphics and the story, and grew quickly obsessed by the time ME2 rolled out. ME2 blew my mind even more, and I must have beat that game 7-8 times with a bunch of different Shepards. ME3 I didn’t obsess about to the same extent, but I did beat it at least twice on my two favorite Shepards/LIs. ME3 was such a strong mood piece and evoked such a different, somber emotion from me, that it was mentally draining to play. I still loved it, and the Citadel DLC cherry on top is one of my all-time favorite set pieces.

So. Mass Effect: Andromeda.

Did I like it? Yes.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Does it have its flaws? Absolutely.

Let’s get flaws out of the way. This game was buggy. Not oppressively buggy, but inconveniently so. I played on Xbox One (like an idiot. REKINDLE THE XBOX 360 WONDER ...and not be able to play MP with anyone because everyone was on PS4 or PC. Genius).

Here is a list of bugs I got:

Architect on Elaaden: unable to complete. Refused to trigger

More than once: a companion character died (like they do), but I would be unable to rez them. No prompt, no waking up when the encounter ended. I would go back to the Tempest, still a red arrow. They would be dead on the Tempest. I would go back down to the planet: still dead and unable to leave my party. In addition, on the Tempest, my OTHER companion would still be following me. So I had 2 Peebees or 2 Dracks at one point, while poor Vetra was Dead Forever.

Said Dead Forever Glitch occurred when I had almost beaten a particularly difficult boss which required many waves of things to overcome.

The game liked to freeze randomly. Full system lockup. Autosave was generous so I rarely missed more than a few minutes, but several bugs required a mission or two rollback.

I didn’t play MP, but I did throw my drones at the APEX missions for free credits and shit. About 1/3 of the time, the servers were offline and I couldn’t access it, and I would forget and not touch it for 2 days.

The Elaaden vault almost made me quit, it was just that frustrating. 

I’m a smart cookie, and I dunno what the rest of the world’s problem is, but I fucking LOVE environmental puzzles. And it is saying something, that someone who loves environmental FIGURE IT OUT puzzles as much as I do, that I was so frustrated with Elaaden Vault’s setup and lack of context clues.

There was a point where you fight two Nullifiers and a Destroyer in one go. This fight is what almost broke me. I died at least 10 times. This fight had uneven terrain, so there was an upper and lower level, as well as an area behind it that was carved rock. If you venture to the upper or lower portion: the fight resets. If one of your teammates (say CORA OVER AND OVER AGAIN) is knocked off the edge and you need to revive them: the fight resets. If one of your teammates stays dead and forces you to restart the vault: my brain resets.

The fact that I remember these instances, when my memory is generally pretty shitty, is an issue.

Now, I went back and rewatched some videos from the ME Trilogy. Those games? I love the shit out of them, but there is some BAD dialogue over 3 games (as a Shepley fan at least 1/3 Ashley’s dialogue, especially in ME3, irritates me to no end). But even so, I forgive it because I enjoyed the characters so much. MEA had much more noticeable bad dialogue right out of the gate, which is unfortunate. It gets a lot stronger as the game progresses, but cringing right at the beginning is hard to overcome.

My husband’s complaint from watching me (he started his own game on Insanity and hasn’t recruited Peebee or Drack yet), is that there’s no obvious category for each. No Tali the tech specialist or Ashley the soldier or Liara the biotic. He didn’t like that everyone was a hybrid class. I didn’t mind so much, as I assume the expectation was to grab the characters you LIKED instead of the ones who PERFECTLY BALANCED your class, which is expected to be a hybrid anyway. However: VETRA. WHY DON’T YOU STAY ALIVE, VETRA? I had to kick Vetra out of my ground team because she was bafflingly squishy. Peebee doesn’t even wear armor and she’s hardier than the turian with the assault rifle.  

And the fault I’ll touch on that everyone has already brought up a million times is there is a definite sense that nothing I did really mattered. There was rarely an instance of express consequences to anything. Even things that seemed major, that seemed like “Hey, this would damage the relationship I have with this character” ...it didn’t. A character would be pissy for two lines of dialogue, and be back to normal. With no lingering indication that I could expect future issues because of this choice. Where’s my Mass Effect 3 genophage cure sabotage or geth versus quarian conundrum? I also have no idea what I gained for having earned everyone’s loyalty in my crew (or if that was possible to fail by not doing what they expressed they wanted? I DON’T KNOW). 

Relating to that is my personal quibble with the game in it felt extremely muddled. I love games with a straightforward premise. I could not spoil the end of MEA for you because I honestly barely understood what happened. I don’t understand why things were happening, and several characters (Liam, Suvi and Drack) had very strange, unclear motivations to me. 

So now the good parts of MEA!

I enjoyed playing this game. It reminded me of Mass Effect 1, when you were a young, naive idiot trying to figure shit out. Like drive up mountains or break into hideouts. It was just Fun. 

I never felt burdened by the combat. You remember playing Dragon Age 2 when you knew there were 3 waves of Shit coming, right? Enemies in MEA hit just hard enough and are just mobile enough to keep me on my toes, but not burden me with tedium. I’m a sniper, and the punch of my Black Widow rifle is incredibly satisfying. I even ratcheted up the difficulty from Normal to Hardcore because I wanted a bigger challenge, and I NEVER EVER do that. I was having just that much fun that I wanted to earn it a little more.

I liked that my Ryder could be a dork, or a cooler-headed professional. I loved my laid-back, easygoing Ryder, and I liked seeing his little Tempest family learn to trust him. I liked that he had to earn his respect through action. It made those heroic moments feel a little more magical, and I actually really liked that he was just as impressed with everything as I was. Sometimes I’d make some smartass remark, and a second later my Ryder would echo that sentiment. It made me laugh more than once.

I liked the Tempest family. I think they did a good job overall with your crew. 

Cora: My ground team #1. She kept the heat off my sniper like a BOSS. Plus she was hardy as all get-out. I really liked her character development over the game, too. I very much identified with her fish-out-of-water search for answers in things she knows, and being hurt that she was pushed aside as Pathfinder for a Ryder child. I think that could have been emphasized more, but overall her character arc was satisfying to me. Big fan.

Liam: Decent squadmate, decent bro. His characterization was extremely muddled to me. He could be easygoing one minute and bafflingly dickish the next. His one-on-one chats with Ryder were solid, but in the Mako with everyone else (except Jaal), he was weirdly scathing. When he dug into Vetra and Peebee I wanted to punch him in the face. I liked the movie night, and that he was a movie nerd. He wasn’t as good in combat as Cora, so I stopped taking him along for the serious missions.

Drack: Oh space grampa. You lovable grouch. I love that he was a surly curmudgeon and yet got along with everyone. I was disappointed in what should have been a relationship breaker of a story choice, he was angry for one exchange then back to normal. I was also confused by his motives for joining my crew. His was the weakest recruitment, as he talked a LOT of shit and then jumped aboard two encounters later. What? Why?

Vetra: Awesome character, terrible combat partner. I don’t know what it is, but I cannot keep Vetra Nyx alive. I suspect she is a better fit for a more aggressive build to lay down cover fire, but as MY cover fire: she was too squishy. I really like her character arc, though hers took way too long to get going. She was basically the Tali of MEA: shows up promising, disappears, then 2/3 of the way through the game she reappears in a blaze of glory. I headcanon my Ethan Ryder’s sister falls for her hard :) (My best friend’s Sara romanced her, too. She loves them turians)

Peebee: She was my Ethan Ryder’s love interest. It was a tough choice between her or Cora, but I felt like Peebee matched my Ryder’s laid-back, tech specialist personality better. That said, I loved that Peebee was a cagey, commitment-phobic asari who thinks asari do some stupid shit. I liked her silly quips and meandering thoughts. I liked that we got to see her learn to care about people other than herself, and we did that by earning her trust (and she ours). I liked that she befriends Vetra to be the terrible influence that Vetra never got. I’m still confused about where Peebee’s Remnant expertise comes from, or what her actual goal is. Though it’s weird: being muddled actually works in favor of Peebee’s character.

Jaal: Oh, that sweet cat-man. Awesome voice, big heart. His combat prowess was hit or miss, but he complemented Cora’s attack style well, so he and Peebee were my interchangeable #2 squadmates. I think they did a great job throwing Jaal in for a new species learning curve, as both student and teacher for the Tempest crew. While I find the Angara storyline awfully parallel to the Collectors (or Asari) from ME2/3, I did really enjoy the first contact aspect that Jaal added to the game. His loyalty mission was among my favorite.

Gil: I should be predisposed to like Gil as he reminds me a great deal of Alistair from DAO. But his bickering with Kallo really grated on me. I definitely got the frenetic genius vibe, though I am skeptical that one person can do every possible repair on the Tempest without any assistance. Gil and Vetra were one of the few people who came to Andromeda with someone, so I did really like that he and Jill were pioneers together. It made me feel like a world did exist outside of my little spaceship.

Kallo: I really liked the salarian pilot, though Joker’s boots are almost as hard to fill as Shepard’s. His character development was incredibly uneven, and he rarely had anything to say. Dammit man, I wanted you to gossip after every story mission! I loved his gossip. But outside of Gil and one little mission, Kallo got no other screentime. 

Suvi: Now, considering my devotion to Samantha Traynor, Suvi should have been a slam dunk for a favorite. Plus I really like Cait from Fallout 4, the Voice Actor’s other character. But Suvi annoyed me for a weird reason: I did not understand what the fuck she did all day. “Science Officer.” “Making discoveries.” Other than her telling me about probes or stuff on the galaxy map, it felt like her presence on board the Tempest was little more than Not SAM. 

Lexi: I don’t know why, but I kind of found it oddly charming that not everyone on the ship liked Lexi (including Lexi herself). I liked her learning to be the Mother Hen that Chakwas was, plus the delicious irony of a 275-year-old asari being inexperienced about something. It felt like she talked the most of the non-combat crew, both over the comms and to other characters (compared to Suvi, Gil or Kallo). 

Reyes: I think I’m one of the few on tumblr not entranced by Reyes Vidal. Not throwing hate at his fans, his is just not a personality I care for. Personal preference. I’ve never liked smarmy, arrogant confidence. I was reluctant to take his side. 

I enjoyed the game. It evoked a sense of wonder and adventure. I think MEA2 has the potential to build on the missteps like ME2 did, and make something really wonderful. Especially with characters we’re starting to know and enjoy. 

[kaikumin]

Delivery [Topping #1]

"Hoping for more good days, just hold my hand and smile...."

Shin Yoomi is a struggling student with no living relatives to help support her. She's lonely, stressed and beyond broke. Enter Jung Hoseok, via a pizza delivery. When the pink haired delivery boy shows up at the wrong dorm room, the pair immediately hit it off, and Yoomi finds herself finally trusting in someone, and maybe even discovers the little piece of hope she was missing, delivered right to her very own door.

pairings: Jung Hoseok (J-Hope) x OC genre: fluff, romance parts: #1 | #2 | #3

Yoomi wasn’t all too pleased with the ongoing struggle she faced almost every Friday and Saturday night, when she returned from either her class or job, to her single-person dorm room. She wished she could say she had gotten used to it after dealing with it for nearly four months now, but that would have been a deep and foolish lie.

She had not gotten used to the blaring noise the reverberated through her dorm, the sound originating from the room on the other side of her wall, Room Number 34b. Loud music and shouts lasted from eight in the evening until nearly four in the morning, every single weekend.

Living in one of the three co-ed dorms, and the cheapest of them all, she had to suck up the fact that men and woman partied so close to her. On a lucky night, she managed to plug in her own music and fall asleep to the sound of a lullaby as opposed to her schoolmates doing… inappropriate things just through the thin walls of the building.

She shivered at the memories.

Yoomi was just about to allow herself to slip into her own music, and hopefully manage to sleep some before waking up early for work, before the sound of erratic knocking filled her room, barely audible over the boisterous sounds of partying.

She almost ignored it, assuming it to be one of her schoolmates again, drunk off of their ass and shouting at her, telling her she should join on the fun. ‘Have a good time’.

Live a little.

But, when they knocked again, she realized they weren’t going to leave any time soon, and since the shouting had yet to start, she could guess the person on the other side of the wood door wasn’t drunk.

So, with a sigh, Yoomi got off of her bed, setting her old and well used ipod on the blanket and stepped to her entranceway. And, before the person could knock again, she opened the door, moving to join them in the hallway, not trusting anyone to see the contents of her room.

Her safe place.

As she stepped into the hallway, she was amazed to find the sound she heard through her back wall did not carry to the front, and once she cracked the door behind her, the remnants of the party vanished behind her to a dull hum and her head instantly felt lighter.

She closed her eyes and breathed in the refreshing silence before deciding to greet her unexpected visitor. When her eyes fluttered opened, she was slightly taken aback to see him standing much closer to her than she had thought, and her heart skipped in her chest in shock.

The boy before her was smiling, probably the brightest smile she had ever seen in her entire life, as he stood in front of her with two big bags holding several boxes of pizza. His hair was dyed a pale pink, parted almost down the middle, though not quite, and showing off a tiny bit of his forehead. His lips formed a heart as he smiled, and his eyes sparkled at her.

In her opinion, the delivery boy was quite dazzling.

When neither of them spoke for a few moments, the boy shifted on his feet, hoping to alleviate some of the weight of holding the boxes. “Uh, delivery…” He repeated a bit shyly, his smile only faltering for a second. “Dormitory 220, Apartment 34b. Six boxes of pizza. One cheese, one pepperoni, one mea-”

“Um, sorry, but,” Yoomi cut him off quickly, to which he froze, his smile finally vanishing into a confused pout, that she found immensely adorable. She gave him a regretful look and pointed behind her at her door number. 34a. His eyes widened at the sight and she felt her own heart sink, at his disappointment. “B is on the other side of the building, you can walk around the hall to get to it.”

“Ah, shit. Really?”

She nodded and he sighed, shaking his head at himself for not paying more attention. He stood there for a moment to try and figure out what to do next, but when no words were spoken after that, Yoomi decided to bow and head back into her apartment.

He saw her trying to dip away and shook his head vigorously, almost dropping the pizza’s in the process. “Hey, wait for a moment, please-”

Stopping before closing her door all the way, she peaked her head back out again and felt pity the moment her eyes met the delivery boy’s. It was quite easy to pick up on his fatigue. She lived on the third floor, and the elevator hadn’t worked properly since long before she began attending University. Six boxes of large pizzas was no doubt heavy, especially after wasting so much time standing in front of the wrong apartment.

Yoomi knew what he was going to ask before he even said it, and the good samaritan in her couldn’t say no to someone in need. “Would you like me to carry one of those and show you the way?”

Her words made his face light up again and he nodded happily at her, his smile just as bright as when he first arrived at her door. “I’m so sorry to ask this, but I honestly think I’ll drop all of these if I have to hold it for any longer than another minute.” He chuckled sheepishly, handing her what he thought to be the lightest of the two bags and gratefully stepping aside for her to join in him in the hallway.

"It's no problem." She shrugged gently, padding her way down the hall. It was only then that she made note of the fact that she was still in her house slippers and bunny onesie, her comfiest pair of pajamas. She flushed in embarrassment briefly, but concluded she didn't care who saw her like that.

The delivery boy trailed behind her, pleased with the turn of events, and he had to stop himself from chuckling at the hoodie of her onesie bobbing against her back, the bunny ears bouncing lightly.

"I like the outfit. It's quite charming."

Yoomi paused in her steps, a warm flush immediately taking over her body.

She corrected herself then. She did care who saw her like that. Or at least, she found herself caring that the delivery boy had. She ducked her head, hoping he couldn't see the pink tint raising up her neck to her cheeks, her steps picking up again at a much faster pace.

He couldn't help it then. He had to chuckle at her embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I just found it cute, is all." His short laughter only made her blush harder.

With her paced quickened, they made it to the other side of the floor in less than two minutes, and she was grateful that her embarrassment would finally end. They stopped at 34b, the early music reaching an entirely new level of loud, that actually made her grateful for the thin wall between her room and theirs.

Yoomi handed the bag back to the delivery boy and bowed politely. "It was nice meeting you. I will be going now."

As she began to walk away, he called out to her, almost dropping the bags again in his hastiness to stop her. "Uh- wait!"

Yoomi turned to him slowly, knowing full well that her cheeks still had a pink tint to them that she wanted to go bury under her pillow. The boy began to speak, but the music from the room beside him drowned out most of his words, so she stepped a little closer to him again.

"Would it be possible to get your name?" He asked, not a single hint of bashfulness evident in his features.

"W-why?" She found herself frowning, extremely flustered by his actions.

He smiled again, and Yoomi realized then that his smile was probably a lethal drug, and should only be taken in short spurts. Her heart seemed to stop continuously at the sight of it.

"Because I think you're cute, and I would like to talk to you again, sometime."

She was stunned. A complete stranger had just called her cute. A stranger who wasn't even supposed to meet her, and she had barely managed to speak words to, said that he wanted to get to know her better.

He wanted to be friends with her.

That had never happened before, in her entire 21 years of life. She found herself feeling like a high schooler once again, experiencing the heart palpitations that only a schoolgirl with a crush should feel. Something she had successfully gone 21 years without experiencing.

Until that moment.

"Um..." Words would not register in her brain, and he once again chuckled, his eyes forming soft crescents as his heart shaped lips turned into yet another heart stopping grin.

"If it helps any, I'm Hoseok. It was a very lovely pleasure to meet you, Miss Bunny."

She choked on air at that, and finally words began flowing through her brain, in a jumbled mess that was all too confusing. But, at last she was finally able to grab onto a few tangible words and spit them out in response. "My name is Yoomi."

And with that, unable to take any further embarrassment or shock from the cute delivery boy named Hoseok, Yoomi turned on her heel and sprinted away as fast she could, back to her room.

However, she still managed to catch his final words to her that evening as she escaped.

"See you later, Miss Bunny!