#iri is overall a cool person but i dunno

[nikki-in-miraland]

my oh my

take this as you will, im tired and i cant enunciate my thoughts well ever

[myundeadgayson]

DC Street Racing AU — Bart Allen’s Backstory

alright, i know practically nothing about cars. i’ve also never even seen a Fast and the Furious movie, but SOMEONE has gotta fill the void on lack of DC Street Racing AUs, and i’m gonna do it. (if there are some out there though, please let me know! i can barely find ANYTHING, and i’d love to see stuff for this kind of AU!)

so,,, i’m just saying,,, the Teen Titans and Young Justice Crews as Street Racers.

we’ll start off with the characters that sent me into this spiral in the first place: Bart Allen and Wally West.

again, i know practically nothing about this kind of stuff. i know nothing about street racing, or cars, but i’m just saying… i really love imagining Street Racer!Wally being Bart’s inspiration for wanting to race.

even though Iris was never approving of Wally’s racing (she’s supportive, but extremely concerned for his safety), Wally would occasionally bring Bart along to the races that he’d have with friends. sometimes Bart would sneak his way into going without Wally realizing, but either way, Bart would come along.

after years of growing up and watching Wally race, Bart decided he wanted to race too. (note: to save myself a headache since this is No Powers AU and Time Travel doesn’t take place, we’re just gonna pretend that Barry and Iris adopted Bart. i want to say that his parents were close family members of Iris and Wally. perhaps one of the parents was another cousin of theirs, but both Bart’s parents ended up dying in some sort of accident. since then, Bart’s been living with Barry, Iris, and their newly born twins.)

i have so much more to say about this AU, but i want to warn you because this is about to be a VERY long post. however, if you wanna know Bart Allen’s Street Racer AU backstory and more about Wally (and his racing group, The Titans), please read more!

      (TW: small car accident — completely non-graphic, no injuries involved, everything is okay, but it does happen)     Bart’s been interested in racing for YEARS. ever since he was a kid, he’s always craved to know what it’s like — to feel the wind in your hair, the rush of adrenaline in your veins, the feeling of your heart racing as you watch the speedometer go up and up and up. the exhilaration filling your lungs as some part of you realizes “this is dangerous”.

he wants those feelings. he wants that experience that makes Wally’s eyes light up like there’s pure lightening rushing through his veins.

he wants to go Fast.

when Bart was thirteen, Wally let him sit in the driver’s seat for the first time.

Wally didn’t let him drive it, of course. Bart wasn’t tall enough yet to reach the petals even if he wanted to, but he was excited nonetheless. Wally had laughed at him as he grinned, asking how to work everything.

the car wasn’t on — Wally wasn’t dumb enough to give him even the slightest chance of trying to start it. it was a good choice. Bart would be a liar to say that he wouldn’t have instantly tried to drive it. instead, Wally let Bart mess with the gears and pretend he was in a race of his own. he’d adjust the mirror to try to see himself. he was too short to fully be seen in it, but if he sat up tall enough he could see his eyes.

years later, Bart would do the same. he’d look into his reflection and see his eyes, sparkling with that same determination that he had all those years ago.

Wally had explained everything to him. Bart started off by eagerly pointing at things (like the gear, the numbers, and all the weird symbols he could see) and ask questions, and Wally would answer every one. Wally explained other things too, like what made Wally’s special car better for racing than some random car. Bart hung on every word, trying his best to imagine all the pieces, even if he didn’t know what some were at all. he tried to commemorate every bit of information to memory bc maybe one day, he could make himself a cool car too.

the first time Bart actually drove a car was a disaster.

he was barely fourteen. it was hardly even a few months after Wally had verbally explained to him how to work a car.

no one expected him to put that knowledge to use so quickly.

somehow he got ahold of Iris’ keys. he would never explain how he got him (they were RIGHT THERE on the counter. how was he supposed to say no when they made it so easy?), but somehow it happened.

his joyride didn’t last long enough. for a short moment though, he was beyond excited to be beyond the wheel. after lots of adjusting the seat and awkwardly shuffling to sit as close to the wheel as possible to be able to see over the hood, Bart started to drive.

he managed to get down the street. he was a little slow at first. the car wobbled in an unsteady line as it trudged down the road at barely 10mph. Bart’s eyes flickered constantly between the road and the mirror, his small hands gripping the wheel like a lifeline.

the anxiousness he felt subsided as he reached the end of the neighborhood. there was no sign of Iris in sight, and he managed to drive just fine. stunned laughter bubbled from his lips as his eyes flickered back down to the road ahead— he was doing it! he was really doing it! he was driving!

with a newfound confidence urging him on, he turned onto a connected street to keep going. he started pressing on the gas pedal more, trying to gain some speed. the car started going from a slow crawl to a decently safe speed. Bart started pressing down on it harder and harder, going faster and faster. he remembered laughing in delight. the windows were cracked halfway, allowing the air to rush in. it tousled his hair, and for a moment he felt like he was flying.

until he wasn’t.

he hadn’t really considered the thought of other cars. he hadn’t considered a lot of things actually, such as the fact it was the middle of the day and people would be driving.

he didn’t crash into anyone, but it was a close call. when he started getting closer to the main road and noticed the cars zooming across, he panicked.

he hit the brakes. he did what Wally said. he didn’t slam them, but he was still going too fast. the cars were getting closer! Bart pressed his foot door harder and finally, stomped on the brakes altogether.

he yanked the wheel away from the road, shutting his eyes tight.

the wheels spun. he went off the road into the grass, tire skidding rough tracks across the grass and dirt. he didn’t hit a car, but he did hit the stop sign at the end of the street.

it was a miracle he didn’t get hurt, or worse. he ended up a bit banged up hitting the wheel and the seatbelt yanking too tight, but he was overall fine. unfortunately, Iris definitely wasn’t happy.

Bart didn’t drive for a long while after that.

occasionally, Wally would still take him on drives though.

some of Bart’s best memories are riding in the passenger seat late at night. along barren backroads and empty highways, Wally would race through the streets. with the windows rolled down, the two of them would laugh, voices carried through the wind that whipped their hair like reckless flames.

under the passing lights, Bart would grin wide and holler his excitement into the night sky without a care in the world.

the world would need to try pretty hard to catch them.

Bart would also get to attend a few of Wally’s races. it isn’t as often as he used to with Iris and Barry watching him more closely, but he still got to go some times.

he’d only really watch Wally race against friends.

they called themselves the Titans. Wally said the name wasn’t planned, it just happened to stick. Bart assumed it was more because as time went on, they really did become like the titans to beat if you wanted to prove yourself as a racer.

it was who made up the team that once surprised him.

Dick Grayson, Wally’s best friend of many years and infamous son of Gotham’s Bruce Wayne, was the unofficial leader of the group. The Dick Grayson, with his car as dark as the night. the darkness of the car was only disrupted by a few brilliant blue decals. the most memorable one was always the striking blue silhouette of a bird on the hood. (“Nightwing,” Dick affectionately called the car.)

Koriand’r, an incredibly kind woman with hair that was almost more fiery than Bart’s own. her car was a vibrant purple with flames racing along the sides as if it’d caught fire. (“they call me Starfire”, she told him once when caught him fawning over the car, awed as ever. “i like to imagine that if i drive just fast enough, i can see flames.”)

Victor Stone, who indulged all his questions and answered every single one with the same enthusiasm. he’d lost an arm to an accident, but replaced it with an amazing cybernetic one. his designed his own car to have similar robotic style. incredibly futuristic and constantly updated with the best parts he could find. (“someone called me Cyborg,” Victor told him once while working on the car. he let Bart sit in the garage with him, occasionally offering whatever help he could. “i think it was an insult at first, but the name sort of stuck, kind of like with the Titans. so i made it my own.”)

and at last, Garfield Logan, the youngest of the group. with his dark green hair and toothy smile, Garfield was always quick to make him feel welcome and make him laugh with an endless amount of dumb jokes. his charisma and bright personality showed in his car. like his hair, it was a deep green. when he turned it on, the underneath glowed a neon green. black pawprints walked along the sides towards the end of the car. (“they’re actually tiger pawprints,” Gar corrected him once, looking excited as ever to explain. “there’s a few other animals too. i wanted it to look like the animals were really here, or like maybe i’m the animal? i dunno. i told everyone to call me Beast Boy, so i guess this would be my beast.”) they had another friend, Raven, that never raced with them. dressed in black with dark hair that he swore shone purple in certain lights, Raven was much more quiet and reserved than the rest of the group. Bart enjoyed her rare company, despite it being more of a companionable silence. he’d take it none the less. sometimes if Bart was able to hang out with Wally and the group outside of racing nights, he’d occasionally he’d bring along homework, a book, or a comic to read if Wally was meant to be busy at some point. he’d end up hanging out in one of their apartments while they were busy, and sometimes Raven would be there. they’d quietly read in each other’s company, never having to say a word. he’d asked Wally once why she didn’t race too. Wally had only laughed. (”we’re lucky that she doesn’t,” Wally told him, “if Raven raced, we’d all be doomed, trust me. you should never underestimate her.” Bart figured that meant that Raven was an undeniable part of the group too. he hoped he’d see her race one day.)

all of them were amazing, but Bart was a little stunned by each of them had their own unique style. they all had their own story and reason for being inspired to race. the one thing they all shared though was that same spark in their eyes Wally had.

needless to say, Bart would try to spend as much time with them as possible to try and learn from them.

his dream was to race, but his other dream was now to become just like them. he wanted to be a Titan.

he was too young at that time, but he would aim to prove that he could be good enough to join them one day. he would be a Titan.

or at least, he’d be close enough to being a Titan, he’d decide upon meeting a few other faces around his age, but that’s a story for another day.             ...and that’s all we have for now, folks!

if you’re wondering why i chose only those Teen Titans, i didn’t want to make the group too big. i originally considered the OG Young Justice group, but found that i really wanted to save Superboy (Conner Kent, my beloved) to be apart of Bart’s friend group later. (not to mention, i REALLY wanted to talk about Street Racer! Kori existing in this AU. Beast Boy’s another favorite that i just HAD to include, thus we have the animated Teen Titans team, just with Wally and Dick having the same kind of friendship as kids like in YJ.)

let me know if you want any more from his idea! i’d love to know what you guys think of all this so far. if you ever want me to talk about anyone in particular, please feel free to ask! i’d totally be up to come up with more ideas! i’d also love to know if anyone has any thoughts about other characters might be like from this AU!

i really just came up with all this on the fly, but i’m honestly becoming attached to this AU already, so i’d be more than excited to talk more about it!

thanks for reading!!

[animefinatic]

Fire force season 1 part 2

Finishing up what I thought on some key characters at first glance. Just finished the season and will be working my way through season 2.

Benimaru: seems laid back though as I start looking for docs to read I’ve seen a lot of Benimaru even though I’m currently interested in team 8. I was wondering what was so good about him? He has a lot of respect in his town but he annoyed me a little and I didn’t like the weird X in his eye. Regardless he’s very strong and you gotta love that sense of community he has. But then I saw it. That smile. His weird little quirk is he get smilie when he has alcohol and that’s adorable and I see the appeal. Also I love how Shinra and Team 8 just makes friends with all the other companies he’s come in contact with. In this cause with Benimaru, because he’s a pretty strong guy he trains Shinra and Arthur and you see that training pay off when they go underground, that fight with Arthur able to detect his opponent was fantastic.

Viktor: my first thought there can only be one Viktor! (Viktor from YOI is one of my loves I don’t care if he’s gay ok) He’s Shady af since he comes from Haijima. Kinda long and lanky character with a fro he makes me think of Brook from one piece. He is gonna have to prove himself. But we’ll be fills a role the team needs right now so I guess whatever. He also helps Shinra come up with his new finishing move so that was pretty cool. Every hero needs a finishing move. After I stared at him long enough I think he looks more like Jack Midoriya (just look it up) no further notes on my 1st impression.

Vulcan: Y’all he has red hair. Is what it is but other than white hair I have a soft spot for red heads. Smart and buff. He has a tragic back story with Giovanni and now company 3 is now the most sus group working directly with the white coats. But also I really like he’s so passionate about animals and it really sunk in just how crazy this universe is. If humanity is basically all crammed into some part of japan then you know there’s no animals left. Animals we take for granted being around no longer exists I was a little moved along with Iris in that scene where he shows our little team 8 group his gadget he make. Very loyal sort I think he makes a nice fit.

Sho: he’s so cute. I’m weak for white hair. He looks like a precious angel and strong as hell. When Shinra saw him he just knew. I hope this little guy can be reached I want them to have a relationship. Seeing the showdown between brothers is hard he’s crazy strong. A dangerous kid but a cute one. Seeing his struggle with accepting this person as his brother was an emotional ride. I was a mess with seeing all those memories.

Side note I kinda wanna throat punch Burns from hiding all that important information from a Shinra. Talking bout he wanna make him scared of flames and never use his. A lot that’s fucking done cause look where you are. Sure maybe not when he was a fucking kid but when he discovered Shinra at that rookie event maybe seek him out and tell him the truth it would have given him motivation to train harder. I dunno. I low key feel betrayed if not pissed on Shinra’s behalf.

But at the very end when Shinra declares that he’ll find his way to turn his mother back to normal kinda gave me mixed feelings. I hope he doesn’t have to kill his own mother but he might have to.

With the whole season done With Shinra and I learning the truth about his tragic back story I’ve become invested. Overall I think this is a good show. I’m interested in learning the outside about this world.

[ravenwolfie97]

hey, can i ramble about how awesome pkmn black/white is? cool

specifically i wanna talk about the gym leaders, because they’re one of my favorite details in the games. for the first few generations, gym leaders were just a means to an end, people designed to fight you with specific types of pokemon. they existed entirely to be gym leaders and nothing else. yeah they had design quirks that gave them a vague sense of a life and personality besides gym leading, but they were never actually expanded upon. gens 1 and 4 were good examples of gym leaders with backstory. however, they just never. Did anything with them beyond gym leading, save for a couple short cutscene bits or literally having to track them down to fight them

now gen 5 REALLY amped up gym leaders and the elite four as well, and i love it. each of them is extremely involved in their jobs and hobbies outside of their gym leader status, and they’re reflected in their gym locations. i’m gonna bulletpoint this list of people because it’s an easy-to-digest format

1. Cilan, Chili, and Cress: Grass/Fire/Water leaders from Striaton City They’re restaurant owners and chefs! Their gym is literally within their restaurant, and their waiters challenge you along the way, so it’s dinner and a show! (also all of their names are based on herbs/spices)

2. Lenora: Normal leader from Nacrene City She’s an archaeologist and the curator of the city’s museum along with her husband Hawes. Yeah, this woman’s married! Don’t think that’s been an explicit thing before! She’s also super well-read, with a huge library in the back of the museum, and her gym is hidden underneath the shelves! That’s wild.

3. Burgh: Bug leader from Castelia City He’s an artist and possibly a fashion designer as well! His first gym was an art gallery with honey walls, but his updated gym from BW2 was filled with bug-spun silk and his final floor was flooded with rainbow paint. I don’t know if he’s actually into fashion as well, but I remember he was in a Nuzlocke comic I read, and I could see that fitting for him as well with all the silk.

4. Elesa: Electric leader from Nimbasa City She’s a flippin’ supermodel! Originally her gym was at the end of the rollercoaster ride in Nimbasa’s amusement park, but in BW2 it was changed to a runway with other models challenging you as you advance.

5. Clay: Ground leader from Driftveil City He’s the operator of a mining business! It’s interesting that mining is the main export of a port city, but hey, there’s two caves nearby and his gym is literally a massive crystal-filled mine. He’s super responsible with all that to take care of!

6. Skyla: Flying leader from Mistralton City She’s a cargo plane pilot! Her gym is beside an airport runway and within a mail carrier building. She even flies the player around to certain areas, so she’s still capable of piloting planes as well as battling trainers!

7. Brycen: Ice leader from Icirrus City It’s unclear what he does in BW (he’s like vaguely a ninja/monk?), but in BW2, turns out he’s an actor! You can’t battle him in BW2 but you can find him in PokeStar Studios in his own movies! Just looked it up - he had originally been an actor and then got himself hurt in a stunt gone wrong, so he retired and went to train himself to be more mindful and knowledgeable. Then he went back to acting later on. That’s some good backstory right there.

8. Drayden/Iris: Dragon leaders from Opelucid City I wasn’t actually sure what they did either, but Drayden is the mayor of Opelucid City and Iris is just a very excited Dragon-type trainer from the Village of Dragons. Drayden had to stay in Opelucid as its mayor, while Iris trained hard and became Champion once Alder retired. Both of them had very different goals in their strength!

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE

9. Cheren: Normal leader from Aspertia City After the events of BW, Cheren becomes a teacher at the Pokemon School in Aspertia, and continues battling as a way to teach the kiddies! It’s a really great position for him to have taken since it aligns with both of his passions: learning about and battling with Pokemon.

10. Roxie: Poison leader from Virbank City She’s the bass guitarist and singer of her very own rock band! Her gym is within a dark and graffitied music club, and her band plays their music on the stage!

11. Marlon: Water leader from Humilau City Honestly not sure what he does, he just seems like a surfer dude who really likes swimming and being in the water n stuff. Maybe he helps out with the Marine Tube? I dunno, that seems plausible.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S STILL THE ELITE FOUR

12. Shauntal: Ghost-type user She’s a novelist! She even has a pen and notebook in her hands as she battles you, and she shares little snippets from her stories every time you challenge her. That’s so cute!

13. Grimsley: Dark-type user He’s a gambler, and really good at it, too - very fitting for a Dark-type trainer. However, he’s got more backstory than I remembered (from Bulbapedia): “He is the son of a distinguished family that fell into ruin. As a result, he developed a gambling addiction.” He eventually went to Alola and got good at Mantine Surfing but that’s not as important. He’s still good at games.

14. Caitlyn: Psychic-type user She seems narcoleptic... Like, her room is literally a giant canopy bed and she’s basically in her pajamas when she fights you. She’s like if Musharna were in human form: constantly sleepy but fueled by their psychic power. Oh! She used to be an assistant in the Battle Frontier Castle in Sinnoh! Forgot about that important bit! And she apparently is actually psychic but is kinda like Mob from MP100 where it gets out of control if she gets too emotional. Neat!

15. Marshal: Fighting-type user He was an apprentice to Alder, and is a very disciplined fighter. His Elite Four room is a big boxing ring and he wears a mouth guard and wears an outfit reminiscent of a gi, so he seems like he could be a boxer or an MMA fighter.

hhhhhhh okay i’m done now

wait, not yet. the coolest thing about all of these guys is that pretty much all of them are involved in the story outside of gym stuff, they all know each other, and at the end of BW they come together to help apprehend Ghetsis

OH AND NOT TO MENTION in BW2 all of the gyms get their own custom remixes! those all further amplify the gym leaders’ aesthetics and sidenote i so wish that’d come back it was srsly super cool

what i’m trying to say is gen 5 was fantastic and did a lot for gym leaders that hasn’t been replicated since. even for alola, that’s kind of debatable; their backstories and trial placements were greatly expanded upon in the same way, but the level of overall involvement in the story was still greatly reduced

tl;dr: BW/2 were great games and i love them ok bye

[psyncin-in-the-restrain]

My URL!

Send me your URL and I’ll tell you

My Opinion on;

Character in general: What can I say about Iris? I love her. lol It was hard to get to like her at first because of how we’re introduced to her and how she, initially, blackmailed Date into letting her go to the scene of the crime. She has an interesting story and definitely has personality to boot. In due time, I did start liking her. And it’s not because she was the main female protagonist of the game, but because of her relationship with Date on her personal route and true ending. Once you get to know her, you’ll find out that she’s a pretty sweet girl. At least I think so.How they play them: I’m actually impressed by how they got Iris down. Normally, for me, if I can read someone’s writing in the voice of the character, then that means they pretty much nailed them. And more props to them for using video game/anime/manga references to help with Iris’s portrayal as an internet idol. lolThe Mun: They’re so nice??? Like friend, I cannot express how kind and welcoming you’ve been when I jumped on Saito. I know we don’t talk much, but they’ve been so sweet. Also they need to handle their real life responsibilities because real life comes first //huff/

Do I:

RP with them: Yup!Want to RP with them:  I would punch a man to rp with them MORE.

What is my;

Overall Opinion: Rp with them? I dunno, but they’re pretty cool and I’m down with them. Y’all should rp with them too ouob

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day One Hundred Seventy-One: ID Bracelet ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: The Future is Wild ] [ AO3 Link ]

How odd, to wake for the first time with an empty mind.

Eyes of pale lavender slowly open, fringes of lashes fluttering. Above her is a plane of white - perfectly arranged tiles along a ceiling, broken up intermittently with soft, colorless lights. Her gaze flickers over the sight before she dares to turn her head. With it, the fringe of her hair shifts over her brow. To her right, another marless wall of white. But to the left…

A huge sheet of glass. Peerless. Unscathed. Without a scratch. Beyond it, an empty hallway of the same unfeeling white. Cold. Hard. Lifeless.

For a time, she lets her head rest flat again, considering the ceiling. In her mind are no words - no inner narrative. Just vague inclinations - questions without form, lacking the knowledge to mold them. Where is she? What is she? Why is she?

Then instinct gives her a hint.

Move.

Limbs shift subtly, realized. She has a body? It can move? Her left arm lifts, wobbles, turns and bends. She watches it curiously, flexes fingers, feels the sensation of tightening muscles. Takes everything in with those pale eyes.

“You’re awake.”

The words mean nothing to her, but sound is a new dimension. Back to the glass she looks. There stands...something. It wasn’t there before. It...moves? Is it...her? Like her? Not like her? In her effort to see it more clearly, her torso turns - more body to discover. Like a newborn fawn she struggles to wrangle her fleshy vessel to her whims. As she turns atop the strange cot upon which she’s lying, something moves against her skin. Her hair, her garment, and...a bracelet. She has words for none of them, understanding for none of them. Hands sloppily touch and pull at all she is, all she has. There’s...sensation. She feels it! The gown that hangs to her knees is smooth...but not as smooth as her skin. And the thing that dangles over her wrist...it shines. Silver, metal, save for a small screen that displays symbols, meaningless to her.

To anyone else, it simply reads: B1.

As she watches, the symbols...move! Float across the little screen, changing and flowing. Vitals display, physical information. Current height, weight, body mass index, last sleep cycle, last meal, last waste deposit. Anything and everything that is her.

All the while, outside the glass, the her-is-not-her watches. Patiently. His eyes are not like hers. Dark. Guarded. Not so curious and open about the new world around them.

His eyes have seen much. More than hers. Great things. Terrible things.

He wonders which she will be.

Eventually, she loses interest in the bracelet, and her gown. Combing fingers through her hair, she keeps up the act subconsciously as she again takes in her little room. It’s only ten paces in any direction. Her cot is the only anomaly: a fluid shape up out of the floor, like a stand for a trophy. Her legs dangle off the edge, feet bare over the cool tiles.

Then her eyes return to him.

His garment is different. A coat, white; trousers, black; shirt, red; tie, black. And he has shoes - she can’t see his feet. Nor can she tell what is garment, what is him. What is him?

“Can you hear me?”

Her head tilts.

He knows she doesn’t yet comprehend language, but...all in due time. At least, so far, she seems functional. Motor skills are developing well after so long in suspended animation as she grew. They’ll have to test her full capabilities later. Make sure nothing is deficient or malformed after her accelerated growth...but from a glance, she appears whole. Normal.

Of course...he knows better than to expect perfect results from the prototype. There’s a reason there’s a number beside her project’s initial. There will be more. There will always be more. Tweaks. Improvements. Fixes for bugs and imperfections.

For now, he simply observes.

She stares at him, unblinking. Unnerving how her gaze almost seems to go right through him, but...well, he supposes that’s largely the point. The government isn’t paying his employer millions just to make humans.

They have to be special.

Then, to his surprise, she attempts to stand. Attempts being the key word, as her untested legs quickly give out under the new strain of gravity. He doesn’t react, watching to see what she’ll do. Limbs a mess and back propped against her cot, there’s a curt huff of frustrated breath.

...that was almost cute.

Arms reach for a hold, twisting her torso to reach for the edge. She manages to rise to her knees, still clinging to the cot and observing herself critically. Seems she’s not a fan of her beginning fragility. Then a leg lifts, planting her foot with her knee at a right angle. Good. Push, strain, wobble like a Spring calf. Plant other foot. Hold on to support. Carefully - oh so carefully - let go.

Continue to sway, but...remain upright. Arms stretch out like an acrobat’s pole on a tightrope, lifting and lowering to adjust her balance.

...huh. Impressive.

Tiny shuffling steps turn her back toward the glass. One foot slides, rather than lifts, across the floor, like a child learning to ski. Shift weight, bring forth other foot. Slow, unsteady progress.

And he just...watches. Hands in his pockets. Expression carefully neutral.

After a long minute of travel...she makes it. Braces palms against the glass, which fogs ever so slightly in the chilled laboratory air near her body heat. Watching the phenomenon, her gaze then lifts to his face. Studies it, eyes open and clear, unphased by things like social decorum. Her mind thirsts for knowledge of this world it suddenly finds itself in, and he is the first thing of note in her path.

The first thing like her.

There’s still an eerie feeling as she watches him. He knows what those eyes have been engineered to do: to see through anything, when fed the right biochemical signal. The perfect spy, with both x-ray and binocular vision.

Exactly what they’re being paid to build.

Orochimaru has always sought to push the boundaries of fact and fiction when it comes to human biology. Limits pushed just to see what pushing them does. What happens when those boundaries are broken. The unnatural, perverse things Sasuke has seen while working under the man have been numerous...but this project, at least, has to retain a sense of normalcy.

If a being is to blend into society, it can’t stand out. And while her gaze is troubling, they can always adjust it. She’ll have to prove she can go unseen...while seeing everything.

Lost in his thoughts, Sasuke moves only as she does. Her right hand, attached to her ID bracelet, lifts to press more level to his face, as though longing to touch it. Still the intense stare, head tilting to better her angle of observation.

His own eyes flicker over her face, eventually managing to lock.

She has yet to blink.

Then, subtly...he sees it. Veins along her temples swell, altered brain flipping a switch.

...she’s looking through him. Literally this time.

He just...stands in shock. How did she…? She can’t know how to…?

Eventually, her eyes move aside, slowly scanning the building beyond him. Peeking into crevices, seeing into rooms, peering around corners. As he watches, he can just barely see the shifts in her irises: like a camera lens adjusting focus as she narrows and widens her field of view.

...amazing…

After a sweep, she brings her gaze back to him, veins receding as she lets the phenomenon cease.

Considering her silently, Sasuke then decides to abandon his better judgment. Just for a moment.

Just to see what she’ll do.

Withdrawing a hand from a pocket, he lifts it, slowly. As expected, her eyes snap to the movement. Letting her watch, he then adjusts to let his palm rest on the other side of the six inch thick reinforced glass from hers.

It’s so dainty when compared to his own.

Something...shifts in her expression. Almost like a tinge of sadness. Slowly, her fingers curl to a fist, eyes dropping and suddenly looking miles away.

What he’d give to know what she’s thinking.

Feeling.

Then, the limb slips from the glass completely. She turns to walk away.

“Wait.”

The sound draws her gaze.

The word comes unexpectedly. Unintendedly. Suddenly his throat is dry, watching as she watches him.

His own visual cue is far less subtle than hers. The black iris spins, shifts...turns red. With it, the lavender specter that ghosts over her shell flickers into vision. Echoes of her subtle movements make her seem to shift in slow motion, like afterimages he can watch and predict far faster than any untinkered human.

Her face goes slack with recognition.

He...he is like her…!

Stepping back to him, she palms at the glass, seeming to seek a way through it. But he stoppers her with a gesture. His eyes go dark. He shakes his head.

...she doesn’t understand.

Heaving a sigh, he retreats his hand, shoving it back into his pocket and walking down the hall, the thumps of her palms unheard.

                                                        .oOo.

     So this is...really random xD I'm actually not a big fan of sci fi as a genre - I've always been more of a fantasy kinda person. So tbh I dunno how...well I did this? Since I don't have much to compare it to, lol      Back when I first did this prompt list with original characters, I did something very similar to this, but...it's neat to see how my perceptions have changed, and just overall writing quality. I like this a lot better than that first attempt, but...I guess that's the point!      ANYWAY      So, we have Oro in a lab making fancy modified hoomans! And Hinata, Byakugan 1, has just been woken from stasis for the first time! A bit odd to suddenly exist at like twenty years old. And of course, Sasuke - one of Oro's top assistants - goes to check on her. But it seems even Oro's employees have their quirks :3c      Ngl, I might do more with this in the future. We'll see. I'm not...overly comfortable with writing sci fi since I don't really "know" it very well, but...maybe I'll make an exception here, lol      Buuut for now, I need sleep. I was up all night sick last night and...hoping it doesn't happen again ^^; All that aside though, thanks for reading!

[crystalelemental]

I guess there’s new Sword and Shield news.  You can expect salt, but perhaps not as much as you’d think.

Let’s start with this: Gigantamaxing or whatever the fuck it’s called is straight up just Mega Evolution downgraded to three turns.  Fuck this stupid adjustment, this is absolutely ridiculous.  Oh, but the new moves are sure gonna be great!  Like the Rock one that just deals crazy damage and sets up Stealth Rock!  Yeah, instead of nerfing the biggest problem with competitive, let’s just make it even more easy to do!  Fucking Christ, you haven’t even shown off all the Pokemon, and you’ve somehow already broken competitive play worse than it already was.  I hate this.  It’s literally just, point for point, exactly the same concept as mega evolution, but for no reason, it’s adjusted to be some three-turn power-up with Z-moves built in for some reason.  Because balance!  I regret to inform you, Pokemon Company, that the problem here is no universal buff will ever play out for balance.  By making this effectively a universal buff, you’ve essentially just made it so that Lando-T and Heatran can mega evolve.  So if you honestly believe that this is going to make things equal, and that people will try out all sorts of combinations of Gigantamaxing or Dynamaxing of favorite Pokemon?  You’re way more incompetent than I thought.  You learned absolutely nothing from Z-moves.

That said...if this means that some Pokemon Dynamax, which is like a flat boost to stats, while others Gigantamax, which is considered a much more potent improvement on their stats, abilities, and typing?  That’s essentially bringing back Mega Evolution, which is what I wanted in the first place.  This means Mawile and Banette have something to work with.  My only complaint is that it lasts 3 turns.  That severely limits some of these mega forms.  Venusaur is a good example.  For three turns, it gains a ton of bulk...and promptly loses it, and is easily taken out again.  Mawile is super powerful for a turn, but because it’s still slow, it’s reliant on Sucker Punch...which makes it easy to play around with no repercussions now.  Banette gets to be super good, but good luck playing to its actual strengths of status spreading and priority Destiny Bond when you only have three turns to work with.  It’s essentially bringing back mega evolution, but it’s also a severe downgrade for those Pokemon, meaning they take a serious hit.

Of course, all of this is assuming it’s actually just a different form of Dynamaxing.  Like, the Serebii page specifies that Pokemon can only do this if they were caught in Max Raid Battles, which is severely limiting in its own right, but also implies that this isn’t quite mega evolution.  Best case scenario, mega evolution is now considered some inherent thing within the Pokemon, assigned by whatever made them a Max Raid Battle Pokemon, which means you no longer need mega stones, they can just do the mega evolution and hold an item like Mega Rayquaza, but it’s been adjusted to have that level of power for only three turns.  Worst case scenario, Pokemon with mega evolutions don’t have Gigantamax forms, and this is being considered a complete do-over on megas.  In which case, please give Absol’s Gigantamax form a Fairy typing and Tough Claws, like it deserved.

Really, I’m still incredibly apprehensive, but this is, essentially, the return of Megas, with an attempt to rebalance the system.  Which...is what they said they would do, and potentially could go over well.  Only potentially, though.  The Gigantamax Pokemon we’ve seen keep the same abilities as their base form, so there’s no guarantee anything good comes from this.  But it’s at least a slight hope that they’re not just removing megas entirely.

On to other things.  Not only are there version exclusives, but now the types in the gyms are different depending on the version!  ...show of hands, anyone else think that’s a little much?  I know we had Iris and that other guy in Gen 5, but they were at least both Dragon type, and the difference was mostly cosmetic.  But now we have one version giving a Fighting type leader, and the other giving a Ghost type leader.  I dunno.  I’m not really mad about it, it just strikes me as a really odd choice.  Their mains are Hitmontop and Mimikyu.  Not surprised Mimikyu was favored enough to make it in, but you heard it here first, folks: Sword and Shield will be making Hitmonchan a competitively viable Pokemon.  After all, one of the purposes of trimming down the Pokedex was to balance the meta, so this is hard confirmation that Hitmonchan will be competitive viable with this game’s release.

Version exclusives are starting to be noted, and...yeah.  Thanks, I guess.  Version exclusive Pokemon definitely isn’t a useless, awful concept at this point anymore.

New Pokemon, cool.  One of them in Gigantamax form is a huge cake, so I guess that’s a thing?  What kind of bizarre design is its base form going to ha-OH MY GOD THAT’S THE CUTEST THING I’VE EVER SEEN!  Alcremie is so precious.  Please don’t evolve it.  That’s actually my favorite now.  Holy shit I love you tiny whipped cream child.  And Gigantamaxing basically means it got a mega, so that’s pretty cool.  Oh man, this is starting to win me over.  Keep it coming, what else we got?

Okay Rolycoly.  That’s a neat little thing.  And apparently its new ability doubles speed if hit by a Fire or Water attack.  Since it’s Rock, Water is dangerous, but it might be able to survive.  Switching in on Fire attacks, though?  That’s gonna be fantastic.  Unlike Alcremie, who is perfection, I kinda hope this one evolves.  It just looks like something that would have an evolution, you know?

Duraludon is pretty cool looking, and Dragon/Steel is a great typing, I’m kinda glad we got another.  I hope this one’s good, but I’m scared it’s the pseudo-legend.  It fights with Tyranitar.  That implies this is a higher-tier thing.  I want to believe that no 4x weakness means it can’t be the pseudo-legend, but...I don’t think that’s a requirement, considering we had Metagross, and I think Goodra counted as well.

That’s it for actually new ones, but I never commented on the last two: Yamper’s cute, and Impidimp is the stuff of nightmares, why did they make that the first Fairy/Dark type?

New characters are...fine?  Fighting type leader seems cool, Ghost-leader seems kinda weird.  Rose and Oleana are...interesting.  I guess.  Mostly Rose has me worried.  He seems like a sports person.  I know they’ve only mentioned the Pokemon League, but I still worry every reveal about seeing Pokemon Soccer as a thing.

Overall, I...I largely like this one.  Mark it here, folks: this is the first good reveal for me since we started this. Not since the starter reveal have I felt positively about this game.  Well...”postitively.”  There’s still a lot of concern I have around Gigantamaxing, whether aspects of mega evolution are continued in this form or not, whether something like Gigantamax Gyarados is getting the Water/Dark typing with Mold Breaker, or it’s just keeping Water/Flying and Intimidate/Moxie like its base form, etc.  A lot of my positive feelings on this come down to whether Gigantamaxing is really just a re-tooled mega evolution.  If it’s mega evolution repurposed for a three-turn effect, and we can expect adjustments in the transformation, that’s fine.  I will actually be completely okay with that, because at the end of the day, Gigantamaxing feels like it’s doing the same thing mega evolution did: giving more significant boosts to the weaker Pokemon that needed it.  That is literally all I have ever asked of you, Pokemon Company.  If you can deliver on that, I will retract my decision to not get this game.

Although I gotta be real, Alcremie is already making me reconsider on its own...