#i tried many things to fix it but I just couldn't find a solution that would work. and i look at a lot of articles; posts; ect.

[blindecho6]

Did anyone ever had a problem on firefox where the twitch will show people were live and when you clicked on a livestreeam it wouldn't load and just show that the person was offline. And then you checked on other browser or sth and it was working.

Well. I might have a solution to that problem.

You might've changed the setting that will load the whole yt video in one go and not just the few second (y know, that made so if you pasued a video it wouldn't buffer to the end no matter what).

If that's what you did then follow instructions below:

open about:config

look up media.mediasource.enabled

set it's value to true

???

profit

[infinityroom]

I'm so sad to see this go. You created a wonderful story.

As for questions,

What happened to Tango? Why does his ear endermite have an eye? Would we ever be able to save him? What would a Tango redemption arc look like?

(Sorry if that's too many questions. I am INVESTED in this plot.)

I love Tango so much, I really wished for him to find some peace at the end. Tango's a mess. When he gets mad his anger just doesn't want to die down, he's gonna burn people and then feel bad he did so. The room never got to eat those strong emotions before he found the endermites and being bitten stifled his disappearance. At that point he was still not on the murderous path, he wanted to just get out and get Mumbo out too! He didn't fully get what was going on, or maybe he was in super denial about what was happening. Mumbo had his realization about it when Tango told him that no, Grian did not call for help outside, in fact he just dropped Tango into the same room, and wasn't Mumbo outside just a few days ago? How could it have been months? Mumbo refused to leave his chair while he grappled with understanding everything and Tango went off to find a solution. And he did. At some point, he managed to get out of the room. but maybe as a side effect of being turned into an endermite or maybe because of his long stay in the room itself, he couldn't stand the overworld, everything was too loud, too brigt and too overwhelming. He spawned into an unfamiliar shopping district and overwhelmed and hurt he dug a hole and hid underground. Only to fall in the newly constructed Decked out. In season 7.

Specifically, he ended up there when Tango, actual Tango was explaining decked out to Bdubs, I lost the link to the episode but i had it at some point. Our Tango, our messed up bug Tango, just.. listened to his copy speak. The whole explanation of Decked Out filled him with so much excitement, it was just the most beautiful thing! He'd missed redstone and creating and everything could be alright again- Then the game started, and every single redstone click and bell ringing made Tango's head explode with pain. He ripped out one of the bells just to shut it and escaped.

That's when it clicked into our Tango's head. He was not the real Tango anymore, was he? How could he be Tango when there was already one around and when he could barely exist in the overworld it seemed? When he couldn't do the things that used to define him. Was he just a copy? What was he? At that point he crawled back to the infinity room. It just so happened that False saw him reappear in the room, she wasn't completely lost yet, despite the room having been eating at her for a long while. She understood that Tango got out and wouldn't let him go without being let out herself.

Tango didn't want that, didn't want for her to have the same horrible experience he just had, but he wasn't able to explain that, and even if he did, she just wanted to leave. So he panicked and attacked her with his endermites, only to feel horrible immediately after. Then he hid away in some corner of the room. Only him and his mites. Then his sadness turned back to anger toward the only person he could blame for everything. Grian. There were still a few Grian's running around in the room and he took his anger out on them, not that it would fix anything but being angry and taking revenge makes him feel more real. Maybe that's what he is since he's not "Tango" anymore, he's just angry and vengeful. He tried being friends with Mumbo still, he gave him the bell he ripped out from decked out. That ended poorly. He respects the little hiding place the iskalls made from him, he wont bother them. He's so sorry for what he did to False.

[moonbiscuitsims]

SIMDEW VALLEY SET 🍄👩🏿‍🌾🐷🐴🐄🧙🏿‍♂️🌻🌽

Stardew Valley Pixel Art Floors/Walls/Deco (TS4) Download Below

Aside from a couple most of these pics are just the demo pics showing what's included, more CC in game pics can be seen here

🍄Misc Large Decals

In order: Junimo huts + large Junimos, Holdiay Decor and "sky decor", furniture items, rarecrows, plants.

🍄Wall Decals Paintings and Banners:

🍄Wall Decals Misc small:

Adventure stuff and boots, small junimos, random furniture items slime monsters different expressions

🍄Wall decals Gems and Minerals:

I didn't do them all, just some that I liked.

🍄Wall decals farm animals

🍄Wall decals Fishing

Again just the fish I wanted to do, not all:

🍄Wall decals Harvestables, Crops, Products:

Here's a random in game pic (see more in links provided at top or bottom of post), all decals show through glass too!

🍄Stardew Valley Villagers (yes the bear is a villager I refuse to accept otherwise) portraits

The portraits are the only item with actual dimension, I recoloured a base game framed painting, so these are not flat like the rest of decals. (they look a bit orange but that's just my mood lighting)

🍄Walls and Flooring (indoor and outdoor flooring)

I did all the ones you see here:

For the floors I made a large and small version of all:

🍄You can see more CC in game pics in my wip post here

Are you sick and tired of those smooth graphics from Sims 4? Do you wish you could replace those pesky curves and detailed HQ textures with nothing but square pixel heaven and flat colours? To be finally rid of all those 3D bump/light effects and replace them with volume-less cardboard cut-out illusion and imagination? Do you want your build/game to look just like Stardew Valley? Or do you simply think that if the sims team are gonna give us low poly and low quality meshes and textures might as well do it properly? Fear not! The solution is here! I made a new Stardew Valley save (why I need yet another save that I'll never have time to complete I don't know) and tried my first build, the recreation of my current (and only) farm. It was ok but I got frustrated at how "Sims 4" everything looked, and checked for stardew valley cc conversions, art, decor but only find people making it using sims 4 stuff, which is probably the most logical thing but not for me! So I made this as there are plenty of game assets from Stardew Valley available online and however tedious and time-consuming resizing the tiniest of pixel art images is to fit Sims 4, it is fairly easy and doable, so I did it. I did skip some items in each category as there are way too many and just did the ones I like, sorry if there was one I didn't include. Also there are some floors in the game or icons that I couldn't find. Some Junimos were taken from the internet but most are individually resized game assets. INFO: all decals in wall deco, all are zero simoleons, and the portraits are 10. You can find my stuff typing "moonbiscuitsims" or "stardew". All have correct colour filter tags and removed "talk to object (insane)" and "can be struck by lightning" (these things annoy me or could cause more distractions for my sims, sorry if you like this though I'm sure there are plenty of objects to talk to/ lightning strikable objects). I don't know if this has an effect. All the portraits are just tagged as brown. All are resizable to your liking. Forgot to mention the floors i think are in wood flooring and outdoor flooring; and I think the walls in panelling. REQUIREMENTS: Nada, nothing. Just base game. (though I did accidentally make one item from a get to work decal by mistake, I remade it to fix it and I've play tested everything, but let me know if something doesn't show up.

PLEASE READ AND RESPECT MY TOU AND DO NOT ❌❌❌: - ❌ Reupload - ❌ Include in sim downloads - ❌ Put behind paywall of any kind no matter what. - ❌ Claim as yours. If you wanna use the texture files to make other different original content that is fine as long as it is different from mine and NO PAYWALLS and no reuploading my stuff. The images are from Stardew Valley, but I spent ages editing every single one to fit the sims, and this took me days to do. All my stuff is free. I don't care about conversions to ts2 or ts3 but NO PAYWALLS and please tag and credit me. If used for screenshots please tag me too, I'd love to see <3 🍄DOWNLOAD (including a pick and choose or a merged file with everything, don't get both) 🍄ALT DOWNLOAD PATREON Enjoy! Happy Simming/Farming

🌵🥥🌴NEW!! Calico Desert Addon🌴🥥🌵

Stardew Valley fav music playlist 🎵🎵🎵

[fanfiction4sooya]

Loyal dog (Sub A! Seulgi x Dom O!Reader)

This was a request, but I think I lost it somewhere 😭 I hope y'all like it babies!! 💖💖💖💖

tw: abo dynamics, unprotected sex, edging, crying, reader is a little rude, jerking off, nipple play, cum swallowing, etc.

Last board meeting went hectic. You were the head of the meeting, conducting every single detail and discussion, very focused on finding the solutions the other shareholders needed. One of them was pushing for a sale you were reluctant to accept because you really didn't find any benefit on it. A stupid alpha that couldn't think ahead like you could.

"It's not up to you to deny anything" The alpha said, her eyes were cold and her demeanor was definitely disgusted; Many alphas didn't like omegas in position of power. You felt in the depths of your soul she really wanted to say Omegas had no say in anything.

"Well, Ms..." You looked down looking for a paper with her name. "Park, isn't it?"Lifting your head, you could see her eyebrows slightly lift in this contained anger. "Ms Park Sooyoung, I do in fact have a say in this since I'm the head of the board and my success rates are high. Higher than any of yours, I might say"

She tried to make you back down by staring at you, her pheromones strong as she tried to make you submit. That was so disrespectful and rude to do on a work setting that you felt your anger bubble inside you. When you were about to say something, a more sharp voice cut your phrase through, the sound reverberating around the meeting room.

"If you have any decorum, I advise you to stop this little attempt of strength play with your weak pheromones and leave this meeting" You looked straight at her, Kang Seulgi. Pretty, collected and overall avoiding of you. Your eyes quickly scanned her and you lightly scoffed.

Another brainless Alpha trying to assert dominance.

"I don't need a knight in a shiny armor, Ms Kang. I can handle insubordination myself" You said before the other Alpha could respond. She lowered her eyes, looking at her hands as she clenched her jaw. "But since you said it, it is against the company's policy to try making anyone to submit on the clock, specially in democratic meetings" You took a deep breath a little affected by Sooyoung, but your poker face was impeccable. "This meeting is over, for now" You said seeing red, dismissing all the others and going straight to your own office.

Anger seething, your blood boiling for so many reasons. You stood by your window trying to collect yourself, wanting nothing more than to jump onto Park's neck, end that little arrogant look. You fucking hated those types of alphas.

And Kang Seulgi? Oh she was so much worse with that condescending tone and those eyes, those fucking lowered eyes...

Next thing you knew you had already asked your secretary to call her to your office. You needed to see something by yourself.

"Did you ask to see me, boss?" She entered your office, closing the door behind her; perfect posture, secure of herself and her surroundings.

"Indeed" You said. Your glasses perched up on the tip of your nose, staring at her. You called your secretary, your voice ice cold as you spoke. "Ms Kim would you mind telling me if we hired any bodyguards for me, please?" You simply asked, still staring at her. You saw her avoid your eyes again, slightly looking down.

"There are no bodyguards on the record, boss. Why? Do you need one?" Yeri asked, a bit concerned.

"No, not at all" You said. "I was just checking, thank you" That anger was still there, mixed with a little bit of curiosity.

Narrowing your eyes, you tilted your head to the right.

"You do not get to speak for me" Poison dripping, you fixed your glasses on your face.

"It wasn't my intention, I was-" She looked anywhere but you, her posture tense now. "I didn't like the way she spoke with you and that stare... You don't deserved it" She cleared her throat. "It was unprofessional"

Now that she looked at you, you could see how she wasn't being condescending. It was something else and that was definitely something... good.

"Oh, I see..." You got up, going around your desk, crossing your arms under your breasts and leaning on it. "Maybe you don't want to be my bodyguard..." You said, eyeing her down. Her grey suit was perfect on her figure, but you could see the bulge forming inside her pants. "A loyal dog, maybe?"

You saw in first hand as a sharp exhale left her lips, her hands clenching by her sides.

"Oh, you would like to be my loyal dog" She finally returned your stare, her eyes pleading in an embarrassed, conflicted way. You got up to lock the door.

"I-" She gave a step towards you and you quickly shut her off.

"Stay" Was all you said and, much for your surprise and pleasure, she did stay; a tent on her pants as she looked down. "What an obedient dog..." Your tone changed to an alluring one. Standing in front of her, you smelled how aroused she was. "What a rare finding..." You traced her tie with one of your fingers and she whimpered. "Look at me" You commanded and she promptly did so, her eyes following how you licked your lower lip.

"I will do anything you want, boss" She finally said it, eyes locked into yours. You scoffed.

"Everyone does that already" Your cleavage fully on display made her dick pulse hard and she gulped. "What makes you different from everyone else, Ms Kang?" You got closer, heat emanating from her body to yours.

It felt so fucking good to be in full dominance mode with an Alpha like Kang Seulgi. It made you feel millions of times hotter. You always pushed away your omega nature, specially against some traditions the dynamics between Alphas, Betas and Omegas required.

"I can do whatever you ask me" She pleaded, her low voice was basically a whisper. "I am very good at obeying" You took a deep breath. Wet was an understatement, you were completely soaked and your lacy panties ruined.

You pondered, really thinking about it. Office sex wasn't something abnormal. If anything, office sex was the most normal thing in this situation.

"Sit down, hands on your sides" You told her, glancing at your leather couch and she did so. You unbuttoned your white button up just enough to pull your breasts out of your bra. Seulgi visibly shivered and you stood in front of her. "If you cum unauthorized I'll stop" You said, unbuckling her belt and pulling her dick out. "If you try to scent me I'll stop and kick your ass out of here" You have a good look to her cock.

It was was absolutely hung and veiny, throbbing on your hand as you pulled your pencil skirt up on your thighs and your panties to the side, sinking in next. Yes it was big and stretched you just fine, but you didn't express any type of reaction. She moaned, her eyes attentive on yours.

"If you manage to obey me until the end I'll be your dom" You told her, rolling your hips against her cock and she grabbed at the couch, whimpering. "If you want to stop you can just ask. Understood?" You said through gritted teeth.

"yes, b-boss" She stammered, her eyes rolling back a little.

You started riding her like there was no tomorrow, your cunt sinking deliciously on her cock and coating it with your slick. You tried to, but couldn't resist her pretty lips when she made all those sinful moans, kissing her roughly with your hand tangled on her beautiful wavy hair. You pulled it back, exposing her neck to lick and bite as you set an impossibly harder pace, your hips slamming against hers.

You moaned against each other's lips and she stopped kissing you to grab one of your boobs between her lips and you yelped, her tongue felt deliciously hot against your nipple. You stopped bouncing on her lap and started humping, your clit grazing against the fabric of her pants and a little bit of exposed skin. You were about to cum, clenching and unclenching on her big cock completely stretched.

"You want to cum inside me so much, I can feel it" You decided to play dirty as she sucked on your nipples very sloppily, coating your breasts with her saliva. "Aren't you an alpha after all?" You gather every ounce o strength you had not to moan while saying all that, but the woman was a rock. Holding herself in the most painful, delicious way.

In a last attempt to make her cum before you, you grabbed her neck while kissing her, squeezing it just right to a perfect chockehold. She shivered, her body shaking so hard it felt good under you.

You were still mounting here and absolutely losing the battle, cumming so hard on her cock you saw nothing but blank spots, body slumping forward on hers as she kept taking deep breaths with her eyes closed. You tried to catch your breath, swallowing hard when you managed to look at her face.

Absolutely beautiful and that little dumb look was pathetic but oh, so fucking hot. You kissed her roughly again, holding her neck.

"You did good, congratulations Ms. Kang" You said and she bit her lip, smiling. "I could've let you cum inside me..." You got off of her lap and she hissed, you felt your legs weak. "But I didn't told you to suck my breasts" You scoffed, sitting by her side.

"I am so sorry boss, I-" You shushed her, pulling her head to your lap, commanding her to lie down on the couch and she did, her dick standing proudly erect and furiously red from all the action and no cum.

"To show you I am no monster, I'll make you cum" You said, pulling her mouth to your nipple, your hand going to her cock. "Suck as hard as you can, but tell me when you get closer"

"Yes, boss" Her beautiful brown eyes glimmered and you bit your lip. "Thank you so much" She said, putting her mouth to work as you spat on your hand then started to pump her cock up and down, swirling your hand against the tip, your thumb rubbing at her slit.

She moaned against your breast, releasing a lot of precum as her body shook. It took less than a minute of you jerking her off, that's how needy she was.

"I'm close" She said, tensing and you completely stopped letting go of her cock. She whined, her mouth still sucking hard on your nipple and you whimpered.

She didn't protest, didn't even stop sucking. She held herself again, like a good girl. You caressed her hair, starting all over again that beautiful torture, jerking her even harder, her hips shaking as you stopped once again, feeling her hot tears on your lap. Fuck, she was so beautiful.

"Shh, it's okay" You cooed as she sobbed still sucking your breasts, her eyes locked into yours. Her nose was red and her eyes puffy. A masterpiece. "It's okay Ms Kang, this it the last time..." You said.

Going back to jerking her off, you could feel on the way she tossed against the couch how painful that was but she didn't complain once. You felt your pride grow, coaxing her into her climax. It hit her hard as your palm rubbed specially against the tip.

She came hard, ropes and ropes of her thick cum filling your hand and you kept swirling her tip. She was still crying, your breasts purple with how forceful her sucking was, but you didn't mind in the slightest.

You kept saying sweet nothings onto her ear, helping her to recollect herself and to come out of subspace, her sobs felt electrifying against your skin but you knew she couldn't take anything anymore.

You took your hand to her mouth and she licked it clean, sucking on every bit of her cum she could take from your hand as you caressed her hair, being careful not to scent her.

"Good girl... you were perfect Ms Kang" You whispered and she nodded, still sucking on your fingers. "Now you are my good loyal dog" You said, excitement taking over you when you realized how this finding was uncommon...

[4st4rion]

could've shouted out loud

ao3 link

at the end of the game i went with karlach and wyll to avernus without realizing that would like cement things and then watched how nervous astarion was about if you're really staying together when my gf finished the game with him. so i split the difference and wrote fix-it fic for my personal fuck-up lmao

just over 2k; spoilers for the end of bg3 of course. rated mature-ish, fully gender neutral tav. it takes a while to come back from avernus and when you find him he is Pissed with you (and very hurt). comforting and some spiciness ensues

It takes longer than you expect to find Astarion again.

You, Karlach, and Wyll have been working on carving out your little corner of Avernus; it's rough work, but Karlach pulls most of the literal weight of setting up shelter for the three of you. It's not much, little more than reinforced tents, but it's better than nothing.

You finally feel like it's safe to go back and look for Astarion, and Wyll opens a portal for you that brings you right to the heart of Baldur's Gate.

It takes three days and nights of asking around before you find him. A helpful bartender at the Blushing Mermaid informs you that someone matching your description of him comes in and sits at a certain table, alone, most nights, and you go there yourself to wait for him.

And sure enough.

Sure enough, come sunset, and given an hour, he walks through the door. He doesn't notice you right away, ordering himself a bottle of wine and taking a glass from the bartender, but when your eyes finally meet, he nearly drops them both.

You smile pathetically at him.

He does not smile back.

He makes his way to the secluded table and you stand to meet him when he does. He sets the bottle and glass on the table and folds his arms, looking you up and down.

"Is this a trick?" he asks, first, looking at you with scrutiny.

Despite his closed-off posture and his attempt at a foul expression for you, he's still just as beautiful as he had been when the sun began to burn him.

You shake your head.

"No, no trick," you promise, and he tenses hearing your voice. Disguises and illusions can mimic many things, but a voice is tough, too unique to recreate for most mages and wizards.

"I'm going insane, then?" he asks sarcastically, and gestures at you to a man passing by. "Excuse me? Do you see the person in front of me?"

The man looks between you and Astarion and you can only give a little wave.

"Yes?" the man answers, and fucks off.

Astarion's frown deepens.

"So, what?" he asks, voice dripping with venom. "It's you, then?"

You swallow nervously and hope that the time apart hasn't put you back to square one.

"It's me," you confirm. "I'm sorry it took so long to find you," you apologize, but he scoffs.

"Must not have been looking very hard," he huffs. "I thought you'd —" he says, voice cracking in vulnerability, and he steels himself all over again. "I thought you'd decided I wasn't worth the trouble once you saw me in the sun," he tries again, and this time, his volume is louder. "I thought you ran off so I couldn't find you and be your burden."

You reach out, but he smacks your hand away.

"Astarion," you breathe, heartbroken. Is this it? Does he... Has he gotten used to the idea of living without you?

Is this over, now?

"Where have you been, then?" he spits, looking away from you in a huff. "You'd better have a damn good answer, or I'll kill you right here myself."

"I'd let you," you breathe, smiling just a bit — threats of harm are better than a cold shoulder. "I've been in Avernus," you say. "With Karlach. And Wyll."

His shoulders relax just slightly hearing Karlach's name.

"She's still alive?" he asks, making glancing eye contact with you to show his sincerity.

You nod.

"She can't leave the hells anymore, not yet, but she's alive," you confirm. "We've been working on a solution, and working on making a home there, for now."

He doesn't say anything, waiting. You swallow nervously.

"We were chased by devils for a tenday when we arrived, otherwise I would have been back for you sooner," you say, and pray to any gods that might listen that he understands. "And then we had to get settled, make sure no one was on our trail," you continue.

Astarion scoffs, but his eyes glimmer with unshed tears.

"You could have written," he mutters, needing to make light of the situation for his own sanity.

"I owe you a postcard," you agree, the barest smile slowly returning to your face.

He sniffles, and curses under his breath.

"I thought...?" he starts, but can't finish, hiccuping back a sob.

"I know," you try to soothe. "I'm so sorry."

This time, when you reach out, he doesn't stop you. You put your hand on his shoulder and squeeze lightly, stroking your thumb over the soft fabric he's wearing.

"I love you," you practically whisper. "I've thought of you every moment of every day since we were parted."

He doesn't answer with words — instead, he shoves himself against you, and it takes half a moment to realize he's trying for a hug, reluctant to wrap his arms around you but making the gesture anyway.

You fling your arms around him and squeeze him in tightly. He's cold, so much colder than he ever was when he was feeding from you regularly, and you realize he might not have been drinking from anything but animals again.

"I've missed you so much," you mumble against him, your head ducked against the side of his. "Astarion, I can't believe we're both here," you laugh, relieved, and he laughs too.

"I thought you might have been dead," he admits, and his voice is so, so small. "I thought I'd never see you again."

You hug him tighter.

"I'm here now," you promise.

His arms wrap around you properly now, too, and he almost starts to relax against you.

He's holding back because you're in public, but he shakes with emotion.

"Where have you been staying?" you ask, pulling back just enough to speak with him properly. "Let's get out of here and talk there."

"The Elfsong Tavern," he sniffs. He straightens himself up and quickly wipes the tears off his face, and suddenly the mask is back in place. "Let's, shall we?"

You hold his bottle of wine in one hand and his hand in the other as you walk back to the Elfsong. Neither of you speaks beyond his comment that it's a nice night out and your hum of agreement.

Once you arrive, you head upstairs. His hands shake as he pulls out his room key, and you've never seen him struggle with a lock more than now.

It finally gives way and opens, and then you're finally, finally alone together.

You set the bottle of wine on a side table, briefly turning away, and when you turn back to say So, where do we begin? he's already kissing you.

You've missed this. You've missed him, his insistent, smart, sharp mouth and his hands that pull at your waist to bring you in close and his fingers that dig into your sides like you could disappear if he ever loosened his grip.

He's crying again, tears catching on your lips and turning your kisses salty, but you don't care at all.

"Astarion," you gasp between breaths, just to hear his name on your tongue, and he drags you to his bed.

"I thought I was going to die without you," he growls, pushing you onto the mattress and crawling over you like a predator. "I was so scared, for you and for what I might do if you didn't — if I never saw you again," he admits, voice low and dangerous.

"I'm here," you reassure him, holding onto his arms and sliding your grip to ground him.

"I thought you were gone," he says, angry and scared and afraid and a thousand other things.

"Have you... Are we still...?" you start to ask, and he kisses you again.

"I've been mourning a lost love," he breathes against your lips. "Every face I've seen, I've only looked to see if it could be you, and then I've looked away," he admits. "When I saw a stranger with your stature or your hair, I'd hope, just for a moment, and then it'd be lost."

Your heart flares with love — even thinking you might have left him, abandoned him, died on him, he didn't give up hope that you might return.

"I'm so sorry," you apologize again, kissing him over and over. "I'm here now, I promise. I'd never leave you."

Rather than the coy, self-deprecating never say 'never', darling you might have heard when all this began, he hums with such pleasure it's nearly a moan, just hearing your dedication to him spoken aloud.

"I love you," you remind him, fingers tangling into his hair to keep him close. "I love you, I love you," you breathe, and with every word his breath hitches higher until he's kissing you hard, forcing you silent lest something in him break.

"I want you," he rumbles against you, and your heart soars while your insides dance with butterflies.

"You have me," you say, and you mean it. It doesn't matter if you do nothing but kiss and hold each other tightly until the sun comes up and then goes back down, you're his as much as he's yours and you're eager to remind him of that however you can.

"You're wearing too many clothes," he practically snarls, digging hands under your shirt and pulling roughly at things to loosen your breeches, and you wholeheartedly agree.

"So are you," you growl back.

You manage to get his shirt off over his head at the same time he's struggling with yours, and you sit up so he can do the same with yours.

Wriggling out of your bottoms is a little more difficult when neither of you can stand to be apart, but you both get the waistbands to your knees and that's good enough for you.

His cock is half-hard from excitement and anticipation and you're quick to reach for it, but he stops you by pinning your wrist beside your head.

"I've missed this," he purrs, squeezing your wrist in his hand. He grabs for your other wrist and you let him, allowing him to pin you fully and press his body up against yours. "I've missed feeling you struggle against me," he laughs.

You arch up against him just for fun, pressing your leg up between his and rubbing his cock against your hip.

"Is that what you want tonight?" you ask, challenging him by straining against his hands. He's weak — he hasn't fed recently, or fed enough, and you can feel him put his full weight into keeping you down.

"Oh, darling, I want everything," he hums. He kisses you again and ruts his cock against your hip on purpose this time, moaning softly into your mouth. "I want you ruined under me," he breathes. "I want you debauched on top of me. I don't want to leave this room until tomorrow night at the earliest."

You laugh against him.

"Agreed," you hum back.

He lets go of your hands in favor of holding you by your hips, and your arms wrap around his shoulders like it's where they've always belonged.

"I missed you," he sighs. "So much."

"I'm here now," you reassure him again. He nuzzles into your throat and you bare it for him, inviting him, and he shudders.

"I don't suppose I'd be allowed a bite?" he asks, trailing kisses over your pulse.

"I've missed that, too," you sigh. "Go on."

He gives your neck one more tender, open-mouthed kiss before he sinks his teeth into you, a familiar pain that you've dearly missed.

He drinks deeply. You can feel his starvation sating, his body becoming warmer and softer against yours as he melts against you.

Gods, you've missed him. You never want to be separated again.

You feel the past slipping away from you, as though you've never been apart; all that has ever existed is this, this moment, with his mouth pressed to your neck, bite-wound weeping blood onto his tongue and him swallowing as greedily as you cling to him.

He finally pulls away, the perfect amount taken that you feel light-headed but not dizzy, and he feels sated but not full — a balance the two of you perfected over your journey, and one that he's apparently still in tune with.

"Perfect," he breathes into your neck, lapping at the fang marks still slowly oozing blood. "Oh, love," he sighs.

He buries his face in your neck and breathes deep.

"You smell like Avernus," he notes, amused.

"Ugh," you agree.

"You smell like you, though," he says, muffled against your skin. "Gods, I missed that."

You take a long moment to hold each other like that, arms wrapped around each other and clinging and just breathing deeply, taking each other in.

Eventually, his cock twitches impatiently against your skin, and you laugh.

"Sorry," he mutters, pulling his face out of your neck to kiss the corner of your mouth. "I really would just like to be close, if you're not up for anything like that," he says, almost shyly.

You press your hips up against him in answer, and catch the gasp off his lips with your mouth against his.

"I'm up for things," you grin, and he laughs against you.

"Alright," he agrees. "'Things', it is."

You give him one more long, lingering kiss before the two of you go any further, one that you'll remember years from now.

"I'm so happy you're here," he admits, and you smile against his mouth.

You are, too.

[darling-heffron]

A/N: Here it is- Chapter four!!!!

If anyone wants to be added to the taglist, please let us know!

Enjoy -Sol ☀️

taglist: @malarkgirlypop, @mellow-human, @next-autopsy

Chapter Four- A Shoulder to Cry On

Mars' POV:

Slowing to a stop, the truck spluttered, waking Marleen from her less than comfortable nap as she curled up on the passenger seat of Denver’s box truck. Her mind groggy, she sat up to look around, eyes squinting to figure out what was going on. 

The first thing she noticed was a pile up of stationary cars, buses and trucks covering the entire road in front of them. 

The next thing she noticed was Denver, his face held concern, his body tense. He had been doing all of the driving for the past three days, getting them out of the city safely. 

Mars had offered to take a turn but Denver just waved her off, driving was literally his job, so he didn’t mind it so much. He would just tell her to get some rest and ignore any further attempts for her to get behind the wheel. 

“Can we go around?” Mars offered up. They had come across a road block yesterday and the solution was to backtrack and find another way round, which worked surprisingly well. 

Denver shook his head, sighing. Never a good sign. 

“Fuel light came on a few miles back, I reckon we won’t make it round this.” 

“So, what do we do?” She already knew the answer but Mars held out hope he had another solution. Denver only gave her a look, one that shared his thoughts. He didn't have to say anything, Mars knew. That didn't stop her from sighing audibly and rolling her eyes before she swung open the passenger door. 

The man was already focusing on what they would need to take and what they could leave behind. 

“Mars?” He called to her, his head in the back of the truck as he reorganised their backpacks. She hummed in reply, too tired to actually say anything as she made her way to the rear of the vehicle. 

“Can you look in the glovebox? I think I have a map in there.” Marleen fought the urge to throw her head back and groan, instead turning round and walking back to the seat she came from to retrieve the map. 

—------------------------

Heading north on foot was a thousand times harder than travelling by car. At least that's what Mars thought. Not only did she have to carry a backpack stuffed full of ‘essential items’ while keeping up with Denver's pace but they were also dodging the undead. 

The blood soaked people were everywhere, lurking in the towns and cities once filled with life and turning them into dreary ghost towns. Avoiding them was a must, yet it required skills Mars simply did not have. 

Most of the living had fled on day one, or tried to, leaving their homes and running west. There were rumours of safety out there, they had more time to prepare than the east coast did. Whatever disease or sickness that was slowly taking over the world, it started in the east. Marleen was one of the lucky ones, not many made it out of the big cities, only handfuls. 

And of course she had Denver to thank for that.

Without her burly, blonde neighbour, Mars wouldn't have had a clue about the illness that was spreading while she slept in that morning. She would have walked outside without a care in the world and promptly been attacked. 

He saved her. 

She may not have got it at first, but now, seeing what she had seen, knowing what she knows, Mars understood. 

There were still a lot of unanswered questions. How did this happen? Is the uncontrollable rage some sort of virus? Is anyone working on a way to fix this? Or is this the new world she will have no choice but to adapt to?

She couldn't think about it for too long or she would start to panic, she figured that out of the first night. 

~~~~flashback~~~~~~

The engine of the car idled momentarily before shutting off completely. Both Denver and Marleen sat, unmoving and in silence. Neither knowing what to say, neither willing to break the small moment of peace granted to them. 

Denver had spent the largest part of the day driving down every back road he knew of while he and his young neighbour escaped the city. Mars, on the other hand, had spent her day staring out the window. She watched as humans tore each other apart, flesh, blood, bones, nothing stopped the pure rage within these rabid people. 

It was catching up to her, the images flashed through her mind constantly and she had frozen in shock, trying to process it. But she couldn't. Or she didn't want to, her mind wouldn't allow her. But now, the silence, she couldn't stop the endless questions. It was like a hive of horror playing in her brain. 

Tears filled her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that day, but instead of sniffing them away and pretending she wasn't affected by the things she was seeing, she let them flow. 

And flow they did. Streams of warm liquid poured down her cheeks, Mars didn't hold back. She let out the sobs she had been stifling earlier. Her breath quickened as thoughts of her family stumbling around, ripping and biting at flesh filled her mind. Was this the new normal? Was this how life would be from now on? Marleen cried out at the idea.

She lifted her feet onto the edge of the passenger seat, curling her arms around her knees as she attempted to soothe herself. The weeping only seemed to grow stronger and louder, to a point where she couldn't control anything anymore. 

Denver, perched in the driver's seat, wasn't sure what to do. He tried to give her a moment to collect herself but she seemed to be getting worse. Denver hesitantly reached out to her and the second he did, she sprung at him, unwrapping her arms from herself and attaching to his body. He leaned closer to comfort her, enveloping her in his arms and letting her bawl, rubbing his hands up and down her back as she let it all out.  

They sat like that for hours, uncomfortably hovering over the gearbox of the cramped truck. The shoulder of Denver's shirt was soaked, not that he would ever bring it up. Marleen had worked her way through the panic attack and slowly began to calm, her rapid breathing evened itself out. 

On one hand Denver wanted to ask how she was doing, if she needed anything or if he could help her in any way but on the other, he knew the answers. He knew she wasn't okay and she might never be okay again. He knew there wasn't much he could do, just more of what he was doing now; allowing her time and space, protecting her so she could fully process what was going on. 

And that's what he vowed to do. Look after her, protect her, allow her to live in this messed up world as normally as possible- if it even was possible, he'd find a way to give that to her. 

Normalcy. 

~~~~end flashback~~~~~

“We’ll have a break when we get to Nassau, okay Mars?”

“Yeah sure!” Marleen spoke enthusiastically before clearing her throat and continuing, “I mean… if you need a break, I suppose we could-” 

“That’s awful kind of you.” Denver called over his shoulder, hiding his grin from the young lady. Marleen wasn’t used to near constant walking for hours and hours everyday, the fact that she had gotten this far had exceeded Denver's expectations. 

The pair were getting closer to the small town they had discussed stopping in for a rest and to loot any useful items they could find. They were running low on food and could do with a top up. 

So, after a short pause to drink some water and catch their breaths, Denver told his neighbour they needed to keep moving. Mars didn't complain verbally, she just huffed and sighed, rolling her eyes as she stood and swung her backpack over her shoulders. 

“Okay, I spy with my little eye… something beginning with…” Marleen let the words drag out while she hunted for something to trick Denver with, “T.” 

“Mars, if you chose ‘tree’ again-”

“It’s not a tree!” Marleen declared, “Just guess.”

“Huh, okay, Is it aaaaaa,” Looking around, he spotted almost nothing it could be, “Are you sure it's not ‘tree’?” Mars groaned, 

“Come on Denver, It's not ‘tree.’ Be serious.” 

“Wait, shhhhh…” He stopped moving, suddenly alert to his surroundings. Mars, however, was not.

“Denver, you can’t just-” She began but was promptly cut off.

“Marleen, shhhh…” The blonde man pointed ahead of them. A small group of maybe five corpses stumbled around in the direction they were supposed to be heading in. That shut Mars up. 

“We should go around.” He whispered to his young lady partner. She just nodded, understanding the situation; two verses five, except one of the two didn't really count. 

It took them a little longer to get to the small town but they got there that afternoon, only an hour or so off Denver’s schedule. His plan was to search through some shops or houses for food and medical supplies, they didn’t need them yet but it was never a bad idea to start a collection. 

Then they could set up a camp somewhere safe to stay the night and head off in the morning. He was taking them North until they hit a city called Albany then they would start going west. 

The first few nights were easy, they slept in the locked truck and everything was fine. But after leaving it at the blockade they couldn’t get around, Denver had to get a little more creative. Over the course of a week, the pair found a routine that mostly worked for them; Shutting themselves into abandoned houses or buildings. 

Four walls with one entry point felt safe enough for the pair of them to sleep at the same time, however, if no structures were nearby; they would have to take turns. Denver always took first watch, letting Marleen sleep for the larger portion of the night. He would wake her early in the morning and get 3-4 hours of sleep, while she usually had closer to 6 hours. He didn’t mind it as long as it wasn’t permanent and Mars hadn’t picked up on the uneven sleeping schedule; he knew she would complain about it if she knew. 

Luckily, the town was full of empty houses, they had plenty to choose from but first; gathering supplies. 

Typically, shops and stores held the most items and houses were a back up, but stores were more dangerous, more chance of running into the dead…. or the living. 

The pair were yet to encounter other groups, there were signs of people but never actual people. Not since the first few days anyway. 

Regardless, Denver was weary about meeting new groups. You could never be too sure about their intentions; at least the rabids couldn’t lie. It was best if the living and the dead were avoided. 

He had a system. Mars wasn’t too confident with the disposal of the rotting corpses yet so she stayed at the door as a look out or back up while Denver snuck in. He would silently scan the room and if unoccupied, let Marleen know it was safe to enter. They would go room by room until the entire building was clear, including any hidden back rooms and then lock or barricade all exits except one, just in case. 

That’s how they cleared the corner store they were currently looting. 

Canned goods and bottled water were always grabbed first then they could take some time to look around. Denver made sure to check for a first aid kit hidden in the employee room while Mars scoured shelves. 

A lot of the stores they had been to were broken into, smashed up and mostly bare with things thrown about, but this one seemed untouched. Every surface was covered in a thin layer of dust, the floors were clear and none of the windows had been smashed. 

It almost looked normal. 

Marleen reminisced, picking up a magazine and flicking through. 

FIFTY AND PROUD: HOW JEN’S KEPT HER BOD BANGING! 

The headline made her giggle. Life used to have different priorities, something she missed dearly. She’d much rather worry about the latest fashion trends and which celebrity couple had broken up than the horrifying creatures that roamed around trying to rip her apart and eat her flesh. 

“How I lost 20lbs in 20 days?” The southerners' deep voice broke her from her reading with a start. Marleen swatted at him with the flimsy paper in her hand, not aiming to hurt, just letting him know she was less than pleased. 

“A little warning next time.” She told him flatly, Denver only smirked in response. 

“It’ll be gettin’ dark soon, I saw a small place a few streets over. Looked safe.” 

“Lead the way.”

Travelling ‘a few streets away’ sounded easy enough until you took into account the feral cannibals wandering about. 

Denver took the lead, scurrying ahead while Mars stayed back; hidden. He would check the area and wave her over, much like their house checking system. Denver took his role of protector very seriously. He knew Mars didn’t have the experience or courage to scout ahead just yet but he would teach her. 

He would teach her how to defend herself, how to find shelter and food, everything she needed to know just in case something happened to him and she was left on her own. He couldn’t be at peace knowing he left her unable to survive this new cruel world. 

The road ahead of him was empty, no signs of the undead. Denver turned to signal Mars over but instead he froze. 

Bodies filled the street between them. If he had to guess, Denver would’ve said around fifty undead biters stumbled their way past him. 

His first thought was to search for the girl; he had to know if Mars was safe. The thought of crouching down and hiding to keep himself from being ripped apart never entered his mind. He just needed to catch a glimpse of her. 

Denver's instincts screamed at him to run through the crowd and locate Marleen, luckily his brain made him rethink that idea and unluckily he stood in the open, worrying for the girl. 

That’s when a smaller bunch noticed him frozen at the side of the road, thinking he was an easy target; they moved towards him. The sound of shuffled steps and snarled noises finally alerted Denver to his situation; broke him from his stupor. He had been so concerned with checking on Mars that he had forgotten to take cover and protect himself. 

Marleen, on the other side of the street, noticed the dead before Denver had. However, it was still too late to yell out and warn him, the only thing that would do is bring attention to the both of them; that was not something they needed right now. 

No, all she could do was duck behind the brick building and wait for them to pass, praying that Denver would do the same. Hopefully, neither of them would draw any attention, they could let the slow moving hoard wander past peacefully.

The majority of the group dispersed into the town, splitting up into smaller clusters and spreading out. The blonde waited a few minutes, partially because she was too frightened to move; her fear locking her into place. 

When silence fell and the gurgled groans were muted, Marleen poked her head out from her hiding spot. Her eyes darted around, checking for any possible stragglers lagging behind but found none. Then her focus went to the otherside of the tar sealed road.

The last place she had seen Denver. 

Keeping low, she rushed over. Her gut was telling her something had gone wrong. Surely Denver would have come to her immediately. What if he was hurt? Or worse?

Mars’ mind began filling with images of her neighbour, blood soaked and ready to attack her. She had to physically shake her head to release those thoughts and focus all her energy on holding her tears in, the last thing she needed was blurry vision. 

Turns out, it didn't matter if her vision was blurry, she wouldn't be able to see Denver anyway.

He wasn't there. 

‘That could be a good thing though,’ she reasoned, trying hard to convince herself. No body meant he might not be dead, he might not be one of those things. He could have run away, to keep safe. He could be fine, waiting for her in that house they were planning to check. 

So that's where she went. She knew how to clear out the place in theory. She had seen him do it many times. It wasn't very helpful that her only weapon was a close combat hunting knife. One she didn't really know how to use, she kept it on her person to keep her nerves at bay. 

Arriving at the house, Marleen didn't see any obvious signs of the dead and neither did she see signals that Denver had made his way here. Her shoulders sagged significantly but she still had hope that he may be waiting inside. 

The young woman tried to remember what Denver would do first; he usually left her at the front door as a look out while he went inside. She didn't know if that job was actually useful or he was just trying to keep her out of the way, but it felt like she was helping. And it made her even more nervous that she wouldn’t have back up for her first house scouting mission. 

Shakily, Mars stepped into the building. Her senses dialled up, every creak of the floorboards under her feet startled her; but she managed. She managed to inspect each room one at a time and thankfully there was no need to use her knife. The place was completely empty. Something she should have been pleased about, although that did mean that Denver hadn't made it here. 

Maybe she should go back to that street and look for him? Or would that just expose her to the number of rotting corpses walking around outside? Marleen didn't know what to do, stay here to wait for the blonde man or go out searching for him. What if she left and he arrived? 

Denver would know what to do, and he wouldn’t get so flustered about making a simple decision. The guilt was starting to get to her, maybe if she had yelled out the second she saw the rabids, things would be different. Denver would have had more warning. Marleen’s blood ran cold when she realised her part in his death. It was her fault. Entirely. 

She had time to warn him, to scream out and say something. But she didn't. Instead she got scared and froze, doing nothing to help her friend and that's probably what got him killed. 

Marleen looked out the window, taking into account the setting sun and decided to stay here. She would have to lock all entry points, bar one, so nothing could get in. And once she finally had, the girl allowed herself to curl up into a ball and sob.

a/n: oooOOoo how do we feel about poor Mars being on her own now? I hope Denver is okay...

-Sol ☀️

[dollsonmain]

Saw Harley and Ivy Barbies and thought "They're not too bad, but Ivy's outfit is terrible" and that's my full thoughts on it while my doll friends sit down and have a deep discussion about how and why they're terrible.

Green Barbies are getting easier to find with Elphaba, Vina, and Ivy. I want more other colors. The fairies had pink, purple, and blue. I wouldn't mind more purple and blue and a light green and ye... yellow might be pushing it unless she's Spongebob yellow and the pink fairy basically looked normal, and orange is just the 80's Barbies again, but you get me.

They have fairytopia and mermaids, why not fantasy skin tones?

-

Talked to a friend and he mentioned that he isn't sure if he's masking so hard that his mask is himself, now, or if he was faking being ND as a child and I was like love, that's a thing so many of my ND friends have gone through.

I'm going through the same thing right now with this job.

All these years have been like "I can't do this much physical activity because it will hurt me more than the activity is worth" and here I am walking 3+ miles every day, standing on my feet for hours, bending, lifting heavy stuff, and I'm fine. I've just been lazy and refusing to do hard work this whole time.

I say, while having obvious, glaring moments of brain fog (I'll break down Monday's chaos under a cut) and confusion while on the register, forgetting what I'm doing while I'm doing it, being so tired and sore that hobbling home takes more-than-twice as long as walking to work, falling asleep while eating, having to push myself very hard to get chores done when I'm home especially the ones that require going up and down the stairs, and being in so much pain at home that I'm barely mobile...

So Monday, a guy comes in and buys gas at the register. There's a slight price break if you pay inside, for some reason, and I'd rather it was card at the pump only but that's neither here nor there. Sometimes the card readers on the pumps hiccup and people come inside instead of fighting with them, too.

He tells me his pump number, I take the payment, he goes back out.

He comes in a little later and says there's no money on his pump. I knew the payment took and was like "Ok, I'll put $30 on the pump you're on as cash and you're good to go."

Which doesn't make sense. In hindsight, that made no sense what-so-ever. I don't know why I thought that was a solution to the problem. It made sense at the time but as soon as he walked out the door I was like "Wait... What did I just do??"

Some back and forth and we discover that he told me the wrong pump and the lady at the pump number he gave me had put in her card like normal and pumped gas not noticing the money already on there, but that was HIS money.

I couldn't figure out how to refund the man's payment to her pump and take payment from her so we could reset everything, and that didn't fix the $30 cash charge that wasn't in the register because I didn't take cash from him, I just told the register that I did.

So I had to grab Alt-Manager, tell her what happened, and after SHE tried to refund the wrong-pump card payment so we could charge both customers correctly and couldn't she asked the woman if she had any cash. The woman had a $50, so the manager broke her $50, gave the man what he was owed for the woman's gas (the woman was like "that's for me!" but no, it was for the man) and the remainder to the woman.

We charged the man again for HIS gas, which he had already taken from the pump so we had to charge him for random groceries, and they both walked out.

Then I was like "Wait, I think this means the woman didn't pay for any gas."

Which Alt-Manager was like "Oh no..... I think you're right...."

She had to go call Manager who somehow understood what had happened and broke it down for both of us, while both of us were like "what...." but.

The man will have 2 charges on his CC: Her gas and his gas. The gas station gets both. The woman paid the man in cash for her gas. Manager "refunded" the $30 in cash I'd told the register it had to zero that out.

In the end it was all square, but it was so confusing at the time.

It would have been better to refund the man the cost of the woman's gas in groceries in cash and then recharge him for his correct pump and then charge the woman in groceries for how much she was owed, but I didn't know that was an option. To refund as groceries when the issue was gas. Though doing that may have messed up the drawer count, too, because that cash was never put in the drawer in the first place, so doing it the way she did was the best way to keep the drawer count right.

Anyway, Manager is very good at understanding and managing the money side of things and being firm with vendors, customers, and employees, but bad at time management and has unrealistic expectations regarding how long it takes to complete tasks, especially when also expected to run back to the register every few moments, whereas Alt-Manager is good at the money side but a little easy to influence/push around, and very good at time management making sure that everyone is in and out at the correct time and will jump out to take the register about 5 minutes before it's time to go so employees can count their drawer and do their dishes, etc.

[elsfairy]

Sevika accidentally exploding at you after a hard day at work, then later realising her mistake and doing literally anything to make it up to you

a/n: lol, I apologize if this is too sad or half-assed, it's a shitty day. this was only supposed to be short... shit.

just wanna put it out there that I don't think it's something that happens all of the time. she loves you and truly cares about you & your feelings so if she were to ever get mad, she would walk it off until she cooled down. That being said, it probably does happen when she's been working for so long and all she wants to do is sit the fuck down and forget about her day.

It wasn't that she intended for it to happen. You were just simply asking her if she wanted something to eat, or drink, and yet that small question made her snap. Sure you've seen her angry before, but never towards you. She got annoyed, or moody but other than that, she never shouted at you.

"Can you just, shut up for five fucking minutes? I'm tired"

Not the fuckin way she wanted to go about that conversation. She knew damn well you were sensitive. Sevika knew that shouting at you wouldn't fix her problem of being angry at work. Yet those words were instantly regretted when she noticed your smile falter as quickly as it appeared. Yeah, she fucked up.

The only thing she looked forward to after working was coming home to you, her Sweetheart. It wasn't that she meant to shout at you, everything was just getting on top of her and instead of getting up and walking away like she is used to doing when she was mad, she didn't. And yet? she knew to give you space. Because just because you loved her, you needed that moment to yourself while she sorted herself out.

Sevika always knew her mistakes the minute they happened. It didn't take her long to realize she was angry at the wrong person. You had done nothing but care for her, and look after her. You're the only person who she'd let this close to her, and knowing she had upset you? made her more upset than angry.

Was a weird setup but she would leave you be for a solid 30 minutes just to fix herself. She would take a short walk around the living room, pacing back & forth, having inner battles with her head, telling her she needed to just calm the fuck down because you didn't do anything wrong.

Rushing around your small apartment trying to find a solution. Flowers? or would you just throw them back at her? Chocolate? or would you throw them in the trash? Could even find your favorite food in the streets, but again, would you refuse to eat it because she shouted at you? would buying.. no, she can't just bribe you. no.

Yes, you were sensitive to many things, but you could never stop yourself when it came to curling up on her side of the bed, because it was hers and it smelt like her. As much as you'd like to be angry at her for the outburst, you did understand that she's been working harder & longer and it wasn't her fault. You understood she was exhausted, but still she didn't need to shout.

No doubt she finds you, curled up with her pillow to your chest after the 30 minutes are up and she feels god awful that she can hear you sniffling because of her. Doesn't get nervous, but when it involves you? god she's terrified you're gonna be angry this time.

"Babe?"

Tries not to chuckle when you cover your face with her fuckin pillow.

"I shouldn't have done that. It's not your fault. I shouldn't have shouted at you over something that's not your fault, never your fault. I'm just really tired, and I know that's not an excuse and it won't make up for telling you to shut the fuck up.. I am sorry.. if you want me to leave you alone for a while, I can do that.. just know that I didn't mean it.. i love you"

You know she had trouble voicing her feelings but you couldn't help the small smile that appeared on your face. of course she was looking around nervously and not even aware you were on the verge of giggling.

"I knew i should have gone with buying you flowers"

"Flowers? if you buy me flowers.. i will forgive you.."

Now you're bribing her?? the nerve on you.

"Fine, I will go and buy you every flower I can find it means you forgive me"

"I love you"

It's really fuckin hard to be angry at each other.

[groupalpha]

(More of comic under cut)

RSbSS: Fine.

RSbSS: Prism what do you want?

EPS: I need to talk to you about the recent events.

RSbSS: Well guess what. I don't want to hear about it.

EPS: Ruby this is serious.

RSbSS: Okay? And? I've heard everything everyone has to say about it. Your words are guaranteed to be no different.

...

. . .

. . .

. . .

EPS: sigh

EPS: ... Ruby I'm trying to protect you. But I couldn't lift the punishment this time.

RSbSS: I know. They're probably super mad like usual. I'll get through it.

EPS: Ruby this is serious! I can't keep protecting you after all your violent outbursts. You crossed over a line this time, and there's only so much influence I have over Ethos and Plutus.

RSbSS: Big deal... it's fine.

...

EPS: They wanted to shut you down.

RSbSS: Wait what? But they... I'd...

EPS: I tried to convince them not to. But that doesn't change the fact that you killed of of them. You've crossed a line of no return, and you've lost the respect of everyone. I can't fix this, and you know that I can't as well.

I know that sometimes it might seem hard, but you can't just go around killing everyone that says something you don't like. You can't just do that to them, as it still hurts. Even though they will come back, it's still a very cruel thing to do.

RSbSS: You're right. I'm... I'm sorry.

EPS: ... You shouldn't apologize to me.

...

EPS: I don't know what or when their punishment will be, so I can't even let you know.

...

RSbSS: I was mad because they were talking about shutting Endless Beyond down. I don't want them to.

...

Do you think they would? I don't want anything to happen to her.

EPS: No, I don't think so. I have spoken to Nova before, and she seems more concerned about the stars. I don't think she would shut down Endless Beyond.

RSbSS: ... Voids... I really need to control myself more.

I... I don't think they'd accept my apology...

EPS: I... I'm sure you could-

EPS: Ah... voids... Ruby I... I'm so sorry.

RSbSS: Ah... I'm still... alive?

RSbSS: I mean... that's good but... something feels wrong...

Why can I not...

RSbSS: My arms! Wait... what did they do?!

RSbSS: My arms are gone! My...

...

RSbSS: a message?

LS,TBS: "Ruby Skies by Sapphire Shores, if you happen to read this message, this will be the last message you receive from me. At this point, I have decided to cross myself out, so sending a message to me would result in vain.

After what has happened between us, I, and many of the citizens of Plutus have decided to shut you off temporarily. We've decided to do this as to gain access to your puppet to remove your puppets arms. You have proven from history that you are not suitable enough to have them, but also that they are a distraction to you.

The last thing to note, is that my title will be handed off to a new ancient to fulfill the role of Prime Administrator. Their name is Twenty Amber Beads, Two Strings.

I hope that you may find a solution to our great problem.

Goodbye Ruby Skies by Sapphire Shores."

RSbSS: ... I've really screwed this all up.

part 2/2

[idioticsky]

Hey... pssst..

*slides over my rottmnt oc*

Hello humans, I've made another oc for another fixation

This is Lucky (drawings done by a wonderful friend of mine)

She's a black widow yokai who studied under her future Mikey before she ended up in a different dimension (will explain in a backstory dump later), she has the ability to dimension jump but doesn't really use it. She's a nervous reck who doesn't like too many people, if she like you tho she'll stay close and try to protect you (*cough cough* Gal). She likes to study things about the new dimension she's in and enjoys learning things or fixing up some old Krang tech.

Lucky was born during the invasion, her father died a few days before she was born. Her mother was a fighter in the war and wasn't around much while Lucky was growing up. She grew up just wandering around different camps and bases, trying to find something to do while all the other kids played with their friends. One day when she was 5, someone new came to the camp her mother dragged her into staying at, it was Mikey. He was kind and welcoming, so she naturally tried to get closer, to finally have a connection with someone. He took her in and taught her how to connect with people and the magic within herself. She learned how to bend time and space to her will, but by that point the invasion was turning towards the worst. She said she would go to find a solution to save everyone, so she hopped from dimension to dimension, trying to find something, anything to help them. And she found it, but by the time she got home, she was too late. Everyone was gone and lost to the war. She sat in her broken world, waiting for death to take her too, but it didn't take her in time. Krang Prime found her in the middle of the battlefield and took her in. She became their form of transportation to different worlds, she helped them take over other dimension as well. She soon found a way out and now lives in a dimension where things mostly worked out. She's living her best life now with her found family and couldn't wish for anything else.

This is the basics for the goober. Also gonna ping @hypocriticaltypwriter so that she can see that I finally did it :)

[onyxbird]

Iterative Solution

Summary: Some time after the end of Season 1, Fitz finds his dreams replaying his and Simmons' capture by Ward over and over. He has a chance to change the outcome if he can just bring himself to take it—Ward's offering him a chance to change the outcome—but none of the options sit right with Fitz. There has to be a better way. (Also on AO3.)

"If you want to change things, someone needs to die."

Ward's tone was oddly gentle. His hand was warm where it gently pressed Ward's own pistol—the real one, not a Night-Night gun—into Fitz's hand, barrel pointed at Ward's chest.

Fitz jolted awake.

…

The next night, the same dream.

"Why?" said Fitz, voice cracking. "Why can't you just let us go?"

Fitz couldn't drag his eyes away from Ward's. "If they realize I let you go, they'll interrogate me to try to figure out your next move. I know too much about the team. It'll be better for both of us if they think you just got lucky and got the drop on me. Once you pull the trigger, take Simmons and run like hell—don't look back for anything, you understand?"

Fitz's hand shook. He couldn't.

History repeated, as he had the nagging feeling it had done time and time again. Staring at Ward through the window of the medical pod, chest heaving, Simmons panicking behind him, Fitz felt paralyzed. He knew what came next.

He would still give Simmons the oxygen. He had to. But the thought of drowning again…

Another brief respite with no other Hydra agents, just him and Ward. Surely, surely, there was another way out of this.

“Can you make it float?” Ward asked urgently. His fingertips brushed the glass with a barely perceptible tremble, as if the right—or wrong—touch could either fix everything or shatter it into pieces.

“…What?”

“The pod. Is there anything you can do to make it float when it hits the water?”

Fitz shook his head helplessly and tried to tamp down the panic climbing up his esophagus. When. His brain was too full of static to think about anything, and he was pretty sure the answer was no, anyway. He and Simmons had wracked their brains when they sank, and Fitz had worried at the question obsessively as he recovered. There were ways to make future pods float, and there were ways this one probably could have been modified—from the outside and with tools and time. But when they were already locked in, in those few desperate moments of shelter before Ward dropped them? No.

Ward glanced warily over his shoulder for Hydra agents. His hand crept reluctantly towards the release button.

“Wait!” said Fitz, desperately. “Don't—! What if you don't drop us? You know what's going to happen; you know it's going to sink.”

Ward's eyes squeezed shut. “I know. I've tried that. If you stay on the plane—Garrett's just going to call someone with a blowtorch to cut it open when we land. You—You don't want that to happen. I promise, it's worse.”

Ward's head came up a fraction of a second before Fitz registered the sound he was reacting to: Three more Hydra agents coming around the corner.

Then there was nothing but the lurch of his stomach as the ground dropped out from beneath him.

Again.

He awoke in the dark with his stomach roiling, thankful not to have to relive those moments underwater.

It was early, a little past 5 am. He got up anyway, hoping a couple hours of puttering in the lab alone would help to drive the nightmare out of his head.

If only he could shake the comment that kept reverberating through his head: “I've tried that.”

…

Fitz was disappointed but not surprised to find himself back again the next night, Ward again pressing the gun on him and urging him to flee.

“How many times have you done this?”

Ward rocked back on his heels, eyes widening slightly. He didn't answer.

“You said you tried not dropping the pod.” Fitz kept his voice low, but he couldn't stop the torrent. “You've been repeating this longer than I have, haven't you? How many times? Do you know why? What have you tried? Have—”

“Fitz, if we keep talking, you're going to end up on the plane and going into the ocean. We don't have time.”

Fitz swallowed. “But it's going to loop, right? We're going to be back here again.”

“…I think so.”

“How many times?”

“I'm not sure. A lot. You've been…” Ward gestured vaguely to Simmons. “…like her up until the last few.”

Fitz glanced back as well. It was obvious what Ward meant. Simmons was there, of course, just as she had been the first time, but she was just going through the motions, like a recording, with no recognition of the fact that this wasn't happening for the first time. She displayed no comprehension, or even awareness, of Fitz and Ward's “off-script” discussion.

Fitz could hear footsteps approaching. They were out of time to talk—about to be pulled into another inexorable loop of being trapped on the Bus.

“You said to take her and run—would she go?” hissed Fitz.

Ward shrugged helplessly, a sharp contrast to the gun he was already raising towards the scientists. “I think so. When I changed stuff before, people—”

A Hydra agent appeared around the corner, eyes narrowing. Not the one whose footsteps Fitz had heard. He shouted for the others without taking his eyes off Ward, or his hand off his sidearm.

Ward had been right. Staying on the Bus was not a good option, and neither was Ward being suspected of helping them.

…

“Are you sure I have to shoot you?” Fitz's thumb wavered over the safety. “I get why we need to not end up on the Bus in the first place, but—”

“It's a distraction; it gives them a reason to be wary of you, and it keeps them from trying to get information out of me to figure out where you might go.” Ward's hand wrapped gently over the top of the barrel, aiming it and steadying it against Fitz's trembling. “It's OK. None of this is your fault.”

Fitz got the impression Ward had planned this option long before Fitz “woke up” to be convinced.

“Your hand is going to get burned.”

“If you aim where I'm telling you, it won't matter. If you miss, I'll have bigger problems.”

Fitz wished he didn't understand how true that was. Ward's crooked smile only made it worse.

“If you want to save Simmons, you need to go now.”

The race away from the scene was like a dream—more specifically, a nightmare. Dragging Simmons by the hand, shouts and gunshots ringing out behind them, heart hammering, panting for air like his chest was trapped in a vice, forcing burning legs to move while waiting for an inevitable bullet to bury itself between his shoulder blades.

All he could hear was the echos of the gunshot, the jerk of the gun in his hands, Ward collapsing like a broken puppet as the blood began to spread.

He lurched over the side of his bed, barely managing to grab his wastebasket before vomiting up everything in his stomach.

…

He didn't want to go to sleep.

The team thought he had a stomach bug. He'd spent most of the day curled up in a cocoon of blankets, rebuffing offers of company with a wan smile and trying to distract himself with books and movies and research articles.

He'd worried that Simmons would see through his excuses and demand he come clean, but she seemed distracted herself. She'd fussed over him with anti-nausea meds, lots of fluids, and bland snacks to settle his stomach, but otherwise accepted his insistence that he just wanted to rest.

Ward—dream Ward, who was surely just a figment of Fitz's imagination and trauma dreams—had been sure this was the solution. He and Jemma had gotten away clean before the dream faded, their real-life captor left dead behind them by Fitz's own hand. By the standards of all the Hollywood “Groundhog Day” loops, this should be over. It was a logical progression of the loop to a nice, tidy resolution. Justice served. Catharsis achieved. Or should have been achieved? Fitz couldn't really say he was feeling the release.

Fitz wished he was convinced.

The clock ticked towards midnight. Exhaustion dragged his eyelids down, and if he got up to try to stay awake, someone would notice and become more concerned.

They were back.

Ward looked as distraught as Fitz felt. “You didn't make it?”

“Oh, god, it really is a loop.”

They both whipped around to look at Simmons.

“It is a loop, isn't it?” she said, wide-eyed. “I had this dream last night, and you were talking like you had a plan. You shot him and we got away.”

“If it worked why are you back?”

“I don't know.”

Ward swiped a hand over his face, looking utterly exhausted. “Well,” he said, in a defeated tone, “at least we know this version works.” He unholstered his pistol, flipping it around to offer to Fitz and Simmons grip-first, as he had countless times before.

Fitz stared at it. He knew it was the only sure way to save himself and Simmons. He also knew he couldn't stomach shooting Ward again.

“Fitz…”

“Come with us,” he blurted.

“What?”

“Come with us. We'll be safer with you, and they can't interrogate you if you're not there.”

“You can't—”

“Just come! There's no time!”

“We'll sort it out later,” said Simmons. Her arms wrapped nervously around her stomach, not fully ready to trust Ward. “They're coming, aren't they? There's no time. Let's go, and we'll sort it out later.”

Fitz grabbed her hand and squeezed it in gratitude for the backup. He turned, pulling Simmons with him with one hand and reaching for Ward's sleeve with the other. “Come on. If you want to save us, you have to do it now.”

It was the first morning in more than a week that Fitz had woken up gently. Their escape had been a closer one than in Ward's plan—he'd had to drop back several times to pick off pursuing Hydra agents—but in the end they'd made it. With Ward.

They hadn't had time to really sort anything out, as Simmons had put it, but it had worked. That was the important part. If they had to keep doing this, Fitz could live with that.

When Fitz cautiously ventured out to find breakfast, Simmons had just beaten him to the kitchen. One glance at her face confirmed that it hadn't been an ordinary dream.

“Feeling better?” said Coulson, cheerfully, from behind him.

Fitz started. “Er, yeah. Feeling a lot better, actually.” He exchanged a glance with Simmons. “…But there's something I think we might need to talk to you about, sir.”

Coulson raised an eyebrow. “OK?”

Simmons broke in before Fitz could speak. “We need to talk to Ward.”

[twotales]

*tries to think coherently about characters but literally can’t* RADEK ZELENKA! Just!!! RADEK!!!! I mean look at him! I did not expect to watch Atlantis and become obsessed with non-wraith characters but here I am, searching for David Nykl content y’all because of the amazing Dr. Zelenka.

Do you have any fic recs of him getting absolutely destroyed in the best ways possible? I have dived into AO3 and read so many fics with him (and Lorne, and McKay, and also wraith in general). Reading Legacy right now and there’s still not enough Radek even though he’s doing his job and McKay’s.

-Lt-Col-Siren I swear I’m a real person I’m just very busy and can’t make decisions also wanting to learn Czech just to understand what he’s saying when Rodney is being Rodney about things

Thanks @lt-col-siren for the side character request!

Coherence is overrated!!

Dude, DUDE! I KNOW RIGHT!!!! He is amazing. And welcome to being completely normal about Radek Zelenka. COMPLETELY  NORMAL. 

There 100% is not enough Radek.

I literally made this blog because of that! I just couldn't go on in such a Radekless world.

On that note, David Nykl is such a great and underrated actor. He's also very cool and pretty funny imo!

Now! Fic recs for Radek getting destroyed, I got you-

Discorporate

Rodney gets destroyed in this one too!

Summary: Remember when Rodney insisted that he was supposed to be the one figuring out how to rescue the poor trapped bastard (Grace Under Pressure.) We're exploring what it would take to make him eat his words!

-

Phantom Pains

This dude, this!

Summary: Zelenka is taken to be a Runner by the Wraith. Atlantis presumes him dead and McKay takes that harder than expected. Takes place between "Trio" and "Midway."

-

Read the tag! But it's good! But sad, but like, bah! So good.

Summary: "We're the ones who do the impossible. We're the ones that find the solution when there is none. We're the ones that fix this."

-

Mensa!AU Radek (Rod's universe)

Summary: To the day of his death, Radek believed that one of the universe's greatest cosmic jokes was that he would come to Atlantis and fall in love with the city. The city in the middle of an ocean. The city which could fly. (Mensa 'verse)

Mensa!AU (Rod McKay) Radek

-

This is one of mine - It's more mentally destroyed but anyways

Summary: Radek stayed in the back, twiddling his thumbs and hoping to put off the inevitable. He pushed his glasses up with shaky fingers and sighed. It’s not that he didn’t want to go, quite the opposite in fact. He needed to go more than he needed to breathe.

-

I hope these are new to you and what you're looking for!!

(Evan and Rodney 💖 both in my top 5 favorite SGA characters!)

Did you know that I started learning Czech because of Radek Zelenka? No? Well I have been going strong since and now my partner is actually applying to a masters program in the Czech Republic (not related to my fandom love) so we are both learning it. 

Mostly it's him cursing Rodney out 😂 wiki has translations! But honestly, learn Czech! It's a fascinating and beautiful language that is not learned enough, just like Radek, not enough and highly underrated. It can be difficult to find ways but it is possible! Duolingo is good for basics, but don't rely on it for pronunciation. 

One day I hope to meet David Nykl and say to him in Czech  "I fell in love with the Czech language and the Czech Republic because of Radek."

So seriously if you commit then I hope to converse with you in Czech one day 💚 (absolutely no pressure)

Thanks for the ask dude!! I appreciate and If you ever want to be completely normal about Radek or have more requests feel free dude, feel free

[xxxdreamscapexxx]

How do you think yn would react if Wanda cheated on her because she was drunk? Oh my god I just know Wanda would feel so so guilty that she wouldn’t be able to even look in eyes

Hi there :)

Ok, so I've had this ask in my box for a while now and in the back of my head I've been thinking on what i want to say and the day finally came so here it is.

Firstly... I don't think Wanda is the type of person to cheat. I'm not idolizing her, I know people make mistakes, but based on what I've seen of her character, she is fiercely loyal to the people she loves and when she does have romantic feelings, she is committed to that person.

Someone like that does not cheat. Even if you're fighting and it feels like it's going nowhere, I think she'd rather argue with you, than look for comfort in someone else. I also think she would pick a person of similar mindset. Her life is filled with uncertainty and she'd most likely pick a person she can trust completely.

For the sake of the argument and the ask however... If she were to cheat, I don't think she'll ever tell you. She's good at compartmentalizing and she doesn't believe that being honest with you would ever soothe her conscience. I think she'd be pretty aware of how destructive this would be to your relationship and she would never let you find out. She'd probably try very hard to forget about it herself.

If you were to find out, I don't think she'll try to make an excuse about what she did either. I personally don't believe in any type of excuse when it comes to cheating. Our actions are based on choices we make and being drunk doesn't change the fact that she chose to do something like that, so I think she's more likely to try and fix what has happened.

Y/N would be hurt and angry and she'd feel betrayed, feeling like her heart has been broken, so Wanda would work to fix that. I think she'll accept the yelling and the tears fairly calmly, trying to soothe you and assure you that she'd never do that to you ever again. I think she'd expect this to happen and she'd be prepared for it, her heart breaking to see you like this.

I think what could trigger Wanda however is if Y/N tries to leave her. An attempt is likely, though Wanda probably doesn't see it coming, so it scares her. She's lost too many people and she's very firm in what she feels and who she wants and letting you go is unthinkable, so a situation like that may result in her overreacting.

Trying to physically stop you would be first, holding on to you tightly, the entire time telling you how sorry she is and that she'd never meant to hurt you, assuring you that she loves you and that she's committed to you and only you. She'll tell you that it meant nothing and that she couldn't even explain why she did it in the first place. Her voice would be so broken and the tears in her eyes would break your heart all over again.

I don't think Wanda ever wants to use her powers on you, but at the threat of losing you, she'd be willing. Manipulating your mind to forget what happened is the most likely solution she might resort to and she'd spend weeks afterwards being extra attentive and loving, feeling more guilty for manipulating you than for cheating, but she'd ultimately never do such a thing again, not wanting to risk the memory surfacing and threatening your relationship again.

She's always searched for stability, so she's likely to have thought about what she did for a very long time and after seeing the consequences to such a stupid mistake, made with an unimportant person, she'd want to isolate herself and isolate you too. Probably a change in where you two live, picking a more secluded location, wanting as much time with you as possible and the least chances of distractions.

In the end, she'll do everything to leave it behind her and she'd be focused on living her best life with Y/N.

Sooo... This is where my thoughts are on the subject...

[fantasticenthusiasttale]

Tuesday night fic!

This fic happens a little after the ep: "The 87 cent solution!"

Sorry but I don't remember if LP was in the funeral, so he wasn't.

Warning: blood and angst

Enjoy :)

《》《》《》

Since he left St. Canard to visit his family in Duckburg for some days, it was the first time Drake went for a walk in the city. He woke up early in the morning and came out of the mansion he grew up to find an old friend from high school in the square. They talked all the morining, lunched together and spent all the afternoon fishing along in the lake.

When he arrived at home, he knew the things aren't that good. He knew that Scrooge have the gold fever, but he throught that Beakley and the children can take care of him while he's out and Donald is in his job. To be honest, Drake doesn't know how Scrooge never had the gold fever before like, he was in the Golden Rush! How he never caught this sickness before?

What he wasn't ready to see, is his brother. Donald was passed out in the floor, with swollen eyes and some blood dripping out of the back of his head, forming a little puddle. He desperately tried to wake him up calling his name, but it doesn't worked. He ran screaming for Scrooge until he found him in the kitchen, talking with Beakley.

Scrooge and Beakley stopped the talking when Drake entered in the kitchen, breathless "SCROOGE!"

Scrooge tried to calm his nephew down while Beakley was taking a water glass to him "Lad, calm down and tell me what happened."

"No time! Don is bad! He's-- *breathe* he's fainted in the living room and-- *breathe* and he have blood in his head!"

"Oh my!" Scrooge, Beakley and Drake ran to see Donald in the living room exactly how Drake described.

"We have to take him to an hospital! Now!" Drake said.

"He is right Mr. Scrooge, the hurt is bad. I think I can fix it here but he needs to see a doctor fast, or..."

"Or what?" Drake doesn't like it.

"Nothing, Drake. You'll stay here to take care of the children while me, Beakley and Launchpad takes Donald to an hospital."

"No way! I'm coming with you! He's my brother and I'm worried about him!"

"I can put Donald in the car and stay here with the kids, Mr. Scrooge." Beakley tried to calm them.

Scrooge sighed. "Alright, then. Drake, calls Launchpad. He'll be here in one minute."

"I can drive, it will be faster. Let's go to my car!" Drake said while Beakley was carrying Donald with Scrooge in his heels, everybody worried about the fainted sailor.

———

Donald hurted himself so many times in his life that someday it would be too bad, now it really happened. In the hospital, the doctor said that a vein ruptured when he hited the head in the floor while passing out was the motive that Donald had to have a surgery in a rush to fix it up. He really could die if Drake hadn't noticed it.

Now, Scrooge and Drake are together waiting the surgery finish to know how Donald is.

"Hey, I see that you're better. You looks healthy." Drake broke the silence.

"Thanks, I really feel better. I found out what happened, it was only an enemy trying to make me looks crazy traveling in the time to steal me. I wasn't crazy in the end." Scrooge said like it's this the most normal thing in the world.

To Drake, this would be the most craziness he ever heard if he didn't knew with who he's talking. "Wow. Just another normal day in McDuck Mansion" he joked.

Scrooge laughed, and Drake continued "How you discovered that?"

Suddenly, Scrooge lost his smile. "It was a genius plan the children helped me to came up, I rested all day yesterday to feel good enough to do it. I... I faked my own death."

Drake laughed "Wow, that was really genius!"

Scrooge continued "The children told everyone that I couldn't resist the complications of the illness and had made all the funeral arrangements. The only one who wasn't told was... your brother."

"WHAT?!"

"The kids forgotten it! He worked all the week, we forgot that he didn't knew anything! Today was his day off, we thought that he already knew!"

"You can't be serious. This can't be true, no way."

"But it is! Donald was crying hard all the time in the funeral! As he was an actor when he was younger, we thought he was just pretending!"

"So that's why his eyes were swollen. How you dares?!"

"He fainted when he returned at the funeral and saw me alive and fine. You know what happened next." Scrooge stated sadly.

Drake couldn't believe. So long after their adventuries with Scrooge, his uncle still doesn't care for his brother's health. Ten years after the Spear of Selene goes wrong and he still thinks that they are indestructibles, that nothing can stop them. Donald didn't had a good health when he was younger because of the adventuries, and it isn't better after these ten years, on the contrary, it's even worse.

"How you doesn't noticed anything? How could you let this happen? You wasn't the one who raised us? You doesn't care about your nephew???"

"Of course I do! I just think I doesn't know who's him anymore, he's so different now."

"Of course! We raised the triplets together, but alone! I changed too! But there was no other way! We were trying hard to overcome the Spear of Selene and scared about how to raise these boys for too much time! And maybe we still are! That changed us!"

"I know. You two did a great job."

"Donald Duck's family?" A doctor said when she arrived at the waiting room. Drake and Scrooge got up at the same time, worried with the relative.

"Good evening, misters. The surgery was a success. His life is no longer in danger." Both of them let out big sighs "But you'll only can see him tomorrow." They thanked to her before she left.

Left alone by the doctor, the feeling of the guilt was around them, whispering in their ears. Drake was feeling guilty for thinking he should have stayed with his brother instead of spending all day with his old friend, despite the fact that he didn't know about the plan either. Scrooge was feeling guilty for thinking that he should have taken better care of his nephew, he should have sensed that something was wrong with him in the way he was crying. Despite of all of that theories, in the depth down, they just wanted one thing: a healthy, smiling Donald.

[dynamite-derek]

Super Mario RPG: An effective trojan horse

In 1992, a game called Final Fantasy Mystic Quest released. Despite being a Japanese game developed by Japanese developers, it had an English language target audience. Role Playing Games, specifically of the turn based variety, were all the rage in Japan. Dragon Quest in particular was so popular that kids would skip school to pick it up. You see, back in the stone age, there were no digital games. If you couldn't secure a physical copy, you were out of luck. So what does a young man who wants to fight slimes do? Skip school. According to an interview with Game Informer, police asked Enix to release their games on the weekend to avoid this. So they did.

But this sort of hysteria for role playing games was not seen in America. Yeah, there were definitely people who would camp out and try to snag a copy of Super Mario Brothers 2 or something, but there wasn't a bunch of nerdy kids trying to bum rush the store to see what the hell Cecil and Kain were up to. So Squaresoft wanted to fix this and their solution was Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. It was supposed to be a trojan horse into the genre. Instead of being overly complex and dense, it was simple and easy to approach. You get a small taste...but you still crave more. Yes, JRPGs are crack cocaine.

While RPGs would eventually find a foothold in the states, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest wasn't exactly successful in its mission. Whenever you hear people reminisce fondly about Super Nintendo RPGs, you very rarely hear someone wax poetically about Mystic Quest. In fact, I would argue it is one of the more 'obscure' Final Fantasy games despite its mission to act as an entryway for children. Square's intended trojan horse was a dud, but there's one other game a suspicious number of people think fondly of. It also goes for the same 'simplistic approach to a complicated genre' thing Mystic Quest went for.

That game is Super Mario RPG. I speak of it in a similar 'trojan horse to the genre' way as Mystic Quest because that was quite literally the case for me. I had never heard the letters "RPG" together before. I was an eight year old and all I knew about the game was that it starred Mario and the screenshots in gamepro looked cool as hell. I remember playing this game for the first time vividly. My eyes had just gotten dilated because they were testing my vision and my dad decided to rent me a game to make my suffering less apparent. I saw Super Mario RPG and the choice was obvious. Everything about the world charmed me.

I loved the music and the quirky dialogue. I felt there were a lot of mysteries in the world to see that were just beyond my reach. For instance, I spent hours trying to figure out what Toadstool's "???" was. I tried to figure out where Toad's bazooka was because if he mentioned it, that must mean he has one somewhere and maybe he could join my party! Hell, some kid at school told me about a weird glitch in the beginning of the game where if you pressed a bunch of buttons in some sort of order you would trigger three hidden characters who would join your party. I spent hours trying to figure out how to get Yoshi to leave Yoshi's Island and come with me. Things like hidden treasure boxes and the lazy shell actually existing in game helped propel these wild theories.

Basically, if you experienced the Pokemon phenomenon of the 90s, you know where I'm coming from. It was impossible to be on a school ground and not hear about moving the truck for Mew or learning about Bill's Secret Garden or Pikablu. Mario RPG was that for me on a much smaller scale. I had never seen a game with such a fleshed out story before. In short, I was hooked.

This discovery led me to many other video games I might not have tried otherwise. It led me to renting Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy IV (2), Final Fantasy VI (3) and basically anything that I thought had turn based combat. Basically this simplistic game featuring Mario fighting a scary blacksmith kicked off my lifelong fascination with a genre. My excursion to a rental store as an eight year old probably led Squaresoft (now Square Enix) to profit thousands of dollars from me alone. And given the reverence surrounding this game, there's just no way I'm alone.

If you go back and play Super Mario RPG as an adult, it's still a really good time. As someone with a great deal of nostalgia for it, it's hard for me to look at it objectively. But when I compare SMRPG to its contemporaries, I really don't think it measures up. The gameplay is simplistic and laughably easy - the game's super boss Culex would probably be seen as a mid tier boss in Final Fantasy IV - there isn't a whole lot of depth to how you build your characters, the item inventory is extremely simple and easy to manage and the game's stages are very easy to navigate. SNES RPGs could feel labyrinthian at times and that's before I get to stuff like Shin Megami Tensei, which released in 1992.

This isn't to say that SMRPG is a bad game. It absolutely isn't. While it is simplistic, I think there are four things that carry it a long way. The things that make it a game that hooked countless children and made them RPG addicts.

First is the undeniable charm of everything. Super Mario RPG is bursting with personality. The story does not have a lot of depth, but the character dialogue is all interesting and quirky. If you compare it to the NPC dialogue of something like Final Fantasy IV, I think it's a lot more interesting. Children's media tends to be brightly colored and loud and I would suggest SMRPG fits in with that. Even the volcano world is full of personality and color. Who could forget the Axim Rangers? I remember thinking it was hilarious that you had to sleep on the boxes at the volcano Inn.

Second is the music. As is typical with most Squaresoft RPGs of the 90s, the soundtrack is excellent. If you pull up a random youtuber's videos, odds are you will hear a Super Mario RPG track at some point. The music is distinct and memorable. Honestly, as far as SNES RPGs are concerned, I think it hangs with Chrono Trigger and Earthbound in the sound department. This is insanely high praise and if this is your first experience with a game like this, you will remember these tunes.

Third is the fact that it is a Mario game. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest's main character is Benjamin. Not exactly a memorable name like Cloud or Cecil. His Japanese name was Zash though, I guess that's kinda cool! This game stars Mario. As a child, you could slap that plumber's face on anything and I would instantly buy it. Recruiting Princess Toadstool (before everyone knew her name was Peach) and Bowser into your party was just the coolest thing. This wasn't the first Mario spin-off, but it was probably the first one that didn't make you shove your head in a history book. People love those characters, so sticking them in a quirky and colorful world is going to make for a beloved game.

Lastly is the difficulty. It's no secret that RPGs used to be a lot more grindy than they are now. It's something you either love or you hate. SMRPG does not require a grind at all. You certainly *can* if you want to, but you don't have to be anywhere near the max level to finish off the game and even then, I think on my most recent run everybody was fairly close to it anyway and I assure you I did not go out of my way to fight goombas. This is a game that was designed to be beaten. No matter how much a kid runs into a wall, they will probably find a way to come out on top. So you leave this beautiful colorful and quirky game feeling good about yourself because you beat it. There is maybe one non-Culex boss that could be defined as 'that boss' and it's a monster wedding cake. ...Ya see what I mean about a world full of personality?

The things surrounding the actual game take what could have just been a ho-hum average experience and elevates it to the next level. You will see RPG snobs turn their nose up at this game because of its simplicity, but I think SMRPG accomplished exactly what it was trying to do. It created a horde of people invested in RPGs. Even if they didn't stick with other games in the genre like I did, they probably tried at least one or two others.

Whether intentionally done or not, Super Mario RPG achieved what Final Fantasy Mystic Quest set out to do. While I don't think there's any chance the remake will be able to capture that same magic, I would bet that a lot of 30+ year old men and women will be sitting in front of their televisions this weekend feeling that they've gone back in time. Cursing Sakurai for not placing Geno in Smash. Feeling like they need to figure out how to get Luigi to join your party because that one star in star road was clearly written by him and god dammit he is probably stronger than mallow at least right?

It's not the best game. But it is a beautiful one.

[candysmiles373]

A Spell Gone Awry - Solomon x GN!MC

!Trigger Warnings! - Suicide - Bad Grammar

Word Count: 2770

If I didn't love him so much, I'd kill Solomon for casting this awful spell! Of all the spells to mess up, why did it have to be this one!? It's breaking my heart, seeing everyone so torn apart over and over again because of me.

Although the date hasn't changed since the spell took effect, I've already gone through the same day fifteen times. Solomon swears that he's working as hard as he can to fix this mess, but he says it's difficult to come up with a solution in time, since his memories are reset at the beginning of every loop, just like everyone else.

It's not fair that I'm the only one whose memory remains even when the loop resets. It kills me to watch the people I care about suffer through my death over and over again.

"MC, how many loops has it been now?"

"Solomon, I've already told you this three times!"

"I know, I know. I just want to make sure I get this right. We don't have a lot of time since my memory will reset at midnight again when you-..."

"...When I die? I know. It's been fifteen loops so far."

"And you're sure that you've tried everything else you can think of?"

"I'm sure. In the last loop, I tried to ask Barbatos for help, but it seems that even Barbatos' abilities aren't enough to break the loop. In the loop before that, I asked Diavolo for help, but he couldn't break the spell no matter how hard he tried. In the end, they only exhausted themselves trying to save me. Although there was one loop where something strange happened."

"And you haven't mentioned this until now because...?"

"Well, I didn't think it was a big deal at first, but now that I think about it..."

"Well? What happened?"

"There was a loop - I can't recall which one - where Lucifer said something strange to me. I swear I hadn't told him anything about the spell in that loop, but he said something in reference to events that took place in a loop before the one we were in. When I addressed it, he only said that he didn't know what I was talking about and claimed he hadn't said anything along the lines of what he'd just said to me."

"I see... Perhaps the spell is beginning to wear off by itself? I don't recall how I made the spell, but it's possible that when I was concocting it I only intended to have it last for a certain number of loops."

"I don't think that's it. I can't explain why, but every time I die at the end of a loop, I get this strange feeling...like something isn't right..."

"Hmm... MC, I understand that resolving this situation is an urgent matter, but it's already getting late and we're no closer to finding a solution in this loop. Since I won't remember anything about the spell when it resets tomorrow - or, well, today - why don't we just try to enjoy the rest of the day together?"

"I told the brothers that I'd be home before midnight. I was hoping that I could simply lock myself away in my room and die alone so that I didn't have to witness them mourning for me again."

"This spell is absolutely awful. I don't know what I was thinking, being so careless whilst I was playing with magic. I should have been more careful. You haven't properly explained what happens after you die at the end of a loop. Could you tell me more about it?"

"I suppose. When the clock reaches 11:59 pm, I die. Sometimes it's a sudden danger that appears out of nowhere, or an unexpected accident befalls me. But a few times, I've just dropped dead without any apparent cause. Once I die, it's like my soul leaves my body and I can't move or speak, I can only watch the aftermath of my death. It stays that way for exactly one minute. Once the clock strikes midnight, the loop resets itself again to the beginning of the day. The day repeats itself but, depending on what I do or say, some things can change."

"Sigh... I'm so sorry, MC. I can't believe I let this happen. I promise you that I'll find a way to correct this, no matter how many loops we have to go through, you have my word that I'll fix it."

. . .

It's been three loops since I had that conversation with Solomon. In this loop, he asked me to leave him to do his research alone for the day and told me I should just try not to worry about it and go about the day as I usually would. Unfortunately, it's proving to be easier said than done at the moment...

"Hey! Watch where yer swingin' that thing!" Mammon just barely dodges out of the way of Satan's thrashing tail, whilst Satan is too preoccupied with fighting Lucifer off of him.

As I watch the seven brothers fighting amongst themselves like a rowdy group of little kids, I can't help but feel overwhelmed by everything that has happened leading up to this. Although Solomon said I should just pretend that everything is normal for now, I can't hide my misery from the brothers this time around.

At first, the brothers were just concerned and offered me their support for whatever I was going through. Then, when they found me sobbing on the floor in the entranceway, they began to question what was going on. At some point, the brothers had started throwing accusations at one another, trying to determine which one of them it was that had upset me to such an extent. Of course, none of them know the real reason is that I'm stuck in a time loop and I'm going to die in fifteen minutes.

In his haste to avoid being thrown into a wall by Satan's tail, Mammon manages to step on Belphie's. Belphie tears his attention away from throwing things at Asmo and turns his fury on Mammon, tossing a vase right at Mammon's head. Beel, enraged that Mammon had stood on Belphie's tail, radiates murderous intent as he throws himself into the fray. For some reason, Asmo seems to take even more offense at being ignored by Belphie all of a sudden and attempts to strike him once again.

"Why won't it stop? Why can't this stupid spell end already? Why...WHY...WHY!?" My sudden scream silences the brothers and stops them in their tracks, every one of them turning to face me in apparent concern. Only now do I realize that hot stinging tears have begun to roll down my cheeks and I squeeze my eyes shut in a feeble attempt to stop them from flowing, turning my head away in shame. When I open my eyes, they land on the clock across the room.

Oh. I only have ten minutes left. Since Solomon hasn't shown up yet, he must not have found a way to stop the spell yet. I suppose I'll just have to tell him again once the loop resets and hope that he'll be able to figure it out in the next one.

"MC... We're sorry. We didn't mean to make you cry. Please, forgive us." Lucifer is the first to speak, snapping my attention back to the brothers, all waiting in silent apprehension.

Right. They think I'm crying because of their fighting. Truthfully, I am upset that they're fighting, but I've been through so many loops now that this fight is an expected occurrence. Unpleasant though it may be, the fight isn't the reason that I find myself in tears right now.

Wait. Why am I crying...? Because I'm afraid of dying again? Because I'm afraid that I'll have to go through this day over and over again for the rest of eternity? No, that isn't it. I am afraid, but that's not why I'm crying. I'm crying because I've been so blind - so naive - all this time.

Time. That's exactly it.

Time is why I'm crying...

No matter how many times I go through this loop, it still feels like it's the last time I'll ever see all the people I care about. That feeling - the one I keep getting at the end of every loop - it wasn't because of the spell, it was because the spell reminded me of my own mortality.

Being human, I'll never live as long as demons, angels, or an immortal sorcerer. One day, whether I like it or not, my life will come to an end and I'll be forced to leave behind all of the people I love.

"MC...?"

Oh, right. They're still waiting for an answer. I glance back at the clock; five minutes left. I sweep my gaze over the seven brothers, all sorrow-filled eyes fixed on me.

I love every one of them so much. I've become a part of this family; this strange, whacky, wonderful family. But if I die one day, I'll be leaving them all behind...just like Lilith did. Perhaps it would be better for me to leave them all behind sooner rather than later, that way we can't grow even more attached than we already have.

Maybe...just maybe...if I take my own life before midnight, this terrible loop can end with me and everyone can go back to their lives, just as they were before I ever arrived.

"I've decided." I wipe my eyes on the back of my sleeve, forcing a thin smile onto my face. I vaguely register the sound of the front door opening behind me as I speak, but whoever enters keeps quiet. "Could you guys make me a promise...?"

"Of course, MC. Anything, if you'll forgive us." Beel looks downcast, tone laced with remorse and fervent apology.

"Promise me, that no matter what happens, you'll always be family. Even if you fight and argue and disagree all the time, always love and care for each other above all else. Always remember...that you're family..."

"MC... Of course we'll always be family. And you're a part of our family too. But...why does this sound like a goodbye...?" Lucifer's gaze becomes uncharacteristically soft, a rare look of fear painted across his features. The brothers all look on in perplexed silence, almost as if they're paralyzed by their fear.

I cast a sidelong glance at the clock, just as it reaches 11:58 pm. Offering the brothers one final close-eyed smile, I call upon my magic to materialize a sword in the air. As a fresh wave of tears washes over me, I can't bring myself to hold them back anymore. "Because it is..."

"MC, WAIT!"

Using my magic, I plunge the sword through my chest and black spots begin to obscure my vision as I feel my strength slipping away from me. As my legs give out beneath me, I expect to hit the floor hard but, instead, I feel warm arms wrapping around me before I can come into contact with the ground. There's an unpleasant ringing in my ears, but I can barely make out several muffled voices shouting around me. My vision is becoming darker by the second, but I can just about discern who is who based on the blurs of color surrounding me.

Familiar blue-brown eyes smile down at me and I feel a warm hand pushing back the hair out of my face. I struggle to focus on Solomon's face, straining my ears to hear what he's saying when I realize that his lips are moving. "...I can't figure out if you're incredibly brave or incredibly foolish. But, then again, that's what I love about you, isn't it? There, there. There's no need to cry. You're going to be okay. I promise..."

The dull ache that had been spreading throughout my body begins to fade away into the back of my mind and a strange sense of calm falls over me as Solomon wipes away my tears with his thumb. A peaceful feeling takes hold of me and refuses to let go, dragging me into the inviting darkness that awaits me.

Even after I lose all feeling in my body and my vision is covered by darkness, I still hear those final words that Solomon whispers beside my ear. "...You did great, MC. Wait for me, okay? We'll be together again soon..."

. . .

Gasp! I wake up in bed with a start, sitting bolt upright so quickly that the world seems to spin around me for a moment and I clutch my head as I feel a stab of pain in my chest. When my head clears, I grab my D.D.D from beside my bed. 6:59 am.

But I thought that I killed myself to end the loop. Was that all a dream? All of that pain, all of those tears; it felt so real. Was it all really just a bad dream? I get out of bed but collapse immediately, all my strength being sapped the moment I get to my feet, a sharp pain shooting through my entire body.

No, it wasn't a nightmare; it was real. Everything that happened to me was real. With some struggle, I manage to get back on my feet. It's tomorrow - or, more accurately, tomorrow is today - which means that the spell has been broken. I hurry downstairs and scan the entranceway for any signs of what had happened. There's no trace of any of the destruction that the brothers caused when they were fighting, not even a single drop of blood remains. It's as though nothing ever happened...

No, I know it was real. I remember everything so vividly. I remember...Solomon! I have to find Solomon! Without wasting another second, I scour the House of Lamentation for any signs of the sorcerer, but I only see the brothers milling around the house. They all attempt to stop me and ask me why I'm in such a rush and why I look so panicked, but I don't spare any of them a glance. Concluding that Solomon isn't here, I bolt for the door, tailed by the worried brothers that stop at the door to call out after me.

"MC, where are ya goin'!?"

"MC! Come back here at once and tell us what happened!"

"Tell us what's going on, damnit!"

"Hey, we were supposed to game together today!"

I don't stop - I don't even look back - I can only focus on finding Solomon, running as fast as my legs can carry me to Purgatory Hall. I have to tell him... I have to tell Solomon that I love him too!

I make it to Purgatory Hall, exhausted and out of breath. I burst through the door without bothering to knock, panting heavily as I scan the area for that familiar head of white hair. I find Solomon, along with Simeon and Luke, in the sitting room. When I throw open the doors, they turn to me with bewildered looks on their faces, undoubtedly confused by my frazzled state and bizarre behavior.

Solomon puts an arm over the back of the sofa as he turns to look at me, raising a brow at my dramatic entrance, visibly amused by my appearance already.

"Solomon, I'm sorry! I should never have done what I did! I should have trusted you and been patient! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" I don't even know if the words that I blurt out make any sense; I don't take the time to think through what I'm saying.

Solomon's amusement vanishes just as quickly as it had appeared; he gets up from his seat and turns to me fully, looking thoroughly concerned, but no less confused. "MC, what are you talking about? Did something happen?"

He...doesn't remember...?

...Hedoesn'trememberhedoesn'trememberhedoesn'tremember...

HE DOESN'T REMEMBER!

My whole body suddenly feels weak - even weaker than when I was dying - and my legs begin to tremble until they eventually buckle beneath me and I come crashing to my knees, barely registering the pain that it causes. At first, I don't even notice that I'm crying - not until my sobbing turns into ear-splitting wails of grief. An immeasurable agony takes root in my chest, as though something was squeezing my heart.

When I open my eyes again, Solomon is on his knees before me, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into a desperate embrace. His grip on me is somehow gentle enough to soothe my aching heart, yet firm enough to ground me; to assure me that this is real, that he's here and he's not going anywhere.

Burying my face in his chest, I convince myself that everything is fine; that I'm going to be okay. I'll have to explain everything to Solomon eventually but, for now, I just want to stay like this; safe and warm in his arms, remembering those precious words he said to me.